Issue #252: Bulking Season

By Derrick Ernst

February 15, 2026

Building Confidence

Offseason = bulking. I’ve never (intentionally) bulked myself. Certainly not in a traditional sense. But I have bulked intellectually. I mean I’ve crammed ten hours of studying into five hours before a test back in the day. That’s the same thing, right? Whether physically or mentally, we bulk in preparation for something and when it comes to fantasy, the end of a season means the bulking begins for the next.

For those who haven’t been around for a full offseason, one of my goals is to have you more prepared than you’ve ever been. I want you going into your draft knowing exactly who you’re going to select at any draft position in any round. If you’re feeling any pressure on draft night, I haven’t done my job. Drafts are thought of being these high pressure outings that are to get you to make impulsive decisions. Not if you subscribe to TDF though.

The more you know the less you need to do. As crazy as it sounds, your draft(s) should be boring. Most of us find out where we’re drafting an hour-plus beforehand. Take that time to hone in more specifically on your targets and the only sweat-worthy decision you’ll find yourself making is what kind of 12-pack to bring to your draft party.

Let me know if this sounds familiar. The less you’re informed, the less you’re confident in your abilities. This is also a recipe for feeling lost and unsure of your strategy. When this happens, you tend to fall back on what you’re familiar with. What does this mean in the context of fantasy:

• Drafting your favorite players

• Drafting players from your favorite team(s)

• Drafting players who were on your fantasy team last year that performed well

• Drafting players with the highest point projections

• Drafting players with the expectation that they’ll simply repeat performances of old

Etc. Etc. Etc. The point that I’m trying to make is that fantasy requires effort and a will to want to succeed. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. Yes, there have been people who have had success auto-drafting, but from my experience, their success tends to wane the more a season takes form.

Everyone learns differently, but what I’ve found is that incremental learning works best for me. Aka exposing yourself to whatever it is you’re trying to learn consistently hour after hour, day after day, etc. to the point where it just becomes routine and the thought of “trying to learn” something goes out the wayside. That’s really what I try having TDF being grounded in, especially in the offseason. We have something like 50-60 issues between now and the new season. It takes probably five minutes or so to read an issue? This is what I mean about incremental learning. The commitment isn’t monumental and like I said, you don’t even know you’re doing it.

I’ve shared this quote before:

Source: LinkedIn

I believe it and that’s what I’m going to set out to live by through the summer to get you all prepared to have your best fantasy season yet.

HC’s and QB’s

It has been a few issues since we’ve brought up the HC scene and it’s now all filled out:

	Team	Coach Record	Old Coach	New Coach
AFC	LV	3 - 14 (.180)	Pete Carroll	Klint Kubiak
	MIA	35 - 33 (.515)	Mike McDaniel	Jeff Hafley
	BUF	106 - 58 (.646)	Sean McDermott	Joe Brady
	CLE	46 - 58 (.440)	Kevin Stefanski	Todd Monken
	PIT	201 - 125 - 2 (.616)	Mike Tomlin	Mike McCarthy
	BAL	193 - 124 (.610)	John Harbaugh	Jesse Minter
	TEN	4 - 19 (.170)	Brian Callahan	Robert Saleh
NFC	ARI	15 - 36 (.290)	Jon Gannon	Mike LaFleur
	ATL	16 - 18 (.470)	Raheem Morris	Kevin Stefanski
	NYG	21 - 41 - 1 (.340)	Brian Daboll	John Harbaugh

Let’s talk a bit about the final two, but first I’d just like to acknowledge that one thing the NFL does better than any other league is keeping coaching in the family. As we’ll see with the two below, when there’s a chance that a name may have a positive impact on a team and their outcome, it’s taken. Just think of the lineages that exist in the NFL today:

The LaFleur’s: Brothers Matt and Mike are both currently head coaches

The Schottenheimer’s: Brain is a current head coach while father, Marty was a longtime successful NFL head coach

The Harbaugh’s: Brothers Jim and John are both currently head coaches. Father, Jack had a successful career as a college head coach

The Shanahan’s: Kyle is a current head coach while father, Mike won two Super Bowls as head coach of the Broncos

The Kubiak’s: Klint was just hired on as LV’s head coach, father Gary is a Super Bowl winning head coach (DEN in ’15), brothers Klay and Klein are the OC of SF and a scout for DAL, respectively

Forgive me if I omitted anyone else who fits the bill. You know how the kids of today are starting to wear clothing that mirrors trends of their parents. This reminds me of that. You live long enough, the things that are considered “new” are just things of old with a facelift. We tend to think all these new hires are bringing with them schemes never before seen in the NFL. That may be true starting out, but after awhile, it’s easy to see similarities with the one that came before them.

Klint Kubiak

Klint has had quite the career, but there has always been one commonality to his roles, they’ve all been on the offensive side of the ball. When he hasn’t been OC, he’s been QB coach. We all know what he helped do for Darnold’s game this season and albeit more developed, he did coach Cousin’s to several successful seasons as well. I’m not sold on Mendoza, but if he’s LV’s guy, Kubiak has the track record to get him on a path of success. It just may take a few seasons for that to come to fruition.

Mike LaFleur

Sean McVay took over as HC in ’17. Since then, LAR OC’s have included Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, Liam Coen, and Mike LaFleur. That’s good company for LaFleur #2 to be in. The NFC West is a juggernaut, but even if ARI doesn’t have immediate success, it doesn’t mean fantasy success can’t be had. I think a few ARI WR’s may be in for some fantasy relevance.

Planning

Source: Facebook

Don’t be this league trying to find a draft day at the last minute. If you’re league commissioner, take some time while bulking to plan ahead. I’m fond of saying reservations are free. It’s never too early to plan in advance! At least then you’ll have something to look forward to.