Month: July 2010 (Page 14 of 62)

      Wes Welker ready for training camp

      July 24, 2010 /
      FOXBORO, MA - DECEMBER 13: Wes Welker #83 of the New England Patriots gains yards against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium on December 13, 2009 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The Patriots won 20-10. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

      The Boston Globe is reporting that Wes Welker is slated to be a full participant in training camp.

      Welker is ready to open training camp and compete in all drills – contact included – with his teammates, according to an NFL source. He still has to pass his pre-camp physical, but there is little doubt he’ll do so.

      This is obviously great news for Pats fans and for fantasy owners in PPR leagues. Welker has been goiing in the middle of the 5th round in mock drafts, and this news will no doubt boost his stock. Assuming he hasn’t lost a step, Welker should have no problem posting another 100+ catch season.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL

      Magic atop Paul’s list, but do the Knicks have more to offer?

      July 24, 2010 /

      There were rumblings that the Knicks were Chris Paul’s preferred destination, but now ESPN is reporting that the Magic top his list.

      The New Orleans Hornets have yet to start entertaining trade offers for Chris Paul, but that hasn’t stopped the superstar point guard from making exit plans.

      The Orlando Magic have emerged as the top team on Paul’s list of preferred destinations, replacing the New York Knicks, according to league sources.

      While the Knicks are still high on Paul’s list, he believes the Magic, with All-Star center Dwight Howard, would be a better fit. Paul also realizes Orlando has much more to offer New Orleans in a trade and therefore believes it is a more realistic destination than New York, according to the sources.

      When I ran through the various trade scenarios for each team reportedly on Paul’s list, I came up with a deal in the ESPN Trade Machine that would send Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass and Mickael Pietrus to New Orleans for Paul and Okafor. That doesn’t seem like enough for CP3, even with one or two first round picks thrown in. But who else do the Magic have that the Hornets would want? Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter are too expensive. At least this deal would give Hornets a starting-caliber center (Gortat), an inexpensive quality point guard (Nelson), and a couple of rotation players in Pietrus and Bass.

      As for the Knicks, this deal would send Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Anthony Randolph (along with the expiring contracts of Eddy Curry and Kelenna Azubuike) to New Orleans for Paul and Okafor. Gallinari, Chandler and Randolph are all inexpensive, up-and-coming players and could be part of a formidable starting five (with Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton) in a few years.

      Don’t the Knicks actually have more to offer?

      Paul is meeting with the Hornets on Monday, so I’d expect some movement on this sometime next week. With the way this news is leaking out, it seems like he has his bags packed. The Hornets probably missed the boat on keeping Paul when they traded away their #11 pick and pretty much stood pat this summer (instead of trading Collison away for more wing help and/or making a run at Mike Miller).

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      2010 Fantasy Football Preview: Quarterback By Committee (QBBC)

      July 23, 2010 /

      EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 27: Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants against the Carolina Panthers at Giants Stadium on December 27, 2009 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

      All 2010 Fantasy Football Articles | 2010 Position Rankings

      Every year, I kickoff TSR’s hardcore fantasy football coverage with my Quarterback By Committee (QBBC) post. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1) out of curiosity, as I usually draft a QBBC myself, and 2) there’s a lot of number crunching so it gets the fantasy football juices flowing.

      For the neophytes, QBBC is a strategy often utilized by savvy fantasy footballers who want to take advantage of the relative depth at quarterback by forming a committee of overlooked mid-rounders. The premise is this: Two or three mediocre quarterbacks whose schedules mesh nicely — i.e. they have several favorable matchups when their schedules are combined — will give you the positional production of a top 5 QB.

      This allows fantasy owners to load up on running backs, wide receivers and even a stud tight end in the early rounds, building depth at the positions where talent is at a premium. Sure, it’s great to have Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees anchoring your team, but that means you don’t get that second round RB or WR that you had your eye on. If you can get Top 5 QB production from a couple of guys that you grab in the 8th, 9th or 10th rounds, and your early-round RBs and WRs perform up to expectations, your team will definitely be playoff bound.

      This works because of the depth at QB. We know that the signal callers going in round 8 — guys like Eli Manning, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco — are going to start and throw a lot of passes for their respective teams (barring injury, of course). Running backs or wide receivers that are going in the 8th round are another animal. RBs still available in the middle rounds are either sharing time or fighting for the starting job. WRs available that late are typically the second, third or even fourth options on their teams.

      So that’s the theory — now for the research. To come up with a reasonable expectation for each two-man QBBC combination, I took the season projections from Footballguys (a great fantasy football site) and using their strength of schedule for each team, I was able to produce a week-by-week projection for each quarterback. From there, it was relatively easy to come up with a list of the duos that project to have the best combined seasons.

      I only focused on those QBs going in the 8th round or later, so this exercise excludes the Top 11 signal callers (in terms of Average Draft Position): Aaron Rodgers (1.08), Drew Brees (1.10), Peyton Manning (2.04), Tom Brady (2.11), Tony Romo (3.09), Matt Schaub (3.11), Phillip Rivers (4.01), Jay Cutler (6.04), Kevin Kolb (6.04), Donovan McNabb (6.09) and Brett Favre (6.11). (Note: this article assumes a 12-team draft, so all mention of specific rounds and ADP have that in mind.)

