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Three Fantasy Football Lessons I Learned the Hard Way in 2025
Jul 3, 2026Brooke MorganThe Fantasy Footballers
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Jayden Daniels
QB · WAS · #general
...syfootballers.com/fantasy/jayden-daniels/"> Jayden Daniels after leading Washington to its...
Trey Benson
RB · ARI · #injuryupdate
...r-of-season-with-knee-injury-01kc5qhzkxmg"> Trey Benson had been ruled out after suffer...
Kaleb Johnson
RB · PIT · #injuryupdate
...asyfootballers.com/fantasy/kaleb-johnson/"> Kaleb Johnson , which turned out to be the rig...
Terry McLaurin
WR · WAS · #general
...syfootballers.com/fantasy/terry-mclaurin/"> Terry McLaurin . Or as I now think of him: </sp...
Jason Moore
WR · #startrecommendation
...fantasyfootballers.com/fantasy/jason-moore" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jason Moore , and Adam Schefter). Then I woke up after the game had already started...
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2025 was my first year as an official fantasy football manager. However, I already knew a fair amount going into it. I had spent years getting private tutoring from Andy , Mike , and Jason , thanks to my boyfriend, who turned us both into avid listeners of the Fantasy Footballers podcast . But this was the year we both decided I was finally ready to step up to the plate and run my own team. Not in the casual, “Oh, I’ll just join my office league. It’ll be fun, and a good bonding experience with my co-workers” kind of way. No, this was serious. Roster construction, waiver wire pickups, weekly lineup decisions- I wanted all of it. I was no longer the first mate just offering suggestions. I was the captain, responsible for every decision, and I was fully prepared to win. The move from the kids’ table to the adult table was not as smooth as I had imagined. I read articles ; actually, I studied articles , but mistakes were still made. Some unforeseeable, the kind of chaos that humbles even the most seasoned of managers. Others were, how do I put this, extremely seeable. But that is the thing about your first season. You don’t know what you don’t know until you absolutely do, and that usually happens on Sunday, right after kickoff. Every fantasy football season teaches us something, but the first one teaches us the most. My 2025 fantasy season was a masterclass in bad decisions, misplaced loyalty, and at least one moment when I seriously considered throwing my phone at the TV. But instead of burying these memories where they probably belong, I’ve decided to share them. If my suffering can save even one of you from making the same mistakes, then it was all worth it. Lesson #1: International Games Are Not A Vacation. Set The Alarm. Have A Backup Plan Jaylen Warren is a good football player. At least that is what I kept telling myself on that fateful morning of the Steelers-Vikings Ireland game. To be fair, Warren eventually became exactly the player we hoped he would be . After battling through that early-season knee injury, he finished with 1,291 scrimmage yards, eight total TDs, averaged 4.5 yards per carry, and quietly turned in an RB1-caliber fantasy season. He set career highs, proved he could handle a bigger workload, and rewarded the managers who believed in him. I was one of those managers. I did the research. I trusted my gut. I even drafted him over Kaleb Johnson , which turned out to be the right call. But none of that mattered on the morning of the Steelers-Vikings game in Ireland. Adam Schefter tweeted that it looked like Jaylen Warren was going to play, so I went to bed confident. At that point I had only a couple weeks of fantasy football team ownership under my belt, and I know my limits when it comes to trusting my gut. I would listen to the professionals (my boyfriend, my dad, Jason Moore , and Adam Schefter). Then I woke up after the game had already started to find out that Warren’s questionable knee had kept him firmly on the sideline , while I was firmly asleep in my bed. The game was already in the first quarter. No emergency swap. No last-second pivot. Just a zero locked in like a bad tattoo, and the slowly dawning realization that I had absolutely no one to blame but myself. The managers who were awake pivoted to Kenneth Gainwell , who erupted for 31.4 PTS, 18 carries, 99 rushing yards, two TDs, and another 35 receiving yards. Kenneth Gainwell ignited a running game that desperately needed to get going in the Steelers'…