... with apologies to Michael Aday (aka: Meat Loaf). I played in nine fantasy football leagues this year, and despite none of my teams having better than an 8-5 record, six of my teams made the playoffs. Three of my playoff teams finished the year at 8-5, three others finished at 7-6 including the "My Name Is Inigo Montoya" team highlighted a couple of weeks ago. In that league I started 3-6! Needless to say, none of my teams is a #1 seed, though I have a couple of #2 seeds including said Montoya team. Ironically, the team of mine which got off to the best start (6-2) managed to miss the playoffs entirely, losing it's final five games to end the season at 6-7. I had one other team finish at 6-7 and one team with some incredibly bad luck managed to end the year at 5-8.
Now if I can just take that Meat Loaf song to heart again during the playoffs, I'd be winning four of my leagues! That's not likely to happen, but then again just two years ago, only four of my teams made the big dance and three of them came out on top when the dust was settled!
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Showing posts with label Fantasy Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy Football. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Fantasy Football Funnies...
FYI, it's hard to see without clicking on the image...
Yes, that's EIGHT of the 10 teams (including mine) at 5-6! I would be the #2 seed right now if the season ended, leading the West with my "My Name Is Inigo Montoya" team (bonus points if you can tell me what movie that's from). Hey, I won a league two years ago with a 6-7 record (running the table in the playoffs as a #4 seed), so anything's possible.
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Monday, October 27, 2008
Rule #1 of Fantasy Football...
... don't spend any time studying for your draft! Seriously, why bother? With draft cheat sheets and average draft position tables just sitting there at your disposal, what's the point in studying? So, were you fortunate enough to land the #1 pick in any of your leagues and go with the consensus top pick, L.T.??? Or how about other stellar running backs like Joseph Addai or Larry Johnson with your first round pick? Wide receivers? Did you take the always reliable Torry Holt, rising star Marques Colston or the irrepressible Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson with an early round pick? Tom Brady? Fellow Patriot Lawrence Maroney? If you drafted any of the above players early, more than likely you're a little disappointed at this point of the season for one reason or another.
Now raise your hand up high if you had Clinton Portis of the Redskins as the number one point producer amongst all non-QB's as week 8 of the season ended. We always knew he had it in him as long as he could just hold onto the ball! Five straight 120+ yard rushing games. Impressive stuff, Mr. Portis! If a draft were being held today, you would be hard pressed not to take him at #1.
Yes, folks. The bottom line is that players are going to underperform and/or get hurt. It happens! Conversely, for every player who underperforms, there are players that will perform beyond expectations. And yes, there are still guys out there who are doing pretty much exactly what you thought they would be doing when you picked them - the Drew Brees and Philip Rivers types for example. The reality is that the fantasy football draft is just a crapshoot. Yes, this is why I don't study for football drafts.
The above said, you can help your chances out a lot in leagues by thinking ahead and drafting smart. Avoid the guys on the downside of their careers and focus on drafting guys with upside and opportunity. How about Kurt Warner? With All-Pros Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald along with a young up-and-comer named Steve Breaston to throw to and a nearly non-existant running game, what was not to like on draft day other than a lazy ex-USC Trojan quarterback standing in his way? Warner was the 22nd QB taken on average in ESPN drafts. Hardly to my surprise, he's been a consistent top 5 producer all year. Breaston was a great receiver in college and was a natural fit in the Cardinals offense. Yet he went undrafted in pretty much all non-keeper format leagues. Boldin got hurt and look who's stepped up BIG TIME? Or how about the latest rookie causing waves, the Rams' Steve Avery? With the aging Isaac Bruce in San Francisco, someone needed to step up and complement the aforementioned Holt. Why pick a backup running back with little upside with your 15th or 16th round pick when someone with blazing speed, ability and LOTS of upside is out there and available? Avery hardly got a look on draft day, not even in keeper leagues... No, I didn't draft either Breaston or Avery in my non-keeper leagues, but I must confess I did draft them BOTH in a contract keeper league this past summer - and they're locked up for me through 2011! :)
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Now raise your hand up high if you had Clinton Portis of the Redskins as the number one point producer amongst all non-QB's as week 8 of the season ended. We always knew he had it in him as long as he could just hold onto the ball! Five straight 120+ yard rushing games. Impressive stuff, Mr. Portis! If a draft were being held today, you would be hard pressed not to take him at #1.
