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How To Win Your Fantasy Football League

How To Win Your Fantasy Football League: From the 1 Spot

Some people actually hate drafting from the one spot this year in fantasy football leagues and I’m having a hard time figuring out why. The only thing I can come up with is that they are really buying in to the zero running back method and just can’t pass up on the big four running backs when they are lucky enough to draw the one spot.  They feel dirty going against their favorite strategy because they are forced (by peer pressure) to grab that consensus #1 pick in either Jamaal Charles or LeSean McCoy.  I really don’t understand the hesitation in following through with what you think is a winning strategy.

For me personally, I have hedged my bets quite a bit, by going with the zero running back method and going with a one running back method.  Both of these methods I prefer in full point PPR leagues where there is at least one flex, but I prefer them even more in multiple flex leagues.  In .5 point PPR leagues I find myself gravitating towards the one running back method.  Standard leagues are a horse of a different color, as they say.

Zero RB

demaryius-thomas

When I go zero-running back, I start off the draft with Demaryius Thomas (or Dez Bryant) and I watch the draft room go crazy.  The first barrage of insults is always the best.  Typical things you would hear from the future leaders of the world sitting on the back of the bus in middle school.  The next wave of comments are about going Demaryius Thomas or Dez Bryant over Calvin Johnson.  Sometimes the chatter and mind blowing can throw off some people who were picking in the wildcard spots (picks 6-10).  Either way, I sit as quiet as a school mouse, because just like at the poker table, I’m not there to give lessons on strategy and percentages.  I don’t give a *^it what John from Cincinnati thinks about how I’m building my team.

The two three turn is all about value at the wide receiver position.  The only thing that can stop me from taking two more wide receivers is if Rob Gronkowski gets to me, or if there was an incredible run on wide receivers.  Either way I’m not taking a running back there unless it was a crazy upside value.  For the purposes of this article, almost all regular home leagues will have Rob Gronkowski or Julius Thomas make it to the 2-3 turn and I believe that they are THAT MUCH better at their position (because of skills or situation) that it’s okay to take a player at a onesie position, especially if a tight end can be flexed.  If your league can flex a tight end than you have just trumped more than half of your league.

The wide receivers that I absolutely love to see fall to the 2-3 turn are Alshon Jeffrey, Jordy Nelson and Antonio Brown.  For two of the three to get to you in a 12 team league there has to be some running backs going and maybe Gronk has already come off the board.  If the choice is between taking two of these receivers or taking one and Julius Thomas, then I will undoubtedly take the two wide receivers.  I love Thomas, but he’s not quite as special as Rob Gronkowski and these receivers are money in the bank.  In fact Alshon Jeffrey could make the leap above Brandon Marshall this season and I wouldn’t even be mildly surprised.

The 4-5 turn is where you can really separate yourself from the pack and you have to go all in and subscribe to the redundancy that Shawn Siegele preached last year.  The list of names that I love to see here are Michael Floyd, Michael Crabtree, Cordarrelle Patterson, Roddy White and now Victor Cruz is making it down that low.  If there has been a run at wide receiver I like to add Julian Edelman to that mix, especially in full PPR leagues.

The perfect 0-RB team would look like this from rounds 1-5

Demaryius Thomas, Alshon Jeffrey, Jordy Nelson, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Michael Floyd.

If Gronk falls to the 2-3 turn.

Demaryius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski, Alshon Jeffrey, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Michael Floyd.

The approach from there doesn’t change much.  I’m picking off more wide receivers as I go and waiting as long as I possibly can at running back and quarter back.  If it’s a four point passing touchdown league I’m trying to come away with Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick even later.  Home leagues tend to make this a little harder as QB’s go earlier.  If the quarterback landscape gets wiped out by the 11h round I will pull out my inner J.J Zachariason and wait it all the way out.  I’m not above grabbing Carson Palmer or Ryan Tannehill as my starter and just playing the match up game.  Shoot I may even go Geno Smith for the week one matchup against the Raiders and go from there.

The type of running backs I’m targeting when I go zero-Rb are the Jeremy Hill‘s and Devonta Freeman‘s of the world, with Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram sprinkled in.  The cost for both Lance Dunbar and Khiry Robinson has been rising so I usually don’t get a chance to grab them much.  Ronnie Hillman is also a guy I love as my RB5 when I go zero-RB.  He has a bunch of upside as a pass catcher and change of pace back in an offense I want pieces of.

