Ask the Expert Question: How big of a factor do you allow weather (rain, wind, snow) to play in your weekly lineup decisions?

How big of a factor do you allow weather (rain, wind, snow) to play in your weekly lineup decisions?

Tip #120 from my second book, Fantasy Football Tips: Treat Mother Nature with respect, i.e do not ignore the weather. I refer to www.NFLweather.com weekly. Winds affect the QB, WR and K. Swirling winds are the worst, a steady wind can be compensated for with their passes or kicks. I do not worry too much about snow. ManyRBs and WRs love snow because they know where they are going and can use the snow to their advantage.  Heavy snow is a problem (think blizzard) which affects visibility (anyone remember Kurt Warner in Foxboro week 16 of 2008?). Kickers do not like heavy snow either since it reduces the distance a ball can travel. Rain affects players differently; so it is not that big of a factor to me. Cold can hurt the warm weather/dome teams especially in mid to late November and December. Really cold weather is good for RBs especially those that get to carry the ball in the second half of the game. Those defenders are cold and tired and the RB is just warming up! Night games late in the season generally favour RBs as the sun goes down. To summarise, there are certain weather situations which I do take into account when ranking players for the week, but most (like rain or a steady, windy day) are not that big.



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Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2012, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20+ year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Books from Extra Point Press:

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

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