Fantasy Nonsense

10 Fantasy Football Tips for Beginners

Here are 10 tips for people who are starting out and learning how to play fantasy football:

1. Running backs are the most important positions in fantasy football due to the limited number of starting RBs in the league compared to the number of RBs that each team can start in your league (which can range from 1-3). You need several of them in case your starting RB goes down due to an injury.
2. Consequently, examine the roster requirements for your league. If your league does something unorthodox such as starting 2 QBs, then you're forced to draft a QB earlier than you normally would.
   
3. Study your league's scoring system. Are passing touchdowns worth less than rushing/receiving touchdowns? Are there points rewarded per reception? If yes, pass-catching RBs such as Brian Westbrook receive a bump in ranking.
   
4. Don't try to be a homer. In other words, don't draft too many players from your favorite NFL team or from your alma mater.
5. Use a favorite site to monitor player updates (NFL, Rotoworld, ESPN., etc.). You don't want to be the moron who drafts a WR the day after he tears his ACL and is out for the season.
   
6. Do several mock drafts so you can get a feel for how a typical draft plays out. There are several sites out there that run great mock drafts. I'll post them as soon as the live drafts are up and running. 
7. Work the waiver wire (free agency). Pay attention to who's hot and who's not. One of the players you pick up may end up putting up top 5 statistics at his position. 
8. Pay attention to your player's bye weeks. It's frustrating when you realize that half of your team is on a bye during a crucial week. You might as well change your team name to Bye Week.
   
9. Also, do not gamble more than you can lose (not that I condone gambling).
   
10. Most importantly, have fun and bookmark my site (sorry, had to drop a bit of self-promotion...ala TO style).
    

NFL Fantasy Football Weather: "How cold is Narnia?"

An aspect of fantasy football that is often overlooked when choosing your starters for the week is the weather for each game. This is especially important during the later weeks where the harsh winter weather starts to affect games played up in the North.

So how do you check the games for each weather. It's rather simple. Just go to a site that shows weather....something along the lines of Weather.com (duh).
 
This link (NFL Weather) should give you access to the weather for the cities in which the football games are played each week. So this time you won't be surprised that your QB threw 0 TDs and 2 INTs when you realize that the weather called for heavy 20+mph gusts of winds along with a slight chance of showers.

So here's the link to your underappreciated (and cute) virtual weather girl  NFL Weather

FYI...football season hasn't started yet so nothing's up so far, but keep it bookmarked as  a reference.

NFL Draft 2009: Rookie Impact for Fantasy Football

Alright, fellas. I got a case of the Mondays. After the 2009 NFL draft this weekend, I felt my ass grew a few inches in circumference after gluing myself on my couch for 10+ hours. The obvious questionable pick of the draft came from the Oakland  Raiders (I think Al Davis and company accidentally spelled Michael Crabtree's name wrong and ended up drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey). Well, Al Davis wants speeeed, right? Remember the last "speed WR" that the Vikings drafted from South Carolina to replace Randy Moss? His name is Troy Williamson, and I formally welcome him into fantasy oblivion.

In terms of fantasy value, I think the team whose fantasy scoring will benefit from the draft  would have to be the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only were they able to snag a top-10 talent late in the 1st round (Jeremy Maclin of the Mizzou Tigers), they also picked up 1st-round talent LeSean McCoy of the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2nd round. It's interesting to note that McCoy led the NCAA for the past two years in rushing TDs (even managed to surpass the holy Tim Tebow). In the 5th round, the Eagles managed to steal TE Cornelius Ingram of the Florida Gators, a 6'4 TE who also played on the Florida's basketball team. Prior to his ACL injury (which sidelined him for the entire 08-09 season), Ingram was projected as a late 1st to 3rd round pick and the second best TE in the draft.

So give Donovan McNabb a bump in terms of fantasy value. This is a guy who never really had any pro-bowl talent at WR (besides that WR that we must never speak of) and still produces year-to-year (was excruciatingly close to making one hell of a Superbowl run last year). Thumbs up to Mama McNabb and the Eagles for their draft picks on the 1st day.