The tight ends I really like are Kyle Rudolph, Jordan Reed, Zach Ertz and Travis Kelce late.  I also like to grab Heath Miller long after the tight end runs are over.  This may be the last year Miller pays off as a pass catcher, but his chemistry with Ben Roethlisberger is undeniable.  With Timothy Wright‘s trade to the New England Patriots, he becomes a nice flex stash as well.

One RB Method

McCoy

In .5 Point PPR leagues and where I decided to hedge my number one pick, the choice was easy.  I chose LeSean McCoy and never looked back.  McCoy’s age and the his potential to outperform last year’s numbers put him at the head of the class.  Charles and Forte are nice picks in full point PPR leagues, but I believe that last year was their ceiling as far as touchdown production goes.  There’s no way Charles matches or surpasses his receiving TD production from last year and Forte scored more rushing touchdowns than he ever has before and is entering his age 29 season.  Adrian Peterson isn’t even in the conversation for me as I just don’t see him being super human at this age.

My method after that is exactly like Zero-RB.  I take a wide receiver with every pick I can from round 2 through round 8.  The only places I don’t is when I take Gronk or Julius at the 2-3 turn, otherwise I gorge myself at the wide receiver position.  I tend to take wide receivers with more upside than safe picks when I go Rb first overall.  I may take Michael Floyd over Victor Cruz and scenarios like that, just so I have the upside of a possible low end wide receiver one and am not stuck with a wide receiver two with no upside.

I think these are your best bets to win your leagues from the one position and hope you use them to make lots of money this year.  On a side note if this doesn’t work out and Montee Ball wins a bunch of fantasy football leagues single handed, I don’t want to hear about it.

Rueben Randle and a Case of Deja Vu

The year was 2011 and Mario Manningham was coming off a season that saw him approach 1,000 yards receiving and scored nine touchdowns.  Manningham struggled with injuries during training camp,  but many fantasy football minds thought he was an ideal breakout candidate with the departure of Steve Smith.  The emergence of Victor Cruz in the preseason had zero impact on Manningham’s ADP as he was drafted as the 24th WR off the board according to MyFantasyLeague.com’s Redraft ADP from 2011.

Manningham had all the ear marks for breakout season heading into 2011.  He was a highly regarded prospect that fell in the draft because of some character concerns and some sloppy combine numbers.  He had a strong 2010 where he made the most of his opportunities and his role looked like it would be expanding.  I think saying his combine numbers were sloppy is a bit of an understatement when you look at them compared to other wide receivers.

The real sloppiness in Mario Manningham‘s game came from his inconsistency.  (Does that ring a bell?!!)  Manningham regularly ran the wrong routes or misread coverages in his first few years with the Giants.  Even when he did make the right reads he often didn’t possess the route running skills to connect with Eli consistently.  His biggest mistakes came along the sideline on fade routes where he didn’t lave enough room between himself and the sideline to make receptions in bounds.   The funny part of all of this is that he made that tremendous sideline reception in the 2011 Super Bowl against the Patriots that erased all of the bad routes from Giants’ fans memories.

The 2011 season saw Manningham miss time and eventually fall behind the un-drafted phenom that was Victor Cruz.  Cruz had wowed Giants’ fans and the Giants’ brass in the 2010 preseason, only to suffer a significant hamstring injury that led the Giants to IR him for the season.  The 2011 season saw Cruz start off slow with some drop problems and fumbling issues, but then he exploded for over 1,500 yards and 9 end-zone Salsa Dances.  The Giants knew what they had in Cruz and let Manningham walk away during free agency after they won the 2011 Super Bowl.

Photo By: Bill Kostroun.

Photo By: Bill Kostroun.

This year the Giants have Rueben Randle seemingly poised to make the leap to fantasy football relevance.  Last year he managed 41 receptions for 611 yards and six touchdowns in a limited role.  He was a favorite of many in best ball league drafts last year because of the shaky health history of Hakeem Nicks.  Randle’s role diminished over the latter part of the season because of his inability to get on the same page as Eli Manning in Kevin Gilbride’s offense.  Eli threw more interceptions on passes intended for Rueben Randle then some QB’s threw all season.

