Full Roster Dilemmas

One of my leagues is an 8-team rotisserie format with standard categories + TOs, and with 100 games played/position. This means that we have a little more freedom in substituting bench players into the starting lineup. in other words, we really don't have a bench; we always play players who have games on that day. It often happens that there are more players with games than there are positions available.

So there our dilemma arises: who do we bench, and who do we play?

Personally, I weigh a lot of factors before deciding on my final lineup for the day. Of course, a good manager is always updated with player news, and that includes injury reports. For example, I have Joe Johnson in my team but he's out with a calf injury, so he goes to the bench, and I replaced him with Josh Howard. More often though, you find that your lineup is quite healthy and that it is inevitable that you will bench players who will surely play. As for situations like those, I usually look at the player's opponent for that day and see whether it will be easy for him to contribute in the categories. I usually don't play players going against good defensive teams. Sometimes I also consider the production ceiling, or the realistic projections of stats that a player can produce. These are just some things I consider when making decisions for my lineup. Of course, different managers, different rationales, different considerations.

One final thing I'd like to point out though is that you should be happy with the decisions you make. Fantasy sports is a guessing game to a large extent and as such, very unpredictable. All analyses are only educated guesses and we can only hope for the best. Sometimes we bench players who contribute across the board. Personally, as long as I knew I made reasonable guesses and I'm happy with my decisions, I don't get that much disappointed when I bench a player who plays superbly. What mattered is that I tried to fix my lineup to get the best stats possible, and if the fantasy gods don't shine on me, then so be it.