Source: TheDaily.com
It’s time for another Fantasy Faceoff between Fantasy FB Pundit and I. According to the official scorer here at ThePigskinGuy.com, I’m currently undefeated in our faceoffs. Pundit will try to get in the win column by arguing Percy Harvin, as I argue for Victor Cruz. Let’s just say I don’t like his chances. Here we go with Cruz vs. Harvin…
Source: bigleadsports.com
I finish up my updated position rankings with wide receivers. After a lot of moving around my receivers are finally beginning to look like a finished product. I never thought I would be saying that back in April but there wasn’t much movement in my Top 40 for the first time since I started the rankings, which means were getting close to the finish line. Here are my Top 100 fantasy wide receivers for 2012.
Source: zimbio.com
In our latest edition of Fantasy Faceoff, Fantasy FB Pundit and I battle it out over Jahvid Best and James Starks. Following my resounding victory in the first Fantasy Faceoff we did, I thought I’d be a good host and give Pundit a fighting chance this time, so I let him take Best, while I argue for Starks. You know, something tells me since I’m the one who writes these introductions and has editing powers to the blog, by my crazy gorilla math I may end up undefeated in Faceoffs at the end of the summer. Just a hunch. So here is the battle of running backs being drafted on average in Round 6. Who do you prefer? Best or Starks?
Source: ESPN.com
I’m finishing up my updated position ranking with tight ends and receivers. I look at tight ends here and I’ll hit receivers later on in the week. Like quarterbacks and running backs, I’m starting to settle on tight ends, especially the Top 20. However, I’m still tinkering with the bottom half of my ranking as training camps approach. Here now are my Top 40 fantasy tight ends for 2012.
Source: bleacherreport.com
I continue to update my position rankings with a look at running backs. I feel the running backs are finally starting to fall into place for me. This was the first time I really felt good after I was done ranking them since I started back in April. So as of mid-July I’m feeling good with quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends. That just leaves receivers. Don’t even get me started on receivers. Anyway, here are my updated Top 75 fantasy running backs for 2012.
Source: zimbio.com
It’s been a month since I updated my rankings, so I’ll be hitting each position over the next week. Here’s how it’s going to go down for the rest of the summer. I’ll be updating my preseason positional rankings three more times. This week, when training camps start and then I’ll release my final preseason rankings the week of August 13. With most fantasy drafts taking place in mid-late August now, I think that makes the most sense. Quarterback is the one position that’s pretty set but there are still a few movers. Here are my updated Top 40 fantasy quarterbacks for 2012.
Source: isportsweb.com
I have no idea why but people are always asking me to give them fantasy football advice. If I could single out one piece of advice I wish every single person would follow it would be the following: If you’re one of those owners who spends the two weeks after your draft doing nothing but patting yourself on the back over how great your team is and how smart you are, stop doing it.
Now I’m not saying every owner needs to start offering trades the second the draft clock expires like I do. I understand I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum. I fully admit I have a problem. However, every experienced and successful fantasy owner knows the first thing you do once the draft is over is look at the waiver wire. Did a player you like somehow slip through the cracks? Who’s still available you should keep your eye on? Wait, no one drafted Dustin Keller? Why is Kellen Winslow my TE2 then?
I’m going to throw out a few names at you: Brandon Lloyd, Antonio Brown, Peyton Hillis, DeMarco Murray, Demaryius Thomas, Victor Cruz, Laurent Robinson and Cam Newton. You ever hear of any of them? As important as we try and make the draft out to be, those are just some of the important players that weren’t selected in a majority of fantasy leagues in either 2010 or 2011. So to say there’s still a lot of value to be had once the draft is over is an understatement.
Now sometimes knowing who these guys will be is close to impossible. Last summer I was advising people not to forget about Thomas because he would be returning from injury during the season. However, I could have listed 100 sleepers and still not mentioned Robinson or Cruz, so this is far from an exact science. That doesn’t mean we can’t start trying to identify these players as soon as possible though.
Source: ffspin.com
Every year I have a few players that for some reason or another I don’t want on my fantasy team. That’s not to say these guys don’t have fantasy value, I just don’t want them personally. You will see me use the word “headache” in this post. I don’t like headaches when it comes to fantasy football.
I might take a chance on a guy like Roy Helu, who I like and think has upside, but I don’t want an entire team of headaches. So here is a list of 10 players I don’t want on my fantasy teams in 2012. Remember, this is just my personal list, so feel free to tell me the guys you are staying away from this season.
Source: NJ.com
This will be my final mock draft of the season. I’m competing in the Pros vs. Joes 26 round draft at the end of the month. Then in August I will be holding my start-up dynasty league draft and my Fire Sale Fantasy League draft, so I’ll be posting the results from all three here.
In my first mock draft I waited to get a quarterback and ended up with Jay Cutler after I repeatedly missed out on guys I wanted. In my second mock I targeted a quarterback early on and grabbed Matthew Stafford in Round 2 but it cost me depth at the running back position. This time my strategy was to get a quarterback in the middle rounds. My plan was to target either Philip Rivers in Round 6 or if I missed out on him, Matt Ryan in Round 7.
This mock is from a FFPC 12-team draft at FantasyMoJo.com that includes a flex position and counts 1 point per reception. Oh, and for the record, I don’t draft kickers. I just pick one up before Week 1 and rotate kickers all season long. Last year I picked up a guy named David Akers. I cut him a week later but you get my point.
I picked in the three hole (My spot this year in the Fire Sale Fantasy League) and the draft lasted 16 rounds. Here’s how it played out for me:
Round 1 (3) – Ray Rice, RB Ravens
The No. 3 pick is the easiest spot to be in this year. I just sit back and wait to see which running back of Rice, Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy falls to me. This time it just happened to be Rice. That’s fine by me.
Source: blogs.ajc.com
It pleases me to introduce a new series at my blog: Fantasy Faceoff. Throughout the month of July Fantasy FB Pundit and I will each take a player and argue our case for him. I think this will work out well because the two of us have very different styles. Pundit likes to look inside the numbers and that’s a direct contrast to my read and react kind of analysis. So regardless of who you agree with, I believe we’ll have a little something for everyone over the next month in these articles.
In a stunning upset, the first edition of Fantasy Faceoff has me defending a member of the Dallas Cowboys organization post-1995. I argue for owning Tony Romo this season, while Pundit puts his weight behind Matt Ryan.
The Pigskin Guy 