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Category Archives: Fantasy Football

Norv, AJ & the NFL

Sometimes it’s quick surprising when I explain to people during the NFL season I have been participating in fantasy football for 28 years. My fantasy league, the TFL will ring in year 29 with the kickoff of the 2012-2013 NFL season. Unfortunately, I could care less. Thankfully fantasy football will fulfill my desire to gamble on the season with friends I grew up with over the years. While we have moved our different directions, fantasy football brings us together every year.

But this post isn’t about the rekindling of friendships and reminiscing about years gone by. This year isn’t about no supporting my team, the San Diego Chargers. While I won’t give up fantasy football, I really didn’t put much effort into until I found Fantasy Football Starters, hosted by Russ Bliss. I am not here to promote Russ or FFS, it’s the fantasy service I have used for the past two years and really like what they offer. This also reignited my interest in the NFL when I signed up with their service.

Unfortunately the 2011-2012 season, both for the Chargers and my fantasy football teams were a disaster. The fantasy team I take full responsibility for their failure, adding in injury and some players who just never broke out of their rut and performed. The Chargers though…failure, starting with ownership, down to the GM, head coach and some of the key players who seem to talk a big game, but rarely put one of those performances together. Vincent Jackson, you listening?

Add to that the bounty program offered to Saints defensive players. This on top of other notable scandals, such as the 2003 Spygate involving the New England Patriots videotaping opponent’s defensive signals. It’s not limited to teams, but individual players caught in a negative light also seem to shine bright during the NFL season. ” Actions of Adam “Pacman” Jones, Terry “Tank” Johnson, Chris Henry, and Ben Roethlisberger that subsequently got them suspended” (source).

So for the upcoming NFL season I pledge allegiance to team. I have given up on the San Diego Chargers until ownership gets rid of a two pronged problem, AJ Smith and Norv Turner. Both have been terrible for the Chargers. The “Lord of No Rings” continues his tradition of mediocrity in San Diego. To his credit he has made some worthwhile moves, but those have been overshadowed by questionable decisions that have set the franchise back. For example, drafting Eli Manning in the 2004 NFL Draft, when he (well his father) declared he wouldn’t play for the Chargers. In defense of that move, we did get Philip Rivers, Nate Kaeding and Shawne Merriman with the draft picks that were included in the trade that send Manning to the Giants.

The departure of Drew Brees after suffering an injury in the 2005 season finale was a surprise to many in San Diego. Smith refused to sign Brees to a long term contract or tag him as a franchise player and he eventually went into free agency. The rest is history. Michael Turner was drafted in the 5th round of the 2004 draft, but playing behind LT, he didn’t see much time. Turner signed a one year tender in 2007 and became a restricted free agent. The following year Atlanta signed him to a  $34.5 million contract. The rest is history.

Finally, the worst move of his tenure as the GM in San Diego was the departure of Marty Schottenheimer as head coach after a 14-2 season, which resulted in a 3 point loss to the New England Patriots in the playoffs. This issue was fueled more my owner, Alex Spanos, but since Marty wasn’t “AJ’s guy” it was evident the writing was on the wall. Still 14-2 on the season, what a shitty way to do a head coach. On top of that both the offensive and defensive coordinators departed for head coaching jobs. Yet more rebuilding in San Diego.

So while I am a San Diego guy, I just can come to support the Chargers or the NFL in the 2012-2013 season. Between the irresponsible players and coaches coupled with poor management of my favorite team I am done with the NFL. I will still play fantasy football and lobby my support for a player’s performance rather than what team wins or loses. I don’t care.

I have gone through a similar situation previously, but it was the interaction and enjoyment I had using Fantasy Football Starters that got my interest reignited. So for the upcoming season I will still follow player and teams for the benefit of having and sharing knowledge as it relates to fantasy football. As for the NFL season, I could care less as it will make no difference who wins, who loses or how the Chargers do.