Before I compare Randle to Manningham we should loom at his combine numbers and comparables.

Randle showed more promise and explosiveness on the field playing for LSU than he did at the combine.  His pedestrian Vertical leap and mid 4.5 40 yard dash made people go back and study what he did on the field.  His slightly poor combine and raw route running skills had him fall to the end of the second round in the 2012 NFL Draft. The Giants pulled the trigger as they needed a wide receiver with some potential and the body size to play on the outside in today’s NFL.  Randle proved to be raw as he continually ran the wrong routes and did not have the proper technique to beat press coverage at the line of scrimmage as well as getting across the face of the defender in “MUST WIN” situations.  His size and quickness should have made it easy for him to beat an inside shade, but he seemed to lack the technique and the want to win at times.

This year the Giants brought in a new Offensive Coordinator in Ben McAdoo from the Green Bay Packers and the thought was that Randle wouldn’t have to read coverages as much and he could just work on his route running.  I can tell you from going to practices and training camp that Randle looks like he’s learned a lot between this year and last.  He easily beats DRC and Prince Amukamara off the line of scrimmage and they have a hard time keeping up with him and reading his routes.  So far that hasn’t amounted to much in the preseason as the Giants offense has struggled as a whole.

Eli looks a little shell shocked once the red jersey comes off and I think his regression more than Randle’s lack of skill will keep him from reaching his potential.  The offensive line for the Giants is a huge question mark as their key off-season addition, Geoff Schwartz, dislocated his big toe in their last preseason game and the offensive line is once again forced to shuffle.  It looks like the rookie Weston Richburg could take over for Schwartz in the short term as Schwartz avoided surgery and is week to week.

What makes the situation eerily similar to 2011 is that the Giants once again have an undrafted free agent that is making waves in the preseason.  Corey Washington is a big outside wide receiver from a small school that just might be the next Marques Colston or Victor Cruz.  The fact that wide receiver Marcus Harris has already been IR’d and Mario Manningham has done nothing in the preseason has Corey Washington teetering on the wide receiver five spot going into the final preseason game of 2014.  If Washington wins a roster spot and Randle struggles, he could push for some playing time in the second half of the year.

The fact remains that Randle is a lot more talented than Manningham was back in 2011 and is healthy going into the season.  The Giants are going to give Randle every chance to be their main outside threat, but he could eventually be pushed by both Odell Beckham Jr. and Corey Washington.  If there is a mid draft run on wide receivers I wouldn’t reach for Rueben Randle before the middle of the seventh round in 12 team leagues.  In most home-league/work-league drafts I’ve seen Randle last until the ninth round.  That’s a nice spot for his upside.  He is also going at a nice value price in auctions and could be a nice keeper if Eli can get back to his old gun-slinging self.  The best part about Randle’s current ADP is that you can get him a full three rounds later than where Manningham was going in 2011.

My recommendation for Corey Washington is to grab him in your deep dynasty leagues.  Whether it’s 16 team leagues with 24+ rosters or 12 to 14 team leagues where you have expanded rosters.   It never hurts to grab big, tall wide receivers that have a nose for the end zone.

The 2014 Standard Flex League Draft

2014 Standard Flex League

First and foremost, I want to thank Jake Ciely, @Allinkid, for inviting me to participate in the Flex Leagues this year.  Jake and The Fntasy Sports Network put on a hell of a draft with a virtual murderer’s row for a list of participants.  The fact that it was a live draft where I would be rubbing elbows and talking fantasy football with so many of the fantasy experts that I converse with on Twitter made it a very unique experience.  The hospitality and of course the excellent food and drink from Hibernia Pub were just the icing on the cake.

A few nights before the draft I got the bad news that I would be picking from the eight spot in the standard scoring Flex League.  Not only was I picking from the eight spot, but I would be picking next to my buddy Pat Thorman from PFF Fantasy for the millionth time this summer.

The eight spot is the ultimate “What’s your flavor” spot in standard scoring fantasy football leagues.  All the sure-fire running backs are off the board and usually Montee Ball is scooped up right in front of the eighth pick.  You can go best running back available, best wide receiver available or go with the ultimate tight end weapon in Jimmy Graham.

