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Saturday, September 25, 2010
FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume III, Issue XXXVII
Welcome to our 102ndedition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. Our archive of past editions is available right here on The FantasyDrafthelp.com Blog and specific links to past editions are available at FantasyDrafthelp.com.
This week, we bring you our NFL Week 3 preview.
NFL Week 3 preview
Here’s a few standard preface notes:
^ Notwithstanding the claims of any website to be your “home for Sunday morning injury report news,” nothing beats Google News – nothing. Entering a player name into this search engine trumps any other means of gathering information because it culls the data from an unbelievably wide variety of sources.
^ Especially earlier in the season, it’s always good to refer to a strong baseline of where players should have been drafted – and nothing beats FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010.
^ Unless there are any injury questions, we never discuss “gimme” players. Such core players should be started week in and week out unless there is any question surrounding their playing status. Winning teams only need to worry about “playing the matchups” with one, two or (at the most, during bye weeks) three spots in the lineup. With a full slate of games, and players drafted in a certain order for a multiplicity of reasons, we especially don’t advocate much juggling for the first two weeks of the season. Some websites promise you a crystal ball for how to manage high-risk, high-reward juggling during the season. We don’t. We play the percentages. That approach may be boring, but it’s highly effective and much more intellectually honest in what we promise you.
^ By the way, here are your core players who should not be benched if healthy or available (players listed in their order on our draft board):
QB: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Tony Romo
RB: Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Mathews, Jamaal Charles, Knowshon Moreno, Shonn Greene, Matt Forte, Beanie Wells, Cedric Benson, Jonathan Stewart, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown
WR: Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Miles Austin, Greg Jennings, DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, Steve Smith (Carolina), Chad Ochocinco, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith (NY Giants), Dwayne Bowe, Michael Crabtree, Donald Driver, Vincent Jackson
TE: Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Brent Celek, Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley
^ Here are the players who have been added to the list this season:
QB: none
RB: none
WR: Wes Welker
TE: none
^ Here are the players who have been removed from that list this season:
QB: none
RB: Ryan Grant
WR: Pierre Garcon, Mike Wallace
TE: none
^ Links for each game take you to the NFL.com home page for each game, with stats and analysis.
^ All times listed are EDT.
^ Teams listed as “All-In” have a combination of all of the above players and any marginal players reaching a status where QB/RB1/RB2/WR1/WR2/TE all should be played.Teams listed as “All-Out” should have only the above “locks” for their team in a fantasy lineup, with all marginal players being benched.
^ All advice is relative, because there are exceptions to every rule.There are no marginal players who absolutely should be played or benched, but the ones we refer to here should be in the vast majority of circumstances.
^ Of the non-gimme players we like this week, the stronger plays are the ones in all caps.
Welcome to our 101stedition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. Our archive of past editions is available right here on The FantasyDrafthelp.com Blog and specific links to past editions are available at FantasyDrafthelp.com.
This week, we bring you our NFL Week 2 preview.
NFL Week 2 preview
Here’s a few standard preface notes:
^ Notwithstanding the claims of any website to be your “home for Sunday morning injury report news,” nothing beats Google News – nothing. Entering a player name into this search engine trumps any other means of gathering information because it culls the data from an unbelievably wide variety of sources.
^ Especially earlier in the season, it’s always good to refer to a strong baseline of where players should have been drafted – and nothing beats FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010.
^ Unless there are any injury questions, we never discuss “gimme” players. Such core players should be started week in and week out unless there is any question surrounding their playing status. Winning teams only need to worry about “playing the matchups” with one, two or (at the most, during bye weeks) three spots in the lineup. With a full slate of games, and players drafted in a certain order for a multiplicity of reasons, we especially don’t advocate much juggling for the first two weeks of the season. Some websites promise you a crystal ball for how to manage high-risk, high-reward juggling during the season. We don’t. We play the percentages. That approach may be boring, but it’s highly effective and much more intellectually honest in what we promise you.
