All things football

My last day of work has arrived - crazy. And just three more days until our condo is emptied by movers. Can you tell I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all? I woke up this morning and cheered an obligatory, "last day of work!" to my husband but then it occurred to me that I have no future work days in sight since I have yet to find a library gig in New York. Weird thought.

Anyway moving on to football...

• I'm sure I've gushed about him on here before but I really like Matt Schauf - one of my favorite fantasy writers. So basically any time he has something to say, I advise you listen. Today I've got two of his pass defense articles on Rapid Draft to link to - Watch out for these pass defenses and From Pittsburgh to K.C.: How each pass defense rates.
• While we're on the defense train, take a look at who Hatty Waiver Wire Guru thinks you should try and acquire - or move on from - now in IDP Buy low sell high.
• Rotoworld's Who will get goal-line carries in Arizona? asks a great question. So much hype a year ago about Hightower...but because he didn't come storming out with an incredible rookie season should we move on?
• NFL.com's blog will keep you updated on all the big stories coming out of training camp - could be clutch for making some great mid- to late-round draft grabs.
• FFGeekBlog's Running back rankings for 2009 are up and ready for your review. I'm loving Maroney this year. Well perhaps love is strong but I'm eager to add him to my rosters. Am I nuts?
• Finally, my favorite topic: offensive lines. CBSSports.com's 2009 Draft Prep: Eyeballing the offensive lines goes pretty deep here with a grade for each individual lineman - nice, very nice.
  

Calm before the fantasy storm

This is an oddly quiet day on the fantasy football front - I've been scoping out a bunch of my usual sites and I think most people might be on vacation, perhaps? Calm before the storm? So I should take this opportunity to warn you all that my posting status next week might be a bit dicey. I'll do my best but since we'll have movers here on Monday and will be on the road Tuesday through Saturday, the posts might be light (and it's possible I'll have no sanity left after spending day after day in a car with two unhappy, meowing cats). At least I can guarantee that once I arrive in NYC the posts here will be coming at you nonstop. My sole plans for the rest of August including being an insatiable blogger and a NYC tourist. Can't. wait.

• Take a look at Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy's thoughts on Top 10 Undervalued Players. I'm an Owen Daniels fan - I think I had him in at least half of my 7 leagues last year and I imagine he might well fall to me again this year.
  
• So we're at the end of round 3 in my first real draft of the season and so far my roster is comprised of: Maurice Jones-Drew, Clinton Portis, and Dwayne Bowe. QBs have been going late so I'm debating my next moves and found this article from Hatty Waiver Wire Guru, Reason to Wait on Selecting a QB.
• The Hazean might not share my Dwayne Bowe excitement as seen in his The eight most overvalued wide receivers article.
  
• All week one of my favorite websites, Advanced NFL Stats, has been guest blogging on the Fifth Down - to get a sense of the guy behind the site and why his site is so interesting, see Q&A with Brian Burke.
• FootballOutsiders led me to this article in the Washington Post about the Redskins' o-linemen downsizing during the offseason - but it's not just about shedding pounds; those dudes were tossing tires and pushing SUVs around in an offseason training program of sorts. Now they're lean, mean, fightin' machines. I don't know about you all but suddenly I'm loving my end-of-second-round Clinton Portis acquisition even more...
  

Late July links

What's happenin' fantasy fans? I've got a fun day ahead: the culmination of a big work project I've been working on for months followed by a bit of a goodbye party for me at the library. I'm not big on being the center of attention (as is obvious by the deep red blush I inevitably take on) but I do love a party...

• Want to know which players Hatty Waiver Wire Guru digs? Scope out Players High on my List.
• CBSSports.com tackles the strength of schedule issue - I'm sure I've said this before but I can't stop thinking about how sorry I am to see my Broncos, who have a sweet schedule for the first 3 games of the season, with such a rough mid-season schedule. Man, it's brutal in the middle.
  
• I have little to say about the Favre Drama but will link you to FantasyPros911 who have some thoughts on Favre in Brett Favre's Legacy: Is it in Danger?
• FFGeekBlog is back and better than ever - their new site has a bit of a twitterish feel to it and they've graced it with their Wide receiver rankings for 2009. I was talking to my husband the other night about T.O. and he was saying the exact same thing as the Geeks here - T.O. and first years with a team can be magical. Will it hold true again?
• Make sure you check out Yahoo's Shutdown Corner blog - I probably don't link to those guys enough - there's great stuff there. For example, their Offseason Progress Reports like this one on the Seahawks, which is buried deep amidst Favre headlines. You can also amuse yourself with Chris Cooley Fantasy Files commercials there if you'd like.
  
• I've got a good friend here who is a big Beanie Wells fan and looks like he's not the only one high on Wells - 2009 Draft Prep: Beanie? Yeah baby!
• If you think LenDale is going to take away some of Chris Johnson's glory this season, perhaps you ought to think again - see Rotoworld's "Keep the Lead" LenDale losing value.
  

