| Top 25 | |||||
| QB | RB | WR | TE | DST | |
| 1 | LUCK | CHARLES | A.BROWN | THOMAS | SEAHAWKS |
| 2 | P.MANNING | FOSTER | D.THOMAS | GRONK | BENGALS |
| 3 | WILSON | L.BELL | D.BRYANT | GRAHAM | RAVENS |
| 4 | BREES | D.MURRAY | MACLIN | WITTEN | COLTS |
| 5 | KAPERNICK | LYNCH | TY.HILTON | KELCE | 49ERS |
| 6 | BRADY | BRADSHAW | WALLACE | REED | CHIEFS |
| 7 | FOLES | ELLINGTON | S.SMITH | ALLEN | BROWNS |
| 8 | DALTON | HILLMAN | HAWKINS | MILLER | CHARGERS |
| 9 | RIVERS | INGRAM | D.JACKSON | GATES | CARDINALS |
| 10 | PALMER | MCCOY | V.JACKSON | DANIELS | TEXANS |
| 11 | FOLES | IVORY | A.JOHNSON | DONNELL | DOLPHINS |
| 12 | BIG BEN | MILLER | E.SANDERS | PAUL | STEELERS |
| 13 | C.NEWTON | TATE | EDELMAN | ERTZ | COWBOYS |
| 14 | A.SMITH | FORSETT | R.RANDLE | WILSON | RAMS |
| 15 | E.MANNING | MORRIS | B.LAFELL | OLSEN | REDSKINS |
| 16 | FLACCO | RICHARDSON | K.BENJAMIN | SAFARIAN JENKINS | EAGLES |
| 17 | M.GLENNON | MICKINNON | FITZGERALD | WRIGHT | BRONCOS |
| 18 | M.VICK | GORE | M.SANU | CLAY | BUCS |
| 19 | RG3 | OLIVER | M.BRYANT | AMARO | VIKINGS |
| 20 | FITZPATRICK | K.DAVIS | D.BOWE | COOK | JAGS |
| 21 | BRIDGEWATER | TALIFERRO | M.EVANS | HARBOR | GIANTS |
| 22 | HOYER | B.RAINEY | E.DECKER | FLEENER | SAINTS |
| 23 | D.CARR | VEREEN | R.WAYNE | N.PAUL | RAIDERS |
| 24 | BORTLES | MCFADDEN | D.BALDWIN | GRESHAM | PATRIOTS |
| 25 | A.DAVIS | CUNNINGHAM | D.HOPKINS | TEXANSTE | PANTHERS |
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Week 9 top 25
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Art of Trading
One of the most popular fantasy questions I get on a regular basis pertains to trading. "So-and-so offered me this trade, should I take it?" "Would you do this trade...?" and so on, and so forth. I love these questions, and I love being able to help you and your team out in any way that I can! But I have mastered the art of trading, its a science really and I can teach you, so with this posting I will go over the do's and don'ts and the guidelines to making the trade you want.
The first rule of thumb when it comes to trading is know your league members. If you're in a free public league where you don't know anyone, that obviously makes it more difficult, but if you know your league members then you can properly asses how they value players, but more importantly how inclined they are to trading.
You also need to know that everyone has their own perspective of fantasy football. Some are really into it and think they should be getting paid to analyze fantasy players. Others just play for fun and enjoy being able to stay in touch with their friends. Knowing this and knowing the interest level of your league members is crucial when making trades. You can issue a trade, but if that person just logs in on Sunday morning to set their lineups and never looks at it again, you're probably not going to be able to strike a deal with that person.
Once you know the psychology of your league members and where they stand on trading players and how they value players, you need to look at your team and figure out what position you would like to strengthen in. Or where is your biggest weakness in your lineup. This is fairly easy for someone who is an avid player of fantasy football.
