Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 10

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



Here are your hot pickups of the week for Week 10 of the fantasy basketball season.

For more pickups, see the Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups for Week 9 as many of those guys are still available. Additionally, for more fantasy basketball content, check out the Well Rounded Fantasy Basketball Stat Stuffers.

Some guys that I have no issue dropping (owned in at least 50% of ESPN leagues) to pick up one of these hot free agents in a standard ten team league include: Dion Waiters, Luis Scola, Jason Terry, Raymond Felton (out 4-6 weeks), Mo Williams (out indefinitely), Ray Allen, Ramon Sessions.

Well Rounded Fantasy Basketball Stat Stuffers

In fantasy basketball it's extremely important to draft players who are well rounded, so that you give yourself the chance to win as many categories as possible. In reality, very few players actually help your team in all eight categories. In this article, with the help of ESPN's player rater (sorted by 2013 averages), we will look at some of those well rounded stars.

An average player would post the following stats: 7.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.4 blocks and 0.6 3PTs with percentages of 44% FG and 75% FT. This player would not help you in fantasy leagues, but wouldn't hurt you either. To be a well rounded fantasy basketball player, you must perform better than average in each of those eight categories.

Last season, only 6 players accomplished this feat for the whole season: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Rudy Gay, Gerald Wallace, Gordon Hayward, Brandon Rush.

2012 Fantasy Football Awards

With the fantasy football season coming to an end, it's the perfect time to hand out some fantasy football awards. Note that all awards are based on stats after Week 16 as most fantasy football leagues do not include Week 17.

If you are still playing in Week 17, please check out the Week 17 Rankings.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 17 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 17 Rankings as of Wednesday. Dec 26th @ 11:00 PM EST. The rankings are for standard leagues (4 points per TD pass).

Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Indianapolis have already secured their spots in the playoffs and have nothing to play for this week. The Bengals have indicated that they will not rest players, but the other players on the other three teams weer all lowered in the ranks with the expectation that they will play more limited snaps.

Defense and Kicker rankings are not included here so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Best of luck in Week 17!!

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 9

Hey all you loyal followers!
We have launched a brand new website TopTeamFantasy in which we will be providing the same advice and analysis you have come to love, just from a bigger and better source!

The site is equipped with fourms (so you can all ask questions about your fantasy teams), as well as scoreboards, news and articles from our growing group of fantasy writers. We are hoping to continue serving you all from that new website!

Thanks!



Here are your hot pickups of the week for Week 9 of the fantasy basketball season. Players such as Jarrett Jack, Jordan Crawford, Robin Lopez, Shawn Marion and Jared Dudley are owned in most ESPN leagues and most of them have been discussed in previous pickups columns. Therefore, they will not be discussed here, but if they are available all should be owned in standard leagues.

If you are planning to pick up a hot FA, here are some guys I have no issue dropping: Patrick Patterson, Ersan Ilyasova, Kris Humpries, Jason Terry, Steve Novak and Michael Beasley.

Sneaky Week 16 Plays

It's Week 16, the week in which many fantasy football leagues are decided!In this crucial week of the fantasy football season, many owners are faced with tough decisions of who to start/sit. In this article, two undervalued players for each offensive position will be highlighted as sneaky plays this week in fantasy leagues.

For a complete list of how players are valued this week, check out our Week 16 Position Rankings and resident D/ST expert Dylan Lerch's Week 16 D/ST Rankings.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 16 D/ST Rankings

By Dylan Lerch
Fantasy Football Staff Writer

Welcome back! In Week 15, I outlined the rationale behind determining my defense and special teams rankings. Please consult that post for a detailed outline of the derivation of the rankings.

QB, RB, WR and TE rankings are also available for Week 16, please check them out as well.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 16 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 16 Rankings as of Thursday. Dec 20th @ 6:00 PM EST. The rankings are for standard leagues (4 points per TD pass). For more insight into some undervalued options this week, consult "Sneaky Week 16 Plays".

Please check out the Week 16 D/ST rankings as well. Kicker rankings are not included here so if you have questions regarding kickers, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Best of luck in Week 16!!

