The way the last year and a half has gone it would seem only fitting that fantasy sports wouldn’t be exempt from COVID wreaking havoc on leagues. With major outbreaks in Cleveland, Washington, and Los Angeles, the NFL elected to postpone several games this weekend, which caused mild panic amongst the fantasy football faithful, concerned that half their lineups may be sidelined when they need them the most.
With more cases popping up daily, the only safe bet at this point seems to have been starting Chiefs or Chargers players on Thursday night and at least posting a score in your round 1 playoff matchup. Adam Schefter is currently reporting that the Raiders vs. Browns game has been rescheduled for Monday at 5pm ET, while the Seahawks vs. Rams and WFT vs. Eagles games have been pushed to Tuesday at 7pm ET as well.
As managers began lobbying their commissioners, and flooding the Yahoo/ESPN help desks with inquiries about scoring adjustments, Yahoo decided to get in front of the issue and released the following statement late Friday:
“As you may know, COVID has impacted the NFL schedule in Week 15. We’re sending you this update so that you can adjust your lineup(s) based on the latest information from the NFL. Here’s what you need to know right now:
- Raiders/Browns: moved to Monday, December 20 (remains in Week 15).
- Seahawks/Rams: moved to Tuesday, December 21 (remains in Week 15).
- Washington Football Team/Eagles: moved to Tuesday, December 21 (remains in Week 15).
- Waivers and trades will be processed on Thursday morning instead of Wednesday morning.
Here’s how we will proceed with transaction/waiver processing and other weekly items following the completion of Week 15.
- Waivers: Players that would have cleared waivers on Wednesday morning will now be processed on Thursday morning. This will give you time to make roster changes in the new week before waivers are processed.
- Trades: If your league uses a voting period for trades, pending trades will not be processed until Thursday morning.”
While managers can rest assured that at the very least, all games will still count towards their week 15 scoring totals, they also now run the risk of not having any viable options remaining to choose from if they put all their eggs in a Washington/Philadelphia/Seattle/Los Angeles basket. Owners who are counting on contributions from say a DK Metcalf, or Antonio Gibson will have to continually watch for status updates regarding their players or simply bench them and roll with options they know will play on Sunday.
Whatever path they choose, it certainly adds a new wrinkle to the fantasy football playoffs this year.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner