Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby: Mock Me If You Will

Hey kids, it's fantasy football season again - and you know what that means... Trebor is back to tell what and what not to do with your fantasy team... mostly what not to do. It's that Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby. And we're off!

Well it’s been a sad time here since the last post, no longer can I post pictures of these two:

Sadly, they can no longer be loosely tied to the Cowboys or Saints. The only other celebrity couple I can think of in football is:

(Favre photo via With Leather)

On the Favre note I think Sage will do fine, though come Nov. 1st maybe he finds himself out of a job which is not what you want from a starting qb. Also taking a hit is Percy Harvin, I still think he’s the rookie wr that will do the best this year especially with his involvement in special teams and the Wildcat, but having Favre would have helped him out.

Anyway back to the main point, it’s August and this month is the start of the preseason. More importantly though, basements are being cleaned up, nights are being scheduled, wives are trying to spend the last little bit of quality time with their husband… NFL and fantasy leagues are upon us. Sure you could be involved in a league that’s already drafted but I think that’s just silly.

Last time I shared the one man draft, which has changed considerably. Since then I’ve started poking my head into some of these fantasy sites, looking at headlines and rankings. The biggest thing I’ve done though is this past weekend while the wife and kid were away I tried some mock drafts (Yahoo, ESPN). They have different settings but you can easily do more than 1 at a time.
The idea is just to create the best team, ignoring positional trends and just drafting with a strategy in mind. The big thing is to look at the results of the draft and see where players are falling. A ranking sheet at NFL.com is great but when you’re in a draft with other people, you may notice that people aren’t willing to take a risk on a player, or think highly of another. When you go through 4-5 mock drafts and see Westbrook fall to the 3rd round 3 times, or Portis go late in the 2nd. It gets you thinking why are these 11 other guys not interested in these guys. You’ll also see players going ahead of their rankings, last year it was Chris Johnson, who I never even heard of until he kept popping up in the mid rounds of mock drafts.

The problem comes when people leave the draft and don’t select autodraft. Yahoo is really bad for people leaving. A mock draft should take like 20-30 min and again since you're not interested in trends you can make your pick walk away and come back. Having autodrafted teams can also be a problem but every time I’ve been a part of an online draft there’s always 1-2 guys who can’t make it and autodraft. As long as it’s not more then half the players on autodraft then it should be fine.

The first one I did I ignored a cardinal rule, I didn’t look at the rules. It was Yahoo and I should know that their team settings are different than I’m used to; 3WR, 2RB, 1 Flex. I realized my error after picking up 2 top rb’s and watched as others loaded up on wr’s. By the time it got to my pick in the 3rd round I was looking at a top wr of Santana Moss. I had great rb’s but when you start that many wr’s you need to get a top one.

The ESPN draft posted below was probably the best, in terms of autodraft and people not making stupid picks… ie Sproules in the 2nd round. Some notes on the rounds:

Round: 1
(1) Team Donaldson - Maurice Jones-Drew RB
** (2) Team Davidson - Adrian Peterson RB
(3) Team Amick - Matt Forte RB
(4) The Dudes - Michael Turner RB
(5) Team Hesseltine - Larry Fitzgerald WR
(6) Team Schellbach - Drew Brees QB
(7) Team dixon - DeAngelo Williams RB
(8) Team Lebowski - Chris Johnson RB
(9) Buck Futt - Steven Jackson RB
(10) Team Zielinski - Randy Moss WR
(11) Team mcinnis - Tom Brady QB
(12) Team Burns - LaDainian Tomlinson RB
1st- AP with the 2nd pick isn’t bad, the closer I get the season the more and more I like forte though. We’ll see after some preseason. Question mark pick (???) Randy Moss in 1st round

Round: 2
(13) Team Burns - Frank Gore RB
(14) Team mcinnis - Brandon Jacobs RB
(15) Team Zielinski - Steve Slaton RB
(16) Buck Futt - Brian Westbrook RB
(17) Team Lebowski - Andre Johnson WR
(18) Team dixon - Anquan Boldin WR
(19) Team Schellbach - Clinton Portis RB
(20) Team Hesseltine - Kevin Smith RB
(21) The Dudes - Calvin Johnson WR
(22) Team Amick - Steve Smith WR
** (23) Team Davidson - Marion Barber RB
(24) Team Donaldson - Greg Jennings WR
2nd – Marian the Barbarian. I really wanted either Wayne or Jennings for WR, since I was at the 2 spot I thought one would be available in the 3rd. I was wrong. Anyway when I did my one man mock I had Barber as a 1st round selection and not in any draft has he gone that high, sometimes going as late as the 3rd round and this makes no sense to me. Yes Dallas will be a committee back field but Barber had his best years when Jones was running between the 20’s. ??? pick: Boldin over Calvin... bit of a reach

Round: 3
(25) Team Donaldson - Reggie Wayne WR
** (26) Team Davidson - Roddy White WR
(27) Team Amick - Ronnie Brown RB
(28) The Dudes - Peyton Manning QB
(29) Team Hesseltine - Thomas Jones RB
(30) Team Schellbach - Terrell Owens WR
(31) Team dixon - Jonathan Stewart RB
(32) Team Lebowski - Philip Rivers QB
(33) Buck Futt - Marques Colston WR
(34) Team Zielinski - Darren McFadden RB
(35) Team mcinnis - Ryan Grant RB
(36) Team Burns - Marshawn Lynch RB
3rd – A good pickup but I see a big dropoff between Wayne/Jennings and Roddy. ??? pick: most of the rb’s... Jones is too early, Stewart too early, even if McFadden is a starter could have picked up a better wr and he’d still probably be on the board

Round: 4
(37) Team Burns - Dwayne Bowe WR
(38) Team mcinnis - Tony Gonzalez TE
(39) Team Zielinski - DeSean Jackson WR
(40) Buck Futt - Jason Witten TE
(41) Team Lebowski - Pierre Thomas RB
(42) Team dixon - T.J. Houshmandzadeh WR
(43) Team Schellbach - Wes Welker WR
(44) Team Hesseltine - Kurt Warner QB
(45) The Dudes - Roy E. Williams WR
(46) Team Amick - Brandon Marshall WR
** (47) Team Davidson - Aaron Rodgers QB
(48) Team Donaldson - Knowshon Moreno RB
4th – I don’t like taking qb’s this early, but having 2 solid RB’s and the next 4-5 wr’s were of the same caliber, so I reached a bit. ??? pick: way to high for Desean.

Round: 5
(49) Team Donaldson - Vincent Jackson WR
** (50) Team Davidson - Braylon Edwards WR
(51) Team Amick - Donovan McNabb QB
(52) The Dudes - Antonio Gates TE
(53) Team Hesseltine - Derrick Ward RB
(54) Team Schellbach - Joseph Addai RB
(55) Team dixon - Reggie Bush RB
(56) Team Lebowski - Larry Johnson RB
(57) Buck Futt - Tony Romo QB
(58) Team Zielinski - Willie Parker RB
(59) Team mcinnis - Chad Ochocinco WR
(60) Team Burns - Matt Ryan QB
5th – If he can learn to catch, steal of the draft. ??? pick: none

Round: 6
(61) Team Burns - Antonio Bryant WR
(62) Team mcinnis - LenDale White RB
(63) Team Zielinski - Dallas Clark TE
(64) Buck Futt - Santonio Holmes WR
(65) Team Lebowski - Jay Cutler QB
(66) Team dixon - John Carlson TE
(67) Team Schellbach - Lee Evans WR
(68) Team Hesseltine - Hines Ward WR
(69) The Dudes - Cedric Benson RB
(70) Team Amick - Owen Daniels TE
** (71) Team Davidson - Ray Rice RB
(72) Team Donaldson - Matt Schaub QB
6th- If this were a real draft I would likely take Felix, just so I’d have the Dallas backfield no matter what, however getting Rice who is projected to start for the team that runs the most is a great value pick. ??? pick: Carlson before Daniels or Cooley or Olsen,

Round: 7
(73) Team Donaldson - Eddie Royal WR
** (74) Team Davidson - Anthony Gonzalez WR
(75) Team Amick - Jamal Lewis RB
(76) The Dudes - Bernard Berrian WR
(77) Team Hesseltine - Chris Cooley TE
(78) Team Schellbach - Ahmad Bradshaw RB
(79) Team dixon - Felix Jones RB
(80) Team Lebowski - Greg Olsen TE
(81) Buck Futt - Steelers D/ST D/ST
(82) Team Zielinski - Matt Cassel QB
(83) Team mcinnis - Donald Brown RB
(84) Team Burns - Santana Moss WR
7th – Looking at predraft rankings this is a stretch with ~5-10 wr’s ahead but, here’s where you have to do your own rankings, a solid #3wr. ??? pick: none.

