Footballguys Fantasy Football Show

Episode: How to Trade for Late-Season Fantasy Breakouts with Faraz Siddiqi
Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Alfredo Brown
Guest: Faraz Siddiqi (Upper Hand Fantasy)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the nuanced art of trading for late-season fantasy football breakouts. Host Alfredo Brown sits down with Faraz Siddiqi of Upper Hand Fantasy, delving into not just roster and trade strategy, but also the deeper philosophies that set consistent fantasy winners apart. Faraz shares valuable insights drawn from his background in engineering, entrepreneurship, and years of content creation, providing both actionable advice and candid stories that resonate with fantasy players of all levels.

Key Themes and Philosophies

"Upside Wins Championships"

• [02:25] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "Upside wins championships."

Faraz’s core philosophy is to chase upside, especially as the season progresses. He discusses the importance of targeting players who can make a big impact—especially those poised for late-season breakouts—rather than settling for inconsistent fill-ins or low-ceiling stopgaps.

Discussion Highlights and Insights

1. Building and Sustaining a Content Brand

• Faraz recounts the journey of building Upper Hand Fantasy from scratch, emphasizing leading with value and focusing on community loyalty.
  • [05:27] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "I was kind of giving for years without asking for anything. Now eventually I did, and I continued to do so. But that premise still lives with me because I know regardless of whether I'm selling stuff or not, I have to lead with value every single time."

2. Fantasy Analysis Process

• Faraz's schedule: heavy time-blocking, planning content during games, balancing content creation with family and a day job.
  • [08:24] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "On Sundays, while I'm watching the games, I create my schedule and I time block everything for the week, for the upcoming week... Otherwise we have so much going on that I. I lose things as the week goes."

3. Data vs. Gut Feel

• Faraz leverages his engineering background to ground his analysis in data, but warns against overreliance on limited datasets, sharing the CD Lamb cautionary tale.
  • [13:13] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "I'm an engineer like kind of at heart... The data driven mindset... is so tangible, right?"

  • [16:17] Faraz Siddiqi (on mistakes):

    "I was banging a drum to sell CD Lamb early on that year. And, like, and, and he started just to pop off, right... It humbled me. You know what I mean?"

4. The Importance of Preparation

• Preparation and ongoing effort are non-negotiable for success.
  • [19:59] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "It's straight up preparation. Like, straight up. Like, it's effort. Prepare, Prepare properly. And, and I think properly is, is the move, right?"

5. Trading Strategy—Lead with Value

• Faraz recommends a needs-based approach to trading:

  • Evaluate what every team in your league needs and build trade offers that make sense for both sides.

  • Don’t just chase personal wishlist targets.

  • Be willing to overpay for upgrades in your starting lineup, especially in two-for-one trades.

    • [25:46] Faraz Siddiqi:

      "Whenever I look at trades... It's always about, I don't look at, okay, I really want to trade for this player. I go into my league and I look at every single team and I look at what do they need, and I see, oh, can I help them get that thing that they need?"

  • Don’t be afraid to take risks—you’re playing for first, not "best bench".

    • [28:47] Faraz Siddiqi:

      "You're setting yourself up for the maximum upside for you to win that championship. You can't play scared."

6. Playoff Preparation—Contingent Upside

• Prioritize holding handcuffs and players with true breakout potential as playoffs near.

  • [33:25] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "You want as much contingent upside on your bench as possible... have as many of the running back handcuffs, for example, on your bench. Don’t let those, that the Tyler Algiers or the Ray Davises of the world just sit on waivers."

• Good players, good usage, and potential opportunity trump schedule strength.

  • [30:39] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "I am not a huge proponent of making moves based on schedule... their actual talent... is really usually what ends up being the real determining factor over matchups."

7. Bench Management and Waiver Tactics

• Avoid roster cloggers—if you’re never actually starting a player, they shouldn’t be on your bench.
• Exploit platform rules for maximizing bench churn (e.g., late-week speculative adds/drops).
  • [40:12] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "It is the contingency handcuffs for sure. Because those guys can just literally win your leagues."