Once you have figured out the desired player you're looking for you need to take a step back and REMEMBER THIS if you're not willing to give up anything, odds are, they aren't either. What I mean is go into a trade with a realistic value of the player you're offering up for, but also be realistic as to what you can get in return for said player. There are 4 types of traders out there:
-The Trade Raper: this person is clueless or just doesn't care about making a fair deal. They will never offer you a reasonable trade and will on occasion find one or two victims a season. But the only kind of trade they know how to make is a one-sided one where they come out on top.
-The Clueless Trader: this person has no realistic value of players they have or players they want. They may even be the rookie in your league. They reject the most reasonable of trades and accept the most outrageous trades when you least expect it.
-The Wheel N' Dealer: this person loves trading and will issue out trades on a weekly basis, may not ever get anything, but half of the fun in fantasy football lies in trading for them. They're usually pretty good at offering fair deals.
-The Nobody's Home Trader- This person has 0 care in the world to trade their players. They drafted their team and they're sticking with them! This person probably doesn't do a whole lot in your league anyways. They don't trade, they don't counter, they don't reject. They just leave the trades out there in space. These guys/girls are the most hated group of people in their league and usually get the boot after one season of non-responsiveness.
I hate trade evaluators because they're evaluating based on projections and projections... well are just educated guesses. However, a lot of people use them in the decision making process when making a trade. When you want a player you got to be willing to give that person a player that they could use and be excited about, but make sure you're getting someone you want and are excited about as well. No one is going to make a trade if they aren't going to be a little psyched about it. So make it worth their while and you'll have a better shot of getting who it is you're wanting.
Don't send your trade with a message or paragraph of reasons why this person should make this deal. That will only hurt your chances of getting a trade done. Nobody wants to read your opinion about the deal... obviously you want the trade to happen because you came to them with it, there's no point in trying to lay out some facts or knowledge for them to be like "Oh! Ok well in that case, you got yourself a deal!" This never happens! Messages are a waste of time!
In good fantasy football etiquette, PLEASE do not be the person that just lets trades sit out there. If you do this, you should know everyone in your league talks trash about you. Its just common courtesy to counter with what you would want, or simply reject the offer. Leaving the trade out to expire is just rude.
These are just some of the guidelines to making the ideal trade you want. It seems pretty straight forward, but you'd be surprised how many people completely lose touch with reality when it comes to trading. I hope this helps in some small way. If you have anymore to add or have any questions going forward you can comment below or ask on twitter @ff_freaks
The first rule of thumb when it comes to trading is know your league members. If you're in a free public league where you don't know anyone, that obviously makes it more difficult, but if you know your league members then you can properly asses how they value players, but more importantly how inclined they are to trading.
You also need to know that everyone has their own perspective of fantasy football. Some are really into it and think they should be getting paid to analyze fantasy players. Others just play for fun and enjoy being able to stay in touch with their friends. Knowing this and knowing the interest level of your league members is crucial when making trades. You can issue a trade, but if that person just logs in on Sunday morning to set their lineups and never looks at it again, you're probably not going to be able to strike a deal with that person.
Once you know the psychology of your league members and where they stand on trading players and how they value players, you need to look at your team and figure out what position you would like to strengthen in. Or where is your biggest weakness in your lineup. This is fairly easy for someone who is an avid player of fantasy football.
Once you have figured out the desired player you're looking for you need to take a step back and REMEMBER THIS if you're not willing to give up anything, odds are, they aren't either. What I mean is go into a trade with a realistic value of the player you're offering up for, but also be realistic as to what you can get in return for said player. There are 4 types of traders out there:
-The Trade Raper: this person is clueless or just doesn't care about making a fair deal. They will never offer you a reasonable trade and will on occasion find one or two victims a season. But the only kind of trade they know how to make is a one-sided one where they come out on top.
-The Clueless Trader: this person has no realistic value of players they have or players they want. They may even be the rookie in your league. They reject the most reasonable of trades and accept the most outrageous trades when you least expect it.
-The Wheel N' Dealer: this person loves trading and will issue out trades on a weekly basis, may not ever get anything, but half of the fun in fantasy football lies in trading for them. They're usually pretty good at offering fair deals.
