Free Agency, and Turning the Page

My final post for the NY Times blog is up. Come check out Free Agency, and Turning the Page.

Next week I will also have a new article up with Sports Grumblings on free agency moves and will provide a link to that article when it's ready.

Have a great weekend!

Drafting Dress Rehearsal

Can I possibly merge the concept of shopping for a bridesmaid dress and the NFL Draft? Oh hell yeah. Come read Drafting Dress Rehearsal on the NY Times and learn about some draft success stories from the 2000s.

How Accurate Were They in 2007?

Some of you might remember the post I did last summer that looked at the 2006 preseason rankings and compared them to final fantasy points to see which rankings were the most accurate. Well I've done it again for the 2007 season and have posted it up on the New York Times's blog:

How Accurate Were They in 2007?

Getting Hooked on Fantasy Football

My Tuesday post for the New York Times's football blog is up! Check out Getting Hooked on Fantasy Football if you have a chance - and don't worry football fans, my post tomorrow is going to have a lot more about actual fantasy football in it.

Back in Business With the Combine

I've been lucky enough to be asked to be a guest blogger on the New York Times this week - I will be posting daily to the Fifth Down, NYT's pro football blog, and setting up a link from here to my Fifth Down articles every day. Enjoy and feel free to comment if you disagree or agree with me - would love to hear some feedback!

Monday's article: Back in Business With the Combine

Looking Back, Looking Ahead and the New York Times

I just read a quality post about kickers in 2007 from NFL Stats - 2007 FG Kicker Rankings. I know, I know, nobody in fantasy football land really has any love or great interest in the kicker, do they? As someone who is personally a great fan of both Jason Elam and CU-alum Mason Crosby, I probably have a distorted love for kickers. Or perhaps it's because it's the one position in football that I can actually envision myself doing - keeping in mind my gender and stature, you can imagine that I don't exactly sit around dreaming about how I'd sack the QB. And suiting up on the o-line? Not a chance. But booting the heck out of a ball through the uprights? Oh yeah. Plus I think there's a lot of mystery surrounding how to rank and or draft a kicker for fantasy leagues. Don't worry, I'm not trying to argue that it's the most interesting or important position to contemplate in the offseason, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I think Smitty from FFXtreme might be in my brain - seriously, I was just thinking about which players were overvalued and undervalued for the 2008 season and BAM - Smitty writes an article about it. So check out his Overvalued and undervalued players heading into 2008. Though I do disagree with you on Maroney. I am a big fan of Maroney and will be that player that drafts him in the 2nd round without any hesitations.

In other news, look for me next week as the guest blogger on the New York Times' pro football blog, the Fifth Down. I will be blogging on their site every day next week and will put up links directly from FFLibrarian to the New York Times entries I do. So enjoy!

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

Starting the week off right

I'm lacking enthusiasm for being at work today - I remember the good ol' days when I lived in Washington, D.C. and got Presidents' Day off of work since it's a federal holiday. Oh the beauty of federal holidays. So I hope those of you who aren't working today are living it up on my behalf.
But on to football. Yes, stunningly there is football to talk about.

• Cold, Hard Football Facts' Health = wealth in the NFL does an interesting ranking of teams by most injuries to starters during the 2007 season. Teams are ranked by the total number of games missed by all key players for the season. Who comes out as the most unhealthy team of the season? My poor Denver Broncos. And the most healthy? The Pack.
• SI's Top 10 RB Prospects from this year's rookie class. Not surprisingly, Run DMC tops the list but I'm personally interested in seeing what happens with Ray Rice. I like the guy a lot despite his supposed wear and tear.
  
• FFToolbox has a ridiculous number of Mock NFL Drafts on their site. Here's one that was just updated today, but check out their homepage for links to at least three others.
• Okay, it's possible that I could spend my entire work day pouring through the material in this link - The Huddle's Fantasy Football NFL Team Reports. The Huddle opens up their prime content during the offseason so that we can all get hooked on their high quality content and want to pay for it come August...but go ahead and delve in - you won't be sorry, this is good stuff.

All for now, the library world is calling.
tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

Article Up!

Check out my first article for Sports Grumblings - Fantasy Football Grumblings: Injury Woes. I'm hoping this will be the first of several articles that I will be adding to the fantasy world on both Sports Grumblings and Sports Data Hub.

Enjoy the weekend!

