Week 5 Fantasy Football: Advice for Desperate Fantasy Football Owners

As we head into Week 5, a slew of fantasy football owners stand 0-4 with no decent chance of improving. It's starting to become desperation time for them. So how do they accomplish the slim chance of improving their teams? Here's some quick and easy advice on how to improve your team before the Week 5 matchups. 

The first thing you have to do is calm down, the biggest thing you can do to hurt your team is take away a player's chance to do well over a few weeks. If you're changing a majority of your lineup week in and week out—stop. I know it's a lot to worry about when your first-round draft pick only scores 3 points, but it's most likely not the norm and you just need to give them a second chance. 

Once you've established your core group of players—I'm talking players who have at least been decent for the good of the team—leave them in your starting lineup barring injury or bye week. 

Next, move on to players that have had a good week or two, but nothing significant enough to grant them permanent starting access. If they've just performed big in the last two weeks, get rid of them. Yep, make some aggressive offers for a consistent player. They're are some big advantages to a consistent player over 5 weeks rather than one who is above average every few. 

Let's say Player A scores point totals of 11, 7, 8, 10 and 9 through the first five weeks, not bad. On the other hand you have Player B, who has totals of 8,0,2,3,22. Yes the 22-point performance was great for your team, but you're still 0-4 or 1-3 and in a bad spot early. You want the consistency because it's going to lead to close 50/50 matchups where the chance of winning improves greatly. 

Lastly, just have fun with it. If you haven't won a game, and your team is really that bad, then go out on a limb and make a crazy waiver pickup. Use this season as a building season and teach yourself what works and what doesn't, try and look for patterns on pickups that can lead to solid success for you in the future. 

If you're in a standard league it's a little easier to do this compared to a keeper league, but find the best weekly matchups and see where they take you. 

The excitement from fantasy football comes from the fact that even though you've started with a bad record, you can overcome this and squeak your way into the playoffs. Remember, keep faith in your core, trade for consistency, but don't be afraid to go out on a limb and have some fun with waiver pickups. 

Follow this advice and you should find your way back to a shot at the playoffs.

Nicholas Moffitt is a sophomore journalism student at the University of Iowa. Follow him on twitter: @nickmoff. Send all your fantasy questions to him by tweeting at him or with the hashtag #BRfantasy for advice on anything fantasy.