      This allows fantasy owners to spend at least the first seven picks on RBs, WRs and TEs, putting together a balanced squad before turning to the QB position.

      So what was the top QBBC combination? The answer might surprise you:

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Fantasy Football Consultant Nathan Zegura chats with The Scores Report

      July 23, 2010 /

      Fantasy football.

      Beautiful women.

      Las Vegas.

      If at least two of those three things don’t grab your attention, then maybe it’s time for you to turn in your man card.

      The second annual Fantasy Football SUPERDRAFT will be held at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on August 26-28 this year and will include a concert by Snoop Dogg, a Draft Room for fantasy football fans, VIP parties hosted by Stacy Keibler and a live celebrity draft conducted by Ashton Kutcher.

      Interested? We thought you might be.

      Nathan Zegura, the founder of TheFantasyConsultant.com and the host of “The Fantasy Consultant Live” on SiriusXM’s new Fantasy Sports Channel, joined us recently to chat up this year’s Fantasy Football SUPERDRAFT, as well as provide details on how you can attend. (You’ll probably be shocked at how very little it’ll cost you to soak in a fantasy football-filled weekend with Snoop, Stacy Keibler and Ashton Kutcher in Vegas.)

      We also couldn’t allow Nathan to get off the phone without picking his brain about this year’s upcoming fantasy season, so we asked him what his top 5 looks like, who his top 3 sleepers are and what kind of expectations we could have for players like Frank Gore and Michael Turner.

      For more information about the second annual Fantasy Football SUPERDRAFT, head to FantasySuperdraft.com and for more on Nathan and his fantasy football consulting services, check out TheFantasyConsultant.com and the site’s Twitter Page.

      The Scores Report: Hi, this is Anthony.

      Nathan Zegura: Hey Anthony, this is Nathan Zegura calling in.

      TSR: Hey Nathan, how are you today, man?

      NZ: I’m doing great – how are you doing?

      TSR: I’m doing well. I’m just reading over this Fantasy Football SUPERDRAFT deal and I’m blown away. I’m trying to figure out a way I can go!

      NZ: You gotta go! All you have to do is go to FantasySuperDraft.com, baby!

      TSR: (Laughs)

      NZ: It’s awesome – I went last year actually. It was cool, I was one of the experts that were asked to be on-site last year and it’s an awesome event. It’s a great time, great parties and, in addition to being able to do your draft and have all your boys there, you also get to do things in Vegas that you wouldn’t otherwise do for a grand total of $125 over the course of three days.

      TSR: (Laughs) Sure.

      27 August 2009 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Stacy Keibler. Stacy Keibler hosts the Las Vegas Fantasy Football Superdraft Party at Jet Nightclub inside the Mirage Resort Hotel and Casino. Photo Credit: MJT/AdMedia

      NZ: I actually became pretty good friends with Eric Simon, who is the guy that started SUPERDRAFT. It was kind of his brainchild and it’s been very neat to see it grow and see it get to where it is this year. It’s going to be awesome with Snoop, Stacy Keibler (photo left)…they’re having a model search there – it’s going to be crazy. I can’t even wait until the end of August – I’m fired up.

      TSR: Like I said, I was reading over this and my eye caught that Snoop and, well, my eye caught that Stacy Keibler was going to be there actually, but it’s amazing the entertainers that you guys got to come out this year. And it’s all centered around fantasy football, which has grown into this unbelievable vehicle now for entertainment.

      NZ: Totally. Eric’s vision for SUPERDRAFT is to bring entertainment and sports together in the perfect place, which is Las Vegas. Ashton Kutcher is actually my partner and he owns half of my website, TheFantasyConsultant.com. I was able to bring Ashton and Eric together on the SUPERDRAFT idea, so we’re going to do a live broadcast of our show, which is “Fantasy Football Live” in addition to the various parties that are going to be there. And then obviously Snoop, who I personally as a kid who grew up in California, am very excited about.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, Interviews, NFL

      David Kahn, the gift that keeps giving…

      July 23, 2010 /

      Last week, T-Wolves GM David Kahn compared Darko Milicic to Chris Webber, and even called Milicic the ‘best passing big man’ that he’s ever seen.

      Webber took umbrage to the comparison to Darko and Kahn had this to say to the Star Tribune:

      “He’s kind of a schmuck, isn’t he? Methinks that he spent a lot of time on NBA TV with a former Timberwolves person and he seemed to come into the interview with an agenda. Tough questions are fine, but I felt like he was a little defensive about some of the things.”

      Kahn also discussed Michael Beasley’s history in Miami:

      “He’s a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana and has told me that he’s not smoking anymore,” Kahn said, “and I told him that I would trust him as long as that was the case.”

      I feel bad for T-Wolves fans, especially after so many years of Kevin McHale, but this cat is nothing if not entertaining.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

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