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From College To The Pros – Running Backs

February 13, 2020 | College Football, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues | 3 Comments

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A few weeks ago, I sat down with the great Peter Howard’s (@pahowdy) college market share database and created a set of filters for college production that had a better hit rate than selecting just 1st round NFL WRs. This time I intend to do the same but with running backs. I have seen a lot of chatter on the Twitter site about characteristics shared by fantasy RB1s. For instance I saw that most of them run under a 4.6 forty. However, looking at just the successful players doesn’t make that a helpful nugget. You see, if ALL NFL RBs mostly run under a 4.6, then the fact that the best ones do still doesn’t help us when selecting from a giant pool of players.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: Austin Ekeler

February 12, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues | 4 Comments

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I live in the Chicago area. Home of the Da Bears, Al Capone and deep dish pizza. When visiting the Windy City, most tourists these days are directed to dine at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria for their deep dish experience. I’d be crazy to publicly bash Lou’s pizza; it’d be like calling Juju Smith-Schuster the #50 overall dynasty player. And that Lou Malanti’s butter crust is delicious, I won’t deny it.

 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
MB

FFMercs Dynasty Start Up Draft Review

February 11, 2020 | Dynasty Leagues, Dynasty Strategy, Dynasty Targets | 3 Comments

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What’s better than a dynasty football slow draft in February when there isn’t any football to watch anymore? I refuse to acknowledge the XFL, by the way. Okay, maybe a fantasy baseball draft would be a little more exciting than a football draft because the season is a lot closer. Some of us prefer football over baseball and there’s some of us that can do both. A fantasy sports Eiffel Tower, if you will. 

I was lucky enough to catch an industry friend’s tweet about a start up dynasty that was going to draft in February and I gave it about 0.2 seconds of thought before I came to the conclusion that I was all for it. I messaged Matt Williams and he gladly accepted me assuming that I don’t have a reputation of ghosting my teams (I don’t). It is a 12-team PPR superflex league with a TE premium. My opponents include: Scott Fish Bowl 8 champion Stompy, Matt Williams, John Hogue, Kane Fossell, Nick Faber, @DFSMich_5, Caleb Pierson, Steven Toroni, Jon Helmkamp, John Hesterman, @GOATDistrict and @EverydayFFB. Those are 12 names, but two of them co-own a team. 

I’ll mostly just be writing about my roster, but I will also point out some tidbits on how the draft board was shaking out. Most of the meat of the analysis will be in the first 10 or so rounds. First drafts of the season are rusty, and there will be plenty of trading in this league, but I’m hoping that a good portion of these picks shape out. I drafted from the 11 spot. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: Dallas Goedert

February 10, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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Remember in The Hangover when Alan started out as a one-man wolf pack? Then his sister brought Doug home and his wolf pack grew to two. Later Doug introduced Alan to Phil and Stu. And Alan found himself in a four-man wolf pack; four wolves running around the desert together, in Las Vegas, looking for strippers and cocaine.

Zach Ertz reminds me of lone-wolf Alan. In 2016 Ertz’s sister—Doug Pederson—brought home Carson Wentz and introduced the young QB to Ertz. And Ertz’s wolf pack grew from one to two. Then along came Dallas Goedert in 2018, and it became a three man wolf pack; three wolves running around Philadelphia together, looking for Cheesesteaks, strippers and cocaine.

But younger wolves in a pack never have quite the same connection as the original wolves. They have to work hard to prove themselves to the pack and gain their trust; even if they’re much more gifted at finding strippers and cocaine than some of the older wolves. And such is the life of Dallas Goedert.   

Please, blog, may I have some more?
B_Don

2020 NFL Draft Preview: D’Andre Swift

February 8, 2020 | 2020 NFL Draft Preview, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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Football season is ov…never ends! Next up is the combine (2/24-3/2) where grown men watch other grown men work out. Then, we get free agency (3/18) where billion dollar entities tell us they don’t have any money to spend. Finally, we’ll get to the draft (4/23-4/25) where talented 20+ year olds who were earning millions for a university will finally make some money for themselves.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: Preston Williams

February 7, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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Have you ever ingested hallucinogenic chemicals and then tried to jump through a closed window because you thought a pack of wolves was closing in on you? Rhetorical question, I’m sure we’ve all experienced this same scenario. When it happened to me, I ended up in the ER with a large gash on my arm and very disappointed parents. On the plus side, those rabid wolves didn’t get me!

