By Cullen Cosme ‘21

This football season marks another year of the 10 team fantasy football league I am in with some friends. Over the previous few seasons my teams have posted some not-so-good records which include a last-place finish leading to a punishment haircut. Aidan O’Connor, the defending champ always jokes, “I enjoy the bye week as I call it, when I play Cullen. It is always nice knowing that there is an excellent chance that you have an automatic victory.”

When the NFL deemed it was safe to play, they still faced many challenges keeping the players and other personnel safe.

One thing they did was cancel all of the preseason games. The limited on field work the players have had made it challenging to be prepared for the season. Senior Brennan O’Malley said, “Injuries are going to be a higher clip than usual because of the limited preparation for the season. Everything this season is going to be different and we all have to adjust.”

Just take the 2nd week of the season as an example, where we saw too many players leaving the field. Injuries are uncontrollable, but the rate they are occurring at this year is concerning.

Another challenge for this season is if one of your players tests positive for the coronavirus and must quarantine and miss some games. You may have to use the IR spot on your roster to hold on to the infected player or even release him from your roster.

O’Connor said, “Fantasy football will be tougher this season due to the questions regarding COVID-19. With the uncertainty of the virus this may lead to players opting out, and this could also cause game day nightmares for the fantasy owners. Managing your roster week in and out is going to be difficult.”

Filling this season backup players will be important to managers because if you find yourself in some sort of situation with starters missing time, you will have to rely on the backups stepping up.

No longer will my team be the laughing stock of the league or automatic victor. This season will have plenty of changes and oddities compared to previous years. One of the biggest changes will be seeing my team with a winning record.