^ By the way, here are your core players who should not be benched if healthy or available (players listed in their order on our draft board):
QB: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Tony Romo
RB: Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Mathews, Jamaal Charles, Knowshon Moreno, Shonn Greene, Matt Forte, Beanie Wells, Cedric Benson, Jonathan Stewart, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown
WR: Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Miles Austin, Greg Jennings, DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, Steve Smith (Carolina), Chad Ochocinco, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith (NY Giants), Dwayne Bowe, Michael Crabtree, Donald Driver, Vincent Jackson
TE: Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Brent Celek, Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley
^ Here are the players who have been removed from that list this season:
QB: none
RB: Ryan Grant
WR: Pierre Garcon, Mike Wallace
TE: none
^ Links for each game take you to the NFL.com home page for each game, with stats and analysis.
^ All times listed are EDT.
^ Teams listed as “All-In” have a combination of all of the above players and any marginal players reaching a status where QB/RB1/RB2/WR1/WR2/TE all should be played.Teams listed as “All-Out” should have only the above “locks” for their team in a fantasy lineup, with all marginal players being benched.
^ All advice is relative, because there are exceptions to every rule.There are no marginal players who absolutely should be played or benched, but the ones we refer to here should be in the vast majority of circumstances.
^ Of the non-gimme players we like this week, the stronger plays are the ones in all caps.
Welcome to our 100thedition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. Our archive of past editions is available right here on The FantasyDrafthelp.com Blog and specific links to past editions are available at FantasyDrafthelp.com.
This week, we bring you a huge double-issue in honor of our 100th edition:
^ NFL Week 1 preview
^ 2010 NFL schedule
^ Our 2010-11 fantasy hockey season overview (serialized from our forthcoming FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2010, just like our other fantasy puck features)
^ 2010-11 fantasy hockey overvalued and undervalued players
^ 2010-11 fantasy hockey sleepers
^ 2010-11 fantasy hockey Don't Be That Guy
^ Fantasy hockey suggested league guidelines
NFL Week 1 preview
Here’s a few standard preface notes:
^ Notwithstanding the claims of any website to be your “home for Sunday morning injury report news,” nothing beats Google News – nothing. Entering a player name into this search engine trumps any other means of gathering information because it culls the data from an unbelievably wide variety of sources.
^ Especially earlier in the season, it’s always good to refer to a strong baseline of where players should have been drafted – and nothing beats FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010.
^ Unless there are any injury questions, we never discuss “gimme” players. Such core players should be started week in and week out unless there is any question surrounding their playing status. Winning teams only need to worry about “playing the matchups” with one, two or (at the most, during bye weeks) three spots in the lineup. With a full slate of games, and players drafted in a certain order for a multiplicity of reasons, we especially don’t advocate much juggling for the first two weeks of the season. Some websites promise you a crystal ball for how to manage high-risk, high-reward juggling during the season. We don’t. We play the percentages. That approach may be boring, but it’s highly effective and much more intellectually honest in what we promise you.
^ By the way, here are your core players who should not be benched if healthy or available (players listed in their order on our draft board):
QB: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Tony Romo
RB: Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, Michael Turner, Ryan Grant, DeAngelo Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Mathews, Jamaal Charles, Knowshon Moreno, Shonn Greene, Matt Forte, Beanie Wells, Cedric Benson, Jonathan Stewart, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown
WR: Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Miles Austin, Greg Jennings, DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, Steve Smith (Carolina), Chad Ochocinco, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith (NY Giants), Pierre Garcon, Dwayne Bowe, Mike Wallace, Michael Crabtree, Donald Driver, Vincent Jackson
TE: Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Brent Celek, Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Jermichael Finley
^ Links for each game take you to the NFL.com home page for each game, with stats and analysis.
^ All times listed are EDT.
^ Teams listed as “All-In” have a combination of all of the above players and any marginal players reaching a status where QB/RB1/RB2/WR1/WR2/TE all should be played.Teams listed as “All-Out” should have only the above “locks” for their team in a fantasy lineup, with all marginal players being benched.
^ All advice is relative, because there are exceptions to every rule.There are no marginal players who absolutely should be played or benched, but the ones we refer to here should be in the vast majority of circumstances.
^ Of the non-gimme players we like this week, the stronger plays are the ones in all caps.
