Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Ladies and gentlemen, until the second week of February there will NOT be a Sunday that goes by without a full day of football!!

We are just days away from the Mile High City opening up the 2016 NFL season with a Super Bowl rematch – the first time that has happened since 1970! From there, it will just get better! Because, you know, there’s more than just one game played in an NFL season!

THAT…AND the return of the confidence pool!

For those who have not been with us the last two seasons, let me give you a quick rundown on what confidence pool is. First off, you pick the winner of every game in the week. After that, you assign a point value (1 through however many games there are that week) based on how confident you are that your pick will turn out to be correct. So you will want to assign a higher point value to those that you are more confident about. If you pick the game wrong, you don’t get those points. Whoever has the most points for the week wins! Some pools also have prizes for total score throughout the season.

So, without further ado, let’s get the 2016 season started!

Week 1 and 2016 season – HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

16 – SEATTLE over Miami – I really expect Arian Foster to have a bounce-back year in Miami…though there is no chance of that success starting until week 2.

15 – HOUSTON over Chicago – It’s…um…it’s going to be a long season on the lakefront this year.

14 – KANSAS CITY over San Diego – The Chargers have quickly taken over the Joker's role in the AFC West away from the Raiders. This game could very well be the start of their trip to being the first on the clock next April.

13 – ARIZONA over New England – No Tom Brady – no problem! Well, expect for trying to score more points than one of the most exciting offenses in the league…THAT could be a problem.

12 – PHILADELPHIA over Cleveland – I really don’t think that there could be a smoother transition for Carson Wentz to go from college football to the pros than playing the Browns.

11 – INDIANAPOLIS over Detroit – The Colts obviously have some work to do to show that last season was a fluke. That process should easily begin this week.

10 – BALTIMORE over Buffalo – For this one, just re-read my last explanation, just replace Colts with Ravens…and it won’t be as easy…hence being rated lower.

9 – DALLAS over New York Giants – The NFC East seems to be wide open every year. Dak Prescott should be more than enough to bridge the gap until Tony Romo comes back for the final playoff push.

8 – ATLANTA over Tampa Bay – As open as the NFC East is equates to how, well, closed the NFC South is. It’s Panthers and Friends. The Falcons should be able to hold off the Bucs as they start to be the best of the others.

7 – Green Bay over JACKSONVILLE – I’ve said that the AFC title game could very well be the Raiders and the Jaguars in five years. The Jags are doing something right, but drawing the Packers in week 1 is something wrong.

6 – NEW YORK JETS over Cincinnati – A couple dark horse AFC candidates collide here to start the season. The Jets need to start the season strong before Brady is freed in Foxboro.

5 – DENVER over Carolina – Yes, the Broncos have a big change at quarterback from the last time these two teams faced off. But even having a guy named Trevor under center would be enough for the Panthers to consistently get passed the Broncos defense.

4 – WASHINGTON over Pittsburgh – The Monday Night schedule starts with a bit of a toss-up. Home field advantage and no Le’Veon Bell gives the ‘Skins the edge here.

3 – Oakland over NEW ORLEANS – Derek Carr should be able to shred a horrid Saints pass defense as the Raiders begin their road to redemption season. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is NOT ONLY WILL THE RAIDERS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, THEY WILL WIN THE AFC WEST.

2 – Minnesota over TENNESSEE – The Vikings lost their quarterback…but lets’s be honest, 90% of a Viking’s quarterback job is handing off to Adrian Peterson and letting him do his thing…which he should easily do in Nashville.

1 – SAN FRANCISCO over Los Angeles – The 49ers will firmly be a part of this year’s “Teams That Should Only Be On The One Point Line If You Think They Will Win” list.

We are now one week into the new NFL season … all seems right with the world again!

The tone was set in Week 1 with several games going down to the wire. It is hard to imagine that a week can properly follow up that performance. But it’s football, it’s always a possibility. 10 out of 16 in Week 1 isn’t too shabby! Now that we have a week’s worth of information on the teams, I can see a perfect week in our future!

Week 2 – HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

16 – CAROLINA over San Francisco – The Panthers let a big week 1 win slip away last week. Hard to imagine them even being in the same situation this week.

15 – NEW ENGLAND over Miami – Miami cost the Pats the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs last season … … … Belichick remembers.

