Fantasy Football Quarterback sleepers

If you’re looking for “sleeper” values in your regular fantasy football league at this point in the season, you’re probably dealing with an injury like Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler owners or dealing with fantasy busts like Robert Griffin III and Josh Freeman. In this case you’re scrambling to win games by picking the hot hand hoping that your stud player returns for your fantasy playoffs. Those of you playing in weekly leagues, such as those at BetAmerica, naturally have a completely different perspective. Buying low on a quarterback who can give you a big week can be the key to cashing in that week. Value is everything.

The issue with these players is inconsistency. That’s why you’ll want to be very careful about matchups when looking for quarterback sleepers.

Mike Glennon – The nightmare of Greg Schiano’s Tampa Bay team is suddenly giving way to some decent football as the Buccaneers have won two games in a row. Much of that success can be attributed to the solid play of Glennon, who suddenly looks like a real quarterback prospect. Glennon got the job following the Schiano/Josh Freeman fiasco. It was obviously handled poorly by Schiano but Freeman hasn’t exactly looked like a viable starter in Minnesota. Glennon keeps improving and has completed 154 of 248 for 1,535 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. In his last game against Atlanta he completes 20 of 23 passes with two TDs and no interceptions. This week he’s facing a terrible pass defense in Detroit, so he might be worth a flyer.

Carson Palmer – He faces a pretty tough defense this week in Indianapolis, but the old veteran is suddenly looking like a gunslinger again. He threw for over 400 yards last week in a win at Jacksonville, including a 91-yard TD thrown to wide receiver Michael Floyd, who is now developing into a stud wide receiver. Palmer can certainly run up some points for you.

Regarding other quarterbacks that you can get cheap, hold off on Ryan Tannehill and Geno Smith this week as they face Carolina and Baltimore this week, respectively. Carolina has a really tough defense and Baltimore’s defense is improving and they are at home.

  

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Fantasy Football Draft Day Strategy: Bank Your Offense

Trent Richardson Browns Facebook 2

Building a well-oiled Fantasy Football engine, that will drive you to a year-end Championship, takes quality craftsmanship and a dedication to details. With another NFL Fantasy Football season coming at us with the speed of the Acela Express, the time to prepare is now! Fantasy football fanatic and online sports betting expert StatsGuru here with some commentary on the value of a “positional” draft strategy that’s often employed once the clock starts ticking on Draft Day. This advice is based on a standard scoring system that includes a one point per reception bonus.

Running Backs First Strategy: Still a path to Success

You could make solid argument that the National Football League has been stealing a few pages out of the Canadian Football League playbooks recently. That’s because the run twice, pass, and then kick strategy, that the NFL was once infamous for, has turned to a pass a lot and run later strategy – very similar to the CFL. Once dominated by Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, the running back focused NFL is now all about the quarterbacks. It takes willpower, but I personally like to target pass catching running backs with my first three picks on draft day.

RB Secured: Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks are next

No matter which position you draft from, you can usually secure three top tier starting running backs with your first three picks – if you resist the urge to dip into the quarterback and wide receiver pool. While 110 points separated the top QB from 12th overall in 2012, and just 90 points separated the top 12 wide receivers, the gap from top down to twelve for running backs was 131 points. With so many teams employing a pass happy offense, the quarterback importance gap is shrinking. Look at banking your wide receivers with your next three picks – then your QB.

Tight End position continues to gain importance

Once your everyday starting roster of QB (1), RB (3), and WR (3) is secure, you’ll be rolling into the eighth round of your draft. Like the wide receiver position, there’s a smaller drop off when it at the tight end position – in 2012 it was just 87 points. I always aim to reach the first plateau, which is having starters in place at the four offensive “skill positions” by the end of the eighth round. Your first TE pick can also be inter-changed with one of your wide receiver picks if you spot value in a particular TE. Now, with over half of your draft sill to come, you’ll have a solid starting roster.

As you surf around the internet, during the another thrilling NFL regular season, and right up to Super Bowl XLVIII, feel free to click here for additional NFL commentary. Good Luck & Enjoy your 2013 Fantasy Football Ride. It’ll be amazing – it always is!

Image source: Cleveland Browns Facebook page

  

App of the Week: Fantasy Football Edition

So I’d like to take this time to admit that I have a fantasy football problem.

That’s right, I’m that guy. The one with multiple teams, and a small fortune invested in their outcomes. The one who will watch every game to follow my players, and root against lifelong favorite teams if one of my guys needs to get be an extra point or so before the late games. Hell, I once introduced fantasy football into a conversation about a friend’s dad being hospitalized due to malpractice by saying, “Hey, speaking of dropping the ball, what do you think about Dez Bryant against the Eagles this week?”

