Fantasy Sports Football

Fantasy Football Surprises in 2009 Through Week 2
By Ryan Lacioca

Here are some of the more pleasant fantasy football surprises of the 2009 season so far. We’re only two weeks into the season, so much is subject to change, but as it stands right now, there are definitely quite a few players exceeding all expectations placed upon them.

Mario Manningham, wide receiver for the New York Giants. Everyone wondered what would become of the Giants’ receiving situation. Having lost both Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, the Giants entered the season without their longtime top two receivers. At wide receiver, Mario Manningham is amongst the biggest 2009 fantasy football surprises so far, and may very well be the biggest.

Manningham has been superb though. Through the first two games, Manningham has 208 yards and a total of two touchdowns. It’s clear that the Giants are in pretty good hands so far, and Manningham has broken out.

Fred Jackson, running back for the Buffalo Bills. Talk about a great first two games of the season! With 220 rush yards and 108 receiving yards (not to mention a touchdown too), Fred Jackson has one of the highest rushing totals in the NFL through the first two games of the season and is definitely one of the bigger fantasy football surprises of the 2009 season so far.

The versatile running back has done an excellent job filling in for Marshawn Lynch, currently serving a suspension, and one has to wonder what the running back situation will look like in Buffalo once Lynch returns. Without a doubt, Jackson will remain an integral part of the Bills’ offense.

Find out about more fantasy football surprises and join a free fantasy football league at RootZoo, the only site that pays you cash for winning your league! Play weekly pick ‘em too.

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Best Fantasy Football Sites
By Jake Wilson

It’s common practice for us football fanatics to spend the off season doing research for the upcoming fantasy season. The best fantasy football sites are the ones who provide up-to-date player rankings, mock drafts, reports, general information and high quality resources that can guide you to the promise land and the prized title of fantasy football champion. Fantasy football sites are everywhere. The way these sites gain popularity is through credibility and the level of resources and information they provide.

Most of us are not professional fantasy players so we rely on the information given to us by these sites. It’s pretty standard for people to find a site they like and latch onto it for the entire football season. Just because someone has a fantasy site we automatically assume they know what they are talking about. But if the fantasy football season ends and you find yourself at the bottom of the heap, chances are you won’t go back to that site when in need of help. The best fantasy sites have built a solid reputation for themselves over the years and have proven to be industry leaders and providers of accurate and relevant fantasy football information, year after year. If a site has sustained itself over the years and has grown in popularity, chances are they know what they are talking about.

One of the top things people look for when browsing for the best fantasy sites is information regarding the ADP, or Average Draft Position. This is a very valuable tool for fantasy players on draft day. It is essentially a list of all NFL players that is compiled from thousands of mock drafts and/or real drafts, that shows a players value in relation to others in the league.

This information can be used in conjunction with NFL fantasy player rankings to create one of the most accurate resources that determines the order players will be chosen on draft day. Amateur’s and professional fantasy football players alike, use the ADP for reference during the pre-season and on draft day. It’s widely becoming the “go-to” list when in need of the next best pick.

The most popular or best fantasy football site on the internet may not exactly be the best site for you and your team. Be sure to keep your eyes open for current information and don’t tie yourself down to just one site that you get your information from. Browse all the best fantasy football sites and get pertinent information from each one. They’re out there for a reason; to help you. Take advantage of their services while you still have a winning record.

RapidDraft is a new and exciting NFL fantasy football game that lets you play against the best fantasy players in the world. For under $10 bucks you can play RapidDraft for a chance to win the guaranteed cash prize of $250,000 dollars. Create your own online fantasy football league through RapidDraft today and draft your team that will take you to the promise land.

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Make Money by Hosting Your Own Fantasy Sports League
By Brock Hamilton

Generally, most people flourish on their business because it is based on something they love and enjoy, like their interests or favorite hobbies. If you are into some kind of sport, you ought to make money by hosting your own fantasy sports league.