14 – OAKLAND over Atlanta – I can’t begin to describe how much fun it is to put the Raiders on the winning side of a line this high and have it be a legitimate pick rather than just a hopeful fan’s dream!

13 – NEW YORK GIANTS over New Orleans – These two had an epic offensive battle last season – expect more of the same again this year…with the home team again coming out on top.

12 – Seattle over LOS ANGELES –Congratulations LA, this is your team! Could have had the Raiders, just sayin…

11 – DETROIT over Tennessee – Life after Calvin appears to be a smooth transition for Stafford and friends. I don’t expect the Titans to put up much of a fight.

10 – PITTSBURGH over Cincinnati – Boy the Steelers look impressive. They’ll do what they can to win this physical matchup.

9 – ARIZONA over Tampa Bay – It was just a matchup against a motivated Patriots team last week…right?

8 – DENVER over Indianapolis – The Colts came close to pulling out a shootout win in week 1. Unfortunately for them, they won’t be able to score at will in Denver.

7 – Philadelphia over CHICAGO – Monday night on the lakefront. Should be an exciting atmosphere…until the game starts.

6 – Dallas over WASHINGTON – Two disappointing week 1 teams meet up in this divisional matchup. I, for whatever reason, still have faith in the Cowboys. So much so that this week’s BOLD PREDICTION is that despite losing to the Giants already, THE COWBOYS WILL COME BACK AND WIN THE NFC EAST.

5 – New York Jets over BUFFALO – The week kicks off in Orchard Park with Rex Ryan taking on his old team. I really don’t know what to think about the Bills, but it's mostly not good,

4 – MINNESOTA over Green Bay – The brand new U.S. Bank Stadium opens up with a Sunday Night Football matchup against the hated Packers. The momentum of the new stadium will overshadow  the Vikings offense being led by ________________ (insert “quarterback” name here).

3 – HOUSTON over Kansas City – A potential playoff preview goes to the home team simply for that very reason.

2 – SAN DIEGO over Jacksonville – I don’t think it has been more difficult picking the Jaguars to lose a game.

1 – CLEVELAND over Baltimore – I really think things will be better for the Browns with Josh McCown under center. Not enough to put them higher than a 1 though.

The conclusion of week 6 means we are halfway through the fantasy regular season for most leagues. This is also around the time where fantasy teams will start to fizzle out if their managers haven't been adding depth from the wire throughout the season. Don't be that manager! Two teams are on bye this week; Panthers and Cowboys. Good luck!

Note: all waiver picks listed here will have only been owned in 50% or less of Yahoo leagues at the time of publication.

Quarterback

Alex Smith (KC) - 28% owned - Well Alex Smith ended up being a bust last week as the Chiefs went full rushing attack with a lead against the Raiders all game. I still like him as a streamer for week 7 as he goes up against the Saints where he will need to pass to try and keep up with Drew Brees.  Smith should easily be a QB1 this week.

Honorable mention: Joe Flacco (BAL) - 29% owned

Running Back

Jay Ajayi (MIA) - 31% owned - With Arian Foster limited this week, Ajayi took advantage with a breakout performance against the Steelers putting up 204 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries and added a catch for 3 yards. He will have definitely earned himself more playing time going forward and I think at worst case he will split carries with a healthy Foster.

Devontae Booker (DEN) - 27% owned - Booker makes the list for the second week in a row after he continues to out produce C.J. Anderson on limited carries. On the season Booker sports a 4.7 yards per carry average compared to Anderson's 3.5. At the moment he is still a bench stash until we see an uptick in volume from him.

Honorable mentions: Dion Lewis (NE) - 25% owned, Jacquizz Rodgers (TB) - 22% owned (must grab if Doug Martin sits this week)

Wide Receiver

Ty Montgomery (GB) - 1% owned - Montgomery should be heavily involved in the Packers offense on Thursday night against the Bears as he will get snaps both at running back with James Starks out and Eddie Lacy hobbled as well as snaps at receiver with Davante Adams most likely out with a concussion. He played this dual role in week 6 and ended with a stat line of 10 catches for 98 yards and 3 rushes for 6 yards. Considering Montgomery a WR3 with a lot of upside this week.

Kenny Britt (LA) - 11% owned - Britt has quietly been performing very well this season as he is the 15th best WR in standard scoring and has the 8th highest receiving yards compared to other WR so far. With his numbers this season he should be considered a go as a WR3 until we see otherwise.

