Setting Up Your Fantasy Football Lineup

 Making sure you have your best options ready for week one

 You got yourself into a fantasy league for the 2013 season. You set up your pre-draft rankings, and (hopefully) you dominated your draft, drafting a top-five quarterback, running back and receiver. Now it’s time to get ready for the regular season.

This week I will be going over some strategy going into the first week of the season as to which players look like good plays and which players look like bad plays.

Week one, can be the start to a great season, or the first week in what will be a dismal season if you don’t play your cards right.

Let’s look at the matchups starting with the Thursday night season opener between the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens on September 5. The Ravens have been known for having a tremendous defense since their inception. It should be noted though that the team lost two of its more touted players in Ray Lewis (retirement) and Ed Reed (free agency). They still are a strong team, and shouldn’t be counted out even against a strong offense like the Broncos.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Joe Flacco, Peyton Manning, Ray Rice, Wes Welker, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Torrey Smith. As far as defenses go, this game features two of the premier defenses, but they are facing off against solid offenses. Either defense is worth a start since they are in the top 10 in my opinion.

Bad plays for this game include any Denver running back, and any Baltimore receiver not named Smith.

The next games on the schedule come on Sunday, Sept. 8; starting with the 10 a.m. games. The first game is the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have been dealing with a media circus as of late, but don’t let that fool you. Head Coach Bill Belichick has owned the Bills in his tenure with New England. As far as the Bills, they were the blunder of the NFL Draft taking E.J. Manuel as the first quarterback taken, and now he is injured.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Tom Brady, Danny Amendola, Stevan Ridley, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. The Patriots defense is worth a look too if your defensive matchup this week is poor.

Bad plays for this game include Stevie Johnson, and whoever suits up for the Bills at quarterback.

Next up are the Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are coming off a tremendous season, which saw them make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The Panthers are coming off another disappointing season in not making the playoffs with Cam Newton as the quarterback.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Marshawn Lynch, Steve Smith, Golden Tate, Greg Olson and the Seahawks defense.

Bad plays in this game include DeAngelo Williams, Sydney Rice and Zach Miller.

The next game is the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions. The Lions are coming off another disappointing season while the Vikings are coming off a great season that was led by an impressive comeback season from Adrian Peterson.

The good plays in this game are Matthew Stafford, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson and Greg Jennings.

Bad plays in this game include the Detroit and Minnesota defenses, as this will most likely be a shoot out, as well Mikel Leshoure, and Jerome Simpson.

Next up are the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a battle between two teams with stellar running backs that haven’t had much else to offer around them as of late. Head Coach Andy Reid and Alex Smith though now lead the Chiefs at quarterback, so their offense is still something of an unknown.

The good plays in this game include Jamaal Charles, Maurice Jones Drew and Dwayne Bowe.

Bad plays include Alex Smith, Justin Blackmon, Anthony Fasano and Mercedes Lewis.

The next game is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets. Just like the Patriots the Jets have been in the middle of a media circus surrounding the play or lack there of the starting and backup quarterbacks.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Doug Martin, Bilal Powell, Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson.

I am hesitant to name another Jets players as a good play since the starting quarterback controversy between Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith has not been solved. Hence the bad plays in this game are the Jets quarterbacks.

Next up are the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. The Dolphins and Browns have done more bad than good in the recent past, and this game is a lack luster one for week one.

The good plays in this game come in the form of a single player Trent Richardson and if you are a card counter, either defense should perform decently well in what I expect will be a very low scoring game.

Bad plays include any quarterback, receiver or tight end on either team.

The next game is the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. The Bears lost Brian Urlacher, but their defense is still one of the best in the league and I look for that to be a big factor in this game.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, A.J. Green, Brandon Marshall and the Bears defense.

The bad plays include “The Law Firm” BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Giovani Bernard and Jermaine Gresham.

Next up is the matchup between the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are coming off a great season in which Andrew Luck led the team to the playoffs. The Raiders are still in rebuilding mode, and not certain of anything except Darren McFadden will continue to be injury prone.

The good plays in the game come in the form of Andrew Luck, Darren McFadden, Reggie Wayne, Darius Heyward-Bey and Sebastian Janikowski.

