NFL Supercoach | Sit vs Start decision-making


<p>Let&#8217;s first start off by addressing what I am referring to with the term &#8216;Sit vs Start&#8217;.</p>



<p>Sit vs Start basically just encompasses your weekly decisions of who to start and who to bench in your NFL Supercoach sides.</p>



<p>For example, you could have 5 running backs in your team that are all solid play options, but since there are only four starting running back spots in your Supercoach side, you must choose one player to ride the bench and not have their score contribute to your Supercoach side for that week.</p>



<p>So why am I dedicating a whole article to what might seem like such a minor part of Supercoach?</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The importance of sit vs start decisions</strong></h3>



<p>If you are coming from other Supercoach variants, you would already know how important these benching decisions can turn out to be.</p>



<p>Usually, this doesn&#8217;t become a topical talking point until later in the season when we build some more depth in our Supercoach sides, however, with how NFL Supercoach has been set up, I think benching decisions are already plenty.</p>



<p>This is due not only to the incredibly friendly salary we were given to start the season, but also due to the impressive cash generation most teams have been able to achieve. </p>



<p>This has allowed most of us to already have decent depth in our sides, where we are looking at benching the likes of Ashton Jeanty or Tetairoa McMillan some weeks, where they are still solid plays. </p>



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<p>Prime example is myself, who, of course, benched Jeanty for his 64-point breakout game a couple weeks back. </p>



<p>So yes, I think most teams are already facing 50/50 benching decisions, which in itself makes it an important topic to discuss.</p>



<p>Another reason I think sit vs start decisions carry even more weight is due to the similarity of most of our Supercoach sides and the lack of genuine POD options.</p>



<p>This means these 50/50 decisions are going to end up being the difference between a good and a great week for most top Supercoach sides.</p>



<p>But how do we actually make these so-called &#8216;important&#8217; decisions?</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Player level</strong></h3>



<p>Well, this is obviously a given, but the first thing you should look at is how good the player actually is, Supercoach-wise that is of course.</p>



<p>I am not talking about the likes of your Puka&#8217;s and Bijan&#8217;s, as you would never ever consider benching them unless for injury.</p>



<p>What I am trying to get at is that these sit vs start decisions should only really come into play when you are deciding who to play between two players you would consider to be in the same &#8216;Supercoach scoring tier&#8217;.</p>



<p>Now, there are obviously no official tiers for this, but looking at players&#8217; season averages can usually tell you enough.</p>



<p>But honestly, if at first instinct you are unsure who to play or bench, you might as well go through and look at some of the following &#8216;decision-making criteria&#8217;.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Matchups</strong></h3>



<p>By far the most important thing to look at is matchups.</p>



<p>You are probably thinking that you already knew that, and I am wasting your time, but what about the matchups are you actually looking at?</p>



<p>Unfortunately, it isn&#8217;t as simple as NRL or EPL where you really just target teams that leak a lot of points and steer away from teams that don&#8217;t concede much.</p>



<p>For NFL Supercoach, there are a lot more layers to it, and it depends on what position you are looking at.</p>



<p>I doubt many of us are facing quarterback sit vs start decisions, but if you are, they are pretty straightforward.</p>



<p>Play the QB who plays for the team that is likely to score more points that given week.</p>



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<p>For running backs, it is a bit more complex.</p>



<p>You want to specifically look at the opposition team&#8217;s ability to stop the run.</p>



<p>This can be statistically backed or just off the eye test.</p>



<p>Although, like I said above, if I am tossing up between an elite running back vs the Browns (a great fun defence) or a mid-range running back vs a weaker run defence, I am still choosing the elite running back almost every time.</p>



<p>For receivers, both wide receivers and tight ends, you want to look at how good the opposition&#8217;s team&#8217;s overall pass defence is.</p>



<p>If you want to get extra tricky, you can specifically look at what teams may be specifically weak at defending the wide receiver position or the tight end position.</p>



<p>Choosing your defence is the final position we will touch on, and this is almost purely matchup-based.</p>



<p>You choose the defence that you think will allow fewer points that week.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Game script</strong></h3>



<p>If you are unfamiliar with the term game script in the NFL, it refers generally to the plan/plays a team will run across the course of the game. </p>



<p>A positive game script occurs when a team finds themself in a comfortable lead during the game, so they turn their focus to running the ball and draining the clock.</p>



<p>Positive game scripts can very much play in favour of running backs as they receive a lot more carries.</p>



<p>Even more so, though, positive game scripts can work against quarterbacks and receivers as teams opt against airing the ball out, instead opting for the safer option of running the ball.</p>



<p>Negative game scripts occur when a team is trailing and is forced to run a pass-heavy, aggressive offense. </p>



<p>This is the opposite of positive game scripts, and works very much in favour of quarterbacks and receivers.</p>



<p>Running backs are negatively affected, although if they are more receiving backs, they could also reap benefits from positive game scripts despite fewer rushing attempts.</p>



<p>So, I think game script is definitely something you should consider when making your sit vs start decisions.</p>



<p>But do take it with a grain of salt, as game scripts are hard to predict, so never make your decision purely based on this factor.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Tools</strong></h3>



<p>My number one tip is to always go with your gut feeling.</p>



<p>Nothing is worse than going against your gut feeling and it turning out to be right.</p>



<p>You can&#8217;t get every sit vs start decision correct, and honestly, as long as I get more right than wrong, I will take it.</p>



<p>There are endless stats and content available on the internet these days, so I would definitely use this to your advantage as well when diving into matchup difficulty.</p>



<p>Weekly fantasy rankings are always a good thing to go off, as they take into account all of the things I have listed above.</p>



<p>Another little trick is to use betting markets to your advantage. </p>



<p>Betting platforms take into account absolutely everything we could think of and more, and they are going to give pretty accurate projections at the end of the day.</p>



<p>So look at those yardage lines, and touchdown scoring odds, and use them to your advantage when making Supercoach decisions.</p>


NFL Supercoach | Sit vs Start decision-making

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