Yes, folks. The bottom line is that players are going to underperform and/or get hurt. It happens! Conversely, for every player who underperforms, there are players that will perform beyond expectations. And yes, there are still guys out there who are doing pretty much exactly what you thought they would be doing when you picked them - the Drew Brees and Philip Rivers types for example. The reality is that the fantasy football draft is just a crapshoot. Yes, this is why I don't study for football drafts.
The above said, you can help your chances out a lot in leagues by thinking ahead and drafting smart. Avoid the guys on the downside of their careers and focus on drafting guys with upside and opportunity. How about Kurt Warner? With All-Pros Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald along with a young up-and-comer named Steve Breaston to throw to and a nearly non-existant running game, what was not to like on draft day other than a lazy ex-USC Trojan quarterback standing in his way? Warner was the 22nd QB taken on average in ESPN drafts. Hardly to my surprise, he's been a consistent top 5 producer all year. Breaston was a great receiver in college and was a natural fit in the Cardinals offense. Yet he went undrafted in pretty much all non-keeper format leagues. Boldin got hurt and look who's stepped up BIG TIME? Or how about the latest rookie causing waves, the Rams' Steve Avery? With the aging Isaac Bruce in San Francisco, someone needed to step up and complement the aforementioned Holt. Why pick a backup running back with little upside with your 15th or 16th round pick when someone with blazing speed, ability and LOTS of upside is out there and available? Avery hardly got a look on draft day, not even in keeper leagues... No, I didn't draft either Breaston or Avery in my non-keeper leagues, but I must confess I did draft them BOTH in a contract keeper league this past summer - and they're locked up for me through 2011! :)
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Sunday, September 21, 2008
Fantasy Football: More Luck Than Skill
We are two weeks into the football season and since I've been sooooooo involved in trying to win my fantasy baseball leagues and making all of the possible moves to give my teams the best chance at winning, I've paid very little attention to my football teams. In fact, up until a few minutes ago, I had not even looked at my football teams since last Sunday. So how did I do last week? Well, every one of my seven ESPN fantasy football teams WON!
And now it's confession time. I will admit now that I did not study AT ALL for my fantasy football drafts. Every one of them I "winged it," picking my players on the fly and looking at average draft lists while the drafts were happening and going with my gut on a few players. I also made my "Favre Pledge" and avoided any and all Packers players at all costs... My main draft day targets this year were an up and comer named Anthony Gonzalez along with his teammate Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts and any receiver wearing an Arizona Cardinals uniform. On these same teams, I avoided stalwards Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.
While the trend has always been to focus on the "next big thing" at running back on draft day, I tend to look the other way and focus on the receivers. Rarely do I target defenses, but I had a gut feeling this year that the Chicago Bears D would rebound in 2008 after being so disappointing last year.
The season has a long ways to go, but it's nice to see that my teams are doing so well so early on with next to no preparation.
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And now it's confession time. I will admit now that I did not study AT ALL for my fantasy football drafts. Every one of them I "winged it," picking my players on the fly and looking at average draft lists while the drafts were happening and going with my gut on a few players. I also made my "Favre Pledge" and avoided any and all Packers players at all costs... My main draft day targets this year were an up and comer named Anthony Gonzalez along with his teammate Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts and any receiver wearing an Arizona Cardinals uniform. On these same teams, I avoided stalwards Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.
While the trend has always been to focus on the "next big thing" at running back on draft day, I tend to look the other way and focus on the receivers. Rarely do I target defenses, but I had a gut feeling this year that the Chicago Bears D would rebound in 2008 after being so disappointing last year.
The season has a long ways to go, but it's nice to see that my teams are doing so well so early on with next to no preparation.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Fantasy Football Ramblings...
Now that baseball's regular season has been over for more than a week, I've actually been able to transition pretty fully from fantasy baseball mode into fantasy football mode... It seems to never fail - I have good drafts, but for whatever reason, my football teams usually seem to get off to slow starts. I'm thinking it's probably because I'm so focused on my fantasy baseball teams and trying to win those leagues that my football leagues and teams do tend to get a little neglected until the calendar hits October... That's OK though... it's not how you start, it's how you FINISH!!! I won three leagues last year out of the seven I was in, and the one team I had that did get off to a good start didn't even make the playoffs! Last year, one of my teams was 6-7 during the regular season and won the league championship, so if you're sitting at 1-4 or 2-3 right now, DON'T PANIC, there's still hope!!!