On the drive in with Jim Day, @FantasyTaz, and Mike Stein, @FantasyJudgment, I was hoping that some of the owners in front of me would be throwing curve-balls and selecting wide receivers or Jimmy Graham so that I would have an easy decision between Eddie Lacy and Montee Ball at the eight spot.  Unfortunately the first eight picks were pretty typical for a standard scoring league, except for Michael Salfino going with the best wide receiver on the board at number three overall.  Usually that pick doesn’t get made until the middle or late part of the first round in standard leagues so it was an interesting shake it up pick.

Jake Ciely then put the nail in the running back coffin by going with Montee Ball at sixth overall and I had to really think about not going running back in the first round.

My first thought was to go Dez Bryant or Calvin Johnson and then hope to grab Brandon Marshall on the way back and build my team through the Wide Receiver position.  Not a bad option, but I like that approach a lot more in PPR or 1/2 Point PPR Leagues and not as much in standard scoring leagues.  The other major decision I had, was to go Jimmy Graham in the first and then grab Rob Gronkowski in the second to wipe out the tight end position and get a monster standard  flex option for this type of league.

If I had decided to go tight end-tight end to start the draft, I’m sure I would have gotten some face time on the network and probably been the talk of the early part of the draft, but I wanted to approach this draft as if money was on the line.  I looked at what running backs would be available to me on the way back in the second round and I didn’t like it.  I would have been forced to gamble on an Arian Foster type of back and that’s someone I’m trying to avoid.  If I reached a little at running back in the first round I had a very good chance to get one of the top six wide receivers on the way back.

So I gambled on DeMarco Murray and that Dallas Cowboys’ Offensive Line with my first round pick and grabbed Brandon Marshall with my second round pick.  The start was nothing to brag about on Twitter, but it was pretty solid and I could try to make up for the slight reach in the first by grabbing talent through out the draft.

The third round was tough because there wasn’t any clear cut value at either the wide receiver position or the running back position.  Randall Cobb was tough to pass up, but I decided to gamble on C.J. Spiller in the hopes that he can overcome his rough 2013 and put up solid yardage numbers across the board.  His TDs will always be a little disappointing with Fred Jackson getting the bulk of the carries from inside the 20 yard line, but he can score from anywhere on the field when he’s healthy.  My hopes of Joique Bell getting back to me were immediately killed when Pat Thorman took him right after I took Spiller in the 3rd.

With Bell gone I decided I was going to go with the best wide receiver available and grabbed Vincent Jackson with my fourth round pick.  I really like Jackson in standard scoring leagues and I can live with his up and down output in the fourth round.  When it came back to me in the fifth round I had Jordan Cameron sitting on a platter for me to grab, but I instead went with Ben Tate as the last upside starting running back left on the board.  Pat immediately scooped up Cameron with then next pick and that pick immediately gave me a case of picker’s remorse.  With the news of Josh Gordon‘s season long suspension coming down today, the Cameron pick looks even better for Mr. Thorman.

The sixth round offered up a bunch of PPR stud wide receivers, but I decided to go with the big play potential in Mike Wallace.  I’m hoping Ryan Tannehill can improve in the new Dolphins’ Offense and get his big-play weapon involved.  If Wallace can once again become a downfield threat he will be worth the sixth round price tag in standard scoring.

When it came back to me in the seventh round I was struggling between taking Terrance Williams and Kyle Rudolph.  I have Rudolph rated as my fifth overall tight end in standard scoring and Williams was bunched up with a lot of other upside wide receiver twos.  I decided to make my play with Rudolph in the seventh instead of gambling on him getting back to me in the eighth.  In retrospect I may have been able to dodge Jake and Paul taking Rudolph and come out of the 7th and 8th with both of my targets, but ending up with DeAndre Hopkins instead of Terrance Williams is not that big of a drop.

The ninth round was where I decided that Cam Newton was actually a value in this scoring system.  Newton hasn’t finished outside of the top five in four point passing touchdown leagues since he stepped foot on an NFL field.  The run on QBs was going to come and I wanted to grab the guy I want before it starts, especially when there was no one else that stood out to me as a value on the board.