Point is, we don’t always make the best decisions when we’re young and stupid. Preston Williams—#89 in my Top 200 Dynasty Rankings for 2020 Fantasy Football—would likely attest to this. Let me back up a little and regale you with the story of Preston Williams.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
MB

Keeper Leagues: Mike Evans And Chris Godwin

February 6, 2020 | Fantasy Football Strategy, Fantasy Football Targets |

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This is a little different than the D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett post. Neither Metcalf or Lockett produced the yardage that Godwin or Evans did. Metcalf and Lockett are also not in quarterback limbo going into the new decade. Jameis Winston led the league in passing yards in 2019, but he also threw 30 interceptions and capped off the season with an overtime pick six. That’s not exactly the way garner a lot of confidence from your coach and front office in a contract year. 

Bruce Arians’ January comments didn’t scream that the Bucs want to give Winston the big long term deal that he desires. But honestly, what better choice do the Buccaneers have in free agency? Philip Rivers is pretty much the same quarterback as Winston without the upside. Tom Brady is as old as dirt. Teddy Bridgewater also doesn’t have the ceiling that Winston has. The Buccaneers might as well franchise tag Winston and see what he can do in the 2nd year in Arians’ system. Chances are, that’s what the decision will be, but hey, I’ve seen way dumber decisions be made by franchises. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: DeVante Parker

February 5, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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Back when I was just a young donkey I was fascinated by fire. Whenever the stove top burner was ignited, it drew my attention. One time, when Momma-Donk wasn’t paying attention, I crept over to the stove and poked my hoof right into that beautiful flame. I did this about ten more times before I realized playing with fire hurt. I’ve always said, I’ll try anything 12 times.

And that’s how I ended up addicted to meth with DeVante Parker on my fantasy teams this past season. And this time the Parker flame burned my opponents as he torched his career highs in targets (128), receptions (72), receiving yards (1,202) and touchdowns (9). Heading into his age 27 season, he’s now coming off a massive career year in which he played the full 16 game slate for the first time. I ranked him #75 overall in my recent Top 200 Dynasty Rankings for 2020 Fantasy Football, but am I undervaluing this post-hype breakout down in Vice City?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
MB

Keeper Leagues: D.K. Metcalf And Tyler Lockett

February 4, 2020 | Fantasy Football Analysis, Fantasy Football Targets |

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It’s tough to be specific about keeper leagues when writing about them. There are so many unique keeper leagues out there. It seems like every keeper question that I answer in the comment section has a different format than another one. I think that the best way to write about keeper prospects is to make it round specific and leave it up to you to analyze it’s usefulness to you. I don’t see myself covering the obvious players. For one, I don’t want to look stupid or basic and also it’s more useful to cover fringe keepers. 

I know that I was in the middle of positional reviews, but I got to thinking about the interesting 2019 season that the Seahawks had at the receiver position. D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both had over 100 targets a piece in 2019. This is sort of surprising coming from a team that has an efficient passing attack, but one that lacks in volume. One receiver started his season red hot and petered out towards the end of the year and the other was more statistically balanced. The addition of D.K. Metcalf seemed to directly help lead to Russell Wilson’s first 4,000 yard passing season in three years. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if this becomes a trend for Wilson in the coming seasons with the emerging talent that the Seahawks have at the receiver position. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: Devin Singletary

February 3, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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I enjoy cooking. I’m not a world-class chef or anything, but if my girlfriend—yes, she’s imaginary—goes to the store and picks up some fresh, quality ingredients then I can whip up some pretty darn good food. Of course, I’ll use every single dish in the house to get the job done and require some major assistance in the clean up department. But the cook shouldn’t have to clean up, right? My imaginary girlfriend begs to differ after the last time she cleaned mushroom risotto off the ceiling.

Anyway, in my demented mind, this is a great analogy for the NFL running back position. Most backs fall into this good but not great chef territory. If they’re surrounded by quality ingredients and opportunity, they’re all capable of delivering some delicious fantasy food. Just provide them with the right system on a good team, with a competent quarterback to set the table and an above average offensive line to clean up the mess.

I won’t go so far as to say all running backs are made equal, but there’s only a handful of Michelin Chef running backs in the world like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, and Ezekiel Elliott, who might be able to transform spoiled spam into a delicious honey baked ham. Oh and Kerryon Johnson, who I wrote a Kerryon Johnson Dynasty Due Diligence love letter for last week. He’s definitely Michelin! But what does all this have to do with Devin Singletary you ask?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Donkey Teeth

Dynasty Due Diligence: JuJu Smith-Schuster

January 31, 2020 | Dynasty Due Diligence, Fantasy Football Dynasty Leagues |

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Remember when Juju Smith-Schuster‘s bike was stolen during his 2017 rookie season? It seems like just yesterday that his completely sane buddy, Antonio Brown, was appealing to the city of Pittsburgh to return JuJu’s hot set of wheels. What you might not remember is the story of how AB tried to renege on his promised reward of two Steelers tickets to whomever returned the bicycle. The good Samaritan was forced to involve local media in order to claim his bounty:

Please, blog, may I have some more?