^ Goalies are not quite as deep as they were a year ago, but you are not sunk if you don’t get one of the consensus top-four netminders.Having said that, you can’t wait so long that you lose out on any of the next four and if you end up with one of them (or worse yet, miss out altogether), you should not wait too long to pick up your second goalie.
^ As usual, centers are deeper than either wing position.The main difference from last year is that right wings are only marginally deeper than left wings, whereas the gap was more pronounced heading into last fall.
^ On defense, Mike Green is as clear-cut a top overall pick as have seen in years, with Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty looming as the only other worthy high-round selections.While you would be very wise to get one of the top eight overall, you can certainly take your time filling out the blue line overall this year.
^ While we saw the “Big 3” as being a slam-dunk at the top of the draft last year, this year’s picture is a bit more uncertain due to Evgeni Malkin’s disappointing ‘09-10 campaign.Nevertheless, we still see him at that level and thus, the same three players at the top of the draft as last year.The first round should be very thick with Capitals, Penguins and Canucks.
^ The changing of the guard that we spoke of in this space a year ago continues to pick up steam this season.Players such as Vincent Lecavalier, Jarome Iginla and Nick Lidstrom are giving way rapidly to the likes of Zach Parise, Nicklas Backstrom, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Kane, Bobby Ryan and Tuukka Rask.
2010-11 Fantasy Hockey Overvalued Players
NOTE: Overvalued & undervalued players are determined by a comparison of their value on our draft board to their placement on the “experts’ draft board” we consult.
Goalies: Niklas Backstrom, Antti Niemi, Semyon Varlamov
Centers: Jeff Carter, Mikko Koivu
Left Wings: Tomas Holmstrom, Milan Lucic, Patrick Marleau, Peter Mueller, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Smyth
Right Wings: Niclas Bergfors, Jarome Iginla, Jamie Langenbrunner, Rick Nash, Devin Setoguchi, Jakub Voracek
Defensemen: Kevin Bieksa, Jay Bouwmeester, Matt Carle, Joe Corvo, Tobias Enstrom, Tomas Kaberle, Kimmo Timonen, Stephane Robidas, Ryan Whitney
2010-11 Fantasy Hockey Undervalued Players
Goalies: Miikka Kiprusoff, Marty Turco
Centers: Ryan Kesler
Left Wings: Rene Bourque, Patrik Elias, Simon Gagne
Right Wings: Steve Downie, Ales Hemsky, Corry Perry, Teemu Selanne
Defensemen: Brian Campbell, Nicklas Lidstrom,Joni Pitkanen,Brian Rafalski
2010-11 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers
Rene Bourque, Brad Boyes,Simon Gagne, Alex Goligoski, Martin Havlat, Ales Hemsky, Nathan Horton, David Krejci, Steve Mason, Carey Price, Derek Roy, Jakub Voracek, Keith Yandle
2010-11 Fantasy Hockey Don’t Be That Guy
At your draft or auction, Don’t Be That Guy who:
^ Doesn’t properly understand his league’s scoring system.Have the specific parameters down before you go to select your players.
^ Relies on a publication such as The Hockey News that doesn’t have a draft board.Can you imagine such a thing?
^ Gets caught at the tail end of a run at a position: specifically, #2 defensemen should not be confused with the #1s.
^ Doesn’t put enough emphasis on goal-scorers as opposed to assist-talliers.As is always the case in fantasy sports, scarcity leads to value.
2010-11 Fantasy Hockey Suggested League Guidelines
We recommend that you hold your auction or serpentine-style draft with 10 owners, selecting 18 players (6 defensemen, 3 goalies, 3 left wings, 3 centers, 3 right wings). In case of an auction, use a financial system that allots an average of $11 per player. Our preferred style of play is head-to-head roto, in which teams compete on a week-to-week head-up basis. Recommended categories are points, goals, assists, penalty minutes and plus-minus for forwards and defensemen and wins, least losses, shutouts, goals-against-average and save percentage for goalies. A rotating tiebreaker category should be utilized in the case of a 5-5 category tie. The starting lineup should consist of 2 goalies, 2 left wings, 2 centers, 2 right wings and 4 defensemen.