The 10th round is where I finally made a pick that got me some face time on the Fntasy Sports Network.  Of course it was because Pat Mayo wanted to figure out who in their right mind would take Mark Ingram in the 10th round of a Fantasy Football Draft.  To make a long story short he was the 45th running back taken and I have him just outside my top 30 for STANDARD Scoring running backs.  Chris Wesseling put a lot of the reasons why people should give Mark Ingram one more chance into his article here at NFL.com.

The next two picks were just roster fills as I took Greg Jennings and Tyler Eifert in the 11th and the 12th round.  Jennings isn’t anything special and I’m not going to delude myself into thinking he was some major bargain as the 52nd wide receiver off the board, but Eifert could be interesting in a standard flex league, especially with touchdown vulture Marvin Jones on the shelf for the first four weeks of the season.  The fact that Eifert is still not ready to play in week four of the preseason has me a little concerned.

The 13th round is where the darts usually start getting thrown in all directions, but Colin Kaepernick was just too good to pass up as my QB2 in a four point passing TD League.  Kaepernick’s ceiling is in the top six of QBs and his floor is just outside the top twelve so getting him to back up Cam Newton was a nice surprise.  With Cam Newton suffering a cracked rib in the preseason this pick may end up being a pretty big one.  If someone suffers a major injury at QB I have some ammo to make a trade.

James Jones at wide receiver 66 could be a steal.  He had ten targets in the last preseason game and the only reason he’s been sliding down the rankings is because he was behind Andre Holmes and Rod Streater in the first two preseason games.  My thoughts were that the Raiders knew what they had when they signed Jones away from Green Bay and wanted to see which receivers were going to be in their plans going forward.

The Rams Defense was my next pick and it allows me to start streaming defenses early in the season with their week four bye.  My last pick was spent on Bryce Brown and it was done as insurance for Spiller and because I think he can really excel if he’s give a chance this year.  If Fred Jackson gets injured Brown could explode this season.


 

 

Episode 022: Fantasy Football Rich Hribar

Episode 022: The Fantasy Coach Podcast

Fantasy Football Edition:  Fantasy Football Draft Strategy

Featuring: Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) of The Faked Goods Podcast

Faked Goods
About My Guest: Sports and pop culture tweets all day. Fantasy Football Redraft Meteorologist for Dyno/DFS  and A-Z. 1/2 of the     Fan.

Episode Summary:  Rich and I try to get everyone ready for their fantasy football drafts by taking a peek at our redraft strategy.  We go over everything from when to finally pull the trigger at quarterback to how to avoid being a year too late on a guy.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Outlook for XNSports 

Episode Rundown: 

  • Intro
  • We get to know Rich and find out how he pumps out all of that fantasy football goodness.
  • Should we be scared of Round One Running Back Busts this year?
  • When should the top tight ends be considered?  Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski etc.
  • Are the RBs in the second and third round that much better of a gamble then the ones in the fourth and the fifth.
  • When should we finally pull the trigger at QB?
  • Is Reggie Wayne a value or should we avoid him this year?
  • The Denver Brocos’ Wide Receiver situation with the concussion suffered by Wes Welker.
  • Late round Keeper Targets.RevoLabels.com
  • Players who could suffer from game flow issues.
  • The Coach’s Office (brought to you by RevoLabels.com)
  • Outro

 

You can Download this episode as well as the previous three on Itunes and Stitcher Radio.   

Thank Yous For Episode 022:  I want to thank Rich Hribar for coming on the podcast and sharing some of his golden fantasy football stats with me.  I would also like to thank C-Quel for providing the intro music as well as the outro beat.  You can Find all of C-Quel’s current music available here.

 

Episode 021: Fantasy Football Sigmund Bloom

Episode 021: The Fantasy Coach Podcast

Fantasy Football Edition:  Fantasy Football Tight End Draft Strategy

Featuring: Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) FootballGuys.comaudible_logo_157

About My Guest:  Sigmund Bloom is a Co-owner/Partner, , Former NFL Draft lead writer for Bleacher Report, Fantasy Brain Advisory Board Member.  For a more detailed, slightly dated Bio you can go Here.

Episode Summary:  Sig and I try to sell you on the idea of drafting Jimmy Graham and/or Rob Gronkowski in the first two rounds of your fantasy football drafts.  We also discuss fantasy football draft strategy overall as well as why we target high ceiling tight end instead of wasting middle round picks on presumably safer tight ends.

