Owner: This Just In Fantasy Sports URL:http://tjifantasysports.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:37:52 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Fantasy Football news, analysis, and advice for players of all skill levels. This Just In...we will help you win your league! Site statistics:Click here
Draft Day: Experts League Update 2007-08-19 22:32:00 The newly founded fantasy football experts league held its inaugaral draft this morning, and it looks like the competition is going to be pretty stiff. TJI represented itself well against 11 fellow bloggers and drafted what is certain to be a championship contender.Here's how the draft order shook out:NFLGuru.net Curveballs for Jesus This Just In The Hazean FantasyFootballGoat FanProphet The NFL Minute TINO Sports PageFF Librarian MWC Football MyFantasyLineup.com Signal to NoiseThese ladies and gentlemen provide some of the finest sports reporting in the blogosphere. We here at This Just In Fantasy Sports are privileged to be included in this exclusive group. With league-mates this talented it will be all the more satisfying to dominate throughout the season.Let's cut to the chase and take a look at the TJI team (overall pick in parentheses)...1. (3) Larry Johnson 2. (22) Carson Palmer3. (27) Torry Holt4. (46) Carnell Williams5. (51) Marshawn Lynch6. (70) Jerious Norwood7. (75) Brayl Read more:Draft
, Experts
, League
, Update
Naysayers Nation: Shaun Alexander 2007-08-18 22:27:00 In the last two installments of The Naysayers Nation, we took on the Detroit Lions offense and Travis Henry. Our contrarian viewpoint has been praised by readers and critics alike, and thousands across the nation are pledging their allegiance.This time, however, we'd like to switch it up a bit. Instead of naysaying a positive opinion, we'll take on a negative viewpoint that's being expressed in many fantasy circles. This week, we are here to shine our contrarian spotlight on Seahawks running back ShaunAlexander
. Many are quick to write Shaun off, but we say he'll be a fantasy comeback player of the year candidate.Here are some of the arguments against drafting Alexander and why they're dead wrong...He's old...Um, he's not. He hasn't even turned thirty yet and although he will later this month, the myth that RBs are ineffective after 30 is just that...a myth. Look what Tiki Barber did last year at 31. Warrick Dunn racked up a ton of yards at ages 30 and 31. Curtis Martin thrive
From the Mailroom: Greg Jennings (WMU's finest) 2007-08-25 16:51:00 The mailroom is swelling with letters and emails from football fans across the globe. As the opening kick-off swiftly approaches, the natives are getting restless. And as more and more of you fanatics draft your 2007 teams, the excitement continues to build at a frenetic pace.We'd like to feature an email from Edgar in Salem, Massachusetts this week. Edgar writes:I see that you drafted Greg Jennings
onto your fantasy football team. I did, too. How worried should I be that he's performed so poorly this preseason?Well, Edgar, Jennings' preseason numbers are certainly pathetic. And that's putting it nicely. But let's remember one key thing about the preseason...it doesn't count. Therefore, we're not putting much stock into his terrible stats. Who knows? It could be that Brett Favre and the coaches are just trying to get a good look at some of the Pack's other receivers. But it probably isn't because Jennings has fallen out of favor in Green Bay. He and Favre established a solid r
Owner Profile: Fantasy Football Goat 2007-08-22 05:54:00 Welcome to the first of our profiles of the owners and teams in the newly created Experts League in which TJI will be competing this year. Our first owner: Fantasy Football
Goat. The Goat runs a terrific blog and also works with the Bruno Boys on their site. The Goat's site is a TJI favorite, and one of the first to earn a spot in our blog roll (although we're conspicuously absent from the Goat's blogroll, but that's ok, we won't take it personally).Here's the vital info on The Fantasy Football
Goat...Hometown: Winona, MNFavorite Teams: Minnesota Vikings and U of Minnesota GophersFantasy Football Experience: 17 years, 2 titles, only lost money 3 times out of 27 (17 in one league, 10 in other)Number of leagues: Usually 2 , this year 4 maybe 5Blog founded in: Spring 2007Blog Traffic: 500+ hits per month and growingDrafting Philosophy: Never reach, trust your research!Favorite/Least Favorite Draft Position: Depends on players available. Every year is different.Under-hyped in 2007: D Read more:Owner
Naysayers Nation: Fantasy Quarterbacks 2007-08-28 20:24:00 Welcome to the Naysayers Nation where, once again, we perfect the art of debunking popular opinion and exposing fantasy football myths. This week we tackle a critical fantasy football position...the quarterback. Numerous fantasy drafts are taking place and owners are dropping the ball, buying into advice propagated by fantasy experts on the big money sites. These owners are passing on QBs that should be on their squads. Some of these signal callers were snagged by other owners, while some are out there in the free agent pool, ripe for the picking.Here are 3 QB delusions that have spread like wildfire this month...Rex Grossman is not worth a draft pickWe here at The Nation disagree. Rex has been in the league since 2003, but has played only one full season. And while last season's stats don't exactly jump off the page at you, Grossman did lead his team to the Super Bowl. That has to do something for a QB's confidence. We think Grossman will show tremendous improvement in 2007, partic Read more:Quarterbacks
Owner Profile: The NFL Minute 2007-08-26 06:30:00 Welcome to the second of our Experts League owner profiles. This time, we'll examine The NFL Minute
, run by our buddy Tom. Tom's blog is top rate. He's got the NFL covered, posting original stories with interesting takes almost as soon as news breaks. We don't know how he does it, but we hope he keeps it up. Anyone that knows the NFL this well, though, will be tough to beat in a fantasy league.Here's the nitty-gritty on The NFL Minute...Hometown: I'm from central Wisconsin.Favorite Teams: My favorite pro teams are the Green and Gold and Denver Broncos. My favorite college team is the Wisconsin Badgers (of course).Fantasy Football Experience: Probably 5-6 years now; I have no idea how many titles. A few, I'll say that. And I won the first two titles in one league, so the trophy is now nicknamed the "Tombardi."Number of leagues: This year, probably 6. It's usually fewer in other years, but I'm in this bloggers league and another experts league for some of my work with TheFootbal Read more:Owner
RotoHog...A New Take On Fantasy Football 2007-09-01 14:23:00 We've recently discovered the fantasy football site RotoHog and we'd like to recommend it to all our faithful readers out there. Act now and start a team before the season begins.It starts with an auction-style draft, which is pretty unique. Then you can compete in private leagues, or they also have leagues sponsored by your local sports radio stations and by local watering holes. And of course there's the league everyone is included in, the "Marshall Faulk League," where the grand prize is $100 grand. Not too shabby. There are also other weekly contests and prizes.The most unique part might be the "Trading Floor," RotoHog's version of the free agent pool. It's a real-time open market for buying and selling players.If you want more details on how to play, click here.Everything is completely free. Try it out and let us know what you think. We're already a lock for the $100K, so forget about that, but maybe you can have some fun playing for second place. Read more:Football
, Fantasy Football
The Uh-Oh Files: Marshawn Lynch 2007-09-01 13:58:00 With just a few days until the opening kickoff of the 2007 NFL season, fantasy football owners have lots of reasons to be excited. However, they have just as many reasons to be jittery. Today we'll take a look at Buffalo Bills RB Marshawn Lynch
and tell you why you should be nervous.Lynch, the rookie out of Cal, is being taken in the third round of many drafts. In some he goes as high as the second. Many pundits have touted him as a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate. They love his combination of power and explosiveness. They love the fact that his only real competition in the Bills' backfield comes from Anthony Thomas.Now that you bought into the hype (and we did, too, drafting him onto our Experts League team), and with the Bills' first game a mere 8 days away, it's time to start worrying. Lynch, going up against a rag-tag collection of second and third-string defenses, has been absolutely horrible this preseason, amassing a whopping 37 yards on 22 carries. That's a 1.7 YPC average.Th