The bad plays include Matt Flynn, Jacoby Ford, Denarius Moore, Rod Streater and the Raiders defense. Yes all bad plays come on the Oakland side. Why is this? Because the Raiders offensive and defensive lines are weak, which likely will turn into a blowout by the Colts.

The next game is the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. This is going to be one of the more exciting games for week one. Two playoff teams with two very high-powered offenses.

The good plays comes in the form of Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Steven Jackson, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham.

The bad plays include either defensive unit, or any New Orleans running back. With this game projected to reach 60 plus combined points, it will be a lot of throwing for each quarterback. For the Saints, that’s nothing new as they have been using a backfield by committee for a few seasons now as the main focus is on the passing game of Brees.

Next up are the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers. This game features two teams dealing with issues in their backfield, so my assumption is a game filled with passes, stay away from the defenses of either team.

The good plays in this game include Ben Rothelisberger, Chris Johnson, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Nate Washington, Kenny Britt and Delanie Walker.

The bad plays include Shonn Green, Isaac Redman and both teams defensive units.

The next game is the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers in the afternoon game, 1:25 p.m. This is going to be the best game of the day in my opinion, and by far the better of the two afternoon games. This matchup features two perennial playoff teams, and the reigning NFC Championship team the 49ers.

The good plays come in the form of Aaron Rodgers, Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Jermichael Finley, Anquan Bouldin, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and the 49ers defense.

Bad plays include any Green Bay running back, Green Bay defensive unit and any 49ers receiver or tight end not named Bouldin or Davis.

The other afternoon game is between the St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals. This game will feature two quarterbacks who have not lived up to their potential thus far in the NFL in Sam Bradford and Carson Palmer.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Darryl Richardson, Rashard Mendenhall and Larry Fitzgerald.

The bad plays include Sam Bradford, Carson Palmer, Chris Givens, Michael Floyd and Andre Roberts.

The Sunday night game comes as the New York Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys with a 5:30 p.m. kickoff. This game features two NFC East teams who missed the playoffs last year.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Eli Manning, Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Myers, Jason Witten, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.

The bad plays include any New York Giants running back as they are going to do a backfield by committee, as well either defensive unit.

The next set of games come on Monday, Sept. 9. The first of the two Monday night games features the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, with running quarterbacks in Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III.

The good plays in this game come in the form of Michael Vick, Robert Griffin III, LeSean McCoy, Alfred Morris, DeSean Jackson, Joshua Morgan, Pierre Garcon, Brent Celek and Fred Davis.

The bad plays include any other Eagles or Redskins receivers or running backs as well both teams defensive units.

The final game of the week comes as the San Diego Chargers host the Houston Texans. This game features two high-powered offenses, one coming off a playoff appearance, the other, coming off a terrible season.

The good plays in the game come in the form of Phillip Rivers, Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, Malcom Floyd, Andre Johnson, Antonio Gates, Owen Daniels and the Texans defense.

The bad plays include Ryan Matthews, any Texans receiver not named Johnson, and the Chargers defense.

Hopefully you have quite a few players on the good play list and good luck in your first week of fantasy football.

Remember to check back in next week as I go over players that can help your team whether they slipped through the draft, or are backups to a stud that could potentially become your starters.

Planning Out Your Fantasy Football Draft Strategy

Setting up your pre-draft rankings and strategy around them

Last week I went over the basics for fantasy football, what types of leagues there are, scoring in those leagues and what types of drafts there are. This week I will be going over pre-draft rankings of players and strategy around them.

Depending on what type of league you are doing you might already have some players on your team, but for the sake of the fresh draft where you are looking to build your team from scratch I will go over my top fives at each position, when they should be drafted, and a few players who I think will be sleepers, and a few players who might be drafted too high. After the pre-draft rankings I will go over a few strategies on how to work your draft.

I will start from the top with quarterbacks.

My top five quarterbacks are in this order. Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. All of these quarterbacks should be drafted in the first round with the exception of Ryan, who should be in most leagues, a very high second-round draft pick.