-The Nobody's Home Trader- This person has 0 care in the world to trade their players. They drafted their team and they're sticking with them! This person probably doesn't do a whole lot in your league anyways. They don't trade, they don't counter, they don't reject. They just leave the trades out there in space. These guys/girls are the most hated group of people in their league and usually get the boot after one season of non-responsiveness.
I hate trade evaluators because they're evaluating based on projections and projections... well are just educated guesses. However, a lot of people use them in the decision making process when making a trade. When you want a player you got to be willing to give that person a player that they could use and be excited about, but make sure you're getting someone you want and are excited about as well. No one is going to make a trade if they aren't going to be a little psyched about it. So make it worth their while and you'll have a better shot of getting who it is you're wanting.
Don't send your trade with a message or paragraph of reasons why this person should make this deal. That will only hurt your chances of getting a trade done. Nobody wants to read your opinion about the deal... obviously you want the trade to happen because you came to them with it, there's no point in trying to lay out some facts or knowledge for them to be like "Oh! Ok well in that case, you got yourself a deal!" This never happens! Messages are a waste of time!
In good fantasy football etiquette, PLEASE do not be the person that just lets trades sit out there. If you do this, you should know everyone in your league talks trash about you. Its just common courtesy to counter with what you would want, or simply reject the offer. Leaving the trade out to expire is just rude.
These are just some of the guidelines to making the ideal trade you want. It seems pretty straight forward, but you'd be surprised how many people completely lose touch with reality when it comes to trading. I hope this helps in some small way. If you have anymore to add or have any questions going forward you can comment below or ask on twitter @ff_freaks
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Drop em like its hot!
Welcome back for another segment of Drop City!
In my last write-up of who you can drop I rattled off a list of about 5 players, Bowe, Pierce, AP, Torrey Smith, and Jason Witten it was still early and I didn't want to get too crazy, but I can honestly say to this day that I would still feel comfortable dropping any of those 5 in any numbered team format. So we're about to venture into week 7 and do I have a list for you; these are all players that in my opinion can be dropped with no hesitation make some room on your roster and get some players you need!
1. CJ Spiller-Before the season started I tweeted out a roster guys who I thought would have bounce back years. Spiller and Richardson being the RB's of that roster. Spiller started out decent, putting up so-so numbers in standard and pretty good double digit numbers in PPR but the Bills have all of a sudden decided to quit using him... like at all. You can't trust him if you can trade him for his name do it, I did! He's going to be hit or miss.
2. Jake Locker-Honestly, I like Locker, I think when healthy he may not be a good football QB but he does some good things for a fantasy team. The only problem is if you breath on him too hard he might go on the IR. This guy gets injured on a weekly basis and even though the Titans seem adamant about sticking with him, I don't see how he can do you much good when he's always on the bench with an injury.
3. Marques Colston-Again, you can't trust this player. The ball gets spread around way too much for anyone but Jimmy Graham to reap the benefits. Drop Em!
4.Wes Welker- Yes! I'm saying it! I know who his QB is, but his QB is loving on WRs that have the last name Thomas right now... and I don't see that changing too much. I'll admit it may be a little too early for this but I personally think he's drop worthy.
5. Riley Cooper-Not bad, but most certainly not good, you can definitely drop him in 10 team standard leagues.
6. Toby Gerhart-If you actually drafted him thinking he was going to do something, then shame on you. However we all make mistakes, he's not got this lingering foot issue, he can definitely be dropped.
7. Maurice Jones-Drew- I'll be honest I had high hopes for MJD. He was moving back to his hometown all his interviews he seemed very happy, very confident, and now he is very fantasy irrelevant. Could probably add McFadden with him too!
8. Pretty much any New England WR other than Edelman and Gronk.
9. Donald Brown- This rookie has not only taken full advantage of the given opportunity, but he has ran with it... literally! Now Brandon Oliver's workload will definitely take a hit when Ryan Mathews comes back into action, but as far as Donald Brown goes? I think they're going to give Oliver more looks here on out.
