General Fantasy Sports Discussion

[Sex Machine Gun]

I ended up benching Stills and going with both Landry and McKinnon as my flexes. Everything's good, all I need is for someone else to hold their lead tonight against the second place guy in my division and I'm in the playoffs!

 

[fazzle]

This has easily been my worst fantasy football season of all time. It feels like everyone I drafted has either been a complete bust or injured. Due to injuries or tired players (in our league, if you play someone three weeks in a row they get half points) here are just some of the superstars I started this week:

Josh McCown
Jonathan Grimes
Jermaine Kearse
Kendall Wright




My team is absolutely pathetic.

 

[Aero]

I've done well in both of my leagues, currently in first in both (tied in one, but have about 100 more pts overall than the next), which is a step up from past years as I've never held first place throughout like I've done this year.

Few regrets on draft picks, although I wish I hadn't had to drop Romo after he got injured. Due to limited bench space in one league and bye weeks for other players, I had to drop him, hoping that no one would pick him up during the inactive week leading to the bye. I underestimated the Dallas fans in my league.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

I've started 0-3 in three of my six leagues but have managed myself into the playoffs in all of them (one of which is a ridiculous 20-team auto draft having 16 starters a week with PPR and PPA and a point for being on the winning team and COACHES AND PUNTERS). I'm absolutely out of it in a fourth, and I'm mediocre in the TSM league.

 

[Aero]

Championship Game: Which defense should I start: Detroit against Clausen & Bears, or NE against NYJ. Both are obviously great matchups and might as well be a toss-up, but I feel like the Clausen start is just too good to pass up.

The fact that the Jets did play the Pats really well in Week 7 and that this is likely Rex's last Pats game makes me think the Jets may still be able to keep it competitive, but that's also probably hopeful Jets fan inspired rationale.

 

[MFer]

Gotta be Detroit, though you probably can't go wrong either way. The Jets have been fairly competent the last few games though.

 

[Danville_Wrestling]

Not sure if there are any people in here that play Yahoo! Fantasy Golf, but I've run a head-to-head league format for the last 8 years and am recruiting good managers to go with a lot of veterans. We also have a FedEx Cup competition and eliminator competition as well. If you are interested here's the info:

Group ID#: 806
Password: shark

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

BUMP FROM THE DEAD AGAIN BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME

I've been immensely proud of the two live drafts I've done so far, and this is the first year I've done mocks and feel fully prepared now to have everything blow up in my face. Look at this (12 team standard):

QB: Eli Manning
RB1: Ingram (accidental autopick)
RB2: Ellington
WR1: Antonio Brown
WR2: Julio Jones
TE: Larry Donnell
FLEX: Julian Edelman
D/ST: Vikings
K: Steven Hauschka

Bench:
Giovanni Bernard
Jarvis Landry
Martavis Bryant
Marques Colston
Jay Ajayi
Doug Baldwin
Austin Sefarian-Jenkins

The money league for me this year will be a 16-team PPR 2RB/2WR/2FLEX monster with people from work. Here's a question for discussion: when you play money leagues with friends/acquaintances, what's the usual buy-in?

 

[Kageho]

Depending on where you took Ingram, that wasn't actually a bad autopick. Not greatest, but certainly not the worst.

As far as money, it can range anywhere from $1 to $500. It really depends on how much everyone wants to chip in on a pot. Also, the larger it becomes, the more you want to spread the wealth out. Like if it was $500, it would be $300 for first, $100 for second, $50 for third and usually the last $50 is either for best overall regular season team or most points scored or split between those two.

For friends and family, the buy-ins aren't usually high. 5-10 range on average. All or nothing pot.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

Ingram would've been my third, I think. Not bad for a standard league, but still would've rather had someone else.

My money league's going to be $30 this year with 16 teams, so making the championship alone is a goal of mine.

 

[Kageho]

For a money league, that probably isn't a good one no. Though 16 teams at $30 for a single payout (assuming) is a nice league to be in. Here's hoping you do well.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Had a random 10 team FF draft: General rosters, no PPR, no Flex. Kind of just went boom/bust at every position.

QBs: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady
RBs: Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, Mark Ingram, Joseph Randle, Ryan Mathews
WRs: Kevin White, Victor Cruz, Brandon LaFell, Anquan Boldin
TEs: Greg Olsen, Zach Ertz
K: Cody Parkey
TD: Pittsburgh

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

That is some serious RB hoarding. Are you using one of those as trade bait? Fine lookin' team.