2012 Fantasy Football Week 15 D/ST Rankings

By Dylan Lerch
Fantasy Football Staff Writer
 
It is playoff time in the fantasy football world, and everyone is looking for ways to squeeze out an extra point or two from their roster. As such, D/STs have been getting a much more discerning look from anyone streaming defenses week-to-week or for those who have a “stud” D/ST with a bad matchup (I’ve got my eye on you, San Francisco…).

If you’ve been following along with /r/fantasyfootball on Reddit.com, you should be familiar with how I rank D/STs. However, for the rest of you:

2012 Fantasy Football Week 15 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 15 Rankings as of Sat. Dec 15th @ 10:15 PM EST.

Please check out the Week 15 D/ST rankings as well. Kicker rankings, however, are not included so if you have questions regarding kicker, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 7

Here are your hot pickups of the week for Week 7 of the fantasy basketball season. Please check out the pickups for Week 5 and Week 6 as well, as many of those players are still available in many leagues.

A.J. Green vs Megatron: Who's the Best Fantasy WR?

By Pat Donnelly (@legendonnelly)
Fantasy Football Staff Writer 

Megatron has been dominating the NFL since he broke onto the scene as the Lions’ 2nd overall pick in 2007. Last season, he blew every other WR out of the water en route to a 98-catch, 1681-yard, 16-TD season. One could argue that on talent alone that Larry Fitzgerald presented a threat as the NFL’s best WR, but without a serviceable QB to throw him the ball, it was clear that Calvin Johnson entered the 2012 fantasy football season as the clear cut first WR off the board and in a league of his own. However, this year we've seen the emergence of a star in the AFC North, and a new challenger to the top WR crown: A.J. Green.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 14 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 14 rankings as of Wed. Dec 5th @ 1:00 AM EST.

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 6

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

Here are your hot pickups of the week for Week 6 of the fantasy basketball season. 

Fantasy Basketball Sell Highs - Week 5

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

In fantasy sports,  the difference between winning an losing is often a well timed trade that enables an owner to acquire a player for less than what they are worth. In this article, we will highlight some of the sell highs that if sold for the right price could help you acquire the talent necessary to lead you to a championship. Check out the buy lows released earlier this week as well.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 13 rankings as of Sat. Dec 1st @ 4:00 PM EST.

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 5

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

After a week hiatus, the weekly pickups column is back. However, there will be a couple changes this week. By popular demand, the pickups will go a little deeper this week. The first section will discuss players that are owned in less than 40% of Yahoo leagues. Next, some deeper league pickups will be discussed (owned in less than 10% of Yahoo leagues).

So without further ado.... your Week 5 Hot Pickups!!

Fantasy Basketball Buy Lows - Week 5

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer 

In fantasy sports,  the difference between winning an losing is often a well timed trade that enables an owner to acquire a player for less than what they are worth. In this article, we will highlight some buy low candidates that if acquired for the right price they could help lead you to a championship.

Thanksgiving Fantasy Football Preview

By Andrew Nichols
Fantasy Football Staff Writer

This week is certainly an interesting one, as we have the annual Thanksgiving special of three Thursday games: Houston at Detroit, Washington at Dallas, and New England at NY Jets. Naturally, within these three games, there are a lot of fantasy sit’em and start’em questions, but this article is only concerned with those guys that fall somewhere in the middle, the tough decisions.

Here, I will offer my insight on who you should start that could be a sneaky play this week in each of the three matchups.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 12 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 12 rankings as of Sun. Nov. 25th @ 10:00 AM EST.

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Blue Jays Overhaul

As a Blue Jays fan, I found myself a little depressed after another disappointing season in 2012, marking the 19th straight year in which the Jays finished out of the playoffs. Their starting rotation was a huge question mark after a terrible year from supposed staff ace Ricky Romero and very little depth behind him and Brandon Morrow. On the hitting side, the Jays had a lot of talent, but struggled to stay healthy in 2012. They already had one of the best tandems in the league with two-time Home-run king Jose Bautista paired with budding star Edwin Encarnacion. However, even if Bautista was healthy all season, the rest of the lineup had proven to not be strong enough to compete with the beasts in the American League.

However, the Blue Jays had two extremely valuable things in their favor....