10 vs 12

I will never claim “I know it all” when it comes to fantasy football. I do consider myself “accomplished” and “experienced” when it comes to drafting and managing a team. On the flip side I think I am strong commissioner, knowing the ins and outs of how to successfully run a league. I think our league, which celebrated 28 years this season is a testament to that. Unfortunately I think I failed myself and the other 11 owners this season when I took the reigns of our work league.

For many of those 28 years we were an 8-team league. Early in the 1990s we decided to expand the league and bumped league by 2 teams for a total of 10. This year in our work league as defending champion I was in charge of setting the league up and running it. In most respects I feel I failed.

First off we used ESPN to run our league. Nothing against their league software, it was fairly easy to navigate and set the league up. Unfortunately never running a 12-team league I structured the league as if I were running a 10-team league. While the problems were not initially glaring, as the season wore on it became evident where the break down was.

First off we used the standard 1/10 and 1/25 scoring with 6 points for all TDs and 4 points for TD passes. We drafted 16 rounds, for a total of 192 players. Needless to say by the end of the draft some teams were reaching for players. I suspect a few teams had not done their homework and prepared well enough. Even after the draft the problems weren’t evident.

Once the season kicked off the waiver wire became heavily used. Never being a big fan of the wire, I like teams to be built on trades and the draft. I feel the wire can easily be abused to build your team if you have drafted players that don’t pan out or get injured. With that said, it wasn’t but 8 or 9 years ago we adopted the waiver wire to the league I manage, while not happy with it, many of the owners do like it. The same holds true for the work league I managed this season.

The failure came when I set the league up. If I knew (which I should have) just how thin talent would get on the waiver wire, I probably would have implemented maximum players at each position. No reason for some teams to stockpile 4 QBs and other teams to pack on 6 RBs (even though I was one of those owners). None of these owners were playing “outside of the rules” and were just using them to their advantage. In order to keep some talent on the wire I think the league would have been better off with a maximum of 2 QB, 4 RB, 4 RB, 2 TE, 1 K and 1 D/ST. This would drop the total draft to 14 rounds or 168 players leaving a well equipped player pool from which to draw from.

These two actions alone would have changed the dynamics of the league as owners would need to make important decisions during the bye weeks to abandon a kicker or D/ST in favor or a starter. I am sure there would have been teams to hold on to their top defense and take a zero, which could result in the loss of considerable points. Kickers, outside of David Akers, who is the top scorer in one of my leagues are only separated by 20 points, positions #2 through #9. Unless scoring were weighted more heavily for kickers, finding a bye week replacement or rotating kickers on a weekly basis won’t make or break your fantasy team.

The last issue was the fact that leagues like Yahoo and ESPN allow a commissioner to “freeze” players draft in the first rounds and not allow them to be dropped. As luck would have it nobody in our league did that, but there were some “questionable” trades made. My policy as a commissioner has always been to approve all trades, figuring owners will want to get the best deal for their team. Unfortunately I don’t know the owners at work as well as the friends I have had in my league for 25+ years. Next year it will come down to each other putting a vote in to veto a trade. That move alone this year would have had repercussions on outcome of the H2H season.

Come next year if I am asked to run my league at work again I will change some of the variable, if not all of them. Hell, I might even make it a decimal scoring system, just to see how well that works. But looking back on this 12-team league it was a learning experience. While no one really cares how I did the dynamics are considerably different when you expand your league from 10 teams to 12 teams.

2011 Watch List #8

We are now 8 weeks into the season and the bye weeks are in full swing. Many owners are frantically looking for talent to fill bye week players and others are trying to strengthen their overall team for a possible playoff run. It’s interesting to note that during bye weeks some owners actually drop some worthwhile players. For example, I snatched up Felix Jones last week. Sure he is still injured, but he could be a valuable pick up down the stretch depending on how he returns from the ankle injury. He has a favorable schedule starting week 10 with BUF, WAS, MIA and ARI.

Injuries continue to play a part in the NFL season. We see new players on the list every week, some with minor nagging injuries, others with more serious injuries that could cause them to lose multiple games going forward. Here is the 8th list on the season of players who could have some value going forward.