10. Steven Jackson- I know most of you won't because its Steven Jackson and he's the featured back, but you should definitely trade him. He's splitting a work load with 3 other capable backs. And this Antone Smith is taking advantage of every chance he gets on the field. Sell Jax while you can.
That's all for this week, I'm sure they're will be plenty more as we near the halfway mark, but for now these are the players you can take to Drop City. Good luck!
In my last write-up of who you can drop I rattled off a list of about 5 players, Bowe, Pierce, AP, Torrey Smith, and Jason Witten it was still early and I didn't want to get too crazy, but I can honestly say to this day that I would still feel comfortable dropping any of those 5 in any numbered team format. So we're about to venture into week 7 and do I have a list for you; these are all players that in my opinion can be dropped with no hesitation make some room on your roster and get some players you need!
1. CJ Spiller-Before the season started I tweeted out a roster guys who I thought would have bounce back years. Spiller and Richardson being the RB's of that roster. Spiller started out decent, putting up so-so numbers in standard and pretty good double digit numbers in PPR but the Bills have all of a sudden decided to quit using him... like at all. You can't trust him if you can trade him for his name do it, I did! He's going to be hit or miss.
2. Jake Locker-Honestly, I like Locker, I think when healthy he may not be a good football QB but he does some good things for a fantasy team. The only problem is if you breath on him too hard he might go on the IR. This guy gets injured on a weekly basis and even though the Titans seem adamant about sticking with him, I don't see how he can do you much good when he's always on the bench with an injury.
3. Marques Colston-Again, you can't trust this player. The ball gets spread around way too much for anyone but Jimmy Graham to reap the benefits. Drop Em!
4.Wes Welker- Yes! I'm saying it! I know who his QB is, but his QB is loving on WRs that have the last name Thomas right now... and I don't see that changing too much. I'll admit it may be a little too early for this but I personally think he's drop worthy.
5. Riley Cooper-Not bad, but most certainly not good, you can definitely drop him in 10 team standard leagues.
6. Toby Gerhart-If you actually drafted him thinking he was going to do something, then shame on you. However we all make mistakes, he's not got this lingering foot issue, he can definitely be dropped.
7. Maurice Jones-Drew- I'll be honest I had high hopes for MJD. He was moving back to his hometown all his interviews he seemed very happy, very confident, and now he is very fantasy irrelevant. Could probably add McFadden with him too!
8. Pretty much any New England WR other than Edelman and Gronk.
9. Donald Brown- This rookie has not only taken full advantage of the given opportunity, but he has ran with it... literally! Now Brandon Oliver's workload will definitely take a hit when Ryan Mathews comes back into action, but as far as Donald Brown goes? I think they're going to give Oliver more looks here on out.
10. Steven Jackson- I know most of you won't because its Steven Jackson and he's the featured back, but you should definitely trade him. He's splitting a work load with 3 other capable backs. And this Antone Smith is taking advantage of every chance he gets on the field. Sell Jax while you can.
That's all for this week, I'm sure they're will be plenty more as we near the halfway mark, but for now these are the players you can take to Drop City. Good luck!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
The Era of Old Timers?
In today's NFL its all about instant gratification. Who can put butts in the seats? Who can produce the most the fastest? Who can sustain said production the longest? There's no time to wait around for players or coaches to develop and grow. Its all about the here and now; get with the program or get out. But in terms of fantasy football, more specifically at the running back position, the guys that were supposed to be THE guys for their team the "young-bloods" the "future" not a single one of them have lived up to the call this season.
We are a quarter through the 2014-2015 NFL season and those top 1st and 2nd round running backs you were so excited about, have done nothing but let you down! But what if I told you on your draft day that the guy you took in the 5th round the 8th round, hell, even picked up off waivers; what if I told you that's the guy you'll be counting on the first 5 weeks? You'd call me crazy and think I lost all credibility right?