  • [41:04] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "I usually like, just reserve at least one roster spot, one bench spot to do that [bench churn]."

Practical Tips and Actionable Takeaways

Managing the Waiver Wire:

• Target players whose value could increase due to role changes, injury, or rookie post-bye bumps—but weigh hope vs. evidence.

  • [36:10] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "It really depends though, right? I think there's wish casting and there's forecasting..."

• Monitor expected fantasy points vs. actual production for undervalued trade or pickup candidates.

  • [47:38] Faraz Siddiqi:

    "I think one thing they can easily look at, and this is really from the data side, too... is just looking at expected fantasy points for a player and their actual fantasy points and what they've scored..."

  • [48:03] Example:

    "Chris Olave, for example, coming into this week, I think, if I'm not mistaken, he was like, number one in expected fantasy points per game... and he ended up, you know, kind of, like, regressing to the mean..."

Start/Sit and Trade Decisions:

• Lean toward upside and rising players in ambiguous start/sit spot.
• Use productive bench weeks as trade leverage, not just lament about missed points.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On life and business philosophy:
  [07:38] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "That premise still lives with me because I know regardless of whether I'm selling stuff or not, I have to lead with value every single time."

• On internalizing mistakes:
  [16:17] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "Sometimes you can take the data too far... I had to, like, address it several times and take the L... and it humbled me."

• On league-winning roster construction:
  [40:12] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "If you know, knock on wood, one of the starters in a really good offense goes down and you have the handcuff for that offense. Now you can plug that running back into your flex. Now you have three potential RB1s on your team."

• On why he loves fantasy and competing:
  [22:58] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "When my kid is upset? Like, if she's crying because she lost, I'm like, I got a winner here."

• On fantasy life balance:
  [43:02] Faraz Siddiqi:

  "I still have a hard time, like, setting my lineup. I still have a hard time doing waivers. I will forget to, like, put my... And it's coming from me. That's super embarrassing."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:25: Faraz’s core fantasy philosophy ("Upside wins championships")
• 05:27–08:24: Building Upper Hand Fantasy; content workflow & time management
• 13:13–16:17: Engineering background and how data shaped his approach; biggest analytical mistake (CD Lamb)
• 19:59: What separates consistent fantasy winners
• 25:46: Faraz’s trading approach: lead with value, address league needs, two-for-ones explained
• 30:39–33:25: Playoff prep—schedule vs. talent, what really matters for league-winning stashes
• 36:10: Stashing rookies and the post-bye bump
• 40:12–41:04: Bench optimization, exploiting platform rules, avoiding roster cloggers
• 47:38: Expected vs. actual fantasy points for trade/waiver targeting

Final Thoughts & Where to Find Faraz

Faraz stresses authenticity, effort, and adaptability as the core drivers of fantasy success—whether that's on the scoreboard or in building a content brand. Listeners are encouraged to follow Upper Hand Fantasy on Instagram or reach out for start/sit, trade, or even life advice.

[53:00] Faraz Siddiqi:

"Upper hand fantasy over on Instagram, you know, you can send me a dm, hit me up, leave a comment whatever you want and I'll find you if you ever start sick question whatever it is. Life advice..., just hit me up in the DMs upper hand. Fantasy."

Bottom Line for Fantasy Managers

• Chase upside over comfort.
• Prioritize preparation and ongoing vigilance over the whole season.
• Leverage trades that benefit both sides, not just your wishlist.
• Stash handcuffs and potential role-changers as playoffs approach.
• Use data as context, but don’t ignore narrative, trends, and humility.
• Always lead with value, whether in trades or fantasy friendships.

Episode rating from Alfredo:

"Expected fantasy points for Faraz Sadiqi is, like, way, way up. Actual fantasy points also way up. Like, this feels… This just feels great. This feels great."

For more from Faraz, follow @upperhandfantasy on Instagram—fantasy advice, life advice, and perhaps a few dinner recipes.