How Many is Too Many?

The fantasy league I play in with my friends is heading into its 4th postseason this week.  I won the inaugural championship and another manager has won the last two back-to-back.  I noticed a trend in the rosters of each of these championship teams: Several Teammates were on each roster.  In 2008, I had Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne & Dominic Rhodes.  In 2009, my buddy had Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, & Green Bay's defense.  In 2010, the same guy had Tom Brady & Rob Gronkowski and also used his 2nd round pick on Randy Moss prior to his dismissal from New England, Minnesota and eventually, the NFL.  Is it a wise proposition to load up on players from the same team?  If it is, how many is the limit?  Besides RB handcuffs, should you consider rostering multiple WRs? 

The answer to whether or not it is wise to load up on players from the same team in general is completely dependant on the situation.  The Green Bay Packers are 12-0 as of this writing and every starter involved in the passing game is a weekly starter in every fantasy league (Rodgers, Jennings, Nelson & Finley) and even their secondary players are acceptable flex options on any given week (Jones and Driver).  Unless Oakland, Kansas City or Chicago steps up big time with some never before seen gameplan, this passing attack should continue to thrive and produce at the same clip we've seen this entire season.  I personally own Rodgers, Jennings, Mason Crosby AND their defense, so I have obviously staked my claim in the Packers' success (being a Bears fan makes this doubly tough to swallow).  I personally have always felt that fantasy success comes from maximizing scoring opportunities.  While Rodgers spreads the wealth, Jennings remains the primary option and most consistent week to week option (12.24 points per week with only 3 games below 10 points).  Everytime Rodgers hooks up with Jennings on a TD, I am getting 12 points + Yardage + the extra point from Crosby.  Everytime the Packers stall in the Red Zone, I get a FG.  Everytime the Packers score on defense, I get those points as well.  I essentially sit here on Sundays hoping for no special teams TDs, as my league doesn't award those TDs to the team defense.  With the Packers being the highest scoring team in the league at 35.0 ppg, this is a wise investment on my part.  Simply put, load up on teammates when the offensive situation is universally fantasy friendly. 

I wouldn't say that there is a "limit" on how many teammates you own, but I would suggest not having more than 3 offensive players per team on your roster.  If you look to my championship roster or 2008, owning Manning, Wayne and Rhodes ended up being a really strong play because they had 3 beatable matchups in the playoffs.  I owned Manning and Wayne for the majority of the season and I picked up Rhodes when Joseph Addai got hurt in Week 14.  Rhodes went on to score 23.6 and 14.9 in my fantasy playoffs.  It helped that these 3 were on an elite team that wasn't resting heading towards the playoffs, but I can only recommend having this kind of set up if the matchups warrant it.  Indianapolis was playing Detroit and Jacksonville during my fantasy playoffs in 2008.  Had they been playing Pittsburgh and Chicago, I may have had to rethink the value of Dominic Rhodes (Manning and Wayne are virtually unbenchable when playing as a combo).  You always run the risk of a team running into an awful matchup where the entire offense gets shut down in a situation where this wouldn't be expected (see Week 5, 2010 Colts vs. Chiefs).  If you start multiple players from the same team in the presumed "favorable" matchup, you can definitely get burned.

Finally, with today's NFL being a passing league more than ever before, owning multiple WRs from the same team has become a more customary practice.  Nicks & Cruz, Bryant & Austin (& Robinson), Jennings & Nelson, Wallace & Brown, Roddy & Julio, Holmes & Burress and Boldin & Smith.  All of these players are rosterable, startable, and could be on the same team in any particular fantasy league.  This is where, unless you don't have better options, I tend to draw the line on teammates in your lineup.  As I said before, any game can go completely wrong when you have the presumed favorable matchup while the game that projects to be a defensive struggle in bad weather ends up being a shootout.  Starting 2 WRs from the same team is way riskier than starting a RB and a WR from the same team because you know that at the very least, an RB and a WR are going to get their seperate piece of the workload pie.  You can be almost 100% assured that WRs will get their targets and RBs will get their carries.  The only time I can get behind starting 2 WRs from the same team is if there is an injury to the 3rd WR (like the Cowboys and Giants currently have), a non-elite TE in the picture (like the Giants and Steelers) and a Top 5-6 QB (like the Giants and Packers currently have)....obviously, I am not so subtly saying that the situations in Green Bay, Dallas, and New York (Giants) are the only situations I think work best for starting 2 WRs in your lineup. 

The NFL is a league of parity where there is rarely a repeat champion.  Talent moves around the league via free agency and keeps teams more competitive.  Rookies are coming to the league more ready to play immediately than ever before.  With talent at an elite level and scoring at an all-time high, there are multiple VIABLE fantasy options on every team.  Don't be afraid to load up on one team's talent, but don't forget to offset that talent with a variety of players on other teams.