July 2008 Blog Postings
July 31, 2008 0 Total Comments
The Favre saga continues with a possible resolution within the next 24 hours. Fantasy players should be paying attention to see if the legend will be available this year or not. Rumor has it that both the Bears and the Vikings are "last resort" options for the Green Bay management, but the Bucs and Jets are preferrable options for Murphy and company. Even an offer of $20 mil over the next couple of years wasn't enough to stay retired. Enough's enough. Let him play.
Steven Jackson missed his 10th practice and a full week of training camp. Neither side seems willing to budge, however this shouldn't be a major concern for fantasy owners. Jackson is too important to this team to not find a resolution.
Five arrests later, Chris Henry, formerly with the Bengals, has been officially suspended for the first 4 games of the season. Assuming he gets picked up by a brave team, he could file for reinstatement later this year. Fantasy owners should stay away during their drafts unless you're in a very deep league. If he gets picked up, he may be a good waiver pick however. He missed half the season last year but still managed to pick up 2 TD's, 21 receptions, and 343 yards in the remaining games.
Keep an eye on Jeff Garcia. He was carted off the field today, but reports indicate that he'll be back shortly and will not miss any of the regular season.
Anquan Boldin's still not happy in Arizona, however he'll be there for the year. His contract currently has him at $4 million/year, however Larry Fitzgerald's 4 year $40 million contract extension has got to be fueling the fire. Both guys are incredibly talented and should make for some happy fantasy owners again this year.
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July 28, 2008 2 Total Comments
Two new XML services are available through the FantasyFootballNerd.com API. You can retrieve a list of all players along with some additional background info such as their height, weight, experience, and college. You can also pass along that player's ID to a new service to retrieve news headlines within the past week that involves that player. Enjoy!
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July 27, 2008 0 Total Comments
The headline is a bit of an attention grabber, isn't it? Ok - so no official ban by an major fantasy football site, but I've received a couple of emails over the last week from users letting me know that their individual leagues have implemented a "No Nerd" rule for their drafts. I'm not sure that this is a good thing, but hey, what can you do?
The basic reasoning behind their decision is that it's not fair for some players to use the Nerd while others spend a ton of time on research. I appreciate the comments, but allow me to respond. If you're planning a trip, you'll probably search Expedia, Travelocity, carrier websites, and Orbitz, right (studies show an average of 3-5 sites before a purchase decision is made)? You'll find prices for your flight, jot them down, and compare them at the end. So does that put sites like Kayak and SideStep out of bounds? These sites (they're actually one company now) compare multiple travel sites and aggregate the results into one easy to use screen. Major time savings achieved! The Nerd approaches fantasy football in the same way, with one caveat. Unlike a flight which is a commodity item, a fantasy football draft is much more than ranking and statistics. Just because a player may hold a certain rank today doesn't mean that he'll have the same rank next week. You'll still need to do your own research to keep up to date on what's happening in the NFL.
One of the users who emailed also came up with a work-around. He copied and pasted the Nerd rankings into Excel to print out. Now that's creative! I won't mention his name, but I salute him for following his league's rules! (wink, wink) :-)
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July 24, 2008 0 Total Comments
Just a quick update.
Rotoworld.com, The Hazean, and The Sports Network have all become available within the News Section on the Nerd. If you haven't already gone in and selected them, I invite you to do so. All are excellent and current sources of fantasy football information.
Currently The Sports Network is only offering NFL headlines, but the Nerd has it on good authority that they will be offering exclusive fantasy content in the near future. If they tackle the fantasy world in the same way they've tackled every other sport, I'm sure it will end up being an essential tool in the fantasy owner's arsenal. Check the Nerd for further updates.
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July 23, 2008 0 Total Comments
Well the past week has been interesting in the Favre saga. He's expected to petition NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement to the Packer's roster, however the next move remains in the hands of GB.