Episode Rundown:

  • Intro
  • We get to know Sigmund Bloom a little.
  • Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski are discussed at length.
  • Julius Thomas and Jordan Cameron and their potential to join the elite are discussed.
  • We discuss the fact that the tight ends regularly ranked from five to ten don’t posses the upside of the guys ranked after them.  Vernon Davis, Jason Witten, Greg Olsen, and Dennis Pitta are discussed.
  • We talk about the break out potential of Jordan Reed, Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce, Ladarius Green, Tyler Eifert, Kyle Rudolph and Dwayne Allen.
  • We discuss Eric Ebron for a split second.
  • The Coach’s Office: Brought to you by Revolabels.com.RevoLabels.com
  • Outro

You can Download this episode as well as the previous three on Itunes and Stitcher Radio.

Thank Yous For Episode 021:  I want to thank Sigmund Bloom for taking some time out of his busy late August schedule to discuss the tight end position in fantasy football.  I would also like to thank C-Quel for providing the intro music as well as the outro beat.  You can Find all of C-Quel’s current music available here.

 

Episode 020: Fantasy Baseball Michael Clifford

The Fantasy Football Black Book

Episode 020: The Fantasy Coach Podcast

Fantasy Baseball Edition: August 18th to the 23rd

Featuring: Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) of XNSports.com

Michael Clifford @SlimCliffy About My Guest: Michael Clifford was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and is a graduate of the Unviersity of New Brunswick. He writes about fantasy hockey and baseball for XNSports and ProjectRoto.com. He can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy.

Episode Summary: Cliffy and I talk about about the week that was in fantasy baseball and look forward to the the week of August 18th to the 24th to help everyone get ready for some late season battles in Fantasy Baseball.

Episode Rundown: 

1) Intro

2) Get to know our guest.

3) Fantasy Baseball News: Troy Tulowitzski, Carlos Gonzalez, Mike Fiers, Shane Green, Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Martinez, Bud Norris, Trevor Bauer, Ryan Vogelsong, Jason Vargas, Gerrit Cole.

4) Two Start Streaming Pitchers

5) Key Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pick Ups

6) The Coach’s Office (Sponsored by RevoLabels.com)

7) Outro

You can Download this episode as well as the previous three on Itunes and Stitcher Radio.

Thank Yous For Episode 020:  I want to thank Cliffy (@SlimCliffy) for coming on the podcast and talking to me about all the late season goings on in Fantasy Baseball.  I would also like to thank C-Quel for providing the intro music as well as the outro beat.  You can Find all of C-Quel’s current music available here.

RevoLabels.com

Central New Jersey Fantasy Football Tweet Up

Tweetup Banner Facebook v2

The Central New Jersey Fantasy Football Tweetup (‪#‎CNJFFTweetup) is now a thing!

Fantasy Footballers from all over the NY/NJ/PA area will get together to talk nothing but ‪#‎FantasyFootball.

When: 8/23

Where: Blackthorn Pub – 651 N. Michigan Ave., Kenilworth NJ 07033

Time: 12 noon to 4pm est.

Cost: ABSOLUTELY FREE (Blackthorn will be having Food & Drink Specials)

Get together with other Fantasy Football fanatics and just talk nothing but Fantasy Football.

We will be hosting up to 3 Live Drafts. Be sure to sign up for them early if you want to draft. Draft spots are limited.

Got fantasy questions? Ask the Fantasy Experts during our Q&A session.

Have you ever had a trade you thought was terrible and wanted to reverse it? Well let our Fantasy Judge, Michael Stein from FantasyJudgment.com, confirm or deny your suspicions.

There will be contests and door prizes consisting of an autographed jersey, Draft Board kits, Fantasy Magazines, Premium packages to some of the top Fantasy sites on the planet, including RotoExperts, Pro Football Focus: Fantasy, 4For4, TheFantasyFix, ProjectRoto and many more.

 

Sponsors:  4For4.com, Draftnight.com, DynastyLeagueFootball.com, Fanium.com, Fantasy Black Book, TheFantasyFix.com, FantasyAlarm.com, FFToolbox.com/FFWC, ProFootballFocus: Fantasy, ProjectRoto.com, RevoLabels.com, RotoExperts.com, MyFantasyLeague, and Dynasty Sports Empire.