WIDE RECEIVER
Torrey Smith BAL (3-57): Smith still has some minor value, depending on the match and the way Joe Flacco is playing. Right now, Smith is more of a bye week cover who carries big play potential. Against ARI he only turned in a 3 catch performance. This week versus PIT could be an uphill battle against the Steelers secondary.

Damian Williams TEN (4-60): As the #2 opposite of Nate Washington his production hasn’t been spectacular, rather in consistent putting in a good performance every other game. Last week was a 4-60 performance vs IND and he faces CIN this week. He might be worth a look vs CIN seeing what the SEA receivers did to their secondary.

Michael Crabtree SFO (5-54-1 TD): Might be a shot in the dark here, but I have see Crabtree available in 2 leagues (out of 3 I play in). I would suspect he is taken in most, but could be worth a pick up. Smith still isn’t performing well but has been effective the last few weeks and SF continues to win. Crabtree does continue to nurse a foot injury. SF faces WAS this weekend.

Braylon Edwards SFO (4-42): Being injured much of the season, Edwards returned with a 4-42 performance against CLE, both season highs in only 3 games this season. Much like Crabtree, Edwards is still nursing his injury (knee) but will give Smith another viable target out wide to complement Crabtree. Week 9 SF plays WAS.

Ben Obomanu SEA (4-107): Obomanu has come on recently for the Seahawks. Mike Williams was inactive on Sunday, which gave Obomanu the start and he produced. Much like the playoffs last year, Obomanu could come on in the second half of the season to post some worthy numbers.

Jon Baldwin KCC (5-82-1 TD): The rookie played in only his second game and recorded season high in receptions, yards and scored his first TD vs San Diego. Baldwin has been the slot WR this season with Breaston playing opposite of Bowe. He is now showing his talent and the potential he has in the KC offense. He might be worth a shot on a match up basis, but his value is increasing.

Malcolm Floyd SDC (5-107): His name has been coming up weekly on the FFS Forums as it relates to keeping or dropping him. Vincent Jackson (and Philip Rivers for that matter) continues to struggle, but Floyd has put up two 100 yard games to date but only has 1 TD to show for his efforts. Floyd has a dinged hip, but was the top Chargers WR on Monday vs KCC. Look for a good match up vs GB this week.

Laurent Robinson DAL (5-103-1 TD): I figured Robinson to slip through the cracks after Miles Austin returned, but Robinson put in another strong game vs PHI, 103 yards and a TD. The numbers are a bit skewed because of a 70-yard TD pass from Romo, outside of that performance he has seen 25-40 yards per game.

RUNNING BACK
Javon Ringer TEN (14-60, 5-42): Might it be a “passing of the torch” in TEN this week? Doubtful, but owners are no longer relying on CJ2K as a “sure thing” since ending his hold out and signing, has only 302 yards and 1 TD in 7 games. While Ringer doesn’t have the numbers CJ does, he has outplayed him all season long. Munchak says they will split carries making Ringer a bit more valuable now.

Lex Hilliard (1-4) /Steve Slaton MIA (5-7-1 TD): It’s worthwhile to watch the injury to rookie, Daniel Thomas. In week 8 it was Steve Slaton with a TD. Personally, I believe is a better RB who knows the MIA system and has the size to fill in for either Thomas (if the injury lingers) or Bush (if he gets injured). Right now, it’s probably a bit of a filer on either RB, but they are worth a look as the season moves on.

DJ Ware NYG (2-1): With the injury news on Ahmad Bradshaw’s foot, his season could be in doubt the rest of the way. Brandon Jacobs is coming off an injury and looks to carry a bulk of the work on the ground, but Ware could figure into the running attack. Look for Ware to be the primary 3rd down RB in week 9 vs NE.

Chris Ivory NOS (6-18): Coming off the PUP week before last week’s game, Ivory rushed for only 18 yards but carries between him, Thomas and Sproles were nearly the same. With Ingram out, Ivory might see more playing time in the backfield for Peyton and the Saints. I would expect him more to figure in the rushing game when the Saints are holding the lead, last week trailing the Rams the rushing game was almost non-existent.

