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!!