Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Seven 2011

It's pickup and drop time here for week seven.  The pickups are a little late to help most of you with your waiver claims, but it should still help you navigate free agency throughout the week.  Not all of these moves need to be made, and you should always consider your team before doing anything, but here is a short list of guys for you to be picking up or dropping this week...

Fantasy Football Start/Sit Answers - Week Six

I've answered a bunch of questions this week on my twitter account, but I know everyone isn't following me there, and it's hard to follow responses on a timeline, so I'm going to run through all of the questions again here with more detailed answers. I'm also going to do my twitter followers a favor and clean up the spelling on the tweets. If anyone is vigilantly following me on twitter, there is still new content here, as I'm going to mix in some start/sit questions from my own teams....

Week Four NFL Wrap Up - Bengals 23 Bills 20

As I mentioned in the week five fantasy pickup/drop column, I'm doing the week four wrap up differently this week. Rather than have two big posts, one as game reviews and one for fantasy information, I'm going to instead write little posts for each game that include both my game reactions and fantasy football opinions.

I'm writing about the games in the order they are listed in on the schedule at nfl.com, which means I'm going to be discussing the Bengals upset win over the Bills first...

Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Five 2011

Changing things up here this week.  Pickup and drop column coming out today as usual, but the regular wrap up and Reality of Fantasy columns are getting a change this week.  Instead of two big columns, I'm going to go game by game in much smaller posts over the next two days.  This should allow me to write more about each team without the daunting prospect of having to do all sixteen teams at once.

Also, before we get into the pickups and drops, I'm going to talk a bit of fantasy strategy right after the jump...

Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Four 2011

Another week in the books means it's time for new pickups for your fantasy team.  While the studs on your team are important (so important that I have a whole weekly column talking about them) it's also very important to optimize your bench every week, and keep yourself in good shape in the case of an injury to a starter.  That's the purpose of this column, to give you the information on the best guys to add to give your fantasy team the depth of a championship team.  Be sure to check out the prior columns in this series, as some guys aren't covered here that might still be available in your league.

This week we have a few speculative plays due to starting running back issues, and a few receivers that could also step up going forward....

The Reality Of Fantasy Football - Week Two 2011 Fantasy Recap

While people love pickup columns, it's also important to look back at last week's results when evaluating your fantasy roster, and that's what the Reality of Fantasy Football is all about.

Unfortunately, I lost half of this column and it's companion piece about the real life implications of each game to computer problems, so this is going to be a little shorter than usual, and definitely a shorter introduction than I'd like...

Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Three 2011

Doing things in a bit of a different order this week, this fantasy pickup column is coming before my week two game reviews because last weeks page views showed this column was most popular.  Have to give the people what they want, and what you all want seems to be my amazing fantasy advice.

Last week in this column, the recommendations included Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ben Tate, and Devery Henderson, who all turned in strong games in week two and are now owned in too many leagues to be recommended in this column.  Hopefully we can hit on a few solid names again this week to keep your rosters in tip top shape moving forwards.

As always, the cut off for available players for the purposes of this column is the 50% owned mark.  While other guys around 70 or 80% owned might be better options, they should be owned in all active leagues already, so I offer only players below the 50% mark...

Fantasy Football Pickups and Drops Week Two 2011

You should have already read my Reality of Fantasy week one recap column and if you haven't go do that before you start here in the pickups and drops column.

This column is going to be very straight forward.  I'm simply going to go position by position and offer my pickup recommendations, listed in the order I would pick them up.  Then each position will have a section of guys who are owned in more than 50% of leagues that I would be comfortable cutting for the guys on the pickup list.  At some positions the lists will be longer than other positions, and the lists will vary greatly from week to week.  These fringe players only need a slight uptick or downtick of value to make them rosterable or unrosterable, so some of these players are going to bounce back and forth from rosters to free agency all season long.

All that out of the way, onto the content...

The Reality of Fantasy Football - Week One 2011 Fantasy Recap

Before you can look at a pickup column, you have to evaluate what happened in week one, the effect reality had on your Fantasy team.  Now that we've seen some things from players, we have to figure out which performances we can believe in and which ones we need to throw out as fluke games.  You have to evaluate your roster before you can make changes to it, and that's what this column is for.  This column is going to discuss players that are owned in most fantasy leagues.  The pickup column coming out later today will evaluate the surprise performances from the first week....

NFL Week One Fantasy Football Player Rankings

Hey there guys.   AFC and NFC predictions are still works in progress due to some miscommunication between Skillet and myself, so I'm going to get right to posting my fantasy football rankings at each position for this week. It's week one, so obviously this is going to be extremely speculative and based heavily on offseason rankings, but it should still be helpful for those making their last minute lineup changes.  Very little explanation will be offered because of the sheer number of players that require ranking.....

Fantasy Football 2011 Tight End And Defense Rankings

All the rankings you needed for you draft were released last week.  Quarterback, running back, and wide receiver rankings are all already available, and here comes the last pair of lists, tight ends and defenses.  I'm not going to bother to rank kickers, because it's just stupid.  There is also going to be minimal explanation of the defensive rankings, because you should be taking them in the second to last round.  I'm going to explain in a column this week why streaming defenses is generally the best way to go.

Here come the rankings...

