Fantasy Football Manager

Beginning 2011 Fantasy Football Notes

2011-09-23T12:49:00.000-04:00

So, once again I was a little too busy with my work to finish any of the Fantasy Football lists on my website this year. Sorry about the ones of you who actually are reading this and are bummed that I didn't finish the pre-draft rankings.

I've been so busy recently that I only had time to sign up for 2 leagues this year. I may get back into posting my pickup specials on a weekly basis.

Would you like a couple of freebies? I know you do. You are going to want to pick up both of the RBs if you get the chance: Bernard Scott (Cincinnati Bengals) and DeMarco Murray (Dallas Cowboys).

I have a feeling that Murray is going to have a break out game against the Redskins this weekend. As for Bernard Scott, word from the league is that the starting RB Cedric Benson will be suspended for 3 games because of the off-season incident with the police.

Early 2011 FFL Notes

From now on, I'm going to make it a point to draft the Houston Texans backup running back. Don't waste the pick until the late rounds, but the Texans are slowly becoming the new Denver Broncos with the running game. Ben Tate is poised to take over the starting spot from Arian Foster, which Foster had previously done to Steve Slaton. I wouldn't be surprised if any marginal RB can be a productive starter in the Texans offense.

The new Brandon Lloyd for the Denver Broncos this year is Eric Decker. He is averaging over 20 yards a reception while Lloyd himself is banged up and most likely will not put up numbers close to last year.

Peyton Hillis is for real. I don't know how this is the case but he should have been one of the top 5 draft picks taken this year. I saw him fall to the 3rd round in one of my drafts and I'm kicking myself for not taking him.

Even though Kansas City was awful in their first two games and lost their star RB for the year, this should be a good year for WR Dwayne Bowe because Matt Cassel is still a good QB. The same can not be said for the receivers playing for the Colts. Be prepared for Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon to have seasons much like Steve Smith had last year in Carolina.

Finally, I would like to select my can't miss kicker of the weekend. I have two of them that I like. First, any New Orleans Saints kicker and this week it is John Kasay. My second pick is Rob Bironas from the Tennessee Titans. Denver has a bend but don't break defense that has been giving up a lot of field goals. Even though Bironas has missed two field goals, one of them was from 67 yards and he is essentially 4 out of 5 this year.

Injuries

Obviously injuries can hurt a Fantasy Football team for a week or longer. Last week, my team lost Michael Vick, Malcolm Floyd and Jamal Charles during the game. There wasn't a whole lot of chance for me to win.

This makes picking up backups and replacements a huge part of competing in any league. Do you want a good source to find out the latest FF news?

I always make it a point to visit NFL Blogs every day to see if there is a free agent that you should pop on.

I hope to update my website and keep posting more often on this blog, but life sometimes dictates otherwise and doing something I don't get paid for means it often has to be put on the back burner.

Week 6 Free Agent Pickups

2010-10-17T20:15:00.003-04:00

There is very little to report on as far as free agents pickups are concerned.

I guess the obvious pickup is Deion Branch, who took over the starting position that was vacated by Randy Moss. Deion got 9 receptions for 98 yards and a TD. If he is available in your league, pick him up.

Another player that you should pick up is tight end Heath Miller from Pittsburgh. He has always been one of Big Ben's favorite targets and he had 50 yards receiving and a TD. Definitively a decent second TE for your team.

I told you last week to watch out for Nate Burleson. He got a TD and 50 yards but also had a costly fumble. This shouldn't hurt his rising value, though, because Detroit is going to need him to produce as their 2nd receiver.

If you are in need of a free agent start for either the Sunday or Monday night games, consider picking up Tennessee WR Kenny Britt. He had a decent game against Dallas last week; although his TD catch looked like it was thrown to another receiver.

If anyone got rid of Brandon Jacobs, make sure you pick him up. The Giants have a formidable running game and Jacobs is likely to get most of the goal line carries.

I didn't really have any really good matchup to report as far as kickers or defenses last week, mostly because I did not see any good matchups for free agent kickers and defenses.

For week 7, I see two defensive matchups that I like and these teams should be available in your league. The Seattle Seahawks are at home against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals offense has shown little on the road and Seattle is very good at home.

My second pick would have to be the Washington Redskins playing on the road against the Chicago Bears. The Bears are proving that they are who we thought they were. Their offense is looking just as terrible as they were at any point last season. Worse yet, their defense did not show up (fantasy points wise) and only got points from a return TD.

As far as place kickers go for week 7, Garrett Hartley seems to have New Orleans starting job back and he has a great matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Other than that, you might want to take a look at Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson (although he is on a bye this week). The Lions have not been shy about having him kick 50+ yarders and he has been very accurate this year.

Week 5 Free Agent Pickups

2010-10-10T18:27:00.003-04:00

Assuming that your fantasy football leagues are as picked over as all three of mine are, you're probably not going to find much of value available.

Felix Jones is starting to make noise for the Cowboys. Watch for him to take over the starting job from Marion Barber (again). Dallas is going to primarily be a passing team, but Felix might be worth starting in the near future.

One wide receiver to take a chance on is Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson. He gives the Lions a legitimate 2nd wide receiver and Calvin Johnson got banged up (shoulder) late in the game against the Rams.

In that same game, St Louis Rams WR Mark Clayton looks to have suffered a serious knee injury. You may want to pick up the next best option for the Rams, Danny Amendola.

Another WR to pick up is James Jones of the Green Bay Packers. He is their slot receiver, but is getting as much action as Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. This is especially true now that both of the Packers top two tight ends went out of today's game with injuries.

Keep RB Earnest Graham of Tampa Bay on your radar. He had the best day running for the Bucs and has been the starting running back in the past. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take over.

Fantasy Football Stats after Week 4

2010-10-06T18:37:00.000-04:00

Top Fantasy Quarterbacks

Name	Pass Yrds	Rush Yrds	Pass TDs	Rush TDs	Int
Peyton Manning	1365	-5	11	0	1
Phillip Rivers	1328	7	9	0	4
Aaron Rodgers	940	69	8	2	5
Michael Vick	799	187	6	1	0
Kyle Orton	1419	29	6	0	3
Tom Brady	911	12	9	0	2
Drew Brees	1131	-7	7	0	2
Mark Sanchez	711	6	8	0	0
Matt Schaub	978	0	7	0	4
Matt Ryan	978	51	6	0	3

Top Fantasy Running Backs

Name	Rush Yrd	Rec Yrd	Rush TD	Rec TD	Fum
Arian Foster	537	152	4	1	1
Rashard Mendenhall	411	27	4	0	0
Jahvid Best	174	217	4	1	1
Adrian Peterson	392	85	3	0	0
Darren McFadden	392	162	1	1	0
LeSean McCoy	273	172	4	0	1
Frank Gore	270	263	1	1	0
Peyton Hillis	322	94	4	0	1
LaDainian Tomlinson	341	82	3	0	0
Chris Johnson	354	38	4	0	2
Ahmad Bradshaw	382	61	3	0	3
Matt Forte	134	209	0	3	1
Mike Tolbert	281	33	3	0	1
Jason Snelling	226	74	2	1	0
Steven Jackson	284	116	1	0	0
Maurice Jones-Drew	322	49	1	1	1
Cedric Benson	262	20	2	1	1
Joseph Addai	228	79	2	0	0
Michael Turner	281	46	1	0	0
Jamaal Charles	238	92	1	0	0

Top Fantasy Wide Receivers

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumble
Austin Collie	398	5	1
Reggie Wayne	456	2	1
Anquan Boldin	355	3	0
Hakeem Nicks	279	4	0
Brandon Lloyd	454	1	0
Roddy White	362	2	0
DeSean Jackson	337	2	0
Terrell Owens	374	1	0
Calvin Johnson	237	3	0
Eddie Royal	299	2	0
Kevin Walter	242	3	0
Braylon Edwards	227	3	0
Mark Clayton	300	2	0
Brandon Marshall	340	1	0
Jeremy Maclin	162	4	0
Malcolm Floyd	285	2	0
Donald Driver	218	3	0
Wes Welker	217	3	0
Miles Austin	308	1	0
Lance Moore	209	3	1
Chad Ochocinco	296	1	0
Greg Jennings	161	3	0
Mike Wallace	211	2	0
Larry Fitzgerald	208	2	0
Santana Moss	290	1	1

Top Fantasy Tight Ends

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumbles
Antonio Gates	386	6	0
Dustin Keller	254	5	0
Dallas Clark	275	3	0
Zach Miller	278	2	0
Chris Cooley	234	2	0
Jermichael Finley	301	1	0
Marcedes Lewis	138	3	0
Vernon Davis	209	1	0
Tony Gonzalez	205	1	0
Greg Olsen	179	2	1

Top Fantasy Team Defenses

Name	Pts Allow	Sacks	Safe	Int	Fum	TD	Blk	Ret TD
Pittsburgh Steelers	50	11	0	6	6	1	0	1
San Diego Chargers	65	15	1	7	4	1	0	0
New England Patroits	96	7	0	7	1	3	2	2
Seattle Seahawks	75	11	0	5	3	1	0	2
Tennessee Titans	68	16	1	4	3	0	0	1
Green Bay Packers	73	16	0	5	2	1	0	0
Saint Louis Rams	52	9	0	4	6	0	1	0
New York Giants	78	16	0	5	4	0	0	0
Chicago Bears	68	4	0	4	7	0	1	1
New York Jets	61	8	0	4	5	0	1	0

Top Fantasy Place Kickers

Name	Less 40	40-49	50+	PAT	Missed
Matt Bryant - ATL	7	3	0	9	1
Mike Nugent - CIN	7	1	2	7	1
Neil Rackers - HOU	5	3	0	12	2
Sebastian Janikowski - OAK	7	1	1	7	4
Matt Prater - DEN	7	0	1	9	0
Nick Folk - NYJ	5	2	0	11	2
Jeff Reed - PIT	7	0	1	8	4
Rob Bironas - TEN	2	3	1	10	1
Graham Gano - WAS	6	2	0	7	2
Mason Crosby - GB	2	2	1	13	1

Fantasy Football Trade Update

2010-10-06T11:38:00.002-04:00

It looks like Randy Moss is going to be headed back to the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have had problems at wide receiver since the start of the season with nagging problems to Percy Harvin and the hip injury to Sidney Rice. The trade with the New England Patroits has still not been anounced yet, but a source said that Randy Moss is being traded for a third round draft pick.

This shouldn't come as a big surprise as this is the last year of his contract with the Patroits. Randy Moss owners have been a little disappointed with his efforts so far. He does have 3 TDs but has not gotten over 60 yards receiving in any game yet this year. On Monday night, he did not have any receptions and was not the focus of the offense at all.

This move should increase the value of both Randy and Brett Farve, who has not had a deep threat receiver so far this year. If you have a chance to trade for Randy Moss or if anyone has dropped Brett Farve, you would do well to pick them up on the cheap before Minnesota puts the peddle to the metal.