So the 16-team money league is now a 14-team league and we've found out our draft spots. In a 14-team PPR 2RB/2WR/2FLEX league, I'll be going third. This is the highest draft pick I've had in my four years of fantasy and I'm actually pissed about it. There's a lot of pressure to get that first round correct! I really want to take Le'Veon Bell first, but the suspension is scaring me more towards Jamaal Charles. If AP drops somehow to me I'm taking him but this first round pick has me spooked since it's so fucking long until I go again and the talent level at pick #26 is full of low-end WR1s and RB2s. I'm also extremely tempted to take Antonio Brown with that 3rd pick and try the "zero RB" strategy I keep seeing around various sites.

Heeeeeeeeelp!

 

[HarleyQuinn]

That is some serious RB hoarding. Are you using one of those as trade bait? Fine lookin' team.

So the 16-team money league is now a 14-team league and we've found out our draft spots. In a 14-team PPR 2RB/2WR/2FLEX league, I'll be going third. This is the highest draft pick I've had in my four years of fantasy and I'm actually pissed about it. There's a lot of pressure to get that first round correct! I really want to take Le'Veon Bell first, but the suspension is scaring me more towards Jamaal Charles. If AP drops somehow to me I'm taking him but this first round pick has me spooked since it's so fucking long until I go again and the talent level at pick #26 is full of low-end WR1s and RB2s. I'm also extremely tempted to take Antonio Brown with that 3rd pick and try the "zero RB" strategy I keep seeing around various sites.

Heeeeeeeeelp!

Depends on the scoring but you can get away with the upside down strategy I posted about on Culture Crossfire since you could start up to 4 WRs and find solid depth at RB.

If you go that route (again, dependent upon how the draft unfolds): RB at #3, Top wr/te available if everybody else targets RB, and possibly top QB if 6 pts per TD at the Round 3 spot. Then you can target WRs and go for some riskier boom/bust RBs later on or target a team's RB via handcuffing.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Probably would've helped to post a link to said article: http://culturecrossfire.com/sports/football/upside-down-fantasy-football-draft-strategy/#.VbvPe_k_voc

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

Thanks, good read! Going after receivers hard is where I'm leaning more and more. Even shitty teams will have some production from their running game. In this particular league I'm always scouring waivers and take a super hands-on approach so I think it scares me less because there's always like three dudes who start the season undrafted and end up as top-15 guys and if my receivers are stacked a top-15 RB or two is all I'd need.

EDIT: Just did this mock using this idea of finding value later on and I like it, though I don't expect some of these to fall as far as they did (again, 14-team PPR)...

1.3 Antonio Brown, PIT
2.12 DeAndre Hopkins, HOU
3.3 Julian Edelman, NE
4.12 Travis Kelce, KC
5.3 Peyton Manning, DEN
6.12 Anquan Boldin, SF
7.3 T.J. Yeldon, JAC
8.12 Rashad Jennings, NYG
9.3 Chris Ivory, NYJ
10.12 Jay Ajayi, MIA
11.3 Kenny Stills, MIA
12.12 Carson Palmer, ARI
13.3 Mychal Rivera, OAK
14.12 Marvin Jones, CIN
15.3 Donte Moncrief, IND
16.12 Eddie Royal, CHI

 

[Aero]

Started doing some mock drafts on Yahoo, with Pick #10 in a 12-Team League. Like many, I'd normally take a RB and WR with my first two picks, interchangeable, depending on which pick. At #10, barring one of the RB's projected to go in the top 5 somehow dropping, it's a no brainer to take whichever of the top WR's (or maybe Gronk) is available... which I hope will be Dez, as I'd rank him second behind Antonio Brown for WR's.

For pick #15, I'm really not too crazy about the RB selection at this point, or even in the next several rounds. The exception is CJ Anderson, among the RB's who are generally available at this point (Murray, McCoy, Hill, Forte), but he's been picked ahead of me several times. So I used some of the logic from HQ's article going forward, as in 'Why take the 7th or 8th best RB when the top QB/TE is available?' Here's how it turned out through two mocks, which were generally the same, only a few minor differences.