Round: 8
(85) Team Burns - Giants D/ST D/ST
(86) Team mcinnis - Devin Hester WR
(87) Team Zielinski - Darren Sproles RB
(88) Buck Futt - Julius Jones RB
(89) Team Lebowski - Torry Holt WR
(90) Team dixon - Carson Palmer QB
(91) Team Schellbach - Kevin Walter WR
(92) Team Hesseltine - Ben Roethlisberger QB
(93) The Dudes - LeSean McCoy RB
(94) Team Amick - Chris Wells RB
** (95) Team Davidson - Steve Breaston WR
(96) Team Donaldson - Bobby Engram WR
8th – One injury away from having a huge year. ??? pick: Bobby Engram, he’s like the #3 wr on a bad team.

Round: 9
(97) Team Donaldson - Earnest Graham RB
** (98) Team Davidson - Matt Hasselbeck QB
(99) Team Amick - Donald Driver WR
(100) The Dudes - Chester Taylor RB
(101) Team Hesseltine - Jerricho Cotchery WR
(102) Team Schellbach - Titans D/ST D/ST
(103) Team dixon - Laveranues Coles WR
(104) Team Lebowski - Rashard Mendenhall RB
(105) Buck Futt - Lance Moore WR
(106) Team Zielinski - Fred Taylor RB
(107) Team mcinnis - Percy Harvin WR
(108) Team Burns - Kellen Winslow TE
9th – I actually think he could be the Rivers of 2009. Last year Rivers was going in the 8-9th round and was a top 5 qb at the end of the year. Hasselbeck may not be a top 5 but could do better than Rodgers and is someone I’m targeting this year. The other late round qb – Carson Palmer. ??? pick: the guy Palmer is throwing too – Coles, I think is a steal in this round. He can be a great possesion reciever and if Palmer stays healthy easily 1000 yds, so not really a questionable pick but more of a bravo pick, as in I should have taken him rather than Breaston.

Round: 10
(109) Team Burns - Eli Manning QB
(110) Team mcinnis - Michael Bush RB
(111) Team Zielinski - Ravens D/ST D/ST
(112) Buck Futt - Ted Ginn Jr. WR
(113) Team Lebowski - Donnie Avery WR
(114) Team dixon - Michael Crabtree WR
(115) Team Schellbach - Zach Miller TE
(116) Team Hesseltine - Le'Ron McClain RB
(117) The Dudes - Derrick Mason WR
(118) Team Amick - Eagles D/ST D/ST
** (119) Team Davidson - Fred Jackson RB (Part 2)
(120) Team Donaldson - Jerious Norwood RB
10th – Just adding depth. Key is picking players who if there’s an injury can step up. ??? pick: too late in the draft and I’m tired no more questionable picks.

Round: 11
(121) Team Donaldson - Dustin Keller TE
** (122) Team Davidson - Vikings D/ST D/ST
(123) Team Amick - Willis McGahee RB
(124) The Dudes - Jets D/ST D/ST
(125) Team Hesseltine - Kyle Orton QB
(126) Team Schellbach - David Garrard QB
(127) Team dixon - Domenik Hixon WR
(128) Team Lebowski - Tim Hightower RB
(129) Buck Futt - Trent Edwards QB
(130) Team Zielinski - Kevin Curtis WR
(131) Team mcinnis - Shonn Greene RB
(132) Team Burns - Patrick Crayton WR
11th – A solid D really late in the draft showing you don’t need to reach.

Round: 12
(133) Team Burns - Sammy Morris RB
(134) Team mcinnis - Miles Austin WR
(135) Team Zielinski - Ricky Williams RB
(136) Buck Futt - Chris Chambers WR
(137) Team Lebowski - Leon Washington RB
(138) Team dixon - Dolphins D/ST D/ST
(139) Team Schellbach - Muhsin Muhammad WR
(140) Team Hesseltine - Panthers D/ST D/ST
(141) The Dudes - Jason Campbell QB
(142) Team Amick - Justin Gage WR
** (143) Team Davidson - Ladell Betts RB
(144) Team Donaldson - Patriots D/ST D/ST
12th – See comment on Round 10.

Round: 13
(145) Team Donaldson - Steve Smith WR
** (146) Team Davidson - Brent Celek TE
(147) Team Amick - Jake Delhomme QB
(148) The Dudes - Joey Galloway WR
(149) Team Hesseltine - Kevin Boss TE
(150) Team Schellbach - Stephen Gostkowski K
(151) Team dixon - Ryan Longwell K
(152) Team Lebowski - Bears D/ST D/ST
(153) Buck Futt - Jeremy Maclin WR
(154) Team Zielinski - Laurence Maroney RB
(155) Team mcinnis - Chargers D/ST D/ST
(156) Team Burns - David Akers K
13th – No more LJ Smith and Philly likes dumping to the TE, he’s a reach but could be solid

Round: 14
(157) Team Burns - Shaun Hill QB
(158) Team mcinnis - Nate Kaeding K
(159) Team Zielinski - Mason Crosby K
(160) Buck Futt - Deion Branch WR
(161) Team Lebowski - T.J. Duckett RB
(162) Team dixon - Tony Scheffler TE
(163) Team Schellbach - Chad Pennington QB
(164) Team Hesseltine - Jason Elam K
(165) The Dudes - Jamaal Charles RB
(166) Team Amick - Jeremy Shockey TE
** (167) Team Davidson - Josh Morgan WR
(168) Team Donaldson - Neil Rackers K
14th – He’s on everyone’s sleeper list, and though I don’t agree he’ll be great, with no Crabtree might be a steal or at least trade bait.

Round: 15
(169) Team Donaldson - Greg Camarillo WR
** (170) Team Davidson - Visanthe Shiancoe TE
(171) Team Amick - Michael Jenkins WR
(172) The Dudes - John Kasay K
(173) Team Hesseltine - Joe Flacco QB
(174) Team Schellbach - Nick Folk K
(175) Team dixon - Rob Bironas K
(176) Team Lebowski - Limas Sweed WR
(177) Buck Futt - Heath Miller TE
(178) Team Zielinski - Robbie Gould K
(179) Team mcinnis - Mike Walker WR
(180) Team Burns - Redskins D/ST D/ST
15th – Hardly ever take 2 TE’s but with the uncertainty of celek here’s a dependable TE.

Round: 16
(181) Team Burns - Nate Washington WR
(182) Team mcinnis - Kevin Jones RB
(183) Team Zielinski - Justin Fargas RB
(184) Buck Futt - Garrett Hartley K
(185) Team Lebowski - Kris Brown K
(186) Team dixon - Sage Rosenfels QB
(187) Team Schellbach - Bo Scaife TE
(188) Team Hesseltine - Correll Buckhalter RB
(189) The Dudes - Vernon Davis TE
(190) Team Amick - Josh Scobee K
** (191) Team Davidson - Joe Nedney K
(192) Team Donaldson - Nate Burleson WR
16th – He’s a kicker and I never expect to keep 1 kicker all the way through, so random.

I am really surprised this year with the way non rb’s are going. In this draft of the top 12 picks, 2 were QB, 2 WR. Which is a bit odd, but if your picking number 1 by the time you get your second pick in a 12 team league I’d be betting that Brady/Brees/Peyton are gone and 5 wr’s too... (Fitz/Johnson/Moss/Johnson and 1 of Smith/Wayne/Jennings).

What this tells me is that the dreaded middle of the draft 5-8, could be a power spot this year, getting a top back/top wr/qb, and in the 3rd round still plenty of good rb’s left, sounds great to me.... Picking up Pierre/Grant/Smith is a possibility and as long as you don’t blow it in the middle rounds your team should be looking pretty good.

So if picking 5-8 is good then what’s bad. Well 1-4 your going to get a solid rb. 9-12 though, now your getting a good rb’s but with question marks. Is LT going to get back to old form? Can this rb duplicate his 2008 season (Deangelo/Slaton/Johnson). Then with the 2nd round you almost have to go wr, which means you’ll get a top guy but the problem with wr’s is unlike rb’s where you just have to worry about that player getting injured, you also have to worry about the qb.

Fitz is great until Warner gets hurt and Leinart steps in. same thing with Andre Johnson... anyone know who the back up qb is in Houston? I’m sure we’ll find out since Schaub can’t stay healthy... I think it’s mccown(Ed. Note - Or possibly the Sex Cannon, Rex Grossman)?? Point is much more risk with high end wr than high end rb.