Let the draft begin!

I'm starting my first draft for the season in just a few hours (it's an e-mail style organized by KFFL.com) and I'll be drafting from the #1 overall spot. It's a PPR league so I'm debating the benefits of AP vs MJD. I'll keep you posted on my decision...but I'm leaning MJD right now.

In the meantime, I only have 3.5 more work days left so I'm desperately trying to get projects wrapped up and touch base with folks before I head out. So this is bound to be a pretty quick post - my apologies!

• KFFL has updated all of their sleeper reports - QB, RB, WR, TE, even Kicker and Defense.
• Should a rookie QB be given a shot at starting? After relatively solid performances from Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco last year many of us might be overly enthusiastic about giving the rook a start...but the Fifth Down's Statistics Show There's No Harm in Starting a Rookie Quarterback might just back that feeling up.
• FFToolbox is one of many sites to highlight some of the training camp battles to watch over the next few weeks. As always, the Toolbox does a nice job here.
• And with the Toolbox on my mind, take a peak at their Ideal Bye Week Running Backs article...helpful stuff.
• Want some freakishly high upside, then look no further than the FantasySharks.com post on Chris Henry.
• I am amused by the idea of offering you two sleeper kicker articles (see the KFFL article above for the 1st one) but the Bruno Boys know how to cover you on all fronts. Scope out their Under the Radar Fantasy Football Kickers.

All for now!

2009 Week 1 projections (already!) and more

T minus 7 until some burly dudes come to ferry off the majority of our possessions to New York City. While I'm sitting here thinking about just how many freaking mugs we somehow own and how one could possibly drink enough coffee to rationalize this level of mug acquisition (and inevitably, how to pack them all...), you all are probably thinking more along the fantasy football lines. Have no fear! My mind is always on football to some extent...so check out today's links:

• We've all heard the phrase Running Back By Committee (RBBC) but FFToolbox takes this committee idea to a different level - how should you draft to create fantasy pairs that might be nearly as effective as a top level player? They've taken a look at both Quarterback by Committee and Tight End by Committee.
• How much of a benefit will Cutler bring to Chicago? See the Fifth Down's How Many Wins is Cutler Worth?
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru has a list of Underrated RBs You Need to Remember, including one of my personal faves, Derrick Ward. Though interestingly enough Sports Data Hub has an article that reminds me to temper my expectations with Ward this year - see Is Derrick Ward this year's Michael Turner? for the details.
• Peter King is back with some pre-training camp thoughts and news in this week's MMQB. Oh man, I love reading "the 28-week marathon to the Super Bowl is on" - it's here, baby! Football season - finally!
• Another installment of Football Outsiders' Wisdom of the Crowds - wrapping up the WRs this time with guys like Fitz, Cotchery, Welker and Heyward-Bey.
• I think FFXtreme had the first start/sit list up and now they're numero uno with Week 1 Projections, too. Love it. Thanks FFXtreme for feeding into my fantasy football addiction...

Finally, if you're part of the FFLibrarian League please remember to check out the league message board from time to time for the latest news. Our draft (which will be conducted on MyFantasyLeague.com with e-mail notifications) will start on August 24th at 9AM eastern and will conclude before the season starts!

From deep sleeper to consistency metrics

I think I significantly underestimated how easy it would be to wrap up work projects before I quit and head to NYC. I've got one more week of work at my library in Colorado and keep coming up with more things that I ought to do before I leave...

Let's get right to today's links:

• The Broncos fan in me was very eager to read the Fifth Down's Cutler's Interceptions: The Context Matters. I love a good stats review of my players. For more player analysis from the Fifth Down, see what KC Joyner has to say in A Closer Look at Addai's Productivity.
  
• Next year's NFL Draft is slated to start on Thursday night and spread across three days - I don't mind this idea at all but mostly I'm just thinking about the fact that I might actually be able to attend live and in person now that I'll be a NYC dweller.
  
• Those of you who are participating in deep leagues (like the 16-team FFLibrarian League) might be interested in Rotoworld's Deeeep Sleeper: Justin Forsett. Read up on why you might want this Seahawks RB.
• I'm in agreement with the Fantasy Sharks on Why to Wait on a TE in '09. I've never been one to grab an elite TE and this year is really no exception. If you disagree and think a top TE is worth taking in a 4th or 5th round scenario, I'd love to hear your reasons.
• Also from the Sharks, take a look at their growing Player Analysis by Division - you can get a player recap and projections by team. Scoping out the Oakland overview just makes me feel really sorry for the Raiders. I mean, just look at the WR options. Wow.
• Finally, if you're looking for a group of teamsters that will provide you with solid fantasy points week in and week out, then I recommend you take a look at ESPN's Consistency percentage. Not only was this a great read but it's good to see my boy Jason Elam at the top of the kicker consistency rankings.

