Biggest Breakouts of 2017 - Tight End

After spending the entirety of early January rating the hot or not's for fantasy football, I settled in to enjoy playoff football. Between basically living between postseason college and pro football, as well as some real-life stuff that got in the way of my regular writing schedule, I enjoyed the most uneven playoff schedule in... Read More

Biggest Breakouts at Quarterback - 2017 Year in Review

If you have to build a football team, start with the QB first. If you have to build a fantasy football team, you can do one of three things: Pick a surefire guy in the second or third round, confident that the player you picked will be a lock, worry about nothing else. Roll the... Read More

Biggest Tight End Busts - 2017 Year in Review

At the end of every year of fantasy football, you're left with some immediate observations about what you'll do differently in 2018. You'll spend time thinking about which RB is potentially going to be your money-in-the-bank guy in 2018, or which third-round wide receiver will make up for the 2017 mistake of drafting Terrelle Pryor in that spot.... Read More

Biggest Running Back Busts - 2017 Year in Review

I'm a firm believer that I know very little, and that taking my advice is generally the equivalent of asking someone on the street. I'm not referring to fantasy sports so much as everything else: how to cook a fish, how many quarts are in a cup, how to put together a desk, etc. When it... Read More

Biggest Quarterback Busts - 2017 Year in Review

Going into the 2017 season, I implored fantasy strategists in a long article to give up on waiting for quarterback, and instead pick one of the top-five guys in place of a standard third or fourth-round selection. Years of fantasy football statistics and results had pointed to the fact that only a handful of quarterbacks... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz - Week 17 Lineup Questions

Before DFS became a known and popular entity in fantasy football gaming, there was Week 17. Sure, fantasy sports will always have some quality of unknown dart-throwing in it (Alvin Kamara, anyone?) but this week is sort of a horror show all its own. Did you ride a running back all the way to the... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz - Week 16 Lineup Questions

A few weeks ago, I sorted out the two types of questions you should always be able to answer; some off the top of your head, and some dependent upon factors like date and time. It was used to basically say that come the end of November, you should know how many leagues where you'll... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz - Week 15 Lineup Questions

Unlike last week, I think it's safe to declare that it's officially playoff time for everyone. I mean, everyone who made it (and shout-out to the people who are trying to keep the consolation bracket competitive, you're the real MVP.) If you're competing for that top spot, and maybe some slightly belated Christmas funding, you... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz: Week 14, NFL 2017

You've heard it everywhere; It's fantasy playoffs season! Playoffs are starting!" Woo hoo playoff time! Every site that does analysis this week is smiling wide, assuming you made the playoffs, and that those playoffs start with Thursday Night Football! Cue the music! Woohoo! It's worth first congratulating you all who made the playoffs, because if... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz - Week 13, NFL 2017

When it comes to personal questions, there are really two types that dictate an answer; questions you should always know the answer to, and questions you should be able to answer dependent on the date. If, for example, you have children, you should always be able to answer the question "Do you have any children?,"... Read More

Fantasy Football Pop Quiz: Week 12, NFL 2017

I'm thankful my Week 12 matchup is over already. I've complained a lot in this space how my teams have been doing. I won't keep repeating the main points of popularity, because there's nothing worse than a fantasy football matchup that you aren't involved in and forced to hear about, but last night was the... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - Lineup Questions for Week 11

It's nice to remind myself when I'm wrong (there's a good "haha he's married now" joke in there, but that's low hanging fruit that's even too low for me) especially as I weep over the less-than-smoldering ashes of my fantasy teams. In the pre-season, I went back through years of fantasy scoring, estimating how different... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - Lineup Questions for Week 8

As all one or two of the people who read my column realized last week, I was actually off. We were putting together the finishing touches on our wedding, which was Sunday. I don't think it's a day I'll ever forget; 78 degrees right about the time we said our vows, really delicious BBQ for... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - NFL Questions for Week 6

We're officially here. Yes, we are officially at the point, as of Week 6, where you are officially in "make or break" mode. Yes, fine, it's only week 6. I get it. But you're looking at your team, and you're starting to do the math, especially in dynasty leagues. Maybe you've lost David Johnson, or you... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - NFL Questions for Week 5

When I'm not phoning in my once-a-week column, I'm in digital marketing. For the most part it means I'm behind a computer working on one of dozens of things, or on a phone. But this week, I got away from the computer, and after a few years of work at a sports-related startup, I was back... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - Questions for Week 4 Lineups