Many of us are into a certain sport, maybe basketball, or football, or baseball. Some sports are more popular than others, such as football. Football is the most popular sport in fantasy sports leagues. The general idea here is that you charge people a certain fee to pick their own team. You offer prizes and rewards, such as if the player scores the most points or goals in a season.

There are plenty of professional websites that run fantasy sports league, although you as an individual can also make money by hosting your own league. Make use of your social connections, such as your family, friends, and co-workers. This business offers a lot of fun, and at the same time, it rakes in a good amount of income, as well.

Of course, it is essential that you are particularly knowledgeable on the sport you have chosen, for it to run smoothly and properly. When hosting a fantasy sports league it is important to manage the sports league in every aspect and step of the way. If not, it will be difficult and time-consuming to catch up again.

This endeavor will surely be a money making machine. Remember, you can make money by hosting your own fantasy sports league, on a sport that you truly love and enjoy.

Ready to learn more about hosting your own Fantasy sports-league? Visit our website at http://www.101waystomakemoney.com.

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Drafting Injured – Suspended Players – Fantasy Football Impact Analysis
By Bobby Hastings

Every year there is that guy, the player who decided to fight dogs, drive drunk, sell drugs, etc. during the off-season. Typically these players face suspension prior to returning to active NFL duty. The question is how to are fantasy football managers to evaluate these players? While they are often talented without a doubt, the football season is short. How much does talent make up for lack of productivity? The same logic can be applied to injured players slated to miss the first few games of the season. This article will reveal a simple yet effective methodology for adjusting players pre-season ranking based on missed games due to injury or suspension.

In some cases deciding who to draft between an injured/suspended player and an active player is a no-brainer. Marshaw Lynch should easily put up more numbers in twelve games than say Brian Leonard over 16. In that case it is easy draft, Lynch over Leonard. The real challenge is how do we project Lynch’s performance so that we can get a sense of where to draw the line?

The following is fairly simple strategy that is fast, makes sense and is easy to apply. In short, for a suspended/injured player, take their previous years stats, project them to the coming year and adjust them downward based on the % of the season he will miss. For example, lets take Marshawn Lynch who is slated to miss the first four games of the season.

In 2008 Marshawn had 1036 yards and 8 TDs. With the arrival of T.O. we expect things to open up, and project Marshawn up to 1150 yards and 12 TDs if he were to play all 16 games. However, he is suspended for 4 games which is 25% of the season. We simply multiply Marshawn’s projections by (1-.25) .75 to get his adjusted projects. So we move 1036 to (1150* .75) 862 yds and (11*.75) 8.25 TDs.

Once you have his projected numbers it is easy to evaluate where to draft Marshawn. Draft him around the other running backs going for 862 yards and 8 TDs.

BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com is a Fantasy Sports site intended to bring a scientific approach to player evaluation for fantasy baseball, football, basketball and now boxing! BCRT.com provides free news, statistics, and expert analysis of interesting trends which can give your fantasy team the competitive advantage it needs to crush your competition.

Read more at BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com.

Fantasy Football

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Fantasy Football Insurance – How Necessary Are Handcuffs in the Two RB System Era?
By Bobby Hastings

The Handcuff used to be a common term overheard during fantasy football drafts around the country. Today is a new day. Today is the day of the dreaded running back by committee (RBBC). Today the word handcuff is almost dead. We think it is still an important concept. The handcuff is the idea of drafting a players backup that will gain the majority of carries in the event of an injury to the primary running back. If you owned an injury prone player it was believed to be a good idea to handcuff his backup onto your squad under the assumption that in the event of injury the backup would step right in and your team would not suffer too much.