Years before you could grab 2 rb’s and still get a top 10 wr for your pick in the 3rd round, this year...if you want a decent #1 you’r going to have to pick them in the 2nd round.

Fantasy Football Spreadsheets - Yeah, That's How We Roll

Good news sports nerds, the Sports As Life Fantasy Football guru Trebor is back from hiatus (also known as "having a kid"). Thanks in part to the criminally bad Sports As Life paternity leave policy, Trebor has been hard at work over the past few weeks on a one-man fantasy football draft. Too early for fantasy football you say? Feh! That's precisely the kind of attitude that leads to your consistently terrible fantasy teams. It's never too early to bone up - so let's get to boning...


This is my one man draft. It was done about 3 weeks ago, and then I came back to it and made some notes. This is the first time that I've done this, even though at this point in my life I've never been busier. But after all the winnings last year, I have a standard to uphold. The only research done on my part is checking out NFL.com once a week to see if there's any noteworthy news. I'm sure after digging around about how coaches have changed and formations and how the team drafted the postions would change considerably but it's too early to get into all that information.

(Ed. Note - Click to enlarge)

I would recommend it to any one who takes the fantasy thing seriously. It gives you a chance to go through the players well in advance - instead of a week before saying, what he plays for them now... interesting?? Also you get an idea of and get comfortable with your draft strategy. I purposefully chose Fitz in the 1st round just to see how the rest of the draft would unfold for that team. After doing the draft, I went back to it a couple of weeks later and reviewed it, as well ranked the teams. Everyone's ranking will be different but it gives you chance to see if going with rb/rb the first 2 picks is the best, or maybe just grabbing the best available, or making sure you get a rb along with top 5 wr and qb. You can also see what happens when you reach and grab that high risk/ high reward player.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Wow what a weekend, I was able to advance in all 4 leagues. The one league, the one that takes all my time, ended this past weekend and it was right down to the wire.

Unfortunately, The Davidson’s had the Logels over for Xmas thus Trebor missed watching the games and getting timely updates. However, with some of the early games ending it was not looking good, On his side Wayne, Clark, Rhodes all put up good numbers and the only guy I had was Andre Johnson so I was down by about 50.

Then out of nowhere KC decides not to play, Rivers goes from having 3 points to 21 quicker than this basketball going up in flames. In this league you get bonus points, so for qb if he throws over 300 that’s 17 pnts (1/ 25yrs then 5 bonus), in the last 2 minutes when Rivers threw for 160 yds and 2 td’s I was a happier than a Buccaneer at IHOP.

Some guys played in the afternoon, Deaneglo and Stewart brought my team within .5 points. We both had 1 player left, he had Eli and I had Westbrook. I was feeling pretty confident. Since Philly hates running the ball it was a close game, but Westbrook got 3.5 pnts on Monday night giving me an edge of 0.4 points. So many things could have changed the outcome and taken the $600 from my pocket… if Eli doesn’t heave up that last second INT, if Andre catches 1 less pass and doesn’t break the 200 yrd mark… If Chris Brown doesn’t miss that field goal. So many things once again hitting the point home that there’s a lot of luck involved.

My NFL league I’m a 5 point favorite and ?? I really just joined that league because I like the updates better than yahoo. Winning would bring a smile to my face because as in seemingly every nfl.com league 2 guys who presumably don’t know each other make the worst trade. Right after Romo got hurt and the week Boldin was coming back, the one guy trades away Romo and Breaston, for Randy Moss and Rivers. My opponent is the benefactor of that trade, oh how I want to win.

This week I’m also favored to win the championship game in our very own Sports As Life league, though the previous 2 outings against this foe I have lost. However, I have made some changes to my lineup (how Pierre Thomas was available??), sitting Warner could be bad decision though with snow in the forecast against NE, he could be disastrous even though Oaktown just scored how many points against the Pats. It should be close thanks to Dallas Clark.

Also have my espn league where I’m favored by 40 pnts this week but it’s a 2 week playoff game so who knows how that will end.

All of this is some might say is bragging and I wouldn’t argue with that, but more so just to show that the Sports As Life fantasy guru isn’t just some bum off the street (Ed. Note - As opposed to the rest of the Sports As Life staff?). Well I used to be but not anymore, like the Dolphins rising up to glory after so long in the gutter. Did anyone think they would be better than KC this year, let alone the Patriots??? Anyway nothing but the best are hired, though that college guy still hasn’t answered my question…. How can the offensive player (a qb) of the year not be the top qb of the year?? It’s probably something stupid along the lines of the BCS system but I still want to know.

With most leagues ending or over for most I thought there would be no point doing a sit start thing, but rather a question to those readers. Is anyone interested in a playoff fantasy league? I know a couple out there from my other leagues but one can be created fairly easily by say, the editor.

These work a bit different as there is no draft and individual defensive players are usually picked. In a standard league you’d pick:

2 qb’s
2 rb’s
3 wr’s
1 Te
1 Flex
2 K’s
2 DL
2 LB
2 DB

Points for offensive players is the same and defense you get points for tackles, Forced fumbles, INT, sacks.

What makes it different is the fact that there can be 2 teams with the exact same roster, you can also just pick one team. If you think the J-E-T-S are going all the way then you can load up on all jet players and then throw in some NFC players. (note they aren’t going all the way, Favre stinks… besides that one game where he threw 5 TD’s he’s been very mediocre.)

Last year it wasn’t that interesting because everyone had New England players. So most people had Brady, maroney, Moss, welker, Watson, Gostkowski. Then the difference would be one guy liked Green Bay, another guy like Dallas or whoever.

Your picking guys from teams that you think will go far, however they don’t need to be playing in the superbowl to win the league for you. If you think Dallas as wildcard should win their 1st game and their 2nd but then lose in the conference finals. That means they play 3 games, the same amount that Pittsburgh or one of the other first round bye teams might play. The max any team will play is 4, which was the case with the giants last year.

There’s a few things to consider that make it interesting, say Tennessee playing 3 games I for one would say their offensive stars would be about the same as Arizona’s stars in 2 games. Pittsburgh and Baltimore are in that same boat with no offense so picking their players is risky.

Adding in Defensive players is also fun since last year for 2nd place it came down to 2 players. One team had Adalius Thomas and the other had Brusci, all the other players were either the same or had been eliminated. Because of a sack at the end of the superbowl, the team with Thomas won by 1 pnt or something like that.

Anyway let if there’s enough interest maybe Ed. will create a league again, or if you want to know more just let me know. the other great thing is there’s no limit in size in the leagues. One league has 17 teams already and it will probably have more so people can join up at any time. There’s almost always something on the line $10, $20... since there’s no limit people usually throw in 2 teams.

So I finally got the video uploaded… this is what Rob and I tried doing last weekend, looks like fun, however since we were boarding we thought we need a bigger chute and well it ended up looking like this .

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

(ED. NOTE - The editor is too tired to edit, so here's Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby in the raw)

Well well well, the playoffs are here and for some gone. Last week I suffered a defeat in the first round in my keeper league. I could blame it on Addai, Wayne, Gore & Romo who didn’t perform or I can say if I sat romo for shaun hill, or played deangelo hall instead of coleman. I was averaging 105 pnts per week, last week 75 and only lost by 5.5. It was a rough loss but I’m still in all the other leagues..hopefully going to the final round in my espn league and winning the big one this weekend (16 teams $120/team…big prize).

I try not to look at this point of the game what my matchups are and what the opponents are. As far as your own team this should have been done before the trade deadline and if you didn’t like it something should have been done back then. Now there’s nothing to do and last week was an example of match-ups being deceiving. By match-ups I was getting blown out: Addai vs cincy, warner vs rams, colston vs atla, cotchery vs SF. Meanwhile I had westbrook vs NY (less than 50 yds first time they played), deangelo vs TB, Andre vs GB, Rivers vs Oak. The game in the end wasn’t even close 150 – 40 (rounded) for this guy. Pretty much all of his players did the bare minimum, whereas I had huge performances. Who knew that TB was that bad against the run..suddenly the witten for stewart trade pays off.

People get in trouble when it’s playoff time, going with a mediocre player with a great matchup over a guy that is a proven star with just a so-so matchup, or a star who’s in a slump. Being burnt by sitting Steven Jackson in week 6 (whatever week he went off for 30 pnts), isn’t even comparable to losing in the playoffs with him on the bench and producing. So am I going to sit Andre Johnson cause he plays against tennesee for koren robinson who gets the rams…NO. Yeah robinson could have a big game but trust me you won’t be kicking yourself because you didn’t start a #3 wr for your top guy..pissed of yes but it’s about giving yourself the best opportunity. If you like risks then play the match-ups but it’s not for me.