2012 Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 11 rankings as of Sat. Nov. 17th @ 5:15 PM EST. Additionally, please check out the Sneaky Pickups of the Week for more information regarding some of the big climbers in this weeks rankings.

Byes: Minnesota, NY Giants, Seattle, Tennessee

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Week 11 Sneaky Pickups

By Josh McFall (Follow me on twitter @jmcfall5)
Staff Fantasy Football Writer

It's Tuesday, one of the most important days in fantasy football. It’s time to make your waiver wire selections for the upcoming week. I know some of you spend countless hours studying stats, trends, and matchups. I applaud you for your efforts. However, for those of you that do not have the time of patience for this, I have searched out some claims with interesting potential for the week.

Hot Fantasy Basketball Pickups - Week 3

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

There are a lot of players that have had tremendous success so far this season. In this article, we will highlight a few of those players that are worth picking up that should help your fantasy team. So without further ado, this week's hot pickups!

Roddy vs Julio: A Statistical Battle of Two Fantasy Football Studs

By Pat Donnelly (@legendonnelly)
Fantasy Football Staff Writer

Ever since Atlanta traded the farm to acquire Julio Jones in the draft less than 2 years ago big things have been expected from Julio. After a great rookie season in which he posted 959 receiving yards and 8 TDs in only 13 games, fantasy owners debated: Roddy or Julio. In this article, I will take a closer look at two Atlanta stars (as much as I hate to admit it being a huge Saints fan) to see which one is better in both standard and PPR formats. Before diving into stats and analyzing 8 weeks of play-by-plays, I expected Roddy would have a big advantage, but after looking into everything I found it was a lot closer than I expected.

Week 10 Thursday Night Football Fantasy Preview

By Andrew Nichols
Fantasy Football Staff Writer

Welcome to another week of the Thursday Night Football Fantasy Preview. Here you will get simple, no-nonsense advice on who to start and who to sit this week. This works a little differently from other sit-start lists, since I will be naming players outside of the obvious plays, and anyone outside of those obvious starts I don’t mention you can feel free to leave on your bench. Now, let’s get started.

This week, the Jags play the Colts; both teams entered the season with little expectations, but the Colts have legitimate playoff aspirations after winning five of their first eight games. Donald Brown and Vick Ballard shared carries last week, but Brown hasn’t practiced all week, and it appears as though he may be out for this game.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 10 rankings as of Saturday Nov. 10th @ 8:00 PM EST.

Byes: Arizona, Cleveland, Green Bay, Washington

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Week 10 Sneaky Pickups

By Josh McFall
Fantasy Football Staff Writer 

As the playoff races start heating up, every person you start or sit could be the difference between a championship and hopeful thoughts for the infamous "next year."

Here are a few players that could help snag a crucial win. A lot of people have written about obvious pickups such as Marcel Reece, James Starks, Chris Ivory and Danny Amendola, but here we will discuss some under the radar pickups that could help put you over the top this week. Keep in mind, grabbing the right person, if even just to sit on your bench, could help prevent one of your opponents from getting a big win. Don't be afraid to play the keep away game.

Weekly Hot Pickups - Nov 4th

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

At the start of the NBA season, there is a lot of valuable information that can be obtained in the first couple weeks of the season. It is important to quickly recognize which players are getting more playing time than expected or performing well. A good early-season pickup can make all the difference in your fantasy basketball season. So without further ado, this week's hot pickups!

2012-13 Breakout Stars

By Brian Cho
Fantasy Basketball Staff Writer

We have almost finished one week of NBA action and it's a good opportunity to look at some of the breakout stars for the year. Some of these players are already off to great starts, but with only a few games of NBA action so far this season, the price of acquiring one of them may be cheaper then it will be later in the season when everyone realizes how valuable these players are.

Week 9 Thursday Night Fantasy Breakdown

By Andrew Nichols
Fantasy Football Staff Writer

With Thursday Night Football once again upon us soon, it’s often hard for fantasy owners to make the early decisions of who to start for the first game of the week. Well, by the time you are done reading this article, you should know exactly who to start this week.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 9 rankings as of Friday Nov. 1st @ 6:00 PM EST.

