My first stab at playing in an NFL fantasy league

Ed Dickson, currently the starting TE at Carolina

This year I have been roped into managing a fantasy NFL team in a 12 player league being administered by a friend of my brother. Although we live in England, we have been fans of the old gridiron since Channel 4 first started broadcasting a regular Sunday evening show back in about 1985. American football had fascinated me from an earlier age, however, as living in the Middle East we were able to watch college football on Saudi Aramco's TV channel.

Fast forward to 2017, and I'm stumbling into the first quarter of the season. We are an eclectic mix of managers, including Brits, Australians and Americans. I think there is a Kiwi in there too.

The opening draft was special, taking place at noon on a Saturday, in order to accommodate bedtime in Australia and breakfast in North Carolina. I ran a couple of simulated drafts in advance, but as far as I could see, there was broad consensus in terms of the players chosen. It was obvious on your turn who you should opt for.

It is unlike fantasy cricket - if you play fantasy cricket during the English county cricket season - in fantasy cricket, once you have a player on your roster, he's yours until you choose to trade him or drop him. In the Daily Telegraph's fantasy cricket league, more than one player can benefit from the same cricketer's points during a week. Also, the English cricket season is a sprawling, fragmented affair, making it hard to keep track of who is playing when unless you are extremely dedicated.

My first draft left me with what I thought was a fairly strong team, although I did end up with three quarterbacks, namely Cam Newton, Trevor Siemian and Tyrod Taylor. All three are starting quarterbacks, giving them a good prospect of scoring each week. I note also that quarterbacks are the biggest consistent points earners, so mess this up, and you can mess up your season.

My problem is deciding which one to go with. While I've got a fairly solid corps of running backs, including Devonta Freeman and Jordan Howard, I'm rotating my QBs as if they were pitchers in baseball. Newton has been regularly talked down since the season started, following on from a shoulder injury, but has become a decent performer. I suspect that Carolina is deliberately making him seem more badly injured than he really is, to out fake the other teams - will he play, won't he? You can imagine the frustration.

As I write this Newton has just netted me 22.1 points following the Panthers' loss to the Eagles. But deciding from week to week is difficult, as inevitably one of the QBs you have benched plays a blinder. That's just how it is. But is it maddening at times, when you see a possible victory slip through your fingers.

I'm still struggling a little against my competitors: going into this weekend I'm 2-3, but hoping to take myself to .500 if I can. It is another week where some NFL teams have a bye week, as was last week, which means some of my personnel are not playing. You really need to fill all your player slots for each weekend, otherwise you will likely lose. Even failing to start a kicker can cost you a game. I've been finding that my games are coming down to + / - 15 points or less, so I am well aware that you need to do all you can to make sure you have a healthy squad with a good chance of making some points.

Thus far I've had some surprises, and some canny moves. Picking up Carolina TE Ed Dickson off waivers after Greg Olsen was injured for the season was one: my fellow coaches had not picked up on the fact that Carolina would likely be forced to start him against New England in Week 4. I grabbed him and since then he has netted 7.2 vs New England, an awesome 19.2 against Detroit, and 4.9 against Philadelphia this week. Still, that's not bad for someone who was lazing around on waivers.

I'll probably report back on my progress later on in the season when I have more to ruminate on.