For sleepers at the quarterback position, there aren’t many, but a guy like Colin Kaepernick could slip into the top five, as well guys who have a high upside like Eli Manning, Cam Newton, Matt Schaub, Matthew Stafford and Michael Vick. With sleepers, there are also guys who are drafted too high. I think Vick goes into this category as well Phillip Rivers, Ben Rothelisberger and Tony Romo. The only reason I put Rothelisberger, Romo and Vick into this category is because they are prone to injury and can really throw a wrench into your season if they get hurt. Rivers is the constant under achiever, he is supposed to have huge years and year after year he disappoints. Maybe this will be his year, but probably not.

My top five running backs are in this order. Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Marshawn Lynch, Ray Rice and Jamaal Charles. All of these running backs should be drafted in the first two rounds, with the exception of Charles who should be a second round pick because of history of injuries.

For sleepers at the running back position, a guy like Darren McFadden who has had a history of injuries might fall in the draft and could bank you a solid back if he stays healthy. That also applies to LeSean McCoy, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Steven Jackson. For guys who might get drafted too high McFadden leads the list. He has the home run game, but he gets injured too often. Others who might get drafted too high include Alfred Morris, Doug Martin and Chris Johnson. While Johnson, McCoy and McFadden have faced the injury bug Martin and Morris have not, but don’t have a large enough sample size for me to put them as top five backs, somewhere they both have been getting drafted.

My top five wide receivers are in this order, Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson, Wes Welker, Roddy White and Brandon Marshall. I would be comfortable taking either of the Johnsons, Welker or White in the first round with Marshall being a high second round pick.

For sleepers at wide receiver I look at Danny Amendola, Anquan Bouldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith. All of these guys are number one receivers, and are poised to have a big season. For guys who get drafted too high I am looking at Dez Bryant, Victor Cruz, AJ Green and Mike Wallace. For Bryant and Cruz my reasoning comes from the injury bug, either from their own standpoint or their quarterbacks. For Cruz and Green I look at it in terms of being a number one on a team that doesn’t have many other options in the passing game, they should be double covered regularly which makes it harder to make a play, although Green was in this category last year he out preformed his position pre-rankings.

My top five at tight end are in this order. Jimmy Graham, Vernon Davis, Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez and Owen Daniels. I would only draft Graham in the first round here and that would only be in the case that none of the quarterbacks, receivers or running backs I suggested earlier to draft are available. Davis, and Witten are worthy of a top three round pick with Daniels and Gonzalez in the first six rounds.

For sleepers at tight end I look at Brandon Myers, Dallas Clark and Greg Olson. Myers broke out last year and is with a new team in the Giants this year; people might think that because he is going to a new team he might not get the receptions. I think the opposite will be true and he will becomes Manning’s best friend in the red zone. As for Clark, he is now with the Ravens, and with the departure of Bouldin to the 49ers, I think he is in for a big season similar to what he was averaging with the Colts with Manning at the helm. Olson is the sleeper of all sleepers in the tight end game for me. He has Newton at quarterback, but Newton can’t always find Smith in the end zone and this is where Olson comes into play. He is a big target down low that is worthy of a late round draft pick.

For guys who get drafted too high, Antonio Gates tops the list, along with Jermichael Finley and Zach Miller. Gates who was at one time the best tight end in the game has regressed in the past few seasons, along with his quarterback in Phillip Rivers always disappointing with red zone interceptions and that ugly throwing motion. Finley is at the curse of having an offense that loves to spread the ball around. There are too many hands looking for the rock from Rodgers, stay away from Finley in early rounds. As for Miller, this guy was a top five tight end with the Raiders as he was the only receiver option for a few-years, with Seattle he is one of a few quality receivers and with a solid running game between quarterback Russell Wilson and Lynch, he is unlikely to break 100 catches, or be worth the value of a top five receiver again.

For flex positions, this is up to you, running backs usually earn the most points so they are more valuable, but if you can pair together a receiver quarterback combo that always helps in big games, but can severely hurt in poor outings.

