Junkie’s Waiver Wire Pickups – Week Four

Another week of replacement officials and another week of terrible calls. At least we can change our fortunes through the waiver wire! Am I right? Hopefully the NFL and Referee’s Association get this thing figured out soon!

In the meantime, lets see if we can’t put a band-aid to that terrible looking team you have.

And FYI, Chris Johnson was taken off of the “Can’t Drop List” for ESPN leagues. That doesn’t give you the automatic green light to do so, but that doesn’t happen often. And usually it happens because of injury. Maybe he is injured? That sure would explain some things…

QB - Christian Ponder Minnesota Vikings

My goodness did Ponder have a terrific game against the 49ers. The Vikings obviously came to play, and it showed right out of the gate. Ponder has quietly put together a really nice start to the season and should be considered for bye week fill in duty. It’s also worth mentioning that Ponder goes up against a porous (thus far) Detroit Lions defense.

Junkie’s 2012 Fantasy Awakenings

I was just going to call them sleepers and hope that my small blog ended up on page 156 of google’s search engine so that somebody could find this hole-in-the-wall site about fantasy football and then I said screw that! I’m calling them “Awakenings,” as if that is much better. It’s different… not sure about better though. I’ll keep working on it.

I also know that this is coming a bit late. Ideally, this would have been out 2-3 weeks ago, so most people could have used it to target some players during their drafts but late is better than never and I’m still not getting paid for this. Don’t expect too much from the Junkie till some CASH is being handed over.

The list of players before you are some guys that I like coming into this year that I expect/hope will vastly outperform their respective ADP (Average Draft Position). There will be some guys you know and maybe a couple you didn’t. Some of these guys are also trade-targets in my opinion. Rest assured if you are in a league with me, I may make a play for some of these players.

Epic Draft Day Concluded

I knew this day was coming and couldn’t be more thrilled that it is finally over. All of the prep work in the world still can’t get you completely ready for what this day was in terms of sheer draft mayhem.

It started with a trip about 1 hour South of my home for a 16 team keeper draft with a hard salary cap. It is extremely fun and challenging to draft for a salary cap. If you have not done so previously, try to seek out a league like this. At the very least, a deep league with hard caps allow greater talent in the free agent pool because you can’t stack your team full of high dollar starters. The Only question I had going into that draft was what to do with my long-term keeper MJD? I ended up keeping him (along with Wes Welker), and that decision could make-or-break my year. On a good note, I drafted Matt Schaub to be my starting QB and the guy behind me says, “I would rather have Schaub than Phillip Rivers (Whom he kept…) and I said, “Wanna trade?” And he said yes, so we did. I can tell you this, I’m much happier having Rivers in a 16 team league than Schaub who has had 2 full seasons in the past 5 years.

Immediately following that draft and a beer to reflect, I drove home to make it just in time for my Brother In-Laws league. Another 16 team keeper league. But in this league you are allowed two keepers which take the place of your 1st and 3rd round picks. I kept Tom Brady and Chris Johnson. Either one of those two in the third round is a steal, so it was a no brainer.

And then, before that draft had finished it’s ridiculous nearly 3 hour run, the official Fantasy Football Junkie’s draft had started. So not only did I draft three leagues today, two of them were overlapping. I don’t suggest doing this but sometimes there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. Schedules for that many people are hard to nail down and you gotta do the best you can do! My league was the simplest, no keepers and no PPR. Only real difference to standard is that quarterbacks get 6 points for thrown touchdowns. Which anymore is the standard, out of the 6 leagues I play, non of them score 4 points for thrown TD’s.

And now it’s nearly midnight.

What did I learn in these drafts?

1. I really like Antonio Brown and Torrey Smith. I got furious when someone nabbed him before me and I got giddy when I was able to get him on my team.

2. I stayed true to not picking up any Washington or New England backs early. In fact the only one I went for was the last pick in one league and I took Alfred Morris on a flyer. You never know!

3. Getting a firs tier QB is the trend times a million this season. In the first draft, a 16 team keeper, the first available picks went Luck, Ryan, Griffin III and Peyton. In that order. It was sheer craziness.

4. I’m betting on some trendy names. I picked up Ryan Williams in two leagues and targeted David Wilson, but only got him in one.

5. I love Russell Wilson and I had no idea. Ended up getting him as a backup in two leagues.

I’m sure there were some other things I’m forgetting but it’s midnight and time for me to sleep. After-all, I have two young, adorable babies to wake up to in the morning. And they don’t normally sleep in.

-FFJ

Thursday Night Football Early Reactions

Everyone that follows professional football knows that week 3 of the preseason is THE week to follow closely. It’s the week that the starters play the most snaps and we get to see how well certain rising and falling stars really do. In the end, this week doesn’t mean much for the stars of the league, but for rookies and unproven guys, this could be a make or break type week.

• Torrey Smith is dominating the Jaguars secondary and Flacco is looking his way consistently. In three quarters of work Torrey has 8 catches for 103 yards on 11 targets. He is moving up my rankings after this showing.

• Cedric Benson should be good for the Packers this year. In his first game action of the year, after not being with a team all preseason, Benson has 6 carries for 38 yards and 1 catch for 10 yards. Not bad. He will also be moving up the ladder.

• In a Dennis Green voice, “Blaine Gabbert is who we thought he was.” Gabbert may not be as bad as he was in 2011 but he’s not going to be much better. His first two preseason games were decent but this game has more of an NFL type feel. Players really give an effort in week 3 of the preseason and he is showing his true colors. Two good things coming from the Jaguars is that Rashad Jennings has looked good again, and Justin Blackmon may just be a difference maker in year one for fantasy.

• Of course John Skelton blew it! He gets the start and could easily put Kolb in the rearview but NO. He goes out and lays an egg. Which wouldn’t mean too much, but then Kolb actually performs decently. So this mess probably won’t get settled till week 16… But on the more predictable side, Beannie Wells started and looked awful. Then Ryan Williams came in and looked better.

-FFJ

Kolb Experiment Over and Ryan Williams

At least, that is how I feel about Kolb. Just be done with it Arizona. I know you paid a lot of money to get him from the Eagles but he has shown you nothing. And in Friday’s preseason game, he goes 3/6 for 22 yards and is sacked in the end-zone for a safety. While Skelton goes 3/3 for 23 and a touchdown. Skelton was and is better than Kolb. He proved it last year and is proving it again in the preseason. Just name him the starter already!

I know this is the preseason and that stat line in itself isn’t enough alone to warrant this diatribe of hate but it really is time to see if Skelton has what it takes to be a serviceable QB in the NFL. And I believe he can be. For fantasy purposes, I wouldn’t touch Kolb with a ten foot poll, even in 2 quarterback leagues. Now Skelton I could see being drafted in those formats, but in those formats only for now.

In other news, Ryan Williams took to the field and played well. Which for his fans, like myself, was a good sign. I am high on Williams this year and believe he can overtake the disappointing Beannie Wells for the starting gig. He ran for 25 yards on 5 carries with a touchdown. Look for him to move up on draft boards. I currently have Beannie at 30th and Ryan at 33rd among RB’s and will flip-flop them soon.

-FFJ