The Fantasy Sports Thread

Big Sexy

Deadly Rap Cannibal
There have been some attempts at a thread like this in the past but I figure it's worth a shot again as fantasy sports continue to become increasingly more popular. Use this thread to discuss anything about fantasy sports. Whether it's how good you think your team is or who you think some sleepers could be, anything fantasy related. Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, let's keep it all in this thread.
 
Big Sexy's 2014 Fantasy Football Sleepers

1. Emmanuel Sanders- WR, Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning has made a career of turning average receivers into good receivers and good receivers into great receivers. With Eric Decker gone Sanders steps into a starting role for the best offense in the NFL. Demaryius Thomas is going to see a lot of double teams and Wes Welker has already suffered a preseason concussion. Expect an already talented Sanders to put up 2013 Decker like numbers.

2. Jordan Matthews- WR, Philadelphia Eagles: Even though he's a rookie, Matthews is in a great situation. The Eagles have a high powered offense and there isn't much competition at the receiver position. He is already penciled in as the slot guy and is one injury away from being in a starting role. Jeremy Maclin missed all of last season and has only played in all 16 games once during his 5 seasons. Riley Cooper has never been a full time starter and missed half of the 2012 season due to injury. Most likely Matthews will see some time as a starter.

3. Rashad Jennings- RB, New York Giants: Jennings showed some flashed during the second half of the season with the Raiders last year. He had some huge fantasy games with Run DMC injured. Now he is in New York where he will be the feature back and his only competition for carries is a rookie in Andre Williams. Jennings most underrated asset may be his pass catching ability. He started last year as the Raiders third string running back and played only sparingly for the first half of the season, yet he still caught 36 passes. He isn't a Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles type catching out of the backfield but he has good hands and can make some plays in that area.
 
Big Sexy's 2014 Fantasy Football Sleepers

1. Emmanuel Sanders- WR, Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning has made a career of turning average receivers into good receivers and good receivers into great receivers. With Eric Decker gone Sanders steps into a starting role for the best offense in the NFL. Demaryius Thomas is going to see a lot of double teams and Wes Welker has already suffered a preseason concussion. Expect an already talented Sanders to put up 2013 Decker like numbers.

2. Jordan Matthews- WR, Philadelphia Eagles: Even though he's a rookie, Matthews is in a great situation. The Eagles have a high powered offense and there isn't much competition at the receiver position. He is already penciled in as the slot guy and is one injury away from being in a starting role. Jeremy Maclin missed all of last season and has only played in all 16 games once during his 5 seasons. Riley Cooper has never been a full time starter and missed half of the 2012 season due to injury. Most likely Matthews will see some time as a starter.

3. Rashad Jennings- RB, New York Giants: Jennings showed some flashed during the second half of the season with the Raiders last year. He had some huge fantasy games with Run DMC injured. Now he is in New York where he will be the feature back and his only competition for carries is a rookie in Andre Williams. Jennings most underrated asset may be his pass catching ability. He started last year as the Raiders third string running back and played only sparingly for the first half of the season, yet he still caught 36 passes. He isn't a Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles type catching out of the backfield but he has good hands and can make some plays in that area.


I agree with you that Jordan Matthews is going to have a big year with Philadelphia, but I am going to agree to disagree on Sanders and Jennings. Jennings I'm still not sure about. I had seen potential in him for a few years now when he was with Jacksonville, but I just don't see him have the ability of a starting running back. To me it seems like he's just the best possible solution in a bad situations for the Giants offense, and I'm expecting them to relay more on their passing game with Eli Manning and the weapons he has, potentially with rookie Odel Beckham. For standard leagues he may be worth taking a shot on as a 3rd or 4th back, but I wouldn't even look at him in just starting Dynasty leagues because he's already 29, and his ceiling is OK back at best.

And as far as Sanders goes one of his biggest problems receiving wise has been his catching ability, and having Peyton Manning doesn't change that one bit. Luckily for him he did go to another team with a good Quarterback. Had he gone somewhere like Houston or Miami then Sanders wouldn't even be draftable. Still I personally don't see much out of him this season. His biggest role in the Denver offense will actually be pulling away defenders with his speed, and opening up Julius Thomas and Wes Welker more. But he's really the fourth option in that loaded offense behind D. Thomas, J. Thomas, and Welker. He'll be good for one or two weeks, but don't expect him to be consistent. He'll probably be good to play when you have multiple starters out on bye weeks.