You may also want to pick up New England wide receiver Brandon Tate, because he is most likely going to be the starting WR opposite to Wes Welker.

Also, Marshawn Lynch was recently traded to the Seattle Seahawks. This may increase the fantasy value of both him and fellow running back Fred Jackson, who will probably take the starting RB position for the Bills. If either is available in your fantasy football free agent list, pick them up now.

Early Week 5 Pickup

2010-10-05T00:50:00.000-04:00

If you are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, your going to need another defense this week. There are two really good matchups this upcoming weekend. The Chicago Bears are playing the Carolina Panthers and the Bears defense may have to take the game over if the offense plays like it did on Sunday night. Also, the Chargers are playing against the Oakland Raiders. Either matchup should be an ideal fantasy matchup.

Week 4 Free Agent Pickups and News

2010-10-05T00:41:00.001-04:00

I've kind of been frustrated with a couple of my decisions so far this year. There are two runningbacks that I've seen and had an opportunity to pick up, but didn't pull the trigger because I didn't think would pan out. But when it comes to picking up busts, I'm doing great. Brandon Jackson, Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, oh my.

I saw Mike Tolbert putting up numbers after Ryan Matthews injury but ignored him. I actually picked up Ryan Torian of the Washington Redskins last week but dropped him in favor of picking up the injured Reggie Bush.

Ryan Torian is going to be the biggest free agent pickup of this weekend. He is looking primed to take over as starting runningback for the Redskins because Clinton Portis is a little beat up.

I also ignored BenJarvus Green-Ellis because I didn't think any New England Patroit running back was ever worth owning. He is also proving me wrong (at least this week) by getting the majority of the carries and a rushing TD. I doubt either of these players are left to pick up, but make sure you do if either is available.

I wouldn't bother picking up either running back that the Saints ran out there on Sunday. Neither Ladell Betts or Christopher Ivory really did anything productive. If you need a place kicker next week, I would recommend you pick up the Saints John Carney. He was 3 for 3 on field goals and New Orleans plays an Arizona Cardinals team that has given up 41 points twice.

Mike Vick got injured on Sunday, but I wouldn't rush to pick up Kevin Kolb as the Eagles looked completely out of sync with him at the helm. Also, LeSean McCoy has been reported to have fractured a rib in the same game. Look to pick up running back Mike Bell if LeSean McCoy missing next week's game.

It might be time to cut Mike Sims-Walker as he did not have a reception for the second game this season. He also has two catches or less in 7 of his last 9 games, dating back to last year.

Keep an eye out for Santonio Holmes return this week for the New York Jets after a four game suspension. Braylon Edwards is currently the number 1 wide receiver but Santonio may cut into his production. Ben Roethlisberger also comes back from suspension but the Steelers have a bye week this week.

One more thing to keep an eye on is Green Bay's running game. In particular, Marshawn Lynch has been rumored to be drawing intest from both the Packers and Eagles.

Sidney Rice may not be coming back as soon as expected. He is reportedly still on cruches and may not be back any time close to the week 9 projection. You might not want to keep him on your roster if you need help now during the fantasy football bye weeks.

Current Fantasy Football Player Stats

2010-10-02T03:26:00.001-04:00

Top Fantasy Quarterbacks

Name	Pass Yrds	Rush Yrds	Pass TDs	Rush TDs	Int
Peyton Manning	1013	-4	9	0	0
Michael Vick	750	170	6	1	0
Phillip Rivers	1087	7	7	0	4
Tom Brady	758	6	8	0	2
Aaron Rodgers	759	49	5	2	3
Jay Cutler	870	62	6	0	2
Drew Brees	856	-6	6	0	2
Kyle Orton	1078	18	4	0	2
Mark Sanchez	550	6	6	0	0
Tony Romo	940	-2	4	0	2

Top Fantasy Running Backs

Name	Rush Yrd	Rec Yrd	Rush TD	Rec TD	Fum
Adrian Peterson	392	85	3	0	0
Arian Foster	406	96	3	0	1
Jahvid Best	124	183	4	1	0
Chris Johnson	301	27	4	0	1
Darren McFadden	345	80	1	1	0
Frank Gore	193	203	1	1	0
LeSean McCoy	209	62	4	0	0
Rashard Mendenhall	332	18	2	0	0
Matt Forte	108	202	0	3	1
Peyton Hillis	220	86	3	0	1
Jason Snelling	195	69	2	1	0
Cedric Benson	202	20	2	1	1
Ahmad Bradshaw	253	47	2	0	2
Jamaal Charles	238	92	1	0	0
Tim Hightower	209	49	2	0	2
Pierre Thomas	147	133	1	0	0
Steven Jackson	214	62	1	0	0
LaDainian Tomlinson	208	60	1	0	0
Michael Turner	231	18	1	0	0
Knowshon Moreno	111	71	2	0	0

Top Fantasy Wide Receivers

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumble
Austin Collie	359	4	1
Anquan Boldin	287	3	0
DeSean Jackson	318	2	0
Hakeem Nicks	169	4	0
Brandon Lloyd	339	1	0
Jeremy Maclin	147	4	0
Kevin Walter	207	3	0
Roddy White	258	2	0
Reggie Wayne	260	2	0
Miles Austin	308	1	0
Malcolm Floyd	240	2	0
Brandon Marshall	290	1	0
Mark Clayton	228	2	0
Wes Welker	147	3	0
Santana Moss	290	1	1
Randy Moss	139	3	0
Mike Wallace	187	2	0
Andre Johnson	255	1	0
Chad Ochocinco	237	1	0
Louis Murphy	238	1	0
Mario Manningham	238	1	0
Roy Williams	191	2	1
Lance Moore	172	2	0
Steve Smith (Car)	163	2	0
Braylon Edwards	141	2	0

Top Fantasy Tight Ends

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumbles
Antonio Gates	242	4	0
Dustin Keller	226	3	0
Dallas Clark	207	2	0
Chris Cooley	197	1	0
Jermichael Finley	265	0	0
Tony Moeaki	123	2	0
Marcedes Lewis	116	2	0
Greg Olsen	140	2	1
Tony Gonzalez	164	1	0
Visanthe Shiancoe	169	1	0

Top Fantasy Team Defenses

Name	Pts Allow	Sacks	Safe	Int	Fum	TD	Blk	Ret TD
Pittsburgh Steelers	33	10	0	5	5	1	0	1
Seattle Seahawks	55	7	0	4	3	1	0	2
Kansas City Chiefs	38	8	0	2	2	1	0	1
Tennessee Titans	42	10	1	3	3	0	0	0
Miami Dolphins	51	6	1	3	1	1	1	0
Indianapolis Colts	61	7	0	3	3	1	0	0
Chicago Bears	51	2	0	4	4	0	1	1
Philadelphia Eagles	62	12	0	5	0	0	0	0
San Diego Chargers	61	6	1	5	3	0	0	0
Green Bay Packers	47	13	0	3	1	0	0	0

Top Fantasy Place Kickers

Name	Less than 40	40-49	50+	PAT
Mike Nugent	5	1	2	5
Jeff Reed	7	0	1	6
Neil Rackers	4	3	0	8
Matt Bryant	5	2	0	8
Sebastian Janikowski	6	1	1	4
Graham Gano	5	2	0	5
Mason Crosby	2	2	1	9
Nick Folk	4	2	0	6
Robbie Gould	5	1	0	6
Dan Carpenter	2	2	1	5

Beware of New Orleans Kicker Situation

2010-09-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley may be the place kicker on one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL and was once definitely worth owning in a fantasy football league.

That was before he missed 3 of his first 7 field goals, including a chip shot in overtime last week.

Now, he is on a very short leash apparently because the Saints have recently signed John Carney. Make sure you check before game time this Sunday to make sure that Hartley is dressed. Otherwise, you may be starting a benched kicker.

Week 4 Fantasy Football Preview

2010-09-30T16:41:00.000-04:00

This is the first week of teams taking their NFL bye week. That means that you may be looking for some emergency one-week replacements to play on Sunday. This week, there are four teams that aren't playing: the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This means you will have to bench Adrian Peterson, Tony Romo, Thomas Jones, Jason Witten, Visanthe Shiancoe, Miles Austin, Marion Barber, Percy Harvin, Jamaal Charles, Kellen Winslow, Dwayne Bowe and Carnell Williams if you have any of these players on your team. Any kicker or defense for these four teams will also have to sit this week.

When it comes to kickers and defenses, there isn't too many situations where you absolutely have to keep them through the bye week. As of today, I would not categorize any NFL place kicker as a must keep. If you drop your kicker and someone else picks them up, so be it.

For defenses, the story is a little different. I would keep any of the elite defenses on my roster through a bye week. If you notice anyone dropping one of the following defenses, you may want to pick them up for later use: Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings or New Orleans Saints.

Here's the best choices for your bye week replacements for week 4:

Quarterback - If no one has taken Denver Broncos QB Kyle Orton yet, be sure to pick him up. I don't think that his early season play is a fluke and he should put up numbers all year long. Also after some early season problems, Mark Sanchez is starting to heat up and has a favorable matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Take a look towards next week as well because Ben Roethlisberger will be back from suspension.

Running back - If you are in a pinch, you are most likely going to be out of luck as far as RBs are concerned. A couple of emergency fillers may include John Kuhn from Green Bay or Laurence Maroney from Denver. Most of the players from the Week 3 Free Agent Pickup list should already be gone.

Wide Receiver - Same as the RBs, not a whole lot of talent should be left in your league. If you really need someone, here are a couple of Wideouts with good matchups to consider:
Josh Morgan (San Francisco 49ers), Davone Bess (Miami Dolphins), James Jones (Green Bay Packers) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (Oakland Raiders)

Tight End - I have found three options for TE that should be reasonable this weekend: Zach Miller (Oakland Raiders), John Carlson (Seattle Seahawks) and Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriots)

Kicker - Mike Nugent (Cincinnati Bengals) and Jeff Reed (Pittsburgh Steelers) are currently the top two kickers in the league. This is primarily because these two teams are kicking a lot of field goals. Either of these players may be available in any league and are both good plays this weekend.

Team Defense - Cincinnati's Defense also has a good matchup this weekend against the Cleveland Browns. Also, the Chicago Bears defense has been creating turnovers and they are playing the New York Giants, who have been turning the ball over.

