2018 Free Agency Recap

Well it’s been a little bit, hasn’t it? The last time I’ve put pen to paper for Razzball was all the way back in December! But I’m glad to be back writing once again.

But after a wild playoffs, a disappointing Super Bowl (for the Pats), I’m glad to be back to help recap some of the best (and worst) free agency moves from these past few weeks.

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Handcuff Report, Week 4: Mixon It Up

by: mikeMaher

The talk of this week at the running back situation has been Wendell Smallwood. If you don’t believe me, take a scroll through the last dozen or so Razzball articles to see the takes and advice. With Darren Sproles somehow breaking his arm and tearing his ACL on the same play, there are touches available in Philadelphia. LeGarrette Blount is still around and actually looked productive on Sunday, and Corey Clement scored his first career touchdown and could rotate into games going forward, but Smallwood is the guy who stands to benefit the most from the Sproles injury. If you don’t believe me, the Eagles offensive coordinator said as much in his press conference on Tuesday. I have the transcript if you want it.

For me, though, there is a more exciting running back to target. Heading into Week 3, we knew two things: 1. There would be a new offensive coordinator. 2. Marvin Lewis has been coaching the Bengals for 15 years without winning a single playoff game. Number 1 is relevant for fantasy owners, while number 2 is simply fascinating.

The position to watch in Week 3 was running back, as it was expected that we could see more Joe Mixon and less Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard. And that is exactly what happened. Mixon looked like the complete running back he was projected to be coming out of college, gaining more than 100 yards from scrimmage on 21 total touches. Expect that trend to continue going forward, as Mixon should only get better and the Bengals should continue to ride him.

I talked up Mixon last week as a great buy-low option prior to the change at offensive coordinator. Hopefully, you either drafted and stashed him or grabbed him on waivers last week because he is less likely to be available this week. But if he is, grab him and go. On the flip side, I would also try to hold onto Jeremy Hill and/or Giovani Bernard if you have the kind of league that provides you with the roster/bench space to do so. It looks like Mixon will be the guy, but we have seen before that one week doesn’t mean everything and that injuries happen all the time. If you have to pick one, I would probably lean Bernard in PPR.

To the charts!

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2017 Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings, Week 4: Zach’s Rankings

September 27, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, 2017 Weekly Rankings | 47 Comments

by: Zach

Well that was a wild week. Some may argue that the week was just the worst for fantasy, but you have to admit, with everyting going on with the outside world and football over the past few days, that Sunday was just the thing we all needed. I mean we got to see another Brady last-second win, another Lions performance cancelled out by their greatest rivals, the refs, another Packers OT thriller, and some big upsets in London, Chicago, New York, Washington, Buffalo, and quite possibly the best of them all, a fantastic 61-yard field goal from Jake Elliott as the Eagles narrowly defeated the New York Football Giants.

Let’s hope Week 4 delivers on all this hype. Let’s get to it!

Check out Rudy’s exclusive DFS and season-long tools that are sure to help you be profitable this fantasy football season!

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Tool Time, Week 3: Daks Out For Haromo

September 23, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Tools | 8 Comments

by: Zach

Before we begin, yes, you did just read team name created by a meme that died probably 12 years ago, but this team name brought me fantasy glory last year, so deal with it.

Welcome everyone to Week 3 of the NFL season! If you’re like me, you’re absolutely pumped after watching an excellent Week 2, and an even better start to the 3rd week with that highly-entertaining and highly-shocking Thursday Night Football game. I mean, where did that come from?

Anyway, today is Saturday, and you know what that means! It’s time to get to some Razzball-certified picks and players to help you guys out with those lineups.

Let’s get to it!

Check out Rudy’s exclusive DFS and season-long tools that are sure to help you be profitable this fantasy football season!

Razzball Football’s partner FantasyDraft is starting a new sign-up promotion this week, all new depositing signups receive a free $4 “Everyone Wins” NFL GPP ticket for the upcoming Sunday slate along with offering all players 4% cash back on their initial deposits!

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Handcuff Report, Week 3: Here’s Chrissy! (Carson)

September 20, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, 2017 Handcuff Report | 29 Comments

by: mikeMaher

Another week of the NFL season is in the books, and we have a few more developments at the running back position to keep an eye on. There are a few injuries hitting the wire this week, and out in Seattle, a youngster is outplaying some familiar names. Over in Philadelphia, the guy who is supposed to be the lead back barely saw the field…

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Handcuff Report, Week 2: Ask How, Ask Now, Ask Kerwynn Williams

September 13, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, 2017 Handcuff Report | 28 Comments

by: mikeMaher

Does anyone else get the old Sherwin Williams jingle stuck in their head when they see Kerwynn Williams’s name? No? Just me?

Anyway, welcome to the 2017 Handcuff Report. For those who followed this post last season, welcome back. For those who are new, where were you last year? Too good for us? I have researched other available handcuff reports and tell give you my completely unbiased opinion that none of them are half as good as this one. Shame on you, and welcome.

So, first things first: what exactly is a handcuff? For the fantasy football n00bs out there, or perhaps for those who have taken the last few years off, a handcuff is a backup who will likely take over as the starter in the event of an injury, extreme ineffectiveness, off-the-field trouble, or coach’s decision. There are probably other reasons that I am forgetting here, but those are the most common one.

