After writing one of my “Dead to Me” articles, I remembered how much I enjoyed it. In this series, I figuratively bury a new player in each column. Typically, I expect that player to stay buried after the 2020 season, and the player I’m discussing had significant fantasy value or fantasy hype in the past. Now, it’s Curtis Samuel’s turn at the redraft tombstone.
Dead to Me: Curtis Samuel Read More »
The famous saying “you can’t win your league on draft day, but you can lose it” is one that I remind myself of every year. Draft day is the most important day of the year on any fantasy football player’s calendar as stakes are high and one bad decision can unravel an entire offseason of hard work. Having a strategy in place before the draft will limit the possibility of any costly errors occurring. While a strategy is important, please remember that drafting is a fluid situation and this will only act as your foundation when building a successful team.
Redraft Strategy: Method Behind the Madness Read More »
In the late rounds of redraft leagues, I’m always hunting for upside. There’s no point in playing it safe and taking boring contributors that provide no opportunity to make a difference or to be league-winners. These four players are an example of what I’m talking about, one at each position. I’m not saying that any of these players will hit, and I would bet against some of them doing so. However, they all have high-end potential. If I’m wrong about one of them, I can cut them after a week or two with little to no harm.
High Upside Late-Round Redraft Targets Read More »
Is it possible that the Bills are coming off another playoff appearance (maybe even a win?) and Josh Allen has made real strides as an NFL passer? Sure. But it’s just as possible that Allen stagnates and costs the team wins. It’s possible that the Bills see their championship window slowly starting to close and decide that Josh Allen is holding them back. Do they decline his fifth-year option and bring in a veteran QB who can manage the game and let the defense win games? It’s possible. In other words, it’s possible that Josh Allen is the next Mitch Trubisky.
Is Josh Allen the next Mitch Trubisky? Read More »
My “Dead to Me” shovel is finally back. In one of my favorite series, I figuratively bury a new player in each article. Typically, I expect that player to stay buried after the 2020 season, and the player I’m discussing had significant fantasy value in the past. In this case, it’s time to discuss Jared Cook and his lengthy career. By the time you finish reading, you’re going to trust me, and my take that drafting Cook will demolish your team in 2020 redraft leagues.
Dead to Me: Jared Cook Read More »
Back in March, I did a four-part series on the incoming rookie class. Now, it’s time to go back through my takes and examine how they’ve changed in the past few months. I’ve included my four original articles, and my live post-draft takes as links at the bottom of this article. In part one, I looked at the progression of top rookie quarterbacks from March until now. Then, in part two, I covered how the consensus top-three running backs pre-NFL Draft have progressed in redraft value. I moved into part three, where I discussed the next tier of players, including two more running backs and two more wide receivers. Finally, in part four, I talked about the final four wide receivers I broke down in March. However, even though I predicted pretty accurately who would find fantasy relevance and draft capital early on in the process, plenty of players slipped through the cracks. I didn’t write about these three players in March, but I have to discuss them now, both as prospects and as redraft assets. Each of them has a chance at massive fantasy value in 2020, although they all have significant question marks.
Rookie Redraft Update: The Risers Read More »
Back in March, I did a four-part series on the incoming rookie class. Now, it’s time to go back through my takes and examine how they’ve changed in the past few months. I’ve included my four original articles, and my live post-draft takes as links at the bottom of this article. In part one, I looked at the progression of top rookie quarterbacks from March until now. Then, in part two, I covered how the consensus top-three running backs pre-NFL Draft have progressed in redraft value. I then moved into part three, where I discussed the next tier of players, including two more running backs and two more wide receivers. It’s time for part four, where I will talk about the final four wide receivers I broke down in March.
Rookie Redraft Update Part 4 Read More »
As redraft season (hopefully) approaches, the time has come to consider which strategy you will use to dominate your league-mates. These days, every fantasy player worth their salt is aware of late-round QB and late-round TE strategies, and Zero RB has become less and less viable over the years. However, there is a way to outsmart the room, even in 2020. The strategy that I’m proposing involves leveraging the positional scarcity of elite RBs and taking advantage of WR values in the middle and late rounds of your draft. I call this two-step strategy Ice Cream & Pancakes.
Redraft 2020: The Ice Cream & Pancakes Strategy Read More »
Back in March, I did a four-part series on the incoming rookie class. Now, it’s time to go back through my takes and examine how they’ve changed in the past few months. I’ve included all four of my original articles, and all my live post-draft takes as links at the bottom of this article. In part one, I looked at the progression of top rookie quarterbacks from March until now. Then, in part two, I covered how the consensus top-three running backs pre-NFL Draft have progressed in redraft value. Now, it’s time for part three and a mix of two running backs and two wide receivers. Let’s jump into these four exciting players!