Week 3 Free Agent Pickups

2010-09-27T12:52:00.001-04:00

Look for these players to pick up in your fantasy football league

Brandon Lloyd WR Denver Broncos - You can officially pick Brandon up now if he is still available in your fantasy football league. He appears to be this year's DeSean Jackson as he leads the league in 25+ yard receptions. He caught 6 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
Seattle Defense - the Seahawks' defense have had two great fantasy games out of the 3 weeks so far this year. Your not always going to be able to get 5 turnovers and two kickoff return TDs, but you might want to be open for grabbing them.
Ken Darby RB STL - Another week, another starting running back goes down. Don't know how long Steven Jackson will be out, but get Ken Darby if you still can.
Peyton Hillis RB CLE - Break out Peyton Hillis. He appears to be the only viable option on the Browns as a fantasy option. He got 22 rushes for 144 yards and a TD against the Ravens.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis RB NE - Could it be that the Patroits have finally found a number 1 running back? Don't hold your breath yet, but do pick up the four-named wonder because he got 16 carries for 98 yards and a TD this weekend.

Don't bother picking up the following players:

Lance Moore WR NO - 6 receptions, 149 yards and 2 TDs receiving. He didn't do anything in the first two games of the season and there are too many targets on the Saints to ever think about starting Lance on your fantasy team.

Roy Williams WR DAL - Let's see Roy put up more than one good game before you think about starting him on your fantasy roster (5 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs). If you have an empty spot, you might consider picking him up though.

Leon Washington RB SEA - I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's not going to get 2 return TDs again. He isn't the starting RB so leave him.

Knowshon Moreno out for week 3

2010-09-24T17:39:00.001-04:00

Knowshon Moreno is officially out this weekend because of an injury suffered today. Either Correll Buckhalter or Laurence Maroney is going to be the starter this week. Stay tuned for more, but you should think about picking up either Denver Broncos running back.

Pre Week 3 Fantasy Football Manager News

2010-09-23T17:33:00.000-04:00

You can officially drop Vincent Jackson as the San Diego Chargers have decided not to trade the hold out. There still is a chance that San Diego will trade him before the trade deadline in a few weeks; but that chance is slim because San Diego turned down offers for his service this week.

If Michael Vick is still available in your fantasy football league, you might want to pick him up. As long as he puts on performances like the first two weeks, he is going to be the starter. The only way that Kevin Kolb is going to start again in the near future is if Vick performs badly. He is a very good backup QB to have and could be your starter for the next couple of weeks.

Reggie Bush's broken leg will not require surgey and he could be back in the next four to six weeks. Be sure to pick him up off of waivers if anyone has dropped him as he should be back by week 9.

Be very wary of the situation with Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Aromashodu. It seems that he was benched last weekend because the team does not have confidence in his ability to be a slot receiver when he shortarmed some catches against the Detroit Lions. Don't drop him yet, but if he does nothing this weekend you might want to.

Robert Meachem seems to clearly be the 4th wide receiver at New Orleans. He was only out on the field for 14 of the Saints offensive 64 plays. It may be close to time to letting him go if you drafted him.

TJ Houshmandzadeh seams to be struggling so far at Baltimore. So far that seems to hold true for the Ravens' offense overall. If his production doesn't improve very soon, you shouldn't think about keeping him on your roster.

The same holds true for rookie Bills running back CJ Spiller. He only received one carry last week after starting in week 1. It appears that he is the number 3 running back at Buffalo for the time being. You may want to keep him for a couple more weeks.

Be aware that Laurence Maroney is now a Denver Bronco. He may be worth watching in case there is an injury to Knowshon Moreno or Correll Buckhalter.

Fantasy Football Player Injuries and Suspensions

2010-09-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

Injury Update - Be careful drafting the following players with injuries:

Reggie Bush RB NO - Reggie has a fracture bone in his leg during the Monday Night game and will be out for 4 to 6 weeks at the minimum.

Kevin Faulk RB NE - Kevin also went down with a leg injury (in week 2) and is now on Injured Reserve.

Ryan Grant RB GB - Ryan went down in week 1 and is now out for the year.

Sidney Rice WR MIN - Was placed on the PUP list and will miss at least the first 6 weeks of the regular season.

Antonio Bryant WR CIN - Antonio was cut by the Bengals and still has an existing issue with his knee which effected his play last year.

Donnie Avery WR STL - Avery suffered a torn ACL and has been placed on Injured Reserve.

Ben Tate RB HOU - Ben has also been placed on Injured Reserve.

Michael Bush RB OAK - Had screws inserted into his left thumb to help with a fracture. He may not miss any games due to this injury but may not keep his No. 1 status.

Kevin Smith RB DET - Kevin had a major knee surgery last year and has been struggling in the preseason. He is No. 2 on the depth chart behind rookie Jahvid Best.

Chaz Schilens WR OAK - Had surgery on his knee and is expected to miss 3 to 6 weeks.

Suspended Players

Be aware of the following NFL players that have suspensions coming into the season:

Vincent Jackson WR SD - Not only has he been suspended by the NFL for 3 games, he has also been suspended by his team for 3 games and is currently holding out. If he signs before the start of the NFL season, the 3 game suspensions from the league and the team can be served at the same time.

Ben Roethlisberger QB PIT - Ben will miss the first 4 games of the regular season stemming back from his off-field incident.

Santonio Holmes WR NYJ - Holmes has been suspended 4 games for violating the substance abuse policy.

Week 2 Fantasy Football Free Agent Pickups

2010-09-19T20:32:00.000-04:00

Look for these players to pick up in your fantasy football league

Jason Snelling RB Atlanta Falcons - both starting runningbacks in front of him got hurt in the game today. Jason filled in with a huge game including 129 yards and 2 TDS rushing and 57 yards a 1 TD receiving.
Mike Tolbert RB San Diego Chargers - Tolbert had 87 yards and 2 rushing TDs in backup of the rookie Ryan Matthews, who left the game with an injury and didn't return.
Dustin Keller TE New York Jets - Came up big with 115 yards receiving and a TD. Mark Sanchez is starting to target Dustin more often.
Demaryius Thomas WR Denver Broncos - The rookie wideout had the most receptions (8) and the most yardage (97) and had a TD.
Kevin Walter WR Houston Texans - Kevin had a huge week and might still be available in some leagues. He had 144 yards and 1 TD receiving.

Fantasy Football News before Week 1

2010-09-01T17:24:00.000-04:00

The QB controversy is over in Arizona. Derek Anderson is the starter and Matt Leinart has been release by the Cardinals. Derek Anderson is probably going to be a decent 2nd string fantasy quarterback and don't be surprised if he puts forward the same performance he did a couple of years ago with Cleveland.

TJ Houshmandzadeh was cut by the Seattle Seahawks. You will want to pick up Mike Williams (former USC Trojan, Detroit Lions 1st round pick and bust) to replace him.

Cleveland Running back and rookie Montario Hardesty , Denver Running back LenDale White and Houston Kicker Kris Brown have all been placed on Injured Reserve.

Wide Receiver Patrick Crayton has been traded from the Cowboys to the Chargers. This may indicate something about Vincent Jacksons likelihood of signing and playing this year. Pick up Patrick Crayton if you have a chance.

2010 Place Kicker Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T17:21:00.000-04:00

A good kicker can mean the difference between a win and a lose. Obviously, you will want to find the kicker that kicks the most field goals. But the difference between a great kicker last year and a average kicker isn't that great.

Last year, Nate Kaeding had the most Fantasy Football points with 146 while the average for a decent kicker was 120 points (this is relative because different league score FGs differently).

Your going to find that you can get a place kicker with a good matchup on most weeks. Good matchups for a kicker are matchups against either very week defenses or against strong team defenses that hold teams from scoring TDs.

In any event, you should never select a kicker before the 15th or 16th round of a typical 18 round fantasy football draft.

Dynamic offenses like NO are likely to move the ball down the field often. Even when they don't score a touchdown, they are often in the position for an easy field goal.

Of course, accuracy counts for a great deal. That's why I have Mason Crosby so far down the list. Great offense, but he missed 9 FGs last year or about a 75% accuracy.

Every year, there is a team that will have the capability of moving the football but also seem to fizzle out near the goal line. I have Robbie Gould ranked that high for this very reason. I think Chicago will be able to move the ball, but Matt Forte and Jay Cutler will struggle to convert the TDs in games this year.

Rank	Kicker	Team	Bye
1	Garrett Hartley	NO	10
2	David Akers	PHI	8
3	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	5
4	Nate Kaeding	SD	10
5	Jay Feely	ARI	6
6	Robbie Gould	CHI	8
7	Mason Crosby	GB	10
8	Rob Bironas	TEN	9
9	Ryan Longwell	MIN	4
10	Dan Carpenter	MIA	5
11	Matt Prater	DEN	9
12	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	8
13	David Buehler	DAL	4
14	Jeff Reed	PIT	5
15	Matt Bryant	ATL	8

2010 Team Defense Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

When it comes right down to it, I see many people drafting a Team defense way to early on in a lot of fantasy football drafts. Any time you see the Jets Defense go off the board before the 12th round, what you should be saying is "Yeah, more decent WR and RB picks for me.

The truth of the matter is, I've found that any time that I pick a defense in the middle rounds thinking that I got one of the best, it almost always backfires on me.

You go into the season only thinking about how good the defense is. Unfortunately, the defense can fall apart with injuries or your opponent beats you heads up with a defense he just picked up that has a good matchup.

If you ride one defense for the entire year during your fantasy season, the best that you will do is on average about 2 to 3 points per week better than the 10th - 12th best defense. This means that you are not gaining a lot of advantage, except maybe the one or two games that you can steal against your opponent with a huge game from the defense.

Case in point - in two of my three drafts I picked a defense at the end of the draft. I then found out that Chicago's Defense is playing at home against the Detroit Lions. Chicago has done well at home against the Lions and usually gets up by a couple of TDs early. This leads to more chances at sacks, fumbles and interceptions. Also, Chicago is a threat to score on the special teams as well. I then dropped my drafted defense and picked up the Bears.

Rank	Defense	Team	Bye
Team 1	New York Jets	NYJ	7
2	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	8
3	Green Bay Packers	GB	10
4	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	4
5	New Orleans Saints	NO	10
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	5
7	San Francisco 49ers	SF	9
8	New York Giants	NYG	8
9	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	6
10	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	8
11	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	4
12	Oakland Raiders	OAK	10
13	Chicago Bears	CHI	8
14	Miami Dolphins	MIA	5
15	Washington Redskins	WAS	9

2010 Tight End Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T17:15:00.000-04:00

Tight End is usually the one pick that is easiest to determine when you need to draft. Don't ever waste a pick in the first 4 rounds on one, even Antonio Gates or Dallas Clark.

I would expect that one or both of these Tight ends will be snatched up in the early to mid 5th round. This is the ideal time to get one of the elite Tight ends, if you are inclined to do so.

What you must avoid is missing out on the elite TEs and trying to compensate by drafting the best available TE left. If you are starring down the barrel of having to pick up Chris Cooley or worse, you might as well wait until the 9th or 10th round to get your first tight end.

If you don't get an elite Tight End in your draft, make sure that you have an adequate backup. Kellen Winslow and Tony Gonzalez should still be available later on in case you are in a pinch.

