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So I'm chopping and changing a lot trying to tweak the side. I'm more concerned with the structural side of things over the exact personnel, though in some cases the personnel inform the structure; because sometimes there's no equivilent player at the same price. Doing this months from the start of the season is a big exercise in futility.
The biggest hurdle I need to address is building a team from the bottom up. So many seasons I start with overvaluing my bottom half-dozen players who just clog my bench in the magoos and don't make more than $50k, so I want my bench to be consistently playing this year. Even if they average about 50; it's fine if they keep motoring along with green dots. I think I've done okay at this early stage balancing bench JS and scoring potential.
I won't be going line by line, instead I'll be going by predicted value strata.
Potentially Overpriced:
Sheezel.
So I've been reluctant to overspend anywhere in the team, but the question is, can you always pick at value? Sheezel is probably my only solid C choice early on, even if he could be 2-3 ppg overpriced.
Fairly Priced:
Clark, LDU, JHF, Rankine.
If these players all finished between +/- 2.5 ppg of their starting price I wouldn't be surprised. People well overestimate how many points a player can average overall. And some might rightfully point out that picking someone like LDU isn't worth it if I think he's going to average 110. But I'd say that the story would change if I was bullish on him going 115-120. The other side of the coin is that the players going 115-120 have more risk of dropping, so a solid 110 option at fair starting value isn't so bad. The other thing is that overall average doesn't matter, what matters is the price one pays and the average in one's team. The other issue is structure. Rankine was my last picked 'premium' but I think he keeps my best 23 extremely solid.
Potential Value Keepers:
NWM, Petracca, Dawson, Oliver, TDK, Macrae, B. Smith.
So these players go between a few ppg of upside, potential list cloggers to potential best of line picks at massive discount. If the season averages of these players ended up being 105, 110, 110, 110, 110, 95, 100 that would be a decent return to me.
Potential Value Keepers with Cash Cow upside.
Mills, Coleman, Flynn, Philipou, Daniel.
Basically the same as above but with the exit of potentially being able to cash them in if they don't work. On the flip side, if they fail early, a complete restructure could be extremely costly.
Cash Cows: 14
Now is this the best strategy? How many top of the line players should one have, even if they overspend. How many top of the line players from 2024 will end up being top of line in 2025. Who will cruise at $630k+ for the whole season? Who will cruise at $630k for the first quarter/third/half of the season before crashing and burning everyone who picked them. Who will go the other way?
I wanted to go a full value side with literally millions in the bank but I calculated I had to average something like 2600 ppr from Round 7 to have a chance of winning overall; even if my side was the absolute best in the comp by the end of upgrade season there's no way I could guarantee that happening, even if I managed to get 25-26 gun premiums, I'd still be relying on nailing fielding choices and there's diminishing returns on the value of each premium beyond a full side. Maybe a strategy like that could still work for hunting late season weekly prizes or cash leagues though; always buying at value and never spending over $550k, for instance. But also, I think it's important to remember not spend cash just because one has it. I always forget that rule.