Kevin Faulk NEP (6-32): No fantasy owner can figure out “The Hoodie” when it comes to deploying his rushing game. One week it’s Ridley, another week, BGE, then another week Woody. Let’s now add Kevin Faulk to the mix. It appears he is now the #2 behind BGE for the Patriots. With BGE dealing with an injured toe, Faulk could see an increase in production.

Chris Ogbonnaya CLE (11-37, 5-24): I mentioned Ogbonnaya 2 weeks ago on the FFS when CLE played SEA, as Hillis was a late scratch. With Hardesty nursing a calf injury and Hillis day-to-day with the hammy, Ogbonnaya becomes the starter. He has a rapport with Schmur and while his 37 yard performance wasn’t too impressive, HOU could be a good match up this weekend.

Curtis Brinkley SDC (10-43, 3-24): With Tolbert still ailing from injury and now Ryan Mathews back on the list, it’s Curtis Brinkley who got the shot on MNF to turn in a modest performance. We saw earlier in the year Jessie Hester have a similar performance in week 5 vs DEN. Unfortunately Brinkley suffered a concussion, which leaves his week 9 status in the air, but if healthy he could play against GB if active.

QUARTERBACK
Sam Bradford STL (DNP): It might be worthwhile to keep an eye on the progress that Bradford is making. It was reported he is out of the walking boot and is making good steps in his return to the field. Add that news to the addition of Brandon Lloyd and a fairly cushy schedule (ARI, CLE, SEA, ARI) starting this week. Could be a worthwhile addition for a playoff run.

List 7:
WR: Harry Douglas ATL, Jerome Simpson CIN, Danario Alexander STL, Naaman Roosevelt BUF, Greg Little CLE, Arrelious Benn TBB, Devin Hester CHI,
TE: Jake Ballard
RB: Donald Brown IND, DeMarco Murray DAL, Earnest Graham TBB, Maurice Morris/Keiland Williams DET,
QB: None

List 6:
WR: Victor Cruz NYG, Doug Baldwin SEA, Darius Heyward-Bey OAK, Jerome Simpson CIN, Early Doucet ARI, Damian William TEN, James Jones GBP
TE: Joel Dreessen HOU
RB: Jackie Battle KCC, Delone Carter IND, Jacob Hester SDC
QB: None
Notables: Jonathan Dwyer PIT RB, Brandon Pettigrew DET TE

List 5
List 4
List 3
List 2
List 1

Playing Out The Season

Last year I made it known on the FFS Forums that I threw in the towel at the conclusion of week 10 in the nfl season. This season has been a shamble at best, but unlike last year I felt much more confident about my team at the start of the season. The team I drafted was strong and well balanced, I liked the strength of the mid round picks that usually help make or break a team and thought I had selected some good sleepers. All thanks in part to being a member of Fantasy Football Starters.

I look back on my draft and still feel the team of players I assemble was a good group, so I won’t fault my failure as draft day. In hindsight there are always players you might have taken later, earlier or not at all. I can’t look on my draft that way. I feel I had a successful draft, but it’s been a strange year for player performances across the board. We can look to the lock out and CBA negotiations for much of what has transpired to date.

Unlike last year I have been more active through 6 weeks than I was all last year using the waiver wire, making 4 moves (total of $45) that has seen some return on investment. As of today, I done with the wire. My season, while not officially over for 11 more weeks is over. I won’t continue to contemplate wire moves because the total cost of a move won’t improve my team to a point of getting back in the race to be in the top three of total scoring.

I haven’t quit on my league, the other owners to my duties as the commissioner. Much like last year it will give me more time to tend to my league duties and spend on FFS (hopefully) helping others in their fantasy seasons. Luck continues to play a big part in what we do as a hobby and unfortunately none of that luck has been on my team.

It’s amazing the difference one week can make in fantasy football. Week 6 has taken it’s toll and left me with battered and bruised. As I look down my fantasy roster I am left with two healthy running backs, one of which is a rookie and the other lost their starting job. The QB position continues to carry my team, but “the misses” are not outnumbering the “hits” when it comes to players who are producing this season.