So to write something I looked at the match-ups this week and saw that in 3 leagues I have 3 of the same players playing this week. 2 have great match-ups 1 an alright match-up. Westbrook, and indy defense could get me 50 pnts, then the 3rd is andre. If mcnab decides that he wants to throw 70 times this week..I’m screwed or if Indy overlooks the lions I could be done. Also in 2 leagues I’m playing against teams with the pitts defense and chris Johnson (good thing Lendal probably won’t play).

If your looking for some advice short and sweet..game by game. Again no pictures cause I’m tired and sore from boarding in louise and still have to go shovel the 20 cm of snow we got last night.

TB – ATL : Sit-Turner the Burner and Matt Ryan, Garcia
Start- Roddy White, Bryant

Was – Cincy : Start – Portis, Moss, Housh

Ten – Houston : Sit – Schaub
Start – Gage

GB – Jags: Start – Rodgers, MJD
Sit – Garrard

Sf – Miami: Sit- Ronnie, Foster (If he’s a starter)
Start – Pennington, Bruce

Seattle – Rmas: Start – Branch, Morris, Jacson, Bulger

Buff- NYJ : Start- Favre, Jones
Sit – lynch, Evans

SD- KC : Start Thigpen, Rivers, LT
Sit – LJ

Detroit- Indy: Start – Any Indy offensive player
Sit – Calvin Johnson

Minny – Arzizona: Start- AP
Sit – Warner, any Arz rb. ( I’m saying sit warner cause though he will throw for 200+ yds and 2-3 Td’s I see turnovers, he’s also likely better than most #2 qb’s out there so ….

Pitts – Baltimore : I’d start no one here

Denver – Carolina : Start – Carolina rb’s, Cutler, Marshall
Sit – Delhomme

NE – Oakland: Sit – Cassel
Start – Morris

NYG – Dallas : Sit – Choice (I’m assuming Barber’s out), Eli
Start – Romo, Owens

Browns – Philly : Start- Mcnab

No real stretches out there but one thing I did just remember. It came to me when I was writing the Dallas game, and that was Jerry calling out Marian the Barbarian and I am glad he did. I know it doesn’t look good, but your team needs you . Challenging a guys toughness is ideal but jerry and the fans see the qb trying to play with a broken finger, the year before a wr with a broken thumb, then a guy with a dislocated toe and he’s out for the most important games???

With Marian out though there is a terrible trend that just serves as a reminder that you can know everything and say this is a skill, but like poker there’s luck involved. This week the following rb’s are likely out. Addai, Gore, Marian, Jacobs, Lendal. There’s also a host that have already been injured and out or that are banged up and may not finish the game. All of the guys listed though could have been #1 rb on someones team.

It’s luck when you’re the #5 in the draft you want addai, but the guy in the 4 spot takes him and leaves you with Westbrook. At the time your like oh well he’s still good. Then he gets hurt midway, you stick with him though and now he’s one of the top players down the stretch meanwhile that guy who took addai..probably out of the playoffs.

Good luck to all in the playoffs except for the editor. No even to him, though if you win I want it to be because Boldin gets those 7 Td’s, and not because of huge performances by Chris or Pitts.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Ed. Note - Apologies to Trebor for posting this late. At least this way, you can read his predictions against what actually happened and then fire away at him in the comments.


Well I took some time off from fantasy predictions for awhile as in all 5 leagues I was trying to make trades and improve my team for the stretch. In a couple leagues people not responding in time meant the trade deadline passed, in 2 leagues it was prior to the Thursday night game, but oh well.

This post will be suicide, it’s not the best move sure to backfire but hey whatever. In the 5 leagues I’m in there’s only 1 that I’m not confident of winning and that’s the one that I had to autopick. In the NFL.com, 2 yahoo’s and rtsports leagues I like the team I have and really like my chances.

In the NFL.com I picked up Reggie Bush as my #3 rb… the first two are Westbrook and Thomas Jones. Though some weeks I’ll sit the wrong guy... with those 3 I’m pretty happy. Warner is qb and as long as he stays healthy and doesn’t start fumbling I should be good.

In the Sports As Life pool, Warner is at the helm… actually in the 4 leagues I’m doing good Warner is involved. I may not be in the top as far as matchup record goes, but the points for is what I look at. Any week your guys can underperform and you lose a game you shouldn’t but, the avg points per week is indicative, being 100 points above is an average of 10 points per week. So even if one of the 3 running backs… Westbrook, Jacobs, or Jones gets nothing, should still win. Now with Dallas Clark and the easy Indy schedule down the road, all the positions are solid.

In the Keeper league I’m 3rd and 2nd in points, though maybe it’s cockiness I think I have the best team. I got to the top with Addai sitting on the bench for the last while, Greg Jennings and Wayne not doing much and room hurt. I’m not sure about Jennings turning things around but Addai and Wayne in case you still haven’t looked…look at the Indy schedule down the road, in every league I was trying to get Indy players.

In the big 16 team league… my team will be tied to Westbrook. I’m 2nd in points and though there are some good teams out there I’m fairly confident I’ll be playing the last week. If Westbrook gets hurt though, I’m done for. I was trying to trade for buckhalter, the deal would have been Andre Johnson, Plaxico, Chester taylor for Boldin, Galloway and Buckhalter. If this guy had a decent #2 wr, then yeah this trade wouldn’t happen but Galloway is his #2 so the deal would make sense, and he was going to accept but he forgot about the deadline… that bastard. Oh in case your wondering why Chester and Buckhalter would be owned this league has 16 teams and you can start 3 rb’s so every starter and every backup is on someone’s roster. This can be fun and irritating, as it’s hard when an injury happens on your team but fun in the fact that this is an active league with 1-2 trades per week.

So heading into the second half of the season with playoffs starting in a couple of weeks, this has been one of the best years, but anything can change. Like yesterday instead of chanting Hennnnnnn-riiiiiiiii it was more like Henri, Henri, Henri.

It was kind of odd going to a game not really wanting to cheer for either team, but did get to see that drunk rider fans aren’t the only ones that act stupid. A guy with his wife and kid was kicked out cause he was throwing seeds, peanuts, beer… it looked like he was going to throw his shoe one time too. Great example. I also did see a guy after getting in a fight take on a cop at the c-train. A crowd eventually came about, but I’m sure I heard the zzzzz.zzzzz of a taser, which I could have seen that.

Anyway to the picks.


So Brady’s noy playing but I think this week Cassell will have a Brady like performance and should be a start. Thomas Jones though some might not like against a tough run defense should do fine. For sits... go with Coles and Ben-e-green even though he’s got td’s in the past 4 games… Sammy Morris is coming back and too many personnel back there.

On the other side.


No comment about this one. But with the game. #1 offense against the #32 defense seems like a pretty easy one and I’m sure it will be. For Seattle though Hasselbeck might be back and who knows he may open things up. Koren Robinson has a bit of a td streak going and in deep league I am starting him. Julius would be a sit as they will probably be playing from behind. Lastly did you see what Hightower did last week against the 49’ers. About the same as Edge, so maybe its more about the system and not the back, I would consider sitting Hightower.

From beauty to … To beauty again.


She in fact a beauty queen, Miss 2007 District of Columbia, and she’s dating Jason campbell. This is a tough game, Romo is back and what is going to happen in Dallas... nobody knows. I think Romo can be started as he’s done really well against the Skins in past meetings. The last time they met Barber had a ridculuos stat of only 10 rushes or something like that, I think he gets more involved in the game along with Felix. This could be a blowout game, Portis is likely not to play and Betts is hurt so then it’s… Shaun Alexander??? Santana has big games against the Cowboys so he’s worth a start but no other Redskin as with the running game in question Campbell cant be trusted this week.

I return to …


There’s so many picture of Carmella on the net it’s amazing, hard to find respectable ones though. But since I don’t just want to post pics of girls…

Which is it alsott or alstott ??


The Bucs get Minny this week and this could be a really boring game. I don’t thnk Earnest Graham will do anything this week, but Garcia is great for the Minny defense. He’s a mobile quarterback who will run to the sides, which is what you have to do against Minny, so Garcia could throw for over 300 yards today, on of the Williams’s could also sit on him and break him?? The Minny side, the only thing I heard about Adrain last week was about his violation of wearing a white skull cap and why he wasn’t penalized for taking his helmet off. This week he’s not going to make any news, TB will set up for the run and make gus the chimney sweep beat them. I might even go so far as saying Chester Taylor could put up more points, as he gets dump passes and will get a fair amount of receiving yards. For WR’s on Minny go with Berrian, he should have a bounce back game after alst week’s poor performance.

