10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 9

The Houston Astros won the World Series on Wednesday night. The Houston Texans lost Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season to a torn ACL during practice on Thursday. Houston sports--something good, then something bad. The Watson injury is a big one in terms of its fantasy impact, because Watson was playing not just […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 9)

As I write this, it is Monday evening and I am trying not to fall asleep after only getting about five hours of sleep last night--and after being awake all of yesterday. I don't miss NFL football unless I have to, so I woke up for the Browns/Vikings London game and watched the first half […]

10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 8

There a lot of bye weeks (six!) this week, which means you have a lot more restrictions when building a lineup. I'll try to reflect that in this week's column by digging a little dip deeper on some of the bust picks, looking at some under-the-radar players who should stay under that radar. It's hard […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 8)

If you read this list last week and thought Justin, how dare you suggest I pick Josh McCown up. I will never read you again, then...well, in that scenario you likely aren't actually reading this. But McCown was fifth among QBs in scoring for the week going into Monday night and he gets Atlanta in Week […]

10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 7

I'm trying a new approach this week with this column, which is that the introductory paragraphs and the recap of last week's games are going to be combined. But don't worry! That just means I'll be writing more about how good/bad last week's bust picks were! It makes more sense to blabber on about that […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 7)

Last week I mentioned Brian Hoyer as a good streaming option, which quickly looked like a bad call when Hoyer was benched for C.J. Beathard. But hey--the 49ers offense looks surprisingly not terrible, so maybe I just had the wrong quarterback penciled in! But seriously, I don't know what to think about San Francisco--every week […]

10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 6

It's Week 6. The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated, the Patriots have looked average at many points, and the Houston Texans are suddenly an offensive oriented team. The NFL, y'all, where things change so fast. Case in point: Amari Cooper would have been cut already if his name wasn't Amari Cooper in all your fantasy […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 6)

Another week, another spate of injuries. This week was headlined (at least from a fantasy perspective) by Odell Beckham Jr., who looks to be out for the rest of the season. After five weeks, two consensus round one picks--Beckham and David Johnson--have gone down to serious injuries. The Giants will replace Beckham with...hmm, I don't […]

Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts - Week 5

Some anecdotes from my home league that illustrate some thought processes about a few of last week's bust picks: Two weeks ago, two teams in my league made a trade: Dez Bryant for Amari Cooper. This was before Cooper stopped existing the past two weeks and I was, at the time, surprised someone would give up […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 5)

Waking up early the past two weeks for the London games has left me too drained from football to watch the Sunday night games all the way to the end--once the Seahawks opened the floodgates, I went to sleep. In theory, I like the idea of twelve-plus hours of football, but there's a reason I've […]

Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts - Week 4

We're about to reach the quarter-mark of the 2017 NFL season and the fantasy football picture still feels unsettled. For example: is Jordan Howard going to live up to his ADP? Uhh, maybe! Were Brandin Cooks' first two weeks of usage a fluke and this is what we get moving foward? Hmm, I don't know! […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Fantasy Football Leagues (Week 4)

Another week has gone by and we finally--FINALLY--got one of those monster weeks where lots of players go off. ESPN's Bill Barnwell ranked the 1:00 pm games as the seventh-most exciting slate of games since the introduction of the RedZone Channel in 2009. There were a lot of high scores and a lot of big […]

Top 10 Fantasy Lineup Busts - Week 3

Another week in the NFL and another disappointing fantasy performance by [insert the name of someone or, more likely, someones from your lineup here]. I saw on Reddit earlier that there's only been 11 100-yard receiving games through two weeks after there were 30 last season, so it's not just you who's thinking that something […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Fantasy Football Leagues (Week 3)

Another week, another top player at his position with a serious injury. This time it's Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, who was expected to be a top-five TE this season. There were also plenty of other injuries--Corey Coleman, Jimmy Graham, Jordan Howard (who was in a sling after the game after dealing with shoulder issues […]

Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts: Week 2

Last week in this column I made this little joke: "if I tell you to bench David Johnson, you have my permission to send me mean Tweets about it." Well--ugh. As a Johnson owner in my home league and someone who went light on drafting RBs after picking Johnson and Jordan Howard early, things look bleak. […]

