RELATED: See lessons learned at specific positions:
Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends
In this week's roundtable series, I asked our Footballguys staff to discuss their fantasy New Year's resolutions for the quarterback, tight end, running back, and wide receiver positions.
In today's article, we share our final thoughts on the lessons learned from 2024 and overall takeaways for approaching drafting in 2025.
Final Thoughts on Lessons Learned
The Christian McCaffrey Fiasco
Jason Wood: The "Christian McCaffrey Fiasco" is a black eye on the entire fantasy football industry this year. He was the consensus first-overall pick for nearly everyone in the fantasy community, yet we completely ignored that he was injured for the entire preseason. Sure, part of our indifference was driven by the NFL media consistently downplaying the injury, but ultimately, it's on us to look beyond media reports and know when to pivot.
The data shows that drafting McCaffrey this year created a massive headwind for making your league's playoffs—something that could have been avoided if we had collectively discounted him by a round or two due to the injury concerns. My resolution is to properly discount any player who doesn't practice or play at all during the preseason. While this scenario doesn't happen often, we should never keep a player in the top half of the first round when it does.
Colton Dodgson: Fantasy can't be more of a minefield. Even if you avoided the Christian McCaffrey trap, there were any number of ways to fumble your season. Sometimes, you also have the pressure of rankings or outward opinions running counter to your own instincts. My wife caught a ton of flack when she drafted CeeDee Lamb over Christian McCaffrey at 1.01 in our home redraft league. Still, she went with what she believed to be the right choice. In this case, it worked out. Lamb might not have returned 1.01 value, but he didn't derail her season like McCaffrey would have.
That decision stuck with me. I didn't necessarily think it was what I would've done. All of the brilliant minds compiling pre-draft rankings had McCaffrey as the top overall option. It made perfect sense, too. Given the run he'd been on in San Francisco, how could you not take McCaffrey? I probably would have. Still, she stuck to her guns and went with who she believed in. Her season ended in the quarterfinals. It would've ended a lot sooner had she gone with the consensus choice in McCaffrey. That's my takeaway. Use the resources available – the rankings, start/sit articles, waiver wire advice – as supplements. At the end of the day, the team is yours, and it's only yours if you rely on your instincts to make the calls. As long as you take the time to understand your approach and stick to it through thick and thin, I think you can live with the results. Even the biggest names in this industry have missed the playoffs.
Rookies with Preseason Injuries
Dave Kluge: Rookies who cannot partake in training camp and preseason games will be radioactive to me going forward. Jaxon Smith-Njigba missed almost all of his rookie season camp with a wrist injury and never got up to speed as a rookie. In Year 2, however, with an entire camp under his belt, Smith-Njigba blossomed into one of the league's most dynamic receivers. From this year's rookie class, Jonathon Brooks and Roman Wilson dealt with preseason injuries and contributed almost nothing. After breaking his foot injury during his rookie camp, Kyren Williams hardly saw the field before massive breakouts in Years 2 and 3. Jameson Williams is another example of a player who needed to get a full and healthy preseason under his belt before finally breaking out. As Mike Tomlin said regarding Wilson's lack of involvement this year, “It is very difficult to get on a moving train.” I will heed that advice in the future.
Jeff Blaylock: I agree with Jason's assessment that fantasy analysts, including myself, overly discounted the impacts of offseason and preseason injuries. I mostly avoided the “Christian McCaffrey Fiasco,” as he called it, but only because I did not have a top-three pick in any of my redraft leagues. I also agree with Dave's assessment that rookies who miss training camp are now completely off the redraft radar. I'll only use dynasty picks for players like Jonathon Brooks or J.J. McCarthy if I can afford to let them sit a year or two without contributing.
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