Fantasy Football Midseason Tutorial: How To Save a Lost Season

So, you got the top pick, drafted Adrian Peterson, coasted, and now you're 1-5.

Or maybe you landed Tom Brady and Randy Moss in the first two rounds, had zero depth at running back, and are just now reaping the benefits from the Patriots connection.

There are hundreds of stories like these.

You have a wide receiver corps that is absolutely stacked, but you started the season 0-4 because you were depending on Brian Westbrook, Larry Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, and Matt Forte.

Big name guys, like it or not, can fail you. Your top draft picks, just like in real life, can be busts. Injuries happen. Trades happen.

But whether you're 3-3 or 0-6, it's not over yet. In standard leagues, you still have eight games left. And in most leagues, that means a 7-1 or 6-2 run would almost guarantee you the last spot in your league for the playoffs.

So, instead of throwing in the towel, what say we take a refresher course on how to be successful this year. How do we, with this roster, this team, this pool of free agents, win right now ? Very simple. Just follow these rules:

1. Keep Your Focus

Mindset has a ton to do with what happens in the next eight weeks. If you think your players suck, that no one on the waiver wire is usable, or that none of your players have matchups that can be exploited, then you will lose.

Take control of your team (especially if you have money on the line), and stay active, and keep yourself focused. If you lost six straight games, there's no reason why your fortunes can't change and the next six go your way.

That is, unless Derek Anderson is your starting quarterback.

2. Make the No-Brainer Adjustments First

Like the aforementioned Anderson, for instance: Drop him.

Obviously this gets a little more complicated in deep leagues that carry two quarterbacks. If that's the case, you'll have to stick it out, but if you can afford to, you might want to add extra quarterback depth.

Example: The Patriots are playing a terrible Tampa Bay team in Week Seven. If the game gets even close to what happened last week against Tennessee (59-0), we'll be seeing at least a whole quarter of Tom Brady's backup, Brian Hoyer.

Or like a few weeks ago, when The New York Giants were facing the Oakland Raiders, and you could be almost certain that you'd be seeing a solid quarter or two of David Carr.

It takes extra time and effort, as well as strategizing with your roster make-up, but what needs to be done should be done

For the rest of this list, go to www.gridironexperts.com, and for more advice, e-mail [e-mail]