My top five kickers are in this order. Matt Prater, Stephen Gostkowski, Sebastian Janikowski, Phil Dawson and Matt Bryant. You want to take a kicker who will get a lot of chances at extra point kicks. For Janikowski that is not the idea, but that he has an above average leg and will land you some of the bigger kicks, of the 40-50 yard varieties that usually are worth more points. There are no real sleeper kickers, and if anyone drafts a kicker high, well don’t follow suit. A kicker is usually my last pick because they put up the least amount of points.

As for team defense, the top five in this order are. The 49ers, Seahawks, Bears, Broncos and Texans are the best in my opinion.

The best offense is a good defense, and the same can be said for defense, having a good offense makes your defense look better. If your offense controls the clock your defense won’t have to be on the field as long, and that usually means your players are fresh to play. If you can’t grab a top five-defense grab the team who has an easy matchup the first week and then each week look at teams who have good matchups, this works if you don’t have a team defense you want to hold onto. On where to draft a team defense, look at how many points they put up in your league, and what the point differential is between a top five defense and the rest of the league. In my league team defense starts with 20 points a week and goes down from there based on points allowed and yards allowed, with additional points added for fumbles, interceptions and sacks. I like to grab a strong defense that doesn’t allow points, to try and stay as close to 20 every week.

If you run individual defensive players, take linebackers first, my suggestion would be to grab a player like Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, James Laurinaitas, Jerod Mayo or Paul Posluszny as your first linebacker and try to go from there. Look at guys who play in the middle of the field and average a lot of tackles. If you want to live dangerous and go for the big points, safeties and lineman aren’t a bad idea, but you could get blanked if they don’t get a sack or interception.

Now that I have gone over the top five at each position I want to go over some strategy.

If you run a double quarterback league my suggestion is to take a quarterback in the first round if you can get a top five guy and then start to fill in your team by the player with the highest value in terms of your team.

If you are running a standard league with one quarterback look at the scoring of your league. If running backs get six points a touchdown and quarterbacks do not, you may want to grab a top tier running back first and then hit the quarterback. If you are in a league where quarterbacks get six points a touchdown, the choice is obvious to take a top tier quarterback first as the average quarterback throws for twice as many touchdowns as running backs. With that being said, a second tier quarterback who scores six points a touchdown might be just as valuable as a top tier running back so go with the running back first as there are less of them available.

As for wide receivers, if you earn six points a touchdown and there are no top tier quarterbacks or running backs available go grab one of the Johnsons with your first pick and work from there. For tight ends I look at it this way, if applicable your tight end should be your fourth or fifth best player in a standard league and your sixth or seventh best player in a double quarterback league. If the receivers available are not as good as the tight ends on the board snatch one up, if they are not as valuable, wait until they become a value pick.

For team defenses and individual players. Depending on your league you may want to wait until you are done drafting all of your offense players, but in some leagues this might not be the best idea. In my league a tackle from an individual defensive player is worth one points, a sack three, with fumbles and interceptions worth five and defensive touchdowns worth six. If you can grab a linebackers who averages 100 tackles a season that is 100 points you can bank on add that onto any sacks, interceptions or fumbles they may cause and you might want to tack a defensive player before you start grabbing your bench offensive players. For team defense, look at the points they score, if they average less than some second and third string offense players wait, if they earn more than a top tier tight end, you may want to grab one of them in the first seven rounds.

As for kickers, check the scoring, but usually they score the least amount of points so draft them last. Unless you want to waste a draft pick.

Check back next week when I cover getting ready for your first week of fantasy football in the new season.

Getting Ready For Your Fantasy Football Season

Explaining the different types of leagues available and scoring

The preseason has begun for the NFL and that means fantasy football is just around the corner.
In this the first addition of my fantasy football corner for the 2013-2014 season I will go over the different types of fantasy football leagues, scoring options, drafting options, and ideas that might help you going into your draft.

The first thing you need to know when going into any fantasy sport is what type of league you are in.
There are several different types of leagues, standard draft leagues, auction draft leagues, dynasty leagues, keeper leagues, individual defensive player (IDP) leagues and survivor leagues.

The most common is a standard league where you draft your players round by round at a table with a group of friends, online in a chat forum, or auto drafting with pre-draft rankings.