As for my sleepers. I'm not sure what Justin Hunter's ADP is especially after his big preseason game in Week 2, but he was one of my big sleepers for this year coming into the season and he still is. The man is ready for a breakout season, and I would suggest getting him onto your fantasy team. Another WR that you may get fairly late or in the middle of the draft is Markus Wheaton on the Steelers. He is now the number two wideout in Pittsburgh alongside Antonio Brown, and I'm expecting a big season out of him. I actually thought he was going to make an impact his rookie season, but he ended up riding the bench in what seemed like more of a learning situation the first year. I think that will end up benefiting him big time in the long run.

Don't be afraid of drafting Zac Ertz as your staring TE either. Again I don't know what his ADP is or if he is a sleeper or not, but he's another guy I'm expecting breakout numbers out of. Otherwise if he is drafted earlier than I'd expect he would, which is fairly possible because he looks great, then I would suggest Eric Ebron. The pure fact that he's a rookie will make his ADP low, but he could be a starter right out of the gate in your offense. In that pass heavy offense with Matthew Stafford, Ebron will be a big target for him especially when Johnson is getting extra coverage. Last but not least I think one of the best sleepers I have is Mark Ingram. He has been in an unfortunate situation in that Saints offense where he was never really given much of a chance to shine behind Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles. But now that Sproles is gone, Ingram has actually jumped right to the front of the pack for running backs in the New Orleans offense, and I think he's going to have a monster season. He very well may end up being a top 7 fantasy running back in next year's draft. He'll still have Thomas there to take away downs, but expect better numbers than Sproles was putting up in that same system.

So those are my sleepers. Some tips for those just starting out or aren't exactly confident. I try to stress this so much. Take running backs. I know that all the ESPN analysts and NFL Network guys talk about taking a guy like Rodgers in the first round...but really, take a running back. Megatron is probably the only player I would feel 100% comfortable with taking in the first round, but even then I would take running backs for the next three picks. So first round take a running back, hopefully you get a top five back like McCoy, Charles, Peterson, Lacy, etc. Montee Ball, Leveon Bell, Matt Forte, none of those guys are reaches in the first round. Then in the second round, take another running back. I'm talking young backs. Zac Stacy, Gio Benard, Arian Foster, Alfred Morris, Doug Martin. Third round is where you may wan to take a WR, it depends on who's still available, but personally I would draft another running back. Especially if one of the guys I named above is still available, likely not by then. But even then...DeMarco Murray, CJ Spiller, Frank Gore. All solid third backs.

Then I would probably probably take two back to back wideouts, whoever is highest on your lists. Then go back to a back in the sixth round. Assuming this is a standard one year league. Carlos Hyde very well may end up taking over for Frank Gore in the second half of the season. I honestly hope he doesn't because I have him in one of my dynasty leagues, but it's worth taking a chance on late. He probably won't be drafted in your league so take him towards the latter rounds.

That's my advice. Take it if you want or do you own thing. But I would highly suggest taking running backs at least in the first two rounds. Then consider going after a WR, or take a third running back just to be safe especially in dynasty leagues. There are far less talented running backs available than there are wideouts. Fantasy "experts" say the passing era is evidence to take a guy like Aaron Rodgers or a WR in the early first, but it's only more evidence that the available running backs who put up big numbers are only more rare, so take the ones that are there. Then you can fill your team up with other wideouts, because trust me there are plenty of WRs that will put up big numbers. Maybe not as consistently as someone like Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones, but there are plenty. Andre Johnson right off the bat is a guy who I think will slide to the fourth round easy. Victor Cruz, Wes Welker, Michael Crabtree. TY Hilton, Torrey Smith....all guys you can get more so towards the middle of the draft, and will put up consistent numbers that with three good running backs will keep your team at the top. Any QB can put up pretty decent numbers. There will be plenty of them out there. Take a guy like Jay Cutler or Ben Roethlisberger if you have to, because those guys will linger around for awhile, but will still put up very solid numbers throughout the season. So take my advice as you will, but I highly suggest you get at least two backs before anything else.
 