There's one thing most of you fantasy players are probably well-familiar with at this point - lopsided trade proposals. I seem to be getting a plethora of them of late! Yesterday I was offered Carolina's backup RB DeAngelo Williams in that same league I won last year for Jacksonville's little dynamo, Maurice Jones-Drew... Williams has all of six carries the past two weeks. By the way, if you own Williams, it's time to dump him unless you are using him as insurance, as DeShawn Foster is the only Carolina RB getting touches or looks... And check this out - just now in another league, someone offered me WR Jerricho Cotchery of the Jets for Larry Johnson!!! Hmmmm. Johnson was the number three overall draft pick in Yahoo leagues this year, while Cotchery went in the middle of the ninth round around position 85. I basically just told that owner something to the effect that "I think you meant to offer me someone else for LJ, didn't you?" By the way, it turns out that he meant to make me a different offer so I don't feel so bad now. Buy low, sell high. It works pretty much in any realm of life - economics or fantasy sports. Don't EVER get caught on the short end!
As for Jones-Drew, yes, he's off to a slow start this year, but he's still the same player that scored 16 touchdowns last year. Judging by that 52 yard touchdown run he had last week against Kansas City and the rest of his touches, he looks like he's just fine - he simply needs a few more chances per game. Unlike Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson, Johnson and Shawn Alexander don't appear to be on the way to getting well anytime soon. The consensus #2, 3 & 4 draft picks this year are certainly looking like fantasy duds so far... as I've said before, running backs are NOT nearly as reliable as quarterbacks, wide receivers or tight ends. That said, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and trade for them now as you know that they can put up some BIG numbers if/when they're healthy.
Check out this year's top 10 overall draft picks and look at where they stand so far in fantasy points accumulated and their overall rank in parenthsis through week five in your typical Yahoo league. Assume 20 yards per point passing, 10 yards per point receiving or rushing, 6 points for any touchdown, 2 points per 2-point conversion and -2 points per interception or fumble lost.
1. LaDainian Tomlinson (SD) - RB: 73 (T19)
2. Steven Jackson (StL) - RB: 22 (T144)
3. Larry Johnson (KC) - RB: 35 (T89)
4. Shawn Alexander (Sea) - RB: 49 (T56)
5. Frank Gore (SF) - RB: 53 (T50)
6. Peyton Manning (Ind) - QB: 125 (3)
7. Joseph Addai (Ind) - RB: 73 (T19)
8. Rudi Johnson (Cin) - RB: 28 (T86)
9. Willie Parker (Pit) - RB: 54 (T47)
10. Brian Westbrook (Phi) - RB: 67 (27)
Does anyone now understand why I don't advocate taking running backs early??? Simply put they're inconsistent, unreliable, and much more prone to injury than players at the other offensive positions. Tomlinson, Addai and Westrbook have been decent this year, but nothing special. In fact, they are the only three of the top 9 drafted RB's in the overall top 45 in points scored! That's not good and just goes to show just how overvalued running backs are on draft day. As for the rest, they've been HUGE disappointments so far. And yes, I own Johnson in a couple of leagues - lately he's been been riding my pine. There's no sign of life there.... yet! I'm not about to sell him low though!
Who is doing well, you may ask, asides from Peyton Manning??? Check out the overall top 10 fantasy players and their fantasy point totals...
1. Tom Brady (NE) - QB: 156
2. Tony Romo (Dal) - QB: 151
3. Peyton Manning (Ind) - QB: 125
4. Brett Favre (GB) - QB: 117
5. Derek Anderson (Cle) - QB: 116
6. Carson Palmer (Cin) - QB: 106
7. Ben Roethlisberger (Pit) - QB: 100
8. Ronnie Brown (Mia) - RB: 99
9. Jon Kitna (Det) - QB: 97
10. Randy Moss (NE) - WR: 95
Hmmmm... Lots of quarterbacks, one running back and a wide receiver. If you happened to get Brady (who I said was overrated coming into the season - oops!!!) or Romo in your drafts well, count your lucky stars... Both of these guys have tallied more than TWICE as many points as Tomlinson! Manning has been a rock as usual - there is no single more consistently reliable fantasy player than him - this is why I take him and shy away from the less reliable running backs year after year on draft day. And look at the energizer Favre... still going strong, setting all kinds of NFL records, and once again being a HUGE fantasy contributor.
FYI, Antonio Gates is doing just fine at tight end - drafted on average 28th in Yahoo leagues, he's #30 overall in fantasy points scored, putting up 64 points so far... he's the TE equivalent of Manning at QB - consistent and always reliable. If you happen to have those two on your fantasy teams (as I do in many leagues), chances are you're doing just fine.