Rank	Tight End	Team	Bye
1	Antonio Gates	SD	10
2	Dallas Clark	IND	7
3	Jermichael Findley	GB	10
4	Vernon Davis	SF	9
5	Jason Witten	DAL	4
6	Brent Celek	PHI	8
7	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	4
8	Chris Cooley	WAS	9
9	Owen Daniels	HOU	7
10	Kellen Winslow	TB	4
11	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	8
12	Dustin Keller	NYJ	7
13	John Carlson	SEA	5
14	Heath Miller	PIT	5
15	Zach Miller	OAK	10

2010 Wide Receiver Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T17:13:00.000-04:00

Every year its a crapshoot with the Wide Receivers. Outside of the top 12 Wideouts on this list, I can't guarantee that any one player is going to do well.

Within the first 5 rounds, you really should get at least one of these 12 WRs. After that, I suspect that these 12 players will be gone.

After that, the key is to hedge your bets by getting a lot of wide receivers during the middle of your draft. Players like Hines Ward and Terrell Owens have routinely slipped past the first 8 rounds and become a great bargin.

Basically, if you don't see a Running back that is higher on your board and you don't need or can't get a highly rated QB or TE, you should select the best Wide Receiver you can find. Odds are that a couple of them will pan out for 7+ points a game.

Rank	Wide Receiver	Team	Bye
1	Andre Johnson	HOU	7
2	Randy Moss	NE	5
3	Reggie Wayne	IND	7
4	Miles Austin	DAL	4
5	Roddy White	ATL	8
6	DeSean Jackson	PHI	8
7	Calvin Johnson	DET	7
8	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	6
9	Brandon Marshall	MIA	5
10	Marques Colston	NO	10
11	Greg Jennings	GB	10
12	Anquan Boldin	BAL	8
13	Wes Welker	NE	5
14	Steve Smith	NYG	8
15	Chad OchoCinco	CIN	6
16	Mike Sims-Walker	JAC	9
17	Michael Crabtree	SF	9
18	Steve Smith	CAR	6
19	Donald Driver	GB	10
20	Dwayne Bowe	KC	4
21	Robert Meachem	NO	10
22	Pierre Garcon	IND	7
23	Johnny Knox	CHI	8
24	Eddie Royal	DEN	9
25	Hines Ward	DEN	9
26	Braylon Edwards	NYJ	7
27	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	7
28	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	8
29	Kenny Britt	TEN	9
30	Lee Evans	BUF	6
31	Percy Harvin	MIN	4
32	Mike Williams	TB	4
33	Santana Moss	WAS	9
34	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	8
35	Malcolm Floyd	SD	10
36	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	8
37	Laurent Robinson	STL	9
38	Kevin Walter	HOU	7
39	Louis Murphy	OAK	10
40	Mike Wallace	PIT	5
41	Austin Collie	IND	7
42	Dez Bryant	DAL	4
43	Derrick Mason	BAL	8
44	Terrell Owens	CIN	6
45	Devery Henderson	NO	10
46	Jabar Gaffney	DEN	9
47	Bernard Berrian	MIN	4
48	Vincent Jackson	SD	10
49	Roy Williams	DAL	4
50	Early Doucet	ARI	6

2010 Quarterback Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T16:20:00.000-04:00

Every year there seems to be some debate about the overall importance of the Quarterback. I have said in the past that you should always select a Running Back in the 1st round of your draft. More and more I see this being not always the case when you have a late first round draft pick.

I have Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees both being viable late first round picks. This is especially true if you are able to snag a great RB like either Steven Jackson or DeAngelo Williams in the early 2nd round.

After that, I would shy away from picking another QB in the first 2 rounds. Your best bet is to try to wait for the 4th round and see if one of the following three QBs are still available: Matt Schaub, Tony Romo or Phillip Rivers.

That being said, you are not going to want to left without one of the top 7 QBs in my rankings above unless you can load up with quality RBs or WRs.

If you get stuck without one of these quarterbacks, I would suggest taking Kevin Kolb and either Carson Palmer or Joe Flacco. The odds of one of these three having a great year is pretty high.

For those people who are still on the Brett Favre train, I wouldn't count on it. The first thing I would like to point out is the short term concerns with the Vikings WRs. Sidney Rice is out at least six weeks and Percy Harvin has been back and forth with his migranes. Add this to the fact that Farve has already been having problems with his ankle and I think he will take a major step back this year.

A couple of quality backup QBs that I see for your fantasy team this year are Donovan McNabb in Washington and Matt Stafford in Detroit.

Rank	Quarterback	Team	Bye
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB	10
2	Drew Brees	NO	10
3	Peyton Manning	IND	7
4	Tom Brady	NE	5
5	Matt Schaub	HOU	7
6	Tony Romo	DAL	4
7	Phillip Rivers	SD	10
8	Eli Manning	NYG	8
9	Kevin Kolb	PHI	8
10	Carson Palmer	CIN	5
11	Joe Flacco	BAL	8
12	Matt Ryan	ATL	8
13	Jay Cutler	CHI	8
14	Brett Favre	MIN	4
15	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	7
16	Donovan McNabb	WAS	9
17	Kyle Orton	DEN	9
18	Chad Henne	MIA	5
19	Vince Young	TEN	9
20	Matthew Stafford	DET	7

2010 Running Back Draft Rankings

2010-08-30T16:18:00.000-04:00

Running back is almost always going to be your most important positions to fill in the draft. My quick rule of thumb for any year is that you should always draft 2 running backs in the first 3 rounds of your fantasy football draft.

The lone exception to this rule is when you get stuck with one of the last first round picks. If you do not have the chance to get one of the top 7 runningbacks on this list, you should really think about drafting one (or possibly two) of these four players: Drew Brees, Andre Johnson, Aaron Rodgers or Randy Moss.

If these players are all gone in the second round, look at getting one of the next five RBs on the draft board.

When it comes to drafting your 3rd running back, don't wait too long. You are always going to need a solid 3rd RB in case one of your top 2 go down. Joseph Addai is a solid RB that has fallen into the 5th or 6th round in a couple of drafts that I have been in. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to test the waters with one of the rookie RBs like Jahvid Best or CJ Spiller.

Arian Foster is one of the Fantasy running backs that has been on the rise in most leagues I've seen. I have to say that I am not convinced from what little I have seen of him. He clearly has the number 1 spot because Steve Slaton is both hurt and can't hold onto the ball. Pass on him unless you can get him in the 6th round or later (doubtful).

The sleeper that I like for this year is Thomas Jones, who moved offseason to the Kansas City Chiefs. Hard to say that he's a sleeper though, because he rushed for 1400 yards last year. I think that Jamaal Charles was a flash in the pan last year. A lot of his scoring plays were screen passes that went the distance and he didn't fare much better than Larry Johnson last year when rushing.

A good rule of thumb is to always have four starting runningbacks. Its usually easy to snipe a RB lilke Jerome Harrison from Cleveland in the late rounds.

Also, you can hedge your bets by selecting one of the quality backups like Jonathan Stewart or Ricky Williams.

Rank	Running Back	Team	Bye
1	Chris Johnson	TEN	9
2	Adrian Peterson	MIN	4
3	M. Jones-Drew	JAC	9
4	Ray Rice	BAL	8
5	Steven Jackson	STL	9
6	Frank Gore	SF	9
7	Michael Turner	ATL	8
8	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	6
9	Cedric Benson	CIN	6
10	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	5
11	Ryan Grant	GB	10
12	Ryan Matthews	SD	10
13	Shonn Greene	NYJ	7
14	LeSean McCoy	PHI	8
15	Felix Jones	DAL	4
16	Beanie Wells	ARI	6
17	Ronnie Brown	MIA	5
18	Thomas Jones	KC	4
19	Joseph Addai	IND	7
20	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	6
21	Matt Forte	CHI	8
22	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	8
23	Jahvid Best	DET	7
24	Arian Foster	HOU	7
25	CJ Spiller	BUF	6
26	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	9
27	Justin Forsett	SEA	5
28	Michael Bush	OAK	10
29	Fred Jackson	BUF	6
30	Pierre Thomas	NO	10
31	Cadillac Williams	TB	4
32	Clinton Portis	WAS	9
33	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	8
34	Marion Barber	DAL	4
35	Reggie Bush	NO	10
36	LaDanian Tomlinson	NYJ	7
37	Jamaal Charles	KC	4
38	Willis McGahee	BAL	8
39	Donald Brown	IND	7
40	Correll Buckhalter	DEN	9
41	Chester Taylor	CHI	8
42	Ricky Williams	MIA	5
43	Laurence Maroney	NE	5
44	Jerome Harrison	CLE	8
45	Steve Slaton	HOU	7
46	Albert Young	MIN	4
47	Leon Washington	SEA	5
48	Darren Sproles	SD	10
49	Tim Hightower	ARI	8
50	Kevin Smith	DET	7

Week 7 Picks

2007-10-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

Really quickly, here are my picks for this week.

(Home Teams in Bold)

Baltimore -3 1/2
San Francisco +10 1/2
New England -17 1/2
Houston +1 1/2
Tampa Bay +1 1/2
New Orleans -7 1/2
Arizona +7 1/2
Kansas City +2 1/2
Cincinnati -6 1/2
Minnesota +9 1/2
Philadelphia -4 1/2
Seattle -9 1/2
Pittsburgh -3 1/2
Jacksonville +3 1/2

I have no idea what my record is right now. I'll have to add it up and see when I get a chance. Been struggling recently with my job disappearing. I will try to update this more often, but it might take a week or two still.

Week 6 Picks

2007-10-14T02:25:00.000-04:00

Next week will mark the return of my weekly picks and updates for both my website and this blog.

In the meantime here are my week 6 NFL spread picks:

(Home teams in bold)

St Louis +9 1/2
Green Bay -3 1/2
Tennessee +2 1/2
Kansas City +3 1/2
Philadelphia -2 1/2
Houston +6 1/2
Chicago -5 1/2
Miami +4 1/2
Arizona -4 1/2
Oakland +10 1/2
New England -4 1/2
Seattle -6 1/2
New York Giants -3 1/2

Missed my suicide pick last week and game of the week last week, both Green Bay. To try and make up for it, I am going to pick the Miami Dolphins to win straight up against the Cleveland Browns on the road.

Week 5 Picks

2007-10-07T02:57:00.000-04:00

This ended up being a lost week as far as my blog and website go. I haven't been able to update wither of them much this week. In the upcomming week, I will come up with my player rankings and a more detailed approach for the reasons for my picks.