The RBBC has decreased the value of the handcuff. On some teams the RBBC can be as deep as three players. The handcuff does not work as well in that case when an injury creeps up. However, there are a few legitimate two-back RBBC situations around the league, where if the primary back went down to injury the handcuff would actually dramatically increase in value as a result of becoming the primary ball carrier.
Of course, a handful of situations do still exist where there is one primary ball carrier – in those cases the handcuff is certainly not always a necessity. In fact, in some of those situations, should the primary ball carrier go down to injury the handcuff would NOT become the primary ball carrier – the team would go to a RBBC.

The following is a list of recommended handcuffs. If a player is not on this list, in the event of injury we see a RBBC situation.

2009 BCRT Handcuffs To Target
Chester Taylor
Jerious Norwood
Ladell Betts
Jonathan Stewart
Donald Brown
Ricky Williams
Justin Fargas
LeSean McCoy
Darren Sproles
Edgerrin James
Glen Coffee
LenDale White

There you have it – to handcuff or not to handcuff? We say go for the cuff in certain siutations. Hopefully list provided above will serve you well on draft day.

BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com is a Fantasy Sports site intended to bring a scientific approach to player evaluation for fantasy baseball, football, basketball and now boxing! BCRT.com provides free news, statistics, and expert analysis of interesting trends which can give your fantasy team the competitive advantage it needs to crush your competition.

read more at BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com Fantasy Football

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Fantasy Football Tips For Winning Your Fantasy Football League
By James Hamaker

Fantasy Football Season is upon us again, and there are many issues to consider for this season. One of the biggest early decisions is who to draft in the early rounds of the draft. I would like to take this time to share with you my strategy on when I draft players and why you should draft your players at certain times during the draft.

The early rounds of the draft are the most important rounds for your fantasy team. The decisions you make with your early picks can make or break your team. Rounds one through four are very important, and you should draft carefully according to your place in the draft.

Your first pick in the draft should always be a running back or wide receiver. In a points-per-reception league, the WR position grows in importance. In most seasons, a running back should be selected in the first five to seven positions in the draft. If you draft later than seventh in the first round, you might want to consider drafting a wide receiver in the first round. In round two, you want to draft a wide receiver or running back. I would only draft a quarterback in round two if you selected a wide receiver in round one. In most seasons, you do not want to draft a quarterback early unless he is one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the league.

Your first four picks should be wide receivers and running backs. Do not draft a tight end or quarterback earlier than round five unless you pick up an elite quarterback. After the first four rounds, start filling up the positions on the rest of the team. I recommend filling all starter positions first before filling up the bench. Do not fill your kicker or team defense slots until the last two rounds of the draft. You can pick up better kickers and team defenses during the season.

Finally, pick up sleeper picks in the last rounds of the draft. Do not select benchwarmers or handcuff players in most situations unless you play in a really deep league. This will give you a better chance to win if an entire team is bad.

These are all the tips I recommend to fantasy football players. I wish you the best of luck with your team.

James Hamaker loves to write about everything. Look for more articles from James!

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Fantasy Football Debate – Willis McGahee Or Ray Rice?
By Mark Parachas

Entering the 2009 fantasy football season, there was a lot of hype bestowed upon Ray Rice. The versatile, quick running back out of Rutgers was entering his second season and following a strong finish to the 2008 NFL season, it seemed like Rice was primed to break out.

Ray Rice had a great preseason and ended up winning the title of starting running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Fantasy gurus all over the internet proclaimed Rice as the sleeper pick for 2009, predicting that Rice, who catches many passes too, would have a Brian Westbrook/Steve Slaton type season in 2009. It was also announced that Rice would be receiving the goal-line carries for the Ravens.

Through the first two weeks of the 2009 season, Rice has played some solid football for the Ravens. With 144 rushing yards and 58 receving yards, Rice has been an effective force for the Ravens. The major downside is the fact that he hasn’t yet scored a touchdown. Not in 2009, and not in his NFL career.

Willis McGahee, on the other hand, already has four touchdowns through the first two weeks of fantasy football. Not only does he have the touchdowns, but he also has the yards. With 123 rush yards and 41 receiving yards, his totals aren’t too far behind those of Rice’s.