No pic but or much to say about anyone else, but I am glad that my deals fell through for LT, last week should have been a break out game, not sure what’s wrong but something is. This week against the Pitt Def… if you have to start don’t expect much from him.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well I’m going to try to get back into things. Last week I just wrote a bit about beefing up your qb situation, and though no one got hurt, some might say Brees losing his #1 option in Bush is a big deal. You have to believe one more performance like the one Anderson had will find him on the bench, and with Cleveland going agaisnt a rested Jags defense… a new Brady bunch in the NFL?? Then there’s Brad Johnson, not sure why it happens but when the qb goes down teams sometimes fall to pieces for the first game, not sure why Romo affected their run defense but?? Another guy this week that was one of my sleeper picks that might be in for some trouble Garrard… Cleveland pass def is not that bad and Garrard is not at his best and likely missing 2 wr’s with Matt Jones getting suspended.

Right now in most leagues trades are becoming a big thing, guys at the top are looking for better depth, guys in the middle are looking for a deal that will get them into the playoffs. At this point you have to forget names: Harrison, LJ, Peyton, Holt…etc. People who have them will try to sell you on them but look at the numbers and more importantly look ahead.

LT could have been one of my names to not to get sold on. However, look at his schedule… KC twice, Oaktown, Atl, Indy and Denver. Each one of those games he could easily get 100+ yards and 1-2 TD’s. Then you have Brandon Jacobs… look at his last matchups.. Wash, Phil, Dallas, Car, Minny. Not the best matchups for a RB.

Anyways on to the week ahead


I’ll leave you guessing about that one till the end.

I really didn’t want to touch this game with any kind of bet be it over/under, spread, fantasy picks. But the game is in London and well I did just see this episode so.



The problem is which teams show up, does Colston the #1 wr actually get a catch? Do Rivers and Brees the 2 top qb’s in the league light it up or dial it in? I really have no clue and have flipped around this many times, after writing I’ll change again. SD has put up stinkers this season, but they have come back with good games… N.O.?? We don’t know they’ve lost but never like that. People may blame it on Bush being out, but last year without Vush and McCalister, Brees put up multiple 300+ yards and at least 2 td’s in 3 of his past 4 games… he likes to throw. So for that reason start the wr’s for NO, on the other side LT I think will have finally have a good game, though Rivers…he’s kind of in a funk and with Chambers likely out, if you have a good second option go with it. I’d proably sit McCalister just cause it will be an air show, and his whole steroid thing coming out may become an issue.

This is a picture of TE Todd Yoder’s injury looks painful and I’m sure it is. He suffered this during last week’s game trying to get down field on a punt and make a tackle.


So Lions and Redskins. Should be a pretty one sideded game and yeah that’s it no counter argument. Calvin Johnson could be the interesting point… He put up good numbers last week, but if I had him I’d be trying to get rid of him. They played Houston and all of his points came on one 96 yd play, when the game was decided. Washington I have to believe is better defensively and yeah Calvin is a sit candidate, if you start 3 wr’s however…he’ll be a decent #3. Of course your going to start Portis and Santana, but look for Randel el to put up some numbers maybe even throw a touchdown. This week we’ll probably see a lot more of Alexander, not worth starting but if he does good he’ll be snapped up off the waiver wire pretty quickly.

Can you guess which guy in this picture is a current NFL running back.


Guy on the left is actually Eddie George, but anyway Marshmellow lit it up last week and this coming week they get the Colts, who are terrible against the run. I was hoping that Sanders was coming back, in fact I picked up Indy’s defense for that reason and in the league there’s only waiver pickups once a week so now I’m stuck with them. This game I still don’t think will be close, but I’m not the resident game picker. This will all be about Manning, so start any of his wr’s/te, even Rhodes is worth a start even though the Titans are top against the run. Because I think that Indy’s offense will come out blazing, The Titans won't be able to keep to their run game. Chris Johnson is still a start, but Lendal he might get a TD but I would consider him at best a #3rb this week. Kerry Collins or any of the wr’s whomever they are, are also a sit. I’m thinking this game is a blowout and only Indy players are worth starting, this week.


So the mystery women was Carmella DeCesare, 2004 Playboy playmate of the year. Love that name Cesare… anyways she’s married to a man Terry Bradshaw once called the ugliest guy in the NFL - Jeff Garcia. (ED. Note - I believe the correct term is 'beard' not 'wife') This week Tampa plays Dallas, I like the Cowboys but this is going to be a tough matchup. Johnson was horrible against the Rams last week, and he’s not going to have a bounce back game, Marian Barber is a start but don’t expect much from him. The only guy I might consider as a flier would be Roy Williams, he’s had 2 weeks with the offense and should know it by now. On the other side, Garcia is a start this week he’ll spread the ball around enough that no 1 wr will get all the looks, but if you have Antonio Bryant get him in your lineup. Earnest is a definite start but I’d hold back on Dunn, he really hasn’t done too much and there may be a Caddy appearance this week.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Ed. Note - Trebor has called in sick this week too. Not that I can complain, we pay very, very... very poorly here at Sports As Life. But he did send in this little bit of sage wisdom for all you people living in the fantasy world.

If you're looking at your rosters and you only have 1 QB... your team might be in trouble. Not sure what it is this year but first Brady, then Palmer (likely out for season), Vince Young gone, Hasselbeck's back, Rodgers might be out, Romo is out, Shaub missed a game, Big Ben is going to miss a game eventually, Kitna is gone, Trent Edwards concussed, KC's qb's (not sure who they are but they must be hurt...), TB, St. Louis and Minny have had different starters - and up until last week Anderson looked like he'd be riding the pine. Have I forgot anyone?? Probably but I'm making sure any of my teams have a competent back up or at least 2 serviceable qb's cause you never know when that grocery bagger will pick up the fumblitis again and be booed out of Arizona, or maybe he'll eat too many Oreo cookies, or get eaten by an alligator.

Oh yeah with LJ being suspended don't go out and get Jamaal or kolby, they play the Titans and yes they could have a good game but chances are KC gets shut out again.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well the question came up who would be #1 if the draft was held now… of which I don’t want to talk about because I have that said running back made of tin foil and turkey bones in 2 leagues. When he plays he’s #1 back, but he’ll be out the next 2 games which means only playing 3 out of 7 so not helping anyone out. As I’ve said before it depends on the league… if your in a points per reception league Reggie Bush and Gore get a boost. Some leagues don’t give you points for return TD’s (majority), but some do. In my one league I have Wayne, TJ, and Jennings... sounds like a good trio, but Higgins for Oakland is my #2 wr because of return yards, in any other league he’s not even picked up off the waiver.

In a draft today, LT and AP are probably still taken in the top 5 even though they may not deserve to be, but they are capable of huge things. Portis should be up there to, but the division he plays in would scare people from taking him as the top guy.

Reggie Bush, yeah another top back. The guys who picked him up early (1st round) and were laughed at during the draft are laughing now, but without the return td’s I don’t think he a top rb, maybe top 10 but with return yards or td’s... yeah at this point a top 3.

Turner though he’s the top guy right now, I wouldn’t be taking him as #1, probably not in the top #5. He’s got more than half his yards and 5/6 td’s playing against Detroit and the Chiefs. For those reasons I’m not taking him in the top.

My 5 right now would probably be Portis, Barber, Gore, AP, LT. Westbrook might still make it in despite his injuries. If you believe after week 7 he’ll be good, which he should be as far as ribs and ankle is concerned, then he moves up to #1 probably. On the bubble is Bush, Lynch, Forte.

Alright so onto the picks. Last week went alright. It was the receivers that killed me, though Reggie Brown did get 84 yards… that might be #3 wr material but I’ll call that a lose. Brees got eaten by the purple people eaters (Moore and Meacham were terrible). Trent Edwards may have proved me wrong but got hurt in the first quarter so if you sat him good for you... (I see the Jim Jams went against the advice and got .72 points for the week… tisk tisk)

Now some might say sure you did, but because of time and lack of pics I didn’t put the Carolina game in last week. LJ would have been the sit, who knew that bad, but Carolina had previously played against LT, Adrian and forte…no 100 yrd rushers no td’s. Some of you may have noticed I picked up and played Carolina's defense for that reason last week.

On to this week…


This is Reggie Bush’s gal, Kim Kardashian. I wonder what he sees in her ????? Anyway the Saints play Oaktown. Oakland is coming off a bye which means they could win this game and that is scary but as The Editor said, New Orleans is the worst talented team. Huggy Bear Jr. will be starting this week so he’s a good start, and I’ll go again with Meacham. I would sit Henderson he’s a burner. He plays good one week, people get excited then he does nothing for a couple, he gets dropped and then he’ll have a breakout game again… I got fooled once but from now on I won't pay any attention to him.