I figured I would explain how my one fantasy football league works because it's very unique compared to other leagues. It's a dynasty league that my uncle runs, and I actually just got into last year. I don't really do yearly standard free leagues anymore. Every once in awhile I do one, but I always end up neglecting it so I figured I wouldn't tarnish anyone's league by joining it and not paying attention to it. That's because I'm pretty okay with just putting all of my time right now into the two leagues I am in. Ones a simple keeper league. 10 teams, 14 players kept every year. A lot of keepers is the way we like it.

My other league though is the one that's different. It's a contract league. I'm pretty sure the concept is out there, but I know not a lot of people do it. Probably because in this day and age people just use sites like Yahoo and ESPN and just do the standard one year leagues. This is through rtsports and they actually just added a feature where you can put contracts into the website so it makes things a lot easier to keep track of. So everyone is on a contract. You can have two 5 year guys, three 4 year guys, four 3 year guys, and five 2 year guys. Then anyone else on your team is just signed to one year.

I think every year they get raises too. Because it's technically an auction, but I'll get into that. I think the raises depend on how much they're getting paid. If they're one of the top three paid at their position they get a $2 raise. Anything else is a $5 raise if I'm not mistaken. So going into the season we have three things. First is the rookie draft. This is a draft we do on the website where you draft out of all the rookies that just came in. Usually running backs and WRs are the first ones taken. This is only three rounds, only takes a half hour or so. Then we do restricted free agents. You see every year you get to label two RFAs and one franchise player. Or none at all if you choose. If you franchise a guy you keep him on your team for one more year, but then he gets a raise to the average of the salary of the top three at their position. Then for the RFAs we usually do this live. Everyone will bid on your two guys, and then at the end when the bidding stops you have the choice to match the price or not. Depends on the position and the price, but if they're a certain amount of money when the bidding is over and you choose not to match, you may be able to get a draft pick next year's rookie draft. Say Aaron Rodgers is your RFA, and he goes for $20, and you don't match...you get that person's third round pick. $30 and over is their second. If he goes for over $40 you get their first round pick. It's different for every position though.

So after that you go to the auction, which consists of everyone who was cut or who's contract ran out and wasn't labeled. I think our salary cap is $200 but I'm not sure.

It sounds complicated but it really isn't. It's much more realistic, more like the NFL. Head to head isn't a big concern. Everyone just wants to have the most points, that head to head stuff is just sort of for fun. The winner of the head to head gets all the money put into the free agency on the year (because that's real money, the auction and stuff is play money basically from your cap).

Right now I have Aaron Rodgers at QB, he's about $46. Last year at RFAs he was someone's restricted free agent, and I bid him up to $46. We made a deal that if the guy matched, he would trade him to me straight up for Cam Newton. That way I didn't have to give up a draft pick and he didn't have to keep Rodgers. It worked for both of us, although I kind of regret it because Newton is way younger and is still a great fantasy QB. I also have Calvin Johnson, I traded for him to a guy who was tanking. Hes $30. I can't remember who I traded to get him. I also have Eddie Lacy, Zac Stacy, and Mark Ingram. And Zac Ertz and TE. Then just Saturday night we did our rookie draft, and I drafted Mike Evans 4th overall, then I had three 2nd round picks and I took Eric Ebron, Odel Beckham Jr, and Teddy Bridgewater, although I passed on M. Lee on the Jags to take Bridgewater but I kind of regret it. I also have Nick Foles and Vincent Jackson as my restricted free agents, and I didn't label anyone franchise. So I still have a lot of wholes to fill on my team in the auction which is next Monday.

So that's my league. It's fun. I like it...confusing at first, but it's better than any league I've ever been in. Right now the commissioner and I are trying to lobby to add a couple things. We want to have a rule where you can actually extend one person's contract at the end of the year and they get a $5 raise or something, and we also want to add an 8 year contract slot. But right now a lot of other people don't want to do it so I don't think we're going to get it in any time soon. Everyone votes on that stuff.
 
