fantasy impact of coronavirus

[FiremanEd]

Sort of off topic of the discussion, but aligned with the topic overall, I’m surprised DLF hasn’t an article in any way about COVID impacts and league workarounds. Or have I missed it? Perhaps something about handling 2021 draft order will come when things are finalized in that direction, but I feel like something could have been discussed by the writers and at least something posted to help avid fans who subscribe, many of which are undoubtably commissioners trying to plan.

[Shoreline Steamers]

It's not really a positive aspect of how the season is likely to play out. But it could be reasoned that if injuries and COVID hit the league hard this year, it will be an equalizer for fantasy leagues in 2020. Many rosters that otherwise might not have appeared to be a contender could end up in that position if they're the collection of players fortunate enough to avoid the land mines of injury and illness.

And I imagine waiver-wires will be hotter than ever each week as well.

[Pullo Vision]

It's not really a positive aspect of how the season is likely to play out. But it could be reasoned that if injuries and COVID hit the league hard this year, it will be an equalizer for fantasy leagues in 2020. Many rosters that otherwise might not have appeared to be a contender could end up in that position if they're the collection of players fortunate enough to avoid the land mines of injury and illness.

And I imagine waiver-wires will be hotter than ever each week as well.

Been thinking that for a bit, been wanting to post this for a few days. The top ticket front runners like Russell Wilson will have the money to avoid the risk (real or perceived) of playing or being near their team. If too many studs opt out, the season could be decided not by the real contenders but deep stashes and whoever is the most active or craziest off waivers. Snap counts could resemble week 1 or 4 preseason games.

If rosters get gutted, late round draftees and UDFAs might end up having crazy high, random value spikes.

[Forza_Azzurri]

It looks like the only "feasible" solution at this point might be a "deployed in place" setup where the players/staff are put up in a hotel for the season with bussing between facilities, etc. They could mostly keep everyone isolated that way, but people would be away from their families and semblance of a normal life for months. That said, I doubt the idea would gain widespread traction especially with what would now be pretty short notice.

I think the bigger issue is what to do when they play away games. A lot will probably ride on how the MLB season goes with those teams traveling and if cases spike with travel and how the MLB handles that if it happens. There's also the issue of where certain games are. In week two, Buffalo plays at Miami but Buffalo plays at home the next week. If New York still has the mandatory quarantine for people coming from Florida how does that affect Buffalo? We're still two months out from that but at the rate Florida is going I don't know if that would be resolved in time.

That's a great point ... had not considered that. This is going to be a bleep show.

[Csl312]

Regarding daily testing I'm guessing these leagues havd set up their own labs. Might even be synthesizing the tests themselves. The majority of these tests don't take long to run, but they get batched in together to save money and effort. So it takes a while for results to come back. If you have a lab with staff dedicated to running tests for your sports league they can probably easily crank through the whole league daily. It's not really taking away from the general public unless the NFL was going to be paying for a bunch of tests for the general public.

[CubfanAA]

Regarding daily testing I'm guessing these leagues havd set up their own labs. Might even be synthesizing the tests themselves. The majority of these tests don't take long to run, but they get batched in together to save money and effort. So it takes a while for results to come back. If you have a lab with staff dedicated to running tests for your sports league they can probably easily crank through the whole league daily. It's not really taking away from the general public unless the NFL was going to be paying for a bunch of tests for the general public.

This would be a huge conflict of interest which I highly doubt any of the players unions would allow to happen. There is just almost no way the leagues have their own labs and are synthesizing their own tests....

[captain howdy]

It looks like the only "feasible" solution at this point might be a "deployed in place" setup where the players/staff are put up in a hotel for the season with bussing between facilities, etc. They could mostly keep everyone isolated that way, but people would be away from their families and semblance of a normal life for months. That said, I doubt the idea would gain widespread traction especially with what would now be pretty short notice.

I think the bigger issue is what to do when they play away games. A lot will probably ride on how the MLB season goes with those teams traveling and if cases spike with travel and how the MLB handles that if it happens. There's also the issue of where certain games are. In week two, Buffalo plays at Miami but Buffalo plays at home the next week. If New York still has the mandatory quarantine for people coming from Florida how does that affect Buffalo? We're still two months out from that but at the rate Florida is going I don't know if that would be resolved in time.

That's a great point ... had not considered that. This is going to be a bleep show.

You can get around the 2 week quarantine with the testing.

[YouMightDieTryin]

Regarding daily testing I'm guessing these leagues havd set up their own labs. Might even be synthesizing the tests themselves. The majority of these tests don't take long to run, but they get batched in together to save money and effort. So it takes a while for results to come back. If you have a lab with staff dedicated to running tests for your sports league they can probably easily crank through the whole league daily. It's not really taking away from the general public unless the NFL was going to be paying for a bunch of tests for the general public.

This would be a huge conflict of interest which I highly doubt any of the players unions would allow to happen. There is just almost no way the leagues have their own labs and are synthesizing their own tests....

They have their own team docs already? What makes you think they won't hire on their own team lab techs to run a few tests? Commission an independent company to produce your tests for you and you're off running. It might be costly, but well worth the price if they can keep the league going.

[murphysxm]

[/quote]

You can get around the 2 week quarantine with the testing.
[/quote]

Not really, with the 25-40% false negative trend medical experts are sharing, lots of players could have the virus, and test negative. By the time a positive test comes back, everybody they were in contact with could now have the virus and should technical 14 day quarentine.

[Orenthal Shames]

Masks required at NFL games.

Cue the "I'm boycotting the NFL" crowd.

[FantasyFreak]

Masks required at NFL games.

Cue the "I'm boycotting the NFL" crowd.

They already did that when they allowed social messaging on helmets. BTW, some teams are already going without fans, and I expect/hope the rest of the league to end up that way, by week 1.

BTW. I'm looking forward to seeing the security trying to enforce this easily enforceable policy with the average NFL fan after a few adult beverages. Should be no issues whatsoever.

The NFL is losing fans. If I wasn't playing Dynasty Football and didn't have money invested for the next 2 years, as well as a commish role in 4 leagues, I'd probably tune the league out, and the way it's going, I probably will at some point. Between the clear and obvious greed placed above all else, and ignorant players political stances and constant need to comment on everything, including whining over their Madden rating, it's getting really hard to find any sort of common ground and relate to these people enough to want to spend time watching them.

[Ray Finkle]

Rotoworld tweeted that Todd Gurley is voicing his opinion on the need for a safety plan concerning the COVID and that he is “open to sitting out” if such a plan is not implemented.

It’s risky, that’s all there is to it. Selfishly, I just hope the majority of players are willing to risk it.

[FantasyFreak]

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-nflpa-reac ... nts-to-cba

[FantasyFreak]

12 rookies have already tested positive.

https://www.nfl.com/news/nflpa-informs- ... r-covid-19

Chiefs lose a starting OL who opts out.

https://www.nfl.com/news/chiefs-guard-l ... 020-season

I believe he is an MD, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. His medical education probably had a strong part in his decision. He's almost 30, just won a SB, and has a post NFL career as a doctor. Curious what effect this will have on other players, giving his medical background.

[abloom]

Biggest thing I got out of the agreement. Even if people not medically at risk opt out they get $150k and their contract still tolls. Let's see how many in their rookie contract (mixon, cook, kamara) use that to improve their bargaining position in the next week.