I have been in the stands at Packer games every year for many years and it just won't be the same without Number 4, but I'm waning on my support for Brett Favre. As more of the details come out, it's becoming increasingly apparent that he's not an angel here and the rift between him and the organization may become too much to overcome. The latest story revolves around the Vikings and discussions with Favre. According to ESPN Favre called Vikings coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell on his Packers-issued cell phone. Seriously??? Was his home phone not working? Could he not afford his own cell phone? Have pay phones become extinct? Good Lord - there's a mistake.
It appears that having #4 in Green Bay this year isn't going to happen, and I'll be shocked to learn otherwise.
 "How am I supposed to trust that they're working on a trade after the things that have been told to me in the past?" Favre said. "Teams may have called and said, 'We're interested.' Well, you know, they may never tell us. The longer this goes on, the less likely I am to play with someone because of the time factor."
"They've been preaching about, 'We want to protect Brett's legacy' — we both know what that's about," Favre said. "How does that protect my legacy if I'm a backup? 'Brett, we'll welcome you back, we'll pay you $12 million, but you have to hold a clipboard and ball cap.' That's probably better for them as opposed to letting me go somewhere and me coming back (and beating the Packers), then their legacy, the management, could be in jeopardy. Let me worry about that. You don't worry about my legacy. It's a bunch of bull, it's all it is."
If he's allowed to play somewhere else, hopefully he doesn't cap off his career like Joe Montana did. I think Favre still has the ability to be an elite QB and there are some teams who could use a guy like Favre. One of the more logical choices would be Tampa Bay where Favre's friendship with Jon Gruden goes back to his days in Green Bay as Favre's position coach. Jeff Garcia is still at odds with his contract and Chris Simms isn't likely to play in front of #4.
I'm sure the Vikings would love to have Favre. Favre behind the ball and Adrian Peterson running wild - that's enough reason to keep opposing defenses up at night. The Packers won't let that happen. I doubt that any team in their division or conference will be an acceptable trade.
Packers players are expected to be at camp at the end of the month, but Favre isn't expected to be there. As long as there are 1 or 2 talented receivers wherever he lands, Favre will still be a valued fantasy QB. As soon as the Nerd learns where he lands, we'll take a look across the fantasy football world landscape and let you know where Favre stands in the rankings.
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July 22, 2008 0 Total Comments
If you're looking for a tissue after learning about Jeremy Shockey's departure from New York, you won't find one here. His first year with the Giants was great, but he never came close to being an elite TE in subsequent years. His relationship with Eli was cordial at best and the Giants didn't need him to win the Super Bowl. He had 1 good game last year and average for the rest of the time he was healthy. I'm not shedding any tears.
For fantasy owners it will be interesting to see how Shockey does this year with a new QB throwing to him. The Nerd currently sees him ranked 10th in the TE category and 101st overall. If he can let go of his ego, perhaps his value will go up. Only time will tell and it's too early to make that case.
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July 16, 2008 0 Total Comments
I'm sure every fantasy football site owner has received this call recently, but I thought I'd throw my two-cents in. I received a voicemail from a gentleman in Los Angeles wanting to see if there would be a fit for one of his clients to be the official FantasyFootballNerd.com spokesman. The clients? Plaxico, TO, and Warren Sapp.
Looks like other players would like to follow in the steps of this year's current FOX Sports headliner. FOX Sports is offering a chance to meet LT or win one of 25 balls signed by him.
As much as the Nerd would love to have an NFL spokesman, it's just not in the budget.
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July 13, 2008 0 Total Comments
Rankings among the top players who will most likely go in the first 2 rounds of your draft are close. Classic example: There's less than 1/10 of a point separating Randy Moss and Frank Gore with Moss gaining the edge. There's roughly 2 tenths of a point separating Manning (that would be Peyton obviously) from last year's surprise RB Ryan Grant.