The others less commonly used are auction drafts, which involves getting a budget amount before the draft and bidding on players. You can only buy players with the amount of money given before the draft, so once you are out of money you have to hit free agency or the waiver wire to fill your team.
A dynasty league is one that can take several seasons to master. After the initial draft you keep your entire team for the next season unless you trade or release players. This is like playing franchise mode on Madden, but with your friends in fantasy football mode.

A keeper league is based off a standard draft like a dynasty league but you only keep a selected number of players into the next season. Currently I am in a keeper league where we get to keep two players. In this format you want to keep your best two players, or players who have the highest upside. Example being Robert Griffin III has a high upside because he is young and is a quarterback, which is a high scoring position.

An IDP league is one where you draft offensive players like normal, but instead of drafting a team defense you select individual players. In most IDP leagues you do not draft an entire defense, but rather one to five players. In IDP leagues line backers are usually the best choice as they record the most tackles. You can gamble and go for a lineman or secondary position with a high upside on sacks and interceptions, but the tackles are less. Consistency is key for IDP, so taking players like Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman is a good choice.

Finally a survivor league is very unique. You draft your team then the real fun begins. Each week the team with the lowest scoring is eliminated. Not sure what this means? Say Team-A plays Team-B, Team-C plays Team-D and so on. The team with the lowest scoring, say Team-A scores the least amount of points, Team-A would not get to play any other weeks from then on. The winner of the survivor league is the team who did not score the lowest point total each week and never gets eliminated. Get it? Kind of like the TV show survivor.

There are also several different ways to score a league, with the most common being the Head-to-Head with points. Others less commonly used are rotisserie and Head-to-Head with categories.

In a Head-to-Head league with points Team-A plays Team-B, Team-C plays Team-D and so on. If Team-A beats Team-B 125-101, and Team-C beats Team-D 124-102, Team-A would be in first place at 1-0, and Team-C would be in second place with a 1-0 record. The reason they are not tied is because the points are different, Team-A scored 125 while Team-C scored 124. The difference of one point can make a difference, and has. Some leagues count half points too, so watch your stats!

Head-to-Head with categories is a bit different than Head-to-Head with points as instead of totaling points you need to win each category, such as Team-A plays Team-B, Team-C plays Team-D and so on. If Team-A had more passing yards, receptions, rushing attempts, touchdowns and field goals than Team-B, but Team-B had more completions, receiving yards, rushing yards and extra points, Team-A would win 5-4, as they won five categories while Team-B only won four categories.

Rotisserie leagues are the least common in football, as each week you are not playing against a single opponent but the entire league. So each week you need to account for every game and every player not on your roster being your opponent. In a rotisserie league you playing based on categories. 

Example: Team-A 300 passing yards, 15 completions, 100 rushing yards, 18 rushing attempts, 120 receiving yards, 12 receptions, two touchdowns, two field goals, and two extra points. Team-B 320 passing yards, 18 completions, 90 rushing yards, 22 rushing attempts, 135 receiving yards, 10 receptions, one touchdown, three field goals, and one extra point. Team-C 280 passing yards, 14 completions, 85 rushing yards, 20 attempts, 115 receiving yards, nine receptions, no touchdowns, no field goals, no extra points. Team-D 299 passing yards, 17 completions, 115 rushing yards, 21 rushing attempts, 105 receiving yards, 11 receptions, one touchdown, two field goals, one extra point.

Here Team-A would be leading rushing yard, receptions, touchdowns and extra points while Team-B would be leading passing yard, completions, rushing attempts, receiving yards and field goals. Team-C and Team-D did not lead in any category but were not last in every category either.

In this scenario Team-B would be leading the week as he had led the most categories and was higher in the categories he lost than the other teams. Team-A would be second as he led the second most categories and did well in other categories. Followed by Team-D and Team-C.

There also also a variety of venues to host your fantasy league with CBS, ESPN and Yahoo being my favorite.

Now that you have the gist of Fantasy Football go gather some friends together and choose a league type you want to play. But remember to check back next week because I will go over some pre-draft rankings by position and how those effect what league you are playing in.