Watch the Games (Or Trust Someone Who Does)

To watch football is to understand football. I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually watch the games. The fact is, not many people understand the game of football. I don’t mean to be snide or condescending here but that is the truth. The reason for this is that not many people actually played organized football growing up.

Think about it.

Everybody reading this played little league baseball at some point, right? Ok, now how many of you played Pop Warner Football? I would guess that the number would be around 25% or less. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with that and, in fact, your parents were likely saving you from broken bones, brain trauma or at the very least, overzealous coaches who all thought they were Mike Ditka.

So it stands to reason that very few people who play fantasy football also played organized football growing up. Most of us learned the game of football by watching our hometown teams broadcast and playing two hand touch in the field behind old man Sampson’s place. While there is nothing wrong with this, it stands to reason that many of us don’t quite understand the nuance of an Erhardt-Perkins route tree or the differences between a 4-3 and a 3-4 defense. While that was fine and dandy back in 2004, today’s fantasy football players are far more in tune and knowledgeable than they were back then.

This is why watching the games is so important. By watching the games, you learn so much without even realizing it. You can see how good offensive line play really leads to offensive production. You can see how the quarterback never looks the way of a certain wide receiver. You can witness whether or not a running back can pick up yardage after contact.  

All of the things we talk about on the radio show and in this draft guide can be learned and/or understood by simply watching these games. You learn how systems suit certain types of players, how one type of offensive line blocking technique handles a specific defensive front, or even handcuffs that you have never heard of suddenly producing similar numbers as their predecessors.

So much can be learned from watching and all of it will help you become a better fantasy football player.

So what do you do if you’re unable to watch all of the games every week? Well, for starters you are running out of excuses these days because modern technology is making it almost impossible not to run into a football game on every device you come across. You can watch every game you like on Direct TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket. Every cable provider in the country carries the Red Zone Channel. You can use Roku, Chromecast and other apps to watch NFL football on your smartphone or handheld devices. You can even listen to every NFL game live on SiriusXM in case you are in the car or on the go.

But, sure let’s play the game that you are just way too busy to watch the games. Or maybe that you just don’t want to waste your Sunday in front of a TV or other device. Are you doomed to a losing record? No. 

So, what do you do if you can’t watch the games. Well that is where I come into play. If you can’t watch the games yourself, you absolutely have to put your faith in somebody who does.

You would be stunned to learn how many fantasy analysts actually do not watch the sports that they try to analyze or the games that they are commenting on. I won’t call anybody out in these pages but I hear all of the time that my fellow fantasy analysts are doing everything BUT watching football on Sunday’s. That really bothers me too because if you don’t understand the game, have never played the game and don’t watch the game, what exactly gives you the right to advise people about the game? Honestly…NOTHING!

But that is just my opinion.

In fantasy baseball you can read the box scores and get a pretty good idea of who did what and how the game transpired. It isn’t perfect but that, along with our basic knowledge of how the game is played, helps us understand how it all fits together. But reading a football box score is a whole different experience.

For example:

Giovani Bernard 11 Yard Run (Mike Nugent Kick).

What does that scoring summary tell us? Nothing.

Why was Bernard getting the carry instead of Jeremy Hill?

Why were the Bengals running the ball at the 11-yard line?

To which side did they run the ball?

What type of running play was it?

There is so much vital context lost in an NFL box score or game recap that it’s downright criminal. That simple explanation of a scoring play doesn’t paint nearly the picture that an MLB box score does. For those that haven’t played the game and weren’t watching the game, this summary provides us two things. Jack and squat.

So the next time you have a fantasy football question I urge you to put your trusted fantasy analyst to the test. It doesn’t have to be me or even our team here at Fantasy Alarm. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are trying to be a fantasy football analyst. Heck, half of your league probably claims to know as much or more than any of us. And you may.

But I urge you to ask them specific questions about why they have formed the opinion they have. Why they value this player over that player. Why something happened in one game. You’ll be stunned how many very general answers you’ll receive and how quickly you’ll be rushed off of the phone lines or chat boards. But don’t let that stop you. You need to learn in order to get or stay ahead in this game. The only way you are going to learn is to actually watch these games or trust somebody that does.