Fantasy Rumblings Week 4

Had another good week, this time going 4-1 in league play. Only loss was the Total Dynasty League in which I'm now 0-3. In every other league I'm 2-1 and off to a decent start. This week so far has been a drag, working nine hour days and going to bed early, thus missing football games I really wanted to watch, but sometimes it's a lot easier on the heart NOT to watch them, especially if your fantasy game is on the line.
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Icon Fantasy Football League Update

Defeated my old buddy Dave's Cincinnati Superstars in a low scoring, highly stressful affair: 31-27. Thank god I made a last minute change to my lineup and inserted LeSean McCoy for Felix Jones, otherwise I would have been a beaten man. And also thanks to Dave for changing his mind and NOT benching Kurt Warner for Joe Flacco. After having made my own QB blunder in Week 1, I can be a little sympathetic ............ oh who am I kidding? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GOT YA DAVE!!

Unfortunately, even at 2-1 I'm 4TH in my division behind teams who have scored more points. I've got to gain some ground on these guys. This week I face my nemesis. A guy I've played with for many years, but have only beaten maybe twice. Dave's brother John Hatfield and his Green Bay Dynasty.



Shady lookin character aint he? Seriously though, my luck against him is horrible. Lost to him twice last year and his team this year is MUCH better. He's off to a 3-0 start, thanks to Peyton Manning's colossal numbers the first three weeks. He also has Reggie Wayne, Santonio Holmes, and possibly Marion Barber (if he plays). The Colts play the Seahawks, so I'm figuring on seeing more big numbers from Manning and Wayne. I'm going to need a big game from Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco to keep up.

My tentative lineup for the week:

TMQB Cincinnati (Carson Palmer) @Cleveland - Starting him over Romo again, but I can't turn down this matchup against the Browns. They've been throttled every week and Cincy should be able to follow suit.

RB Chris Johnson (Tenn) @Jacksonville - Hoping this is an UP week for my 1st Rounder.

WR Randy Moss (NE) vs. Baltimore - Moss has got to start scoring TDs SOMETIME.

WR Devin Hester (Chic) vs. Detroit - Great matchup, could have another long TD or two.

WR Chad Ochocinco (Cin) @Cleveland - See Palmer above.

WR Mario Manningham (NYG) @Kansas City - Another great matchup against a terrible Chief defense.

PK Ryan Longwell (Minn) vs. Green Bay - Longwell saved my butt last week and is the top scoring kicker early on. If I'm behind by less than 10 points going into Monday night, I'll be praying for some more FGs.

DST NY Jets @ New Orleans Not expecting to get any bonuses for points allowed, but there's always the chance of a Leon Washington kick return TD.

All of my players except Longwell and the Jets DST play in the 1:00 games so by 4:00 I'll have a pretty good idea how I did. My only other possible option this week because of byes would be McFadden against the Texans swiss cheese run defense. But the way the Raiders played this past week, and the three fumbles McFadden had, I'm not comfortable with starting him.

Okay John, let's see if I finally get a win against you. I've got the matchups to do it.
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Other Results

RapidDraft - Won 124-103 vs. Victoria
16 Man Fanatics Brawl League - Won 122.38-81.08 vs. bad runners
FFTwitter League - Won 93.82-59.58 vs. Greenbacks
Total Dynasty League - Lost 257.219-168.576 to the Carolina Panthers
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Predictions

Went 2 out of 3 last week, but the one that was wrong was REEEEEEEEEEEALLY wrong. Still can't believe how bad the Raiders played against the Broncos. Here's my forecast for Week 4.

- Both Matt Forte and Steve Slaton will score their first TDs of the season.

- Bret Favre will beat his former team the Green Bay Packers. (With Adrian Peterson's help.)

- The Cleveland Browns will score at TWO offensive TDs against the Bengals.
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Perturbed

For years now I've been picking up a USA Today Sports Weekly every Wednesday morning at one of the two local Speedways. But for the past month or so they have not gotten them. Come to find out they changed carriers here in town of the USA Todays. They are now distributed by our local paper The Marion Star ... a very unreliable carrier. It took them two weeks to even get the daily USA Todays to the stores. Now it's looking like they are not even going to bother distributing the Sports Weekly.