The key component that has been missing this year has been luck. It’s something no owner has control over, you can’t trade for it, or acquire it off the waiver wire. The prime example this season, drafting Cam Newton and leaning on him for good production since the start of the NFL season. So it’s been a short year and we have 11 weeks remaining, I still have 2 leagues I am involved in, but not as meaningful as the one I have managed for 28 years. We will see how those 2 leagues play out, as of right now those remaining teams are moving in opposite directions.

2011 Watch List #7

These are the weeks that seem to make or break a team. The bye weeks really let you know how good (or bad) you drafted. For those owners who live on the waiver wire, you  might be wheeling and dealing to pick up that “one week wonder” (Torrey Smith anyone?) in hopes he hits it big. For other owners if you are riddled with an injury plagued team you might need to make some major decisions in order to start a full team.

Some times owners will make a tough decision to drop a player who isn’t on a bye, but might be considered a potential “diamond in the rough” so you grab them. These are also when you might sacrifice that second defense or that second TE in order to pick up a player. We continue to see some new names dot the watch list, with a few making a return appearance.

WIDE RECEIVER
Harry Douglas ATL (2-57)
The ATL went run heavy on Sunday, but Douglas is still relevant with Julio Jones sidelined. The offense is still clicking and even with only 14 completions by Matt Ryan Douglas was targeted 4 times, but his production hasn’t been overly impressive as 57 yards is his season high. He might make a worthwhile bye week cover if you are in need of a WR. ATL faces DET next week.

Jerome Simpson CIN (6-101)
Simpson heads into the bye week coming off his best performance of the year, 6-101 yards (9 targets). Dalton continues to target Simpson, now 41 times on the season. He complements AJ Green well and led the team on Sunday. Unfortunately he has yet to find the end zone on the year. Hopefully he can put his “off the field activities” behind him and focus on football. Look for him in week 8 vs SEA.

Danario Alexander STL (6-91)
As long as Alexander and stay healthy (knees) he looks to perform well. He started in place of Sims-Walker on Sunday and recorded a team high, 91 yards. Bradford targeted Alexander 10 times in the thrashing by GB. As long as STL continues to play from behind, Alexander should be a viable WR. Be wary of Mark Clayton returning (PUP) and the possible addition of Brandon Lloyd from DEN, reuniting with Josh McDaniels.

Naaman Roosevelt BUF (1-60-1 TD)
Roosevelt has hit the fantasy radar after Donald Jones went down, he played okay vs PHI and on Sunday was only targeted 2 times, but one was a 60-yard TD reception from Fitzpatrick. There is a possibility he will become a bigger factor in the Bills offense, but there might be some other WRs available who will provide you a better option. Consider him high risk, low valued play right now.

Greg Little CLE (6-72)
In week 6, Little lead the Browns in receptions and yards as he got his first start of the season. It’s the second week has caught 6 balls as McCoy will target him as his #1 WR in the offense. Little could be worth a look as McCoy is still averaging 43 attempts a game. CLE is home versus SEA in week 7.

Arrelious Benn TBB (3-83-1 TD)
He’s caught more TD passes than Mike Williams, while that might not be good enough for some Benn played well on Sunday. His previous performance hasn’t been too consistent with some 1 catch games. On the season he has 15 catches (24 targets) and 243 yards to lead the Bucs receiving corp. This victory might have turned TB around and we could see Freeman putting up stronger numbers. Week 7 TB plays the Bears.

Devin Hester CHI (5-91-1 TD)
He departed the game early with a chest injury but not before making a big impact against the Vikings. HE hauled in a 48-yard TD pass in the first quarter, followed by a 98-yard kickoff return. This is the sort of explosiveness Hester has and can be an impact player. We will have to see what the injury does for his status in week 7 vs TB. He could be serviceable as a replacement player for a bye week.

RUNNING BACK

Donald Brown IND (5-13-1 TD, 2-16)
It was Brown and Delone Carter combining in the backfield for Indy (Addai out) his while his performance wasn’t great he did average 7 YPC and score a TD. With the possibility of Addai being out next week, Brown could be serviceable as a bye week replacement. Indy travels to NO in week 7.