McGahee has obviously been the better fantasy football running back so far, but one has to wonder if his health can keep him this effective all year. He seems to think so, but what happens from here is anyone’s guess.

Win real cash in a free fantasy football league at RootZoo, the only site that rewards you for winning a fantasy league. Leagues are still open, in addition to a great sports forum.

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Fantasy Football Projections – Quarterback Sleepers For 2009
By Jason McCoy

To win in competitive fantasy football leagues, you’ve got to pay attention to the NFL players with the highest potential for sleeper value during the season. One of the reasons fantasy football is so popular is because of the excitement involved in predicting when various sleepers will break out and start producing. If you draft these players in the right round, you will reap all the benefits of drafting a player who produces above his draft position. Only fantasy owners with excellent instincts and solid experience generally see it coming so pay attention to the experts and their yearly projections.

QB Sleepers Worth Considering in the 2009 Season: First and foremost, potential QB sleepers are important to consider. Here are some of the players that have the attention of fantasy football experts this preseason.

Trent Edwards-Buffalo Bills
Edwards showed much improvement since his rookie season in 2007. Last year, he accrued over 2500+ yards and 11 touchdowns. The addition of Terrell Owens to the Bills roster bodes well for Edwards since he will now have multiple receiving options on the field. According to the 2009 Bruno Boys Quarterback “Snooze Alarm” Rankings, “The addition of Terrell Owens at wide receiver is going to change the offense dramatically. Teams will no longer be able to double team Evans and third receiver Josh Reed will now work against lower-caliber defensive backs….but perhaps the biggest bonus the Bills will receive from the addition of Owens is that he’s so good in the red zone, where Evans and Reed struggled to catch passes.” The Bruno Boys give him a ranking of 6 alarms this season.

Chad Pennington-Miami Dolphins
QB Chad Pennington has a very accurate arm, which we all got a glimpse of in 2008. He won NFL Comeback Player of the Year and racked up 3,653 yards. Also working in his favor, the Dolphins have improved their running game so Pennington should have more options this season than ever before. Third year WR Ted Ginn Jr. also has great sleeper value as well. If he can stay healthy for an entire season Pennington could produce far superior numbers this year. I believe Pennington is undervalued in most fantasy football drafts.

Josh Freeman-Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay already has Bryan Leftwich and Luke McCown on their roster, who will most likely get more playing time than Freeman in the beginning of the season. However, the fact that they chose Freeman as one of their early picks in this year’s draft tells me that he’s someone they’re banking on should Leftwich and/or McCown struggle. Rookie quarterbacks typically have poor first seasons, but there’s always a chance that he’ll do well, just look at Matt Ryan last year. FFtoolbox.com writer George Bissell states in his article 2009 Team Outlook: Tampa Bay, “Fantasy owners should keep an eye on Josh Freeman in 2009 and pick him up if he inherits the starting job.”

Matt Hasselbeck-Seattle Seahawks
Matt Hasselbeck had some major physical issues in 2008 that kept him off the field so who knows what he will bring to the table in 2009? According to an article by Patrick Brian ONeill on FantasySharks.com titled Fantasy Football Sleepers – Quarterback Rankings Fantasy Football 2009, “Hasselbeck enters the 2009 season with Seattle as a huge question mark. Were the back and knee injuries a one-time deal, or are they going to be nagging him this year also?” Despite these issues the presence of T.J. Houshmandzadeh and a healthy Deion Branch will up Hasselbeck’s game. It will not surprise me if he has a break out season if his body can hold up without any problems. “I see no reason why Hasselbeck can’t post 3,500 yards and 22 TDs,” continues ONeill. Keep your eye on this QB.

These are just a few of the NFL QBs that could surprise everyone in the 2009 football season. The preseason games will offer even more insight into the value of potential sleepers. Good luck with your fantasy football drafts and may your teams dominate in all your fantasy leagues!

