Who Are These Guys?, Week 5: Rising Higher and Hoyer

Last week Brian Hoyer would have made this list had Trevor Siemian not had such a strong outing. This week Hoyer would not be denied, finishing as a top ten QB in week 4. He was no Matt Ryan, but he did throw for 302 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a whole two more yard than Julio Jones had receiving. As a matter of fact, Jones had more yards than all but five quarterbacks. I think HBO just inked a deal for a new show called Game of Jones. Julio Jones, Matt Jones, Jacoby Jones, Chipper Jones and James Earl Jones all battle it out for the right to have their way with one of Lolo Jones, Rashida Jones or Catherine Zeta Jones. My money’s on Darth Vader. Although I think Indiana Jones could at least make it entertaining. For those wondering, this will be a much better show than Keeping Up With The Joneses.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Peyton Manning: Record Heart Breaker

by: Jay

History has been made. If you watched yesterday’s game between the Chiefs and Broncos, you saw Peyton Manning achieve an amazing feat, one that could only be done in a robust and tenured career. That’s right folks. There hasn’t been a quarterback in the modern era that has done what Manning did. And that’s throw for five or less completions with at least four interceptions and less that 40 yards, something that hasn’t occurred since 1977, and he’s only the sixth quarterback to ever hold this prestigious monument to futility. Oh, and he also broke the all-time passing yards record held by Brett Favre. The man is a true record breaker folks. To be fair, Gary Kubiak, post-game, stated his regret in starting Manning due to major foot and rib injuries, leaving me to believe that Gary Kubiak is a pretty bad football coach, but we already knew that. No matter what it was, Manning has had a truly great career, probably the best quarterback in the history of the NFL. But instead of remembering the game for a truly remarkable moment, we’ll be remembering the game for a truly remarkable moment. Peyton Manning was benched in favor of Brock Osweiler… I honestly can’t see how this can get any worse. Oh, what’s that, Tim Tebow is still alive? This is gonna be good…

Here’s what else I saw during Week 10’s Sunday games…

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The Benchwarmers, Week 5: Randling All These Injuries

October 6, 2015 | 2015 Fantasy Football, 2015 Roster Strategy | 13 Comments

by: Doug

So like my team (the best team in the league of course) the Patriots had their bye on Week 4, so did I. But now I’m back, and all of you who were lost without my words of wisdom are saved. As the season is ¼ over, we are starting to see injuries, starters struggling, and backups thriving. This changes the tide of who is worth owning and who is worth dropping. As always, I’m here to lead you in the right direction. And the first player I’m going to talk about is someone I never thought I’d mention worth owning since like 2010…

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2015 Underrated: Nick Foles

August 4, 2015 | 2015 Fantasy Football, 2015 Underrated | 11 Comments

by: Smokey

The first guy listed in your lineup is a priority, but not a draft priority for me. I would rather load up on guys at other positions, and my usual draft strategy for taking a second quarterback is matching my WR4 with that QB. The bonus in all of this is that while your WR3 is basically either a sleeper or a questionable guy, he is, after all, your third WR. So this past few weeks, I’ve done dozens of mocks and research to get me prepped and scrubbed in for the dissection of this year’s upcoming drafts. Thus far, and I may be crazy, but I am falling in love with someone, and I seem to always be netting him at an extreme value (like in the 15th round or later type stuff). His name? Nick Foles. Why Nick Foles you ask? I say, why the heck not? Young blossoming speedy wide receivers, a young, fast, and good pass catching backfield that arguably added the best running back from the draft… Listen, I hear what you’re saying, “Smokey you can’t just say a guy’s name and have all us (and by us, I mean my one reader, thanks mom!) just say sure. We want facts, the goods the extra bacon on the BLT.” Well patience the bacon is in the microwave and the stats and facts are coming too.

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Hit it or Quit it, Week 10: Oh, Baby, It Hurns So Good

November 4, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Buy/Sell | 18 Comments

by: Jennifer

Welcome back, my lovelies! Your’s truly has had a pretty great Week 9, to say the least. My “Black Widow Curse” decided to take a holiday for one week in this NFL season, and I went a nice 5-1 in my leagues (damn you, Lifshitz!). It seems, however, some of you have not been listening to the pearls of wisdom my fine a** has been throwing down, and you managed to skip over and ignore some tasty waiver wire adds that I told you to ride like a Vegas “companion”. That’s okay. Mistakes are how we learn. And, I hope you have all learned your lessons and are finally ready for a serious relationship… with your rosters, that is. Remember, Fantasy Football is a lot like dating… you have to get through those toothless weirdos, headcases, and creep-o stalkers to get to “the one”. Now, if you are all ready to commit (to those rosters, I mean), hold on to those marriage proposals and follow me as I lead you, like a siren, into Week 10’s Hit it or Quit it.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ambulance Chasers, Week 9: You Down with RG3?