Having an apartment, I don't want to get a subscription because it likely would get stolen from time to time. But even if I did, I don't know if I'd even get it. It seems The Marion Star has total control of the USA Today distribution in town and from what I'm hearing, really didn't want to do it in the first place. The Star is a small town rag that has gone down in quality in recent years. I'll pick up a Columbus Dispatch before even considering getting a Star.

So, I'm left wanting. It sucks, I love the fantasy rankings and articles by Matt Pitzer. I love the game previews and the stats. Guess I'll just have to rely on the internet for all of that and take to reading The Dispatch at work everyday instead.

Week 3 Rumblings

Much better results in Week 2 for my teams. Chris Johnson being the catalyst for three victories. Huge wins for the Buckeyes, Raiders, and Bengals also helped to make this a happy football weekend. Went 3-2 in my five leagues this week but lost in the one league that held my lone Week 1 victory, so no undefeated season for me in any league this year. Not that I've EVER had an undefeated season before, but it would have been nice to at least chase that dream for more than two weeks into the season.

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Icon Fantasy Football League Update

Chris Johnson's 51 points spurred my Miami Waves to a 107-44 win over a strong Pimpdaddies team. Still smarting from the Week 1 gaff that saw me bench Tony Romo. I should be 2-0 and have knocked off two division opponents. But I won't dwell on it (much) unless it comes back to haunt me later in the season.

Next up is my old buddy Dave Hatfield and his Cincinnati Superstars. The 'Stars are 1-1 and have Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith (Car), Housh, and Roy Williams as it's main weapons.

I'm going with a starting lineup that should look like this:

TMQB Dallas (Romo) vs. Carolina Can Romo bounce back on MNF?
RB Chris Johnson @NY Jets Tough matchup.
RB Felix Jones vs. Carolina Barber's out. Jones is gold.
WR Randy Moss vs. Atlanta Me likey!
WR Chad Ochocinco vs. Steelers May surprise against champs.
WR Mario Manningham @Tampa Bay Eli has a new playmaker.
K Ryan Longwell vs. San Francisco Dome kicker, must start.
DST NY Jets vs. Tennessee Very effective D so far.

My other options would be RB Darren McFadden vs. Denver, RB Beanie Wells vs. Indy, and WR Devin Hester @Seattle. All three could have success against their opponents this week. I lean towards Manningham however because of Tampa Bay's new trend of giving up big plays to WRs the first two weeks. (Five TDs by WRs of 32 yards or longer against them thus far.) Any opinions of my choices are most welcome.
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Other Results

FFTwitter League (Yahoo): Defeated TheOneThatGotAway 149.82 - 113.94 to go to 1-1. Jumped from dead last (12th) in the standings to fourth. Got strong performances from Johnson, Colston, Steve Smith (NYG), and Fred Jackson.

Fanatics Brawl League (Yahoo): Lost to Cleburne Gaelics 105.00 - 100.74, fell to 1-1. Made the mistake of benching Felix Jones for Michael Bush and it cost me the victory. Didn't help that Brady and Moss fell on their faces against the Jets.

RapidDraft: Beat Michael 154.50 - 142.00 After losing to Matt Pitzer by a half of a point in Week 1 I almost cried. Brees and Johnson helped me bounce back.

Total Dynasty League (MyFantasyLeague): Lost to the Arizona Cardinals 196.155 - 189.306 An 0-2 start is disappointing, but not surprising. Knew my roster wasn't very strong coming into the season. But both games have been close and if I had one big playmaker on my team I might have been 2-0.

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Rookie Wideouts

Darrius Heyward-Bey, Michael Crabtree, and Jeremy Maclin were the first three WRS taken in this year's NFL Draft but thus far none of them have had the impact you would have thought they might. Heyward-Bey has one catch for 18 yards in the first two Raiders contests and has been overshadowed by a fellow rookie teammate. Crabtree is not even signed yet and most likely will have minuscule fantasy value this year. Maclin only has 2 receptions for 12 yards for the Eagles. However, others taken afterwards have stepped up:

Percy Harvin (Min) (Taken 22nd overall) Harvin has been almost everything he was billed to be in the preseason. While he hasn't had HUGE gains, he's scored two TDs and handled the ball over a dozen times. Brett Favre seems to love him in the red zone.

Kenny Britt (Tenn) (Taken 30th overall) Six receptions for 107 yards in two games isn't bad. Had a big play against the Steelers on opening night.