Owner Profile: FanProphet 2007-08-30 06:00:00 It's time for our third owner profile from the Bloggers Expert League. This week, we break down the team with the sixth overall pick, FanProphet. If you haven't checked out the FanProphet blog, you are missing out. Here's some background info from the Prophet himself...Hometown: Akron, OHFavorite Teams: Cleveland Browns & Ohio State BuckeyesFantasy Football Experience: 14 years, 4 titlesNumber of leagues: 1-2Blog founded in: June 2007Blog traffic: 100 per dayDrafting Philosophy: Draft the next best player, regardless of bye week, team, situation, critics, etc.Favorite/Least Favorite Draft Position: I think it's all the same.People are down on him, but he'll have a good year: Randy MossPeople are high on him, but he'll have a bad year: Shaun AlexanderGuaranteed Deep Sleeper: Brandon Jacobs! Most people having him as a bust and potential injury. Defenses do not want to tackle this runner.The FanProphet team (overall pick in parentheses):1. (6) Joseph Addai2. (19) Marvin Harriso Read more:Owner
Dot Dot Dot...NFL Preseason Edition 2007-08-29 04:29:00 The number of article ideas tossed around the press room and editorial offices of This Just In Fantasy Sports on any given day probably number in the thousands. Only the most important ones make it to the blog. We thought we'd develop a new feature that could include all of these random musings.In an ode to one of our favorite punctuation marks, the elipsis, we have titled this feature "Dot Dot Dot." We'll be posting it every week in response to the previous week's NFL games. This weeks edition addresses some of the things churning around in our heads as we near the conclusion of preseason games.So without any further ado...Plaxico Burress is starting to worry us. Missing the entire preseason certainly could be a bad sign. He did have decent TD numbers (10) but he didn't crack 1,000 yards and he was terribly inconsistent in the middle of the year. Seems like a risky pick to us...Since we think Jason Campbell will do alright this year, rethink your opinion of Santana Moss. He was co Read more:Edition
Dollars to Donuts: Week 3 NFL Picks 2007-09-23 06:01:00 We’re putting up a Kitna-esque prediction of 10 games correct this week. If not, heads are going to roll…Last week’s record: 7-8-1Season record: 15-16-1Last week’s best pick: Atlanta (+10) @ JacksonvilleLast week’s worst pick: San Diego (+3) @ New EnglandOur picks are in bold. Spreads are as of Sunday morning courtesy of Sportsbook.com.Colts (-6.5) @ TexansChargers (-5.5) @ PackersVikings @ Chiefs (-3)Lions (+6) @ EaglesBills (+16.5) @ PatriotsDolphins (+3) @ Jets49ers @ Steelers (-9.5)Cardinals (+7.5) @ RavensRams (+3.5) @ BuccaneersJaguars @ Broncos (-3)Bengals (+3) @ SeahawksBrowns @ Raiders (-3)Panthers (-4) @ FalconsGiants @ Redskins (-3.5)Cowboys (+3) @ BearsTitans @ Saints (-4)You probably noticed that we’ve discontinued our college football picks of the week. If you checked them out last week, then you know why.Happy betting, chums. We’ll see you again next week. Read more:Donuts
Three-Point Stance: Start or Sit? Week 3 2007-09-22 08:21:00 Welcome to the Three
Point Stance
, where the TJI experts provide you with three not-so-obvious picks to start and sit for each key position.In a further effort to prove to our growing fan base that our picks our solid, let’s start by taking a look at last week’s hits and misses.Start
Hits: Rudi Johnson, Donald Driver, Matt Hasselback, Chris ChambersStart Misses: Larry Johnson, Bernard BerrianSit Hits: Tatum Bell, Chris Brown, Alex Smith, Laverneus Coles, Ronald CurrySit Misses: Vince Young, Jon Kitna Just for the record, unlike many publications, the Three Point Stance DID NOT recommend starting the Cincinnati Bengals Defense in Week 2. We couldn’t resist pointing that out. We certainly showed some improvement and hopefully earned your trust. Week 3 is a tricky one to predict, but we’ll give it a shot. We love a challenge. This week we’ve also included a pick for each position from our Naysayers Nation department, the crew that poo-poos all popular fantasy opinions.Running Ba
From the Mailroom (Again): QB Quandaries 2007-09-21 05:53:00 So many people wrote in this week, we had to split it into two installments. Keep those emails coming!Eyal wants to know: Vince Young or Delhomme? I also have McNabb.You've got three pretty decent QB's there, Eyal. We'd go with Delhomme. He and Steve Smith are really clicking this season. And we think you need to ride that train until it stops.-----Brandon writes: Brees or Pennington at QB? Also, Vikings or Bears for Defense?Yes, Brees is off to a rough start. But we believe the Saints will figure things out this week. He'll hand the ball off a lot more to Deuce McAllister, which should open up the passing game. We'll take Brees almost any day over Pennington.Man, you have two tough D's. Gotta go with the matchup here and the Vikings have a better one versus the Chiefs. The Bears are up against the Cowboys, who've been lighting up the scoreboard so far.------AY asks: Bulger, Favre, or Anderson?Don't be fooled by last week's performances and think that Favre or Anderson need to Read more:Again
