Tag Archives: Peyton Manning

Fantasy Football 2011 in Review

  December 29, 2011 - 11:00 am | ,
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In August, when we found out there was going to be a football season in 2011, I started posting FFPrep’s Draft Kit.  It is a composite of analyst ranks from ESPN, SI, CBS, Yahoo etc. as well as our rankings.  Among other statistics, the rankings also take in to account the team the player is on, the depth chart of the position, and the average draft position (ADP).

Among the successes of the Draft Kit were the rankings of Jimmy Graham, Peyton Manning,  and Ray Rice.  Some of our misses were Chris Johnson, Cam Newton, and A.J. Green.  I think I had just been burned too many times on rookies that I decided to drop them in my rankings relative to other analyst ranks.  Obviously injuries cannot be accounted for, so our rankings of Jamaal Charles and Andre Johnson were certainly off.  The Draft Kit is meant to put you in the best position, in our opinion, for Week 1 of Fantasy Football.

After the draft, your team most likely had the key starters in place for most of the rest of the season (barring injury).  That is when you turned to the Weekly Projections and Fantasy Football Tools to see who to start, and who is trending and may be worthy of a pick up.  Momentum is one of the biggest factors week to week so riding a player like Denarius Moore or Demaryius Thomas is what would have separated you from the other managers in your league.

The Bye-Weeks always present a problem to managers.  I always advocate drafting the best team possible and worry about the bye weeks later.  Other people will tell you to take the bye in to account, so go with whatever you like.  My reasoning is that, worst case scenario, your team all has a bye on the same week and you take a loss.  If that 1 loss keeps you from the playoffs then your team wasn’t that strong to begin with.

I was in two leagues this season, a 10 team league and a 12 team league.  The 10 team league, let’s call it party, had probably 3 serious managers and a bunch of rookies.  I ended up with an absolutely stacked team and didn’t have to work much to go 12-1 and win the championship.  The 12 team league was a different story.  Nearly everyone in that league is a contender each season so it is much more competitive.  I limped in to the playoffs, ending the season with two straight losses and an 8-5 record.  I ended up winning that league as well, thanks to a big performance by Calvin Johnson and an unlikely starter in Kalil Bell.

I am not posting this to brag, but rather to give this website some credibility.  I used FFPrep’s Draft Kit, Weekly Rankings, and Fantasy Football Tools and came away with 2 championships.  Luck is a major part of fantasy, so all you can do is put out the best team with the best information you have at the time.  That is what FFPrep is all about.

In January we will start posting some predictions on the NFL Draft in April.  I will also be working on the beginnings of the 2012 Draft Kit.  In June and July we will start regularly updating the draft kit in preparation for your August and early September drafts.  So check back!  We are also working on the Draft Pick Trade Analyzer so that you can account for Keepers in to your trades.  Exciting stuff if you are a nerd like me…

Thank you for regularly reading FFPrep.  Have a happy New Years and I wish you all the best in 2012.

Cam Newton and Leveling Expectations

  September 12, 2011 - 11:21 am |
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By MattDotRich

With yesterday’s 422 yard day Cam Newton has now surpasses Jamarcus Russell’s rookie season output (379 yards)*. FFPrep would like  take this time to congratulate the 2011 #1 pick on reaching this milestone. I’m sure this must be a proud day for Cam, and then entire Newton family.

Now let’s take a look at things from a Fantasy perspective

Let me start off this way: If Cam Newton is on your waiver wire, and you don’t have an elite quarterback you should put in a claim for him on Tuesday. He’s got a great skill set, a rocket arm, can really extend a play out, and is surrounded by a pretty talented offense. So he’s certainly worth the gamble.

But let’s not forget about two very important things:

  1. Cam Newton is a Rookie
  2. The Arizona Cardinals defense sucks
Let’s tackle the second part first. While I’m quite juvenile, I try to refrain from saying juvenile things when I’m trying to write a more serious post. But there’s no other way to put it – the Cardinals defense sucks, especially  their secondary.
I don’t want to completely discredit Newton – his throws were crisp, and thrown with an impressive amount of velocity – but they were being caught by receivers who didn’t have a defensive back within 5 yards of them. That was a full contact scrimmage against the Junior Varsity team.

And again, let’s not forget that he’s a rookie playing the toughest position in all of sports.

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Woke Up This Morning – Brees, Rodgers, and Why Your Fantasy Team Could Be In Trouble

  September 9, 2011 - 9:19 am |
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By MattDotRich

HEY YOU GUYS, FOOTBALL’S BACK!