Speculations for the offseason

Greetings and happy Friday. I've been a little bit quiet on the blog this week - after attending the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference for two days earlier this week, I had a lot of catching up to do with my real world librarian job. And I've been working on an article that should be up on Sports Grumblings sometime soon, so it has been a bit of a busy week. But without further ado, here are some football links for the day:

• I don't know about the rest of you, but when I read things like FFXtreme's breaking news that DeShaun Foster will likely be traded or released, I get a little thrill. I mean there's a backfield situation that has been more of a snoozefest than anything lately and I can't wait to see what's going to pan out. It's like fresh RB meat in a way. Will the Panthers try to get their hands on someone like Michael Turner perhaps? Or does this just skyrocket DeAngelo Williams' value? I love the speculation during the offseason. Read ESPN's McNabb, Shockey, Harrison among stars in limbo for more thoughts on who might get traded in the next few months.
  
• Some Colts news - my husband isn't going to be happy to hear this - but it sounds like three big Colts names aren't likely to be ready to go by training camp. Harrison, Sanders and Freeney have all had surgery - what does this mean for the Colts 2008 season and is anyone out there actually excited about drafting Marvin Harrison now? As if the 2007 season wasn't enough of a deterrent...
• NFL Stats' Belichick's Belichick led me to this great article about the Patriots' football scholar in residence, Ernie Adams. It's a little bit of a longer read, but it is excellent - and who doesn't have a few spare minutes on a Friday afternoon?
• Check out SI's The calm before the storm for a mock NFL Draft.

All for now - I'll try to be online this afternoon if anyone has a strong desire to talk pre-Combine with me. Unlikely, I know. Have a good one!

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

Can't Get Enough of Fantasy Sports

Apparently a day full of fantasy sports is not enough for me - I have to round off the day with a blog post. I spent today at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference representing both myself and Sports Data Hub, and my brain is already brimming with all sorts of fantasy sports info. Tomorrow's schedule is even busier and I feel a little giddy over being able to spend an entire second day thinking/talking/breathing fantasy sports.

Soon my life will return to normalcy but until then, a few quick links:

• Rotoworld's Only for the Addicts summary of the first experts mock draft of the year - full of all sorts of commentary.
• Over the course of the 2007 season, I e-mailed with several of you about the benefits of an IDP league (individual defensive players) rather than a D/ST. I enjoy both formats but do find IDP leagues rather refreshing. For details and tips on IDP leagues, check out Football Jabber's Fantasy Football Tips: Individual Defensive Players.
• Take a look at Athlon Sports' NFL Draft - Tight Ends for a breakdown of how the position has been drafted over the past five years and what you can expect from the 2008 NFL Draft.
• Also on Athlon/Grogan Sports, read up on why you should love Minnesota alum RBs Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney in Barber & Maroney: Top 10 Backs in '08.

Okay, time to stop thinking about football and get some sleep for the night.

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

Happy Pro Bowl

Ah, Pro Bowl Day. Is anyone watching it other than me? To demonstrate just how little I think I'm actually paying attention to the football, I think the most interesting thing I've seen so far occurred on the sidelines. I just saw one of the NFC coaches wandering around with a Gatorade cup in hand. Um, is Gatorade really in that cup? Perhaps the hawaiian shirts are influencing me here, but I'm imagining it's more of an islandy drink of some sort - mai tai, rum and coke or something to remind this coach that he's not just coaching a meaningless game - he's in Hawaii! But seriously, I do enjoy watching the Pro Bowl even if I can't put my finger on the exact reason why.

A few football thoughts for you:

• Don't forget to stay hip to NFL news via sites like Rotoworld's NFL Headlines - a few gems from today include the Redskins finally acquiring a head coach, Javon Walker's likely departure from the Broncos, and LenDale White undergoing arthoscopic knee surgery.
• And check out Ask The Commish's 2008 Free Agents for a thorough list of players who will become free agents in 2008 - sortable by either team or position.
• Wondering what might happen to Chad Johnson in 2008? Read Yahoo's Moody Johnson faces uncertain future for some insight.