The size of grapefruits. No further comments. Other than he probably will not be playing this week so start another TE. Since we started with if the draft was held now… do you think he’d still be #2 TE. Maybe still in top 10 but not very good. It’s a bad matchup for the Browns, I really want to say start Anderson but. If Winslow is out, who’s Anderson going to throw to? Add that to Jamal doing nothing. I will go out on a limb with Braylon though… he took the bye week and learned how to catch again so things should be good. On the other side Eli and Jacobs are must star and even the Toomer.


So the Redskins are doing not bad... Cooley finally had his breakout game and this week look for that to continue cause they get every team's whipping boy… the Rams. So start any offensive player - Randel El start, Campbell start. I actually can't think of anyone on either side I’d sit. Steven Jackson and holt should do good. If anyone I’d sit Bulger. Taylor will two-step past the O-line and mamba the bulge all day.


Travis Henry won't be playing ever again but he was with the Broncos last so some connection... Denver plays the Jags and this could be another real boring game. I have never watched an exciting Jags game and doubt I ever will in the near future. Fragile ‘no more’ Fred should see lots of action, as well as MJD. I think Garrard could have a big game just cause it’s Denver but he’s struggled bad this year so show him to the bench. Marshall finally came back down to earth but don’t sit him -he’s good for a td this week. The running backs, sit for sure… Pittman I believe will be the starter so that’s an indication that they won't do that well. Stokley might see more action because of the Scheffler injury but I wouldn’t start him this week. 1 good game doesn’t warrant a trip to the starting line up.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

So last week I picked things up a bit going 6 / 10 for starts and 7 / 9 for sits. Big hits were sitting Antonio Bryant and Mendenhall. Also starting Perry or Ocho Cinco. Big misses... who knew that Bowe wouldn’t put up numbers or that LenDale ‘marshmellow’ White would get 13 yrds rushing but 1 TD.

As I was back in Regina spreading the news about Trebor junior, I was told that I need pictures... so the format has changed. I’m not going to post pictures of cheerleaders... though I’m thinking pics of players wives could be a good way to pick??? Instead I’ll try and find pics that have something to do with an NFL team and then pick players from that team’s matchup on Sunday.

So this is Kendra..


She’s from the quality show - Girls Next Door. She’s dating Hef, but apparently is engaged to Hank ‘drop it in my’ Basket. There’s the loose connection.

This week Philly plays Washington. So my sits would be Campbell, as he will see a ton of pressure. Also Buckhalter since Westbrook might play. Won't know until 5 minutes before game, but even if Westbrook is out, Buckhalter has minimal value and better rb’s can be found. For starters, give Reggie Brown the nod this week, he’s back from his injury and should get a lot of balls thrown his way.

Don’t you wish that you could wear whatever you wanted with the fact that no one could say anything to you… case in point.


Guess what, this guy plays on the defensive line. I know you were probably thinking corner, but yeah DL. He used to play for the Saints but now he just sits at the Crab Shack eating Crabbie Patties.

So in the game NO vs Minny. Start Ferotte, not sure who he throws to but he can put up numbers. Then on the other side start Robert Meacham or Lance Moore, the first won't get a lot of receptions but is targeted in the red zone so both are good #3 wr’s.

Because Youtube is blocked at work and my home comp sucks I’m hoping editor can post this hit.

(ED. NOTE - Ask and ye shall receive)

Not a good one if you don’t like seeing people get hurt, but the videos I can watch on the web are mostly skaters and bikers and guess what they’re doing? The hit makes you cringe definitely and your not going to laugh like when the biker mis-times his jump and hilarity and blood ensues. Anyway, in Arizona Warner had 6 turnovers last week, I’d be a bit worried since Buffalo is looking really good this year. I wouldn’t run and start Breaston if Boldin doesn’t play. I don’t see this being a high scoring game. Gotta sit Edge this week, he get’s no TD's and that’s what counts. I’d also sit Edwards this week, his numbers against the Rams kinda sucked and this week Arizona gets Adrian Wilson back. In my IDP league he’s been a must start for the last 2 weeks so with him back the secondary gets a lot better.

How can I have loosely related pics without a pic of my girl... sweet sweet Jessica.


So this week she’s out shopping for engagement rings. I see this as a great move by Romo, when your getting blitzed with ‘when are we gonna get married’, ‘did you see my sisters ring’, ‘no more putting out until were engaged’, what do you do. If you drop back too much you’ll be under too much pressure and might cave or worse yet drop the ball and whoops, you got 9 months to get married now. You can run but that is only so good. So what you do is lull them in, make them think they’ve got you then hit them with the screen pass... birthday present – fishing pole, Christmas – fake promise ring (what was I thinking).

Oh yeah, weekend pics... Ocho cinco did as I predicted get his first TD last week. This week he’s back on the bench along with the rest of the Bengals, Dallas is mad and Cincy doesn’t have a qb. After TO had his vent session you gotta believe he’ll see some balls thrown his way, but what about this Miles Austin guy? He’s a start in deeper leagues for sure.

And this picture is just too good not to post.


Photo from 289.com

The Raiders after starting the week off on a high they inevitably falter in the last quarter and end up losing going into the bye week. The offensive coordinator is then put on notice, and told any day your going to get fired and I’ll drink your blood.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well, I finally got to watch some football and it was a frustrating day, as you may have gotten from my post last week. Speaking of that post, CH was asking about QB’s and it’s such a great question. If there were another draft held today, look at the different top positions:

Top 10 WR's - still pretty much the same except for Moss and Colston, both due to injury. Holt is really the only one I can think of that’s been a big disappointment.
Top 10 RB's - maybe Willie Parker moves into the top but even Steven Jackson is still putting up decent numbers - maybe not top 10 but not a big bust.
Top 10 QB's - here’s where the fun begins. This year in all my drafts I waited until the later rounds to pick up my QB. I got Warner in most of my leagues and he’s worked out not bad. But if you selected a top 10 projected QB, how are you feeling now? Anderson is close to losing his job, Palmer might turn things around, Big Ben is hurt and struggling, Brady is out. Hasselbeck and Bulger have done nothing and to some degree Peyton has been a disappointment.

So that’s what - 7 out of 10?? Not good. Instead your top qb’s are Rivers, Cutler, Warner and Rodgers, many of them selected for a teams #2 qb.

Now with the bye week, the Manning bros’ are sitting so teams may be looking for a qb right now, and there should be some guys still on Waivers. As I said there in my post, there are some options out there - JTO, Edwards, Campbell... maybe even Griese (though I’d wait a couple weeks before proclaiming him a top qb).

If you have a top qb maybe look at moving him for. I just traded Warner in 1 league away for Schaub. There were a few other players involved but sell high, buy low. Schaub may lose his job but if he makes it through this week his schedule gets more favorable. I also have rivers as my other qb so I'm not too worried. But the thing here is that the qb position is up and down, people are losing jobs and maybe Trent Green, Gus Ferotte or Brady Quinn become top guys, so get strong at the other positions and try and find a serviceable qb.

When you're looking, look ahead see what games are coming up. Make sure that you don’t get 2 with the same bye or have difficult mathcups the same week. When it comes to Sunday play your best match ups, sitting Mcnabb for Edwards this week might be a great move. Edwards may not be the best but playing against St. Louis… the only thing stopping him from throwing 2-3 td’s is Lynch just running it in all the time.

Anyway last week, my pat on the shoulder pick... sit Delhomme against a weak Minny pass def… he threw for what 129 yds no td’s. LJ was so close, tuning in mid way threw the 3rd quarter he had done nothing. However, I didn’t know the KC was that bad... LJ got his points in garbage time cause Atla. didn’t care they crushed them. Again the sits were pretty bang on. The starts ??? where did Kevin jones go in Detroit?? I still don’t know. How can Bryant Johnson the #1 wr in SF only get 2 catches against Detroit???.

I’ll start off with who to start, see if that changes things.

WR
How about Robert Meacham? Colston is out, Shockey is out, General Patten might be out. Brees can only throw swing passes to Bush so much, so it’s either Meacham or Henderson...
Dwayne Bowe – yes he plays for the Chiefs, but Denver seems to have a terrible defense so…
Josh Reed – he gets targets a lot and is playing against the Rams, plus Parrish is out so he’s the unquestioned #2 guy.
Ocho Cinco – he’s done nothing but I think it’s a shootout game and he’s gonna get his TD this week.

QB’s
Delhomme – last week I said sit, this week start. Smith in his 2nd game back against Atla. I’m believing that KC is that bad and not Atla not that good.