It’s that magical time of the year: Eat all the wings you want! Drink all the beer! There are no calorie repercussions because FOOTBALL’S BACK! Ignore your wife! Ignore your girlfriend! Ignore your kids! They’ll understand because FOOTBALL’S BACK!

OK. I got that out of my system. Let’s review what we learned last night:

Drew Brees: 419 yards, 3 td’s

Aaron Rodgers: 312 yards, 3 td’s

Those are numbers that would scare me if I was one of those guys questioning why everybody was picking a quarterback early in the draft last weekend.

Yes, they’re exceptionally high, but in this new pro-QB era each week your opponent is playing an elite quarterback and penciling in 270+ yards and 2+ td’s while you’re hoping your quarterback could put up anything resembling those minimums.

The days of stockpiling running backs like Mark Ingram and Ryan Grant (40 yards each) are over. You’re going to need to find strong quarterback play one way or the other to contend. Now that doesn’t mean go crazy; if you’ve got 2 elite running backs that’s great, but you might want to start considering playing the lottery on quarterbacks.

Don’t carry one mediocre to poor quarterback and hope he works out. If I’ve got Joe Flacco as my starter, I’m starting the season with three quarterbacks and hoping one of them makes the jump to a reliable 2nd tier Quarterback. That’s not to say that I think Flacco can’t do it – he’s certainly got the receiving options to do so – but unless you’ve got one of the top 5 or 6 quarterbacks, I’m not putting my eggs in one basket.

Suggestion:

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Mark vs. Matt Gridiron Showdown 2011: Week 1

  September 8, 2011 - 11:00 am | , ,
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Want to see who we picked in our first week of the Gridiron Challenge?

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Peyton Manning’s Career Could Be Done

  September 6, 2011 - 2:00 pm | , ,
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By MattDotRich

When Mark asked me to write for this site he didn’t exactly tell me what I had to do. Just simply asked me to write when I could, and I turned that into a way to write mini-novels about a reality show featuring Chad Ochocinco that was about as degrading to women as a show possibly could be, and occasionally a nugget of actually semi-important information.

I might not know what I was brought in to do, but I know what I wasn’t brought in to do – and that’s to write columns like the one I’m about to post.

The career of one of the two greatest quarterbacks of this generation might be over.

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Ranking Updates 8/30

  August 30, 2011 - 6:38 pm | , , , ,
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Let’s rewind to, say, January.. You just won the fantasy trophy and you are collecting your winnings from the other losers in your league.  If I were to say to you then, that in August, Peyton Manning would be available with your 3rd round pick, you would think I was nuts.  Fast forward 8 months and Peyton Manning has an ADP of 33.8.  A couple more that may have shocked you would be Frank Gore (ADP 22.3), Maurice Jones-Drew (ADP 14), and Chris Johnson (ADP of 7.8).

My point is that this year has not only been unique because of the NFL Lockout, but also because of some of the value that is falling to some obscene levels.  When you are drafting this week or weekend, make sure you don’t draft rookies too high and proven veterans too low –  check out our updated Top 200. With that in mind, here is the Top 25 and the Biggest Movers for the week of 8/30:

Ranking Updates 8/22

  August 22, 2011 - 4:48 pm | , ,
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I’ll admit I was caught up in the Michael Vick fever that most of the analysts had over the past couple weeks.  I originally had him as the #2 overall pick but after a couple poor outings and some common sense, he has dropped to the #12 spot.  Just too much risk to warrant the #2 spot..

A couple of players that should be on the rise on everyone’s draft boards are Tim Hightower, Reggie Bush, Felix Jones, John Beck, Ryan Matthews, and Jahvid Best.

Some players you should drop on your draft board are Carson Palmer (he may really be retired), Andy Dalton, Jonathan Baldwin, Mikel LeShoure (IR) and Ryan Williams (IR)

Make sure to check out the Top 200 to stay up to date on the latest ranking updates.

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Fantasy Football Team Names 2011 Edition

  August 10, 2011 - 11:54 am | ,
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No matter how well you prepare, you will not be respected in your league if you do keep your team name as the default “Team 11″.  Below are some suggestions for 2011:

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Ranking Updates 8/8

  August 8, 2011 - 6:18 pm | ,
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A number of players signed over the last week that will have an impact on your fantasy draft.  Some of the big names that you should update in your rankings are Michael Bush, Chad Ochocinco, Braylon Edwards, Ronnie Brown, Sidney Rice and Zach Miller (Seattle).

Other notable mentions include: Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow, Chad Henne, Ricky Williams, Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee.

We have updated our Top 200, as well as our Positional Rankings and D/ST Rankings (including kickers).  Also make sure you check out the Draft Kit to find relevant articles from this year and from the archive.

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