Here is my suicide pick for Week 5

Green Bay Packers over Chicago Bears

Also, here are my week 5 spread pick winners (Bold denotes home team)

Miami +5 1/2
Jacksonville -2 1/2
New York Giants -3 1/2
New Orleans -3 1/2
New England -15 1/2
Washington -3 1/2
Atlanta +8 1/2
Arizona -2 1/2
Pittsburgh -6 1/2
Tampa Bay +10 1/2
Baltimore -3 1/2
Denver -1 1/2
Green Bay -3 1/2
Dallas -10 1/2

And Finally, my spread pick of the week is:
the same as my suicide pick; Green Bay over Chicago.

M.A.S.H. Unit

2007-09-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has this right now. In one of my fantasy football leagues, here is who I had out for the day, either from injuries or bye weeks. I barely had enough to play and I had to make two late roster moves to field a proper team. Here's a list of the players in my M.A.S.H Unit:

Lendale White - bye
Maurice Jones-Drew - bye
Steven Jackson - injured
Ahman Green - injured
Javon Walker - injured
Anquain Boldin - injured
Lamont Jordan - injured in today's game
Marvin Harrison - injured in today's game
Donovan McNabb - sucks unless he's playing Detroit

59 points this week, aw baby!

Oh, by the way, I'm 8-4 so far on my NFL spread picks this week so far.

Hip Hip ...

2007-09-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

Hurray!

I can't celebrate too much with my suicide pick, as I think almost everyone in America went with Dallas over St. Louis. I should have made this my NFL spread pick of the week (Doh!)

3-1 on the year.

Went to the Lions well once too often

2007-09-30T16:59:00.000-04:00

Well, right on queue, my first weekly NFL spread pick of the week went south ... in a hurry.

Chicago's in some big time trouble right about now. An interception return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown, a Lions rushing touchdown, and 2 passing touchdowns ... oh and one blocked extra point for a robust 34 points scored by the Detroit Lions in the fourth quarter.

Are you freaking kidding me? Make that an NFL record 34 points in the fourth quarter for the Lions ... and they finish the game with 37 points.

286 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions for Greise on 51 passing attempts. Where's the running game? Where was the defense in the fourth quarter? Why are you passing 51 times in a game that you were up 13-3 at the start of the fourth?

This game was in the bank ... I already earmarked it as a lock. Where's Rex Grossman when you need him ... oh yeah that's right. And I don't think the defense can use the same excuse this week as they made last week. I don't think the Lions offense really "wore them down."

So far, it seems like any well-reasoned thought that I post on this board gets blown back in my face with the double-gooch, and Nelson from the Simpsons laughing at me. No Whammy! No Whammy! No Whammy! STOP! Aw man! And I really wanted that 1986 Yugo and $800.

That makes me 0-1 for my pick of the week. Let's roll on with this exercise in futility ... next week baby! Going for 1-1. (You suck Bears)

Week 3 Who's Hot and Who's Not

2007-09-30T03:25:00.000-04:00

Haven't had time to create a detailed Who's hot and Who's not page for my Fantasy Fooball website this week, so this abbreviated version is going to have to do for this week.

Also, please visit my NFL Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings

Here are my week 3 picks for the top 5 players at each position:

QBs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Quarterbacks
1) Donovan McNabb -
2) Tony Romo
3) Tom Brady
4) Brett Favre
5) Jon Kitna

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Quarterbacks
1) Marc Bulger
2) Derek Anderson
3) Ben Roethlisberger
4) Jay Cutler
5) Carson Palmer

RBs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Runningbacks
1) Brian Westbrook
2) Marion Barber III
3) LaMont Jordan
4) Joseph Addai
5) Willis McGahee

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Runningbacks
1) Edgerrin James
2) Kevin Jones
3) Derrick Ward
4) Larry Johnson
5) Travis Henry

WRs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
1) Randy Moss
2) Roy Williams
3) Terrell Owens
4) Kevin Curtis
5) Bernard Berrian

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
1) Isaac Bruce
2) Reggie Brown
3) Javon Walker
4) Braylon Edwards
5) Marvin Harrison

Week 4 Top 5 Tight Ends
1) Antonio Gates
2) Tony Gonzalez
3) Jeremy Shockey
4) Todd Heap
5) Owen Daniels

Week 4 Top 5 Place Kickers
1) Nick Folk
2) Adam Vinatieri
3) Stephen Gostkowski
4) Robbie Gould
5) David Akers

Week 4 Top 5 Team Defenses
1) Dallas
2) Baltimore
3) Indianapolis
4) Chicago
5) Pittsburgh

NFL Spread Pick of the Week

2007-09-29T00:55:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm going for broke. Another chance to go big or go home.

Here is the one game that I am going to highly recommend for my first NFL Spread Pick of the Week:

Chicago -2 1/2 on the road against the Detroit Lions

I know, I know ... I picked on the Lions last week. Well, its time to pick on them again. The Lions are going to be good for at least two turnovers. The Bears are going to be very angry after giving up 34 points to Dallas. The pressue is going to be on the Bears offense to help their defense out and keep them off of the field. I'm betting you are going to see Bernard Berrian burn the Lions corners the way that Kevin Curtis did last weekend. Of course, this assumption is predictated on my belief that a Chicago Bears quarterback will do good for once and that the Lions still won't have a running game. This will force Kitna to throw the ball a lot, and that will be the downfall of the Lions in this game.

Week 4 - NFL Spread picks

2007-09-29T00:34:00.000-04:00

I said it last week, I need to go at least 8-6 or else this week is a failure. I'm putting the pressure on myself now, not only do I want 8-6 here, but I want to go relatively flawless with my hot a cold picks this week as well. We have enough of the NFL season played now, and I should have a pretty good idea of who's going to do what.

Here are this weeks spread picks -
(Home teams in bold)

Atlanta +2 1/2
Buffalo +3 1/2
Baltimore -4 1/2
Dallas -12 1/2
Chicago -2 1/2
Oakland +3 1/2
Green Bay -2 1/2
Tampa Bay +2 1/2
San Francisco +1 1/2
Pittsburgh -5 1/2
Indianapolis -9 1/2
Kansas City +12 1/2
Philadelphia -2 1/2
New England -7 1/2

Fingers crossed ... We'll see how I do

NFL Suicide pick for Week 4

2007-09-29T00:19:00.001-04:00

Ah yes, the much anticipated return of the weekly suicide pick. Also known as my desperate attempt to not get eliminated in the first half of the season.

I've used the following teams so far in my quest for success: Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers (loss), Philadelphia Eagles. I am not allowed to use these teams again this season, which I hope will last more than just the next week. By the way, I am going to officially eliminate myself if I get another game wrong.

Here it is ... my suicide pick for Week 4 (drumroll please ..........................)

The Dallas Cowboys (at home) over the St. Louis Rams.

Damn, how anti-climatic. This game is like a PAT, if I miss it, its most likely because the holder botched the snap. I thought about going out on a limb and pick a tighter matchup, but I thought to myself, there isn't a better week to use the Cowboys. How often do you think that an NFC East should beat up on their own division, only to have the underdog pull off the upset?

This game is a safe as safe can get. The best team in the NFC versus a suddenly anemic offense and pourus defense. Anyways, I have to get my confidence back up and try to have a great week for once. If not, I'm not going to inspire many people with my poor picks.

Week 3 in Review - Who's Not

2007-09-29T00:17:00.000-04:00

Quarterback –

1) Matt Leinart –53 yards passing, 2 yards rushing – replaced by Kurt WarnerActual week 3 QB rank - #31That’s the definition of a cold quarterback. Kurt Warner came in and almost rescued the day. I can’t see Arizona going back to Leinart for the time being.

2) Phillip Rivers –306 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 QB rank - #4Well, he most certainly woke up this week. Problem is, it still wasn’t enough and the Chargers aren’t utilizing Tomlinson correctly. San Diego is heading in the right direction, though, and I expect them to start clicking in the upcoming weeks.
3) Marc Bulger –116 yards passing, 3 interceptionsActual week 3 QB rank – tied for last with J.P. LosmanSt Louis is in deep trouble for right now. The loss of Orlando Pace is killing them. Compounding the problem is Steven Jackson’s injury. I would completely avoid St Louis fantasy players for the time being.

4) David Garrard –154 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 52 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 QB rank - #15Not horrible, the Jags offense still confuses me. They are winning though, so it doesn’t matter what us fantasy football managers think.

5) Derek Anderson –248 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 2 interceptions, 12 yards and 1 touchdown rushingActual week 3 QB rank - #11Cleveland was showing their colors in the first half against Oakland. Then they rebounded and almost pulled out that game against the Raiders. Derek Anderson still isn’t your starting fantasy quarterback material yet, but he’s at least worth considering if the Browns can keep this up.

Fantasy Football Week 3 in Review

Week 3 in Review - Who's Hot

2007-09-29T00:06:00.000-04:00

Gotta love the work week. I wish I had more time to get on this blog and my Fantasy Football website. I'm going to hammer down some blogs and updates for my site tonight. I've still got a lot to do before the games start on Sunday. The sooner I get it up, the better. Hopefully, in the future weeks, I will be able to get all of this done before the week end.

Full version of the Week 3 results

Quarterback -

1) Tom Brady – 311 yards and 4 touchdowns passing, 2 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #2There is no limit to the effectiveness of Tom Brady’s quarterbacking ability. I am convinced that with the addition of Randy Moss, New England could go 15-1 this year. I don’t know who the one loss will be to, but I’m not ready to anoint any team with an undefeated record.

2) Drew Brees –225 yards passing, 4 interceptions, 9 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 Quarterback rank – better off not starting a QuarterbackOh so close on this pick … well not really. Nothing like a 0-5 touchdown-to-turnover ratio. Now I know that Tennessee’s defense was pretty stout again Peyton Manning in week 2, but they aren’t that good; Drew was horrible. The Saints’ offense looked confused and disoriented. Worse yet, Deuce McAllister is out for the season. All and all, it was about as bad a game as could be for New Orleans.

3) Matt Hasselbeck –248 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 2 interceptions, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #6Good game out of Hasselbeck, but I don’t know how often you can expect this kind of a game out of him. Cincinnati’s defense obviously had a much better game, in comparison to week 2 against Cleveland; but it will definitely be the Bengals downfall for the foreseeable future.

4) Jon Kitna –446 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, 2 fumblesActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #7Jon Kitna had the exact kind of game that I expected out of him. Without a running game, Kitna is likely going to throw his arm out before long; not to mention the fact that the more he throws, the more he gets hit, the more likely he gets injured, and the more likely the Lions are out of any serious contention for a playoff spot.

5) Carson Palmer –342 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 2 interceptions, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #16For the first time I can remember, Carson looked confused and Chad Johnson looked upset. Palmer was completely off on his timing for most of the second half. He is going to have to play a near perfect game this week to avoid falling to 1-3 against the Patriots this weekend.

