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Nic Romero

Fantasy Football: Why Do We Handcuff?

August 19, 2019 | Fantasy Football Strategy | 4 Comments

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We are less than 3 weeks from the start of the NFL season. Redraft leagues are in full swing and Razzball is here to help you dominate. If you haven’t signed up for the 2019 Razzball Fantasy Football subscription to gain access to our tools and league-winning projections, try us out with our 7-day free trial.

If you missed my article last week, I broke down the difference between a traditional handcuff and a scheme based/premium handcuff. Also, I highlighted a few premium handcuffs that you should consider on draft day. If you missed it, check it out here.. Baby, I’m more than just a handcuff. Today our focus moves towards traditional handcuffs.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Kerry Klug

Waiver Wired, Week 14: Cut Ties With All The Lies

December 4, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Waiver Wire | 11 Comments

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If you’re reading this, congrats! You’re still playing meaningful games! Either you’re winning that consolation bracket to have your league’s #1 pick next year (who will it be? Todd Gurley? Saquon Barkley? New York Jet Le’Veon Bell?!) Or, since you’re a Razzball reader, you’re on the march towards ANOTHER championship title over your chump friends. Take a long look at your bench — are there any guys on there who have 0 starts for you, but you’re just remembering years past when they were productive? Stop trying to make fetch happen — cut ties and grab one of these guys below who are more likely than the name value players you’ve been holding on to and hoping they’ll perform.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Nic Romero

Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 13

November 30, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 4 Comments

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If you are reading along this week then it means one of two things; A) you are still alive in your fantasy football league or B) you have really enjoyed following my pieces all season long. My brain says option A but my heart wants to believe option B. After a couple of quiet weeks, we have a lot of meat on the bone today. If you have not been following along all season, please pick up your studs handcuff heading in to the playoffs. Exhibit-A: Melvin Gordon. I am angry with the Chargers and how they handled their star RB but let’s have that conversation elsewhere. The main point here is to not get caught with your pants down.

I will jump straight in to the Bad Boyz of week 13, enjoy!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Nic Romero

Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 11

November 16, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 9 Comments

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Week 11 is upon us and another heavy bye week for us to manage with 6 teams on bye. Luckily, week-12 is the last of the byes with just two teams off.

Only one new name to talk about this week, but we’ll touch on a couple of repeat offenders that are worth updating. Since it is a light week, I start you with a few nuggets heading in to your playoffs. Let’s win you a championship or at least some money if your league pays more than first place.

All of you fall in to one of the following buckets: playoff spot locked up, fighting/jockeying for a final spot, or no chance at all. If you are fighting to lock up a playoff spot, you need to win now and dominate your weekly matchups. The focus is on finding every extra fantasy point you can grab. Is there a better defensive matchup for you to stream? What about a kicker? Maybe even a better QB matchup if you are juggling middle tier QBs on your roster. I’ve seen players like Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz, Russel Wilson and somehow Mitchel Trubisky pop on waivers as league-mates manage byes. Dak Prescott has a couple of nice matchups down the stretch. If you have a bench warmer that has not or will not hit your starting lineup this season then you should not hesitate dropping him. If it means getting better for a one week matchup then make the move. This needs to be your mentality as we head down the stretch. Scratching and crawling for every point to lock up your final playoff spot.

If you are lucky enough to have a playoff spot locked up then you need to take advantage of the luxuries that come along with it. Do not fall asleep at the wheel. You have worked your tail off to get to this point.  My nuggets for you– grab your handcuff now and pick up a defense with a juicy week 14, 15, or 16 matchup. If you know you are getting a bye then only focus on the weeks you will be playing. Even if it is just a nice one week matchup. Don’t worry about having a defense that has a sweet matchup this week. Does it really matter if you finish 3 or 4th seed if you know you are going to make it either way?

Here are a couple of defenses that have plus matchups: Steelers vs Oak (WK14,) Texans vs Jets (WK15), Bills vs NYJ & DET (WK14,15), Titans vs NYJ, JAX, NYG, & WSH (WK13-14-15-16). I really like the Titans D heading down the stretch and they are on waivers this week with a matchup against Andrew Luck and the Colts.

If you fall in the last bucket and have no chance, don’t give up. It is your goal to ruin someones playoff hopes. Is anything more demoralizing than finishing last in your fantasy league? Do you have an embarrassing punishment for finishing last? Don’t let that be you.

I will wrap this up and get to your names. As noted before, reviewing your leagues transaction history is crucial. Look ahead to your playoff schedule and defensive matchups. Can you leverage a trade to bolster a weak spot on your roster come playoff time. This is the last week for trades in most leagues. Drop dead weight and pick up your handcuff.

Boom, let’s go! Here are your week 11 Bad Boyz…

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Nic Romero

Handcuff Reports: Bad Boyz of Week 4

September 28, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 5 Comments

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Ladies and Gentleman, Happy Friday! The first quarter of the NFL season is coming to a quick close. We are reaching a point in the season where we will start to see teams and players take off. It’s well documented, with how the NFL pre-season is treated, that September is a slow start for teams. The Patriots are a prime example. I see team owners on twitter freaking out and jumping ship on players that they invested a lot of draft capital.

