WELCOME TO FANTASY FOOTBALL 2023!!
By Jeff Mans
As I sit here and form my thoughts about our 2023 NFL product, I hope that these times are finding you all well. Every year presents new obstacles and an ever-changing set of circumstances, and the first five months of 2023 has been no exception.
If I am being honest, this year has been a complete shit show for me and my family. If you have followed me on Twitter, listened to the One Mans Opinion Podcast or been active in the Mans Cave Discord channel than you are likely aware of the issues I have been going through. If not, consider yourself lucky and believe me that you don’t want to hear my sob stories.
While I don’t mind sharing my stories or the trials and tribulations of the past few months, the launch of our NFL product here at Fantasy Guru is where I am focused. I’ve been almost giddy with excitement putting this Draft Guide together this year. I always love my work, but this year it is such an amazing and welcome relief to my soul and I cannot wait to share it with you all now.
So please pardon me if I am laser focused on the work this season. I really enjoy researching and uncovering the edges we need in seasonal, daily and betting and I know that the better our advantages are, the better the rest of 2023 will be.
Let’s start with the basics. Last year is over. Please rid yourself of the nasty albatross that is clinging onto the previous seasons results. We have five new head coaches, 16 new offensive coordinators and 13 new defensive coordinators. If you dive into 2023 with a 2022 mindset you are dead money. We as a community need to keep each other focused on what is ahead of us because those are our obstacles.
I have come to actually despise anything with the word or reference to “consensus.” Consensus is the death blow to any great analyst or fantasy player. Watering down your projections, rankings, player pool, bets, etc by combining them with a bunch of other bullshit is no way to achieve your goals. If you play fantasy football by doing all of the moves that the general public will accept, you are in trouble. If you are unable or unwilling to go out on a limb and risk a loss than you don’t have what it takes to be a champion.
Last year we pushed you to stop waiting on QB’s and reach of the elite passers in your drafts. This led us to get a lot of Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts. That strategy worked out quite well I would say. We also predicted the rise of the Dolphins, Giants and Jaguars before anybody knew they were forces to be reckoned with. We were also able to avoid the chaos that was the Trey Lance mania, the chasing of the Rams and late season fade of Derrick Henry.
So, what about this season? Well I can promise you that we are not going to be drafting Jets WR Garrett Wilson in the first round. We aren’t going to force running backs onto our rosters in the early rounds either. Personally, I was as little to do with the Cardinals, Ravens, Buccaneers and Titans as humanly possible. I have a new policy on drafting running backs and am all about getting elite caliber QB’s and/or TE’s as early as round one.
We aren’t going to do things the way our parents and grandparents did. We aren’t going to sit back and lean on our 28 years of providing top shelf fantasy football analysis. We are going to grab this NFL season by the balls and make it know that we are in control of our destiny.
Let’s put the excuses away and start putting one foot in front of the other to climb this mountain. The sooner we begin, the more steadfast that we are in our belifs and the more we persevere through every obstacle thrown in our way, the sweeter that nectar of victory will taste. From the scorching hot dog days of summer through when we are sharing pictures of our Christmas lights, we are all in this together.
Please don’t be a stranger this season. Feel free to hit me up in Discord, on Twitter, on the SXM show or anywhere else. There is nothing more important to me right now than putting the drama of this year behind me and helping each and every one of you achieve your goals this season.
LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Jeff Mans