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Zaven Collins was a three-star quarterback and all-state defender coming out of Hominy High School in Oklahoma. The athlete played tight end as a redshirt freshman before switching to linebacker for Tulsa. Defending, in his first season as a starter, came naturally to Collins who garnered Freshman All-American honors in 2018. After that, in his sophomore campaign, Collins accrued plenty of accolades, including the Brokno Nagurski Award and Chuck Bednarick Award. Let’s just say, the star linebacker used his talent to make a name for himself as a high-end NFL talent.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was a two-sport star at Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia. The stud defender came to Notre Dame as a three-star prospect and the 17th rated overall player coming out of Virginia in 2017. (247sports.com) Once he cracked the Notre Dame starting lineup, Owusu-Koramoah made national headlines with his play, winning the Butkus Award as the country’s top linebacker. He was also named first-team Associated Press All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, a finalist for the Bednarik Award, and a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy. In 2020, Owusu-Koramoah led the Irish to an NCAA playoff birth and the Rose Bowl.
Kwity Paye came out of Bishop Hendricken high school as a three-star defensive lineman with plenty of accolades to his name. Coming out of Rhode Island, Paye was at a camp where he clocked a spectacular 4.5 40-yard dash, vaulting him to the top-ranked player in his state for the 2017 recruiting class. A high 3-star recruit, Paye was a First-Team All-State pick. Off the field, Paye won the Rhode Island State Championship in Long Jump with a mark of 21 feet and 5 inches. The stud defender had his choice of multiple offers but ultimately decided that Ann Arbor was the right place for him. While at Michigan, Paye carved out a solid career for the Wolverines.
Monday, the news became official that J.J. Watt had accepted an offer from the Arizona Cardinals for two years and $31 million with $23 million guaranteed. For the two and a half weeks he was a free agent, Watt had been linked to the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and a few other teams. For Watt, it is the end of an impressive era with the Houston Texas, who selected him 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. The fan-favorite won the hearts of millions with his work ethic, integrity, and authenticity. Heading into his age 32 season, J.J. Watt embarks on the twilight hours of his career as he chases the ever-elusive Lombardi trophy.
A few weeks ago, I was scrolling the Twitter timeline and saw several tweets about the value of rushing quarterbacks, and how the “Late Round QB” (LRQB) strategy in fantasy football (popularised by JJ Zachariason) was on the wane. Seemingly, the consensus was that capturing the upside that rushing quarterbacks bring to your lineup, was worth the opportunity cost of selecting one in the early to middle rounds of your draft. As a fervent proponent of the LRQB theory, my immediate thought was to dismiss it, but my curiosity got the better of me – so I went to the data to see what I could find.
At 6’6” and 265 pounds, the Hurricane defensive lineman has excellent height for a pass rusher. Rousseau has a good base weight but should be able to add even more muscle as he develops in the NFL. His size, explosion, and speed are already above average coming into the NFL, but within a few years, I would expect Rousseau to play at 280 to 290 pounds and become the prototypical size for an NFL defensive end.
In this series of articles, we discuss some players from each defensive position group that are poised to break out this season. These players should put up a floor of respectable, fantasy starting lineup stat lines with the potential for positional top-15 ceilings. These are players that can be drafted or acquired with minimal draft capital in most full IDP leagues. An examination of the factors promoting these ascending players will take place in each article. Remarkably, there are quite a few players that are among the “IDP unseen,” as of now. The series began with the defensive line last offseason, followed by linebackers a few weeks ago.
Houston is experiencing one of the most turbulent years in sports history. No other time can I remember a city losing four superstars in a matter of just three months. In December, former MVP Russell Westbrook was jettisoned to Washington. Just a month later, Houston lost another former MVP in James Harden to Brooklyn. Yesterday, Houston “mutually agreed” to part with the face of their football franchise J.J. Watt. Lurking around the corner for Houston is a parting with star quarterback Deshaun Watson.
A devy league is like being an investor and trying to find the perfect initial public offering (IPO) to invest in. These player assets are similar to investing in new companies that are just hitting the market. You can make a small investment in a player and see massive gains by the time they enter the NFL. On the flip side, you can make a rather large investment in a player who never ends up playing in the NFL. The type of league you choose is all based on how risk-averse you would like to be. Let’s look at how to find the perfect devy league and detail what to expect in each.
In 2017 as a freshman, Dylan Moses came to the Alabama campus as a 6-foot-3, 235-pound freshman and proceeded to run a 4.46-second 40-yard dash. He then bench pressed 405 pounds, squatted 500 pounds and power cleaned 335 pounds. Four years in the Crimson Tide program has allowed Moses to add muscle weight without sacrificing explosion. Moses’ SPARQ rating (according to ESPN.com) is 132.48, which is extremely high for any athlete and elite for a linebacker.
The Super Bowl betting scene comes with many different kinds of bets. Some of them are related to the game’s outcome, but I think the fun lies with the side bets. I’ll cover both of those in this piece. Let’s get started!
In this series of articles, we discuss some players from each defensive position group that are poised to break out this season. These players should put up a floor of respectable, fantasy starting lineup stat lines with the potential for positional top-15 ceilings. These are players that can be drafted or acquired with minimal draft capital in most full IDP leagues. An examination of the factors promoting these ascending players will take place in each article. Remarkably, there are quite a few players that are among the “IDP unseen,” as of now. Your author began with the defensive line last offseason, and after being tied up in seasonal articles, can now look at the linebacker position before this 2021 season.