DeMarco Murray DAL (10-32, 1-7)
Murray got a bulk of the work on Sunday vs NEP after an injury sidelined Felix Jones. Going forward Murray has a bigger upside than does Choice. If Jones cannot go because of the sprain ankle, it will be an RBBC with Murray as the better option. Dallas played STL in week 7.

Earnest Graham TBB (17-109, 2-22)
Starting in place of LaGarrette Blount on Sunday vs NOS, Graham put up some very good numbers, averaging 6.4 YPC he finished the day rushing for 109 yards. Even though he did not score he did prove to be a worthwhile starter on the day. In week 7 Tampa Bay travels to London to face the Bears. If Blount cannot go look at starting Graham again.

Maurice Morris DET/Keiland Williams DET
The concussion suffered by Jahvid Best this weekend might see him on the injury report or worse on the sideline. While he has remained healthy though 6 weeks, the concussion is always a concern. He dealt with them in college, which raised flags in the NFL. He will have to go through a battery of tests this week in order to play. If he doesn’t watch for Morris, Williams possibly Jerome Harrison splitting time.

TIGHT END

Jake Ballard NYG (5-81)
One of the positions that have brought many names to the forefront this year has been the TE. On Sunday Ballard continued his little scoring streak catching 5-81 yards, although he didn’t score as he did the previous 2 weeks. His role continues to expand in the Giants offense. NYG are on a bye in week 7 and play MIA in week 8.

Week 6:
WR: Victor Cruz NYG, Doug Baldwin SEA, Darius Heyward-Bey OAK, Jerome Simpson CIN, Early Doucet ARI, Damian William TEN, James Jones GBP
TE: Joel Dreessen HOU
RB: Jackie Battle KCC, Delone Carter IND, Jacob Hester SDC
QB: None
Notables: Jonathan Dwyer PIT RB, Brandon Pettigrew DET TE

Week 5:
WR: Lavelle Hawkins TEN, Damian Williams TEN, Laurent Robinson DAL, Josh Morgan SFO, Victor Cruz NYG, Doug Baldwin SEA, Jacoby Jones HOU
TE: None
RB: Issac Redman PIT, Mewelde Moore PIT, Ryan Torain, Stevan Ridley
QB: Andy Dalton CIN
Notables:

Week 4:
WR: Victor Cruz NYG, Torrey Smith BAL, Nate Washington TEN, Donald Jones BUF
TE: None
RB: Kendall Hunter SFO, Bernard Scott CIN, Daniel Thomas MIA, Alfonso Smith ARI
Notables: James Casey TE HOU

Week 3:
WR: Nate Washington TEN, David Nelson BUF, Eric Decker DEN
TE: Scott Chandler BUF, Evan Moore CLE, Fred Davis WAS
RB: Roy Helu WAS, Thomas Jones KCC, Dexter McCluster KCC
Notables: Preston Parker, WR TBB, Antonio Brown, WR PIT, Titus Young, WR DET, Brandon LaFell, WR CAR

Week 2:
WR: Randal Cobb GBP, Early Doucet ARI, Ted Ginn SFO, Eric Decker DEN
TE: Ben Watson CLE, Evan Moore CLE, Fred Davis WAS
RB: Darren Sproles NOS, Marcel Reece OAK, Carnell Williams STL
Notables: Jason Avant WR PHI, David Nelson WR BUF, Jacoby Ford WR OAK, Brian Hartline WR MIA

Week 1:
WR: Eric Decker DEN, Antonio Brown PIT, Brian Robiskie CLE
TE: None
RB: Delone Carter IND, Roy Helu WAS, Deji Karim JAX
Notables: Kendall Hunter RB SFO, DeMarco Murray RB DAL, Stevan Ridley RB NEP, Jerome Harrison RB DET, Greg Little RB CLE, Jerome Simpson RBCIN, Dezmon Briscoe WR TBB, Denario Alexander WR STL