From the Mailroom: There's Something about Larry 2007-09-20 20:20:00 Lots of emails. And lots of questions about Larry
Johnson. Let's get to it...Newly hooked reader Al writes: My RB: D Ward, L Jordan, L Johnson, and L White. My WR: Chad Johnson, R Moss, and P Burress. I need 2 RB, 2 WR, and one flex (WR/RB). Who should I start?This is quite a tough decision on the WR side. It’s extremely tough to sit Larry Johnson, in our opinion. He’s capable of going off, no matter what D he’s matched up against. You should also ride a red-hot LaMont Jordan. Finally, we normally advocate starting a RB in all RB/WR flex spots, but the three WR you have are quite a trio. With so many question marks surrounding White and the unproven track record of Ward, we’d go with your WRs. Just be sure to monitor Burress and his injury status before game time. Good luck!--------Sean writes:My options--QB: Brady/E. ManningRB: Larry Johnson, A Peterson (Min), R Brown, L Jordan, C Williams, J ChatmanWR: R. Curry, Donald Driver, Hines Ward, Wes Welker, Joey GallowayK: Hanson D
Free Fantasy Football Advice For All! 2007-09-19 06:02:00 Fantasy owners, remember that we here at TJI Fantasy Sports are here for you. Unlike the other "brand name" fantasy websites, we guarantee FREE personalized analysis of all your fantasy football situations, predicaments, quandaries, and conundrums.So send us an email, or leave a comment, if you have a question about who to start, who to sit, who to add, who to drop, who to trade, or if you just want to tell us how great we are.Every question received by Saturday mornings at 11:00 a.m. is GUARANTEED a response, either via email or on the website. (Of course, TJI also promises that your email address will be kept private and we won't try any shenanigans like spamming your inbox into submission.)It's about that time in the season when those burning fantasy questions become annoyingly gut-wrenching. Especially if all of your studs have turned to duds.So turn to TJI and we will help you make the right call! Read more:Football
Free Agent Frenzy: Wynn Some, Lose Some 2007-09-18 22:43:00 Some Free Agent
s that need to get onto your radar ASAP...Go Get 'Em...DeShawn Wynn--He'll be the pickup of the week for most experts. They're desperate for a running game in Green Bay and he might just step up and stake his claim to the job.Jacoby Jones--Especially if you are an Andre Johnson owner. Jones hasn't done much yet, but if Johnson misses time, he'll become a favorite target of Matt Schaub. Chad Pennington--Could have played Sunday past. Will play Sunday next. Nice to have as an insurance policy.Jeff Garcia--When this guy plays for good coaches, he looks amazing. Philly fans hate him, but he'll be a servicable fantasy back-up this season, it seems.Wait One More WeekRoydell Williams--That Tennessee offense is just too hard to predict.David Garrard--We're not sold on him just yet. Leading the offense to just 13 points vs. the Falcons does nothing to support his case.Sammy Morris--If he keeps stealing carries from Maroney, he might be worth a flier.Shaun McDonald--A #4 WR Read more:Free Agent
Dot Dot Dot...Week 2 Recap 2007-09-18 22:14:00 Some random thoughts about the weekend's NFL action......This just in: the editors at This Just In Fantasy Sports have fired everyone who had a hand in our Dollars to Donuts NFL picks for last week. It's almost like they were trying to pick the wrong teams. This week, special guest Tim Donaghy will be making the picks for us......The Saints are marching out of the upper ranks of NFL teams. We just can't believe that they can be that bad. We do think Brees will rebound. Bush we're a little worried about. The man to target in a trade might be Deuce McAllister. They're going to get him more involved in the offense...Anyone who predicted that LaMont Jordan would return to form this season is looking pretty smart right about now. Is he this year's Frank Gore? Hmm, wonder what TJI's take on him was earlier in the summer...Will Byron Leftwich start for the Atlanta Falcons? It doesn't matter that much, does it? You'll know who the really desperate owner is in your league when you see Read more:Recap
Dollars to Donuts: Week 2 NFL Picks 2007-09-15 07:10:00 Some of you decided to write in and taunt us about our mediocre showing in last week's installment of "Dollars to Donuts
