Fantasy Football Midseason Strategy: Expect the Unexpected

Football fans, this has been the season of utmost parity in the NFL, and it's also been the season of injuries, lots of injuries.  Tight ends in particular have been affected tremendously.  Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers and Zach Miller of the Oakland Raiders were taken out of the game last week.  Zach Miller doesn't look like he's going to return anytime soon. Wide receivers have also been affected although not to such an extent.  DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles suffered a concussion, and he should return this week (although quite possibly not 100 percent).Tennessee Titans receiver Kenny Britt got taken out in last Sunday's game, and it looks quite severe.  So what are we to do?

Survival should be the mid-season motto. Most of us who played fantasy football quite a while never encountered a season such as this season.  But the end of last season should have been a harbinger for this season, using players who had no names such as Jerome Harrison of the Cleveland Browns or the Oakland Raiders defense.

With this season, we had Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who busted last week and Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd who exploded again. Brandon Lloyd has been consistently better than Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne or Miami Dolphins Brandon Marshall, which has been a quite a surprise to a number of fantasy football owners. Aside from the top-shelf running backs -- Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and Arian Foster of the Houston Texans, very few of the other players in the NFL have demonstrated any real consistency statistically. For example, the formerly consistent Steelers and Titans defenses were both blown out last week.

This is the season to plan for the unexpected.  Journeymen can transition into elite players, like Brandon Lloyd.  Disappointments of past years can transform into substantive players, like Darren McFadden. Fantasy football stars of last season like Jerome Harrison can turn into fantasy busts.

What have you thought of this fantasy football season so far?