Week 3 NFL Spread picks

2007-09-25T02:11:00.000-04:00

Ouch! Let's just put it this way, I started off 3-0 with my picks; but that's about all that went right with my NFL spread picks. You think after touting up the Eagles for my suicide pick that I would have picked them to win the spread. No, silly me for thinking the Lions would actually be close in a game that involved the Eagles. The line was 6 1/2. There was a few late game turns that went against me, the New York Jets, Oakland and Minnesota. That said, it still takes some kind of skill to pick eight straight losers.

So for the week, I went a paltry 6-10:

Arizona +7 1/2 - Winner
Green Bay +4 1/2 - Winner
Indianapolis -5 1/2 - Winner
Minnesota +2 1/2 - Loser
Buffalo +15 1/2 - Loser
New York Jets -3 1/2 - Loser
Detroit +6 1/2 - Loser
San Francisco +8 1/2 - Loser
St Louis +3 1/2 - Loser
Denver -3 1/2 - Loser
Oakland -3 1/2 - Loser
Cincinnati +3 1/2 - Winner
Carolina -3 1/2 - Winner
Washington -4 1/2 - Loser
Dallas +3 1/2 - Winner
New Orleans -4 1/2 Loser

My record coming into the weekend was 18-14, meaning that I've effectively loss my status of being over .500 on the year.

Current record after week 3: 24-24

Next week, a little more well thought out picks are in order. Now, because of the upcoming bye weeks, the NFL will only be playing 14 games per week. In my case, anything less than 8-6 on my picks next week is a failure.

More Maddenisms - This time on Monday night

2007-09-24T21:14:00.001-04:00

Well no sooner than I posted my Mike Shanahan post, Sean Payton two-ups him on the Madden scale by not only going for it on fourth and 1 from the Saint's own 45 yard line, but doing so in the first quarter and throwing a very incomplete 40 yard bomb. "What do you mean 'Hail Mary' didn't work?! There's no way the computer saw that play coming on 4th and 1. And Drew Brees doesn't throw that inaccurately, and I saw that receiver break open for a second."

As we speak ... the Madden "unstoppable momentum" has set in and Tennessee scores easily to shove it right back in Payton's face.

I guess I'm going to have to rethink my pregame thoughts. One part I'm going to get dead right: neither Bush or McAllister are going to get to the century mark in rushing, and they might not get it combined, either. (Yes, I guess the Saints really are as bad as they've looked)

Mike Shanahan goes Madden 2008

2007-09-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

Did you hear about this one yet?

Denver trailed 20-14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars with four minutes left in the fourth quarter yesterday. The Broncos were out of timeouts. Mike Shanahan decided to put all of his eggs in one basket and went for it on 4th and 5 at Denver's own 9-yard line. Shanahan said he had a gut feeling they would make it.

Just like Madden football, the game didn't allow him to be rewarded with his "gut reaction" and Denver's tight end Daniel Graham dropped the ball. "Awwww Crap! How could Madden do this to me? I used the 'Tight end seam' play and he had his hands on the ball! You know that should have been completed. I don't see this game as a loss because if the computer hadn't screwed me over, I would have gone straight down the field and won." Unfortunetly for Mike, he doesn't have the option to quit and reload the memory card.

I know you would have gotten the ball back with minimal time for a lengthy drive, but you have that little confindence in your defense's ability to stop the Jags three times on the ground?

And how "Keep games close" of Jacksonville for than going three and out and having to kick a chip shot field goal. Yes, that put them up 9 points, but it's been the Jags style this year. Whether they win or not, you know the game will be within a touchdown late in the fourth.

Are you ready for some blogging?

2007-09-24T20:29:00.000-04:00

Pre-game prediction for the Saints-Titans game:

Saints win 27-24

Drew Brees is going to have a good night tonight. 300 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, probably an interception as well.

Neither Reggie Bush or Deuce McAllister will reach 100 yards rushing, but one of them will score on the ground.

Marques Colston will finally have a note-worthy fantasy performance.

Tennessee will have over 150 yards rushing from the combination of Vince Young, LenDale White, and Chris Brown.

Vince Young will have at least two touchdowns.

Suicide Pool Pick Week 3 result

2007-09-23T17:35:00.000-04:00

Now that's how a suicide pick is suppose to work. Everything I said in the previous post rang true. Detroit's lack of a running game, Detroit's defense wasn't as good as they appeared, Minnesota's passing game really being that bad, Detroit's turnover problem ... everything happened the way I thought.

Now if only my spread picks for this week weren't turning out so horrible ...

Week 03 - Who's Not

2007-09-23T04:48:00.000-04:00

Week 03 Who's Not

Quarterback
1) Matt Leinart
2) Phillip Rivers
3) Marc Bulger
4) David Garrard
5) Derek Anderson

Running Back -
1) Marion Barber III
2) Maurice Jones-Drew
3) Larry Johnson
4) DeShaun Foster
5) Chris Brown

Wide Receiver
1) Lee Evans
2) Reggie Brown
3) Larry Fitzgerald
4) Isaac Bruce
5) Santonio Holmes

Week 03 - Who's Hot

2007-09-23T04:42:00.000-04:00

Week 03 Who's Hot

Quarterbacks
1) Tom Brady
2) Drew Brees
3) Matt Hasselbeck
4) Jon Kitna
5) Carson Palmer

Running Back -
1) LaDainian Tomlinson
2) Joseph Addai
3) Willie Parker
4) Clinton Portis
5) Lamont Jordan

Wide Receiver -
1) Steve Smith
2) Reggie Wayne
3) Randy Moss
4) Joey Galloway
5) Santana Moss

Tight End
1) Antonio Gates
2) Kellen Winslow
3) Chris Cooley
4) Owen Daniels
5) Tony Gonzalez

Kicker
1) Adam Vinatieri
2) Jason Elam
3) Shaun Suisham
4) Josh Brown
5) Jeff Reed

Defense
1) New England
2) Baltimore
3) Minnesota
4) Pittsburgh
5) Kansas City

NFL Spread Winners - Week 3

2007-09-22T20:32:00.000-04:00

Here are my picks for week 3 NFL spread winners:
(Bold denotes home teams)

Arizona +7 1/2
Green Bay +4 1/2
Indianapolis -5 1/2
Minnesota +2 1/2
Buffalo +15 1/2
New York Jets -3 1/2
Detroit +6 1/2
San Francisco +8 1/2
St Louis +3 1/2
Denver -3 1/2
Oakland -3 1/2
Cincinnati +3 1/2
Carolina -3 1/2
Washington -4 1/2
Dallas +3 1/2
New Orleans -4 1/2

Suicide pool pick - part duex

2007-09-21T17:11:00.000-04:00

Yup, I sure was glad I posted Carolina over Houston for my inaugural weekly suicide pick (brutal). 0-1 (1-1 if you count my pick for week 1 that I didn't post) to start things off. Wahoo!

Alright, I'm going to start over (I'm going into the loser's bracket ... double elimination, baby!), but I still can no longer use the Steelers or Panthers in future picks.

Here's my suicide pick this week:

Philidelphia (at home) over Detroit

I'm walking on thin ice with this pick given that Philly's 0-2 and the offense has yet to prove itself and Detroit is 2-0 with a "great" offense. Great is in quotation marks because don't you ever try telling me that an offense is great without a running game. Jon Kitna's already been picked off in the end zone twice this year and the Lions have gone a couple years now without a turnover free game. I'm not getting to hyped about Detroit's defense either. It may have looked good against Minnesota, but that's because the Minnesota Vikings' passing game is just that bad.

Week 2 NFL Spread Picks results

2007-09-21T16:23:00.001-04:00

I started out horrible on the day, losing 5 of my first 6 games; but I came back with a bang. Here's how I did:

Carolina -6 1/2 - Loser
Cincinnati -6 1/2 - Loser
Jacksonville -10 1/2 - Loser
Green Bay -3 1/2 - Winner
Buffalo +9 1/2 - Loser
St. Louis -3 1/2 - Loser (1-5 ... doing great so far)
Tampa Bay +3 1/2 Winner
Tennesse +7 1/2 Winner
Seattle -2 1/2 Loser (*Hasselbeck* ... excuse me ... I sneezed)
Minnesota +3 1/2 Winner
Dallas -3 1/2 Winner
New York Jets +7 1/2 Winner
Kansas City +12 1/2 Winner
Oakland +9 1/2 Winner
New England -3 1/2 Winner
Philadelphia -6 1/2 Loser

Week 2 record - 9-7

Week 1 results (I promise these are accurate)

Indianapolis -6 1/2 Winner
Denver -3 1/2 Loser
Pittsburgh -3 1/2 Winner
Green Bay +2 1/2 Winner
Kansas City +1 1/2 Loser
Jacksonville -5 1/2 Loser
Minnesota -2 1/2 Winner
New England -5 1/2 Winner
St. Louis -1 1/2 Loser
Miami +3 1/2 Winner
Oakland -2 1/2 Loser
Chicago +5 1/2 Loser
Seattle -6 1/2 Winner
Dallas -3 1/2 Winner
Baltimore +3 1/2 Loser
Arizona -3 1/2 Winner

Week 1 record - 9-7

Overall record for 2007 - 18-14

I will be posting this weekend's picks either tonight or tomorrow. Here's hoping for a ten win week.

I guess Friday's the new Monday

2007-09-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

Took a little while off there; busy with work, busy with the fantasy football website. If you not too busy (like me), why don't you take a look at my fantasy football rankings for week 3.

Ok, that's enough with the links (cough, cough, week 3 injuries, 2007 fantasy football stats, cough) ahem, excuse me.

Well now, let's get to the recap of last weeks action shall we.

Hot picks - What I got right

Carson Palmer - 401 yards and 6 touchdowns passing, 2 interceptions, 10 yards rushing. It didn't take a mental giant to figure out he was going to torch the Browns defense; but, that doesn't mean I still don't owe the team an apology. I didn't give Cleveland any chance of winning that game. Yet it was their defense that forced three turnovers that kept them in the game in the first half.

Tom Brady - 279 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -2 yards rushing. Couldn't have been more right with my analysis. The Pats are the most dangerous team in the league when their motivated and they proved as much on both sides of the ball.

Brett Favre - 286 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -2 yards rushing. Yes, the Giants defense is just that bad right now. There offense didn't help them out much either, but what can you expect from a gimpy quarterback and a backup running back. That being said, Favre did show flashes of his former self. Don't sleep on him this year, not with the way Green Bay's defense has been playing.

Rudi Johnson - 118 yards rushing, 33 yards and 1 touchdown receiving, 1 fumble. Pretty good game overall, but then again every offensive player for both Cincinnati and Cleveland were.

Chad Johnson - 209 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving. Only Steve Smith did better. Which begs the question "What was Steve Smith doing off of this list?" Like I said last week with LT, it would be easy to pick the best player for these lists every time, but then there would be no creativity.