Most NFL teams now run a running back by committee of some sort. While not every team is as unpredictably maddening as the Patriots, most teams share the load in an effort to keep guys fresh and give defenses different looks. With fantasy leagues more competitive than ever, thanks to sites like Razzball offering great advice, it is important to recognize trends and identify value quickly. If you drafted a stud running back early, you might want to grab his handcuff in case of injury. Or if you went zero RB or went really light on RB early, you might want to squat on a couple handcuffs or, especially in PPR leagues, grab a change-of-pace/pass catching back. With the influx of young running backs and each team having two or three options this season, I tended to do the latter in drafts this year. For every Melvin Gordon, I have like two Shane Vereens or Theo Riddicks this year. Speaking of young running backs:

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Start ‘Em or Sit ‘Em, Week 1: Luck Lack Luster

September 9, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, 2017 Start & Sit | 28 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

Just like with my waiver article earlier this week, my suggestions are going to a bit light this week. I’m only going to be making 1 start and 1 sit recommendation per position since it is only week 1. Going forward I’ll have a lot more data, injuries, tendencies and trends from which to base my selections. Also like the waiver wire article, you won’t find obvious names on here — you know to start your studs and bench your duds.

However, as always, please comment like crazy below and I can get to your league specific questions before game day on Sunday!

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Overrated: The Christian Right

July 17, 2017 | 2017 Buy/Sell, 2017 Fantasy Football |

by: Zach

Hello everyone, and welcome to the start of my player analysis series (you can find MB’s first post here) where I take a look at a crap-ton of NFL players and sort them into three categories: Underrated, Overrated, and Sleepers. So let’s get started talking about a rookie player who I believe has the greatest chance of anyone this year to become a player that started with all hype, but might have little production on the field during his rookie campaign. I am of course talking about Christian McCaffrey. Let’s get right to it!

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2017 Fantasy Football NFC South Preview

July 12, 2017 | 2017 Division Previews, 2017 Fantasy Football | 2 Comments

by: MB

After two straight Superbowl appearances, the NFC South is coming up faster than that lady from The Leftovers and this past season of Fargo. Yes, I know her name is Carrie Coon, I didn’t have to google it, and she’s become my favorite actress. Some of you already know that I think that the Leftovers is the best show ever made, but I’m also impressed that Fargo was able to pull off another good season for the third straight year. Fargo has a built-in setting, but coming up with a different cast, story line, and ending every year and doing it well blows my mind. To put it in perspective it only took a second season for True Detective to suck at the same format. Well, I guess it didn’t “suck”, the acting was awesome. I’m one of the few who bought into Vince Vaughn in his role. The story was a snoozer, I can’t defend that part.

Before we get into our second division preview, be sure to check out Zach’s preview of the AFC East. Zach will be covering the AFC while I cover the NFC. Also, we must rejoice that Jay has returned to give you his rankings and predictions for the 2017 season. Zach and I are going to try and record a podcast every week to get you ready for the football season. We plan on having a few surprise guests, but most of it will just be us two talking shop.

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We Cut Off Your Johnson

July 10, 2017 | 2017 Draft Strategy, 2017 Fantasy Football | 4 Comments

by: Zach

Hello everyone, and welcome to the second post my mini-series on talking about each different position before the start of NFL Training Camps in a month and a half or so from now. Again, something to keep in mind, this is by no means a draft plan, or any sort of in-depth analysis about each position, as those articles will come out later in the summer during the camps themselves, but rather, a series of articles that can get the ball rolling towards the 2017 fantasy season.

I’ll be moving away from the structure of the”Players I Like and Players I Don’t Like”, and move towards an open discussion on my feelings about the position as a whole.

So enough chatter, let’s get right to it!

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Handcuff Report, Week 14: Fantasy Football Playoffs Edition

December 7, 2016 | 2016 Fantasy Football, 2016 Roster Strategy | 6 Comments

by: mikeMaher

If you are reading this, congratulations. And I don’t say that just because you are fortunate enough to be reading one of my articles. If you are reading a fantasy football article in Week 14, it is likely because you are in the playoffs and still have a reason to care about your team and your lineup. So, congratulations. I mean it. To those of you who didn’t make the playoffs: see you in hell, candy boys! This is, unfortunately, the last Handcuff Report of the year. It has been a great ride, but we are wrapping things up as the fantasy playoffs begin!

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Handcuff Report, Week 13: All Saints Week

November 30, 2016 | 2016 Fantasy Football, 2016 Roster Strategy | 19 Comments

by: mikeMaher

It’s Week 13, which means we are heading into the fantasy playoffs soon. I know that because my readership has dwindled the last two weeks, as many fantasy owners have been eliminated from the playoffs and are throwing in the towel. But that’s OKAY. That just means we can be more serious and a bit more intimate now. It’s just me and you, playoff hopefuls.

Heading into this week, Tim Hightower was a name to watch because Mark Ingram was still in the concussion protocol and was questionable to play. If Ingram couldn’t go, Hightower was going to be a high-end flex/RB2 to throw into lineups before they locked on Sunday. But word came out on Sunday morning that Ingram was going to play, so many likely left Hightower on the bench or on the waiver wire.

But something funny happened. It didn’t matter that Ingram played. Ingram and Hightower combined for three touchdowns and almost 300 yards, with Hightower accounting for 51 rushing yards, 54 receiving yards, and one of the touchdowns. Although, Hightower’s final stat line would look a bit different if not for the late 50-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Willie Snead. If Hightower can keep producing even with a healthy Ingram, he can help out some of the needier fantasy owners come playoff time.

To the report…

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