Updates from August, 2010

  • An interview with Matt Maroon, co-founder of Draftmix.com

    Matt 2:32 pm on 8/30/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: AOL, draftmix, , ,

    DraftmixDraftmix is a website that offers a novel approach to fantasy sports. A Draftmix “league” is a very short-term commitment – it lasts only a week. You participate in a normal fantasy football-style draft on a Wednesday, drafting players who you think will put up the best numbers in just that given week. The following Tuesday, payouts are awarded and that’s it – league over. Draftmix is aimed at those people who like playing fantasy football for money but are looking for some short-term gambling gratification.

    Brandon and I first heard about Draftmix last year when we were invited to join the Draftmix Blogger Challenge (and thanks to big games from Joseph Addai and Hines Ward, we won). I’ve been keeping an eye on Draftmix ever since. I think it’s a fun concept that’s implemented very well. They’re still flying a bit under the radar at the moment, but they were just getting started in ’07 and I think they could really catch on in a big way this year.

    This afternoon, I had a chat with Matt Maroon, part of the three-man Draftmix team (and a former professional poker player). (More …)

     

  • Late-round wide receiver sleepers

    Brandon 12:05 pm on 8/29/2008 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , dwayne jarrett, , , , rashied davis, , ,

    After participating in a few drafts so far, I just wanted to list a few wide receivers that I’ve either drafted, or seen drafted in the last few rounds that could help your fantasy team this year (or in future years if you’re in a keeper league):

    • Ted Ginn, Jr. (MIA): Should be the number one target for Chad Pennington in Miami, which means a lot more than it would have meant last season when the team was in complete disarray. Around 900 yards and five scores doesn’t seem out of the picture.
    • DeSean Jackson (PHI): With number one receiver Kevin Curtis out for an extended period of time undergoing surgery for a sports hernia and number two receiver Reggie Brown already having hamstring issues, Jackson will be thrust into the action to start the season. He’s looked good in preseason and if that carries over to the regular season, expect quarterback Donovan McNabb to look his way all year long.
    • Eddie Royal (DEN): Teammate Darrell Jackson was brought in to be the number two receiver alongside Brandon Marshall, but then the team drafted Royal, who has worked his way into a starting role this preseason. Expect Royal to put up some decent numbers in an offense that should be a lot better passing the ball this year, as Cutler will be a lot healthier after taming his diabetes and Marshall draws loads of attention from opposing defenses. (More …)
     

  • Brandon Marshall's suspension reduced to one game

    Brandon 7:10 am on 8/29/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply

    Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has had his suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy reduced from three games to one game. When the suspension was first announced, it appeared that Marshall would have to go to counseling just to have it dropped to two games, but after appealing the suspension, he will now only miss one game (although he has agreed to forfeit his pay for 2 games…not sure if he still needs the counseling!) This is great news for fantasy football managers who have already drafted him (most likely at a semi-discounted value)…and for those who haven’t drafted yet, feel free to bump Marshall back up to his deserved spot on your cheat sheets.

     

  • Anatomy of a keeper league draft

    Brandon 11:17 am on 8/28/2008 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags:

    A few nights ago, Matt and I participated in our keeper league’s draft (see our league’s rules here). As those of you who have already experienced a keeper/dynasty league know, it is quite a bit different than a standard league draft. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to partake in this kind of league before though, I just wanted to give you an idea of how they work and some things you need to be aware of come draft day.

    Below you can see an image depicting the “keepers”, shown in the round they are to be taken, going into our draft (click for full size):

    keeper league

    (More …)

     

  • Get fantasy football info on your cell phone or mobile device

    Matt 11:30 am on 8/27/2008 | 5 Permalink Reply
    Tags: cell phone,

    As the mobile Web continues to mature, the fantasy football world is slowly finding ways to migrate from your PC to your pocket. Most of the major fantasy football providers now offer mobile access in some (usually limited, but improving) fashion. If you like the idea of on-the-go access to your fantasy teams as well as important player updates and other news, here are some resources to help you stay connected to fantasy football wherever you are. (More …)

     

  • Power rankings updated: Look at all the pretty colors

    Brandon 9:05 am on 8/27/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , ,

    The FFGeekBlog power rankings have again been adjusted to reflect the current state of the NFL; however, I have to apologize that I didn’t have the new tier color-coding set up earlier in the preseason. Hopefully they can still be helpful for a few of your drafts (I know at least one person to whom it will be helpful to!) If you head over to our power rankings page and check them out, you can see that all of the lists have been broken down into logical tiers that players can be grouped into, showing where drop offs in value are at each position.