Louis Murphy (Oak) (Taken 124th overall) Looks like DHB may be taking a backseat to the 4th round pick from Florida. Murphy's 6 catches for 113 yards and a long TD against the Chargers bodes well for Oakland's vertical passing game.

Johnny Knox (Chi) (Taken 140th overall) Knox leads all rookie WRs after two weeks with 8 catches for 152 yards and a TD. The small school prospect has already displayed a penchant for big plays. And everybody thought Earl Bennett was the sleeper WR for the Bears...

Julian Edelman (NE) (Taken 232nd overall) Edelman got extensive playing time against the Jets because of an injury to Wes Welker and had a Welker-ish game with 8 catches for 98 yards. The converted QB may not see touches like that again this year unless Welker or another NW wideout gets hurt again, but it's a promising sign.

It's still early and we might see some dropping off ... and others breaking out in the coming weeks. But it's nice to see guys who were considered fantasy afterthoughts getting good starts out of the gate to their careers.
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Predictions Of The Week

Well, I was wrong about Peterson getting 200 yards, but was right about Hasselbeck and HALF right about the Cardinals. Warner only threw two touchdowns but the Cards DID bounce back. I'll give myself 1.5 out of three. Let's try it again this week:

- QB Kyle Orton will have a horrible game against the Raiders. At least 2 Ints and no more than 1 TD pass. The Raiders defense has improved significantly and will harass Orton enough to rattle him into mistakes.

- The Baltimore Ravens offense will rack up over 400 yards against the Cleveland Browns. QB Flacco, RBS Rice and McGahee, WR Clayton, and TE Heap are all good starts.

- The Detroit Lions will get their first win since early 2007 over the Washington Redskins! WR Calvin Johnson will be the catalyst.
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Fantasy Rumblings Week 2

It was not a good weekend for me in fantasy OR reality football. Ohio State and the Raiders both lost games they were leading with only a minute left on the clock. And fantasy wise I went 1-4 in my leagues this week, winning only in the Fanatics Brawl League. Ouch. Hoping to bounce back in Week 2.
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Icon Fantasy Football League Report

I outsmarted myself. Friday night I made the decision to bench Tony Romo for Carson Palmer and Devin Hester for Felix Jones. The result was a embarrassing loss to the Buckeye Wrecking Crew 48-26. Had I stuck with Romo I would have easily opened the season with a big division win. With Romo and Hester I left 50 points on my bench. Not a good way to open a season. What really perturbed me was that 34 of the Wrecking Crew's points came in really one play ... the 50 yard bomb from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings late Sunday night. Oh well, such is my own stupidity, believing the Bengals might actually have an offense that could give Denver a whipping. Lesson learned ... don't underestimate Tony Romo.



This week I dropped WR Mohammed Massaquoi for WR Mario Manningham. Figured I'd try a different sixth receiver with the same initials...

Week 2 sees my Miami Waves face the Pennsylvania Pimpdaddies, another division foe. The Pimps had the luck of having the first pick and thus have Adrian Peterons leading their charge. He also has RB DeAngelo Williams, WR Brandon Marshall, and WR Hines Ward among others. His matchups scare me greatly, (Peterson vs. Detroit? Marshall vs. Cleveland? YIKES!)

My lineup will look like this: (Barring anymore unseen stupid lineup changes.)

TMQB Dallas (Romo) vs. NY Giants
RB Chris Johnson (Tenn) vs. Houston
RB Darren McFadden (Oak) @ Kansas City
WR Randy Moss (NE) @ NY Jets
WR Chad Ochocinco (Cinn) @ Green Bay
WR DeSean Jackson (Phil) vs. New Orleans
PK Ryan Longwell (Minn) @ Detroit
DST NY Jets vs. New England

My RBS in this lineup both have good matchups and hopefully will cash in. Moss will have it a bit tougher this week against the Jets but should still be effective. Ocho vs. the Packers concerns me, especially with him declaring that he will do the Lambeau Leap if he scores in Green Bay. Don't think Al Harris and Charles Woodson want that to happen... DeSean against the Saints would look even better if McNabb were at the helm this week, but maybe Kolb can find him for a few long passes if I'm lucky.