Byes: New England, New York Jets, San Francisco, St. Louis

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Harden to the Rockets Trade Reaction

Throughout the preseason, there were reports of extension talks between the Thunder and the reigning sixth-man of the year, James Harden. It was widely believed that they wouldn't be able to keep Harden after having already signed Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to max deals and having recently signing Serge Ibaka to an extension. However, after Harden rejected a 4 year, $52 million deal from the Thunder over the weekend, the writing was on the wall that his time in OKC was coming to an end.

Late Saturday night, Thunder GM Sam Presti decided to take matters into his own hands and traded James Harden along with Cole Aldrich, Deaquan Cook, and Lazar Hayward to the Rockets for Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick. For the Thunder as a franchise it's a great win, but let's look at how the fantasy value of each of the players involved are affected.

Preseason Fantasy Basketball Standouts

With the 2012-13 NBA preseason almost coming to an end, it's a good time to look back at some of the standouts from the past few weeks of preseason action. While preseason success is far from indicative of success in the regular season, preseason stars are often able to build on that success by earning more trust of their coaches and entering the regular season with lots of confidence.

Fantasy Basketball Sleepers, Busts and More

With the start of the fantasy basketball season around the corner, it was felt that there would be value in outlining some names of players to keep in mind when drafting. In this article, none of the names listed will be discussed, but if you have a question as to why any of the names were included or not inlcuded, feel free to comment on the article or ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice.

For more information as to feelings on players, check out the Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG), Small Forward (SF) and Power Forward (PF) and Centers (C) previews.

This article refers to rotisserie leagues using 8 categories. The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 8 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 8 rankings as of Sunday Oct. 28th @ 10:40 AM EST.

Byes: Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Houston

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

2012-13 Fantasy Basketball Center Preview

Here are my preseason rankings for centers in a standard 8-category rotisserie league. Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG), Small Forward (SF) and Power Forward (PF) previews are also available.

The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers. Player position eligibility for these rankings are based on ESPN's position eligibility, so they may be slightly different to the ones used in your league.

Week 7 Injury Roundup

Injuries are the bane of every fantasy owner's existence (unless of course you are the owner of the injured player's backup). Since football is such a physical sport, a player's likelihood of getting injured is extremely high. As a result, it's very important to handcuff your RBs so that in the event of an injury, you have a backup plan ready to go. In Week 7, some very prominent players suffered injuries that will have major fantasy implications for the rest of the season. These injury situations are discussed below:

2012-13 Fantasy Basketball Power Forward Preview

Here are my pre-season rankings for power forwards in a standard 8-category rotisserie league. Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG) and Small Forward (SF) previews are also available.

The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers. Player position eligibility for these rankings are based on ESPN's position eligibility, so they may be slightly different to the ones used in your league.

50 Fantasy Football Fun Facts: Week 7

We are now finished 6 weeks of the 2012 NFL season. Here is a look at some interesting or surprising stats for the season so far and some fantasy football implications. All stats are through Week 6 and do not consider any games played afterwards.

1. Robert Griffin III has 379 rushing yards through 6 games this year, more than DeMarco Murray, Darren McFadden, Matt Forte and Trent Richardson.
2. RGIII also had 6 rushing TDs on the year. That's more than any RB not named Arian Foster.

RGIII has been extremely valuable because of his elite rushing ability

2012 Fantasy Football Week 7 Rankings

These are my 2012 Fantasy Football Week 7 rankings as of Thursday Oct. 18th @ 4:30 PM EST.

Byes: Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

2012-13 Fantasy Basketball Small Forward Preview

Here are my pre-season rankings for small forwards in a standard 8-category rotisserie league. Point Guard (PG) Rankings and Shooting Guard (SG) Rankings have also been released.

The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers. Player position eligibility for these rankings were based on ESPN's position eligibility, so they may be slightly different to the ones used in your league.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 6 Rankings

These are my Week 6 standard league rankings as of Saturday Oct. 13th @ 5:30 PM EST.

Byes: Chicago, New Orleans, Carolina, Jacksonville

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

2012-13 Fantasy Basketball Shooting Guard Preview

Shooting Guard (SG) is likely the thinnest position in fantasy basketball. Last year, only 10 of the top 50 players (and 28 of the top 100 players) had shooting guard eligibility. As a result, drafting a shooting guard that you can count on is of utmost importance.