Here's a look at what the Nerd is seeing across the fantasy football world:
- 1.083 - LaDainian Tomlinson
- 2.583 - Adrian Peterson
- 3.167 - Brian Westbrook
- 4.083 - Steven Jackson
- 5.250 - Joseph Addai
- 6.917 - Tom Brady
- 8.583 - Randy Moss
- 8.667 - Frank Gore
- 9.909 - Clinton Portis
- 10.333 - Larry Johnson
- 10.900 - Marion Barber
- 13.000 - Marshawn Lynch
- 14.583 - Peyton Manning
- 14.727 - Ryan Grant
- 15.417 - Reggie Wayne
- 16.000 - Terrell Owens
- 16.583 - Willis McGahee
Unfortunately there's no hard and fast truth as to who to take. Some people will only take a RB in the first round. Some will take whoever they feel will produce the best regardless of position. Last year in one of my leagues, one guy took the Bears Defense with his first pick (I'm not kidding, and yes, he got teased throughout the rest of the draft). We all know how the Bears did, but he also ended up with Brady, Moss, T.O., and Welker. Turns out his first pick didn't matter much at the end of the season (I'm still scratching my head as to how the hell he ended up with that team).
I'm a firm believer that luck plays into the season. Some games are won or lost based on luck, however those who do their research do not need as much luck over the long haul. I hope the Nerd helps in your research and luck shines down on your draft!
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July 11, 2008 0 Total Comments
It seems like everyone else has thrown their two cents in on the subject, so why not throw mine in too. Like virtually everyone else, I too am tired of the subject. It's going to become a cliche in the future. When Peyton Manning eventually decides to hang it up, people will speculate whether or not he'll "pull a Favre" and be back the following year.
Favre apparently has the "itch" to continue playing. Regardless of what happens or where Favre goes, let him play. He was one of the top QB's last year and could probably play at the same level this year. It would be uncomfortable to watch him play in colors other than green and gold. In fact, it could border on being sacrilegious, however fans shouldn't be deprived of watching him because of that.
At the end of the day, Ted Thompson and company have to put the best possible team on the field. The kind of team that can deliver a Super Bowl appearance. Sorry guys, but Aaron Rodgers isn't the kind of guy who can do that. I'm guessing that he'll be injured by the 2nd game of the season. If you're the GB leadership, how can you not put Favre on the field if it's an option? If you're thinking to yourself "they need to move on" and they're "investing in Rodgers", good luck with that train of thought. Rodgers's contract is up next year. Unless he gets the start in Green Bay AND has an incredible season, who can say that he'll stay in GB next year? Also - how could anyone compare the capabilities of Favre and Rodgers? At the end of the day, the best team will win, and who would you rather have slinging the ball?
When 20+ other teams would jump at the chance to have Favre suit up for them, why would the one team with whom he has a legacy, not jump higher than the rest?
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July 6, 2008 0 Total Comments
What exactly is a Fantasy Football Nerd? A fantasy football nerd is someone who uses technology to help him/her make good fantasy football decisions. The Draft Buddy program is unique in that it searches multiple fantasy football sites for me.
Here's a great example of collective intelligence: About.com is currently ranking Joseph Addai as the 3rd best overall pick in this year's draft. AskTheCommish.com ranks him 6th. ESPN ranks him 4th, and so on. Knowing that your first pick is incredibly important, which source do you trust� Now take 19 of those sources (along with a few other features in the Nerd Algorithm) and produce a cumulative rank. The Nerd sees Joseph Addai as a solid 5th pick overall. It gets more useful further down the draft when you start hitting picks 50 and on. There's quite a bit of variance between these sources the further down you go.
Is it perfect? Absolutely, positively not. For example, Moss and Brady were much lower in last year's pre-season rankings than they are this year. If I or the Nerd search technology could predict the future, I assure you that I would be squirreled away in some remote location under heavy security doing the biddings of the US Government. The Nerd cannot predict the future, but it can provide you with an easy to use interface for viewing the collective intelligence of the fantasy football community. No more. No less.
In addition to the pre-season rankings used in the Draft Buddy program, FantasyFootballNerd.com users can view news feeds from multiple respected sources in one location. Just select the ones you want to subscribe to and the Nerd will go get the latest headlines for you.
One Nerd can't do or think of everything, so shoot me an email with your thoughts.
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