An argument against streaming DST and K

[Giants Fan 85]

Ok, this is the way I look at it, When DST's and K's start going off the board, I wanted to take some solid picks this year. Almost every year I go with the Ghost, Gostowski ... and he puts up solid numbers. So, not only do I feel that gives me a slight points per game edge, this year with the week 10 bye ... there are lots of good kickers out there for a week. I also drafted Denver DST which has been less than I had hoped for, but promising going forward. Timed it so, Defense bye ...week 9 (I picked up The Redskins as a hedge in case Rivers imploded, long story) and now I waive that defense for a kicker, for Ghost's bye ... and for a period of 2 weeks, I have an extra roster space filled to cover byes ... still have my "early" drafted kicker and defense with no byes after this week ... 2 weeks, 1 roster spot. Otherwise that roster spot is free.

 

So, the streamers ... while they were out there trying to determine which defense or kicker to pick up each given week ... I picked up Tim Wright and Zac Stacy. And, I bet the Ghost has outscored any streaming kicker guru. Defenses make a little more sense ... but kickers ... take a good one and forget about it. DST too. I outscore most of my opponents every year in those 2 categories because I use the draft picks.

 

Keep on streamin'!

[American Chewy 98]

agree I tried to pick the right ones based on matchups for years and consistently seemed to have the worst K and Def points. the last year I finally bit the bullet and really worked hard to identify a def and k I wanted in the draft, picked them higher than I would have in years past, and stuck with them. last year the Texans def paid off. this year I originally drafted the bears which started off strong but I identified the chiefs after week one and picked them up and have gone with them ever since the injuries mounted up for the bears a few weeks in. I also drafted gostkowski. he's as solid as they come, top 5 every year. streaming is a waste of time and bidding points for usually no payoff.

[FakeFoozballIzFun 6]

It depends on a lot of factors like how good someone does at picking matchups, how deep rosters are, the weekly maximum for waiver pickups, ect. In a league where I've been streaming defenses since week 1 my fantasy ppg for DST is second only to the Chiefs.

[vash1012 19]

I used to be a streamer, but I never had any success at it. I calculate the points I had at the end of the year and I would have been just as well off starting one of the mediocre defenses every week. This is due to DEF scoring not being very predictable or even indicative of how a team plays. Sacks, INTs, fumbles, DEF TDs are all terribly unpredictable. I've had my worst DEF games this year with a DEF going against a 3rd string QB and my best DEF game the week I start a DEF with a terrible match up because I didn't have anyone to drop. SOOO nowadays, I stream until someone inevitably drops a top 8 ROS DEF then I'll play them regardless until someone drops a better ROS DEF then I'll play them. Right now I'm carrying 2 DEF because CHI and CIN were dropped and CIN still has a bye.

[tanatastic 2,061]

Just get a K on a good offense and a winning team and roll with it. Ive been using haushka for most of the season.Dst is trickier, they come out of nowhere so best to draft on a hunch but prepare to cut them and stream.

[IGotWorms 3,342]

Streaming kickers is fairly dumb since their production really cannot be predicted week to week. It's best to stick with one kicker from a good but not great offense (I.e. an offense that moves the ball but struggles in the red zone).

 

But streaming defense is fine. Really the only problem is that a lot of people are doing it now, so it's getting a bit harder to find that diamond in the rough each week. But it's fairly easy to predict that a decent defense will do well against a lousy and/or turnover-prone offense. Not so well that you're going to out score the guy with Kansas City's D/ST over the course of the season, but well enough that you can finish top half in your league in points from that slot.

[chroniciguana 13]

There's no one size fits all answer to this. And no absolute right or wrong approach. The flow of your draft is, or should probably be, the most logical factor in deciding whether targeting a "good" D/ST and a "good" PK trumps streaming.

This year, for instance, the top D/STs and PKs begin flying off the board earlier than anticipated and ahead of WRs and RBs I believed had more potential value. As a result, I changed course in mid-draft and became a streamer. Had the draft played out differently, locking in a solid D/ST and PK without sacrificing too much in the way of middle round talent would have been my choice.

