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What’s up everybody? Your usual Sunday roundup author, Donkey Teeth, is in a bit of a predicament, so I’m stepping in to help you catch up on the Sunday games. What predicament is DT in, you ask? Glad to spill the secrets! See, DT is a member of an elite club of adventurers who, upon the release of pumpkin spice lattes in the fall, gather in Los Angeles for their annual Kart Across America race. Donning the costumes of their favorite Mario Kart character, the group hops on actual go karts to race across the great American highways at 20 MPH. This year, our beloved DT — dressed as his hero Wario — took a banana to the face and crashed into an In-N-Out just outside of El Segundo. Of course, he lost his wallet in the crash. He’s also slightly blinded from the animal sauce that got in his eyes. Yet, he wants to finish the race, so he got back on the kart, took some mushroom power, and was last seen drifting by Lake Tahoe. 

ENYWHEY, let’s take a look at some of the highlights for Sunday’s NFL games for your fantasy football teams. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

When I wrote about the top 25 defensive lineman, it was easy to get excited about it. There were players who got you revved up when thinking about their explosiveness coming off the ball, dominating the offensive lineman and putting a hit on the quarterback.  

Writing about the next 25 conjures up very little of those feelings. Historically, this is the shallowest position for IDP leagues as once you get past the top 10-20 players, there is very little difference in the next 30-40. Last year in my home league (scoring was 0.5/tackle, 3/sack/FF/INT, so big play skewed), Joey Bosa finished as DL22 with 4.16 ppg.  Brian Burns was DL51 with 3.12 ppg. That’s only 1 ppg difference between those two players. Is it better to have Bosa, well of course, but over a season, it probably made little difference in your record on a week to week basis. Now this may change a bit with the change in position designation by some sites as many OLBs will be designated at Edge and moved into the defensive line category. This will expand the choices at defensive line and make this group of 25 more interesting. I’ll cover this topic as we get more clarity as to what most sites will do.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Isaiah Crowell Cleveland Browns
After giving my selection for most underrated and overrated players in upcoming fantasy football drafts, my pick for biggest sleeper is Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell. Most importantly, “The Crow” has the privilege of running behind a newly revamped offensive line that includes ProFootballFocus.com‘s top offensive guard duo of Kevin Zeitler and Joel Bitonio in addition to future Hall-of-Fame left tackle Joe Thomas and free agent addition Center J.C. Tretter. Last season, the Browns offensive line ranked in the Top5 in terms of creating yards before contact for running backs, and the line has only gotten better.  Crowell, the 24 year-old former first overall running back recruit out of high school, believes that he will have a “Monster Season” and coach Hue Jackson has stressed during OTA interviews how the need to get the running game going early in games from the start of the season to set the tone for the franchise moving forward. Early reports out of training camp suggest that backup running back Duke Johnson is actually the leader for the slot receiver role, which further solidifies Crowell as a rare workhorse volume running back. Another major factor in Crowell’s sleeper status is that he is currently ranked as the 13th best running back per FantasyPros.com with an ADP of 25, making him a 3rd round pick depending on league size. Looking at the names in the same tier as Crowell, he is slotted about right where he should be when taken in consensus, but in many drafts, rookie running backs Joe Mixon and Christian McCaffery may leapfrog Crowell based on pedigree and training camp hype. Even a player like Marshawn Lynch, who is 2 year removed from the NFL grind and has a stable of capable young running backs behind him could sneak his way past Crowell by the time your draft rolls around in late August.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Hello everyone, and welcome to the second installment of Razzball’s 2016 NFL Draft Preview.

For those of you who read the first installment, picks 1-10, I talked a lot about the two biggest factors that each team will have to ask themselves in the next few weeks until the draft, and even on draft night. “Team needs or individual talent?”

The process is simple. Evaluate the team after the 2015 season, and then evaluate all of the prospects, on the team’s Big Board, to determine the strategy. Will teams select prospects to help the team as a whole at certain positions, or select prospects because they are raw, physical, superb athletes?

Note: This post was written before and during the Philadelphia-Cleveland Trade. Here’s the short and sweet version – Eagles acquire the #2 overall pick, Browns trade back, both teams will acquire picks this year in the later rounds, plus a slew of 2017 first round picks, and Robert Griffin III is a happy man. Sam Bradford is not. In terms of who the Eagles will take, it all depends on who the Rams take. If the Rams select Goff, Wentz will most likely go to Philly, and conversely. I won’t go in-depth, but here’s how I think the rest of the board shakes out, except for the teams who selections I think will stay the same.

Rams – Jared Goff

Eagles – Carson Wentz 

Browns – Ezekiel Elliot (If the Browns really do believe in RGII, which they proved/indicated by trading back, then they want opposing D’s to respect all aspects of their offense. D’s can easily put pressure on RGIII with Isaiah Crowell or Duke Johnson in the backfield. If Elliot is the HB for the Browns, it opens up the field for Griffin, but just a little bit.)

Let’s get to picks 11-20…

Please, blog, may I have some more?