To go off my post from earlier, I've created an all sleeper team. Every guy on this list should be available in the 8th round or later of most fantasy drafts.

QB-Phillip Rivers, Chargers: Rivers was the 6th best fantasy quarterback in 2013 (based on ESPN standard league scoring), yet he has been going very late in drafts this year. If anything, Rivers should be better this year. He is in his second season under Head Coach Mike McCoy, he has Keenan Allen entering his second season, and the Chargers offense is b ring back all of their other top receivers from a year ago. This all adds up to another big season for Rivers.

RB- Maurice Jones-Drew, Raiders: MJD has had a disappointing last couple seasons in Jacksonville but a change of scenery should help. He is going into the season as the number one back and looks to be healthy for the first time in a while. Look for him to have a bounce back season.

RB- Darren Sproles, Eagles: Sproles has been a fantasy darling in the past but had a disappointing season last year. Now he has landed in the perfect spot. Chip Kelly has to be salivating at all the different ways he can use Darren Sproles and it should be a nice bounce back season for the 31 year old, multi-talented back. His stock rises even more in PPR leagues.

WR- Mike Wallace, Dolphins: One of the more disappointing fantasy players last year was Mike Wallace. Many though he would become one of the better fantasy receivers and he fell well short of that. This year is a different story. He has a new offensive coordinator in Bill Lazor and this new offense is the key to his turnaround. It will be much more up tempo and give Wallace the opportunity to line up sometimes in the slot and allow him to take advantage of mismatches.

WR- Rueben Randle, Giants: The third year receiver out of LSU got off to a great start in 2013 but really fell off during the second half of the season. This year he will get a starting role replacing the departed Hakeem Nicks. The talent is there and in the Giants new West Coast offense, look for a much more consistent season from the talented wide out.

Flex- Kelvin Benjamin, Panthers: Someone has to catch passes in Carolina. The Panthers leading receiver last year was tight end Greg Olsen and while he is back, they lost their top three wide receivers in Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, and Ted Ginn Jr. Benjamin is big, talented, and should have a solid rookie season.

TE- Zach Ertz, Eagles: Like Sproles, Ertz is helped out by the fact he is in Chip Kelly’s offense. Also like Sproles, Ertz is a special talent. He is big, fast, and can really catch the football. Look for him to take over from Brent Celek as the top receiving tight end for the team.

K- Nate Freese, Lions: Freese is a rookie but he has a great opportunity with the Lions. Detroit has a high powered offense and Freese should get plenty of chances to put points on the board. He was a perfect 20/20 at Boston College so you know he has accuracy and he made a pair of 53 yard field goals during the Lions last pre season game to show off his strong leg.

DEF- Buffalo Bills: The Bills had the 8th ranked fantasy defense last year (based on ESPN standard league scoring) and they should have a similar year in 2014. They lost Jairus Byrd to free agency and Kiko Alonso to injury but were able to add the likes of Brandon Spikes, Keith Rivers, and Corey Graham. Their biggest offseason addition may be new Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz.
 
Give me some opinions on Frank Gore, si vous plait.

He is the definition of consistency. A little bit on the older side for running backs so I would expect a decline coming in the next year or two but he should be fine for this season. Not a guy you want to take in the first few rounds but if he's available in the 4th or 5th round you could definitely do a lot worse. You can chalk him up for another 1100 yards and 8 touchdowns this season.
 
He's not bad at all as a second starter at running back. Especially if you have strong receivers.
 
Ben Tate is my second RB. I'm hoping Cleveland stays in games enough to where they don't need to abandon the run early, trying to catch up. I don't think he's anything spectacular but I'm hoping for a Michael Turner kind of thing here in his first year as a full time starter.
 
If Trent Richardson can go for nearly 1000 yards and have 11 touchdowns for Cleveland with Brandon Weeden at quarterback then Ben Tate will do just fine. The Browns receivers are so awful they will have no choice but to run the ball as much as possible.
 
He's not bad at all as a second starter at running back. Especially if you have strong receivers.

