Hey There Sports Fans!

This is my first ever official “blog” but don’t let that fool you.  I have been writing about fantasy football since 2001.  In my league message boards I’ve written everything from weekly predictions, power rankings, draft analysis, season predictions, sleepers/busts, rookies to watch out for, and drafting strategies that work.  I averaged writing over 1500-2000 words at least per week about fantasy football.  With that amount of experience I have learned a lot of ways to be successful and a lot of ways to not be successful when playing fantasy football.  There are a few people in each of the leagues that I play in that continually swirl at the bottom of the rankings and others that are consistent contenders year in and year out.  Why?  Read future posts to find out.  In one league we are approaching its 15th season.  In 15 years I have won the championship once and been to the Super Bowl 4 times.  In another league started 6 years ago, I have made it to the Super Bowl 4 times and have won it twice.  I’m the commissioner of both leagues, so I know what it takes to help people get leagues going and how to stimulate the smack talk with the league seems to be getting a bit dull or owners seem disinterested.

If you’re not convinced that you should be reading this blog weekly (maybe daily during football season) then maybe some stats could convince you otherwise:

These leagues will be used as examples/debatable topics in the future:

Mandeville League: (Since 2006 since years 2001-2005 were lost to expired yahoo accounts) 62-64 Record (1-3 in Super Bowls)  Scoring System: Old School- Qb Td- 4, .25/1 Yard Passing- 1, Rb/Wr Td- 6, .1/yard, NO DEFENSE, Kickers- 3’s, 1’s, and -1’s.

BBY Dream Team League: (Since 2009) 48-30 Record (2-2 in Super Bowls) Scoring System: New- Partial PPR, Defenses, Bonuses for 100,200,and 300 yard games, big play bonuses, field goals are extra for longer kicks.

Some of the best drafted players that I knew would do well:

Matt Schaub 2009.  Led my team to a Super Bowl victory.  Schaub had been injured the previous season and I drafted him in Round 10.  He finished the season as a top 5 qb.

Matt Stafford and Darren Sproles 2011.  Led my team to a Super Bowl victory.  Stafford was also injured in 2010, but in those two games he started in 2009 he threw for over 300 yards in each, which made the decision to draft him in Round 10 worth it, especially considering he threw for over 5000 yards in 2011.  Sproles finished his first season with the Saints with 603 rushing yards, 2 rushing td’s, 86 receptions, 710 yards receiving, and 7 receiving touchdowns.

Peyton Manning 2012.  Led my team to a Super Bowl loss.  How typical of Peyton.  He’s such a tease, but I drafted him in his first season in Denver and it paid off as he finished the season with 4659 yards and 37 td’s.  Do you see a pattern?  Injured players drop in fantasy drafts the following season and provide good value.  How have more people not figured that out?!?!I finished the regular season with an 11-2 record.

Jamaal Charles and Anquan Boldin 2013.  Lead my team to a Super Bowl loss.  These aren’t as good “sleeper” picks as the others, but Boldin balled out as Kaepernick’s favorite target in 2013 and Jamaal Charles scored 59.7 points in Week 15 of the playoffs shooting me to my 3rd straight Super Bowl appearance in the BBY Dream Team League.

Andrew Luck and Jeremy Maclin 2014.  Lead my team to an 8-5 record and 1st Round Playoff loss.  I drafted Jeremy Maclin in all 4 leagues I played in this past year.  All four.  I had 100% confidence that he would have a good season.  For those of you who did not draft Maclin in the mid rounds here are some signs that you missed in the offseason: DeSean Jackson had 82 receptions, 1332 receiving yards, and 9 touchdowns in 2013; his first (and only) season in Chip Kelly’s offense.  He was cut from the team.  Maclin missed all of 2013 due to injury (hey! it happened again!).  He became the #1 Wr once Jackson was cut. 2014 was a contract year for Maclin.  Where did you think those 82-1332-9 numbers were going to go to?  Riley Cooper?  Really?  Also, Andrew Luck.  I figured this would be the last season where you could draft Luck in rounds 3-5 because he’s been becoming a better fantasy qb every season he’s been in the league.  The guy can straight ball out.  He’s now been Top 10 in 2012, Top 5 in 2013, to #1 in 2014.

I’m going to be writing about fantasy football because it’s my hobby, it’s my passion, and I love doing it.  I will not always be right, nobody ever is.  Remember, every day moves are being made and players’ situations are changing.  Paying attention all offseason in preparation for the draft next summer is key to success.  Looking forward to future posts!

-FF Brad