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There's one thing most of you fantasy players are probably well-familiar with at this point - lopsided trade proposals. I seem to be getting a plethora of them of late! Yesterday I was offered Carolina's backup RB DeAngelo Williams in that same league I won last year for Jacksonville's little dynamo, Maurice Jones-Drew... Williams has all of six carries the past two weeks. By the way, if you own Williams, it's time to dump him unless you are using him as insurance, as DeShawn Foster is the only Carolina RB getting touches or looks... And check this out - just now in another league, someone offered me WR Jerricho Cotchery of the Jets for Larry Johnson!!! Hmmmm. Johnson was the number three overall draft pick in Yahoo leagues this year, while Cotchery went in the middle of the ninth round around position 85. I basically just told that owner something to the effect that "I think you meant to offer me someone else for LJ, didn't you?" By the way, it turns out that he meant to make me a different offer so I don't feel so bad now. Buy low, sell high. It works pretty much in any realm of life - economics or fantasy sports. Don't EVER get caught on the short end!
As for Jones-Drew, yes, he's off to a slow start this year, but he's still the same player that scored 16 touchdowns last year. Judging by that 52 yard touchdown run he had last week against Kansas City and the rest of his touches, he looks like he's just fine - he simply needs a few more chances per game. Unlike Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson, Johnson and Shawn Alexander don't appear to be on the way to getting well anytime soon. The consensus #2, 3 & 4 draft picks this year are certainly looking like fantasy duds so far... as I've said before, running backs are NOT nearly as reliable as quarterbacks, wide receivers or tight ends. That said, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and trade for them now as you know that they can put up some BIG numbers if/when they're healthy.
Check out this year's top 10 overall draft picks and look at where they stand so far in fantasy points accumulated and their overall rank in parenthsis through week five in your typical Yahoo league. Assume 20 yards per point passing, 10 yards per point receiving or rushing, 6 points for any touchdown, 2 points per 2-point conversion and -2 points per interception or fumble lost.
1. LaDainian Tomlinson (SD) - RB: 73 (T19)
2. Steven Jackson (StL) - RB: 22 (T144)
3. Larry Johnson (KC) - RB: 35 (T89)
4. Shawn Alexander (Sea) - RB: 49 (T56)
5. Frank Gore (SF) - RB: 53 (T50)
6. Peyton Manning (Ind) - QB: 125 (3)
7. Joseph Addai (Ind) - RB: 73 (T19)
8. Rudi Johnson (Cin) - RB: 28 (T86)
9. Willie Parker (Pit) - RB: 54 (T47)
10. Brian Westbrook (Phi) - RB: 67 (27)
Does anyone now understand why I don't advocate taking running backs early??? Simply put they're inconsistent, unreliable, and much more prone to injury than players at the other offensive positions. Tomlinson, Addai and Westrbook have been decent this year, but nothing special. In fact, they are the only three of the top 9 drafted RB's in the overall top 45 in points scored! That's not good and just goes to show just how overvalued running backs are on draft day. As for the rest, they've been HUGE disappointments so far. And yes, I own Johnson in a couple of leagues - lately he's been been riding my pine. There's no sign of life there.... yet! I'm not about to sell him low though!
Who is doing well, you may ask, asides from Peyton Manning??? Check out the overall top 10 fantasy players and their fantasy point totals...
1. Tom Brady (NE) - QB: 156
2. Tony Romo (Dal) - QB: 151
3. Peyton Manning (Ind) - QB: 125
4. Brett Favre (GB) - QB: 117
5. Derek Anderson (Cle) - QB: 116
6. Carson Palmer (Cin) - QB: 106
7. Ben Roethlisberger (Pit) - QB: 100
8. Ronnie Brown (Mia) - RB: 99
9. Jon Kitna (Det) - QB: 97
10. Randy Moss (NE) - WR: 95
Hmmmm... Lots of quarterbacks, one running back and a wide receiver. If you happened to get Brady (who I said was overrated coming into the season - oops!!!) or Romo in your drafts well, count your lucky stars... Both of these guys have tallied more than TWICE as many points as Tomlinson! Manning has been a rock as usual - there is no single more consistently reliable fantasy player than him - this is why I take him and shy away from the less reliable running backs year after year on draft day. And look at the energizer Favre... still going strong, setting all kinds of NFL records, and once again being a HUGE fantasy contributor.
FYI, Antonio Gates is doing just fine at tight end - drafted on average 28th in Yahoo leagues, he's #30 overall in fantasy points scored, putting up 64 points so far... he's the TE equivalent of Manning at QB - consistent and always reliable. If you happen to have those two on your fantasy teams (as I do in many leagues), chances are you're doing just fine.
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