Enjoy the weekend!

A Fond Farewell to my '93 love

I have driven the same car since I was in high school - a sweet 1993 Corolla. Everything in it is manual and the only real sense that the car isn't ancient is the new radio I had to install after the car was broken into for a 3rd time (thanks DC area car radio thieves). There are some serious memories from that car and despite its age it only has a mere 105K miles on it. That's what happens when you basically never drive a car more than 10 miles a day, right? So this week we're selling the car to a friend who has a 16-year-old daughter...feels like everything is coming perfectly full circle there and I can't believe how nostalgic I'm feeling about it. It is after all only a car.

Fortunately I have fantasy football links to think about, leaving me less time to mourn the sale of my old buddy...

• CBSSports.com's 2009 Draft Prep: 10 Burning Questions has the CBS fantasy staff answer all sorts of questions, many of which I've heard from you all. What I think I like most about this is that there are some blatant disagreements among the CBS crew on guys like Steven Jackson and Michael Turner, but each has their justification.
• One of my favorite not-really-fantasy-football-but-still-very-helpful sites out there is Advanced NFL Stats - and this week Brian Burke is doing a guest blogger stint with the NY Times' Fifth Down. Check out today's An Antidote to Jets Pessimism.
• Ultimate FF Strategy has unleashed their ultimate draft tool. I'm going to check it out and report back a little more on what it's like so stay tuned on that front...
• Chris Wesseling, a voice you might know from Rotoworld, posted some thoughts on a recent Sports Data Hub feature that I found pretty interesting. I've been a big SDH proponent and love what you can do on their site, so I was pleased to see Chris post some feedback on SDH, too.
• Speaking of Rotoworld, scope out their update to the Criminally Undervalued and Overvalued as compared to ADP (average draft position).
• Fantasy Hulks have some Anthony Gonzalez love going on - see which other WRs they think are primed for a breakout this season.
  

FFLibrarian League update and other links

Greetings from a gray and rainy Colorado. We live a few blocks away from a mini golf place (yup, I can sense how jealous you all are) so last night as part of my husband's birthday celebrations we played 18 holes with a bunch of friends. Unfortunately, a massive summer storm including hail came rolling in while we were on hole 8 or so. This stopped those of us who prefer to remain unhailed upon (while holding a metal putter in the lightning of course), but my husband and 5 other guys were undeterred and it quickly evolved into all-weather, all-terrain putt putt. Rarely have I seen a bunch of 30-somethings so completely gleeful in the rain - it was amusing. Anyway, the clouds remain today but I'm kind of digging the mellow weather.

I'm also digging today's fantasy football links, which are as follows:

• The Hazean provides a nice library of links in 27 resources to help fantasy football owners win this year. If any of these links are new for you, I definitely recommend you check them out since the Hazean hit upon a lot of the gems out there.
• Yahoo's RotoArcade is posting their Juggernaut Index, which is a fantasy ranking of all 32 NFL Teams starting with the Oakland Raiders at 32nd.
• Can you believe there are 11 teams with new head coaches? Wow. Read up on what that means for the fantasy world in CBSSports.com's Diner morning news: First-year coaches.
• Football Outsiders continue their series on Wisdom of the Crowds with their second installment of WR projections - scope it out for the latest thoughts on guys like Mark Clayton and Randy Moss.
  
• FantasySharks offer up some value picks for the 2009 season - I think I'm becoming a big Ryan Grant believer. Think I'm nuts? The more I ponder the GB offense and Grant's history, the more I become a believer. No, I won't draft him as my RB1 but he might have some great RB1-ish weeks...
• Every once in a great while I come across a non-free resource that I just must link to here - I prefer to lead you all down the great path of freely available resources but sometimes there's just something too good to pass up. That's how I feel about John Tuvey's offensive line analysis on The Huddle - it is the cream of the crop and if you're a o-line type, I highly recommend getting your hands on this. That means becoming a Huddle member but frankly, the Huddle is a sweet site and worth the cost if you're willing to pony up a few bucks.

Finally, if you're in the FFLibrarian League we've had to change our draft plans from a live draft to an e-mail draft. Please be sure to read the latest on the league message board - the e-mail drafts will begin on August 24 to be wrapped up before the first game of the season.

A Peyton Manning Kind of Day

Today is one of my favorite days - my husband's birthday. I fear that sounds exceedingly cheesy but it's true. I happen to be a birthday person; I adore birthdays, love celebrating them, love hyping them up, love everything about them. So of course the birthday of my favorite person is inevitably a grand day for me. Being that my husband (a Knoxville, TN native) is a major Peyton Manning fan, it amused me to see the Fifth Down's Why Peyton Manning isn't more revered headline today. Trust me, there's lots of Peyton reverence going on in our household.