Central New Jersey tweet Up

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Zero Running Back

The Fantasy Football Black Book

 

There are many strategies that can work when it comes to winning your Fantasy Football leagues in 2014, but one fantasy football draft strategy seems to be really taking hold when people are drafting from the back end of a PPR (point per reception league) draft.  The zero running back strategy is taking over expert and amateur fantasy football drafts alike.  The importance of the wide receiver position and the ability to avoid potential draft busts with early round picks has taken hold.  The question marks at the running back position start right after the top five running backs, while the top six wide receivers are virtually guaranteed to approach their projected statistics.

The FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association) Fantasy Football Leagues recently kicked off their drafts and mine is filled some of my friends from the industry.  One of of my friends in the league is Mark Kaplan, @DaTrueGuru, and he is picking from the 10 spot in out twelve team PPR FSWA draft.  I noticed his team was avoiding the running back position early in the draft and asked if he would mind sharing his draft strategy and thoughts and he, by some miracle, obliged.  I was particularly interested in his thoughts because I have been drafting very similarly from that same spot in leagues and because Mark has done extremely well in the FSWA leagues lately.  He even has a 2013 FSWA Fantasy Basketball Championship already under his belt and is currently among the leaders in the Fantasy Baseball Leagues as well.

Here’s Mark’s FSWA Draft Early Draft Strategy from the 10 spot:

The FSWA Insiders draft is a PPR league where we have to start three wide receivers and a flex. That means wide receivers rule the draft, but most people want to take running backs early and often, despite their injury risk and the fact that wideouts easily out produce running backs in PPR leagues. I had the 10th overall pick and knew right away I was going WR/WR because every running back after the first four main guys are all over valued and come with question marks.

Luckily Demaryius Thomas was there for me at 10 and I instantly took the highest scoring WR in PPR leagues last season. Then my boy, Brandon Marshall, was there for my next pick and again, instantly took him. B-Marsh is so reliable and is basically a guarantee to get 100 receptions (has done that in two straight seasons). Just like that, I have two players that should each get me 300 points.
demaryius-thomas
Now the tough decisions start. With my third pick, I was staring at some very questionable running backs like Reggie Bush (J. Bell was already gone and just not a fan of Bush), Rashad Jennings (has never been the #1 guy before), Frank Gore (means I would have to reach on Carlos Hyde in a few rounds,so would basically be spending 2 picks on one RB), Ben Tate(injury concerns). That is a road I wanted to avoid. Julius Thomas was there as well, but not only is he overrated (had only 65 catches last season), there are also a lot of other TE’s I like rounds 8-10 that I’d rather draft at their value, than draft Thomas in the third round. Therefore, I was going to target a wide receiver, but which one? I was choosing between Andre Johnson (who was ranked 96th for some unknown reason), Victor Cruz, Keenan Allen, and Pierre Garcon. I ended up going with Andre Johnson because he’s an elite wide receiver (finished 10th overall among WRs last season and has played in 16 games in each of the past two season). When it gets back to me, J. Thomas, Cruz, Jennings, and Bush are gone and I’m faced with the decision again: reach on a questionable running back, like T. Gerhart or B.Tate, or take another elite WR. Decided to go WR for the fourth time, this time was deciding between Keenan Allen and Garcon. It was basically coin flip and decided I like the upside of Allen so went with him.
Keenan Allen
Now my starting roster is set with four wideouts that should all produce 270 plus fantasy points this season (there were only five running backs last season that reached 270 fantasy points and one of those guys was Knowshon Moreno). Instead of taking running backs that might produce in the third or fourth round, I loaded up on great wideouts. What about running backs? Well there are going to be plenty of guys in the fifth and sixth round that have just as much upside and question marks as the guys in the third or fourth rounds like Fred Jackson, Pierre Thomas, Baltimore RBs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, Chris Johnson, to name a few. Now, I will be taking running backs the rest of the draft (besides getting a QB and a TE). But here’s the thing, all I need is one of my late round running backs to emerge as a #1, out of all of the ones I will end up taking, to be almost unstoppable. If I can get 10-13 points from each of my running backs (which isn’t hard to get in a PPR league) I end up taking, then my team will be extremely successful.
I want players that are consistent and will put up points, despite what position they play. Instead of reaching on a running back that might get me 200-220 points, I’d gladly take the wide receiver that is going to score 270 points. The objective is to score the most points each week, not build a pretty looking roster, and by going with four wide receivers to start the draft, I’m on my way to scoring a plethora of points of every week.
**I want to thank Mark for taking the time to do a guest post for me and implore anyone who enjoys fantasy sports to give him a follow on twitter, @DaTrueGuru**

