Preparing for week 2 of Fantasy Football

Week 1 NFL Highlights


Ok, so week 1 is long gone by. How are you doing? 3-0 here looking good heading into week 2.

http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f2/14687/1
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f2/17528/1
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f2/17795/1

A few tips for week 2 of Fantasy Football:

Take a look at teams that gave up a lot of points in week 1, and note who they played. The Giants in particular look like a team to me that is going to give up a ton of points. They made the Cowboys look like the Colts. Also the Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh is good, but not that good. As you are looking for that bye week insert or filler player for the week, take a look at who is playing the Giants and Browns, and see if there is a wide receiver or quarterback on the waiver wire. A good matchup is better then rankings and year to date stats when looking at the free agent list. I would add the Lions to this list as well.

Along with this, take a look at teams that had a lot of total yards and/or scored a lot of points this week. Note these teams and watch players that are on the free agent list.

If you have a week that you do not like your defense, see who is playing one of these teams:
Browns
Buccaneers
Falcons
Kansas City
and see if the team playing them is available in the free agent list (defensive team).

Try to watch as much football as you can. So many times I have been able to snag players right when someone gets hurt. If you are serious about Fantasy Football, I suggest getting a laptop and wireless internet. Watch the highlight shows for injuries, keep an eye on your live stats, basically just be more informed then everyone else. Timing is key with a lot of the major pickups.

I am sure many of you saw Random Ward get picked up immediately after Brandon Jacobs got hurt on Monday Night Football. You want to be able to do that for any game, any player. There are going to be many injuries every week, so there are plenty of oppurtunities.

Keep an eye on the drop list. Many times players will drop a decent wide receiver due to a couple of poor games. Receivers will have bad fantasy football stats days. Look for #1 or #2 wide receivers.

Fantasy Football last minute resources

Still preparing for your fantasy football draft? Here are some resources you may find helpful:

Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet

Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

Fantasy Football Sleepers and Busts

Fantasy Football Advice

Comparing 3 seperate fantasy football drafts

Below is a chart of the top 50 players taken in a draft that I was in on Wednesday night, August 29th. The chart is sorted from pick 1 to pick 50 for the column "Draft #3, Live Online".

Draft #3 and Draft #2 had identical rules and rosters, point system, everything. Both were done on Yahoo Fantasy Football. Scoring is normal point for every 10 yards receiving and rushing, 1 point per 25 yards passing, 6 points per TD, nothing fancy. The rosters start 1 quarterback, 2 wide receivers, 2 running backs, 1 tight end, 1 kicker, 1 defense, and 2 flex positions. Flex position #1 was either a running back or a wide receiver, flex position 2 was either a wide receiver or a tight end. Draft 2 was a fantasy football draft the day before draft 3.

Draft #1 was a live offline draft (some dude's basemen) with similar rules except .25 points per reception, and a big difference in roster spots. Fantasy football draft #1 teams must start 3 WR's and 2 RB's. This accounts for all the overvaluing of wide receivers in this draft.

Red picks indicate the earliest pick a player was taken, while green picks indicate the latest a player was taken.

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Results
click the chart below for better viewing

How can this help you? Well, it shows how much knowing the rules of your league can make different players worth more or less. It also shows 2 exact drafts very close to each other, and ranges of spots the players went. With this, I would note that if you want Carson Palmer, you better take him with a mid second round pick, otherwise he will be gone. With running backs like Deuce McCalister and Jamal Lewis, you can wait maybe longer then you need to draft them. It is very glaring to see the bad picks between the two drafts that are similar.

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Recap

My final team looks like this -

Starters -
RB - Larry Johnson
RB - Maurice Jones-Drew
WR - Steve Smith
WR - Javon Walker
WR - Randy Moss
TE - Tony Gonzalez
QB – Philip Rivers/Tony Romo
K – Jason Elam
D – Green Bay Packers

Reserves –
QB – Philip Rivers/Tony Romo
RB - Ahman Green
RB – Jerrious Norwood
RB – Kevin Jones
WR - Terry Glenn
WR - Matt Jones
TE – Jason Witten

Overall I am very happy with my draft. Solid starting lineup with lots of depth.

On a side note I am starting to hate blogger, as it will not let me show the draft correctly. Click this to start at the beginning. You will find links to the next round at the bottom of each post.

Also I am in the process of cleaning this thing up. I see a lot of my comments get cut off at 1024x768. Sorry about that. Thanks for visiting.

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Round 16

Round 16

151	Josh Brown	115	K
152	Anthony Gonzales	NR	WR	nice sleeper here
153	Jason Hanson	183	K
154	Joe Nedney	158	K
155	Reuben Droughns	144	RB	interesting
156	Matt Schaub	175	QB
157	Greg Olsen	NR	TE
158	Green Bay	121	DT
159	Troy Williamson	237	WR
160	Minnesota	126	DT

I took Green Bay over San Fran and Minnesota. Not that it really matters. I only pick a defense so I don't have to be charged a transaction in the first week. Most times, I am looking at team matchups. Who is playing a team that sucks, and is their defense available.