My other options would be Felix Jones vs. the Giants, Beanie Wells vs. Jacksonville, Devin Hester vs. Pittsburgh, or Mario Manningham vs. Dallas. Going to give Hester another week on the bench, but if he scores against the Steelers, I'll be starting him over DeSean in the future.

If I lose this one I'm looking bad early with two division losses in a row. Would be my first 0-2 start in 5 years.
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Ohio State vs. USC


While the result of the game sucked (USC 18 Ohio State 15), the atmosphere and the game itself was phenomenal. My first night game at The Shoe was an experience I will never forget. I've been to a few big games at Ohio Stadium, but none were near as loud or exciting as this one. I screamed my head off and five days later am still a little froggy in the throat.












I've been to a few NFL games, but nothing compares to a Ohio State game. Especially against a huge opponent like USC or Michigan where the fans are on their feet constantly and shouting O-H-I-O!! It's practically a religious experience.



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Predictions Of The Week

1) Not going to go TOO far out on a limb here, but I've got Vikings RB Adrian Peterson down for a 200 yard rushing game and at least two scores against the Lions.

2) The Cardinals will rebound against the Jags this week. Kurt Warner should throw at least three TDs.

3) Matt Hasselbeck will not have much sucess against the 49ers. 1 TD maximum.
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Fantasy Week One Rumblings

We are just days away from the season starting and I am chomping at the bit for Thursday night! All drafts are done, all lineups are set, it's time to take the field! For the first time in my life I am in five leagues (four online) and for the most part I was diverse in my picks. But there are a few I'm counting on in more than one league...

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Chris Johnson

I took the second year Titans RB in the first round of three leagues this year. I'm praying for at least a repeat of his stats from 2008 when he exploded for 1228 rushing yards and ten total TDs. If a few of those TDs are of 50 yards are longer, that would be bonus for me in my money league, the IFFL. Also have him in the FFTwitter League at Yahoo and my RapidDraft team. The downside to Johnson is that LenDale White will steal goal-line carries and TDs.
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Felix Jones

Jones is reportedly going to get a lot of touches despite the presence of Marion Barber in Dallas. Felix, like Chris Johnson, will most likely not be the goal-line back unless Barber gets hurt. On my IFFL team, he's currently fourth on my depth chart behind Johnson, Beanie Wells, and McFadden but is my RB2 in my 16 man league (FF Brawl).
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Randy Moss

Banking on him regaining his 2007 form. In my two more important leagues I took a chance on him in the early 2nd round. If he can hit 15-17 TDs I'll be extremely happy. It looked like he and Brady had the needed rhythm back in the preseason so here's hoping they'll light it up like two years ago.
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IFFL Week 1 Preview

Opening week and I'm playing division rival The Buckeye Wrecking Crew. Coach Zerman has two key players from my championship team last year: Aaron Rodgers (vs. Chicago) and Michael Turner (vs. Miami). Both matchups scare me to death, considering what both players are capable of. He also has Steve Smith, Greg Jennings, Kevin Smith, Anthony Gonzalez, and Jason Witten that he could start. (As of the time of this writing he has yet to turn in a starting lineup.)

My lineup this week will most likely look like this:

TMQB Dallas (Tony Romo) @ Tampa Bay
RB Chris Johnson (Tenn) @ Pittsburgh
WR Randy Moss (NE) vs. Buffalo
WR Chad Ochocinco (Cin) vs. Denver
WR DeSean Jackson (Phil) @ Carolina
WR Devin Hester (Chic) @ Green Bay
K Ryan Longwell (Minn) @ Cleveland
DST New York Jets @ Houston

My other considerations in my lineup would be:

TMQB Cincinnati (Carson Palmer) vs. Denver
RB Chris Wells (Ariz) vs. San Francisco
RB Darren McFadden (Oak) vs. San Diego
RB Felix Jones (Dal) @ Tampa Bay

Feel free to give lineup advice if you wish.
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Ohio State VS. USC

Changing the subject now, this Saturday is my birthday and I am lucky enough to have gotten tickets to the Ohio Stae vs. USC matchup at the Horseshoe in Columbus. But after a dismal performance against Navy this past week, my hopes for an upset over Southern Cal are a bit dim. However, I'm still excited because it will be my first night game. I'm hoping to get pictures!
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Until next week ... GO BUCKS! GO WAVES! GO 4TH AND 37!!!

