We sure didn’t see this coming.

We all knew Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton had a lot of talent. He was drafted first overall, wasn’t he? We all knew Newton was capable of putting up huge numbers. In his lone season at Auburn, he was responsible for 51 – 51! – touchdowns, remember?

But nobody thought Newton would this closely resemble his Auburn form this early into his NFL career. For the love of God, he’s only played two games! And what a two games it was. 925 passing yards. Five total touchdowns. Two straight 400-yard passing games – the first rookie QB to ever accomplish the feat. In short, Newton has been outstanding. Continue reading Cam Newton’s Record Run: Not Over Yet »

As a Fantasy Football owner, every week we are faced with the very difficult decision of deciding what to do with our flex position.

When I first played Fantasy Football, my guy friend informed me that you should always use a running back in your flex spot. I asked him why, as my observation was that my wide receivers were outperforming my running backs. He had no answer to my question other than to say, that’s just how it’s always been.

This over-evaluation of running backs was reinforced further by people telling me that I “should” draft a running back in the first round, as if doing anything else was a guarantee that your team would be worthless. As far as I could tell, points are points, so why should it matter what position they come from? Continue reading The Evolution of the Flex Position »

There is one word in fantasy that no one wants associated with their star player: injury.

Arian Foster owners have been all too familiar with this word lately. After racking up 1,616 yards on the ground and 604 receiving yards with 18 total touchdowns in 2010, people were wishing for the opportunity to snag him for their fantasy team.

Unfortunately, those who got their Foster wish granted have seen his name more often on the injury report than the stat sheet.

After injuring his hamstring in preseason practice, Foster has had question marks surrounding his health. Making matters worse, Foster re-aggravated his hamstring in the Texans’ third preseason game, just two weeks prior to the start of the regular season.

Continue reading Fantasy Football: Houston Texans RB Arian Foster’s Woes »

Sept. 8 marked the beginning of two things: the NFL season and fantasy football.

While fantasy football success does not always translate to wins for NFL teams, it means there is productivity on offense. Unfortunately for the Bengals this year, it looks like they will struggle in both areas.

The Bengals may have the least fantasy options of any team in the league. With the apparent retirement of Carson Palmer, Cincinnati turned to rookie Andy Dalton, a second round pick from TCU. Like most rookie quarterbacks, Dalton will struggle as he adjusts to the NFL. In two games so far in 2011, Dalton has passed for 413 yards and three touchdowns. Unless your league requires two starting quarterbacks, avoid even giving Dalton a spot on your roster.

Continue reading Are the Bengals the Worst Fantasy Football Team? »

So last week, this article gave some decent recommendations as well as some poor ones. Hopefully everyone listened to me and played Chad Henne, Cedric Benson and Jahvid Best. I am also hoping those same people benched Rashard Mendenhall and the Miami Defense. This week, I am going to trim the fat a bit and just post one player at each position you should start no matter what, and one player you should bench. For the Sit’em category, I will try to recommend players who had great games last week who will not have them this week. Feel free to challenge these picks and suggest your own. Continue reading 2011 Week 2: Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em »

Introduction to a Fantasy

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) declared that online poker sites were banned from operating on U.S. soil. The same act stipulated that organized Fantasy Sports Leagues for monetary incentive, however, is not to be considered “gambling,” and thus permissible. The Act worked swimmingly well: millions of Americans continued to play online poker for cash for the next five years, and meanwhile, the exception eviscerated most of the fantasy sports industry’s shackles, which grosses anywhere from 1.5 to 3 billion dollars yearly depending on the source.

As an online poker player at the time of the Act’s passage, I was appalled by the UIGEA’s draconian positions on what constitutes illegal gambling versus legal gaming. Whether the UIGEA was effective (ROFL) or not, was inconsequential; it still purported to make an unjustifiable infringement against my freedom to engage in peaceful behavior with my property. As my own personal statement, then, playing five tables on online poker that night, I vowed to take a stalwart position against joining a fantasy league. Continue reading Fantasy Football: A Journey »

Peyton Hillis and Michael Vick have a few things in common.

Both men play pro football, for starters. Both men have graced the Madden cover (the Madden curse be damned, says this writer). And last year, both came out of nowhere to be two of the best waiver wire pickups in fantasy football.

This year, however, Hillis and Vick have very different fantasy forecasts. While Vick is near the top of many drafts boards and is frequently going in the first round, Hillis is typically being placed just outside the top 10 at his own position. Hillis might not have Vick’s explosive potential, but in 2010 the man bulldozed his way to one of the best out-of-nowhere seasons in recent memory. Both of these guys were among the top 15 fantasy scoring leaders in just about any format last year. So what gives? Continue reading Peyton Hillis: Bust or Bulldozer? »