Here are my pre-season rankings for shooting guards in a standard 8-category rotisserie league. Point Guard (PG) rankings have also been released and are available here. 

The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers. Player position eligibility for these rankings were based on ESPN's position eligibility, so they may be slightly different to the ones used in your league.

Vick Ballard: Five Reasons to Temper Expectations

Written By: Avi Vandersluis

In the wake of Donald Brown’s knee scope (expected to miss 2-3 weeks), fantasy owners flocked to the wire for the other Vick, newly-appointed Colts starting RB Vick Ballard (33rd in the Week 6 RB Rankings). Taken with their fifth round pick in the draft, Indy liked the promise Ballard showed rushing for 1189 yards and 10 touchdowns, with an average yards per carry of 6.1, as a senior at Mississippi State in 2011. But four games into his NFL career, Ballard has failed to impress much of anyone, let alone fantasy owners, plodding along for a whopping 42 yards on 21 carries (2 YPC) and adding a single reception for another 4 yards. Now, with a golden opportunity to prove himself at the pro level, picking up Ballard for your team is not a bad idea, especially with juicy matchups against the Jets and the Browns in the next two weeks. But here are five reasons to temper your expectations that Ballard will take your team to the next level. 

Ryan Williams Out For The Year

Coming into the year, the Arizona Cardinals RB situation was a big question mark. Beanie Wells came into the year as the supposed starter, but talented Ryan Williams was waiting in the wings. Ryan Williams was coming off a serious knee injury suffered in the preseason last season but looked like the more talented and explosive back. As a result, he was a big sleeper of mine, despite the obvious offensive line issues.

Ryan Williams was lost for the year with a shoulder injury, what now?

2012-13 Fantasy Basketball Point Guard Preview

Point Guard (PG) is one of the most important positions in fantasy basketball. Seeing as the ball is in their hands a lot, a fantasy team's PGs are weak it's almost impossible to compete.

Here are my pre-season rankings for a standard 8-category rotisserie league. The 8 categories are: FG%, FT%, Points (PPG), Rebounds (RPG), Assists (APG), Steals (SPG), Blocks (BPG) and 3-pointers (3PT), NOT including turnovers.

Ryan Mathews Loses Job?

Today was a tough day for Ryan Mathews' owners as Jackie Battle (who started ahead of him in Week 4) was moved ahead of Mathews and was listed as the San Diego's first-team RB on the Chargers' official website.

Ryan Mathews was moved down to the RB2 on the Chargers' depth chart, but what does that mean going forward?

2012 Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings

These are my Week 5 standard league rankings as of Sat Oct. 6th @ 10 AM EST. Also, check out Breakouts and Breakdowns from Week 4 to get more insight into my thoughts regarding the rankings.

Byes: Dallas, Detroit, Oakland, Tampa Bay

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Week 4 Breakouts and Breakdowns

Week 4 was a great week to start your top QBs as Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Newton, Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan all finished as top 6 QB options this week.

This column, however, discusses the surprise stars (breakouts) and injuries (breakdown) that occurred in Week 4 of the 2012 NFL season and the fantasy implications of those performances.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings

These are my Week 4 standard league rankings as of Thursday Sept. 25th @ 5 PM EST. Also, check out Start Your Studs and Breakouts and Breakdowns as both give insight into my thoughts regarding the rankings. 

This week is the first week of the bye weeks; Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have a bye this week.

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Week 3 Breakouts and Breakdowns

This column will discuss the surprise stars (breakouts) and injuries (breakdown) that occurred in Week 3 of the 2012 NFL season and the fantasy implications of those performances. For Week 3, the amazing performances of some of the fantasy studs were already discussed in the article Start your Studs and therefore, they will not be discussed here.

Start your Studs!!

Going into Week 3 of the NFL season, there was a lot of people panicking about some top players not performing to expectations in the first two weeks. Week 3 was a great day to follow one of my start/sit strategies: Start your Studs!!

