LOGIN

Fantasy football owners who drafted Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green can’t be too happy right now.  Both receivers were first round picks, and because of injuries, they’ll likely both be sitting out this week.

Johnson, a consensus top-five pick, has done nothing so far to justify his lofty preseason ranking.  Since exploding for 164 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1, the man known as “Megatron” has accumulated just 184 yards in the four games since, and he has zero scores to go with that paltry yardage total as well.  A high-ankle sprain has been the culprit over the last two games and fantasy owners everywhere can only hope he gets the rest he needs in order to get him to full strength.  He isn’t doing the Lions nor fantasy owners any favors by playing gimpy.  Johnson had just three catches for 19 yards while being used as a “decoy” vs. the Jets and Bills, and he clearly aggravated the injury on his lone reception last week.  Johnson “hopes” to play on Sunday vs. the Vikings, but the general sense is that he’ll sit this one out, and could possibly sit out through the Lions’ Week 9 bye.  Being 3-2 affords them some wiggle room.

Green is in a similar situation to Johnson, though he’s been all but ruled out this week.  The fourth-year pro aggravated his toe injury in Bengals’ practice on Wednesday and it looks like he could miss multiple games.  Green hurt the digit in the team’s Week 2 win over the Falcons, but came right back and played vs. the Titans the following week.  Choosing to play him there may come back to haunt the Bengals, because the way it sounded, his toe seems much worse this time around.  Back in Week 2, the team was calling it a “sprained ligament”, but now they’re saying it’s “a little bit more [than turf toe]”.  This is not what you want to hear if you’re the Bengals or own Green in any of your fantasy leagues.  Unlike Johnson, Green has already had his bye, so if he’s going to rest, it’s gonna be during a game week.  Green’s owners will just have to hope to hear some good news in the next few days.

With two big pass catchers on the mend, it puts owners in a real bind, so I’ve decided to do a wide receivers-only edition of “Start ’em and Sit ’em”…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

VtmQ8gD

Without targets, there would be no receptions. Being targeted is the first, and most crucial factor, to the success of a pass catcher. If the ball isn’t thrown in your direction, you cannot succeed. I decided to take a look at how targets were being spread around among each team and then how each player was converting those targets. Below are the results and I’ve included a link to the Excel spreadsheet (Download) containing the full report. This exercise will only be “targeting” wide receivers and tight ends.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

patsmnf4

Soooo, that was a football game… I think? While the season itself seemed to be gleaming with Patriot schadenfreude (as stated last night), it all seemed to culminate into last night’s game, which I guess upgrades it to a schadenboner. The Chiefs came out and dominated all phases of the game, well, except timeout and clock management, but we’re used to that with Andy Reid. I actually haven’t seen a bunch of Patriots from Boston wiped out like that since the Battle of Bunker Hill. Honestly, this division is so bad that if one of the other teams had a competent quarterback, New England would have been in trouble a long time ago.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Projections are like opinions, and you know what Dirty Harry said about opinions.

“Well, opinions are like as*holes. Everybody has one.” -Harry Callahan (Dead Pool, 1988).

Projections are “informed” guesses, often by someone who thinks they know more than the next. Hopeful approximations. A false promise almost guaranteed to disappoint. Projections are generally misleading and biased, and we can hardly rely upon them. If projections were accurate they wouldn’t be projections, they’d be stats. And if projections were consistently correct, fantasy sports would be an incredibly boring pastime. In a fantasy world filled with projections, many of us are starved for facts. But to where should we turn? The stats. Why? Because stats do not lie. In fantasy football they paint a near exact picture of what has occurred and how each player has, or has not, produced.

One famous, and dead, author might disagree. A long time ago Mark Twain said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” I call bullsh*t Mr. Twain. Me and everybody reading this article knows that if you were alive today, you’d not only be in at least four fantasy football leagues, but you’d be reading Razzball in hopes of uncovering that small bit of advice or oddball statistic that helped you win the coming week’s matchups and bring you one step closer to a fantasy championship.

Okay, enough banter. Let’s get to why we are here. How can we leverage the stats to help pinpoint players that are at the top of their game, or perhaps on their way there.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

My buzz is crazy in the hood, they holler my name. If it ain’t about the writing, it’s about the stones and the wang. Greetings! Tis I, your beloved Tehol Beddict, returning yet again to give you a rundown on this past week’s targets and touches that stood out in this mind of mine that’s been referred to as beautiful, a la John Nash. I haven’t yet received my Nobel Prize but one day, with your continued support and recognition, that day will surely come. I know what you’re thinking; ” In comparing Antonio Brown to Liberace, Beddict is saying Brown went balls deep into a plethora of young men who are employed by the Chicago Bears.” Come on now people. Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m simply referring to the flash and pizazz Brown displayed in making one incredible play after another against the highly rated Bears secondary. What Brown does off the field is none of my business. Brown exploded with 9 receptions for 196 yards and 2 TD’s on 13 targets. Now, we’ve all been waiting for Brown to explode like a lactose intolerant Rosie O’Donnell after a 31 flavors binge, and he rewarded his owners in an extreme manner. Brown is far and away the superior wideout on Pittsburgh and I expect him to average around 100 yards receiving for the remainder of the season. If you want to disagree with me, go ahead. Just be aware that I may go Liberace on you and I’m not talking speaking of flash and pizazz if you catch my drift. Here’s what else caught my lovely eyes this past weekend. Take Heed!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