    Some of the players on the move in the latest round of updates include Jon Kitna, Michael Turner, Jonathan Stewart, Rashard Mendenhall, Chad Johnson, Robert Meachem, Dustin Keller and the New York Giants defense.

     

  • Best of the Rest: Leinart back in the doghouse

    Brandon 10:55 am on 8/25/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , james hardy, , , , , , , , ,

    Continuing my previous article “Rising and Falling: The Barbarian Unleashed!”, here is a list of some of the players who saw the field over the weekend and how their play may or may not have affected their draft status…

    Falling Down

    Matt Leinart (QB-ARI): 4 of 12 for 24 yards, 3 INT -  ESPN is reporting that Kurt Warner will be named the starter for Arizona on opening day after Leinart had another poor outing in preseason. Completing 25% of your passes and nearly having as many interceptions as completions is not the way to earn the coach’s trust. On the plus side, maybe Leinart can spend more time partying with all his celebrity friends now, while Warner studies game tape. At this point, Leinart should be no where near one of your cheat sheets going into draft day. (More …)

     

  • How I build my cheat sheets

    Matt 7:00 pm on 8/24/2008 | 10 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , excel

    For most fantasy football players, a cheat sheet isn’t something you build, it’s something you find in a fantasy football magazine or on the Web somewhere and bring with you to the draft. While this approach certainly saves a lot of time, it puts you at a serious disadvantage to anyone in your league who took the time to put together their own sheets. A custom-built cheat sheet can take into account the specific rules of your league, such as QB touchdown scoring (4 points each or 6?) and whether your league awards a point for each reception (in which case you’d increase the value of the WR position and target running backs who catch the ball often). Most importantly, as you put your sheet together, you’ll be constantly learning about the players you’re ranking, and you’ll show up on draft day with a true understanding of the decisions you’re making. Really, how much satisfaction do you get at the end of a draft when you look at your team and realize that every player you own is there because someone else told you to pick them?

    This is the process I use for building my cheat sheets. It doesn’t have to take an extraordinary amount of time – you can really invest as little or as much energy as you want into it. This is simply a framework to help you get started; where you go with it from here is up to you. (More …)

     

  • Rising and Falling: The Barbarian unleashed!

    Brandon 11:13 am on 8/23/2008 | 5 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Week three of the preseason has recently become the week where coaches get a longer look at the players they expect to form their starting roster come opening day. With this in mind, it’s important to look at the players who are stepping it up this week, as it could be a key indicator of how they will play when the season starts. Below you’ll find a list of the players who’s fantasy status is “Rising”, “Falling”, or “Stayin’ Put” based on Saturday’s preseason action…

    Rising Up

    Marion Barber (RB-DAL): 13 rushes for 75 yards and 1 TD, plus 2 receptions for 9 yards – Marion the Barbarian seems to be answering the question of whether or not he can handle the bulk of the carries this season, after splitting them with Julius Jones last year. Rookie backup Felix Jones (see “Falling” below) did not look especially sharp in this one, and with Barber’s knack for finding the endzone, I see no reason why the team would not lean heavily on him throughout the season.

    Aaron Rodgers (QB-GB): 18 of 22 for 193 yards and 1 TD – After his poor performance last week, this was a great performance from Rodgers against a Denver pass defense that is supposed to be pretty good.

    DeSean Jackson (WR-PHI): 4 receptions for 67 yards, plus a punt return TD – This kid is starting to look like the real deal. Having him as your WR4, or maybe even WR3, going into the season, would not be frowned upon.

    Donovan McNabb (QB-PHI): 13 of 17 for 180 yards and 1 TD – He keeps losing receivers, but keeps getting it done. Rookie DeSean Jackson (below) seems to be one of his new favorite targets though…and I’m sure they can find some other receiver to line up opposite him.