Loaded at wideout, with Dez Bryant and AJ Green as my starting tandem. Gore was the best RB available, and as a player I love the guy. Just never gave him much thought as a fantasy player.
 
I have Gore in both my leagues, starting him at flex in one & as my second RB in the other. He should tear it up this week as they play the Cowboys, who don't have shit on defense.
 
I have Gore in both my leagues, starting him at flex in one & as my second RB in the other. He should tear it up this week as they play the Cowboys, who don't have shit on defense.

I have Gore in one of my leagues too and I thought the same thing, but I'm also a little worried about Carlos Hyde. I get a bad feeling that he's going to take Gore's job before the end of the season. No doubt by next year. He's old. I could have taken Hyde in my rookie draft, but I had first overall pick and I liked Watkins too much to pass on him.

But if it's a one year league for you, or even if it is dynasty, get Carlos Hyde as a handcuff for him if you haven't already. I think Hyde is already going to see some carries this week even.
 
Hyde should definitely steal some carries from Gore, although I'm not sure it'll be enough, at least early in the season, to make him relevant in single year leagues.

I'm torn between starting Rodgers vs. Seattle or Big Ben vs. Cleveland in Week 1. Any suggestions?
 
It is hard to pick Ben over Rodgers, I'm just skeptical of how Seattle's defense is going to come out in the first game of their title defense.
 
If you have Rodgers, Brees, or Manning then you never sit them. Even against great defenses those guys find a way to put up numbers. You never try to play the match ups when it comes to your elite players (unless they have had multiple poor performances in a row).
 
I don't like Haley's offense enough to start Ben over Rodgers. Cleveland's not devoid of talent. Joe Haden's a beast.

If you have Rodgers, Brees, or Manning then you never sit them. Even against great defenses those guys find a way to put up numbers. You never try to play the match ups when it comes to your elite players (unless they have had multiple poor performances in a row).

Yeah first of all like Big Sexy said, you don't sit Aaron Rodgers. Same goes with Brees, Manning, any of those guys.

Cleveland in my opinion has one of the top defenses in the league, and the Steelers are a very balanced team. Teams like the Packers throw way more than they run. They still run a good bit, but they throw, and Aaron Rodgers is the center piece of it. You're talking about the Quarterback who said a few years ago that he doesn't think the Packers need a good running back. He's a hog, and he's going to hog up a lot of yards, and get you a lot of points.

I hate Todd Haley's offense. That dink and dunk stuff is awful, but one thing they're finally back to doing is letting Ben do his thing, so they're going to be doing a lot of no huddle with Ben calling the shots, which will be much more successful in my opinion. However like I said they're very balanced, and Leveon Bell is going to be a workhorse in there. Expect a big running game, especially more in that Cleveland game. I think their offense is going do very good, but for fantasy purposes Ben Roethlisberger is not a great fantasy QB.

Roethlisberger is a great backup fantasy QB though. I even wouldn't mind starting him if I waited on a QB and took him very late which I most often do. But for fantasy he's not one of the top guys.

Start Rodgers every week unless he's hurt, or they're on their bye.
 
Ouch for Rodgers; Hooray for me. <10pts for A-Rodge in my NFL.com fantasy league, which means my opponent's opening salvo missed the mark.

Need advice to dodge a running back dilemma. I've got the aforementioned Frank Gore, along with Andre Ellington and Darren McFadden. I've been trying to trade for a back, but so far there are no takers. With Ellington's status in the air, I've only got a day to grab a FA back or make the switch to start Run-DMC. What should I do?
 
Ouch for Rodgers; Hooray for me. <10pts for A-Rodge in my NFL.com fantasy league, which means my opponent's opening salvo missed the mark.

Need advice to dodge a running back dilemma. I've got the aforementioned Frank Gore, along with Andre Ellington and Darren McFadden. I've been trying to trade for a back, but so far there are no takers. With Ellington's status in the air, I've only got a day to grab a FA back or make the switch to start Run-DMC. What should I do?