Injury Impact - Allen Robinson Out for the 2017 Season

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Allen Robinson will miss the rest of the 2017 season after tearing his ACL in the Jaguars Week 1 win against the Houston Texans. Robinson's absence from Jacksonville's lineups and from your fantasy lineups will change the way both games have to be played. You likely grabbed Robinson as a high-upside […]

Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 2)

Well, this week happened, didn't it? There were some really bad performances by some NFL teams--hi Cincinnati! hi Houston!--and some disappointing performances by players you were counting on in fantasy. There were also surprises. Also, you lost David Johnson. You were likely getting ready to stand up and holler about how good the catch he'd […]

Top 10 Lineup Busts for Week 1

It's time! Football is here. You're setting your lineups and getting pumped up about your Week 1 matchups. You're looking over your lineup and thinking about how it has absolutely zero holes in it and you are going to be undefeated and all your starters are definitely must starts right now and always. I'm going […]

2017 Standard Ranking Analysis - Wide Receiver

With the NFL season just around the corner, it's time to check in with the Rotoballer experts and see what they're thinking about at the wide receiver position. Whether you're getting ready for a last minute draft or trying to figure out your lineup for Week 1, we're here to help. The wide receiver position […]

Fooled me Once, Not Again - Sophomore Wide Receivers Set to Bust, Again

There were four wide receivers chosen in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Those receivers were: Corey Coleman, Will Fuller, Josh Doctson, and Laquon Treadwell. The next two receivers picked were Sterling Shepard and Michael Thomas. You might notice that one of those lists contains four names that are not very high on […]

2017 Standard Ranking Analysis - Running Back

The 2017 season is finally almost here! You've probably drafted your team by now and are looking at your roster while either thinking about how great it looks or thinking about how you really, really messed up. Don't worry! Rotoballer is here to help you figure out what to do with your present mess. Our […]

Fooled me Once, Not Again - Sophomore Running Backs Set to Bust Again

There were some really strong performances by rookie running backs in 2016. Ezekiel Elliott was a top pick and performed up to--if not better than--expectations. Jordan Howard came out of nowhere to establish himself as a fantasy stud, someone who is getting drafted very high this season. There was...you know, actually there wasn't much happening […]

2017 Running Back Depth Chart Analysis

Running backs are important--you can't win a fantasy league if you don't get at least solid production from the position. But with the increased usage of committees and the high risk of injuries at the position, picking out who to own from a team can feel like a crapshoot. Quality running backs tend to come […]

RotoBaller Standard Mock Draft Analysis - Rounds 4-6

You're probably getting ready for your league's fantasy draft right now. What better way to prepare than by seeing what the experts here at Rotoballer did in their own standard league mock draft! Over the last couple of weeks, we've dug into each of these players, made tough choices, and tried to draft the best […]

2017 NFL Team Outlook - Houston Texans

At first glance, the 2017 Houston Texans don't look like a fantasy football powerhouse. Despite making the playoffs last season, the team finished 29th in both passing yards and total yards. Behind quarterback Brock Osweiler, the team struggled to move the ball, struggled to score, and struggled to avoid turnovers. In 2017, though, Osweiler is […]

The Perfect Pair - Two Mid-round QBs Who Can Combine for QB1 Value

In my home league for fantasy football, I've adopted the strategy of avoiding all the top quarterbacks. Some guy I knew in college is definitely going to pick Drew Brees three rounds early and someone else is going to think picking Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady is a tremendous value--they'll never have to worry about the […]

Boom or Bust - Tight End Projections for 2017

Right now, there seem to be three names floating around whenever people talk about who the top fantasy tight ends will be: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, and Jordan Reed. Here's the problem with that: two of those three players tend to...umm...miss a lot of games. I really hate the idea of labeling a player as […]

The Grass IS Greener - NFL Free Agent Moves That Will Increase Value

There's a Sheryl Crow song from the '90s in which Crow sings that "a change would do you good." It's a sentiment that works well when applied to someone's personal life, but it's a complicated notion when it comes to sports. Players who move between teams often find themselves struggling to fit in with their […]