Jason McCoy, aka “The Real McCoy”, is owner and creator of the fantasy football web site http://www.Stinkball.com Stinkball.com offers “loser league” style fantasy football contests. At Stinkball.com your team is rewarded for sacks, fumbles and interceptions. Predict the worst performances and win. Play in private and public leagues with your friends. This unique take makes Stinkball a new, exciting challenge for fantasy sports enthusiasts.

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Fantasy Football Draft Advice – Defense & Kickers
By Ryan Lester

Defense

There comes a time in your fantasy draft when you have your starting QB, two or three RBs, three or four WRs, and possibly your Tight End taken care of. Adding depth is very important, but don’t overlook the value of a top flight defense. The good thing about defenses are the elite ones don’t tend to change from year to year despite injuries and turnover. Take the Giants for example. Who would have figured they would have an elite defense after Strahan retired and Osi went down? Yet, they did. Philly has had players come and go without missing a beat. Think about how long Pittsburgh and Baltimore have been elite fantasy defenses.

The top fantasy defenses based on Average Draft Position are:

Pittsburgh – 8th round
Baltimore & NY Giants – 9th round
Minnesota – 10th round

You can chose to wait until the 11th or 12 round, assuming there isn’t a run on defenses, and land San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, NY Jets or Tennessee.

Don’t worry if you miss out on one of the top D’s. There are still great values to be had later like New England, Green Bay, Dallas, and Washington, but landing Pittsburgh D can be a difference maker. Some of the players going in the 8th round along with Pittsburgh D are Jamal Lewis, Julius Jones, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Percy Harvin. Jamal and Julius have little upside. Ahmad and Julius have great potential, but can you really rely on them any given week? Meanwhile Pittsburgh is a plug and play. You don’t have to worry about matchups. You just use them every week.

Kickers

Yesterday we discussed being bold and taking a top defense early. Since the top defenses don’t tend to change from year-to-year, it’s a calculated risk. Kickers, on the other hand, are much more of a crap shoot. In fact, since 2002 there have only been two Kickers to be in the top five in points in consecutive seasons.

Stephen Gostkowski is one of the back-to-back Kickers so he may be the exception, although his average draft position is the 11th round. I see no reason why New England’s offense doesn’t continue to score in bunches, but personally I would rather secure a top flight defense or provide depth to another key position. Of course, I am not opposed to ditching the Kicker position all together, but that’s a topic for a different day. If you are drafting a Kicker based on last year, you’ll probably miss the boat. Here’s a look at the top five point scorers from 2002-2008.

2008
Stephen Gostkowski – 148
David Akers – 144
John Carney – 143
Matt Bryant – 131
John Kasay – 130

2007
Mason Crosby – 141
Stephen Gostkowski – 137
Rob Bironas – 133
Nick Folk – 131
Shayne Graham – 130

2006
Robbie Gould – 143
Nate Kaeding – 136
Jeff Wilkins – 131
Matt Stover – 121
Josh Scobee – 119

2005
Jay Feely -148
Neil Rackers – 140
Shayne Graham – 131
Lawrence Tynes – 125
Mike Vanderjagt – 121

2004
Adam Vinatieri – 141
Jason Elam – 129
Jeff Reed – 124
David Akers – 122
Shayne Graham – 122

2003
Jeff Wilkins – 163
Mike Vanderjagt – 157
Matt Stover – 134
John Kasay – 125
Gary Anderson – 123

2002
Jay Feely – 138
David Akers – 133
John Carney – 130
Martin Gramatica – 128
Sebastian Janikowski – 128
Ryan Longwell – 128

My advice is fill your roster with good depth at your key positions and grab a Kicker in the last round. Odds are you’re going to drop your Kicker in your bye week anyway. Unless you have an extremely deep roster, you don’t want to hold onto two Kickers at one time.

Ryan Lester

http://lesterslegends.com

Helping you win your fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey leagues.