I already mentioned Edwards and JTO… so that’s enough qb’s

RB
Jacksonville duo – last week they came out finally, this week they play Houston they should both put up solid numbers.

John Stewart – he seems to be the goaline back so he should see lots of work this week.

Chris Perry – hopefully Cincy has turned things around and being the starting back in that offense should help.

Sit

RB
Lendal 'Marshmallow' White – he’s been getting the TD’s and been a serviceable #2 back, however against Minny he wont get many chances.

Thomas Jones - he started off great but has fallen off, even if Favre is a bit banged up he’s not going to hand the ball off so I would consider him a #3.

Westbrook and Willie Parker are out, should you start their back-ups??? Buckhalter yeah, Mendenhall no - stay away from this guy. He may have a great game but he’s up against Baltimore and his fumblitis kept him off the field for the most part… too many negatives.

WR
Antonio Bryant – here’s my far out pick... he had something like 18 receptions last week, and GB defense isn’t the greatest but I’m thinking they’ll cover this guy a bit better this week.

Hines Ward – he’s been doing pretty good, but I’m just enjoying the downfall of the Steelers so much… Baltimore is going to pester Big Ben all night and I don’t think he’s healthy, so Ward may see a lot of targets but nothing big.

Tory Holt – this is an easy one, no one is thinking that Trent Green is the answer and Holt wasn’t doing anything before so…

QB
Big Ben – as mentioned before
Garrard – they’ll run he ball too easily, plus he’s struggling thus far
Derek Anderson – I think this might be the last week we see him, onto the Brady era. It’s too bad stone hands Edwards and Winslow haven’t helped and their matchup have been tough. This week on paper easy game but things don’t look good.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well anther week where I missed all the games because of softball in the afternoon and soccer in the evening - 1 day I’ll watch a game and hopefully it’s not Seattle, St Louis, Cleveland or Cincy playing - oh yeah, Oaktown and KC are on that list too.
My recommended sits were bang on last week, the greatest of them was going against the the grain and the experts. Favre against a weak NE secondary... he’ll put up big numbers. Nope. Ryan Grant going against the Lions... big numbers. Nope. It helps that he got hurt but he was on the injury report and yet people were still giving him the must start status, not this guy though.

The starts were a different story, though. Looking at some of the scores in my fantasy leagues there were no big time players. Warner and Rivers were top notch, as were their receivers. But again your not going to sit Fitzgerald or Boldin. It’s the guys you pick up in the later rounds that you have the decision to make about and none of those guys put up numbers this week.

On to week 3 and I’m dialing this one in, not sure what that means but I’m assuming it means I’m going to be lazy this with this week's picks.

Sit
WR
Braylon Edwards – wow hands of stone, he also plays for 1 of the teams that should be good but aren’t. That is Cleveland/Cincy. I’d consider Braylon or even Housh, like a #3wr. The other awful teams… St. Louis, Oaktown, KC, Seattle were never expected to be good so them sucking isn’t a big surprise.
Chris Chambers – he’s a top 10 wr right now so this may be a tough one though all of his points have come from like 5 catches… and this week the Jets may shut him down.
Santonio Holmes – he hasn’t been great this year and with a tough matchup this week I don’t see big ben and his big shoulder throwing the ball deep, which is where Holmes gets his catches.

RB
Don’t say LJ don’t say LJ…
LJ - he’s been his typical awful self in the beginning of the season and now he’s complaining about how many touches he gets. This week looks like a great match up for him. Though he’s got Thigpen is in... who’s that? Do you think Atlanta will be stacking the line??? Either way, he’s my breakout/bust player… he’ll either post ridiculous numbers or terrible - no in between for this game.
Well if LJ is on there I might as well put LT on here too. Is he going to play??? Will he be any good?? The Jets may not be the best but if he’s hurt and with a competent backup he may lose some carries this week. Consider him a decent #2 rb, so your probably not going to bench him but there is definitely better options out there. But I would consider sitting him if say, Kevin or Julius Jones were my #3 back.

As with every previous week all Houston, Cincy, Cleveland rb’s should be benched... and this week Carolina rb’s can be added too

QB
Matt Shaub – I liked this guy going into the season but the mess in the backfield along with the seemingly unmovable Titans' defense makes me believe he’ll be sacked 10 times and forced to heave some balls.
Jake Delhomme – this is a risky pick cause Minny sucks against the pass, but they held Peyton for like 3 quarters, sure he ended up with 300+ yds but most came near the end.

Start
I’m broadening this to guys that may be on the waiver wire that if you have room you should scoop up.

QB
JTO - too lazy to see how to spell his name, but he plays the Lions this week, so book it.
Cassel – he may be no Brady but he’s going against the Dolphins and guess what Dolphin made a prediction? I wonder how Parcells reacted to that??
Hasselback- who’s he throwing to??? He plays the Rams at home so it should be good. NOTE* this week in the one league I will be starting Courtney Taylor and Koren Robinson. The Rams defense better not show up this week.

RB
Fred Jackson – last week I wouldn’t have known who you were talking about. He’s Lynch’s backup so not a lot of work but he gets catches and runs and plays Oakland... consider him a solid #3 rb.
Darren Sproles – probably not available anymore but if you own LT... get this guy now. He probably doesn’t start this week but even if he doesn’t LT's workload may be decreasing.
Michael Bush – even if Mcfadden does start Bush will get 10-15 carries and he can always break a long one. Probably a low end #3 rb this week.
Kevin Jones - gets to play against SF in what will be a shootout.
Julius Jones – should see lots of action against a bad defense.

WR
John Carlson – yeah he’s actually a TE but he’ll get lots of looks from Hasselbeck in St. Louis
General David Patten – Last week against the Editor, I picked up Devrey Henderson because Brees throws the ball, well that didn’t work out to well - he either does great or nothing. Patten however should see double digit targets so ppr leagues he’s a strong #3.
Desean ‘TD’ Jacskon – Luckily in the league that I have him I also have Westbrook so no harm no foul. Anyway back to to back 100+ yrd games... that’s a good sign, though he is playing a tough Steeler defense.
Bryant Johnson - really him or Isaac Bruce could be considered #2 wr this week with a favorable matchup.

Something key next week, you have the beginning of the bye weeks… Lions, Colts, Patriots, Giants, Seahwaks. So there a few key players going to be sitting - best to start looking at the waivers early.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well I didn’t see one game this past Sunday because of Ultimate Frisbee and a movie called Traitor. Looks like I missed a bunch injuries to QB’s – Vince Young, Brodie Croyle. RB’s- Joe Addai. TE – Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates. WR - Marques Colston… oh yeah and god (Tom Brady). So there will be some moves on the waiver wire for sure, and maybe people won't play guys who are literally sitting on the bench. It’s the first week so it can happen but come on…

So when your right 50% of the time your wrong 50% of the time. Turns out WR’s suck - really really suck. The 2 guys I said to watch for - Bruce and Gaffney both 0 catches. I started Bruce in 1 league… luckily it wasn’t a difference maker. Gaffney has now been cut by all my teams. I did mention that St Louis was going to suck but I didn’t know it would be that bad, with both Jackson and Holt doing arguably nothing (7 and 1 pts respectively).

In my 16 team league I picked up Colston and TJ and I was thinking I did not bad… well 5 points combined is… something… right. Instead, if you took any Philly WR you were laughing.

There were a couple of big performers - Eddie Royal and Hines Ketchup (2 td’s), though talking about Pittsburgh brings up everyone's breakout candidate Santonio Holmes, who did nothing…

Anyway back to the picks… I said stay away from Seattle players and well that was a good call. On the other recommendation the RB tandems out there had mixed reviews. Both Tennessee backs (Johnson and White) got TD’s, so not bad. Though I still don’t know who to sit/start there. In Carolina, Deangelo Williams is obviously the favorite getting 8 more attempts in the game but 9 points is not starting RB numbers.

Misses
Indy players – I missed the game but wow what happened Peyton? Did you go out celebrating after hearing Brady’s out.
Warner - he did alright, but the expectations weren’t for Hightower to get td’s.
Cutler – the one game I get to watch in week 1 and it’s that!!! TH, how are they even called an NFL team. Another reason Warner made this list is cause I started him over Rivers and ended up losing by 5 points to the guy who had Cutler the anger is still with me. Come on I thought Oaktown had a secondary??? then there’s the QB... when it’s 41-7 you should be able to move the ball… another topic I guess.


