Football Questions part 2

What is fantasy football?
Fantasy football is the fastest growing pastime in the USA. Football fans form a league by drafting actual NFL players to their “fantasy” teams. Each week these teams compete and compile points base on the performance on the NFL players in actual NFL games. The league structure and scoring can vary from league to league, but most standard leagues use a head to head set up where the result of the game you take part in each week is either 1 win or 1 loss. There are other league structures in which points are accumulated each week and the team with the most cumulative points at the end of the season wins. These types of leagues have lost favor in recent years.

Who is the best wide receiver in fantasy football?
This question is as much a question of system as it is of talent. Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Steve Smith and Andre Johnson are all very talented receivers and all of them could be listed as the best wide receiver in Football. These receivers all have a question mark in there system…quarterback. Terrell Owens is a known locker room liability playing with a far from proven quarterback in Trent Edwards. Randy Moss is on the downside of a remarkable career and his all pro signal caller Tom Brady is coming off major knee surgery. Steve Smith is a sure handed piece of steel with the heart of a lion, but he still has Jake Delhomme throwing to him. The same Delhomme that has played horrible in all but one season of his career. Andre Johnson is a very sexy pick this year for top receiver and he very well may be if Matt Schaub can stay on the field. That leaves the obvious, but unmentioned choice, Larry Fitzgerald. Larry Fitzgerald was the hero of the Cardinal’s playoff run last season. He is also the a very talented receiver and the number one option in one of the most potent passing passing offenses on recent history. If you have to pick just one wide receiver this season, pick Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals.

How do I win fantasy football?
This is a simple but not easy answer. Here are the pillars of success in fantasy football 1) Do your research, fantasy championships are not won on draft day but they sure can be lost on draft day. Make sure you know who is where on the depth chart, who is injured and who is cut. Your best bet for staying up to date and making the most of your draft is the UberRank Fantasy Football Cheatsheet 2) Watch the games and stay active. Every week someone goes down and makes the number 2 on the depth chart on a number 1. The player with the most add/drops during the season is almost always in the running for the hardware at the end of the season 3) When making trades, study you opponents weaknesses and exploit them at every turn. If you can strengthen your team by moving bench players or back ups do it. 4) Pay Attention!!!!!

Running Backs- 2009 Fantasy Overview

We started this offseason with a feature on wide receivers but the cornerstone to success in fantasy football is a strong and healthy running back corps. Every year there are some surprises and unexpected twists in fantasy football but few positions are as unpredictable as running back. With the philosophy of running back by committee like the Patriots have employed and time share systems like Jacksonville had with Maurice Jones Drew and Fred Taylor, running back has become increasingly hard to predict. Last year Ladanian Tomlinson was the consensus number one pick, but injuries hampered his ability to live up to his promise. For several seasons, Steven Jackson has been highly regarded but the lack luster performance of the once daunting Rams offense and health problems have left Jackson in the perennial under achiever category. So, with all of this in mind, here are six questions to help you navigate the turbulent waters of running back selection this season.

Q) Many of the NFL’s once premiere running backs have either changed teams (Fred Taylor) or are yet to find a new home (Edgerrin James, Deuce McCallister, Rudi Johnson). Who of this bunch is the most interesting this season?

A) Edgerrin James. James was in a tough situation last season. He was in a throw first offense and he had a big, young, short yardage machine sitting behind him in Tim Hightower. This did not leave him much opportunity to really show his worth, but when Arizona needed someone they could count on in the playoffs, James was the guy. There a number of teams who need a durable, experienced guy who they can count on to pick up blocks and catch balls out of the backfield on third down. There are also some teams who need guy to share the load with a young talent so that they can increase the longevity of the youngster. New Orleans could fit this situation, Reggie Bush has proven that he is an electrifying playmaker but he is not a traditional “pound the rock” guy who can carry the ball 25 times if they need him to. Chicago is another team that has a talented young guy that would benefit from an Edgerrin James to spell him and help out on third down.

Q) There are always certain players that everyone is overly high on despite their inability to put of the numbers. Who is this season’s most overrated Running Back?