Honorable mentions: Robert Woods (BUF) - 22% owned, Corey Coleman (CLE) - 39% owned

Tight End

Hunter Henry (SD) - 35% owned - Henry appears to be a fixture of the Chargers pass happy offense as he has put up 290 yards and 3 touchdowns over his past four starts. He's currently the number 3 TE in standard scoring and has a great matchup against the Falcons coming up.

Honorable mention: Eric Ebron (DET) - 46% owned

Defense/Special Teams

Baltimore Ravens (BAL) - 33% owned - The Ravens defense has put up consistent fantasy points all season and they have a great matchup against a NY Jets team that can't get anything going on offense. There's also upside here that the Jets may start Geno Smith who is a proven turnover machine. Easily my streaming defense for the week.

We're 2 weeks into the year and already have a laundry list of injured players to discuss. Just when we thought it could not get much worse, some more big players go down this week. Don’t throw in that towel! Stay active on the waiver wire and pucker your butthole for a long year of misfortune!

Quarterbacks

Sam Bradford (Knee) - There is so much scar tissue in Bradford’s knees, the team is unsure what is going on in there. The Vikings are calling it a bone bruise. He went through warm-ups before the game and threw a few balls before declaring himself out. Keep an eye out for an update on Wednesday. The whole offense takes a major dip if he is not on the field.

Other –

DeShone Kizer (Head/Migraine) - took some painkillers and returned to the game in the third quarter.

Running Backs

Fat Rob Kelley (Chest) – Fat Rob was having a respectable game before getting knocked out with a rib injury. The Redskins feared this was a fracture but that does not appear to be the case. He is currently Day to Day and we will have a better idea of his status later in the week

Jordan Howard (Shoulder) – Howard was spotted after the game in a sling. He was dealing with a shoulder injury going into this week and was just shy of a first down worth of rushing for the day. (9 rushes – 7 yards) Also worth noting that Cohen out-touched him 15-9 in a blowout game. We should know more tomorrow but John Fox is notorious for keeping injury information to himself.

DeMarco Murray (Hamstring) – Murray is day to day with a tight hamstring. He struggled against the Jags and Henry looked like the better RB on the field. I expect to see more and more of a split in that backfield. Get whatever value is left out of Murray while you can.

Rex Burkhead (Rib) – Burkhead caught a nice 19-yard touchdown on Sunday but was unable to finish the game. He went to the locker room in the fourth quarter and mum's the word since his exit. Gives a nice boost to James White if he is out but look at the injury report on Wednesday for an update.

Wide Receivers

Jordy Nelson (Quad) – Nelson left the game in the first quarter vs the Falcons after getting a knee to the thigh. He was seen riding an exercise bike during the game. This leads me to believe he got a good Charlie Horse and should be good to go this week. The current update is 50-50 for this week. Keep an eye on the situation and have a backup plan just in case.

Corey Coleman (Hand) – 2nd year Browns' receiver Corey Coleman is now 2 for 2 on seasons with broken hands. This time around it does require surgery so he is expected to land on IR. Shame to see after building some chemistry with DeMigraine Kizer. Not worth a hold unless you have an IR spot available.

Other Notable injuries:

Corey Davis (Hamstring) - Returned to game

Phillip Dorsett (Knee) - More patriot WR’s hurt. Not too fantasy relevant

Kendall Wright (Arm) - AVOID BEARS PLAYERS

Jeremy Maclin (Shoulder) - Returned to the game

Tight Ends

Greg Olsen (Foot) – Greg underwent surgery on his broken right foot today and has been placed on IR. Thankfully they did not have to remove it! The Panthers believe he will be back this season but he will not be eligible to practice for 6 weeks. Dickson will take over TE duties for the Panthers. You should have better options available on the waivers.

Jordan Reed (Chest) – Reed left in the third quarter of the game with a chest injury and did not return. Today, they are calling this a bruised chest which is a new one for me. Doesn’t seem like an issue and he should suit up week 3. The toe remains a concern.

Rob Gronkowski (Groin) – Gronk left the game and did not return after tweaking his groin. Gronk looked great before exiting the game and is expected to be good to go this weekend. Thankfully the injury is to a part of his body that sees the most exercise in the offseason so I expect a quick recovery.