." We didn't think it was THAT bad. Apparently those of you that used our picks to wager sizeable amounts disagreeed with us.Last week's record against the spread: 9-7Best Pick: Tennessee (+7) over JacksonvilleWorst Pick: NYJ (+6) over New EnglandHere are this week's games. Our picks are in bold and are made against the spread. (Spreads courtesy of Sportsbook.com as of this morning).Houston @ Carolina (-6.5)Cincinnati (-7) @ ClevelandAtlanta (+10) @ JacksonvilleGreen Bay (-2.5) @ NY GiantsBuffalo @ Pittsburgh (-10)San Francisco @ St. Louis (-3)New Orleans (-3) @ Tampa BayIndianapolis (-7) @ TennesseeSeattle (-2.5) @ ArizonaMinnesota (+3) @ DetroitDallas (-3.5) @ MiamiNY Jets @ Baltimore (-10)Kansas City (+12) @ ChicagoOakland @ Denver (-9.5)San Diego (+3) @ New EnglandWashington @ Philadelphia (-7)And now for an extra special treat, our Top 10 College Football Pic
From the Mailroom: Week 2 Lineup Decisions 2007-09-15 06:02:00 The mailroom is full once again with readers' questions about Week 2. So lets get right to it...Charles, from Houston writes: With last week's outburst, is Ben Roethlisberger an every week start?Let's remember who the Steelers played last week. The Browns defense is porous, at best. QB's are going to light them up all season long. So with Big Ben, that must be taken into account. We do believe he will have a good season, but he's going to have to prove himself against tougher opponents before we pencil him into the "must start" column. If your other QB is Matt Schaub or Rex Grossman or Jason Campbell, then you should roll with Ben this week versus the Bills. Otherwise, he should be reserved.Stacey from New York City writes: Did I make a mistake by drafting Philip Rivers?We know it looks like it now, but don't give up on Rivers. Of course, if you have a better option this week, you might want to go with another QB. Rivers is taking on the Patriots defense, and they should be tough Read more:Decisions
Three-Point Stance: Start or Sit? Week 2 2007-09-13 20:55:00 First things first. We need to reflect on what was an abyssmal week for our team of prognosticators. Our Start
/Sit recommendations produced mixed results, but, hey it was our first one ever, cut us a break, okay?Here were our hit starters: LaMont Jordan, Adrian Peterson, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger & Andre Johnson. 5 for 9. Not great, but the 5 were pretty big hits.And the sit-list hits: Vince Young, LenDale White, Brandon Jackson, Lee Evans, & Braylon Edwards. Again 5 for 9. We've gotta do better.And there were a few misses that we have to own up to, such as recommending that you bench Plaxico Burress and that you start Reggie Brown & Jerry Porter. Sorry about that. Trust us, faithful readers, we will do better in Week 2.Now, we take our Three
-Point Stance
:Running Backs to START:Rudi Johnson @ Cleveland--When they're up 83-1 in the second half, the Bengals will be content to pound the rock.Larry Johnson @ Chicago--We know. No one playing the Bears should get the start. We just
Free Agent Frenzy: What Can Brown Do For You? 2007-09-12 18:44:00 Each week TJI provides you with free agent tips in this new feature, "Free Agent
Frenzy." We know your team needs just a little tweaking. We can help give you the edge for your upcoming matchup.Go Get 'Em...Ronald Curry--He's obviously going to be Oakland's go-to guy. They'll be playing from behind every week, so that helps, too. Not a good play this week against Denver, but could be a breakout player.Chris Brown
--If he's still in your free agent pool, you're in a league of idiots. Don't expect numbers like Week 1's every Sunday, but he'll be a decent back-up if he stays healthy. Also makes great trade bait.Drew Carter--Carolina's new offense was very fluid on Sunday. His 2 TD's won't be a regular occurence, but he'll post solid numbers when the match-up is right. He benefits from an iffy running game, too.Matt Schaub--Wasn't terrific, but he proved he can sling it. There are worse coattails to ride than Andre Johnson's. Will be a solid bye-week fill-in when the match-up Read more:Free Agent