A) Larry Johnson. This guy has been absent for 2 seasons and yet people still have him in the top 20. The new sheriff in Kansas City is bringing the Arizona offense to town; it will shock me if Johnson breaks 700 yards this season.

Q) On the flip side, there are also players who, no matter how well they produce, people are always looking for them to fall on their face. Who is the running back that gets the least respect from the pundits?

A) Frank Gore. He has been the first and only weapon on the putrid 49er offense for several seasons now. People are always bagging on his health but he keeps showing up and keeps putting up 1200 yard seasons.

Q) Every season has at least one rookie that starts their fantasy career with a bang. This happens without fail, look at Chris Johnson of the Titans, Matt Forte of the Bears and Marshawn Lynch of the Buffalo Bills 2 years ago. With a very light rookie class this season, who is the rookie running back most likely to emerge as a legitimate fantasy producer?

A) This year’s standout rookie running back is Knowshon Moreno. On a team that already had a bunch of backs in their stable they used their first round pick on a 3 down back. Obviously they did not yet have what they were looking for. Look for this team to lean on the running game as Kyle Orton and Chris Simms find out who is the best of the what’s left after Cutler’s departure and Moreno will see the bulk of those carries.

Q) Which running back, who is projected as the second option in a running back by committee situation, is the most likely to have true fantasy impact?

A) If Mike Shanahan was still in Denver, I would say whoever is projected as number 2 for them. Since he is not, I am going to go with Jonathan Stewart in Carolina. With all of the hype over DeAngelo Williams scoring five thousand touchdowns last season, everyone forgot that he started the season as the guy most likely to loose his job. If Williams comes back to earth, even a little bit, you will see Stewart start picking up more and more playing time. If Williams doesn’t come back to earth, I change my pick to Rashard Mendenhall or Darren Sproeles (nothing like committing to a position)

Q) Each season there is a formerly premiere running back who inexplicably stops producing and becomes completely irrelevant. Last year it was Rudi Johnson, before that it was Shaun Alexander and Ahman Green. Who will be this year’s once dominant running back who disappears off the face of the earth?

A) I am going WAAAYYYY out on a limb here and saying Marion Barber. Barber runs like a man possessed. He always tries to get the extra yard, he always tries to run through people instead of going out of bounds and he always hits the line at absolute full speed. This is what makes him great and why coaches and fans love him, it is also why players who play like this rarely last more than a few seasons as hugely productive. Christian Okoye used to play like this, Ahman Green did as well. They both played at a very high level for a few years and then all that reckless abandon caught up with them at once. It is usually a combination of health and situation that leads to this. You break down faster because of the way you play and you can’t play the way you once did because you are breaking down. In addition, Barber has a very talented Felix Jones waiting to take over when he falls apart. Don’t be surprised if you see Barber turned back into a strictly short yardage specialist.

Fantasy Football Questions Answered

When does the 2009 Fantasy Football season start?
The actual start date of a fantasy football league depends entirely on the league itself. Most fantasy leagues coincide directly with the NFL season. Because of this, most fantasy football leagues begin on labor day weekend with their fantasy football draft. In most leagues, the 2009 fantasy football season starts September 4 through September 7. If you have not found a league by September 7th, don’t fret, there are plenty of other procrastinators. There will be leagues that are still drafting into the second week of the season. To find a league where you can play for free and find a draft right into the second week of the season, some good places are yahoo.com, espn.com and cbssports.com

How does a fantasy football draft work?
In redraft leagues the draft order is usually picked randomly. Some Fantasy Football Leagues use a software service to select the draft order, some fantasy leagues go old school and draw names out of a hat. Once the draft order is selected, the player who was lucky enough to draw number one selects the player that they want. Most drafts have a time limit per selection. This prevents players from taking an excessive amount of time on picks and causing the draft to last many hours. The selections go from first to last in the first round. Most leagues operate in a serpentine pattern so the second round would go last to first. This continues until all rosters are filled. Some fantasy football leagues have required numbers of positions. For example 2 Quarterbacks, 3 running-backs, etc. These requirements will differ from league to league.