Editor’s Note- Check out this interview for the Fantasy Sports Network featuring Michael Salfino talking about Zero Running Back

For more great Fantasy Football content check out the latest episodes of The Fantasy Coach Podcast and check out The Fantasy Football Black Book 2014 Edition.

Episode 019: Fantasy Football Nick Mensio

Episode 019: The Fantasy Coach Podcast

Fantasy Football Edition:  Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Strategy

Featuring: Nick Mensio (@NickMensio) Rotoworld.com

Nick Mensio
About My Guest: Nick Mensio is a football writer for Rotoworld.com. The 2014 NFL season marks his third with Rotoworld.

Episode Summary:  Nick and I discuss the wide receiver position in fantasy football.  We discuss if Calvin Johnson will be dethroned as the number one fantasy wide receiver and even talk a little about Miles Austin’s Hamstrings.  (Just a little)

Episode Rundown:

  • Intro
  • Get to know Nick a little.
  • The Big Six wide receivers?
  • Discuss options at the position in rounds 1-9.
  • Discuss the rookie class.
  • Discuss Late round targets.
  • The Coach’s Office, Brought to you by RevoLabels.com
  • Outro

You can Download this episode as well as the previous three on Itunes and Stitcher Radio.

Thank Yous For Episode 019:  I want to thank Nick for coming on the podcast and discussing the wide receiver position.  After tonight’s episode I may have to go out and buy more stock in Dez Bryant.   I would also like to thank C-Quel for providing the intro music as well as the outro beat.  You can Find all of C-Quel’s current music available here.

RevoLabels.com

Episode 018: Fantasy Baseball Zach Jacobson

Episode 018: The Fantasy Coach Podcast

Fantasy Baseball Edition: August 11th to the 17th

Featuring Zach Jabobson (@Zatchj62) TheFakeBaseball.com 

Zach Jacobson joins The Fantasy Coach!

Zach Jacobson joins The Fantasy Coach!

 

About My Guest:  Zach has been playing fantasy sports since 2006 yet is relatively new to the writing scene. He got his start covering fantasy in 2009 at ReclinerQB, a small football blog. Despite fantasy football being a hobby of Zach’s, he soon shifted his focus to his true passion: baseball. Currently you can find him at The Fake Baseball, where he serves as Assistant Editor. You can check out Zach’s latest work here (http://thefakebaseball.com/fun-heatmaps-lonnie-chisenhall/) or join him this Monday for a fantasy baseball live chat (http://thefakebaseball.com/fake-baseball-chat-8-11/).

Episode Summary: Zach and I discuss his role at TheFakeBaseball.com and discuss all of the latest news in fantasy baseball as well as answer some questions for the listeners.

 

 

 

 

 

Episode Rundown:

  • Intro
  • Get to know our guest Zach Jacobson of TheFakeBaseball.com
  • News and Notes: Corey Kluber, Javier Baez, Anibel Sanchez, Hanley Ramirez, Michael Taylor, Mike Fiers, Caleb Joseph, Adam Eaton, Edwin Encarnacion, Will Myers, and Brad Penny (Yeah, that Brad Penny)
  • Two Start Start Pitchers
  • Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds
  • The Coach’s Office (Brought to you by RevoLabels.com)
  • Outro

RevoLabels.com

You can Download this episode as well as the previous three on Itunes and Stitcher Radio.

Thank Yous For Episode 018:  I want to thank Zach Jacobson for coming on the podcast and talking to me about all the injuries that fantasy baseball owners have to overcome this week.  I would also like to thank C-Quel for providing the intro music as well as the outro beat.  You can Find all of C-Quel’s current music available here.

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