To provide more content than ever before, but shove it all into the months of FEB-AUG.

While the forums will remain a huge INSEASON feature, one I will frequent more than ever in 2014, this means that there will be no paid content, or written content, in the future INSEASONs. We WON'T have INSEASON rankings, projections, waiver articles, no articles in fact, but we will have some automated must-have features, like our NEW 365 NEWS FEED! OUR FORUMS. In an attempt to create more novelty with the paid product, though, and so that I can get to what I love most (bold predictions, rookies, dynasty breakdowns, redraft predicting prior to draft day), I'm going to shove everything I have into the FEB-AUG months and crank out the best fantasy content humanly possible.

The big question. "Well, Smitty, why can't you just do all this and create an INSEASON product?" That's a great question, but the answer is simple, even though it's a two part answer. 

1. DraftCalc was never intended to be a multi-writer site, it has always been, and will likely always remain, a one-man show (writing wise). That presents some limitations on how much one man can do, especially with no break or 'rest up' period (and I say that more from a mental standpoint... think of it like writer's block. Without a break, and with a product that just never shuts down at all, things run together, and it makes for no separation between one season and the next. With an offseason (for me), my content will be better, more energized... I can go 100 miles per hour for only so long. With this new setup, I feel I can stay at 100 miles per hour for the FEB-AUG period. Plus, many cannot see, but a TON of work goes into the maintaining and preparations of both the INSEASON and OFFSEASON. For example, right now I spend half my day trying to clean up current content for this week, and half my day preparing for next OFFSEASON. It's a year-round job. Even with a shutdown INSEASON, a lot still goes into the FEB preparation, so for me it's more like a 4 month break, then back to preparation in DEC and JAN for the FEB launch.

2. To be honest here, I enjoy the OFFSEASON predicting 100x more than the INSEASON.. maybe 1,000x more... because I feel there is a lot of skill involved in the OFFSEASON piece of the business. Not to knock anyone that does INSEASON weekly predicting, as I have been doing it since 2005 myself, but there is just a whole lot more guess work involved, and if I have a choice to produce "X Number" of pieces of content, I would rather produce that same amount (or more) on the side of the business that I love and feel I can do best... the OFFSEASON.

I know many of you will be sad to see the INSEASON rankings, projections, start bench advice and waiver wire content go, but trust me when I say that that energy and amount of content will be replaced and shoved back into the FEB-AUG time frame. 

Edit: But we will have a handful of INSEASON FEATURES that are FREE and not relating to 'written content' - Ex: 365 DAY Breaking News Wire, which will be year round and launches Feb 1. We may have some Expert Consensus Rankings that will be fed in, stuff like that might be up put up. The news will especially be a great everyday must-have.

Some restaurants open for breakfast and lunch, but close at dinner, and it helps keep focus and produce a better product for their customers. If this wasn't a successful model, companies wouldn't do it. I am confident, because I know how much I love the OFFSEASON, that DraftCalc will be better than ever because of this model. You will crave the OFFSEASON content moving forward vs. just loving it. I am extremely confident in this new model.

And, with our forums being 365, and with me not being able to be on the forums much during the INSEASON, this move just makes our Forums that much better (and that much more interactive for you all if I can be on there talking with you all more and more).