• Sean Payton is today's MMQB voice and his comment about the Hall of Fame Game on August 9th got me thinking...will our tv (and the rest of our furniture) arrive in time for the HoF Game (I know, I might be the only person out there that actually enjoys watching the HoF Game...)? We are some of the lucky few (note the great sarcasm there) that have a 4-17 day delivery window for our possessions to make the journey from Colorado to New York. Could be a long 2 weeks...
• Ahh, the Michael Turner debate continues. Check out Advanced NFL Stats' Michael Turner in 2009. I love the conclusion that it's all a crap shoot. So true.
  
• Bruno Boys' 2009 Position Battles to Watch: Wide Receiver takes a look at some of the WR question marks in the league. Keep in mind these certainly aren't all WR1 battles, but they are guys that could make an impact on the fantasy scene.
  
• Dynasty owners are you looking for some rankings to help you make any decisions on who to keep, who to drop? See what Fantasy Football Trader has to say in their 2009 Dynasty Rankings.
  
• Rotoworld highlights some of their WR ranking moves in the second edition of their draft mag.
  
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru's latest article, Strength of Schedule Impact, outlines teams with some of the best and worst schedules this season - just a little something else to keep in mind come draft day!
• FantasyPros911 has an interesting take on the FF handcuff in Fantasy Football's Handcuff Only Ties Your Hands - I'm not sure they used the best examples (no one is possibly considering Jim Sorgi as their QB2) but I do think that sometimes it's worth really thinking about a handcuff before snagging that guy over another player/sleeper with potentially more talent.
  

Camp prep '09

I'm starting to see lots of articles on what to look for at training camp, who to keep an eye on, which rooks might just impress at camp, etc. Pay attention - remember, this is the time of year when we learned just who Chris Johnson was in '08. There's someone out there who will hit the fantasy scene absolutely en fuego and you don't want to miss the hype. Trust me.

• Football Outsiders' Black and Blue Report: Training Camp 2009 - FO will be twittering injury news this season also but read on for a full update on a whole bunch of key fantasy folks.
• CBSSports.com addresses Training camp questions for each team - take a look for one or two quick sentences on the heart of each team's 2009 dilemmas.
  
• Fantasy Football Mastermind has their 2009 Eye in the Sky NFL Scouting Reports cranking. I love reading local viewpoints; I find they provide significant value.
  
• Mac Bros Fantasy Football Forecast debates which QB should be top dog in Tom Brady or Drew Brees? Agree? Disagree?
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru is churning out new material practically every day so be sure to scope out the new articles. Today I'll lead you to Underrated WRs You Need to Remember for Your Draft. I'm seeing Mike Walker's name all over the place these days...
• One helpful reader sent me a link to this iPhone Drafting App, Studs & Duds Fantasy Football Draft Kit. What do you all think? I'm intrigued and might give it a whirl. If I do, I will definitely let you all know what I think.
• Fantasy Index compares Brady and Cassel and comes up a bit empty on the Cassel front in Cassel Ain't No Brady.
• Wondering if anyone in fantasyland is cutting fantasy fans a financial break this year? Oh yes, indeed my friends. Take a look at Fantasyfootball.com - they've decided to offer their platinum package for free this year as long as you register with them. Great deal.

Happy weekend!

Midsummer day's links

Need to be quick with my post today - I'll be back tomorrow with a lengthier, linkier (did I just make up a new word? sweeeeeet) post!

• Late Round Targets from FFToolbox - I'm totally on the same page with these guys on Kevin Walter.
  
• Seeing as we're moving and setting up a new tv package in the next few weeks, I'm quite interested in reading this note on DirectTV selling Sunday Ticket for iPhones. Can I really envision myself watching a game on my iPhone though at that exorbitant price?
• If you're in a PPR league, take note of FantasySharks.com's guidance on receivers that are PPR-friendly and those that are not in You down with PPR? Yeah, you know me!
  
• The rise and fall of dynasty QBs is noted in Rotoworld's Pancake Blocks blog.
• Oh o-lines. I love, love, love them. And Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy has finally wrapped up their individual team review and put together their annual 2009 Offensive Line Rankings and Analysis article.
  

2009 season brainstorming

I've got my thinking cap on, FFLibrarian readers. This is good news for you all - I'm brainstorming ways of bringing more content to you all, particularly in a variety of new formats. I've already talked to Sports Data Hub about incorporating some of their awesome graphics into my blog on a weekly basis but I'm also thinking about doing the following this fall: a weekly podcast, entering the twitter world to provide Sunday morning start/sit news, and possibly writing up a weekly newsletter with extra content and analysis for a small fee for an elite group of FFLibrarian fans.

Don't worry, this would all be in addition to the features I already provide such as the copious linking, the consensus start/sit, the preseason aggregation of expert rankings, the creation of tiers using cluster analysis. I've got tricks up my sleeve along the same quantitative analysis vein, too, so stay tuned...

• RotoExperts' Fantasy Football Draft Kit requires a login (free!) but I think it's well worth it - lots and lots of material here ranging from Scott Engel's PPR Rankings to 2009 Busts to IDP Draft Strategies. All good stuff.
• Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy keeps cranking out the o-line analysis with my Denver Broncos and the KC Chiefs.
• Wondering what Derrick Mason's retirement means for the Ravens from a fantasy perspective? See what RapidDraft says in Ravens passing game looks even worse without Mason.
  
• The Hazean's The 10 Most Undervalued Running Backs has some interesting thoughts. You won't find me drafting Cedric Benson but the rest of the guys definitely warrant some consideration at the right value.
• And speaking of value, take a look at this great article from FFToday - Overvalued/Undervalued. TJ takes a look at players from early, middle, and late rounds that are both undervalued and overvalued and states their case. Great read.
• Rotoworld's Fantasy Fix videos are back - watch on for some good, basic fantasy QB info that every FFer can stand to brush up on pre-draft.
  

Finally, if you're part of the 96-team Fantasy Football Librarian's Challenge League, take a look at the league message board (linked off the homepage) when you get a chance. Since we're such a big group I've encountered some trouble in e-mailing all 96 teams at once so I've taken to posting important information on the league message board. Be sure to check that until I've got the e-mail capabilities rolling.

Going out on top

Who is Joe Flacco going to throw to now?? This morning on the bus on my way into work I did a double take when I read the headline announcing Derrick Mason's retirement. Really? I mean, truly? Mason might not be a spring chicken but the dude still has skills - I like the idea of going out while you're still on top, but the Ravens are looking at quite the sparse WR crew. Does this mean the Ravens will work with what they've got (Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams) or will they bring in some fresh meat?

• I don't think I've linked to this article on Key injuries to watch from Stephania Bell's blog yet, which is surprising since I've found myself rereading it several times. If you're not a frequenter of Stephania's ESPN blog you're going to want to change that. Her insight on injuries is unparalleled and we all know how valuable that can be.
• I like Rotoworld's "Prospects" list. I bought into the Laurent Robinson hype last summer and that didn't pan out (though I still have my eye on him now that he's moved from Hotlanta to St. Louis), but I like the concept behind these prospects quite a bit.
• Would you believe me if I said the Bengals will be headed to the playoffs this year? Bengals believers, check out CBS Sports' Playoff ready? Pats plus five who might see January.
• The Hazean led me to this FanHouse article on the Death of the Sleeper. I don't buy it - I absolutely agree that we can overhype so-called undervalued players to the point that they're overvalued...but that doesn't mean the sleeper is dead. There will always be sleepers, it's just that every fantasy site and blogger out there (and there are so many more each year) are trying to target the latest and greatest sleepers, which inevitably means that avid FFers have probably heard of most names out there. That's not a bad thing in my book; more information is better. It just means that you need to go through some of these sleeper lists with more of a fine-tooth comb and draft a bit from your gut.
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru has some draft strategy with recommended position targets for each round of a 16-round 12-team draft.
  
• Finally, I've been linking to FootballOutsiders' Wisdom of the Crowds series for the past month or so - here's the start of their look at WRs including T.O., Devin Hester, Torry Holt, Antonio Bryant, and Santonio Holmes.
  

And for all you Frenchies out there, Happy Bastille Day.

Conclusion of a mock and other links

As I've mentioned here several times over the past few months, my husband accepted a post-doc position at NYU so in a few short weeks we are moving to New York City. We'll be relying upon a moving company to get the majority of our possessions back east, but we will be the ones packing everything up...which meant we needed boxes. And a lot of them (there are only so many book boxes I can pilfer from the library). So we turned to the fine people at UHaul and their extremely vast array of boxes and over the weekend we acquired a massive quantity of boxes (thanks, free shipping!). I had this image of receiving one well-packed, lightweight box full of other boxes of varying sizes. Oh so naive. We hauled in 6 or 7 different boxes filled with boxes; I had no idea a box could be so heavy. Granted one is a "packing system" for our tv and there are some of those wardrobe type boxes for the closet, but truly, I was blissfully unaware of the world of moving boxes. You'd think I'd never moved before in my life but I guess I've always done short distance moves - or just shoved everything in my car and hoped for the best. No longer. I seem to have hit an age and possession level that requires a more sophisticated move replete with moving boxes.

Anyway, onto football...

• I haven't thought about Kevin Jones in a long time. The Hazean's Monday Morning Rehab reminded me of the latest with Forte's backup among others.
• Fifth Down's KC Joyner has been battling over Jay Cutler's value in Chicago now for several days - for a recap and to get your opinion heard if you're so inclined, check out Sorry, Bears Fans, Cutler Isn't the Answer.
• Rotoworld has just wrapped up their second draft mag and I highly recommend you check out Gregg Rosenthal's comments on RB ranking changes, Running Back Moves: Jacobs over LT2. Even if you never saw the initial rankings, this kind of info on changes can be very helpful for draft prep.
• More helpfulness for draft prep - FantasyMojo has been tracking some of the latest draft trends in Early July Draft Trends and Game Plan.
• Some IDP love from Football Jabber. Take a look at Jabber's Top 50 IDP Linebackers with Commentary if you're one of the lucky souls in an IDP league (individual defensive players in place of a team D/ST).
• Chris Cooley is the voice for this week's MMQB. Don't miss it.