That's about it for today. I'll try to get another post up over the next few days while I'm taking in as much fantasy sports knowledge possible at the FSTA conference. In the meantime, I have some injuries to recover from right now...I haven't had very good luck with the winter sports I've participated in over the past 10 days. A little over a week ago, I ended up landing quite hard on my tailbone during a snowshoe turned icy hike with a few friends. It was apparently a splendid fall, but the repercussions for my comfort last week while merely just sitting in my office, were unfortunate. Tough times when sitting hurts. However, I recovered slowly and a trip to Aspen to ski had been planned for this past weekend for awhile and I wasn't about to let a bruised tailbone get in the way. And it didn't - the skiing was incredible. I have never been in that much powder in my life and it was glorious. Unfortunately the ski trip concluded with a small child (and his brother) crossing directly in front me as our trails merged at the bottom of a run. I had absolutely no time to avoid him and the small child's helmeted head slammed into my ribs (and I think my arm since there is a nasty swollen bruise there, too) - it really hurts. So yet again I feel like I'm moving at a grandmotherly pace. For those concerned with the small child, have no fear. He apparently was way more resilient than I am and he immediately got back in the lift line. Meanwhile, I gingerly skied down the remaining 30 feet of the run and then hobbled off (yes, crying like the girl that I am) back to the car. I hear bruised ribs take awhile to heal, which perhaps will keep me from hurting yet another body part over the next week or two...

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

Football for a Thursday

Just a note to my loyal readers, there will be some sparse posting for the next few days. I'm heading up to Aspen tonight to tackle some serious powder for the weekend followed by two days at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association annual conference - yes, I'm living a charmed life. I may have more time and access to my blog than I think, but for now brace yourselves for a quiet week with the promise that there will be many more posts soon to follow.

So until then, why don't you read up on some of these excellent football links?

• The Pro Football Reference Blog's There is no greatest team ever has some interesting thoughts on what makes a team one of the greatest of all times - and how the 2007 Patriots fit in to that concept.
• Wondering where some of the free agents might find themselves for the 2008 season? Football Jabber's Fantasy Free Agent Forecast has taken a stab at the fantasy implications of some potential free agent moves. And if you want even more free agency talk, check out Fanball's Free Agency Preview. OR try Football Outsiders' free agency review starting with the NFC South.
  
• If you'd like to keep up on the team transactions within the NFL, take a look at ProFootballWeekly's Summary of NFL Transactions.
• Check out the Bruno Boys' Top 7 Bounce Back Players of 2007 for a list of guys like Jamal Lewis and Clinton Portis who rose above expectations this past season.

Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week!
tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, fantasy football 2008

So yeah, it is kind of quiet in football land...

Based on feedback from a handful of you, it seems that I might not have been congratulatory enough to the GMen for their Super Bowl victory. Giants fans, and anyone else who may have noted my lack of enthusiasm, my apologies! The Giants truly outplayed the Patriots on Sunday and kudos to the entire Giants team, coaches, staff, etc for a marvelous end to the 2007 season. Hmm, I sort of feel like my grandmother when I use the word marvelous. But "great" just doesn't cover it.

Moving on. Well only kind of. Sports Data Hub's Giant Potential in 2008 has a great question - how will the Super Bowl performances by Giants players affect their fantasy draft position in 2008? Personally, I still am on the fence about Eli as a QB1 - I just can't erase the regular season from my memory. I think Plax's injury also gives me continued concern about his ability to be a #1 WR all season long. There is no doubt in my mind that he is an elite WR - just can he stay healthy enough to draft him as a WR1 in fantasy? Clearly the Giants D has shown what an incredible unit they are and they might have benefited the most from their Super Bowl and playoffs play in general - I would be excited to have them on my fantasy team next year.

And what about the Patriots? Again, this is just my opinion but I think it's Maroney and Welker who may see the biggest boost in fantasy draft position from their playoffs performances. Maroney's only adequate Super Bowl performance may force him to fall a little in fantasy drafts and I'm okay with that - I'll be there to scoop him up. Love the guy.

For some other thoughts on this same topic, check out ProFantasySports.com's What's next for these Super Bowl participants?

Check out CBS Sports' Rumor Mill for the latest on football happenings. Will the Redskins snag Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo as their head coach? And Chad Johnson replaces Randy Moss in the Pro Bowl after Moss suffered an injury in the Super Bowl. Uh really? What injury did Moss suffer? Most likely the dude just doesn't want to play in the Pro Bowl and I can't really blame him. This is Chad Johnson's fifth straight Pro Bowl appearance.

