(even if you end up drafting Mike Evans as WR1)

Shoutout to my league commissioner for bestowing this ring to me as recognition for a job well done.

Drafting Mike Evans as my WR1 in the year of our Lord 2024… that was an unmitigated disaster. What kind of poor planning was I doing? Why was I not keeping tabs of who was left on the draft board? How did I still end up picking up my 3rd fantasy football championship at the end of the season?

I got two words for ya: S…. Sprint Goals… It’s sprint goals.

What is a Sprint Goal?

In Agile, a sprint goal is basically the north star of any Agile team. It’s the one-sentence answer to, “What are we really trying to accomplish this sprint?” A sprint can be a one-week period, commonly 2 weeks, but it can be whatever cadence is best for you and your team (within reason). But instead of obsessing over every single task or deliverable as a life or death situation, the sprint goal gives direction and focus. That even if we don’t set out to complete every piece of work we commit to, we can still deliver value at the end of the sprint. It’s not about predicting the future perfectly — it’s about aligning the team so that when priorities shift (and they always do), everyone knows what success should still look like.

Sure, my draft was shaky. But my sprint goal for the draft was simple: “Survive the early season with strong upside at each position.” Did I need the flashiest roster on paper? No. Did I need consistency and adaptability? Absolutely. So even if I didn’t land an absolute stud for my top wide receiver on draft day, I still had enough breadth and depth overall to weather the storm of a fantasy football season and finish on top.

You plan, you draft, and then the season immediately laughs in your face with injuries, bye weeks, and waiver-wire surprises. Sound familiar? That unpredictability is exactly why sprint goals matter. They keep you focused when things don’t go according to plan. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the way we manage a fantasy football season looks a lot like the way we manage Scrum teams.

My view from the very last row in Soldier Field to watch the Rams vs Bears in Week 4, 2024.

Setting Sprint Goals Each Week

Every new sprint starts with a fresh goal. It’s the team’s chance to reset, refocus, and agree on what matters most. The same mindset applies in fantasy football.

After each matchup, I’d set a simple sprint goal focused not on necessarily winning that week’s matchup, but how I can position my team for long-term upside:

“Survive the bye week apocalypse by targetting high upside stash players”
“Stream a QB and avoid disaster.”
“Scour waivers for players with easy playoff-week matchups.”

These weekly goals kept me from panicking after a bad loss or overreacting to one player’s breakout. Instead of chasing everything at once, I stayed focused on what would keep my season on track. Small, clear goals, stacked week by week, added up to the championship.

Backlog Refinement: Waiver-wire heroes and blockbuster trades

Your team and product backlog is never “done.” It’s constantly being refined. New ideas are added, priorities shifted, and some items dropped altogether. The goal isn’t to get everything, it’s to stay focused on what brings the most value right now.

Fantasy football works the same way and nowhere is that clearer than the waiver wire and trade market. Your roster after draft day is just a starting point. Championships are won (and lost) on the Tuesday morning waiver run or the trade that fills a gap you didn’t see coming (Like CMC not being ready for week 1… again). It’s backlog refinement in action: add depth, prioritize upside, cut what’s not working. Adapt or get left behind.

Daily Standups: Checking in on your weekly lineup

The daily standup is about alignment. Each team member shares what they did yesterday, what they’re doing today, and what’s blocking progress. It’s quick, it’s focused, and it keeps everyone moving toward the sprint goal.

Fantasy football has its own version of the standup: setting your weekly lineup. And with professional football seemingly played almost every single day, it might as well be a daily standup. Every day you’re asking yourself:

Who produced for me last week?
Who’s starting this week?
What blockers (injuries, bye weeks, tough matchups) are in the way?
Is there any extreme weather forecasted that might impact my players?
Did any of my players get arrested while trying to get into the stadium? (ahem…. Tyreek Hill…)

You don’t need a 2-hour planning session to make those calls. You need a quick check-in every day to adjust and stay competitive. The best fantasy managers, like the best Agile teams, aren’t the ones who predict the entire season on draft day and leave their lineup stagnant all year hoping for the best. They’re the ones who make small, consistent adjustments week after week.

Sprint Reviews: The Final Score

In Scrum, the Sprint Review is where the team shows what they’ve built during the sprint. It’s not just a demo — it’s a chance to gather feedback, inspect the outcome, and decide what’s valuable moving forward.

Fantasy football has its own built-in Sprint Review: the weekly scoreboard. By Sunday night (or Monday, if you’re sweating it out), your “increment” is on full display. Did your lineup deliver the outcome you hoped for? Did that waiver wire pickup add value? The scoreboard doesn’t lie: it’s your sprint’s work product, visible for everyone in the league to see.

And just like in Agile, the point isn’t to celebrate perfection. It’s to learn. Find out if your decision to bench D’Andre Swift flopped or if your defense underperformed — that feedback informs the next sprint. Every review becomes a checkpoint. It’s a chance to showcase progress, gather insights, and refine your plan.

The smile on my face is masking the pain of watching D’Andre Swift have one of his best fantasy performances of the year while I kept him on my bench (*sigh*)

Sprint Retrospectives: Weekly Lessons

In Scrum, the retrospective is where the team pauses at the end of each sprint to ask: What went well? What didn’t? What do we want to try differently next time? It’s not about the output — it’s about improving the way the team works together.

Fantasy football has the same rhythm, just on a weekly cadence. After every matchup, you naturally run a retro:

Was starting two Tight Ends a bad idea? (Hint: It always is.)
Did I wait too long to hit the waiver wire?
Did my “can’t-miss” flex player actually miss… again? (Here’s looking at you, D’Andre Swift.)

These weekly lessons won’t erase last week’s loss, but they sharpen your decision-making for the next matchup. Retros aren’t about being flawless — they’re about staying sharp, building awareness, and finding small edges that stack up over time.

Wrapping it Up

Drafting Mike Evans as my WR1 wasn’t a masterclass in preparation — it was a misstep. But one shaky pick didn’t ruin the season, just like one rough sprint doesn’t sink a project. With a clear sprint goal, smart moves on the waiver wire, weekly lineup tweaks, and honest retros, I kept momentum — and that’s what led to a championship.

The same is true for your career. You don’t need every move to be perfect. You need clarity, resilience, and the courage to keep improving with each cycle. Whether you’re navigating your first job, leading your first team, or just trying to survive the early weeks, the key isn’t predicting every detail — it’s staying focused, adjusting quickly, and playing the long game.

Because in fantasy football — and in your career — there’s always a Next Sprint.

How to win your Fantasy Football league using Scrum