Week 3 Rankings Discussion

I get asked a lot of questions on twitter regarding the rationale behind certain rankings choices in the Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings. Therefore, I felt that it would be worthwhile to explain some of the rationale behind the rankings so that you would be able to make the most informed decisions possible for your Week 3 lineup decisions.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 3 Rankings

These are my Week 3 rankings as of Saturday Sept. 22th @ 11 AM EST. 

I have included some rankings discussion as well to explain some of the rationale that went into determining the rankings.

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

Week 2 Thoughts

Here are some thoughts about today's Week 2 game action:

C.J. Spiller, my 8th ranked RB for Week 2, tore up the Chiefs rushing 15 times for 123 yards and 2 TDs as well as 3 catches for 47 yards. He showed off his usual amazing speed and broke a ton of tackles. He has a great matchup against the Browns next week and will likely be in my top 10 for Week 3 as well. It's looking more and more like a timeshare between F-Jax and Spiller when the former returns from his injury.

Guys I'm Buying

Patience, Patience, Patience!

Buying low and selling high is one of the most fun and rewarding things in fantasy football. Here are some players I'm buying after a less than impressive Week 1. For help making trades, check out the DOs and DONTs of Fantasy Trading.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 2 Rankings

These are my Week 2 rankings as of Saturday Sept. 15th @ 11:55 AM EST. 

Defense and kicker rankings are not included so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice or comment on the post and I will respond ASAP.

DOs and DON'Ts of Fantasy Sports Trading

Trading in fantasy sports is a very valuable tool to help improve your team throughout the season. It can be an extremely fun part of the game. However, it is often a very difficult skill to master.

2012 Regular Season Opener Cowboys @ Giants

Fantasy Football is back!! Here are some thoughts about the regular season opener!

First Quarter:

Nicks and Cruz look like they will be a tough matchup for anyone again this year, with Cruz burning Brandon Carr for a 26 yard gain (finsihing the quarter with 3 catches for 35 yards) on a beautiful lob pass from Manning and Nicks taking advantage of first rounder CB Morris Claiborne twice for 18 yards.

2012 Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings

These are my Week 1 rankings as of Tuesday Sept. 4rd @ 10pm. 

Defense and kicker rankings are not included (and probably will not be) so if you have questions regarding those positions, feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice

Redskins Running Back Situation

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan is known for his zone-blocking scheme and One-Cut-and-Go RB philosophy. He likes his RBs to be patient, wait for a hole and then just hit that hole hard. No Chris Johnson like dancing around and possibly taking a loss on the play for the chance to break a long TD. While in Denver, this system made stars out of Clinton Portis (2002-2003) and Terrell Davis (1995-1998) as well as produced 1000 yards seasons out of lesser talents Olandis Gary (1999), Mike Anderson (2000), Reuben Droughns (2004) and Tatum Bell (2006).

Mike Shanahan's RBs almost always have success. Will he produce a star out of Helu, Morris or Royster?

Fantasy Football PPR Standouts

So far this season, I haven't written much about Point Per Reception (PPR) leagues. With PPR leagues continuing to increase in popularity, instead of doing full QB, RB, WR and TE rankings for PPR as well (rankings take a very long time) this article discusses some players whose values are significantly increased in PPR leagues.


Running Backs

Darren Sproles, NO - Sproles has always been much better in PPR than in standard leagues, however, he was never featured in an offense until last year in New Orleans. The Saints are great at giving their skill players the ball in space so expect another massive PPR season.

Darren Sproles, top 6 RB in PPR leagues

Hidden Gems: RBs Who Could Win Your League

Jammal Charles in 2009
Peyton Hillis in 2010
DeMarco Murray in 2011

All of these RBs were late rounders or undrafted in fantasy leagues that became fantasy stars and led many fantasy owners to their championships. It happens every year. In this column, I will list some sleeper RBs that could come out of the woodwork to have a significant role this year. Most of these guys will not be drafted in standard 10 team leagues but are good names to keep an eye on throughout the season.

Fantasy Football Pre-Season Buzz

We are now finished the 3rd week of pre-season games, so it's a good time to take a look back at some interesting story lines of the pre-season. Here are some of thoughts from pre-season action:
See my QB, RB, WR and TE rankings as well for a more detailed look at each player.