Roy Williams - 111 yards and 1 touchdown receiving, 9 yards rushing, 1 fumble. If only Jon Kitna could have been healthy the entire game, his numbers could have even been better. A lot better. Two interceptions and a fumble by J.T. O'Sullivan are the only reasons the Vikings stayed in this game. Without a running game (for now), the Lions wide receivers should all be considered to start on your fantasy team (if you need a viable third receiver to start)

Cold picks - What I got right

Vince Young - 184 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 53 yards rushing. Vince is not going to be a viable passing threat yet; however all bets are off this weekend against the Saints' defense.

Jason Campbell – 209 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 1 interception, 39 yards rushing. He did better than McNabb did on Monday night, and it was good enough to win.

Chris Brown – 34 yards rushing, 2 yards receiving. Spot on this time around, but don't sleep on him if LenDale White gets injured.

Marshawn Lynch – 64 yards rushing, 21 yards receiving. No touchdowns, but not a bad day for a rookie against the Steel Curtain.

Lee Evans – 17 yards receiving. You might want to look elsewhere with Losman's struggles.

Reggie Brown – 27 yards receiving. Even with the good matchup against the Lions defense, you still might want to avoid Reggie Brown until he proves himself.

Laveranues Coles – 57 yards receiving. He will do better in the future, maybe not this weekend against Miami, though.

Plaxico Burress – 32 yards and 1 touchdown receiving. Once Eli Manning is healthy, Plaxico will be rolling again.

Hot picks - What I got wrong (didn't list middle of the road results)

Brian Westbrook - 96 yards rushing, 66 yards receiving. Guess he doesn't own Washington anymore. The yardage was what I expected, but I didn't expect the Redskins' defense to hold the Eagles without a touchdown.

Shaun Alexander - 70 yards 1 touchdown rushing, 5 yards receiving. Yikes, not the kind of game I expected from him either. Hasselbeck did find his receivers more, but he couldn't find Alexander for the game-blowing handoff. Not an impressive game by Shaun or the Seahawks.

Maurice Jones-Drew - 31 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving. Yuck! That says all you need to know about that Jacksonville-Atlanta game. Way to play down to you competition Jags. You do know that Maurice Jones-Drew is your best running back, right? I think ... one would be lead to believe ... in my humble opinion. 11 carries is the best you can do for him. Stay away from Jacksonville's players until the team figures out where they are going with that offense.

Steven Jackson - 60 yards rushing, 36 yards receiving. Gag me with a spoon. Again, this may be a sign of things to come if St Louis doesn't get over not having Orlando Pace. 0-2 at home to start the season? The Rams better start converting some of those field goals into touchdowns post haste if they want to be in contention for the playoffs.

Marvin Harrison - 87 yards receiving. Neither Harrison or Wayne got into the end zone against Tennessee. Not bad on the yardage, but this isn't what you would expect for one of the top 5 receivers in the NFL. Credit the Titans' defense.

Cold picks - What I got wrong (again, not listing middle of the road results)

Matt Schaub – 227 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, 3 yards rushing. I didn't do too bad on the cold quarterback picks overall. This would be the exception. No sacks? No turnovers? This is Houston were talking about, right? Schaub did very well against Carolina. This upcoming week might not so kind to Matt and the Texans as they are going to be without Andre Johnson at home against the Colts.

Jamal Lewis – 216 yards and 1 touchdown rushing. Oops. Not the best choice I've ever made. Did Jamal try to call his shot again to break the rushing record? Otherwise, this was completely unexpected.

Carnell Williams – 61 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing. A couple of 1 yard touchdowns helped Cadillac turn this pick south.

Deion Branch – 122 yards receiving. Redemption for Deion Branch is my only fault with my wide receiver picks. Several long completions, but still no touchdowns.

Either tonight (Friday) or tomorrow, I will be coming out with this weeks fascinating and exciting edition of the Hot and Cold picks. Be sure to stay tuned!

Any given cliche

2007-09-16T17:35:00.001-04:00

Wow! ... Cleveland ... wow.

Cincinnati, you disappoint me. How are you going to flop so badly after I gave your defense some love? 51 points! To Cleveland! ... ow, my pride. And what's worse is that I played their defense this week (minus 2 points this week, quality) because the Pats were playing the Chargers.

Haven't had a very good week so far. All of my offensive picks for Cincy did really well; but, I labeled Jamal Lewis number 1 of my cold list for running backs. What did he do? Not much (215 yards rushing and a touch).

Bonus, I had Carolina flop on me at home against Houston for my eliminator challenge. Guess I'm going to have to start on my second chance eliminator challenge.

Maurice Jones-Drew is not officially a flop, but he's definetly leaning in that direction.

I'll give the post week wrap-up after Monday night. Hopefully, I'll get some late love and won't look completely incompetent.

See you then.

At the half, what have I learned so far

2007-09-16T14:31:00.000-04:00

Here's what I've learned so far this Sunday:

I would have been right about the Cincinnati-Cleveland game had the Bengals learned how to take care of the ball. Now, the Bengals' D is making Derek Anderson look good. There's still a half to go, though, so I'm not officially eating crow yet.

Maurice Jones-Drew may be the biggest first (early second) round fantasy draft bust of the young season.

And already I'm playing against fantasy football competition that doesn't look at their stating lineup to see that Brandon Jacobs is out for the game. Nothing like a person who's going to give up this early in the season, or doesn't care to look at his starting lineup (Hello bye weeks!)

I'm sure I'll find a lot more things to talk about as the day progresses.

NFL Spread Winners

2007-09-16T13:06:00.000-04:00

Just in under the 1 o'clock ET bell for these picks.

Here is another topic I'm going to be posting on weekly. I'm going to keep a running tally of how I'm doing over the course of the season. I'm not sure whether or not to include my week one picks into my season total, because I did not post them here and there's no proof of what picks I made. But, I might (I went 9-7 week 1 and I will list my week one picks later)

Here are my picks for this week:

Carolina -6 1/2
Cincinnati -6 1/2
Jacksonville -10 1/2
Green Bay -3 1/2
Buffalo +9 1/2
St Louis -3 1/2
Tampa Bay +3 1/2
Tennessee +7 1/2
Seattle -2 1/2
Minnesota +3 1/2
Dallas -3 1/2
New York Jets +7 1/2
Kansas City +12 1/2
Oakland +9 1/2
New England -3 1/2
Philadelphia -6 1/2

Tune Monday night to see the results (as well as my week 1 picks) and see how I'm doing against the spread overall for the season.

Eliminator Challange

2007-09-16T13:01:00.000-04:00

We'll see how long I can stay in the Eliminator Challange this year. The Eliminator Challange is a contest where you pick one winner in any NFL game per week, but you can only pick any particular team once. You lose one game at any point of the season and your out.

Your going to have to trust me on this, but last week I picked the Steelers over the Browns, so I'm 1-0 and still in it for this year.

This weeks pick for me is Carolina over Houston.

This of course means that should I move on, I can't use either Pittsburgh or Carolina in future weeks. I will have a more in depth look at the Eliminator Challenge, when I have more time. I've been busy so far updating my site and spending my time coming up with fantasy predictions.

Week 02 - Who's Not

2007-09-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

Who's going to do poorly this weekend? Here are my top five likely busts for the three main skilled positions for week 2.

*Lists do not include players not worth starting

Quarterback –

1) Matt Schaub
2) Vince Young
3) Jason Campbell
4) Matt Hasselbeck
5) Matt Leinart

Running Back -
1) Jamal Lewis
2) Carnell Williams
3) Chris Brown
4) Ahman Green
5) Marshawn Lynch

Wide Receiver –

1) Deion Branch
2) Lee Evans
3) Reggie Brown
4) Laveranues Coles
5) Plaxico Burress

We’ll see if any of these players prove me wrong and I’ll be right back here to discuss where I was wrong … next week after the Monday night games.

See the reason for these picks at Fantasy Football Manager

Week 02 - Who's Hot

2007-09-14T19:01:00.001-04:00

Who's going to do well this weekend? I will give you my top five picks for each of the NFL fantasy football league positions. After the Monday night games, I will come back and review how I did in comparison to the actual top five players at each position.

Quarterback -

1) Carson Palmer
2) Tom Brady
3) Marc Bulger
4) Peyton Manning
5) Brett Favre

Running back -

1) Brian Westbrook
2) Shaun Alexander
3) Maurice Jones-Drew
4) Rudi Johnson
5) Steven Jackson

Wide Receiever

1) Chad Johnson
2) Marvin Harrison
3) Roy Williams
4) Terrell Owens
5) Donald Driver

Tight Ends -

1) Antonio Gates
2) Todd Heap
3) Dallas Clark
4) Vernon Davis
5) Kellen Winslow

Kickers -

1) Jason Hanson
2) Neil Rackers
3) Adam Vinatieri
4) Shayne Graham
5) Jeff Wilkens

Defense -

1) Chicago
2) Cincinnati
3) Baltimore
4) Jacksonville
5) Minnesota

There you have it, tune in next week to see the results.

See a more in depth look at my picks at my fanatsy football website

Darryl Jackson Heart Attack Special

2007-09-11T01:33:00.000-04:00

Call it kharma for being so smug this morning.

At the start of the day, I was down in my second league by a score of 53 - 85. Everything sailed smoothly through the first game as I got 32 points from Carson Palmer and Baltimore's D. I was now tied up with my oppenent. I had three players left: Larry Fitzgerald, Neil Rackers and Vernon Davis. He had one player left, the aforementioned Darryl Jackson. "Easy as cake" ... "a sure win" ... "why am I staying up to watch this game?" These were all questions floating around in my mind.

What did I say earlier today? "Never say die while playing your fantasy football competition ... ever." Well, it almost rang true in reverse on me tonight; and I stayed up to watch the entire game this time around. I watched as neither the Cardinals or the 49ers could muster up any kind of offense against each other. I watched as my to receivers in this game combined for 2 points. Sweet!

The game was winding down now. Darryl Jackson hasn't done anything all game. My oppenent was stuck at 86 points from the first quarter on. I was stuck at 91 points for most of the second half. Darn it all to heck, I still have to stay up for this? One lucky play can get my oppenent the win?

Arizona gets a clutch touchdown to put them up 17-13 late in the game. Alex Smith has passed for less than 70 yards all game; there's no way he could take them all the way down the field with a little over two minutes left ... could he?

Right on cue, two passes to Darryl Jackson. Two more points closer to me; starting to have signs of stress. Alex Smith leads his team to the Cardinal's 45 yard line. Short yardage situation on a second down, what do you think is going to happen? Again on cue, a perfect deep pass to Jackson that should have been the knife in my heart for opening my mouth earlier today ... miraculously slips through his hands in the endzone.

Danger averted, right? Wrong!

After a third down incomplete pass, Alex Smith does his best Steve Young impression on 4th and 1 by running 25 yards down to the 20 yard line. Starting to sweat bullets now. They already went to him. He's getting open. It's my turn to get devistated. So hows it going to happen?