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What Kind of Fantasy Football Value Can a Non-Goal Line Back Hold?
By Bobby Hastings

This article will explore the fantasy football value of running backs that do not get goal line carries vs. those that do. To support our analysis we looked at the final running back ranking of 2008 from Yahoo Fantasy Sports. Based on the distribution of final fantasy points we were able to identify five different categories of running backs in the National Football League. First you have the primary running backs that dominate the ball. These are your Adrian Peterson and Ladainian Tomlinsons of the 2008 season. (editors note: LT is currently in a time share for 2009). Second, you have your top tier secondary backs that really put up nice numbers. In 2008 Chris Johnson is the perfect example. While he was dominant between the 20’s it was LenDale White who saw the ball on the goal-line. Third, there are your top tier goal line backs. These are your big men who guaranteed to get the ball on the goal line, they often play on running teams who like to grind it out. LenDale White of 2008 is the perfect poster boy for this role. Fourth, you have your secondary running backs that could be playmakers if an injury were to occur. Darren Sproles is the perfect example of this from last year. As soon as LT went down he stepped in and put up huge numbers. Lastly, you have the second tier goal-line specialists. These are the big men who find themselves often as the third back on the depth chart and are brought in only in short yardage situations. TJ Duckett is the perfect example of this type of player. Lets take a deeper look at the running backs from 2008 and see what else there is to learn.

The top 10 running backs from the 2008 season all received goal line duties and were not involved in a RBBC. Those that were in an RBBC played along a secondary running back who was more of a scat back change of pace guy and not really a threat to steal goal line carries.

Of the backs that finished the season ranked 11-20 we begin to see the dominant RBBC backs appear. Chris Johnson who did not receive goal line duty in 2008 makes the list at #11. Brandon Jacobs who split carries with Derrick Ward, but did receive goal lines duties comes in at #12. At #16 is Ronnie Brown who is similar to Chris Johnson and also did not receive many goal line carries in 2008. #19 and #20 are LenDale White and LeRon Mclain who both did not receive the majority of their teams carries, but did consistently get the ball on the goal line. It appears the second tier of running backs is variable in its makeup. Essentially you have the non-RBBC backs strung in with the dominant non-goal line backs and the lucky secondary RBBC players who happen to hit pay dirt the most near the goal line.

After #20 things get very variable. In fact from looking at the way the final rankings wound up it is better to put your chips on the secondary back in the RBBC who does not necessarily get goal carries than a straight up goal line specialist. By far the players with the least value are the big men who only see the ball on the goal-line. True goal line specialists do not really seem worth a fantasy football play.

At the end of the day running backs should be valued as follows:
1. Primary backs who get goal line carries
2. Top tier secondary backs who rack up yards
3. Top tier goal-line backs
4. Secondary running backs with a shot to put up points in the event of injury
5. Secondary backs who are goal-line specialists

Top 2008 Running Backs
1. DeAngelo Williams
2. Michael Turner
3. Matt Forte
4. Adrian Peterson
5. Thomas Jones
6. Ladainian Tomlinson
7. Steve Slaton
8. Maurice Jones-Drew
9. Clinton Portis
10. Brian Westbrook
11. Chris Johnson
12. Brandon Jacobs
13. Marshawn Lynch
14. Frank Gore
15. Steven Jackson
16. Ronnie Brown
17. Marion Barber
18. Kevin Smith
19. LenDale White
20. Le’Ron McClain
21. Pierre Thomas
22. Ryan Grant
23. Derrick Ward
24. Jonathan Stewart
25. Jamal Lewis

BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com is a Fantasy Sports site intended to bring a scientific approach to player evaluation for fantasy baseball, football, basketball and now boxing! BCRT.com provides free news, statistics, and expert analysis of interesting trends which can give your fantasy team the competitive advantage it needs to crush your competition.

Read more at BleacherCreatureRotoTalk.com Fantasy Football.

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