How the Assistant Coach Works

Anything roster-related: sit/start decisions, waiver wire pickups, drop candidates, trade evaluation (fair or not, who wins the deal), streaming options, and league-specific strategy. You can ask in plain English — 'Should I start AJ Brown or CeeDee Lamb this week?' — and you'll get a direct answer with the reasoning behind it.

Connect your Sleeper, ESPN, Yahoo, or CBS league and the Coach auto-fills your full roster, bye weeks, injury designations, and opponent matchups for the current week. Once connected, every answer is personalized to your actual team — no manual entry required.

The Coach runs each player through a multi-model projection system, then adjusts for their opponent's defensive strength at the position (Defense vs. Position) and the game environment from Vegas implied totals. It also weights a three-factor risk profile — floor, ceiling, and consistency — so it can account for your league's scoring format and your personal risk tolerance. The final recommendation balances all of these signals and explains which ones drove the call.

Yes — when more context would sharpen the answer, the Coach asks before responding. For example, if you ask 'who should I start at WR?' without specifying your format, it'll confirm PPR vs. standard. If you say 'is this trade fair?' it may ask how many weeks are left in your season and whether you're a contender or rebuilding.

Projections update weekly as new injury reports, depth charts, and Vegas lines come in. Matchup data refreshes throughout the week. Injury designations (Q, D, IR) are pulled in near-real-time so if a key player is downgraded Saturday morning, that's reflected in the recommendation.

No — this isn't a general-purpose AI using the internet. The Coach is grounded in WaiverWire's own proprietary projection engine, your specific league's context, and curated NFL data. It won't hallucinate stats or make up injury information. Every recommendation traces back to a real number in the system.

The Assistant Coach is included in WaiverWire Pro ($59/year). Pro gives you 150 Coach questions per month, plus the full cheat sheet board, Bulls vs. Bears, and Open Field. WaiverWire Edge (our top tier) includes unlimited Coach queries plus advanced signals and the Waiver War Room.

Yes — your conversation history is saved so the Coach can refer back to earlier questions in the same session. If you asked about a trade earlier and then ask a follow-up waiver question, it already knows your roster situation from the previous exchange.

Yes. When you connect your league or specify your format, the Coach adjusts QB valuations accordingly. In superflex leagues it weights QB streaming decisions differently and accounts for the extra starting slot. Dynasty questions (buy-low candidates, age curves, devy) are also in scope.