A pass to Arnaz Battle; what looks like a completion at the goal line. He fumbled it, wait for it ... Arizona has a crack at it! Oh no! Darryl Jackson jumped on it in the endzone!! Son of a (bleep)! (followed by a whole lot more bleeps)

What? Are you kidding?! Incomplete pass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! (my heart skips a beat) No time for celebrations yet; its first and goal with the 5 yard line. Oh yes, its a hand off - for a touchdown! Disaster averted. That game made me tired; well that and staying up to write my memoirs of the game.

With the first weeked of fantasy football in the books, I am now 1-0 in both my leagues thanks to two miraculous (and completely lucky) endings. I know what's coming in the upcomming weeks. No good deed goes unpunished, so I will be expecting this to come back at me full circle. As I speak, I know that I will probably be back on upcoming blogs saying how I used up all my magic in the first week. Then again, maybe I can luck my way to the championship.

In my upcoming blogs, expect to find the following:

Fantasy Football updates, injuries, and other news
NFL spread winners
Who's going to be hot/Who to sit/Weekly Sleeper Picks
Week ending results
Fantasy Football Stories and such

Hope you find it infomative and entertaining

The real start of my blog - with a bang

2007-09-10T11:21:00.001-04:00

Never have I deserved to lose a game more. I had five starters with three points or less and boy was I pissed at my team. I watched the stat tracker barely move for most of the Sunday morning and afternoon games. It was like the forces that be decided that a watched stat tracker doesn't boil. The best was, in the span 10 minutes, my team lost 12 points (couple touchdowns score on the D and three fumbles) and didn't make it back up until near the end of the afternoon games. I had scored 56 points, only because my receivers bailed me out. My team was done and now I'm questioning most of my draft picks.

Never say die while playing your fantasy football competition ... ever. Sometimes, that is hard to swallow. Especially when you get a combined 4 points out of your top two picks overall (Steven Jackson and Maurice Jones-Drew, thanks guys!) and your down to your last player down 41 points (97-56). They only good thing, if can even be called that at this point, is that my week 1 opponent was done for the week. So, if there was some way I could get Tony Romo to get 42 points ...

I'm not going to lie to you; I completely gave up on this matchup. I did not watch most of the Cowboys-Giants game. I turned off my stat tracker. I had given this game up and was pinning my hopes on my other fantasy team which needs about 40-45 points out of five players tonight when low and behold, the Tony Romo Express interveened and stole the show. You have got to be kidding me, Romo. 345 yards and 4 touchdowns passing, 11 yards and a touch rushing, 1 interception. 42 Points! I win by one! Hahahahahahaha!

Fantasy Football Rap

2007-09-07T12:24:00.001-04:00

Fantasy Football: The Rap

2007-09-07T12:21:00.001-04:00

Drafting Tips for Kickers

2007-09-06T13:29:00.000-04:00

Do not pick a kicker in any of the first 10-12 rounds of your fantasy football draft; it will usually be a wasted pick. The one exception is if one of the rounds becomes the “place kicker round.” Most of the time, it only takes one person drafting a place kicker to spark a flood of place kicker picks. If you miss out on the initial flood of picks and all of the elite kickers are gone, wait until free agency to get your kicker. I can almost guarantee that no one in your fantasy football league will pick two kickers in the draft (at least no competent fantasy football manager will). Usually the difference in points between the elite kickers and the second tier kickers isn’t very large, so don’t worry if you miss out on one of the top tier place kickers.

more...

Drafting Tips for Defenses

2007-09-06T13:28:00.000-04:00

There are two stages of thought when it comes to select a team defense for your fantasy football team:

Should you draft Baltimore or Chicago’s defense or not?

If you find yourself asking this question, remember not to overvalue these two teams with a top five-round pick. Odds are that one or both of them will likely be drafted in the sixth or seventh round of your draft. If you cannot find another player of equal worth at this point, don’t be afraid to take one of these two defences. Baltimore and Chicago have the capability to score a lot of fantasy football points and can be the difference between you winning a week’s match-up or losing it.

more...

Drafting Tips for Tight Ends

2007-09-06T13:27:00.002-04:00

Tight Ends are traditionally a question mark when it comes to most fantasy football owners. Simply stated, there aren’t enough consistently productive tight ends in the NFL; there aren’t even enough for every fantasy owner in your league to have one. Most NFL teams don’t have large scoring roles for the tight end position, so it’s important to find a tight end that is a basic part of his team’s passing game.

So when should you draft your team’s tight end?

Inevitably, someone will take Antonio Gates in the 3rd or 4th round of almost any fantasy football draft. If you draft him, it may pay off because Gates will be by far the most productive tight end. Make sure before you pick him that there aren’t any great running backs left on the board. Antonio Gates is on par with or better than most wide receivers on the board.

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Drafting Tips for Wide Receivers

2007-09-06T13:27:00.001-04:00

Wide Receiver is the most difficult fantasy football position to draft. Compared to Running backs and quarterbacks, most wide receivers are inconsistent at scoring points from week to week. There are many factors that can negatively impact a wide receiver’s production during a game or during the NFL season as a whole. A quarterback’s relationship with his wide receiver, the team’s lack of a running game, minor injuries slowing the wide receiver down enough that he is unable to break coverage, an offensive line not giving the quarterback enough time. Any of those situations can be detrimental to your wide receiver’s production.

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Drafting Tips for Quarterbacks

2007-09-06T13:23:00.000-04:00

Although the quarterback position is an important one as far as your fantasy football team is concerned, unless you draft Peyton Manning (and don’t draft Peyton in the first round), you will be better served waiting to draft your starting quarterback until the middle rounds of your fantasy football draft. With many of the NFL positions in fantasy football, there is a large drop-off in production after the top tier players. That is often not the case with quarterbacks in fantasy football leagues. While you might not get a 300-yard and 3 touchdowns quarterback every game, the top tier running backs and wide receivers that you draft in your fantasy football league can compensate for the lost production from week to week.

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Drafting Tips for Running Backs

2007-09-06T13:20:00.001-04:00

When selecting running backs for your fantasy football team, try to be aware of the following things:

Make sure your top two running backs don’t have the same bye week (be aware of this for every position). Every week in your fantasy football league is important towards getting to the playoffs. While having your top two running backs on the bench in the same week won’t necessarily automatically result in a loss, it will start you off on an uphill battle for the week.

Try to avoid the running backs that run between the 20’s. While they might get a lot of rushing yardage, they will often be taken off the field in goal line formations, leading to a complete lack of touchdowns. Classic examples of these running backs are Julius Jones and Warrick Dunn. Also, try to avoid running backs on teams that like to throw near the end zone, such as the Detroit Lions.

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Top 100 Fantasy Football Players Cheatsteet

2007-09-06T12:48:00.001-04:00

Overall NFL Player NFL
Ranking NFL Team Position
1 LaDainian Tomlinson SD RB
2 Steven Jackson STL RB
3 Larry Johnson KC RB
4 Shaun Alexander SEA RB
5 Frank Gore SF RB
6 Joseph Addai IND RB
7 Brian Westbrook PHI RB
8 Willie Parker PIT RB
9 Rudi Johnson CIN RB
10 Laurence Maroney NE RB
11 Peyton Manning IND QB
12 Travis Henry DEN RB
13 Steve Smith CAR WR
14 Maurice Jones-Drew JAC RB
15 Reggie Bush NO RB
16 Chad Johnson CIN WR
17 Marvin Harrison IND WR
18 Terrell Owens DAL WR
19 Ronnie Brown MIA RB
20 Torry Holt STL WR

Overall NFL Player NFL
Ranking NFL Team Position
21 Clinton Portis WAS RB
22 Cedric Benson CHI RB
23 Willis McGahee BAL RB
24 Edgerrin James ARI RB
25 Reggie Wayne IND WR
26 Antonio Gates SD TE
27 Larry Fitzgerald ARI WR
28 Roy Williams DET WR
29 Brandon Jacobs NYG RB
30 T.J. Houshmandzadeh CIN WR
31 Carson Palmer CIN QB
32 Javon Walker DEN WR
33 Thomas Jones NYJ RB
34 Marques Colston NO WR
35 Lee Evans BUF WR
36 Drew Brees NO QB
37 Donald Driver GB WR
38 Deuce McAllister NO RB
39 Anquan Boldin ARI WR
40 Andre Johnson HOU WR

Overall NFL Player NFL
Ranking NFL Team Position
41 Randy Moss NE WR
42 Marshawn Lynch BUF RB
43 Tom Brady NE QB
44 Ahman Green HOU RB
45 Cadillac Williams TB RB
46 Jamal Lewis CLE RB
47 Donovan McNabb PHI QB
48 Marc Bulger STL QB
49 Plaxico Burress NYG WR
50 Adrian Peterson MIN RB
51 Marion Barber III DAL RB
52 Laveranues Coles NYJ WR
53 Reggie Brown PHI WR
54 Hines Ward PIT WR
55 Joey Galloway TB WR
56 Santana Moss WAS WR
57 Julius Jones DAL RB
58 Deion Branch SEA WR
59 Fred Taylor JAC RB
60 Braylon Edwards CLE WR

Overall NFL Player NFL
Ranking NFL Team Position
61 Jon Kitna DET QB
62 LaMont Jordan OAK RB
63 Calvin Johnson DET WR
64 Tony Gonzalez KC TE
65 Tatum Bell DET RB
66 Chris Cooley WAS TE
67 Kellen Winslow CLE TE
68 Chester Taylor MIN RB
69 Todd Heap BAL TE
70 Darrell Jackson SF WR
71 Jeremy Shockey NYG TE
72 Jerricho Cotchery NYJ WR
73 Vince Young TEN QB
74 Bernard Berrian CHI WR
75 Chris Chambers MIA WR
76 Warrick Dunn ATL RB
77 Vincent Jackson SD WR
78 Jerious Norwood ATL RB
79 Brandon Jackson GB RB
80 Ladell Betts WAS RB

Overall NFL Player NFL
Ranking NFL Team Position
81 DeShaun Foster CAR RB
82 Vernon Davis SF TE
83 Tony Romo DAL QB
84 Matt Hasselbeck SEA QB
85 Alge Crumpler ATL TE
86 Philip Rivers SD QB
87 DeAngelo Williams CAR RB
88 Mark Clayton BAL WR
89 Terry Glenn DAL WR
90 Kevin Curtis PHI WR
91 Jason Witten DAL TE
92 Baltimore Ravens D
93 Vernand Morency GB RB
94 Chicago Bears D
95 Donte' Stallworth NE WR
96 Devery Henderson NO WR
97 D.J. Hackett SEA WR
98 Santonio Holmes PIT WR
99 Jay Cutler DEN QB
100 Eli Manning NYG QB