Peyton Manning looks awesome. Last night, he carved up the 49ers (the best defense in th NFL last year) going 10-12 for 122 yards and 2 TDs in just one quarter of action. He threw a lot of short/intermediate routes, but did take a couple of deep shots, one of which was a beautiful 38 yard pass to Lance Ball. It was a concern that his surgically repaired neck wouldn't be able to take hits, but he took a big one from linebacker Parys Haralson and jumped right back up. I am no longer worried about his injury risk and after finishing the preseason 30-42 (71%) for 343 passing yards, 2 TDs and 3 INT, he's my #7 QB.

Want to Play in a Fantasy Football League with FreeRotoAdvice?

I'm going to be starting a fantasy league with twitter followers. The draft will take place on Wed. August 29th @ 9pm EST. (If there is enough interest, I could do a second league on Thursday, August 30th @9pm)

If you want to play in the league, here's the way to get in:

2012 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

Tier 1:

1. Arian Foster, HOU - Last year, on a per game basis, Arian Foster scored the most fantasy points of all RBs. Sure Ben Tate will get a large number of carries (10+ per game) but the Texans have become a run-first team and there are more than enough carries to go around. A bigger and more physical back than Rice and McCoy, Foster has the best chance to finish the year as fantasy's top RB.

2. Ray Rice, BAL - One of the most dynamic players in the league and arguably the best pass catching RB, Rice is a super safe pick who will rack up fantasy points even without finding the endzone.

3. Lesean McCoy, PHI - Like Rice, McCoy is a very dynamic player, both rushing and catching the ball. McCoy's receptions declined from 78 to 48 last year, but he exploded for a career high 20 TDs (previous high of 9). I expect his receptions to remain in the 40-50 range and the TDs to decline.

2012 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

Tier 1:
1. Calvin Johnson, DET - Megatron is in a tier all to himself. Far and away the best WR in the league last year, Megatron has 96 catches for 1681 yards and 16 TDs. Detroit's improving offense should make it more difficult for defenses to focus completely on him.

2012 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

Tier 1:
1. Jimmy Graham, NO - Only with 3 years of organized football under his belt, Graham is arguably the most athletic TE in the NFL. As Drew Brees' top option in the passing game his upside is astronomical. With his speed, size and jumping ability, Graham should continue to improve.
2. Rob Gronkowski, NE - Far and away the best TE in the NFL last year, was 6th among all position players in fantasy points, behind only Ray Rice, Lesean McCoy, Calvin Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew and Arian Foster. With Brandon Lloyd coming on board as well, there are too many weapons in NE for Gronk to duplicate those numbers. The yardage and TDs should both decline.

2012 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

Standard league, 4 pts/TD

Tier 1:

1. Aaron Rodgers, GB

2. Tom Brady, NE

3. Drew Brees, NO

Aaron Rodgers was by far the best QB in the league last year, 4600yds with 45 TD to only 6 INT. Plus, he runs too. All three QBs in this tier are extremely accurate, have lots of weapons and rarely turn over the ball. All 1^st round picks.

Mike Trout, MVP?

Mike Trout's season has simply been the best ever for a rookie. There is no one even close. Ichiro's MVP as a 27 year old "rookie" performance in 2001? It doesn't hold a candle to what Trout has been doing. What we are witnessing is one of the best seasons ALL-TIME.

Mike Trout has every reason to smile after the amazing season he's been having

2012 Fantasy Football Busts

For those of you that have followed me throughout the pre-season, you have probably heard me discuss most of these names at one point or another. However, here is a list of some of my busts this season, with my current rankings in brackets. Note: When I say bust, I mean a player that will perform worse than their draft day ADP. That player could still be useful in fantasy leagues, but .

See my QB, RB, WR and TE rankings as well for a more detailed look at each player. Also, check out my 2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers.

2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers

For those of you that have followed me throughout the pre-season, you have probably heard me discuss most of these names at one point or another. However, here is a list of some of my favorite sleepers, with my current rankings in brackets.
See my QB, RB, WR and TE rankings as well for a more detailed look at each player. Note that guys I've written about a lot like Fred Jackson, Percy Harvin, Titus Young won't be touched on in this article even though based on their ADP, are big sleepers of mine.