I did a very quick and brief search on the internet and looked for the 32 oldest running backs in the league(ages 29 and up). Out of those 32 running backs 11 have fantasy relevance and those 11 are all RB 1 on their respective depth chart or RB 2 on the depth but are part of a split committee:
We are a quarter through the 2014-2015 NFL season and those top 1st and 2nd round running backs you were so excited about, have done nothing but let you down! But what if I told you on your draft day that the guy you took in the 5th round the 8th round, hell, even picked up off waivers; what if I told you that's the guy you'll be counting on the first 5 weeks? You'd call me crazy and think I lost all credibility right?
I did a very quick and brief search on the internet and looked for the 32 oldest running backs in the league(ages 29 and up). Out of those 32 running backs 11 have fantasy relevance and those 11 are all RB 1 on their respective depth chart or RB 2 on the depth but are part of a split committee:
Reggie Bush-29-RB1
Frank Gore-31-RB1
Fred Jackson-33-RB2
Steven Jackson-31-RB1
Rashad Jennings-29-RB1
Maurice Jones-Drew-29-RB1
Adrian Peterson-29-RB1
Darren Sproles-31-RB2
Pierre Thomas -29-RB2
DeAngelo Williams-31-RB1
Danny Woodhead-29-RB3
Out of these 11 players you may notice that about 4-5 of them are currently in the top 15 at the RB position whether that's PPR or standard scoring! What's going on here? How can this be? This isn't supposed to happen... players are supposed to fizzle out into the abyss when they hit 29. However they are still holding firm to their spot on the depth chart. Now given, some on this list have suffered from injury or are known to be injury prone, and yes with age that happens, but to have fantasy relevance as you approach 30? Its just unheard of. So I propose the question, are we entering an era where players are staying healthier longer and becoming not less reliable but more consistent and more dependable in terms of fantasy production? An era where the old men are challenging the young guns for touches, snap counts, and roster spots? Or are we simply embracing a decade of anomalies, flukes, is this just a sequence of unheard of circumstances and the "old guys" are just riding on the coat tails of said peculiarities? Because if we are entering this new era of longevity with point producing running backs then the question stands, should the RB position be as sought out as it is in early rounds of fantasy drafts? Just food for thought. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Drop city kid, drop-drop city kid!
That's right you drafted them you had the highest of expectations for them, and all they have done is ...well, absolutely nothing! Take a look at some players I have listed whom I think have arrived to Drop City.
1. Adrian Peterson- A lot of us, including myself, from a fantasy perspective, are really hoping to see him come back. Here's the thing. It's not going to happen. I have my opinions about the whole AP news break, but that is neither here, nor there. You can drop him in non-keeper/dynasty leagues. Even if he gets a trial within the month, whether he wins or loses it will be appealed and he will be tied up in court until it is resolved.
2. Jason Witten- The guy just isn't doing much, well lets put it this way, he's doing just as much as the TE you probably got in the 12th-16th round of your draft. He can be dropped.
3. Torrey Smith- Oh-my-gosh, could there be anyone more disappointing than T.Smith right now? He had a pretty decent fantasy year last year and even better one prior to that. In 3 weeks he has 18 targets in which he only capitalized on 6 of them! Flacco is not even looking his way.. not to mention the Ravens have used new acquisition, Steve Smith Sr. in a way that nobody saw coming. I DO THINK, that Smith value will take a turn for the better with Raven's TE Pitta out and he will have 3-4 big games that are going to raise some eyebrows, but all in all you're ok to drop him.
4. Dwayne Bowe- Never been a fan of this guy, never bought the hype into him, don't see how he manages to sucker in fantasy owners year in and year out, but he does and I love him for that because he allows me the opportunity to get better picks in my drafts. However, you can drop him, he hasn't done anything in a while, he's not going to light the fires anytime soon.
5.Bernard Pierce- I will admit, this is a bit of a gamble. But I think after the rookie RB's performance last week, the Ravens will give Pierce one last shot at starter against the Panthers, he will struggle... because its the Panthers and then you will see a lot more of Forsett and Talliaferro.