Finally, I just finished up my expert mock draft. I'm relatively pleased with the results but feel like there are a few places that I didn't make the smartest picks. And that, my friends, is the beauty of a mock. Enjoy the results.

I heart the almanac

Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to a weekend full of some of my favorite Boulder trails - and a little bit of packing of our condo mixed in. But before the weekend begins, here are a few football links to keep us all informed and entertained.

• One of the FootballOutsiders.com masterminds brings his 2009 forecasting to the Fifth Down in 2009 Predictions: Look Out For Rams and Chargers. For more insight from the FO guys, don't forget about the FO Almanac available now. I haven't bought it yet but I think today might be the day to pull the trigger. It's just too good of a resource not to buy it - in fact, I even listed their Pro Football Prospectus (predecessor to the Almanac) as one of my favorite books on Facebook. Yes, seriously.
  
• Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy keeps the o-line analysis coming with the Bengals and Browns.
  
• Evan Silva from Rotoworld was touting Yeremiah Bell's awesomeness last season and was dead-on about that - no surprise to see he's moved Bell up a bit in the latest DB rankings.
• CBS Sports takes a look at some of the best No. 2 QBs (not to be confused with QB2s on the fantasy football front) in Backup protection: Ten best No. 2 quarterbacks.
• FantasySharks thinks you should rethink your draft-a-defense-before-the-15th-round strategy. I'm not entirely sure that I follow this mentality - I don't think it's worth reaching for a D/ST but waiting too late can be detrimental, too. But playing the waiver wire with defenses is an interesting idea worth thinking about.

All for now - enjoy your weekends!

Churning out FF content

I have 13 days left in my office until we take off and make the big move from Boulder to New York City. This isn't the first job that I've left but perhaps the first job that really means something to me - the first where I feel personally invested in the work I've done, the changes I've implemented, the projects I've initiated, which is making it really tough to wrap things up. Plus anyone who has been to Boulder knows what an amazing town it is - it won't be easy to say goodbye.

I feel myself trending toward some sappy essay on the awesomeness of my job and friends so I'll just cut myself off - let's get to football instead!

• Lots of dynasty (and redraft) rankings to come on Football Jabber - this link will take you to the RBs, and this one to the QBs, but remember to check back for more.
  
• Several of you have asked me about my thoughts or experience with different league hosting sites - I've played with CBS, Yahoo, MyFantasyLeague, and Fleaflicker, but there are many, many more out there as Lester's Legends shows here. The Hazean did a write-up on some of his faves as I linked to last month.
  
• News has been minimal lately on Brandon Marshall's attempts to leave Denver - I agree wholeheartedly with Clark Judge; Marshall isn't going anywhere. On another Denver note, I was playing around with WolframAlpha to see how much football stats they pull in, and I found this page on the Broncos interesting - pretty basic stuff but you can literally see the defense falling apart as they went from 258 points against in 2005 to 448 points against in 2008. Sigh. If you go into more detail and click on the defense details, you can see their number of rushing yards allowed has increased by 1000 in that same time frame while their passing yards allowed actually tightened up ever so slightly. No surprise but still very interesting stuff to look at.
  
• Will Joe Flacco be the big QB story in 2009? He's already shown significant improvement over the course of the 2008 season...perhaps there's more to come.
• I'm in the market for a team D/ST for my mock draft and since I always enjoy Accuscore's articles, I thought I'd share this ranking team D/STs with you - the top 7 teams are freely available but to read the rest you need to be a subscriber. And that, my friends, is very tempting.
  

Ready for a comeback kid

The other night (at approximately 3 am) our A/C made new, loud, unfortunate dripping noises that a youthful air conditioner really shouldn't make...and then refused to turn back on. Yesterday, however, it made a comeback. Not exactly sure what kind of crazy black magic my husband performed to get it working again but it's happily cooling away sans noises. Considering the weather forecast for the foreseeable future has us in the mid-90s here in Boulder, I'm quite pleased about this turn of events.

I kind of see our A/C like a running back who maybe had a minor injury and thus took a serious decline in the fantasy rankings for the 2009 season...and yet, there's a good chance that RB will be good as new like our ol' trusty A/C. Along these lines I can't help but wonder about Denver's Peyton Hillis. I realize there's a mountain of dudes in the backfield in Denver right now, but the guy was running pretty well and could certainly catch (7 receptions for 116 yards against Miami? Niiiice!) - there's a reason the Denver Post called him Mr. Versatility. He's someone that I will be watching very carefully as the season evolves.