It was a nice return to Philly for the Walrus, Andy Reid, as his Chiefs took down his former team. The team that has been a talk of the NFL despite starting 1-1 with a defense made of wet paper with holes big enough to make Jenna Jamison blush has overshadowed Reid’s new team. You know, the one that has flown under the radar to a 2-0, now 3-0 start. This isn’t fantasy relevant, says the casual reader. Well, CR, I have news for you. Entering the 4Q, Jamaal Charles had 10 carries for about 26 yards. He ended the night with 20 carries for 92 on the ground and a touchdown. You getting the fantasy relevance yet? With how quickly the Eagles offense could strike, Reid went to the drain the clock well down the stretch, leading to what was a decent but boring fantasy night and turned it into fantasy gold as Charles finished with 27 total touches – 7 for receptions – for a total of 172 yards and a score. He could’ve another one in the 4th but real football got in the way of our fake football dreams and dashed it. Moving forward, Jamaal’s still the man in KC and still looks to be a top 3 back in the making. Given Smith’s game managing ways, Charles should see plenty of check downs and yardage the rest of the way. To put it in Beatles terms, ‘Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody tuesday’. Hrm, well I give up. There’s zero ways to make a drug-induced song by the Beatles relevant to tonight’s game other then the title. Goo-Goo-G’Joob! In other 2013 Fantasy Football news from week 3…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

For a fourth straight season, Razzball will be interviewing local NFL beat writers for some actual in-depth football knowledge to shed some additional light on our fantasy football knowledge.  Keep your eye out for an interview for every NFL team through the summer.  This installment comes courteous of Josh Wilson from leading Indianapolis Colts blog Stampede Blue:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Well this will be my last ranking post with words on each player. I know you want to cry but hold back the tears, friends, we’ll still be with you all summer to cover any rankings updates that need updating and any Amanda Bynes news that needs ignoring. When we last left off on our rankings with the Top 80 Wide Receivers, I said we were in the ‘Veddy Interesting’ tier and that it stretched into the Top 100. Or else Puck a liar call, that still holds true. Oh and if you’re wondering where that link came from, you can click here where I’ve magically hyperlink typed Rankings or you can use all your finger strength and move up to the menu bar where it says ‘Rankings’ to find all your needs fulfilled. At this point of my rankings clearly I’m talking to deep leaguers or the completely insane (which, admittedly, can be one and the same person) so if you’re doing the regular 10 or 12 team thing with the usual roster set up, feel free to ignore. These remaining ain’t for you unless you enjoy the whimsy of my writing (and who doesn’t!). So without more delay, let’s get to the Top 100 Wide Receivers for 2013 Fantasy Football…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Well there were rumors of it and inklings and rumors of said inklings but it finally happened. On Wednesday, Reggie Bush signed with the Detroit Lions on a 4 year deal which sets in motion some fantasy commotion of major implications. Firstly, getting the former Kim Kardashian ass caddy is going to make waves in Detroit which is funny because he just moved from South Beach to do it. At least I think that’s funny. *Checking* no, it’s decidedly not but what is funny is Bush’s new teammate Mikel LeShoure eating a bag of weed before the officers could find his stash. Maybe they should trade him to Denver or Seattle now…well anywho, I’m not here to talk about Mikel. At least not yet. In getting Reggie, the Lions grabbed a great Jahvid Best replacement. You know, the running back who was probably the starter had concussions not taken his career from him. Why do we like this and by this I mean the Bush signing and not the concussion? Because in 22 games as a Lion, Best caught 85 passes which is a 62 catch pace for a 16 game season. When you consider Detroit has attempted the most passes of any team the last two years, the passing volume for great things is going to be there for Bush to be fairly Sprolesy. Overall, he probably will cede some touches to both Mikel and Joique Bell, there’s enough to go around for him to stay a solid RB2 in PPR leagues. And of course, Reggie’s exit from Miami along with the Mike Wallace signing should increase the stock of Lamar Miller dramatically. Sounds like I have some game film to watch and a post to write, yes? Yup and yup but we’re not here for that right now so let’s take a look at more moves from day two of the NFL free agent market for 2013 fantasy football…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

There’s some pretty big names in the final installment of our review of the 2012 fantasy football rankings. No doubt there are at least a couple of names in this list attached to teams that missed the playoffs. Looking through them, I can see at least three guys that landed on teams of mine that were in the consolation bracket rather than aiming for gold trophy glory. Overall, it’s going to also read like an infirmary ward list as most of the descriptions of their year will start with ‘missed time with injuries’. Football has a way of doing that, of course, but those injuries were a difference between being startable every week and being forgotten by week 10. So with that, let’s get on with the review. As we don’t yet have a player rater, we’ll be using yahoo’s end of season PPR rankings as our reference. So lets see how our top 60 wide receivers for 2012 fantasy football panned out…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Oh yeah, we talkin’ bout playoffs. Unless you’re in a league that has its Championship during a meaningless Week 17 (which I hate), or you’re in a Total Points league (which I actually like), this week marks the start of fantasy playoffs. For those who did not qualify (which includes myself in three of my […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?