So there you have it, those are the 5 guys this week I could drop with confidence. Such a crazy and fluky fantasy season so far, with injuries, legal actions, and under performing players, who really knows how this season is going to turn out??
1. Adrian Peterson- A lot of us, including myself, from a fantasy perspective, are really hoping to see him come back. Here's the thing. It's not going to happen. I have my opinions about the whole AP news break, but that is neither here, nor there. You can drop him in non-keeper/dynasty leagues. Even if he gets a trial within the month, whether he wins or loses it will be appealed and he will be tied up in court until it is resolved.
2. Jason Witten- The guy just isn't doing much, well lets put it this way, he's doing just as much as the TE you probably got in the 12th-16th round of your draft. He can be dropped.
3. Torrey Smith- Oh-my-gosh, could there be anyone more disappointing than T.Smith right now? He had a pretty decent fantasy year last year and even better one prior to that. In 3 weeks he has 18 targets in which he only capitalized on 6 of them! Flacco is not even looking his way.. not to mention the Ravens have used new acquisition, Steve Smith Sr. in a way that nobody saw coming. I DO THINK, that Smith value will take a turn for the better with Raven's TE Pitta out and he will have 3-4 big games that are going to raise some eyebrows, but all in all you're ok to drop him.
4. Dwayne Bowe- Never been a fan of this guy, never bought the hype into him, don't see how he manages to sucker in fantasy owners year in and year out, but he does and I love him for that because he allows me the opportunity to get better picks in my drafts. However, you can drop him, he hasn't done anything in a while, he's not going to light the fires anytime soon.
5.Bernard Pierce- I will admit, this is a bit of a gamble. But I think after the rookie RB's performance last week, the Ravens will give Pierce one last shot at starter against the Panthers, he will struggle... because its the Panthers and then you will see a lot more of Forsett and Talliaferro.
So there you have it, those are the 5 guys this week I could drop with confidence. Such a crazy and fluky fantasy season so far, with injuries, legal actions, and under performing players, who really knows how this season is going to turn out??
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Welcome to the Fantasy Football Freaks brand new blog! After a year well spent on Twitter, I have finally decided to take all the positive feedback and advice and undergo this project of blogging all my fantasy football knowledge and advice!
With this blog you'll be able to see my opinions on all the news and events in the NFL, my fantasy football "analysis". You can come here to check out the Fantasy Freaks of the Week, and even see my Pick'ems for all the games!
Keep in mind, just because this is a blog doesn't mean I am a "blogger" if you see typos, or grammatical errors its because I don't care!-I'm not a writer, and this is just for funsies, so if you think I'm here to impress or earn the Pulitzer Prize, you're sadly mistaken. The blog is still new and is a little more than rough around the edges, I promise I will work on it to get it into better shape and give it some more flare, but for the time being this will have to do. Thanks for stopping in feel free to dig around and see if you find anything useful on here!
A special thanks to all my followers on Twitter, you're what's inspired me to go this far with all this. I thoroughly enjoy helping you with your fantasy football and absolutely love playing the game and getting to talk about it as much as I possibly can. So thank you and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @FF_Freaks
With this blog you'll be able to see my opinions on all the news and events in the NFL, my fantasy football "analysis". You can come here to check out the Fantasy Freaks of the Week, and even see my Pick'ems for all the games!
Keep in mind, just because this is a blog doesn't mean I am a "blogger" if you see typos, or grammatical errors its because I don't care!-I'm not a writer, and this is just for funsies, so if you think I'm here to impress or earn the Pulitzer Prize, you're sadly mistaken. The blog is still new and is a little more than rough around the edges, I promise I will work on it to get it into better shape and give it some more flare, but for the time being this will have to do. Thanks for stopping in feel free to dig around and see if you find anything useful on here!
A special thanks to all my followers on Twitter, you're what's inspired me to go this far with all this. I thoroughly enjoy helping you with your fantasy football and absolutely love playing the game and getting to talk about it as much as I possibly can. So thank you and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @FF_Freaks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)