QB: Andrew Luck
RB: Ameer Abdullah, Chris Ivory, LeGarrette Blount, Shane Vereen
WR: Dez Bryant, Emmanuel Sanders, Brandon Marshall, Victor Cruz
TE: Jimmy Graham

As per usual for a mock, 75% of the people were long gone by round 5-6, so I only picked for the primary slots, but I wouldn't take a defense or kicker until later, anyway.

I'd usually never take a QB as high as I did for Luck with #15 overall (first QB off the board), but in this case I think it does work as he could be on pace for his strongest fantasy season yet given the additions Indy made. Graham with my third pick, and a few more WR's before taking my first RB, Abdullah, in the 6th Round, which I'm not sure will be possible in a few weeks, as the hype is growing.

Overall, RB would definitely be a question mark, but I like the way this turned out.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

Just SCHOOLED~ a league's draft including our very own Edwin MacPhisto and Agent of Oblivion. Here is what I got drafting at the #7 spot in a 10-team PPR setup, which is much better than Edwin's effort. Proud of this one:

QB: Matt Ryan
RB1: Jamaal Charles
RB2: Lamar Miller
WR1: Julio Jones
WR2: Randall Cobb
WR3: Vincent Jackson
W/R: Andre Ellington
W/T: Eric Decker
TE: Tyler Eifert
D/ST: Eagles
K: Matt Bryant

Notable Bench guys: Chris Ivory, Brandon LaFell, Tre Mason, Eddie Royal, Carson Palmer

 

[Edwin]

I give you credit for getting Eifert right before I wanted him and THAT'S ALL. Good front line, though. I think my team is going to eat during the bye weeks.

 

[fazzle]

Just had my draft for my main league last night. I got the #12 spot and I think I did pretty alright with it. Our league goes pretty damn deep (20 rounds) so there will be some scrubs on every team.

QBs: Ben Roethlisberger and Ryan Tannehill
RBs: Alfred Morris, Joseph Randle, Isaiah Crowell, Darren Sproles and David Cobb
WRs: Antonio Brown, Brandon Marshall, Torrey Smith, Michael Crabtree, Mohammad Sanu, Marquess Wilson and Donte Moncrief
TEs: Jordan Cameron and Josh Hill
Ks: Blair Walsh and Greg Zuerlein
Ds: Texans and Bengals


I was pretty damn shocked to have Antonio fall all the way down to 12th. The two biggest WTF moments of the draft were the guy in the #7 spot taking freakin Gurley in the first round and the guy in the #2 spot picking kickers back to back in rounds 12 and 13.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

It's so weird how live drafts end up working out. Always some "what the fuck are they doing?" moments.

 

[fazzle]

Also I should mention that those first two kickers went before any defense was taken. Everyone went silent.


The real scary part about those two WTF moments? The guys that made them were our last 2 champions.

 

[Kageho]

If he's a 2 time champion, especially back to back, I think he's just playing ahead of the game. Especially if his kicker is Gost. If one of them is Gost, he's literally better than any other kicker, so making sure he snagged him could mean he's a leg up on the others. And I did not mean to pun there.

 

[fazzle]

no, not back to back. I meant the guy who made the kicker picks was champ 2 years ago, then the guy who went Gurley was champ last year.

He didn't even go Gostkowski. I don't remember who he picked because the page isn't live yet, but it wasn't Gostkowski.

 

[HSJ]

My draft was last night in my 10-person league. I was the #5 spot, so I think I did decently well, but I'm starting to see some holes.

1. (5) Antonio Brown (Pit - WR)
2. (16) Matt Forte (Chi - RB)
3. (25) A.J. Green (Cin - WR)
4. (36) Tony Romo (Dal - QB)
5. (45) Brandin Cooks (NO - WR)
6. (56) Andre Ellington (Ari - RB)
7. (65) Julius Thomas (Jax - TE)
8. (76) Matthew Stafford (Det - QB)
9. (85) Vincent Jackson (TB - WR)
10. (96) Zach Ertz (Phi - TE)
11. (105) Stephen Gostkowski (NE - K)
12. (116) Joique Bell (Det - RB)
13. (125) Devonta Freeman (Atl - RB)
14. (136) Terrance Williams (Dal - WR)
15. (145) Denver (Den - DEF)

In the first round, everyone went with a RB (except for someone picking up Andrew Luck right off the bat). I decided to start with a WR pick up and think it worked out well since I got Brown/Forte as #1 and #2 pick. I'm questioning if I should have went with AJ Green at #3 and going for a QB at #4 as all of the elite QBs were gone by then leaving me Romo. I think my QB's are one of the weakest links as the team of Romo/Stafford will be week-to-week decisions and both guys tend to throw a lot of INT.

