Author: John Paulsen (Page 124 of 937)

      Fantasy Football Q&A: Week 13

      November 30, 2010 /

      Wondering who to add/drop or whether or not a trade is fair?

      I’m here to help.

      After checking out our Waiver Wire Watch, you can post your questions here, and unless you say differently, I’m assuming your league has a standard (non-PPR) scoring system.

      If you are wondering who to start in a standard scoring league, please wait until later this week (Wednesday) when I’ll release my official Week 13 rankings.

      And if you’re a regular visitor, please take a moment to rate my advice at Fantasy Pros (under Member Rating). I’d appreciate it.

      Also, follow me on Twitter @fantasytips.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Waiver Wire Watch, Week 13: Where we have to talk Frank Gore owners off the ledge

      November 30, 2010 /

      It’s Week 13, which means we’re in crunch time in most fantasy leagues. If your roster is a mess, there’s not much we can do at this point, but if you need a win this week to make the postseason, there may be a player or two who can help.

      I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only guys eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance scoring system.

      Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

      Josh Freeman (56.6)
      If you’re looking for a solid QB to run out there every week the rest of the way, Freeman is your guy. He has two solid matchups (ATL, DET) and two good matchups (WAS, SEA) the rest of the way, so he should be able to give you borderline QB1 numbers over the final month of the fantasy season. His somewhat Week 12 outing against the Ravens marked only the second time all season that he didn’t throw for at least 212 yards or toss two TDs.

      Ryan Fitzpatrick (33.4)
      The Bills have that Bad News Bears feel about them. I find myself rooting for Buffalo every week. He finished with decent numbers (265 yards, TD, INT) in a terrible matchup, and would have had 300+ and 2 TDs if not for Stevie Johnson’s dropped TD in overtime. The matchup this week isn’t great (@MIN), but Fitzy is still a solid start. I love him in W14 and W16 against the Browns and Patriots, respectively.

      Jon Kitna (13.9)
      I wouldn’t want to start him this week against an angry Colts’ defense, but his W15 (WAS) and W16 (@ARI) matchups are great, and in W14 he faces an Eagles defense that just got torched by Jay Cutler.

      Matt Cassel (49.5)
      He may not be the greatest QB in the world, but he’s taking full advantage of Dwayne Bowe’s ascendancy to stud status, tossing 12 TDs in the last four games. With Denver’s lowly pass defense up next, he’s a great pickup this week, though things get tougher in W14 against the Chargers.

      Sam Bradford (30.6)
      I watched quite a bit of the STL/DEN game, and Bradford is cool, calm and collected, especially for a rookie. I’m waiting for one of those nightmare games, but it just hasn’t come. His last ‘bad’ game was in Week 5 against the Lions (215 yards, 2 INTs), but other than that, he has thrown at least one TD in every game and has tossed five TDs in the last two weeks. He has a great matchup with ARI this week and is startable the rest of the way outside of a W14 date with the Saints.

      David Garrard (47.3)
      It wasn’t pretty through the air in a terrible matchup, but Garrard had a brilliant TD run to save an otherwise forgettable fantasy day. The Titans aren’t a great matchup, so Garrard is just a mediocre start this week. He has nice matchups in W14 (OAK) and W16 (WAS), however.

      Chad Henne (47.7)
      Henne had a nice outing (307 yards, 2 TDs, INT) in a good matchup against the Raiders, and should find more success through the air this week against the Browns. In fact, the rest of his schedule is pretty nice, outside of a W14 road trip to face the Jets.

      Matt Hasselbeck (14.1)
      I don’t like his matchup this week (CAR), but otherwise, Hasselbeck has decent matchups to close the season.

      Jason Campbell (6.6)
      It looks like Bruce Gradkowski is out again, so Campbell should take over. His matchup this week is poor, but things ease up in W14 (@JAX) and W15 (DEN).

      Derek Anderson (3.7)
      Troy Smith (4.7)
      Jake Delhomme (1.2)
      Jimmy Clausen (0.9)
      If you are in a situation where you’re considering picking up any of these guys, I feel for you. I really do.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      What would a college football playoff look like this year?

      November 29, 2010 /
      Oct 21, 2010; Eugene, OR, USA; Fans of the Oregon Ducks cheer during the game against the UCLA Bruins at Autzen Stadium. Photo via Newscom

      Last year, I ran a series of posts examining how a college football playoff system might look. I’m getting a late start this year, but it might be for the best since the rankings are more settled.

      Here are my assumptions:

      1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS. I’d rather do a straight #1-#8 seeding based on the rankings, but in order for a playoff to get implemented the big conferences would need some preferential treatment. That’s just the way it is and we all know it.

      2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

      3. If a conference champ is ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. This is the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule.

      4. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

      5. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

      So here is how an eight-team playoff would look at this point…

      Continue reading »

      College Football, External Sports

      SI’s Dan Shaughnessy sums up Randy Moss’s season in one paragraph

      November 29, 2010 /
      Tennessee Titans wide receiver Randy Moss shows his frustration as he watches the game from the bench against the Houston Texans in the first half at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on November 28, 2010. The Texans defeated the Titans 20-0. UPI/Aaron M. Sprecher Photo via Newscom

      Here it is:

      Moss has become an expensive, high-maintenance decoy. Popular wisdom holds that Moss stretches the field, takes the safeties out of the box, and enables you to run the ball and get one-on-one coverage everywhere else. It has not worked for the Vikings or the Titans. And years from now when we want to study a free agent setting himself on fire in his walk year, we will study Randy Moss 2010.

      That about sums it up, doesn’t it?

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      How hot is Erik Spoelstra’s seat?

      November 29, 2010 /
      Feb. 20, 2010: Miami coach Erik Spoelstra during an NBA game between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX Dallas defeated Miami 97-91.

      First, we had Saturday’s possibly intentional bump, and now there’s a report that the Heat players are quietly grumbling about their head coach.

      The Miami Heat’s players are frustrated with Erik Spoelstra and some are questioning whether he is the right coach for their team, according to people close to the situation.

      In contrast to the popular view that Spoelstra has been hesitant to jump on superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, sources say the Heat coach has shown no fear in criticizing them.

      Exhibit A was a recent shootaround in which Spoelstra told James that he had to get more serious. The source said Spoelstra called James out in front of the entire team, telling him, “I can’t tell when you’re serious.”

      “He’s jumping on them,” one source said. “If anything, he’s been too tough on them. Everybody knows LeBron is playful and likes to joke around, but Spoelstra told him in front of the whole team that he has to get more serious. The players couldn’t believe it. They feel like Spoelstra’s not letting them be themselves.”

      He’s not letting them be themselves. That’s classic. So if a coach is irritated by the lack of seriousness of one of his players, he’s just supposed to let it go? I suspect that Spoelstra would be a lot more lenient if the Heat were meeting expectations, but when you have this much talent and are hovering one or two games above .500, it’s understandable that the HEAD FREAKING COACH might want a certain level of seriousness from one of his team’s leaders.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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