Are you Signing up for Fantasy Football?

It appears as if the NFL lockout is starting to come to an end as both sides are coming together often to try to work out an agreement. As the agreement is being worked out the major fantasy football sites, such as NFL.com and Yahoo! are asking fans to start signing up for the 2011 fantasy football season.

I have to admit, I was a little bit skeptical to sign up for fantasy teams when I first got those messages that said that you could start signing up. I wasn’t sure when the NFL would start it’s season due to the NFL Lockout but shortly after receiving initiations to sign up for a fantasy team, I saw that the NFL and the players were working hard to get to an agreement. So, I decided to sign up for one on NFL.com.

The experience of signing up on NFL.com was as easy as it always was but it was very hard to pick a date to draft. Not knowing when the lockout would be over has put a damper on knowing when exactly when a person should draft. We must keep in mind that after the lockout is over, there will most likely be a free agent period that will cause players to move from one team to another.

So does it make sense to draft until the lockout is over?

If you draft prior to the lockout ending and then one or more of the players that you drafted moves from one team to another you might be caught in a quandary. That player, a player that you thought would end up being a good prospect on his old team, could end up having a tough go of it on his new team.

So is it better to wait to sign up for a fantasy football team on these major fantasy football sites?

I did some looking around and didn’t see anything that stated that if the lockout would continue and the draft days would be missed that those draft days would be adjusted. I went into the NFL.com website and there was nothing there that talked about what would happen if the lockout went on past the draft date. Yahoo! didn’t say a word about the lockout either.

So if you are wary of having a draft before the lockout is over it’s best to wait until you have some certainty of when the season is going to start before scheduling your fantasy football draft. In the past I have written that you must use discretion when drafting during this lockout period because of the change that players are going to move around after the lockout is over. If you are wary of this then it’s best to draft as late as possible.

Personally, I set all my draft dates for late August, as I do every year, not only because of the lockout but because of the potential for injury to some players or the fact that players may end up getting cut or traded to another team. This helps to cut down on regrets that I might have later on in the season for drafting a player that may not even be playing football or might wind up in a bad situation. Perhaps this is good advice?

So what is the best scenario? If you can wait then it’s best to wait. If not then draft players at your own risk but expect some changes when football finally comes back around.

It’s so tempting to go out and sign up for a fantasy team right now and get all set up for the season. For most of us, we are football starved and anxious to get going with our fantasy leagues (believe me I am one who is always ready to draft as soon as I get that notice that sites are opening up to start signing up for teams) but you may want to exercise caution this offseason. This whole offseason as well the 2011 season could be one of the most difficult in fantasy football history.

So draft with caution but don’t be scared to have a fantasy football team this season. No matter what happens this offseason things are certain to get better.

Are you Ready when the Lockout Ends?

As I had mentioned in my last posting, publishers are starting to roll their fantasy football magazines out already this despite the fact that the NFL lockout goes on. The lockout is a big roadblock in the path to the start of the 2011 NFL season but if the players and the owners keep talking like they have been it’s possible that this lockout could be over in time for the season to start.

That would be a great thing.

There are some well known fantasy football sites, NFL.com being one of them, that are already signing people up for the new fantasy football season. Sure it’s exciting to start seeing that happen but there are a lot of people out there doubting that the season is actually going to start on time. So why sign up for fantasy football now? Why not wait until we know that the league is actually going to have a season this year?

If you are a serious fantasy football fan you may have seen the lockout as just a minor annoyance on the path towards one of your favorite things in the world. Perhaps you are already preparing for the upcoming fantasy football season without being sure that there will actually be a season.

Well there will be an NFL season and your time to prepare for your upcoming fantasy football season is now. You should start taking looks at players that you know aren’t going to be going anywhere and thinking about whether or not you want to draft them. You might also start looking at the teams that have new head coaches and try to figure out if and where you want to draft any of those players.

Remember, players from teams with new head coaches haven’t had a chance to learn the new system that they will be in so that will stunt their progress at least to start the season. You may want to be wary of those players and if you draft one of those guys you should realize that you may have to be ready to leave them on the bench until things straighten themselves out.

The rumor right now is that the league and it’s players are close to an agreement and that something could get done by the start of July. So if you are preparing for your 2011 fantasy draft then keep it up because eventually football will come and you just might be better off than your fantasy partners are.

So buy those fantasy football guides, read as much as you can about the upcoming fantasy football season and be prepared. The fantasy football season will happen and if you aren’t ready you won’t be winning much next season.