October 29, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Injury Report | 11 Comments

by: waterloo

Because Monday night’s game went exactly as we all thought, right? The Washington (enter name here) football team defeated the first-place Dallas Cowboys in primetime. And yes, at one point in the night, Cleveland fans rejoiced (or puked) when both Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden were in the game. So with McCoy’s performance over the past two weeks — he leads all quarterbacks in completion percentage over that stretch — what does this mean for Robert Griffin III? Washington head coach Jay Gruden said that McCoy’s stellar play won’t have any impact on Griffin, as he’s the starter as soon as he’s healthy. On Tuesday, Gruden said that Griffin is “very, very, very close” to returning. With six teams on bye this week, fantasy managers are scrambling to the waiver wire to replace Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Kyle Orton, Matt Ryan and Zach Mettenberger. OKAY, maybe not Mettenberger, but you get the picture. Can Griffin be that guy this week for you? Chances are slim, to be honest. Yes, he could probably go out there against Minnesota on Sunday, but with a Week 10 bye week, it makes more sense to sit him until Week 11.

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Waiver Wired, Week 9: Doug is No Longer Our Favorite Martin

October 28, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Waiver Wire | 33 Comments

by: Andrew Nordmeier

This week sets up to be one of the most complex and challenging one on the waiver wire of the entire season. There are a few reasons for this. First, this week has six teams (Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit and Tennessee) on bye. It’s the most since we had six sit out Week 4. Second, the trade deadline is at 4PM Eastern this afternoon. Rumors are flying around, and you’ll want to wait until the dust settles before making any kind of move to your fantasy roster. My gut feeling says this will be a trade deadline with a couple of big moves that will make ripples across the fantasy landscape. Third, you have to decide if you want to be in on the first wave of claims or wait and see who gets dropped and make a move on reverse waivers. Decisions, decisions…

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The Stats Machine, Week 8: Golden Showers

October 25, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Buy/Sell | 58 Comments

by: malamoney

I’ve made some changes to the Stats Machine (TSM) this week in hopes to present more accurate data. While this is a weekly post that highlights the previous week’s top performances, TSM also provides a year-to-date report to help you identify valuable players. Until now, this has been based on the players’ total score for the season. The problem with that is that it punishes players that have already had a bye, as they will have had one less game than players that have not. Until all teams have had their bye week, this list will be powered by each players’ average score per game. Got it? Good.

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The Stats Machine, Week 7: The Stats In The Hat

October 18, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Buy/Sell | 22 Comments

by: malamoney

“The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, and made it a Stats Machine day…”

With six weeks in the books, I think it’s time to start analyzing what the Stats Machine (TSM) has had to say so far and see what numbers it’s pulled out of it’s hat.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Battle Flex, Week 7: Quick is the Name

October 15, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Roster Strategy | 34 Comments

by: J-FOH

Last week, I had success with Trent Richardson over Bishop Sankey selection, but unfortunately the wide receiver battle was a dud for both sides. That’s just fantasy football and sometimes, you we have to just deal. I could go on and on about what this game means, and how hard we take our losses, but I want to give you something that we should all know and accept: That no matter how much we think we know about a player, it all comes down to what his team does as a unit. Or in the case of the Rams secondary, what they didn’t do on MNF when they went with the “let’s leave them wide open and see if they drop the ball” approach. Just Shameful!

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The Stats Machine, Week 6: The Sports Machine

October 11, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Buy/Sell | 4 Comments

by: malamoney

Those of you in your 30’s shouldn’t have a hard time remembering George Michael’s Sports Machine. Running from 1984 to about 2007, and airing on Sunday nights, it was a 30-minute television show dedicated to providing the highlights of the past week’s sporting events. I did a quick search on Ancestry.com, and it turns out the Sports Machine and Stats Machine are very distant relatives. I hope George’s estate doesn’t sue me. Now that I have cleared that up, let’s move on.

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Target Practice, Week 6: Receiving Is Believing

October 10, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Buy/Sell | 31 Comments

by: malamoney

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.

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