Fantasy Football 2011 Wide Receiver Rankings

Because time is running out before the weekend, the wide receiver, tight end, and defense rankings are all going to have far less explanation than the quarterback or running back rankings.  However, they are just as thought out and prepared as the lists were all made together.  Just don't have time to explain them all and get these rankings out at a good time.

So because of that... right onto the receiver rankings... Keep in mind that these rankings are for standard leagues, not PPR...

Fantasy Football 2011 Running Back Rankings

And we're back.  After the quarterback rankings dropped yesterday, I'm back here today with my running back rankings.

As you may expect after yesterday's quarterback rankings, these running back rankings aren't going to look like your average fantasy draft list.  Don't worry about how to integrate these lists yet.  I'll be releasing a integrated top 200-something list with a guide on how to draft from it, on Friday.

Anyways, right onto today's list...

Fantasy Football 2011 Quarterback Rankings

Been tinkering with these lists over the last week or two, and I'm finally ready to start rolling out my fantasy rankings at each position this year.  I am going to start with the quarterbacks and roll right on through to defenses before I release an overall rankings list/cheat sheet on Friday.

If you have already had your draft, I don't want to hear any complaints.  You are a moron for scheduling it so early in the offseason.  The earliest your draft should be held is the last weekend in August, and in a perfect world you'd do it a few days before the Thursday opener.  There is no reason for drafting earlier than that.  You're just going to see your players get hurt during the season, ruining a league's integrity for no good reason.

Now... Onto the list...

Michael Vick, Fantasy Football Super-Bust

A.K.A Two thousand words on why I won't be drafting Michael Vick this year.

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 8/10/11

Thursday 8/4/11 Starter Stats - James McDonald - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Loss - 5.14 ERA - 0.57 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet With Stats Online Here

Just going to update with the previous starters stats here from now on the rest of the baseball season, as I'm way behind on fantasy football as it is.

McDonald would have turned in a fine start here if three of the four hits he gave up didn't go for home runs.  He didn't walk anyone, and three strikeouts wouldn't be a problem if it came with good ERA and a win.

Quick columns for the rest of the year, just like it is here...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Thursday 8/4/11

Tuesday's Starter Stats - Rich Harden - 5.2 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - Loss - 6.35 ERA - 1.41 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 676.1 Innings Pitched - 502 Strikeouts - 6.68 K/9 - 46 Wins in 108 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

There were a few player moves in the NFL today, but I'm not going to write an NFL moves article today, as none of them really warrant me writing the column up.

On the subject of this post, Harden marked one of the few bad starts I've had over the last month.  An ERA over 6 is never helping your fantasy team.  The seven strikeouts is nice, but it can't be considered a successful start by any means when you let the Seattle Mariners score four runs on you.

Going to pick it up here today hopefully.  It's a short day of selections because it is a travel day, but I have a good option coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 8/2/11

Sunday's Starter Recommendation One - Freddy Garcia - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.17 WHIP
Sunday's Starter Recommendation Two - Brandon McCarthy - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 9 Strikeouts - Win - 4.50 ERA - 1.33 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Final Starter Stats - 43.2 Innings Pitched - 49 Strikeouts - 10.10 K/9 - 5 Wins in 7 Starts - 3.09 ERA - 1.24 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 670.2 Innings Pitched - 495 Strikeouts - 6.64 K/9 - 46 Wins in 107 Starts - 3.41 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Sunday capped off a nearly perfect week on Sunday night.  Both starters picked up wins and plenty of strike outs in the process.  The ERA and WHIP on the week were both very good, and five wins in seven starts is a great rate, especially when you are throwing for more than a strikeout per inning.

Unfortunately, I have to try and follow up that amazing week here in Week 17 as i start on Tuesday.  As always, the recommendation is available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues....

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 7/31/11

Saturday's Starter Recommendation One - Alex Cobb - 6.1 Innings Pitched - 9 Strikeouts - Loss - 4.27 ERA - 1.11 WHIP
Saturday's Starter Recommendation Two - Bartolo Colon - 5.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 3.60 ERA - 1.40 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Starter Stats - 31.2 Innings Pitched - 34 Strikeouts - 9.66 K/9 - 3 Wins in 5 Starts - 2.84 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 658.2 Innings Pitched - 480 Strikeouts - 6.56 K/9 - 44 Wins in 105 Starts - 3.40 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Saturday wasn't a great day for the spot starters here, but it wasn't bad either.  The ERA and WHIP weren't great, but they were definitely survivable when they also picked up 15 strikeouts and a win.

It's pretty late here on Saturday night, so I'm just going to get right to the recommendations...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Saturday 7/30/11

Friday's Starter Recommendation - Jeff Niemann - 6.2 Innings Pitched - 11 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.90 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Starter Stats - 20.1 Innings Pitched - 19 Strikeouts - 8.41 K/9 - 2 Wins in 3 Starts - 2.21 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 647.1 Innings Pitched - 465 Strikeouts - 6.46 K/9 - 43 Wins in 103 Starts - 3.39 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

I said yesterday that there was shutout potential on Friday night, and I was right.  I had hoped it would have been a complete game, but 6.2 innings of shutout ball is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you throw in the eleven strikeouts and the win.  It was an amazing all around start that cost you nothing but a free agent pick up to throw out there.  Niemann should be held onto if you picked him up, as he's on a streak of five great starts.

It's Saturday, and that means two recommendations as we reach the end of head-to-head match-ups for the week.  As always, all recommendations are available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues...