Green highlights for guys you should trade for or add.
Yellow highlights for players to put on your watch list.
Pink highlights for injury concerns.
Orange highlights for players I would try to trade away
Red highlights for players I would bench or cut.
Games I watched: Baltimore-San Francisco, most of the 4th quarter of San Diego-Green Bay
Baltimore-San Francisco thoughts:
Joe Flacco looks awful. He was the 14th ranked QB coming into today's game in my one league, and he was simply awful today, with poor clock management and a lot of poor decision making. At this point I'd rather release him and sign a matchup play at QB than play him at all.
Tied to that awfulness is most of the whole Ravens offense. Justin Forsett is cool, but Steve Smith Jr. can only do so much with Flacco at QB, and waiver wire favorite Kamar Aiken was lucky to catch a last ditch touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, it looks like the 49ers did great, but this was really a case of taking advantage of a bad, injured defense. Two of the 49er touchdowns came courtesy of a corner that the 49ers cut last week, so that's not saying much. Anquan Boldin looked pretty good for a 12 year vet, but Torrey Smith was more lucky than anything else, and I'd see if you could deal him on this (relatively) high note (same with Kaepernick). Also, Carlos Hyde went down untouched at one point in the game, which was scary, but came back in and looked just okay. Hoping nothing real happened but wouldn't be surprised to see at least a probable designation next week.
San Diego-Green Bay thoughts:
Philip Rivers is awesome, but that's nothing new. San Diego is in kind of a Cincinnati situation where there are just so many weapons between Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, Malcolm Floyd, Danny Woodhead, Ladarius Green, and Melvin Gordon. On any other team, Green and Gordon would be beastly (especially since Gordon is the lead back here), but a backup TE and a RB on a pass first team can only do so much. Regardless - keep expecting stats from these guys, barring injuries.
On the Green Bay side, Aaron Rodgers is as good as ever, and you gotta love what he's doing with James Jones. I'd see if I could trade Jones though in most leagues, as the averages will eventually catch up with him. Meanwhile, that Green Bay running game is so weird. James Starks looked pretty good today, albeit with 65 yards coming on one run, while Eddie Lacy had just three yards on four carries. With Lacy, you've got to hold onto him if you drafted him early. I've put out lowball offers for him in my leagues but people are smartly holding onto him rather than selling him low.
Other players of note from the day:
- Mark Ingram is very boom or bust - he had two touchdowns this week, but if he hadn't had any touchdowns he would've had a pretty bad week. He's a pretty safe bet for like a 5-6 point floor each week with a much higher ceiling, but I'd see if you can trade him for a higher level WR or QB to someone who sees a lot of value in the ceiling weeks.
- Don't touch ANYONE on the Tennessee Titans. That whole team is a garbage fire, and Marcus Mariota will suffer for it. Some people are holding David Cobb for when he gets off the DL in a few weeks and takes the RB reigns - I'd stay far away because even he will only be able to do so much.
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Early Game Fantasy Thoughts
Welcome to my first piece of fantasy thoughts! I'll do these when I have time on football Sundays after watching games, and will denote different individual players as follows:
Green highlights for guys you should trade for or add.
Yellow highlights for players to put on your watch list.
Pink highlights for injury concerns.
Orange highlights for players I would try to trade away
Red highlights for players I would bench or cut.
Games I watched: Cincinnati-Buffalo, Denver-Cleveland Overtime
Cincy-Buffalo thoughts:
Man the Bengals look AWESOME. It started slow, but Andy Dalton and company really killed it late. I know A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, Jeremy Hill, and Giovani Bernard are all owned in most leagues, but Marvin Jones needs to be owned as well if someone doesn't have him already. Pick him up if he isn't taken. He's a little all or nothing as the 3rd option at best in this offense, but he's been more all lately (and had 13 targets today). That Cincy defense though...not a fan of them lately. They let the Bills do too much, and they suffered some injuries today.
As for the Bills, E.J. Manuel was bad as expected. LeSean McCoy finally looked a bit like his old self, and Sammy Watkins had a great touchdown catch but hurt himself on the catch. I traded for him in one league in hopes that he'd eventually get over injury, but it may be time to cut bait if he can't get through these injury issues. I'm just benching him for now, but I'll be fielding offers to see if anyone likes his potential.
Denver-Cleveland OT thoughts:
Peyton Manning just can't do it this year. He's definitely worth benching in any and all leagues, if not cutting. I know one team in my league recently traded for Tyrod Taylor to start over Manning. Who would have thought that going into the year.
Additionally, Emmanuel Sanders hurt himself bad on an almost catch in the 4th quarter. He came out for the first play of Overtime but looked so hurt. Sanders owners - be prepared for a few weeks without this guy. But definitely hold onto him.
With Cleveland, Josh McCown is so hit and miss. He's an okay QB to stream against bad defenses, but the Broncos defense isn't bad. That being said, he has been a godsend for Gary Barnidge. Two more TDs for the guy today, and if he's still on your league's waiver wire you need to pick him up.
I was disappointed with Robert Turbin this week. I added him in my shallow league to take a flier, and he looked pretty rough. I'm still holding on to him though, as he's got a good opportunity and could get hotter with more game play. I wouldn't start him yet, but he's worth keeping around.
Other players of note from the early games:
- Matt Stafford finally had a nice game, albeit against a bad defense. Maybe someone will take an interest in your league?
- Landry Jones looked very good against a good defense - gotta wonder if he'll see some time with Roethlisberger and Vick hurt, and if so will he keep helping out Martavis Bryant. There's a real good chance Roethlisberger is back next week though, so temper those expectations.
- Lamar Miller finally looked okay in the Dolphins win today. He's probably owned in your league, and if you own him I'd try to trade him as I don't see this success staying around.
- Alshon Jeffrey looked great in his return from injury. If someone impatiently cut him in your league (someone did in both of my leagues), put in a waiver claim NOW as he should have a great rest of the season (Luckily I had already added him in both leagues so I'm good).
Green highlights for guys you should trade for or add.
Yellow highlights for players to put on your watch list.
Pink highlights for injury concerns.
Orange highlights for players I would try to trade away
Red highlights for players I would bench or cut.
Games I watched: Cincinnati-Buffalo, Denver-Cleveland Overtime
Cincy-Buffalo thoughts:
Man the Bengals look AWESOME. It started slow, but Andy Dalton and company really killed it late. I know A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, Jeremy Hill, and Giovani Bernard are all owned in most leagues, but Marvin Jones needs to be owned as well if someone doesn't have him already. Pick him up if he isn't taken. He's a little all or nothing as the 3rd option at best in this offense, but he's been more all lately (and had 13 targets today). That Cincy defense though...not a fan of them lately. They let the Bills do too much, and they suffered some injuries today.
As for the Bills, E.J. Manuel was bad as expected. LeSean McCoy finally looked a bit like his old self, and Sammy Watkins had a great touchdown catch but hurt himself on the catch. I traded for him in one league in hopes that he'd eventually get over injury, but it may be time to cut bait if he can't get through these injury issues. I'm just benching him for now, but I'll be fielding offers to see if anyone likes his potential.
Denver-Cleveland OT thoughts:
Peyton Manning just can't do it this year. He's definitely worth benching in any and all leagues, if not cutting. I know one team in my league recently traded for Tyrod Taylor to start over Manning. Who would have thought that going into the year.
Additionally, Emmanuel Sanders hurt himself bad on an almost catch in the 4th quarter. He came out for the first play of Overtime but looked so hurt. Sanders owners - be prepared for a few weeks without this guy. But definitely hold onto him.
With Cleveland, Josh McCown is so hit and miss. He's an okay QB to stream against bad defenses, but the Broncos defense isn't bad. That being said, he has been a godsend for Gary Barnidge. Two more TDs for the guy today, and if he's still on your league's waiver wire you need to pick him up.
I was disappointed with Robert Turbin this week. I added him in my shallow league to take a flier, and he looked pretty rough. I'm still holding on to him though, as he's got a good opportunity and could get hotter with more game play. I wouldn't start him yet, but he's worth keeping around.
Other players of note from the early games:
- Matt Stafford finally had a nice game, albeit against a bad defense. Maybe someone will take an interest in your league?
- Landry Jones looked very good against a good defense - gotta wonder if he'll see some time with Roethlisberger and Vick hurt, and if so will he keep helping out Martavis Bryant. There's a real good chance Roethlisberger is back next week though, so temper those expectations.
- Lamar Miller finally looked okay in the Dolphins win today. He's probably owned in your league, and if you own him I'd try to trade him as I don't see this success staying around.
- Alshon Jeffrey looked great in his return from injury. If someone impatiently cut him in your league (someone did in both of my leagues), put in a waiver claim NOW as he should have a great rest of the season (Luckily I had already added him in both leagues so I'm good).
Introducing a League: show us your tds
This is a Blowout League that I was talked into joining last minute. It sucked early - the draft was done without any of us knowing and the commissioner just said whatever. But my waiver wire ways are helping me do well anyways...
Years active: 1 (with a great chance that this will be a one and done)
League Type: Yahoo, Snake, Redraft, with 10 Teams
Divisions: 1 big one
Playoffs: Top 4 teams
Scoring: Head to Head Points
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex, D/ST, K, 8 Bench
Depth of the League: Fairly Poor - A lot of guys have been semi-active to inactive because of the draft. As a result, I've been able to add Andy Dalton, DeAngelo Williams (when that was a good thing), Chris Johnson, Pierre Garcon, Brandon McManus, and Gary Barnidge. That shouldn't happen in a football league.
How have I done: First year, but so far so good
After the draft fiasco, considering I don't know anyone in the league for real, I was tempted to phone it in. But I stayed active for week one, and 2-3 other guys did too, and now there's like 5-6 of us vying for the throne. It's not a deep league, but it is fun to be on top, and so far I'm 4-1. Additionally, the guys who are active in this league are a lot better than most of my favored Toby Bowl league - so the competition is good even if the league isn't.
Years active: 1 (with a great chance that this will be a one and done)
League Type: Yahoo, Snake, Redraft, with 10 Teams
Divisions: 1 big one
Playoffs: Top 4 teams
Scoring: Head to Head Points
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex, D/ST, K, 8 Bench
Depth of the League: Fairly Poor - A lot of guys have been semi-active to inactive because of the draft. As a result, I've been able to add Andy Dalton, DeAngelo Williams (when that was a good thing), Chris Johnson, Pierre Garcon, Brandon McManus, and Gary Barnidge. That shouldn't happen in a football league.
How have I done: First year, but so far so good
After the draft fiasco, considering I don't know anyone in the league for real, I was tempted to phone it in. But I stayed active for week one, and 2-3 other guys did too, and now there's like 5-6 of us vying for the throne. It's not a deep league, but it is fun to be on top, and so far I'm 4-1. Additionally, the guys who are active in this league are a lot better than most of my favored Toby Bowl league - so the competition is good even if the league isn't.
Introducing a League: Worst Team Ever
Here's my 3rd and final football league. It's a totally silly league that we draft over on Blowout where good points are bad and bad points are good. It's also weird because the teams don't get touched at all during the season.
Years active: 2
League Type: ESPN, Offline Snake Draft, Redraft, with 14 Teams
Divisions: 2
Playoffs: Top 4 teams
Scoring: Head to Head Points, but flipped
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex
Any quirks: This league is all quirks
How have I done: Last year I lost in the playoffs
So here's the basic setup - you have to draft seven players are five positions (well one is flex) and try to assemble the LOWEST scoring team of the year. The one rule is there are games started requirements. It used to be 8 starts minimum the year before, but we made it 6 or 7 for some positions to ensure we had enough players at each position. We also made some more switches after year one - no drafting retired guys, or guys already out for the year.
It ends up with some fun teams though. Here, for example, is mine from this year:
QB - Drew Stanton
RB - Doug Martin
RB - Andre Ellington
WR - Josh Morgan
WR - Brian Hartline
TE - Matt Spaeth
FLEX - C.J. Fiedorowicz
Good points are bad and vice versa. So Doug Martin was a bad pick - he's -66 for the year. On the other hand, Stanton, Morgan, and Spaeth are a combined 0. So that's cool. And you never know which guy might step in. Last year a guy picked Kenbrell Thompkins, and early on that pick looked great. But in the championship game he was playing for the Raiders and put up a 100 yard game in garbage time - costing that guy the championship. So fickle, this league.
Years active: 2
League Type: ESPN, Offline Snake Draft, Redraft, with 14 Teams
Divisions: 2
Playoffs: Top 4 teams
Scoring: Head to Head Points, but flipped
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex
Any quirks: This league is all quirks
How have I done: Last year I lost in the playoffs
So here's the basic setup - you have to draft seven players are five positions (well one is flex) and try to assemble the LOWEST scoring team of the year. The one rule is there are games started requirements. It used to be 8 starts minimum the year before, but we made it 6 or 7 for some positions to ensure we had enough players at each position. We also made some more switches after year one - no drafting retired guys, or guys already out for the year.
It ends up with some fun teams though. Here, for example, is mine from this year:
QB - Drew Stanton
RB - Doug Martin
RB - Andre Ellington
WR - Josh Morgan
WR - Brian Hartline
TE - Matt Spaeth
FLEX - C.J. Fiedorowicz
Good points are bad and vice versa. So Doug Martin was a bad pick - he's -66 for the year. On the other hand, Stanton, Morgan, and Spaeth are a combined 0. So that's cool. And you never know which guy might step in. Last year a guy picked Kenbrell Thompkins, and early on that pick looked great. But in the championship game he was playing for the Raiders and put up a 100 yard game in garbage time - costing that guy the championship. So fickle, this league.
Introducing a League: The Toby Bowl
The Toby Bowl is our version of a friends and family fantasy football league. It's technically the third year we've done it, but after year one we blew it up due to turmoil, and after year two we blew it up due to inactivity. But my wife wanted to play again, so we tried again, and this is BY FAR our best league yet.
Years active: 1 (3 if you count the old leagues but there is so little carryover of members besides my wife and I)
League Type: ESPN, Snake, Redraft with 12 teams
Divisions: 4
Playoffs: 4 division winners get in
Scoring: Head to Head Points, fairly basic scoring system
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, FLEX, D/ST, K, P, 7 Bench, IR
Depth of the League: Average - The wire currently includes the Eagles Defense, Josh McCown, Jay Cutler, Michael Crabtree, and Jermaine Kearse. None of those guys will set the world on fire - but most would be rostered in many similar leagues IMHO.
Any weird quirks: YES to Punters for the 2nd year in a row, No to Tight Ends (new this year), 4 girls in the league (ties our season high from year one, but these girls are much more active than that year's were)
How have I done: Year 1 - 3rd Place. Last Year - Playoff Loss
This league is never that serious, but I always really love it since it's the league where my wife and I get to battle it out. Ever since year one, when she lost in the Championship, she has been addicted to fantasy football. She's tried baseball and hockey in the meantime (and quit both) but she can never quit football.
Other league members include two fellow teachers and one's husband (one division), two buddies from college (with me in my division), one of our bridesmaids and a guy I play fantasy baseball with who is my wife's nemesis (wife's division), and then three guys from Blowout (4th division). Next year I envision most of the first nine staying, but trying to find three different people to replace the Blowout crew.
As for why punters and no tight ends? Well it's my league, and I always thought punters got the short end of the stick, so I tossed them in. We had issues in year one (namely ESPN didn't calculate punts in 10 and punts in 20 until Tuesday morning, so we had a lot of games decided long after the weekend ended due to this) which caused us to change punter value this year. Now they only score 3-6 points per game, so we'll probably go back to the weird scoring way next year. FYI: ESPN HATES punters. They don't project them at the beginning of the season or put last season's stats with them (so you need depth charts to know who to draft and we had 5 of 12 teams draft a free agent punter this year) and they don't project them week to week. So punters are...a wild card.
Tight ends are easier...there are like 2-3 great ones and then a ton of guys who scored 4-6 points a week. We figured the great ones will be flex-able, and the others aren't worth rostering even as TEs. So throw away tight ends, and BRING ON the punters.
Years active: 1 (3 if you count the old leagues but there is so little carryover of members besides my wife and I)
League Type: ESPN, Snake, Redraft with 12 teams
Divisions: 4
Playoffs: 4 division winners get in
Scoring: Head to Head Points, fairly basic scoring system
Positions: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, FLEX, D/ST, K, P, 7 Bench, IR
Depth of the League: Average - The wire currently includes the Eagles Defense, Josh McCown, Jay Cutler, Michael Crabtree, and Jermaine Kearse. None of those guys will set the world on fire - but most would be rostered in many similar leagues IMHO.
Any weird quirks: YES to Punters for the 2nd year in a row, No to Tight Ends (new this year), 4 girls in the league (ties our season high from year one, but these girls are much more active than that year's were)
How have I done: Year 1 - 3rd Place. Last Year - Playoff Loss
This league is never that serious, but I always really love it since it's the league where my wife and I get to battle it out. Ever since year one, when she lost in the Championship, she has been addicted to fantasy football. She's tried baseball and hockey in the meantime (and quit both) but she can never quit football.
Other league members include two fellow teachers and one's husband (one division), two buddies from college (with me in my division), one of our bridesmaids and a guy I play fantasy baseball with who is my wife's nemesis (wife's division), and then three guys from Blowout (4th division). Next year I envision most of the first nine staying, but trying to find three different people to replace the Blowout crew.
As for why punters and no tight ends? Well it's my league, and I always thought punters got the short end of the stick, so I tossed them in. We had issues in year one (namely ESPN didn't calculate punts in 10 and punts in 20 until Tuesday morning, so we had a lot of games decided long after the weekend ended due to this) which caused us to change punter value this year. Now they only score 3-6 points per game, so we'll probably go back to the weird scoring way next year. FYI: ESPN HATES punters. They don't project them at the beginning of the season or put last season's stats with them (so you need depth charts to know who to draft and we had 5 of 12 teams draft a free agent punter this year) and they don't project them week to week. So punters are...a wild card.
Tight ends are easier...there are like 2-3 great ones and then a ton of guys who scored 4-6 points a week. We figured the great ones will be flex-able, and the others aren't worth rostering even as TEs. So throw away tight ends, and BRING ON the punters.
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