Man your backs are atrocious. What did I tell you man??? Draft running backs early. You probably waited too long didn't you. You took some wideout or QB in the first couple rounds? Not to sound harsh though man, It's tough love bro, tough love. There are only a handful of good RBs, meanwhile there are plenty of wideouts and QBs you can get to fill your team up.

Ellington had injury written all over him. The guy is a twig. Your third best back isn't even starting.

You need to scoop up Carlos Hyde and stash him on your team. Just in case he takes over for Gore by the end of the season it would be worth it for you, and it's possible. Does your league start two RBs or three? I know some leagues start two which is stupid in my opinion, but if it is two your situation isn't that bad. Your wideouts are probably stacked so you're going to want to start a WR in your flex spot.

Either that or trade one of those big name wideouts you took in the first round, and get a 10 ten running back and a good wideout back. For example say you took Megatron. Maybe find a guy who took someone like Eddie Lacy or Montee Ball, and offer him Megatron for Lacy and someone like Marques Colston. Maybe even give him McFadden back. You could probably milk him for more if it's Calvin Johnson, but still that's what you want to do. Especially after week one I bet if it's some scrub yahoo free league or something the guy who owns Lacy will probably panic after week one and trade him just because he only had a five point game.

That's my advice to you. And what the hell 10 points for Rodgers? Damn I have him in my one league and I only got nine points. Does your league subtract for interceptions? Mine does that might be why. But yeah take my advice if you want, but you need running back help bad. So my advice is downgrade a tad on the wideouts. Because right now your only full time back is Gore, and even he isn't an every down guy not to mention he's 31 years old with a fresh rookie ready to take his job any moment.

Oh also I hope you picked up Johnathan Dwyer in the draft. You should have considering he's your handcuff for Ellington, but if not hopefully you can sign him from the free agency, problem is now you might not get him because everyone else is going to try and do the same thing.
 
That's "less than" (<) 10 points for Rodgers. 9.67 or something. I'm not looking at it, and I forget.

I came in third in the league last year, so I drafted late. I made out alright, except with McFadden, a mistake born out of my league drafting before the end of the preseason. Depth charts weren't set, and even as MJD's change-of-pace, that could equate to a lot of yards per touch. Not a good pick, but there's my justification.

I've already proposed a trade. A quick band-aid that'll land me Lamar Miller out of Miami. It's too early to panic, though. I can grab a guy on waivers next week if push comes to shove. I'm already in good position with Rodgers in the clubhouse with only 9 points and some change.

Good looking out, Akhilleus.
 
Who are the available free agents. Is a guy like Bernard Pierce available? There's some backups that could be worth a look as well.
 
Your best bet would be to pick up Jonathan Dwyer. If Ellington plays you keep him starting but if he can't go Dwyer is a capable backup who has seen some decent success as a spot starter in the past.
 
That's "less than" (<) 10 points for Rodgers. 9.67 or something. I'm not looking at it, and I forget.

I came in third in the league last year, so I drafted late. I made out alright, except with McFadden, a mistake born out of my league drafting before the end of the preseason. Depth charts weren't set, and even as MJD's change-of-pace, that could equate to a lot of yards per touch. Not a good pick, but there's my justification.

I've already proposed a trade. A quick band-aid that'll land me Lamar Miller out of Miami. It's too early to panic, though. I can grab a guy on waivers next week if push comes to shove. I'm already in good position with Rodgers in the clubhouse with only 9 points and some change.

Good looking out, Akhilleus.

Don't give too much up for Miller. I think he did beat out Moreno, but if he struggles at all you'll see him yanked out of that role immediately. You need a top ten back to compete this year. You won't get Peterson, or McCoy, or Charles off of anyone, but someone like L. Bell on the Steelers, or even getting Ben Tate cheap wouldn't be a bad move because he's supposed to be an every down back.

Is it a keeper league or a redraft league? I'm assuming a redraft. I think it was still pretty well known MJD was going to take the lead role, but I'm hoping McFadden does take over. MJD is a bum, so hopefully he gets the job back.

Just pay attention. A lot of running back jobs will open up throughout the season. Guys will get injured, guys like Terrance West might come in a take over early. You never know. So just pay attention and try to scoop them up.
 

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