sitting starters during preseason

[yabanci]

I suspect with multiplayer leagues a lot of owners are going to deactivate their key starters for preseason so they don't get injured.

Question: What is the downside to doing this?

1) nothing
2) inactive players won't develop better ratings because they don't play during exhibition
3) team starts out season rusty because starters didn't play
4) other

I would hope for realism's sake there is some penalty for making your starters inactive during the entire exhibition season.

Does anybody know the answer to this (as opposed to mere speculation)?

[The_herd]

From my experiences, #2 is the only downside to not playing starters during the preseason.

[Sidhe]

I have done this a few years in my SP league until I finally came to realize that those guys who have injury problems are going to get hurt, period. It's better to find out about them earlier than later IMO, when you can still work something out.

I had a veteran DE and a C that were always getting hurt, so I held them out of the preseason games-- they were maxxed anyway, right? What's the harm? Well they both got hurt bad before the 2nd game. I'd have been better off realizing that they were injury prone before the season began (which I might have since they both had spent most of the previous season on IR). A big injury in TC and I'd have probably IR'd them again and looked to scoop up something to replace them before someone else did.

Maybe if you have a *venerable* veteran, like Brett Favre, you'd hold him out, but I'm not going to make a habit of it. I feel like I need that information as soon as I can get it.

[EagleFan]

I've done this with injury prone players. It's helped me avoid starting the season with injury problems. Knowing that they are injury prone, I already have a backup plan ready, but at least this way I get some production from them during the season.

[Sidhe]

Man I can't stand having a guy you pay 2 or 3 million a year sitting on the bench. So I cut 'em.. I cut 'em rotten.

[Honolulu Blue]

On the original subject #2 is the main downside as stated earlier. There is one other small thing - you don't know how well a team will play together until they play together. Sometimes the "B" team will do better than the "A" team, and it's worth finding this out in preseason rather than losing a game or two early on. That's why I sometimes use a "dress rehearsal" game where I start everyone I expect to start.

And on the subject of injured players, I usually:

1) Don't sign them if they're on the market
2) Baby them when they get hurt, making sure they're fully healthy before they get back into the lineup
3) Have a better-than-normal backup lying in wait
4) Trade them if possible

[Passacaglia]

Personally, what I'm doing in the eNFL is sitting the guys who don't have much green bars. A guy like Bledsoe doesn't need preseason to give him a chance to get hurt. Even Lawyer Milloy, who hasn't played with the Bills at all, probably won't see action during preseason. However, some good players, like Nate Clements, will get the nod, so that they can improve.

Is it realistic? Obviously it's not like the current NFL. Then again, if more franchise players get hurt like Pennington and Vick, maybe reality will come around. I guess I'm saying that I'm smarter than the NFL.

[Passacaglia]

Going back to what Eaglesfan said, though, if a player was coming off a season-long injury, I would *definitely* play him in preseason, and make sure his game is up to snuff. There's no time that I distrust my scout than when a player is coming back from injury.