• Seeing as I'm in the middle to late rounds of a mock draft right now, I was drawn to Hatty Waiver Wire Guru's video that focuses on guys you might want to grab in later rounds of a draft. For those who are interested, my squad so far is: Michael Turner, Steve Smith (Car), Wes Welker, Ryan Grant, Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Hines Ward, John Carlson, Rashard Mendenhall, Ted Ginn Jr.
• Fantasy rankings (non-PPR, redraft) from The Hazean with a one-liner bit of commentary.
• And then a little something else from The Hazean, too: By the numbers: 10 most undervalued wide receivers heading into 2009.
• On a similar note, SI's NFL Fantasy Forecast: Offensive overachievers (written by Sports Grumblings' John Georgopoulos) lists some players that have been been upping their performance lately. Garrard, I've got my QB2 eye on you.
  
• FantasySharks' Five QBs with new homes looks at QBs who have shifted around in the league and how they're fantasy value has changed.
• If you're looking to spice things up and try a new draft strategy (note: trying it out in a mock draft first is recommended), take a look at what Matt Waldman calls the Shortcut Technique on his FootballGuys.com Weekly Gut Check Column.
  

Rankings, draft kits, contests: it's all here, baby!

Greetings! A quick update on the FFL league: all of spots have been taken in the monster FFLibrarian League and I'll be e-mailing out the last couple of invites in the next hour or so. Many of you who are playing have asked about rules and the draft set up - I'll be e-mailing all of the franchises with more details in the next few days so just stay tuned.

So let's get to today's links...

• Get your paws on Bruno Boys' 2009 Draft Webazine and check out their new and improved site. One thing there that might catch your eye? A contest to win a $200 Southwest gift card for a trip to Vegas. Who doesn't love a good contest?
• Football Outsiders continues with their Wisdom of the Crowds: Projecting RBs, Part III - their final feature on RBs. This one includes Derrick Ward, Ryan Grant, and Joseph Addai among others.
• Dr. U Fantasy Football Guru keeps churning out player profiles - see some of the latest liek Matt Ryan and Michael Crabtree.
• Rotoworld has updated their draft mag and the QB rankings barely moved - to see what changed, check out Pancake Blocks.
• Reasons to love Greg Jennings in ProFootballWeekly.com's Jennings worth his weight in fantasy gold.
• Take a look at Ask the Commish's rankings - by position or the top 150 overall - they'll be updated throughout the season (last update on 7/5 as of this posting).
• I kind of love liking a guy that's a risky 1st round pick - FootballDocs' Effect of Running Back Carries on Future Production reviews what we all know about RBs with high carries. And yet I still believe in Turner the Burner. The FootballDocs site has been revamped, by the way, and it looks great.
• Oooh, IDP analysis! For top 10 rankings on inside linebackers (or outside linebackers, tackles, or defensive ends) look no further than CBSSports.com. Love it.
  

Training Camp is coming!

You all continue to impress me with your appetite for fantasy football - there are now 80 of us in the FFLibrarian League and the e-mail requests to join the monster league keep coming. I have to cap it at 96 teams so if you'd like to play, I recommend e-mailing me sooner rather than later.

I was reading Athlon/Grogan Sports' 8 Training Camps You Must Visit Before You Die article and was desperately wishing that some team out there might be camping it up in the middle of Nebraska, as my husband and I will be spending some quality time in Nebraska in a few weeks, hopefully flying across I-80 as we head to NYC. I have yet to visit Nebraska - it's one of the handful of states I haven't been to yet though the reports from my fellow I-80 travelers aren't exactly glowing. If it's anything like driving through Kansas (sorry, Kansas folks), then it will be a rather boring leg of the trip, but perhaps better than battling through Chicagoland traffic. Any I-80 experts who have tips on great rest stops (oxymoron?), please do share.

• Brace yourselves - there's week 1 start/sit advice already. FFXtreme is well, extreme, and has what I believe to be the earliest start/sit advice out there. Rad.
• No-Offseason.com has updated their rookie draft board for those of you who are mostly updating keeper leagues with rookies - or those who are just set on finding the next big rookie sensation.
• Check out KFFL's uber-helpful Fantasy football: running back handcuff chart in case you're trying to determine who to target in those later rounds.
  
• I snagged Felix Jones as my RB3 with the 6.09 pick of my expert mock draft because I really believe in the Cowboys o-line. I found the Fifth Down's article If Only the Cowboys Had Better Blocking interesting - lines up pretty well with my belief that Jones is worth taking a chance on here, particularly if the Boys can tweak their run blocking just a bit.
• I like Rotoworld's write-up on Steve McNair - A Strange Fourth.
  

Happy 4th!