Who should be the first pick in Fantasy football this year?
Conventional wisdom say that the first pick should be the best running-back available. With teams in the NFL increasingly using the running-back by committee approach in order to offer a change of pace and keep high production running-backs fresh and on the field in crunch time, this ideology may change but for now, it is sound. This being the case, the consensus first pick in the 2009 fantasy football draft and on most Fantasy football cheat sheets should be Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. He is one the last true feature backs in the NFL and he amasses close to 1900 yards last season and 10 touchdowns. If you are in a league the awards 6 or 7 points for a quarterback’s thrown touchdowns, an argument could be made for Drew Brees as the number one pick but since most leagues only allow you to play one quarterback and several running-backs at the same time, stock piling running-backs is always a good idea if you can do it.

What is a serpentine draft?
A serpentine fantasy football draft is in which the draft order starts with round one going 1 – 10 and then round 2 proceeds with the player in position 10 starting the round and the player in position 1 finishing the round. This pattern continues until all rosters are filled. The reason for the serpentine draft pattern is to ensure that every player gets an equal opportunity to draft the best team. Without the back and forth progression, the player in the early positions would have a great advantage since they would always be drafting early in every round. With the serpentine draft order, the person who picks 1st would get picks 1 and then 20 and then 21 and then 40. The fantasy football player who picks 10th would select 10th and then 11th and then 30th and 31st. In a standard draft sequence the player who picks first would pick 1st, 11th, 21st, 31st, while the 10th position player would select 10th, 20th, 30th and 40th. The fantasy football play in position 10 of the fantasy draft would be at a serious disadvantage.

What is the best position to draft first in fantasy football?
The easy answer here is running back. Conventional wisdom is draft a running back first round, but this really does depend on the scoring system of your league and your draft position. If you are in a league that scores favorably for quarterbacks, and you are in picks 6 or later, you might want to think about Drew Brees or Peyton Manning or even Tom Brady if you are feeling confident about him after missing a whole season. In addition, if you are in a 12 or 16 team league and are in position 11 or later, you might even want to take a flyer on a Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson or even Calvin Johnson. The drop off in quality of wide receiver after those guy go is big. The thing about wide receivers and to a lesser extent quarterbacks, is that they go in runs. If you are in a 16 person league and the person in position 11 take a wide receiver and the person is position 13 take a wide receiver, you might want to think about taking one of the top three wideouts if you are in the last couple spots in the draft. In a 10 person league, you can pretty safely say the most Fantasy football cheat sheets will tell you to take a running back but it is not always that simple.

Who is the best fantasy football quarterback?
For the past several seasons the quarterback on the top of almost everyones Fantasy football cheat sheet has been “Peyton Manning”. The guy is like the post office…always delivers. However, the last 2 years in a row there has been someone else at the top of the QB list when the season ended. Two years ago it was Tom Brady (breaking the touchdown record that Manning had set the season earlier) and last year it was Drew Brees taking the high powered New Orleans offense into the record book by almost breaking Dan Marino’s passing yards record. This year, who knows. The prognasticators have Brees as the number one pick but there might be someone new ascend to the top. If in doubt, Peyton Manning is always a safe bet.

Who is the best fantasy football running back?
This year, this will be a very tough question. The best fantasy football running back depends on several factors. The first is the system. With many teams going to the running back by committee or RBBC as it is often listed, it is difficult to find a feature back that gets 80% of the workload. There are a few of them left, Adrian Peterson (Min), Steven Jackson, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore and this year Maurice Jones Drew, to name a couple of marquis option. These are only good options if they stay healthy and health is the second key factor. With a position like running back in the NFL, these player are quite literally getting pounded week in and week out and if the player is a true feature back like the ones listed above who will get most of the workload, players do tend to breakdown. Many seasons it is enough to just stay healthy and you will be in the top of the running back class. The final key factor is play calling. With many offenses there is a even mix of run and pass, this usually works out well for the running back stats. Some offenses go as high as 70% pass, this is not so good. The only time this is good is if the offense is like the Philadelphia Eagles, where even if they do pass 70% of the time, 50% of the passes are to the running back. This is especially good if you are in a point per reception league. The best possible situation is to own a running back that is a true feature back in an offense that runs more than 55% of the time…and of course hopefully he stays healthy. This year the best option appears to be Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings.

Part 2- Coming Soon!!

What is a Fantasy football cheat sheet?