Dot Dot Dot...Week 1 Recap 2007-09-11 21:35:00 Some of our random thoughts and observations from Week 1 of the NFL season...Bill Belichick called. He's watching you right now and he likes your wife's earrings...Week 1 was worth the wait, but some of the games were stinkers. Staying up to watch the Cardinals vs. 49ers was a huge mistake. We can't even imagine how people who paid for a ticket to the Jags-Titans game feel...Speaking of the Jags, way to showcase the power running game, boys. Did Maurice Jones-Drew even play?...There were a lot of surprises, though. We'd vote for Randy Moss as the biggest one, though...Donovan McNabb survived the first week. He still looked a little bit off to us. Make sure you have a good back-up...Is anyone desperate enough to pick up Jared Lorenzen yet? Hopefully not...Another huge question mark, Clinton Portis, returned with a solid performance. If the 'Skins keep rushing the ball 40 times per game, both he and Ladell Betts have fantasy value...Was anyone else surprised by the butt-whooping the Read more:Recap
Injury Insight: Terry Glenn and Greg Jennings 2007-09-09 07:11:00 It looks like Dallas Cowboys WR TerryGlenn
will not play this week. He also might be out for a more extended period. Be sure to get someone else in your lineup before game time. Patrick Crayton of the Cowboys is a good option. He won't match Glenn's regular numbers, but Romo will look his way fairly frequently.The fantasy player that benefits most from Glenn's injury is Jason Witten. He's certain to get more looks and becomes Romo's number 2 target. Get him in your lineup.Greg Jennings
, Green Bay's number 2 WR, is questionable. With Donald Driver already nicked up, Jennings was expected to have a strong showing against the Eagles. However, now it looks like, if he plays, he won't be able to do that. If you were counting on him as your WR2, the best thing to do is pick up rookie James Jones, who had a great preseason, showing signs of establishing a rapport with Brett Favre.In other injury news, Eagles TE L.J. Smith is also questionable, as is Rams WR Drew Bennett. On the brigh Read more:Injury
, Insight
From the Mailroom: Fantasy Running Back Conundrums 2007-09-09 06:48:00 We're getting a ton of mail as the opening Sunday game approach. Let's take a look at three terrific questions sent in by readers like you.Carl from Los Angeles writes: Who's the best play this week, DeShaun Foster or D'Angelo Williams?Carl, Panthers coach John Fox is standing by his man, Foster. He's going to end up getting more touches than Williams. This week against the Rams, he'll put up fairly decent numbers. And we also happen to think that he's going to stay healthy this year and that he's going to emerge as the #1 back in Carolina. Now that's a bold prediction, given his shaky past, but hey, that's how we roll.William from Traverse City, MI writes: I drafted both LenDale White and Chris Brown. Which one should I start this week?We'd have to say neither. Hopefully you have a better option than these two, who go up against a tough Jacksonville defense. However, if you don't, go with White. Reports indicate he'll get a majority of the touches, with Brown working main
Dollars to Donuts: NFL Week 1 Picks 2007-09-08 01:52:00 For the most part, TJI does the same things every other fantasy football site does...make predictions that are basically pulled out of thin air and then hope like hell that they either come true or that the 4 people that actually read this blog forget about them when they fall flat.But now we'd like to branch out a little bit and provide our readers with a much needed service. Whether you admit it or not, we know you bet on games. It's okay. But it can get ugly when you owe Vinnie the Bookie a couple grand after you bet the farm on the University of Michigan the last two weeks.So if you're going to wager, wager wisely. And only bet after consulting "Dollars to Donuts
" the official weekly NFL picks of TJI (made against the spread, of course). Now tell us, what other fantasy site feeds not just one of your addictions, but two???The official This Just In picks for Week 1 are in bold. (All picks are against the spread.)Minnesota (-3.5) vs. AtlantaSt. Louis (-1) vs. CarolinaDenver (-3.5)
Three-Point Stance: Start or Sit? Week 1 2007-09-06 15:30:00 Welcome to Three
-Point Stance
, where each week we'll highlight three (hence the title) players at the QB, RB, and WR positions that we deem worthy of starting, or that we feel should stay on your bench.We'll stay away from recommending players with a high "Duh" value, as we like to call it. You won't find Peyton Manning or LT on our lists because if you ask us, "Should they start for my team?" We'll reply, "Duh."Instead, our focus will be on the lower-tier, not so obvious players. The ones that are so tough to choose between as the clock ticks down to the opening kickoff. These are the players that really can make or break your team's week or their season.Running Backs to START:Reggie Bush @ Indianapolis--He will abuse a weak Indy D in the Thursday night shootout.LaMont Jordan vs. Detroit--Lucky for him...his bounce-back season begins against a team that's been trying to bounce back since 1954.Adrian Peterson vs. Atlanta--The Vikings did not draft him for nothing. They'll showca Read more:Start