    Greg Jennings (WR-GB): 4 receptions for 42 yards – The key here is that Rodgers is developing chemistry with Jennings, as he completed the four passes to him in just over one quarter of play…imagine if it was an entire game? (More …)

     

  • Alex Smith out, J.T. O'Sullivan starting week 1

    Matt 8:06 pm on 8/22/2008 | 1 Permalink Reply

    As had been recently anticipated given O’Sullivan’s (hereinafter “Sully”) unexpectedly decent preseason, head coach Mike Nolan’s lack of trust in Smith, and Sully’s understanding of the Martz system, the 49ers have done what was near-unthinkable a month ago and promoted a 29-year-old journeyman QB over the 2005 #1 overall draft pick. Smith had been thought of by some as a sleeper pick this season, but unless the Sully experiment tanks quickly, you can forget about him having any fantasy impact this season. As for Sully himself, I’m skeptical and frankly wouldn’t draft him, period. Too many unknowns, too many known negatives – most notably San Fran’s subpar receivers – and too many other, better options for late-round backup QBs.

     

  • Power rankings updated: Ricky Williams on the rise

    Brandon 10:22 pm on 8/21/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , ,

    Over the course of the past two nights, I’ve updated our power rankings for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends, so head over and take a look at who you should be targeting in your draft. Among those making waves on their respective lists: Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown (in opposite directions), Michael Turner, DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis (also in opposite directions), Jake Delhomme, and Zach Miller. Check back soon for updates to the team defense and kicker lists…

     

  • Kevin Curtis out for a while with a sports hernia

    Brandon 5:46 pm on 8/20/2008 | 2 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , ,

    As if Donovan McNabb didn’t have enough trouble finding a reliable wide receiver to throw to, today it was announced that Kevin Curtis will be out for an extended amount of time getting surgery for a sports hernia. There is no absolute time table on how long it will take Curtis to return, but my non-PHD guess would be that it will take a couple months for him to be back to top form. Obviously this hurts Curtis’ draft rank, but it also has a negative affect on McNabb’s, as well as a positive affect on the rookie, DeSean Jackson. The other starter in the offense, Reggie Brown, is already out with a hamstring injury for a short while (possibly back to start the season), so Jackson immediately jumps up to the #1 receiver in the offense for the remaining preseason games. Check back in a bit to see where this news affects our power rankings…

    If you’ve already drafted Curtis in your league, we feel your pain. Especially when in one of my leagues I also have Brandon Marshall…looks like weeks one and two will be a bit weak at the WR position!

     

  • Missing in Action: Where are Steven Jackson and others?

    Brandon 11:07 am on 8/20/2008 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    As we approach week three of the preseason, many of you may have been wondering where the star player you plan to draft has been the first two weeks, so I wrote this article to try to put some of your worries to rest. Below are some of the key players that haven’t played a snap so far in the preseason and an explanation of why they haven’t, which will hopefully allow you to sleep a little bit better (or worse I guess, depending on what you expected to hear):

    • Steven Jackson (RB-STL): Where has Steven Jackson been this preseason so far? If you happen to be a Jackson owner in a league where the draft has already taken place, I’m sure that you are well aware that he’s currently holding out, expecting the team to propose a contract extension that will keep him financially sound well into the future. There were rumors over the weekend that these talks had progressed somewhat, but that does not appear to be the case. Coach Linehan stated “It is getting critical to where time now becomes more of an issue for just the physical part of getting ready for the opener…Every day we miss now…does start to factor in as to what the workload will be from the start.” It appears that the team is beginning to plan for a start of the season without Steven Jackson (or at least with a non-100% ready Jackson), which is not a good thing for fantasy owners. If they can work out a new contract and get him into at least the last preseason game for some reps, you should be alright though. You’re still drafting Jackson as a top five running back, but because of these contract questions, and the fact that the offense has looked bad in general this preseason, I’m taking him at #5, behind LT, AP, Addai and Westbrook. (Update 8/20/08: Steven Jackson has ended his holdout! Feel free to take him with the 3rd to 5th pick of the draft.)
    • Ryan Grant (RB-GB): After earning a big contract extension last season, Grant has been nursing a strained hamstring this preseason and the team is most likely protecting their investment at this point. He says that he’d be out on the field if it was the regular season, but he’s just taking it careful. There appears to be no risk at this point of him missing any time to start the year, so draft him as normal, towards the end of the first round or beginning of the second. (More …)
     