Should you draft a kicker or defense during your draft?

One of my pet peeves when observing a draft is seeing someone draft a kicker or defense after their initial roster is filled. In other words, after fulfilling their minimum requirements for QB/TE/WR/RB, they decide that it's a "wise" idea to draft the best possible kicker/defense.

The main problem with this particular logic is that the performance of defenses and kickers are notoriously difficult to gauge. Remember Neil Rackers and his monstrous kicking year with the Cards? Well, his fantasy scoring drastically dropped the following year (the same thing could be said for Adam Vinatieri). On the other hand, it can be argued that drafting good defenses are a good investment. Well, I tend to belong on the other side of the spectrum. Instead of relying on 1 or 2 defenses for the entire year (even if they are stellar defenses like Baltimore or Minnesota), I tend to play the matchups when it comes to picking a defense to start each week.

Last year, I pretty much picked the defense that was playing the worst possible offenses in the NFL every week. You can't imagine how many points I racked up each time Marc Bulger and his porous O-line gave up sacks like it was federal bailout money. Some offenses are just destined to turn the ball over because of their shaky QB situation or unfavorable weather. It's just a matter of picking the right matchups based on what's available on the waiver wire (or free agency).

So that's my rant for the day. Don't draft a kicker/defense unless you have solidified the rest of your roster with quality backups. You never know when your stud player will go down in preseason or in a freak injury.

 

Fantasy Football Debate: ALWAYS draft a RB in the early rounds?

For today, I'll be discussing the hotly contested topic of whether or not you should ALWAYS draft a running back in the first few rounds. So you should use your 1st or 2nd round pick on a RB?

The answer is....(drumroll, por favor)....It depends.

It depends on several factors such as draft position or scoring system. Back in the good old days of stud RBs like Priest Holmes, Marshall Faulk, and LaDainian Tomlinson (in his prime), it was simply a no-brainer to draft a stud RB early. Nowadays, more teams are employing the use of running back by committee (e.g., Smash/Dash from the Tennessee Titans or the other Smash/Dash duo from the Carolina Panthers) so it's perfectly normal to be hesitant with your early draft pick.

If you ended up with a below-average drafting position (e.g., pick no 9 in a 12 man league), you don't have the luxury of drafting a true stud RB anymore. In addition, you don't have the benefit of having back-to-back picks so you have to worry about the people who are drafting after you. Just like Texas Hold'em poker, position is very important aspect that is often overlooked in a fantasy draft. So instead of having the 9th best RB on the board, wouldn't you rather have the no. 1 QB or the no. 1 WR on the board? It's a legitimate concern unless you want to end up  want plugging in Chris Simms and his weak spleen as your QB in mid-season (sorry...can't get over how disappointing he was for the Bucs).

Another issue is how your scoring system is set up. Are passing touchdowns worth as much as rushing touchdowns? Does the league award a point for each reception? Try pulling up the fantasy stats from last year based on your league's scoring system. You would be surprised at who some of the top scorers were last year. For example, in my league last year (1 pt for every 10 rushing/receiving yards, 6 pts for every TD), the top 5 RBs were

1. Deangelo Williams
2. Michael Turner
3. Adrian Peterson
4. Matt Forte
5. Thomas Jones

Out of that list, the only definitive 1st round pick was Adrian Peterson. This just goes to show you that good RBs can be drafted in the later rounds. Not to brag but I did have Deangelo Williams, Michael Turner, and Thomas Jones on my roster (well, maybe I wanted to brag...just a little).

So before you simply dismiss the notion of NOT drafting a RB early, think about it again and assess your individual situation.

P.S. In case you're wondering who that person is in the skimpy outfit, it is Cassie Trammell, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. And yes, I do realize that the picture has nothing to do with my post. In the end, do either one of us really care?