Apr 25, 2013; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recognizes West, Texas and Boston Marathon victims and first responders during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The draft is over rookie mini-camps are beginning so what is there really left to think about until training camps begin.  If your really into fantasy football sign up for mock draft today.  There are plenty sites out there that run mock drafts the one I use is Antsports.com  Here are some reasons to jump into a mock draft if you are serious about winning your league come December.  (more…)

Sep 09, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (17) runs the ball after a catch against the Indianapolis Colts during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field. Chicago defeats Indianapolis 41-21. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

Let’s review our picks from this past Sunday

QB Stud- Drew Brees- 339 yards passing 3TD 2INT  28 Fantasy Points! (Hit)

QB Dud- Matt Ryan 299 yards 3TD 1 Rushing TD 36 Fantasy Points (Miss)

QB Sleeper- Peyton Manning- 253 yards 2TD 25 Fantasy Points (Hit)

RB Stud- Arian Foster 79 yards rushing 2TD 20 Fantasy points (HIT)

RB Dud- Fred Jackson- 15 yards rushing  1 Fantasy Point (HIT)

RB Sleeper- Doug Martin- 95 yard rushing 23 yards receiving 12 Fantasy Points (Neutral)

WR Stud- Dez Bryant- 87 yards receiving – 8 fantasy points (MISS)

Wr Dud- AJ Green- 5-70 yards  9 Fantasy points (HIT)

WR Sleeper – Pierre Garcon 4-109 yards and 1 td 19 Fantasy Points (HIT)

TE-Stud- Jimmy Graham 6-85 yards 1 TD 16 fantasy points (Hit)

TE Dud- Coby Fleener- 6-82 yards 10 Fantasy Points (MISS)

TE-Sleeper Owen Daniels 4-87 yards 10 Fantasy Points (Hit)

Defense-Stud Chicago 3 sacks 3 picks 2 fumble recoveries 16 fantasy points (HIT)

Defense Dud-Pittsburgh 2 sacks 1 fumble recovery 3 fantasy points (HIT)

Defense Sleeper-Buffalo Gave up 48 points to the JETS (Horrible MISS!)

WAIVER WIRE

It’s hard to due to roster size in eveyone’s leagues to tell who is on your waiver wire, but here are some pickups that could be out there.

- Josh Freeman- Hide him on your roster for your bye week if you have room.

-Alfred Morris- He was a hot name at draft time so he should be on a roster but if he’s not scoop him up now

-Dexter McCluster- Some sights have him listed as WR and not RB either way he’s a big piece of Chiefs passing game

- Jonathan Dwyer- Mendenhall will be a question mark for a few more weeks

-CJ Spiller- If you picked Fred Jackson you should already have him. If  he’s available pick him up now!!

The Waiver Wire question is the top 3 Wr picks had big weeks ones but are you ever really going to start them over Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson or even Austin Miles? It’s almost fool’s gold unless proven wrong over a few weeks but here are the names

James Olgetree- owned in .2 % of leagues before Wednesday and 87%  after! Gotta love prime time opening games

Stephen Hill- Could be the real deal still would like him in a better situation

James Jones- He’s only good if he gets in the end Zone #3 option if not lower

Alshon Jeffery- Still cautious would like to see his defined role for a few weeks

Martellus Bennett- Former team + prime time equal fools gold

Don’t Let Your Opponent Out Work You!!

August 29, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) on the field during the first quarter of a preseason game against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE

For the first time since September 1948 when the Rams beat the Lions 44-7, the NFL will be playing a Wednesday night game. The kick off of the season was moved to Wednesday thanks to President Obama and the Democrat National Convention.  The new opening night tradition of the defending Super Bowl Champ opening on Thursday Night began in 2004, with the defending champ winning every one of the games.

Opening night is of course the NY Giants versus the Dallas Cowboys, and both teams have lineups full of fantasy players.  If you have Cowboys or Giants on your roster DON’T forget to set your lineup for Wednesday’s game.  Most people that are in fantasy leagues probably can’t believe that reminders have to be posted, but there is one guy in every league that always is too busy and forgets so this is just a friendly reminder!

Here are my picks for this week

Quarterback

Drew Brees-Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-US PRESSWIRE

Stud- Drew Brees- He’s a must start almost every week.  Brees shouldn’t have any difficulites versus the Redskins defense

Dud- Matt Ryan- Struggled on the road opening day the past two seasons.  KC is a tough place to play with a solid defense returning from last year

Sleeper- Peyton Manning- Tim Tebow put up big numbers against the Steelers in Denver last January no reason Peyton can’t do the same even if it is against “reputation” Steelers D

Running Back

Arian Foster (Credit-USPRESSWIRE)

Stud- Arian Foster- Going against Miami at home should be a huge day

Dud- Fred Jackson- Jets D may not be as dominate as in the past but it shuts down running backs. Premiere Jackson next week if possible

Sleeper- Doug Martin- Rookie has prime chance for big opening day against the Carolina D that was pitiful against the run last season.

Wide Receivers

Dez Bryant- Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Stud- Dez Bryant- In four games against the Giants Bryant has recorded a TD in each game.

