Author: John Paulsen (Page 463 of 937)

      Industry Insiders Fantasy League: Round 10

      August 28, 2009 /

      To start with Round 1 (and see the scoring system and roster requirements), click here.

      My team so far: 1. Chris Johnson, 2. Steve Smith, 3. Ronnie Brown, 4. Marshawn Lynch, 5. Santana Moss, 6. Tony Romo, 7. Greg Olsen, 8. Jerricho Cotchery, 9. Fred Jackson

      Having secured Marshawn Lynch’s backup, I felt pretty good about my stable of running backs. So as the draft moved into Round 10, I was looking to bolster my WR corps by finding a diamond in the rough. Looking through my list of late-round WR gems, a couple of names stood out: Domenik Hixon and Josh Morgan. (If you’re wondering about the other guys in my top 5, Chaz Schilens and Nate Washington are injured, Ted Ginn was already drafted and Davone Bess has been usurped by Brian Hartline.) I also added Percy Harvin to my list, mainly due to this Rotoworld article which issues glowing reports about Harvin’s fantasy prospects this season.

      My mind is telling me that Hixon will have the best numbers of the three, so I drafted him, right? Wrong. I ended up going with Harvin, figuring that I would end up with Hixon in several other leagues (that matter more financially), so why not go with the sexy pick instead? If Harvin blows up, I’ll look like a genius. If he flops, oh well.

      Seriously, if the Vikings use him the way that the Rotoworld piece says they will, then he should have a very solid season in PPR leagues.

      Round 10, Pick 5: Percy Harvin, WR

      Here’s how the entire round went: 109) Laurent Robinson, 110) James Davis, 111) Carson Palmer, 112) Matt Ryan, 113) Percy Harvin, 114) Julius Jones, 115) Brett Favre, 116) Josh Morgan, 117) Sidney Rice, 118) Trent Edwards, 119) Domenik Hixon, 120) Tim Hightower

      It may be a while (as this draft is ongoing), but I’ll be back after it’s complete with a quick rundown of the rest of my picks.

      Click here to see all of my round-by-round picks.

      Fantasy Football

      How five marquee players are assimilating with new teams

      August 28, 2009 /

      For SportingNews.com, Mike Fiorio examines how five big-name players are faring with their new teams.

      Jay Cutler

      The Chicago Bears made a bold move earlier this year when they uncharacteristically uncorked multiple draft picks and a player for a guy not already on the team.

      In so doing, they landed the best quarterback they’ve had in decades.

      So far, Cutler has been a mixed bag. Rumblings of problems with linebacker Brian Urlacher didn’t help to create the right warm and/or fuzzy atmosphere. Then Cutler registered an abysmal 30.8 passer rating in the team’s first preseason game at Buffalo, completing five of ten passes with an interception.

      Last week was far more encouraging, with Cutler connecting on eight of 13 attempts for 121 yards, a touchdown, and a passer rating of 117.8 against the Giants.

      But the real question of whether Cutler is properly getting himself ready to be the Bears’ franchise quarterback will best be answered when he returns to Denver on Sunday night for a game against the team for which he was supposed to be the franchise quarterback deep into the next decade.

      In addition to Cutler, Florio discusses Matt Cassel, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Terrell Owens and Albert Haynesworth.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Madison Square Garden development featured on “Mad Men”

      August 28, 2009 /

      If you don’t watch “Mad Men,” you should. In the latest episode, Sterling-Cooper is asked to put together an ad campaign supporting the controversial demolition of the gorgeous Penn Station and the development of Madison Square Garden in its place. Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop wrote a nice piece covering the episode’s topic.

      More than forty years after Madison Square Garden was opened above the new, dingy Penn Station, we regard it as basketball’s holiest site — a place whose mystique inspires basketball greats such as Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James to their greatest heights. These NBA titans rhapsodize about the Garden. Bryant calls it the “mecca of basketball.”

      Four decades later, it’s ironic that the building that was the bête noire of architectural preservationists has become the defining symbol of basketball preservationists — a receptacle for the sort of sentimentalism that fueled the opposition to its creation.

      Nice work.

      NBA

      Fantasy Football Auction Strategy

      August 27, 2009 /

      Snake drafts are simple, easy to understand and organized.

      Auctions are not.

      They are haphazard and chaotic, and that’s part of what makes them so much fun.

      Want the consensus top fantasy player in the league? He’s yours…if you’re willing to pay. You’re not beholden to a certain draft slot or to the whim of the guy picking in front of you. It’s your team and the decisions you make will completely shape your roster, for good or for bad.

      Auctions come in all shapes and sizes, but for the past couple of seasons I’ve played in one where each team has a $400 salary cap and a roster of 20-22 players. It’s a slow online auction. Every day, each owner is responsible for nominating one player along with an opening bid, which can’t be seen by the other owners in the league. Bidding is open for 24 hours, unless the high bidder changes, in which case the clock is reset. At any particular time there might be 20 or 30 players up for bidding, but the slow format gives owners plenty of time to consider their options.

      I generally budget 85-90% of my total cap for my starters. This way, I have already accounted for some extra funds to acquire some cheap backups in the later part of the auction. This might seem like a lot to spend on your starters, but these are the guys that are playing week in and week out, so it’s smart to put the vast majority of your resources to that end.

      When approaching an auction there are two prevailing strategies to consider when bidding on players:

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football

      Industry Insiders Fantasy League: Round 9

      August 27, 2009 /

      To start with Round 1 (and see the scoring system and roster requirements), click here.

      My team so far: 1. Chris Johnson, 2. Steve Smith, 3. Ronnie Brown, 4. Marshawn Lynch, 5. Santana Moss, 6. Tony Romo, 7. Greg Olsen, 8. Jerricho Cotchery

      When I took Lynch back in the 4th, I knew I was going to have to back him up with Fred Jackson, probably in the 9th. This is the downside to drafting Lynch this year. Unless you have another RB (or WR, if you’re league utilizes a flex) to start in his place for the first three weeks, you may find yourself in a tough spot. No one wants to start out the season 0-3.

      That said, Jackson is one of the league’s better backups and if Lynch were to miss significant time, he could step in and be a quality fantasy starter.

      Round 9, Pick 8: Fred Jackson, RB

      Here’s how the entire round went: 97) Devin Hester, 98) Laveranues Coles, 99) Ahmad Bradshaw, 100) Dustin Keller, 101) Chester Taylor, 102) Michael Crabtree, 103) Willis McGahee, 104) Fred Jackson, 105) Justin Gage, 106) Ted Ginn, 107) Darren Sproles, 108) Laurence Maroney

      I would have liked to nab Ginn here, but I couldn’t risk letting Jackson fall to another owner. Besides, there are still a few up-and-coming WRs that I like in the upcoming rounds.

      Click here to see all of my round-by-round picks.

      Fantasy Football

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