Luckily I live in a football and fantasy crazed society that supports this sickness. More than support it, they allow it to successfully infiltrate other aspects of your life by providing awesome mobile apps so that you never have to sit through another social obligation or work day without having the ability to request trades, and change you roster for the 5th time in a week. Of those apps, here are the most essential ones that you will need come time for the new season.

For Your Overall Needs – ESPN Fantasy Football 2012

Available for iOS here, and for Android here

So, there’s a lot of sites you can play fantasy football on, but I say if you’re going to spend a disturbing amount of your life during football season watching the same SportsCenter over and over until the new one kicks in, you might as well stick with ESPN. Quite simply, this app allows you the full range of features you would get by logging into your ESPN league (trades, roster movements, league news, etc.) but of course here you have all of that power in the palm of your hands. Best of all is the notification alerts, so you’re never behind on an injury update, or smack talk opportunity ever again.

If you’re going with fantasy football through ESPN this year, then this is the most essential app you can download (and if you’re not, be sure to snag your host site’s alternative). Just try not to spend the whole day considering your WR loadout for the week, just because you have the ability to change it at will.

For Your Draft – Rotowire Fantasy Football Draft Kit 2012

Available for iOS here

If the draft isn’t the most important part of your fantasy football year, it sure is the most exciting. Watching your roster come together from the all star impossible selections of the first few rounds, to the vital sleeper picks of the late rounds, all while trying to beat your friends for the most bragging rights is the best part of any season. As my 2010 year proved, however, sometimes flipping a coin between tough decisions is not the best way to go. In that case, I have to recommend the unrivaled help provided by the Rotowire Draft Kit.

This is a smart draft app of sorts, as it allows you to set recommendations based on your preferences, and can actually adjust player rankings based off of your league settings and your needs according to the draft progress thus far. You’ll also find the usual range of stats, recommendations, and upset picks all tied together by a clean interface that allows you to smoothly navigate the various app features while keeping up with the draft thus far.

While this app won’t prevent you from picking the sure thing player gone bust, or keep your first two running back picks from blowing their ACL’s in week one, it is otherwise the closest you will come to a fool proof draft day.

For the Compulsive – Fantasy Football 12’ HD

Available for iOS here, and for Android here

From Bignoggins Productions, this is one of the most popular fantasy football apps available. It offers the same add/drop, roster changes, news updates, and trade abilities as the host site apps, but the difference here is you can manage your ESPN, Yahoo, and NFL.com teams all via this app without having to move back and forth. Plus, since you will be second guessing your every move throughout the year, this gives you another available outlet for recommendations and news.

If your fantasy obsession has taken you to the darken back alley that is owning and managing multiple teams over multiple leagues, then there is no more essential app available then this one.

For the Hell of It – Paper Football 3D

Available for the iOS here, and for Android here

Look, it’s quite possible that every one of your star players will go down and you’ll miss out on every great free agent pick up of the year leading to the dreaded winless season. It happens.

It’s at times like this that you need something to remind yourself that football is supposed to be fun. And since the official NFL Madden app will probably just remind you that Darren McFadden just will never stay healthy, and you should probably just stop drafting him already (sorry…still working through some stuff here), why not dial it back another notch and go back to the simplistic days of paper football. It takes the basics of the game (points, mostly) and gives you a reprieve from the brain crushing numbers of fantasy ball, while providing your methadone fix of the game that you most desperately need.

While I can’t guarantee that these apps will make you a lock to win your league this year, with Calvin Johnson most assuredly going down to the Madden curse, we could be looking at another topsy turvy anything can happen kind of season. Which is why you may soon find yourself needing my first four picks in this round of app of the week.

  

Gearing up for fall with the NFL

Like everyone else, we’re thrilled that the billionaires and millionaires were able to settle their differences so that the rest of us could enjoy pro football and everything that goes with it this fall. Of course we always have college football, but all the silly scandals and the idiotic BCS system make this a flawed sport. The NFL rules the day and it makes the end of summer much easier to handle. Here are some thing to start thinking about as we’re into the preseason schedule:

Tailgating – now is the time to start planning some great NFL weekends, whether it’s a road trip or just a local thing. Think about cool gear like grilles and other supplies you’ll need to spice up your tailgate party.

Fantasy Football – It’s never too early to start studying so you don’t sound like a fool on draft day.

NFL odds – This season will be very unpredictable with the lack of an offseason and all the new coaches and quarterbacks. Is Colt McCoy the real deal in Cleveland> Can Donovan McNabb still play? Will Chad Henne still suck? The preseason is overrated as a predictor of the NFL season, but this year you probably need to watch things a little more closely to get ready for the season.