This weekly article is focused on identifying players who are owned in less than 40% of redraft leagues. These players are going to help your team win this week and every week to come! We are looking for guys you should be able to plug into your starting lineup without hesitation. You generally don’t find this kind of production on the waiver wire in Week 17 of the fantasy football season, but not much comes as a surprise in 2020. Sunday night became the AJ Dillon show after Aaron Jones appeared to suffer a minor injury early in the game. Maybe it was always part of the plan to give Dillon 21 carries after never receiving more than five in any other game all year long, but it certainly came as a surprise to fantasy managers. Dillon finished the game with 21 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He’s your top waiver wire pick up of the week without a doubt.
In this streaming article, I will provide you the best weekly options to stream quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. In each section, I’ll break down two streamers in detail, both of which will be under 50% owned, according to ESPN’s ownership percentage at the time of writing. Playing the matchups is a crucial feature of redraft fantasy football, and especially in a crazy 2020 season, active fantasy owners will have a massive advantage.
For Week 17, this is purely bonus content. I genuinely hope that none of you are playing championships in Week 17. However, I’ll give some quick streamers if you haven’t fixed that setting in your leagues yet.
Congratulations on making it to your league championship! Take a moment to bask in the glory of your accomplishment… alright, that’s enough. It’s time to get down to business and lock in those championship-winning lineups. In this article, I’ll be covering a handful of players at each position that I believe will either lead you to the promised land or down a path of misery and despair. Let’s dive in!
Let’s start things off with a little Christmas Day action, shall we?
The Saints are one of the most complete teams in the NFC, while the Minnesota Vikings have made Teddy Bridgewater, Mike Glennon, and even Mitchell Trubisky look like franchise quarterbacks in recent weeks. Drew Brees may have started off slow in his return from injury, but he ultimately finished with three passing touchdowns against the Chiefs. Look for the Saints to roll.
This weekly article is focused on identifying players who are owned in less than 40% of redraft leagues. These players are going to help your team win this week and every week to come! We are looking for guys you should be able to plug into your starting lineup without hesitation.
Raheem Morris has reported Todd Gurley will no longer be the starting running back for the Atlanta Falcons and Ito Smith will take over as the lead back. This is some pretty wild news heading into fantasy championship weekend. Finding a starting running back this late in the year on waivers is virtually unheard of. But, this is 2020, when Ito Smith can assume a lead role in Week 16.
This has been by far the most challenging season of sit/start decisions I’ve encountered in my years of fantasy football. Those of you in championship games and toilet bowls alike should take a moment to reflect on a challenging season, pat yourself on the back for your grit, and know that lessons learned this year will prepare you well for in-season roster management next year and beyond. If you’ve decided best-ball is your jam for 2021, I fully support you!
This is my final real week of streaming coverage. I’ve loved bringing you this article each week for two straight seasons, and it’s sad that the 2020 version will end soon. I’ll probably throw something together for Week 17 as bonus coverage, but we should all move to Week 16 championships. Deciding your fantasy title in Week 17 is silly. With that said, let’s jump into the streamers!
This publication is my weekly picks against the spread, with a deep dive into three picks that I feel will provide a nice payout to bettors. In part two, I look at three player props that I feel have a strong chance of paying out. This article will run the gamut and will include bets such as ‘passing yard totals’, ‘first player to score’, and even ‘total tackles’ for those who love defense.
In addition, I will also make one “Longshot Pick of the Week”. This pick will always feature a more difficult bet that has a greater than 2:1 payout. The odds may be tougher, but if you’re into some fun player props take a peek!
Sticking with our recent format, I’ll be focusing on my favorite games for the Week 15 main slate that I believe offer the best game environments and stacking opportunities. As you read, please note that the player names in bold are what I consider my “core” players or guys that I’m sliding into a large percentage of my lineups.
In this weekly article, I’m going to look ahead to the following week. I’ll point out a few players below 40% owned on ESPN who have strong matchups next week that you can pick up ahead of time to beat the waiver run. With added IR spots in most leagues, you can also shift injured players there, opening up a roster spot for these options. At this point, we’re playing a weekly game. Don’t drop anyone you need to use this week in the playoffs to prepare for a possible Week 16 matchup. If you don’t win this week, you won’t have a next week. But, if you have a first-round bye, this column is essential for you. Start preparing for Week 16 now, while your league mates focus on the first round of the playoffs.
Holy Smokes, this week was a fun one for the Washington Football Team defense. Playing at the displaced defending NFC champion 49ers, the Football Team produced four sacks, two fumbles, an interception, and two touchdowns to help secure the victory. Since Week 11, Washington has given up a total of 57 points (fewer than 15 per game), while scoring three touchdowns and registering 12 sacks in that timeframe. Players that made IDP waves this week include Chase Young, Kamren Curl, and Montez Sweat.
We’re on FIRE! That’s two weeks in a row of going 3-0 on our in-depth picks. For good measure, we went 12-4(!) on our overall picks leading to probably our best week on record. We’ll look to carry that momentum as we close out the regular season.