The Perfect Fantasy Football Draft

In a perfect world, my fantasy football team would consist of Aaron Rodgers at QB, Arian Foster and Ray Rice at RB, Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald at WR, Jimmy Graham at TE and Lesean McCoy at flex. In this same world, I drive a Lamborghini, live in a mansion and am dating Miss Universe. Seeing as none of those things are going to happen anytime soon (and my girlfriend might kill me when she reads this), I sought out to draft the perfect fantasy team based on Average Draft Position (ADP).

Melky Cabrera Replacements

Just one week ago, I wrote about Melky in the blog entry Giants/Marlins team analysis. Melky burst on the scene last year with the Royals batting .305 with 18 HR, 102 runs, 87 RBI and 20 steals. This coming from a guy that had never hit above .280, 13 HR, 75 runs, 73 RBI, or 13 steals in any of his five previous major league seasons. In the pre-season I was skeptical, everything seemed to indicate a fluke year, and his trade to the Giants only made matters worse.

Well this year he didn't miss a beat, batting .346 with 11 HR, 84 runs, 60 RBI and 13 steals in 113 games. I bought in, maybe Melky had become a different player. Well, it turns out Melky actually was a different player. A player with an advantage....

On Wednesday, Melky was suspended 50 games for PEDs. After the suspension, he may go back to being the all-star he has played like the last two seasons, but I'll believe it when I see it. Regardless, in fantasy leagues, his suspension is a huge loss. Let's face it, you're not going to pick up a guy off the waiver wire that can duplicate his production, but here's some outfielders (ranked in order of who I would pick up first) that should ease the pain a bit:

10 Commandments of Fantasy Football Drafting

Draft day is one of the most fun days of the year, but it can also be very stressful and overwhelming. In this column, I present the ten rules to live by to help your draft run as smoothly as possible, and give you the best chance to win your league.

But remember, fantasy leagues are supposed to be fun, so here's a clip of the popular fantasy football show "The League", a must watch for every fantasy football fan:

So without further ado.... the Ten Commandments of Fantasy Football Drafting!!

Dwight Howard Trade Reaction

The saga I thought would never end....

He wants out...he wants to stay.....Orlando lied to him and he wants out again. For six months, that's all the basketball media was talking about. Where's Dwight going? When's will this Dwight-mare end?

Well, last night out of nowhere, a monster four-team trade and Dwight goes to none other than the Lakers!!!!

Giants and Marlins Fantasy Baseball Expectations

Last night, two teams exploded for double digit shutouts: San Francisco Giants 15-0 over the Cardinals and Miami Marlins 13-0 over the Mets.

Lets take a closer look at each of those offenses trending in different directions.....

San Francisco Giants



Kung Fu Panda, Cain, Melky and Posey

10 Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets for Stretch Run

With trade deadlines approaching in most leagues, a good trade could be just the thing to push you over the top in your fantasy baseball leagues.

These players are some of the best trade targets that will pay big dividends down the stretch.
(Fantasy batter statlines are listed as AVG/RUN/HR/RBI/SB)

2012 MLB Trade Deadline Reaction

While there have been lots of trades in the MLB over the past 24 hours, only the most fantasy relevant trades will be discussed in this article. For more information regarding fantasy values relating to the trade deadline feel free to ask on twitter @FreeRotoAdvice

Rangers acquired RHP Ryan Dempster from the Cubs for 3B Christian Villanueva and RHP Kyle Hendricks.

Losers:

Ryan Dempster - After supposedly going to the Braves and then the Dodgers, the Ryan Dempster saga finally ended with a trade to the Rangers. He was overachieving with the Cubs, but the move to the AL will not help his fantasy value. Nor will the ballpark. Sure he may win more games, but I don’t expect a sub 4.00 ERA the rest of the way (2.25 ERA so far). 

Free Roto Advice Website Launch!

Welcome to the new Free Roto Advice site!
Your place for free fantasy football, fantasy baseball and fantasy basketball advice.

Fantasy expert and all-around sports fan, living in Canada. Looking forward to helping you win your league!

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