Rookie Redraft Update Part 3 Read More »
In this series, we analyze the IDP strength-of-schedule for the 2020 NFL season. In IDP fantasy football, fewer opportunities correlate to reduced chances of production and underperforming IDP assets. Today, we’ll focus on low pace-of-play / plays-per-game schedules that a few unlucky defenses will face (based on 2019 data). Let’s take a look at the defenses and IDP defenders who could suffer from their schedule.
2020 Poor IDP Strength of Schedule Read More »
Van Jefferson is not on anyone’s fantasy radar coming into drafts this season. Quietly selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, Jefferson walks into his rookie season with one of the best offensive schemes in the NFL. Other highly drafted prospects like Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Pittman are getting the majority of the attention from the fantasy community. However, I believe Van Jefferson may be the most underrated and unheralded rookie of the 2020 class, and someone that could bring you sneaky value this upcoming fantasy season.
High Upside Dart Throw: Van Jefferson Read More »
Back in March, I did a four-part series on the incoming rookie class. Now, it’s time to go back through my takes and examine how they’ve changed in the past few months. I’ve included all four of my original articles and all my live post-draft takes as links at the bottom of this article. In part one, I looked at the progression of top rookie quarterbacks from March until now. Let’s get into part two, covering how the consensus top-three running backs pre-NFL Draft have progressed in redraft value.
Rookie Redraft Update: Part 2 Read More »
The DFF team recently did a half-PPR redraft mock. The draft was for a typical 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 2 Flex, 1 TE, 1 D/ST redraft format with no special bonuses. I want to go through my draft and strategy, round-by-round, and talk through what I was thinking at each pick. Let’s jump into it.
DFF Redraft Staff Half-PPR Mock Review Read More »
Back in March, I did a four-part series on the incoming rookie class. Now, it’s time to go back through my takes and examine how they’ve changed in the past few months. I’ve included all four of my original articles and all my live post-draft takes as links at the bottom of this article. I’ll start with part one, which covered quarterbacks.
Rookie Redraft Update: Part 1 Read More »
The Los Angeles Rams felt the hangover of a Super Bowl loss in 2019, missing the playoffs with a 9-7 record. They finished 7th in total offense (yards gained) and 13th in total defense. The analytics firm Football Outsiders ranked the 2019 Rams defense 9th. This defense improved significantly over the 2018 version in both metrics while the offense regressed year over year.
Schemes Are Ch-Ch-Changing: The Rams Are Sputtering! Read More »
For the first time since 2005, the Chargers will have a starting quarterback not named Philip Rivers. Rivers was a checkdown machine unlike almost any other quarterback in the NFL, as he heavily targeted all his running backs, not only Ekeler. The Chargers drafted Justin Herbert with the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft as their long-term starting quarterback and have Tyrod Taylor as their bridge starter. Both Taylor and Herbert scare me for Ekeler’s overall value.
Redraft Team Focus: Chargers Read More »
I’m analyzing every one of the 32 NFL teams and all of their redraft-relevant fantasy assets in this article series. It’s a long project, but I want to make sure that you, the reader, have something you can refer to for every team. For each article, I’ll split up the fantasy assets into three categories: high-end assets, usable contributors, and dart throws. Let’s jump into the Bears.
Redraft Team Focus: Bears Read More »
Green comes with numerous question marks. However, let’s not forget how successful Green has been as a fantasy asset when healthy and on the field despite playing with mediocre quarterback Andy Dalton. In 2018, Green was the WR8 in Weeks 1-8, averaging 18.5 PPG. He caught 45 of 76 targets for 687 yards and six touchdowns, which would have paced for 90 receptions, 152 targets, 1,374 yards, and 12 touchdowns over a full season.
Redraft Team Focus: Bengals Read More »
I’m analyzing every one of the 32 NFL teams and all of their redraft-relevant fantasy assets in this article series. It’s a long project, but I want to make sure that you, the reader, have something you can refer to for every team. For each article, I’ll split up the fantasy assets into three categories: high-end assets, usable contributors, and dart throws. Let’s jump into the Buccaneers.
Redraft Team Focus: Buccaneers Read More »
As you can see, Cooks has been a highly productive receiver with every stop. It doesn’t matter if he was new to the roster or not. He hasn’t always been the most targeted receiver on his team. Only twice has this happened in his career. Once with the Saints in 2015 and once with the Patriots in 2017– yet he’s still put up four 1,000-yard seasons.
Brandin Cooks: A Must-Own in 2020 Read More »