Other than that, I can't see too many holes. I think its a pretty solid line-up, but not anything that will blow somebody out of the water and will have to play accordingly week-to-week.

 

[Kageho]

Geezus, you getting Brown and Forte as your 1/2 is a nice combo. As for your QBs, they are actually pretty good. Romo's always a better fantasy QB than real QB, and if Bradford holds up for a full season, he can be a good fantasy investment. Sure, you aren't going to be the BEST, but if you can get the most out of the position, that's always good as well. though if your league dings you a lot for INTs, then yes, you'll likely be in trouble.

You don't really have any holes, but I would be a little concerned about your RBs. Ellington's hold on the starting job isn't guaranteed due to his coach thinking nobody can hold the ball, and Ameer in Detroit could take some of Bell's touches away. If everything holds though, you've got a solid team that should win you most weeks as you also think.

no, not back to back. I meant the guy who made the kicker picks was champ 2 years ago, then the guy who went Gurley was champ last year.

He didn't even go Gostkowski. I don't remember who he picked because the page isn't live yet, but it wasn't Gostkowski.

Okay, yeah, stupid then.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

Just did the big one, the league which I obsess over most and ended up with this (12 team PPR, #3 pick)

QB: Tony Romo
RB1: Adrian Peterson
RB2: Chris Ivory
WR1: TY Hilton
WR2: Davante Adams
TE: Rob Gronkowski
FLEX: Joseph Randle
FLEX: Ryan Mathews
D/ST: streaming
K: Mason Crosby

I feel like it all went wrong when I took Gronk but he was still around at the end of the second round!

 

[SFH]

Didn't think I was going to do fantasy this year since the league I finished third in last year never sent me an invitation for this year. My "best friend" and a coworker's husband are BOTH involved and I found out the day AFTER the draft that they were doing it again this year.

Anyway, another coworker got me shoe horned into an ESPN league this morning. I was happy with my first two picks (QB, WR) but my board fell apart after that:

QB Drew Brees, NO QB

RB Alfred Morris, Wsh RB

RB Rashad Jennings, NYG RB

WR Calvin Johnson, Det WR

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Ari WR

TE Greg Olsen, Car TE

FLEX Roddy White, Atl WR

D/ST Broncos D/ST D/ST

K Dan Bailey, Dal K

Bench Joe Flacco, Bal QB

Bench Alfred Blue, Hou RB

Bench Patriots D/ST D/ST

Bench Montee Ball, Den RB

Bench Percy Harvin, Buf WR

Bench Coby Fleener, Ind TE

Bench Blair Walsh, Min K

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

You shouldn't feel bad. Drafts with real life people end up a trainwreck for me. Mock drafts online against real people? Sure! With a group of people in person? You end up with Chris Ivory as your RB2.

In ours last night, a new guy took Matt Ryan in the first round. This was after Luck went #1. No WR went until pick #10!

 

[SFH]

So this bit me in the ass:

Coworker is one of them girls that "watches" football but you wouldn't be surprised to hear her call a "touchdown" a "home run" and giggle about it. Her husband invited me into their league this year. I anticipated that her entire draft is going to be three rounds of names she recognizes, from the Saints, and then 13 rounds of filling slots of "best available" in no particular order.

About 30 minutes before the draft she PMs me on Facebook to trash talk and ask if I was ready. I confirmed, she asked who I was thinking about taking first. I sarcastically said "Dan Bailey, Cowboys kicker." She said, "FOR REAL!?" I ran with it, "Yes I figure a kicker scores more per game than anyone. He kicks an XP on each touchdown plus the field goals." She responds, "OH right YEAH! That makes a lot of sense!"

I was drafting 7 which AS IT HAPPENS is where Drew Brees was on my depth chart of picks and he was the only QB left in my "draft this guy then this guy" on my board. I didn't want to be "that guy" that immediately went with the hometown QB but there it was.

So I drafted him. Immediately she messages me, "YOU GOD DAMN SON OF A BITCH! HE IS NOT A KICKER!"

So she beat me in our head to head match up yesterday AND Brees looks to be injured significantly.