The Uh-Oh Files: Torry Holt 2007-09-05 18:10:00 We here at TJI have long been of the belief that the knee is a critical component in the workings of a person's leg. Without knees, it's hard to imagine being able to do much walking or running. And it would be all but impossible run the skinny post, make a grab, and elude the league's best defensive backs on the way to the end zone.This is why you should be a bit worried about last week's news that Torry Holt's knee hasn't completely recovered from offseason surgery. Holt, a nearly unanimous top-5 fantasy wide receiver, has been Mr. Automatic for nearly a decade. Split wide in the Rams potent offense, he was considered to be a lock for 1,000+ yards and at least 8 touchdowns. Until now.Holt's knee is not close to 100 percent, and this could certainly inhibit him from racking up his typical stellar numbers. But as a fantasy owner, by now you've probably already drafted, and there isn't much that you can do. If nothing else, you should look to your league's free agent pool to s
From the Mailroom: Warrick Dunn is Done 2007-09-04 20:45:00 The emails from readers worldwide have been pouring into the mailroom here at TJI headquarters. Some seek guidance. Others want trade analysis. There are even those that trust our judgement so much that they write seeking marital advice. (Give him one more chance, Cindy. Once football season is over in about 4 months, the man you thought you knew will return to normal.)This week's featured email concentrates on a critical fantasy football position...the RB3. In some leagues with a flex position, the RB3 is a potential starter. In flex-less leagues, he's a valuable bye-week and injury fill-in, needed for a minimum of two weeks. Either way, it's a position that requires much more attention than it receives.Chad from Winnipeg, Manitoba writes: Now that Warrick Dunn has been named Atlanta's starting running back, what is his fantasy football value?This is a question that, to us, is easy to answer. We think Dunn is done. His hold on the starter's job is shaky, at best. Although he has
Owner Profile: Curveballs for Jesus 2007-09-03 15:55:00 It's time for our third owner profile from the Bloggers Expert League. This week, we break down the team with the second overall pick, Curveballs for Jesus
. Curveballs is a blog with some original takes on current events from the world of sports, not just football. Don't be fooled, it's not religious in any way, unless your religion involves worshipping at the altar of sports.Here's some background info provided to us by Patrick, founder of Curveballs for Jesus...Hometown: Southern Middle Tennessee, but living in Birmingham, ALFavorite Teams: Buffalo Bills & Tennessee VolunteersFantasy Football Experience: 6 years, 1 titleNumber of leagues: about 5 per yearBlog founded in: April 2007Drafting Philosophy: Take running backs first and then flow with the rest of the league's drafting style. For instance, when Kickers start coming off, take a kicker.Favorite/Least Favorite Draft Position: First two or last two. I like getting to take two players in quick succession. I HATE being in Read more:Owner
On the Rise: Selvin Young 2007-09-03 15:34:00 It's very rare that a player comes onto fantasy owners' radar for the first time this close to the season opener. Leave it to Mike Shanahan to bring us such a player.Selvin Young, an undrafted rookie out of the University of Texas, has moved up the Broncos depth chart to become their #2 running back. He performed extremely well in the preseason, leading the team in rushing with 167 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 4.9 yards per carry average and Shanahan's history with running backs make Young a player worth keeping an eye on.However, you should do more than just keep an eye on him if you're a Travis Henry owner. You need to pick him up as a handcuff to the oft-injured Henry, who has already dinged up his knee this preseason. (Of course, we tried to tell you not to draft Travis. But you didn't listen).As for Mike Bell, it seems he's fallen out of favor with his puppet-master, errr we mean coach. He's been relegated to fullback duties, otherwise known as fantasy football purgatory. He
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