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, 2008 super bowl, fantasy football 2008

Time to think about 2008

I hope you all enjoyed the Super Bowl last night, though I know several Pats fans who can't be very happy with the outcome. I appreciate Pats fans like the FF Geek Blog who give credit where credit is due...and perhaps it's time for me to eat my words about the Giants purely getting to the SB on luck. Most of all, I'd like to note my awe at David Tyree's unbelievable catch in the 4th quarter. Unreal. That play was phenomenal and in my mind, Tyree won the game for the Giants. I'm sure right now someone is saying, no the Giants D did that - and they certainly played incredibly well - but without that catch from Tyree it just wasn't going to happen for the Giants. Maybe I'm just a sucker for one big, awesome play - but seriously, Tyree, my hat's off to you and The Helmet catch.

The FF Librarian's Challenge through the NFL.com is complete! The top 10 overall winners are:

1. 50's Big Perms
2. Black Juicers
3. Flaming Barracuda's
4. Chop Block Champs
5. Power & Speed
6. Fantasy Sports Matrix - Freddie
7. FFLibrarian
8. Krafty's Kannibals
9. Dancing Nancies
10. fooseball

Congrats to 50's Big Perms for a solid performance throughout the whole playoffs!

But now my friends, the 2007 season is over. My husband cut out a recent New Yorker ad for me that has a couple watching tv with one asking the other, "what are you going to do now that the Super Bowl is over?" and that's pretty much exactly how I always feel this time of year. But there's still so much football to discuss in the offseason. I mean, pro bowl anyone? Right, I heard a collective disgruntled sigh there I think. But there's plenty of fantasy football and real football talk to keep us all entertained.

• As noted last week, FFXtreme got together some industry experts for a mock draft over the next few days - it is in progress so check it out and see who went first overall.
• Could McNabb really go to the Ravens? Wouldn't that be interesting from a fantasy perspective....
  
• Wondering about the 2008 schedules and which teams might be facing an easier road than others? Check out Fantasy Tailgate's 2008 NFL Strength of Schedule.
• Last week I got up a link to Sports Grumblings' 2008 RB Keeper League Chart. Now here's a link to their keeper analysis for QBs, WRs, and TEs.

tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, 2008 super bowl, fantasy football 2008

FFLibrarian's Prediction

We are in the process of setting up a projector and big screen in our house to accomodate the growing crowd that will be here in just a few hours to watch the Super Bowl. Good times here. My prediction for the big game?
Patriots 38, Giants 27.

Hope everyone enjoys the game!

Shouldn't the Friday Before the Super Bowl be a Holiday?

And for that matter, the Monday after the Super Bowl should be another holiday to help us all recover and cope with the upcoming dearth of football activity. But let's not dwell on that yet - there's still current football news to be discussed, so let's get right to it.

• I've mentioned this before, but I find Gregg Rosenthal's Super Bowl XLII blog highly entertaining and informative. There really are so many things I could link to from his blog but I will go with the fantasy angle here. Gregg and Tiffany asked several players about their experiences with fantasy football and I enjoyed Shaun O'Hara's comments that there's no place for o-line men stats in the fantasy world. Where's the fantasy love for offensive lines??
• Should we all be nervous that AP won the NFL's Rookie of the Year award? I mean past winners included Vince Young, Cadillac Williams, Ben Roethlisberger and Domanick Davis. Based on this sample, Rotoworld points out that perhaps this doesn't bode well for Peterson's future injury status.
• If you're feeling a little sad about the end of the NFL season, have no fear. FFXtreme has gathered some fantasy experts together for a 2008 fantasy football mock draft as early as 9 AM est on Monday, February 4th.
• Cold, Hard Football Facts has compared stats on the Giants and Patriots and concluded that this game is truly the greatest statistical mismatch in NFL championship game history. Wow.
  
• And to see another game preview based on lots of stats and number crunching, check out Football Outsiders' Super Bowl LXII Preview.
  
• I have plugged Plax into my playoffs fantasy league with the FF Librarian's Challenge - however he hasn't been practicing this week (not that unusual for Plax) and reports sound a little iffy. Hmm...

I have some friends coming into town this weekend and then of course a Super Bowl party to plan for, so I might be a little quiet this weekend. However, before game time on Sunday I will get my prediction for the big game up. Enjoy the weekend!
tags: fantasy football, nfl, football, 2008 super bowl