Dud- AJ Green- You drafted him high but he goes against the Ravens D which is getting older but doesn’t allow explosive plays

Sleeper- Pierre Garcon- RGIII main target against a defense without any bounties to collect could lead to big day.

Tight End

Jimmy Graham- Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-US PRESSWIRE

Stud- Jimmy Graham- Saints will feed him the ball a lot

Dud- Coby Fleener- Lucks BFF will have to wait a week to become a factor in fantasy

Sleeper- Owen Daniels- He won’t put up 100 yard games anymore but he is sneeky about finding the end zone at least once

Defense

D.J. Moore- Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-US PRESSWIRE

Stud- Chicago Bears- They should have a LUCKy day week one

Dud-  Pittsburgh Steelers- Something about Peyton Manning’s return that spells doom for the Steelers D

Sleeper- Buffalo Bills- More a testament of the Jets offense than an improving Bills defense

Good Luck and dominate Week #1  in your leagues!!

It’s finally arrived Week #1 of the NFL season, and hopefully you have entered what has to be the most exciteing “fantasy league” around, the suicide or politically correct Survivor league this season.  If you are not aware of what a survivor league is here is the cliff notes.  You get to pick one game a week, but you cannot pick the same team twice to win in the season, and once you lose your eliminated for the season which makes the pot winner take all.

There are several keys to surviving this type of league.  The first key is planning the path you are choosing for the season.  The Appalachian trail is 2,185 miles long and if you plan on making the entire trip it takes a lot of planning and preparations.  You cannot just jump on the trail with a bottle of water and expect to make it for any type of extended amount of time. The same holds true for survivor leagues.  Most NFL coaches breakdown their season in quarters which is also very good advice in this type of league.  You need to look at the first four weeks with the best match-ups while not wasting a team that everyone knows that will go 12-4 like the New England Patriots in Week 1.  You do need to get out of the first quarter of the season, which means sometimes you do use some good teams quicker than you would like because of the uncertainty of the new season. The best plan is to map out your first four weeks of picks and remap your plan again in Week 5.

The 2nd key which is the hardest part of the survivor is to avoid the Herd game.  What do you mean?  Every season there is a game that is a virtual lock that 75 percent of owners will pick and the upset occurs and you are sitting out the rest of the season.  The biggest herd game I was involved in was when the Miami Dolphins visited Foxboro and introduced a new offensive system called the Wildcat and destroyed the Patriots that day.  Sometimes like in life, if its too good to be true you have to just pass it by.

The last key to survivor is to avoid picking teams on the road at all cost.  Yes not every home team wins but as the season grows longer the one system that has always worked is pick the team at home with the largest point spread.  Vegas sets the line to get action, but if its picking a team to win by 13, its pretty confident that team is going to win.

Here’s my picks in categories for Survival Week #1 

Trailblazer-No Brainers

Chicago Bears- Home game against a poor team last year with a rookie QB.

Houston Texans- The Texans offense will put up a ton of points and another rookie QB starting on the road against a solid defense

Detroit Lions- They should make easy work of the Lambs

On the Trail-Cautiously Optimistic

Baltimore Ravens- Divison rival with a good defense.  Pick with caution

New Orleans Saints- RGIII debut could put up big points, but Drew Brees should outscore them.

Off  Road- Unorthodox Pick

Green Bay Packers- Playing a solid defensive unit with an improved offense coming off NFC Championship loss in San Fransisco

Atlanta Falcons- Played terrible last season on the road and faces a stiff defense on the road in KC

NY Giants- Defending Super Bowl team doesn’t lose on opening night but this is a Wednesday game not Thursday.

Join a survivor league today! You will never feel such highs and lows while watching football excluding watching your team in the Super Bowl!

Confidence Leagues

This is the bread and butter of office pools throughout the country.  Everyone knows the rules so no need to explain so here are the picks for this week in categories

Top Tier (12-16 Confidence points)

1. Texans over Dolphins

2. Bears over Colts

3. Lions over Rams

4. Saints over Redskins

5. New Englans over Titans

Middle Tier (7-11 Confidence Points)

1. Eagles over Browns

2. Giants over Cowboys

3. Ravens over Bengals

4. Packers over SF 49ers

5. Falcons over Chiefs

Low Confidence Tier (4-6 confidence points)

1. Jacksonville over Minnesota

2. Seattle over Arizona

3. Oakland over San Diego

Tossup (1-3 confidence picks)

1. Buffalo over NY Jets

2. Bucs over Panthers

3. Broncos over Steelers

Good luck in Week #1! Don’t forget the season kicks off on Wednesday so get your picks in on time.  Survive, Advance, and Win the Cash!!

Aug 18, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back Michael Bush (29) runs for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Washington Redskins at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

The Bears have been struggling to fill the role alongside Matt Forte for the last few seasons.  Don’t look now, but new GM Phil Emery may have solved that riddle with backup running back Michael Bush. If Saturday’s 33-31 win over the Washington Redskins is any indication, Bush will have a key role on the Bears, especially in the red zone.  For those of you who speak Fantasy, he’s what you might call a “touchdown vulture.”  (more…)

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