  • Giants pound the Browns, 37-34

    Brandon 8:39 am on 8/19/2008 | 1 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    Alright, so maybe the score doesn’t show that the Giants pounded the Browns, but if you watched the first quarter and a half, it was definitely a lopsided match. With all the “starters” in (I use the term loosely because the Giants were missing Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Steve Smith, while Cleveland was without Braylon Edwards), Eli Manning showed that maybe the Superbowl victory was no fluke as he bombed two touchdown passes to receiver Domenik Hixon in the first quarter. Hixon, a third year receiver out of Akron who had only one reception for a measly five yards all of last season, looked like a Pro Bowl player in this one (4 catches for 63 yards and 2 TD), dragging his feet in the endzone on both touchdown grabs and also torching the Browns special teams for a kick off return touchdown. Even with the great game, at this point it doesn’t appear that Hixon will be a relevant fantasy player this year…but if injury strikes one of the top three receives on the team, keep his name in mind as a possible late season sleeper. (More …)

     

  • Madden 09: Is it just me?

    Brandon 11:26 pm on 8/18/2008 | 13 Permalink Reply
    Tags: chargers, , madden 09

    So this doesn’t really have anything to do with fantasy football, but I figured that a high percentage of our readers are probably also avid Madden football players. So, my question to you is this…is it just me or is it super hard to run the ball in this new edition of Madden?! I’ve been playing the series for years and I’ve always liked to pick a team with a decent running back, because while I generally lead the league in interceptions thrown, I also usually have one of the top ranked running backs in the league at the end of the season. After getting the game this past weekend for my birthday, I started a season with the San Diego Chargers (even though I’m really a Patriots fan, I don’t like to play with them because I think it’s lame to play with a team that’s rated 99 or whatever they are) and tonight I finished my second game, losing to the Broncos 13-10, with my only touchdown coming on a fumble recovery. I finished the game with -5 rushing yards from LaDainian Tomlinson (!!!), which seems a bit ridiculous to me. I know the game is supposed to adjust to your skill level, but it better speed up the learning process or I’m going to be hard-pressed to win more than a game or two in the entire season. I’d be grateful to anyone who could offer me tips!

    In other Madden news, I imported my fantasy team from the EA Sports league that I signed up for earlier, but haven’t had a chance to play with it yet. All I know is that it should be fun to throw the ball to Chad Johnson and Brandon Marshall with Tom Brady, while MJD runs the ball for me.

     

  • Chad Johnson hurt and other updates from the weekend

    Brandon 9:00 am on 8/18/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , deshaun foster, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , week 2, ,

    Tonight’s game between the Browns and Giants will wrap up week two of the preseason, but before we jump into week 3, here are some reactions to the games that took place over the weekend…

    • Detroit 27, Cincinnati 10: While the Bengals might be a tiny bit upset that they lost a preseason game, the most painful outcome of this game was that their star wide receiver, Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, sprained his shoulder while trying to make a catch early in the game. Right now coach Marvin Lewis is saying that he believes Johnson should be ready for the start of the season, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation. Right now I’m probably dropping him down a few spots on my rankings until I know more about the injury.

      As for the rest of the game, the poor play of the Bengals added insult to injury, with quarterback Carson Palmer playing badly (6 of 13 for 50 yards and an INT) and no one of fantasy relevance doing anything great for Cinci. There was one guy on the team though that took advantage of the Johnson injury, plus a hamstring injury to T.J. Houshmandzadeh that kept him out of this game. The Bengals second round pick in this years draft, receiver Jerome Simpson, finished the game with five receptions for 114 yards. As with many preseason one-hit-wonders though, make this guy become a repeat performer before even considering him on draft day.