Sure, your locked-in PK is probably putting up a few more points than my steaming PKs. But how's your depth at RB? At WR? Looking back, would a Knowshon Moreno in the 10th round have been a better option? While your advice is well-intended, you often fail to grasp that not everything can be your way or the highway, that what's working for you isn't any sort of proof it will work for anyone other than you.

We're all tickled pink that you're outscoring the universe with your locked-in kicker and defense. And those Tim Wright and Zac Stacy WW grabs were amazingly brilliant and have likely compensated for what you gave up to reach for that PK and D/ST. But please don't confuse your isolated success with one theory or one dogma as a cure-all for what ails the rest of us. It isn't.

[American Chewy 98]

just because someone has identified a PK and Def they liked in the draft doesn't mean they had to reach on them. Yes, if a bunch of people in my league were way over-reaching for K's and Def's then I suppose I throw out my strategy. but most leagues/drafts might have only a team or two reaching high for K's and Def's. most of the time the rest of the league will wait till rounds 12-14 to take theirs. So maybe I go a round earlier at most to get "my guy". and if I don't get them, i'm looking for that def/k in weeks 1-2 that I can hold the rest of the year.

[plasma george 52]

I agree, why the he!! do we have Kickers in FF anyway ?

People argue to rid the NFL of FGs and extra points, that's hard to see, but far easy to just stop the nerdy soccer players from meaning anything in FF.

Hate when my RB/WR/QB outplayed someone, but for some unpredictable reason his Kicker had 4 FGs to my 4 PATs and he wins.

FF BS.

 

Streaming kickers is fairly dumb since their production really cannot be predicted week to week. It's best to stick with one kicker from a good but not great offense (I.e. an offense that moves the ball but struggles in the red zone).

 

[IGotWorms 3,342]

I agree, why the he!! do we have Kickers in FF anyway ?

People argue to rid the NFL of FGs and extra points, that's hard to see, but far easy to just stop the nerdy soccer players from meaning anything in FF.

Hate when my RB/WR/QB outplayed someone, but for some unpredictable reason his Kicker had 4 FGs to my 4 PATs and he wins.

FF BS.

 

In one of my leagues kickers are scored so low that they're nearly meaningless. I rather like that approach.

[AnaheimRams 28]

So, the streamers ... while they were out there trying to determine which defense or kicker to pick up each given week ... I picked up Tim Wright and Zac Stacy. And, I bet the Ghost has outscored any streaming kicker guru. Defenses make a little more sense ... but kickers ... take a good one and forget about it. DST too. I outscore most of my opponents every year in those 2 categories because I use the draft picks.

 

Keep on streamin'!

 

 

Woopty do. You draft a kicker and (think) you score better than those that don't. How many points did position players score... that were drafted while you drafted a farking kicker?

 

There is no reason... EVER... to use anything other than your last pick (at the most) to grab a kicker... I never draft or buy (in auctions) a kicker. Fill my roster and grab one off the pile before week 1.

 

Btw... I grabbed Gano off the pile for this week... how'd he do?

[Herbivore 911]

I agree, why the he!! do we have Kickers in FF anyway ?

People argue to rid the NFL of FGs and extra points, that's hard to see, but far easy to just stop the nerdy soccer players from meaning anything in FF.

Hate when my RB/WR/QB outplayed someone, but for some unpredictable reason his Kicker had 4 FGs to my 4 PATs and he wins.

FF BS.

 

 

And then when TE beats you..damnit.

[McBain 13]

I've been unhappy with the standard DST scoring. What I don't like is a lot of times, the best defenses in the league don't translate to the best defenses in fantasy football. For example the Cowboys are third best DST in my league, but in real life they are very middle of the pack. I think unpredictable pick/fumble 6s account for too much and a lot of times that's more a result of playing bad offenses than being a good defense.

 

Haven't experimented with this yet, I'd be interested in knowing the what the results would be like if defensive TDs were not counted.

[Filthy Fernadez 2,696]

There are only a couple DEFs at most who warrant drafting each year and usually they aren't known at draft time.