Hits
Seattle/St Louis players - Warner will lead the Cards to the divison title, or maybe O'Sullivan will, what a bad division.
Favre/Pennington - true they didn’t do much better than Warner but they were better than the middle of pack.
Houston/Carolina RB’s - committee situations suck.
Oakland RB’s – Fargas did alright, Mcfadden... ha. All those people who took him in the 2-3rd round. In the future all Oakland players might join all Seattle players on the sit list.
Delhomme – he did get the last second TD, but that wasn’t enough to call it a good game.
TE’s- they had a huge week though Utect and Keller didn’t get as much Fasano did, as well as many other TE’s.

Week 2:

Sit
RB’s
– Maroney - almost want to say all New England players, but Maroney for sure. He may get more carries with Cassel, but I’d rather take a flier on Sammy Morris. He gets the goaline work and even last year he was the better RB until he got hurt in week 6.

- Chris Perry/Jamal Lewis - both could be good but their offenses are in shambles right now. So either of them as a #3 rb, but nothing better.

- MJD/Fragile Fred - committee situation and they are also missing 3 starting O-lineman.

- Ryan Grant – this may be an odd one, cause of what Turner did last week. Detroit’s head coach came in saying they were going to run the ball more and stop the run. I think they’ll focus on stopping the run, plus Grant is banged up and might lose carries to Jackson.

QB’s
Favre – the winning TD was the classic Favre, heave and hope. NE has a better defence. And the little general I think will have his team motivated to go out there and have the defence win a game.

Anderson/Palmer - they play tough defenses and both look rusty. These 2 were probably picked up as #1 QB’s, but hopefully you got a solid #2

WR’s
Hank Baskett – If you're in bigger leagues this guy has probably come off the waivers… he may turn out good, but in last week's game he only had 2 catches. Yes he did break 1 tackle and get 90 + yds and a TD, but Mcnabb obviously isn’t looking his way often.

Roddy White – It looks like Atlanta is going to be a running team and also playing against a tough backfield in Tampa. People were high on him saying look what he did last year with Harrington/Leftwich/Redman… how can he do worse? We may see.

Start
RB’s
It’s close to the point where I wouldn’t start any Oakland/Seattle/St Louis player. However, Fargas is going to get more carries in Oaktown and he might be good for a score this week. As well, Double J (Julius Jones) lost his partner in the backfield so he gets the ball to himself so maybe he’ll do something with it. Both could put up #2 RB numbers.

QB’s
Eli Manning – he plays St Louis.
Kerry Collins – it’s hard to think he’ll do worse that Young, he also gets a great match-up in Cincinnati.

Aaron Rodgers – a penalty kept him form having a great game last week, this week Detroit will help.

WR’s
Bowe – unless last week was a hiccup for Oakland Bowe should go to town. Last year almost all of Bowe’s TD’s came from Huard not Croyle so something to think about.

Matt Jones – shudder, this guy is talked about every year, and for the past 3 years he’s been a bust. This year though he was the most targeted through preseason and in game 1 so I’m giving him a shot.

Steve Smith - not Carolina but New York… maybe even Toomer. St Louis looks terrible and no one would think about sitting Plaxico, but consider these guys as fliers.

TE’s
You have to like Fasano in Miami and possibly Martin. I’m sure I heard something this week about the majority of noodle arms passes being thrown to TE’s and the RB’s.

LJ Smith – I didn’t know that he was back, he seems to be hurt a lot but I think he’s a target for when they get inside the 20 so he might be able to get a TD.

Shockey – I think he’ll benefit the most with Colston being out, the other wr’s might step up but they are #2-#3 wr’s with not much consistency.

Something that worries me... My girlfriend Jessica opened her mouth which is usually a good thing, but not this time. Last year the Jessica jinx came in when they played Philly at home and lost. This year she started making comments and I would consider sitting Romo if I had a solid backup. Philly has a great pass rush and he could put up a stinker on Monday night.

The Return of Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Trebor returns for his first Fantasy Football post of the year. Truth be told he sent it to me on Friday but we had our Sports As Life fantasy draft today, so I didn't want to give anything away. I'm sure there are still people out there who haven't had their drafts yet, so I'm sure this will still be topical. Here's what he has to say:


Originally I was going to write about my first time doing a mock draft. With the hectic summer of Trebor I felt I didn’t really know what was going on - so I thought I’d see if there are any kind of trends, what were the valuable position and see some possible sleeper candidates. I was also going to write this 2-3 weeks ago but... Oops.

Instead I thought I’d pass along something important I found out this week about fantasy football - this may seem obvious but I’ve kinda ignored it the past few years. Know the rules, know the league. The topic even fits with the upcoming Sports As Life draft though on Yahoo… do we have 10 yet ?? Anyway I got an email from one of the leagues that’s drafting next week, spots were randomly drawn and I got 10th out of 12. Some people may not like being so close to the end but honestly I hate being in the middle - the worst picks are 5-8. The first round is terrible cause of those 4 picks there is no real difference between the value you’ll get, so it’s personal choice. However 2 of those 4 will probably be busts. Also you have to wait so long in between picks.

Anyway I looked down at my cheat sheet which is fairly close to anyone’s out there and number 10... Marian the Barbarian, or maybe Marshawn Lynch... both good backs that should post solid number. Then I look at #14 and it’s Owens or Romo. 2 solid picks and if the draft was that day I may have picked that way. However it wasn’t so I had some time to do some research and I’m glad I did.

First of all the rules are like no other league… TH and the Editor can account for that. You start 2 qb’s,2rb’s,2wr’s,1 rb/wr flex, 1 TE, 1 Wr/Te flex, 2 k, 2 Def. The scoring is also non standard in that it’s yards weighted. I took Wayne and Barber’s numbers from last year just cause they are good examples. Last year in standard scoring Wayne :135, Barber 119. In this league however Wayne: 210 Barber: 158. That’s a big difference and they both had the same TD count but wayne had 500 more yards.

So that’s confirming that I should be taking a top WR that will get lots of yards, it also makes Barber overvalued at #10. What it really did was make me consider going WR/WR.

For the past years the fantasy gurus will say take rb/rb/rb, or at least two rb’s in the first 3 rounds, the only exception was manning, and 1 or 2 wr’s. This year it’s different though, there are too many injuries with the top backs, and also too many committee type situations. Of the top 10 running backs there is no real committee situation - though Felix Jones may steal carries, Barber is the guy in Dallas. After that you get to MJD, Willie, Jacobs, who will lose work to the #2 rb. No one is saying Wr/Wr/Wr, but there’s a lot more of them this year in the top 25 on any website ranking sheet.

I may be in trouble doing this down the road, but I think I’d still get a decent back, Edge or Jamal Lewis. The reason being is a trend probably would start. Going into a draft you have your players ranked or know who you want, which is fine. Others tier the positions, which is a bit better. So for top WR you might have: Owens, Wayne, Braylon, Andre Johnson, Colston. Then teir 2: Housh, Fitz, Steve smith, Holt.

So the point with tiering is that you go into the draft saying I want a top tier receiver, or more likely I want no less than a 2nd tier wr. Then when it comes to your pick you look down and let’s say out of your 9 guys, there are still 7 available. You determine when your next pick will be, if after this pick your next selection is 10 spots later you weigh the odds. What are the chances that 7 of the next 10 picks are wr’s. You’ll determine you can pick a different position and still get a top wr. If however your at the 10th spot between round 2 and 3 there’s 20 picks in between - if you don’t take one of those guys now you won’t get the chance later.

So by selecting wr/wr, people will have to jump on a receiver earlier than they may have wanted, leaving some rb’s for my 3rd round pick.

However, the second point this was know your league. This may be tough for a first timer, but if you’re with the same group of guys you should try to see if they have any tendencies... maybe they’re a raiders fan (why I don’t know) and they try and grab them or stay away at all costs, or maybe they really like quarterbacks. Point is use whatever information to your advantage.

In this same league the guy at #11, who I couldn’t pick out of a crowd for the past 3 years he’s picked Manning in the first round. Safe bet that he’ll do it again. What that means is that by the time I chose my 2nd player there will likely be 2 qb’s taken... maybe 3. Since this league also starts 2 qb’s a lot are taken early on. Last year in the 3rd round Brees was selected, and in total of the first 26 picks 10 were quarterbacks. This is where the noodle scratching starts, if I wait for round 3 to select a QB, by previous years results I’m looking at Jay Cutler-ish, for my #1 qb, tier 3 for my list. Not that good, so wr/wr may not be the best??

I’ve changed my mind on this a couple of times and probably will a few more times before the draft. The point is to have a strategy going into the draft, even if you don’t stick to it in the least, it will get you thinking and into draft mode. There’s nothing worse than coming out of draft looking down at your players and saying... damn... better luck next year. And you can’t devise any kind of strategy without knowing the rules.