      As much as this game sucked for the Bengals, it was a great game for the Lions, especially their passing game, which seems to have hit the ground running since the beginning of this preseason. Jon Kitna completed all three of his pass attempts for 76 yards, including a 27 yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson (who finished with three catches for 76 yards). The Lions running game is still a bit mysterious, but rookie Kevin Smith looked good in limited action (four carries for 19 yards) and should still be considered the front runner to win the starting job come opening day. (More …)

     

  • Random thoughts on tonight's preseason games

    Brandon 9:18 pm on 8/14/2008 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , , panthers, , ,

    • Just turned on the Carolina vs Philadelphia game…after barely playing at all last week, Delhomme is not having the type of game (2/4 for 18 yards) so far that makes me want to run out and draft him as my starting quarterback. Although he’s only had 4 attempts, the offense in general looks uninspired and like something that I want to stay away from going into my upcoming drafts.
    • Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown left the game with some kind of hamstring injury, but no news on the severity yet. Rookie DeSean Jackson is now lined up opposite Kevin Curtis, so we should get a good look at him. He already has one catch for 11 yards.
    • The Eagles / Panthers game was looking like a real barn burner (note: sarcasm)…and now it’s delayed due to bad weather…awesome!
    • Looking at the stats to the Bills / Steelers game, seems as if that should be the game that’s on TV, as there seems to be a little more action (Buffalo is leading 14-7 at half). (More …)
     

  • Introducing The Fantasy Football Geeksource

    Matt 3:09 pm on 8/12/2008 | 8 Permalink Reply
    Tags: geeksource

    One thing I’ve often noticed when searching for fantasy football info online is what a crapshoot it can be to find reliable information that nobody’s asking me to pay for. I’ve often been frustrated that the Web lacked a directory that catalogued all of the high-quality fantasy football news, opinions, and resources that are freely available to those with sufficient Google-Fu to track them down. Because websites die and new ones appear to take their places on a regular basis, such a directory would need to be maintained and edited frequently. It’s really too bad, I thought, that nobody had taken it upon themselves to put something like that together.

    Then I thought, “Oh wait, I build websites for a living,” so I did it myself. Enjoy.

     

  • Facebook and famous card-counter enter the fantasy football league market

    Brandon 9:38 pm on 8/11/2008 | 2 Permalink Reply
    Tags: card counter, , league, sports illustrated

    Watch out Yahoo and ESPN (and even FleaFlicker!), there’s another fantasy football league website in town, this one having the unique concept of being built into Facebook. Jeff Ma, one of the MIT card counters that inspired the book Bringing Down the House (which is a great book by the way) and the movie “21″, along with business partner Mike Kerns, have created the company Citizen Sports, Inc., and convinced Sports Illustrated to put its name on the product. The fact that it is a downloadable application on the new Facebook means it will automatically have a potential audience of millions, so there is a big chance that this could succeed…but we’ll have to wait and see if it really challenges the big boys any time soon. (More, including a couple screenshots, after the jump…) (More …)

     

  • Willis McGahee and Bobby Engram out for a while with injuries

    Brandon 8:31 pm on 8/11/2008 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , , , ,

    I had originally buried this news in my latest update on the preseason games over the weekend, but I figured it was important enough to break out into it’s own post, so here you go…

    • Willis McGahee has decided to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee, with the hope that he can return for the start of the season. The fact that he’ll miss nearly an entire month of practice and preseason games is a bit worrisome and is reason enough for us to drop him down a few slots on the power rankings. It also makes backup Ray Rice all that more important as a handcuff for McGahee owners.
    • For all of you who were targeting Bobby Engram in your draft, think again. Engram left Friday’s preseason game with a shoulder injury and it turns out that he has a broken bone in his shoulder and will miss six to eight weeks. He’s no spring chicken, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll even be back and ready to go that early. Even if he does though, that means he’ll still miss the first two to four games of the season, moving him down quite a bit on our wide receiver power rankings, while Nate Burleson moves up a bit (just like when we found out that his other teammate Deion Branch would be out for some extended time).
    • In other news, tonight we will see the beginning of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay, as the Packers take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the final game of week 1 in the preseason. What better way to prove yourself to all the doubters than to go up against what was one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year?
     

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