Green Bay does get to play the Lions and Vikings and Bears twice each, all teams who can have trouble scoring the ball and are prone to turnovers. Who knows, I make keep them for a while.

Click here to see the recap

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Round 15

Round 15

141	Heath Miller	102	TE	Value TE's still here late
142	Brett Favre	106	QB	Value QB
143	Jason Elam	99	K	Got my kicker
144	Reggie Williams	234	WR
145	Brandon Marshall	200	WR
146	Correll Buckhalter	230	RB
147	Michael Turner	242	RB
148	Owen Daniels	94	TE	Nice value pick
149	Dwayne Jarret	NA	WR
150	Tony Scheffler	NA	TE

Plenty of QB's and TE's that are playable still left late in this draft. I got the kicker I wanted.

Click here to go to round 16

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Round 14

Round 14

131	Vernon Morency	81	RB	nice pick, I was thinking something like this
132	Randy McMichael	110	TE
133	Eli Manning	89	QB	nice value here, good backup
134	Jacksonville	203	DT	2nd defense, never waste
135	Jake Delhomme	118	QB	a step below Eli, but decent
136	Mike Bell	216	RB	No, he will annoy you
137	Ted Ginn	NR	WR	dont do it, let someone else
138	Matt Jones	165	WR	Number 1 WR in Jacksonville my 5th WR
139	Eric Parker	NR	WR	should be on waiver wire
140	Joe Horn	225	WR	not a fan of Atlanta passing game

Can you say 3rd year breakout WR? He's the number 1 in Jacksonville, which isn't saying a whole lot, but after watching the garbage WR's that have been taken for the last several rounds, I am quite happy having Matt Jones as my 5th wide receiver.

Joe Horn slipped by me, but really I did not want anything to do with the Atlanta Falcons passing game. I passed on Alge Crumpler the same way, so no sweat off my back that I could have had Horn.

Time to go swipe the 3rd best kicker on my board for some more value.

Click here to go to Round 15

2007 Fantasy Football Draft Round 13

Round 13

121	Stephen Gostkowski	104	K
122	Miami	133	DT
123	Kevin Jones	73	RB	Best player on board, very happy with 5th RB
124	Santonio Holmes	204	WR
125	Derrick Mason	154	WR
126	Brandon Jones	229	WR
127	Ben Roethlisberger	142	QB
128	Dallas Clark	88	TE
129	Neil Rackers	114	K
130	Trent Green	161	QB

I swear I could hear a pin drop when I wrote "K. Jones" on the board, like the whole room forgot about him. Again best player available. Jones at worst will be out till week 6, and at best could be ready to go a few weeks earlier. I will take my chances on this with my 13th round pick, and my 5th running back. Only one more value pick left, and then it is kicker and defense time.

I note that everyone has a defense except me, so I am looking at Green Bay, Minnesota, and San Francisco. I am pretty sure I can take anyone of these that I want.

I also note that only me and 2 other guys have not picked kickers, and the 2 guys in question keep saying every round "Me and YOU, Man, no kickers till the last round". I got my eyes on Jason Elam, and I will take him early round 15. One more round of value I hope.

Click here for Round 14

Fantasy Football Draft Round 12

Round 12

111	Kevin Curtis	198	WR
112	Denver	168	DT
113	Devery Henderson	179	WR
114	Isaac Bruce	184	WR
115	Dallas	116	DT
116	Ladell Betts	84	RB	good pick
117	L.J. Smith	67	TE	If this guy takes Witten I take Smith here
118	Jason Witten	61	TE	Best player on board not Alge
119	Alge Crumpler	43	TE	could have got him, didn't want him
120	Pittsburgh	127	DT

All value here. While these guys draft crappy WR and defensive teams, we get a top 60 player in the 12th round. Not a bad TE backup in case Gonzales craps the bed this year. Now I can also entertain the idea of trading Gonzales for something else. Feel very comfortable with Jason Witten as my starting TE.

The guy next to me mentions "isn't that your second TE?"

Click here to go to Round 13

Round 11 - 2007 Fantasy Football Draft

Round 11

101	Jay Cutler	100	QB	Thanking god that he took Cutler
102	Chester Taylor	66	RB	nice value
103	Philip Rivers	74	QB	besides TE's the best player on the board
104	Muhsin Muhammad	125	WR
105	Nate Kaeding	122	K	kicker run
106	Jeff Wilkins	92	K
107	Shayne Graham	97	K
108	D.J. Hackett	205	WR
109	Matt Leinart	90	QB	I take Lienert over Cutler if Rivers was gone
110	Ben Watson	76	TE

Again, I was able to get my guy and get lots of value with the top player on the board (besides any TE that are left). Very lucky that the guy took Cutler above me instead of Rivers. If he would have taken Philip, I would have went with Matt Leinart.

The quality of players being passed up to take kickers and defenses blows my mind. Don't get caught up in it. It always seems to happen too, these little mini runs of kickers and defenses being drafted. Don't do it. It is the best thing that can happen for you late in the draft.

So many people do not like the end of the draft because "there is no one left" or whatever. When these guys take defenses and kickers, fill your bench with the best available players. Make sure no one is left for them.

Click here to go to Round 12