 

Go ahead and waste a 7th-9th round pick on one, trying to find the needle in the haystack. I'll continue watching the first couple weeks, trying to find that year's K.C. DEF.

 

If you just stick with one DEF each and every week, I guarantee you're leaving points on the board. Kickers; grab one from a good 'in between the twenties' team and stick with them.

 

That being said, do your homework and realize just because a team is facing a sh!tty opponent doesn't make them a good DEF to start. If they're below average on sacks, most likely they're not worth starting. Good pass rush = sacks, INTs, fumbles and most likely lower points against.

[chroniciguana 13]

,,,. the nerdy soccer players ,,,

 

Ouch! Hittin' a little close to home there on that one ...

[heffley 12]

Since NFL is making the league more Offense friendly and screwing the DEF I think it should be standard in every league that Tackles for loss get a DEF points. Not a lot of points but maybe .25 or .5 for every TFL.

[Busted by the Feds 9]

There are only a couple DEFs at most who warrant drafting each year and usually they aren't known at draft time.

 

Go ahead and waste a 7th-9th round pick on one, trying to find the needle in the haystack. I'll continue watching the first couple weeks, trying to find that year's K.C. DEF.

 

If you just stick with one DEF each and every week, I guarantee you're leaving points on the board. Kickers; grab one from a good 'in between the twenties' team and stick with them.

 

That being said, do your homework and realize just because a team is facing a sh!tty opponent doesn't make them a good DEF to start. If they're below average on sacks, most likely they're not worth starting. Good pass rush = sacks, INTs, fumbles and most likely lower points against.

 

Or the other way can happen too . Spend a 9th round pick on Seattle, then you have a steady DST the rest of the year . Well, those RB or WR you could have picked up in that spot you say ? You could have snagged a Stacy or Keenan Allen later on as a ww pick .

[plasma george 52]

Ouch! Hittin' a little close to home there on that one ...

Feel sorry for you, that's close to home for you.

[sirwinz42 1]

I've won at least 4 games this year due to streaming Def's. Years ago I would draft a top 3 defense earlier in the draft, and watched free agent D's outscore them. Never again.

[FakeFoozballIzFun 6]

I'm considering trading Joique for Seahawks D in one league that I'm in because there's a weekly max of 2 waiver pickups and streaming every week limits me to 1 pickup per week which kind of sucks because I could've added a considerable amount of depth to my team from waivers this week but instead I had to decide between streaming and only getting 1 waiver pickup or sticking with last week's D and getting 2 waiver pickups...

[montana 89]

In August Denver & Houston Ds went somewhere between 9-11 round. Both are on the waiver as I speak in 2 leagues & just Denver in one more.

Go ahead & grab that D then...I p/u KC wk 2 in 4 outta 5 leagues. League 5 I have SF (who was dropped about 4 wks ago) & Tennessee (undrafted like KC).

[illini9825 7]

It's so unpredictable that I wait until the second to last round to draft a D. The Chiefs went undrafted in most leagues and I was able to pick them up and stuck with them and have the Titans on their bye. Both undrafted.

[TonyB1972 1]

I pick up defenses and week 8 I was offered KC or SEA def (the #1 and 2 in our league), so I went back and added up my points, using my rotating defenses, and compared them to KC, which was the #1 def, and I was less than a point a week off of the KC pace.

 

I also do not pick up defenses in my #1 waiver slot, if a good player is to be had, so the argument that people are missing out, is wrong, at least in my case. DEF/K are never my first picks in a refresh waiver, unless their is no one I want....In a rolling waiver, I generally wait for the waiver to pass if I can.... If I have a bench I don't mind using, I will also maybe snag a def for the following week...Just depends on the league/team.

 

I just don't see many people passing up position players to grab their ideal kicker or defense for the week.

[American Chewy 98]

some people here seem to think drafting (reaching for) a defense high is the only alternative to streaming. I think what the OP and people like me are saying is you try to identify the best defense as early as possible (with either a very late draft pick or week 1-2 pickup) then stick with them every week. doing that is more likely to be successful than switching every week. same with kickers.