The Big Draft

IFFL Draft

Online drafts and leagues are fun. It's nice that we have the ability in this day and age to play fantasy football with people from all over the globe. I've played in online leagues for over a decade now and have had a blast. But nothing compares to a live draft with friends you've played with for years. Nothing.



This past weekend was the 7th annual draft for the Icon Fantasy Football League. I'm co-commisioner with my good friend Dave Hatfield. Dave and I have played fantasy football together for sixteen years. Also in our league is my girlfriend Penny, Dave's brother John (who I can't seem to beat if my life depended on it), a police officer, a police CHIEF, and other good old boys from around the area.



Last season I defeated Dave for the 2008 Championship. I received the traveling trophy with extreme humility. Okay, make that extreme glee.


This year I picked from the 10th spot. (Out of ten.) Decided going in that I would take some chances and pick players I liked rather than necessarily go with value. It's what Penny (who is very smart about such things) considers a high risk/high reward team. Here's how it went:

RD 1: RB Chris Johnson (Ten) Had hoped Peyton Manning (Colts TMQB) would fall but he went 6th. Considered Warner or Rodgers but decided I liked Johnson's big play potential more. It sucks that LenDale White will sap some goaline TDs, but Johnson will break off the long ones.

RD 2: WR Randy Moss (NE) Again I could/should of grabbed a TMQB but I knew all of the good WRs would be gone by the time it back to me and I was hoping to start a 1 RB/4 WR lineup this year. So went with Moss because I do believe he can score in the area of 15-17 TDs ... and a few of them should be long ones.

RD 3: WR Chad Ochocinco (Cin) As I predicted, a lot of WRS went in the 2nd and 3rd rounds so I felt compelled to take a chance on Chad rebounding this year. Had a few people mumbling about how they were hoping to get him in the 4th.

RD 4: TMQB Dallas (Tony Romo) Debated between him and Matt Ryan but decided to give the Cowboy QB the nod. Worried that without T.O., he might not have the deep threat to get long TDs.

RD 5: WR DeSean Jackson (Phil) I was pleased he was still here. A solid third WR who has breakout potential in his sophmore campaign.

RD 6: RB Chris Wells (Ariz) He seems to be doing better now and I wanted at least one Arizona player. A bit of a reach considering there were still plenty of RBs left including Ronnie Brown and LenDale White.

RD 7: RB Darren McFadden (Oak) Nice third back. I think I got good value here. He might actually be my second back depending on how Wells starts out.

RD 8: TMQB Cincinnati (Carson Palmer) In this scoring system, I needed to take a backup QB sooner rather than later. Liked Palmer's matchup with the Texans on Romo's bye week. Might even start Palmer in Week 1 at home against the Broncos over Romo who playing the Bucs in Tampa.

RD 9: WR Devin Hester (Chic) He's got the strong armed QB to get him the ball deep. Could get a few 12 point TDs out of him. Was extremely glad to get him here.

RD 10: RB Felix Jones (Dal) He won't be the red zone back, but he might get a few long TDs and a couple 100 yard games.

RD 11: WR Steve Breaston (Ariz) Love him as my fifth WR. Not a huge TD scorer, but could be more valubable if Boldin gets traded mid-season.

RD 12: RB LeSean McCoy (Phil) Had planned on grabbing Michael Bush to handcuff McFadden with my last RB slot, but McCoy's upside was too much to pass up. He's only a Westbrook injury away from huge value.

RD 13: K Ryan Longwell (Minn) With the long field goal bonuses I had to get a kicker who has the leg and plays over half of his games inside a dome. Got my man.

RD 14: DST NY Jets - Got them mainly because of Leon Washington's return ability.

RD 15: WR Mohammed Massaquoi (Clev) Always like to grab a rookie and with my sixth pick I decided to go with Massaquoi over Robiske or Britt. He'll most likely be my first waiver wire casualty if it doesn't look like he'll pan out.

RD 16: K Nick Folk (Dal) A solid backup kicker ... here's hoping he hits the scoreboards with his kickoffs ... just for errr.... kicks.

RD 17: DST Carolina - Last pick of the draft, just threw a dart at what was left.

So there it is, the 2009 Miami Waves. It's going to be a very tough road defending the championship, but I look forward to it. Only a little over a week away from the first game! I'm getting tingly just thinking about it!!