Greetings on the 4th of July. Always a fun time of year. This is "get ready to move to NYC" time of the year for us right now and yesterday that meant a trip to the vet to get our cats microchipped. All 17 of them. Kidding, kidding, we only have 2 cats (but admit it, for a second you believed I might be that crazy library lady with 17 cats didn't you?). According to the vet, our cats were some of the most mellow, well-behaved cats she'd ever microchipped before (yes, that pleases me) but I was the not-so-mellow one. This is a precursor to our car trip east when I'll be spending the whole time wondering just how traumatized our pets are. Should be fun, right? My husband is a saint.

Anyway, I hope you all have fun plans in the works for the 4th. Here are a few links to add some football to your holiday.

• FantasySharks have a whole bunch of good material right now - first, if you're interested in which old guy to try and capitalize on this season, read Meet the Warners of 2009 - Holt, Ward and Driver.
• More Sharks action: Sleeper Wide Receiver for 2009. I agree on most fronts here but I do think Steve Smith will be the Giants WR to own, not Domenik Hixon...time will tell!
• I'm digging the simplicity and helpfulness of Pigskin Addiction's 2009 Bye Week Grid. I appreciate the detail beyond just team names so that you can see which major fantasy players are included. Takes some of the extra thinking out of an already intense draft day, no?
  
• Finally, there are a lot of draft kits coming out these days...read on for some of the best:

1. Football Outsiders Almanac - they're doing something a little different this year. Typically they've printed the Pro Football Prospectus every preseason but this year they've got the almanac and it's available in different formats and price points. For a four-page preview of their RB analysis, take a look here.
2. Mac. Bros Fantasy Football Draft Guide - coming out on July 19 - is freely available and includes rankings and individual player analysis.
   
3. RotoExperts' Fantasy Football Draft Kit - not out yet, I don't think, but it's free for registered users and you can scope out what they offered in 2008 to see if it's up your alley.
   

Enjoy the weekend!

And the League is Getting Larger!

You guys are impressive - in the 24 hours since I posted the info about this season's FFLibrarian league I've signed up 45 of you. Amazing - thank you for the interest! Right now I have the league set at 48 but we can get much bigger. For those of you who are wondering how this will work, it will be divided into multiple conferences which will each have their own draft and weekly head-to-head competitions. Should be great fun so if you're interested and haven't signed up yet, e-mail me and I'll send an invitation your way.

• Those who have been reading this blog for awhile know that I get a great kick out of Matthe Berry's sense of humor...so I'm quite pleased to see his Love/Hate: 2009 edition column up - and check out the love for Michael Turner!
• For you die hard Browns fans Fifth Down has the following offering: 2009 Forecast: Browns should be much better.
• I just submitted my 4th round pick in a PPR league - see the results so far here. At this point I've got a squad of Michael Turner, Steve Smith, Wes Welker and Ryan Grant. Thoughts?
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru has hit on one of my favorite football topics: offensive line analysis. Check out his ranking of the top 15 o-lines and which players might be impacted.
• A heads up for those of you in auction-style leagues that FFToolbox continuously updates their FF average auction values table.
• FantasySharks.com offers up their list of Keeper League Wide Receivers - a helpful ranking if you got one of the non-sure keeper guys.
  

The FFLibrarian League is on!

Oh yeah, you read that post title correctly: the FFLibrarian League has arrived. I have already sent out an invitation with the league details to a handful of people that e-mailed me about joining in on the league fun, but there's still plenty of room. So if you are interested, e-mail me and I'll send you an invitation. I set it up for a live draft but am wondering if you guys have thoughts on this - would you all prefer a live draft (at the end of August) or an e-mail draft (could take a few weeks so we would need to start in early August)? Whatever the majority prefers will be our draft method.

In the meantime, my mock draft slowly rolls on and I really appreciate all the comments I've heard from you guys so far on the mock. I've got some great options lined up for my next pick - which way do you think I'll go: RB or WR?

• Nearly an identical group of experts mock drafted in May - take a look at those results here if you're really interested in this mock draft thing.
• More offensive line analysis is being cranked out by Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy - take a look at the Pats, Jets and Bears.
• FFToolbox has mobile cheatsheets for those who are making draft decisions on the go. I scoped it out on my iPhone and am digging it - looks good, easy to read, and as somebody who has had to make draft decisions far from my home laptop, I think this is a great idea.
• FFToolbox also has an interesting Who Not to Keep list - while I do agree that a lot of these guys will underperform compared to previous years or teams, I would certainly keep a good chunk of them on my dynasty team.
• I heart DeAngelo Williams - I think he's awesome, but CBS Sports reminds me to temper my expectations for him in 2009. Sigh, I'll do what I can but I think the guy is going to have another great season.
• Sports Grumblings' Fire Sale: The King is Back includes a non-lovefest for Michael Jackson before getting into the meat of the article - players whose value is going up or down in 09. There's some unique analysis here, names you don't see quite as much mentioned, which I really appreciate.
• Which 5 WRs will have 100+ receptions this season? Read SportingNews.com's Five WRs who could be in 100 club in 09.