Week four of the NFL season is upon us, and I think we have finally gotten far enough into the season that teams are telling us who they really are. Early in the season, much of what we think we know about teams comes from what they were in the previous season. In some cases, this is fine, but in others it isn’t even close. Every season in the NFL is incredibly different from the one that came before. Teams have new coaches and personnel. And sometimes, they just have that mystic “it” one season that is noticeably absent in the next season. What “it” is, is hard to quantify, but NFL fans know when their team has “it”, and when they don’t.

“It”

Let’s start by looking at a team that clearly doesn’t have “it”, the Chicago Bears. They were the worst team in the league last year, but this offseason left many fans with a lot of reason for optimism. It is clear to almost everyone that at this point, the Bears are even worse this year than they were last year. The entire organization seems to be suffering from dysfunction. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I think the starting point needs to happen now, not after the season. By then, I fear it will be too late.

Another team that doesn’t have “it” this year, but did last year, is the Minnesota Vikings. Last year they won an incredible amount of one score games. They won them at a rate that simply doesn’t happen in the NFL. This fact masked the fact that their roster had a lot of holes that they were going to need to fill. This year, it is apparent to almost everyone that the one-score magic is gone. They do not look like a good football team (they look better than the Bears, but that is a very low bar). The Vikings have a fair amount of good young pieces, but many of their aging veterans are starting to look like aging veterans.

Now, let’s talk about a team that does have “it”, the San Francisco 49ers. I have said for a while now, that to me, they look like the best team in the NFL. Their roster isn’t perfect, but they have so many pieces on offense and defense that complement each other so well, that it doesn’t have to be. It is a long season, and a lot of things can happen, but right now these guys are playing together so well that it looks almost surgical. 

Youth movement

The NFL is a living, breathing entity and as such it changes and evolves over time. Time marches on, and superstars fade while new superstars are born. This seems to be more evident to me this year, than in previous years. So many of the league’s top fantasy performers this year are guys who are very early in their NFL careers. While, at the same time we seem to be seeing some of the guys that we have depended on as superstars for the past several years begin to show signs of their decline. While we saw Derrick Henry have a big day today, he has shown so far this year that he has lost a step, and is beginning to enter the twilight of his career. In his place we are seeing guys emerge like  Devon Achane, amongst many others.

Rookie and second year players are the backbones of a lot of teams. Guys like CJ Stroud and Puka Nacua are doing things that we have never seen before. Anthony Richardson looks like he has an incredibly high ceiling. I am excited to see what these guys have in store for us as their careers continue to grow and evolve.

Fantasy Football and NFL Football Are Not The Same

This is something that I think many of us know, but don’t want to admit. Many coaches and players are very clear about the fact that they do not care about your fantasy football teams. They have a job, and that job is to win real NFL games. Many times that job aligns with helping your fantasy teams win, but there are also a lot of times that it doesn’t. Coaches develop game plans to help them beat the opposing defense, and sometimes that entails allowing the fantasy superstar to be double-teamed and schemed against, so that other guys can get open or it creates unique opportunities.

Now, sometimes coaches have a bad day, or season, or in some cases career. But, usually this isn’t the case. They know who their best players are, and they know that most times the best plan for winning is to get them highly involved. The same is true for players. They know what they are dealing with out there, and they all want to do everything they can to win (we think). 

Knowing this, I implore you fantasy fans, do not complain about a coach or players performance on their social media accounts. They are real human beings, and they have lives of their own to be concerned with. They do not need to be bothered with hurtful/hateful comments about how they failed to help your team win a fantasy football game. Your fantasy game couldn’t be further from their mind.

Fantasy Go Time

We are now far enough into the season that we can safely evaluate our fantasy teams. The bye weeks are going to start hitting next week, and we should now be looking to make moves to help us be competitive down the stretch. We have a good idea about who is underperforming, and who is exceeding expectations. We think we know who we can sell high, and who we should target to buy low.

If you have been ultra active before now, you have my blessing, but I’m not sure what you have been trying to accomplish. Sure, injuries have happened, and we have needed to make waiver wire moves, or trades to cover that, but just trading names doesn’t make a lot of sense to me until we get to this point of the season. From here on out, we have a basis point to make decisions about where our rosters are strong, and what our weaknesses are. Let’s get out there and make our fantasy dreams come true!

As always, if you have roster construction, waiver wire, or trade questions…you can always hit me up on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff

Good Luck, and Stay Positive!