A friend of mine shared a Facebook post this week that I found myself relating to very differently than he intended. He mused that before he became a parent, he swore he'd always answer his kids' questions with well thought out, logical responses. When he, y'know, actually became a parent, his responses were much more comical,... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - NFL Week 3

There are two types of football articles; those based in analytics, and those based in opinion. Admittedly the opinion ones ("Does Rob Gronkowski Fully Appreciate Career Touchdown 69?") are a bit more fun and easier to write, and very few articles utilize one without the other, but it always come down to one of two things; can I prove... Read More

Fantasy Pop Quiz - NFL Week 1

I was faced with this thought the other day when, on Twitter, I joked that the weirdly under-discussed "Red Sox Steal Signs from Yankees" story wouldn't even be the biggest sports story of the day on September 5. And seriously, it wouldn't be; a few hours later the fact that the NFL's arbitrator upheld Ezekiel... Read More

Take a Hike - The Importance of Grabbing an Elite QB

Depending on when you learned, or were taught, to play fantasy football, you picked up on a certain trend, whether consciously or subconsciously. While the fantasy community loves to talk about "Zero RB", it's a strategy that only got its name a few years ago. Many of us that get tweeted or asked fantasy football... Read More

2017 NFL Team Outlook - San Francisco 49ers

The "2017 San Francisco 49ers" and "Fantasy Football potential" are not sentences that tend to go together, and that's coming from a long-time fan and one-time plane rider with Steve Young (Steve Young flies Southwest?! Celebrities, they're just like us) who understands the simple truth; the rebuilding process for this team runs through building up... Read More

Biggest Surprises of 2016 - Running Back

Going into 2016, I wrote an article where I went over how zero-WR is dumb and zero-RB is a ray of sunlight and truth. I was half right. 2016 was not the year to do the "Zero RB" game and hope to win your fantasy league. (OK Jordan Howard and Jay Ajayi owners, stop tweeting... Read More

Biggest Risers and Fallers of 2016 - Wide Receivers

2016 wasn't exactly an exciting year for traditional rookie storylines. Unlike the emergence of Odell Beckham Jr. via one-handed grab in 2014, or the dominant arrival of guys like Amari Cooper last year. Ultimately, 2016 revealed no red carpet for the heir to the throne (though one rookie made a pretty dominant case.) Unlike the... Read More

Fantasy Mads Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 16

As I write my last "Fantasy Mad Libs" of the season, I wanted to, in lieu of writing funny Christmas song parodies related to fantasy or going over my best and worst picks of the year (one of those will be my post-season column) thank the RotoBaller team. I was thrilled to write at least... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starts and Sits For Week 14

Pop Quiz: What's the football version of a perfect game? Most of you who read my column are heading to the playoffs (haha, I'm kidding), and you need a perfect game out of your team. And though it's likely your quarterback won't be the one to set the bar no other NFL QB has set,... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 13

There's something fitting about the end of Thanksgiving being the end of giving thanks, especially in fantasy football. There's no bigger kick to the stomach than returning to school or work on that following Monday, and looking at your fantasy records. "Man what a good - hollllll-y sh*t I need to get a big game out... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 12

Most of us are writing on a quicker deadline this week, anxious to get our fantasy advice out into the world, copying and pasting some thoughts on why we are thankful (usually something about how we are beyond excited to be writing fantasy football advice instead of just shouting moves at our friend). But I... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 11

It's incredibly cocky for a man who writes one fantasy column a week (and whose only call for submissions got nothing) to suggest that anyone missed his column last week. So when I tell you that I missed my column last week, know that I'm telling you for a simple reason; so I can tell you... Read More

Fantasy Mads Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 9

No one wanted Aaron Rodgers. I thought a lot about this happening, as this week the rest of the fantasy community learned about my terrible fantasy trade I highlighted in this space a few weeks ago. He's been the best fantasy QB of the last two weeks, but by October 2015, one member of a... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starters and Sitters For Week 8

I'm infamously bad at Halloween. No, I guess that's not right; I'm bad at fantasy football despite how much effort I put into it. I'm... uninterested in Halloween. Don't get me wrong, it has all of my favorite things (alcohol and bad food.) I've mostly stayed away from dressing up too ridiculously, in a holiday... Read More

Fantasy Mad Libs: Starts and Sits for Week 7

One of the greatest criticisms of the NFL, besides anything that happened in the commissioners office in 2015, is that the Pro Bowl game is virtually meaningless. As we are in the throws of the baseball playoffs, which thankfully do not take place within a month of the game meant to honor the league's best players,... Read More