In the wise words of William Wallace,”Hold…Hold…Hold.” I understand, easier said than done if you are staring at a 0-3 start and losing studs to injury. Speaking first hand, I am still holding on to Chris Hogan and Derrick Henry but time is running out. Don’t get me wrong, I have dropped both players in various leagues but not giving up 100% stock. All I’m suggesting is don’t get “too cute” yet and drop players just to pick up a RB4, WR4/5 that had one good week while your team is just warming up. I would not drop Hogan or Henry for, let’s just say, Aldrick Robinson who had two receiving touchdowns in the TNF Vikings @ Rams game. After this week we will get a green light on dropping some of these players.

I’ll get off my soap box and get to the Bad Boyz of week 4 but if you have questions, on guys you are fighting with dropping or keeping on your roster, leave a note in the comments or @ me on twitter.

Alright let us get to it, we have a few new offenders to present to you this week. Also, we have a clearer picture and update on repeat offenders with a couple getting released on good…bad behavior.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Kerry Klug

Ambulance Chasers, Week 4: One More Ginn

September 27, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football Injury Report, Injury Report | 12 Comments

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I’ve reached the final evolution of this column I think. From now on, these wounded warriors will be listed alphabetically and for each of them I’ll be giving you my take on whether or not they’ll play and whether or not you should start him in your line-up.

Let me know what you think of this format and if there are any changes you’d like me to make. And as always, drop a comment in the comment section below and follow me on Twitter: @Kerry_Klug!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Kerry Klug

Ambulance Chasers, Week 2: I’ll Have What Aaron Rodgers is Having

September 13, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Injury Report | 5 Comments

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In last week’s edition of this column I told you “Unfortunately as the season goes on there will be more players in this column.” And good lord did I underpromise and did the NFL over-deliver. I forgot that grown men running into each other at breakneck speeds (pun not intended, but regretted) are more likely […]

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MB

Target Practice: Mid-Round Studs

August 15, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Draft Strategy | 18 Comments

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The middle rounds seem to be the place where a lot of fantasy owners “make up ground” on positions that they ignored in the first half of the draft. Whether it happened on purpose or it was a part of a bigger strategy, there is a lot of value in the middle rounds this season. If you are a person who likes the “zero RB” strategy, there will be some volume still out there in the 6th round and later. If you are like me and you are a fan of getting a couple of elite running backs in the first three rounds, wide receiver happens to be really deep this year in a league where the air game is always growing. This is also a season where it might be a good idea to grab up one of the better tight ends in the first five rounds because of the value to be had in the middle rounds at other positions. While others are taking quarterbacks and forgetting how close quarterback scoring ends up being at the end of the season, here are some guys who can help you win your league.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Zach

Analysis: Julian Edelman Faces 4-Game Suspension

June 9, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football News & Notes |

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In a shocking turn of events Thursday afternoon, the NFL world learned of Julian Edelman’s very likely suspension of 4 games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

The Patriots aren’t too foreign to the concept of their star players being suspended for 4 games, so let’s dive into what this suspension means for the Patriots, but more importantly, fantasy owners come draft time.

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mikeMaher

Handcuff Report, Week 13: Love the Drake

November 29, 2017 | 2017 Fantasy Football, 2017 Handcuff Report | 12 Comments

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If I could, I would focus on Alvin Kamara in this space every week. Is it just me, or does he look more impressive every week? He never goes down, keeps his balance, and keeps moving forward. Really, really impressive. It seems like the Saints are finally taking note, too:

Anyway, welcome back from Thanksgiving break. I hope you remembered to set your lineups and didn’t end up sitting there eating turkey with that feeling that you forgot to do something, then lost your matchup and knocked yourself out of the playoffs. I know there’s at least one of you out there.

Week 12 was a bit of a handcuff special. Injuries led to Jamaal Williams getting the call in Green Bay, and he delivered with two touchdowns and over 130 total yards. A 54-yard reception and run for a touchdown made his numbers look a lot better than they would have otherwise been, but the points still count. Going forward, on the other hand, I wouldn’t count on getting similar production from Jam-Will (just made that up mid-sentence). 

It is looking like Aaron Jones will be out for at least another week, but Ty Montgomery could be back this week. If Montgomery is back, he is going to be the starting back over Williams. At the very least, he will eat into enough of the touches to render Williams worthless. It probably isn’t safe to start Montgomery this week if you are in a must-win for the playoffs, but if you have to start a Green Bay back (a Green Bay Backer, one might say…), he should be the guy over Williams.

Elsewhere on the handcuff landscape, Tevin Coleman proved once again to be one of the more valuable handcuffs as he played for the injured Devontae Freeman for the second week in a row. He was a top-5 running back this week, piling up nearly 100 rushing yards and punching in two touchdowns for the Falcons. Freeman should be back this week, but the timeshare isn’t very clear. With Coleman’s success and Freeman coming back from a fairly serious concussion, the Falcons could turn to a more 50-50 share as opposed to the previous setup that featured Freeman more prominently. Heck, they could decide to roll with the hot hand and lean 60-40 or more on Coleman. They are, however, going up against a Vikings defense that won’t make things easy on them…

Please, blog, may I have some more?