Fantasy Football Librarian

An early happy father's day to all you dads. I for one would be a muttering, frazzled fool without the love and help of my husband - and of course where would I be without my own amazing dad? Look at how he lights up my son's face. I'm indebted to my dad for years of compassion, generosity, and goofiness that I now see reflected in my own son. What a blessing. So kudos to all you dads, grandpas, stepdads, and every kind of dad in between. Job well done. Moving on to our more standard material: fantasy football awesomeness. Let's take a look at some end of the week linkage below: If you're all about the mock results (or heck, real draft results), here are a few more to keep you entertained: WalterFootball.com runs through a recent mock with some forum readers and talks about some of the best and worst picks by round.   The Fantasy Sports Trade Association met earlier this week and one of the highlights of the conference is the annual FSTA experts draft. ...

Oh readers, I'm rolling into the long weekend with a gigantic ol' cold. Hit me like a ton of bricks this morning when I woke up and I've just been sniffling and sneezing my way through the day, trying to get these links up but losing focus in between glasses of Emergen-C, tea, and OJ. So much liquid to consume, so little time. But this is a huge drafting weekend and I know you're all looking for that extra edge for draft day, so let's get right to it: With nearly all the preseason games in the books, it's a great time to take a look at some of the players who have been the talk of the fantasy town...but perhaps aren't worth it in Beware the Preseason Hype . Some more guys that come with major red flags are listed in FantasyAlarm.com's 2011 Fantasy Football Busts . Overlook the fact that they initially have Hillis down as a Bronco. Just 1 Bronco per bust list, please.  It's also time for Matthew Berry's annual ten lists of 10 . If you haven...

There's nothing quite like getting a call from your child's daycare while your child is supposedly safely ensconced in the safety of their care...which is precisely what happened to me yesterday morning. After our initial phone pleasantries, I paused, waiting for his teacher to tell me what horrible event had befallen our son. I think for a moment there my heart stopped and I wondered why she sounded so calm when she was clearly about to tell me that our son was hospitalized with a missing head or something equally tragic. But no, it was far more minor: he had caught a virus going around daycare and could I come pick him up. Not a huge deal but after a lengthy visit to the doctor (oh and have I mentioned that our new health insurance doesn't actually kick in for a few more days?) and a long day of missed naps and general grumpiness from all parties involved, I missed my chance to get a post up yesterday, my apologies. But hey, Monday is always a slow day on the fantasy anal...

Based on my twitter feed, it seems as though the football world is ablaze with Peyton and Kerry Collins news . Catch up if you haven't already heard and, yes, I'm in the camp that thinks this is not great news but probably thanks to the Peyton-awe that's been drilled into me by my dear Peyton-worshiping husband, I don't think this is worth too much hemming and hawing. By the way, how is Collins only 38? Seems like he ought to have at least a decade on me minimum. Also by the way, Peyton has 5-month-old twins. Dang if that isn't a lot going on in the ol' Manning house. Lots of other stuff going on: A few rankings for you all on this fine Wednesday: The Sports Outlaw's Draft Prep pre-season rankings Razzball.com's Non-PPR 2011 Cheat sheet , printable and all For you, my IDPers, 2011 Redraft IDP Rankings: Defensive Backs from IDP Manor Athlon Sports offers up their Sleepers & Busts, this link goes to Running Backs . Far more sleepers than bu...

Oy. Had my first draft of the season this weekend and all I can think of now are the things I'd do differently. I only had time to do one mock draft beforehand and let me tell you, it takes more than that to get the cobwebs out...even for someone who is constantly reading FF info all offseason. So I can't encourage you enough to swing by either your league hosting site, Mock Draft Central , Fantasy Football Calculator , or any other number of sites for easy mocking. I know you're all busy people but if you can squeeze in a mock or two, you'll be grateful you did come draft day. Anyway, I participated in the FFNerd's awesome Experts League (part of the reason it's so awesome is that the Nerd is making a donation to the league champion's charity of choice) and you can find the results of the draft here . I will note that late in Round 6 there was some chatting during which it was discussed that our flex spot includes QBs. The commish had made this very clea...

Nice to see you again, old friends. Yes, I'm talking to you, preseason games. I know, it's not actual NFL action to most of you...but come on, you can't really hide your excitement can you? ProFootballFocus.com has a nice Preseason Primer with info on tonight's games and what you'll want to look for from each team. I've got tons of material for you today. I was busy yesterday with the 2011 Average Rankings Position Spreadsheet that I posted last night so I have basically two days' worth of content for you now. Let's have at it. Remember Fantasy Pros? The guys who did some awesome weekly accuracy analysis? They've got lots of tricks up their sleeves and I thought I'd send you over to two recent articles from them: Love or Hate? Greene, Bowe, Freeman, and Holmes - one of the awesome things that Fantasy Pros is doing is tracking 50 different experts' rankings for every player and displaying the various rankings on every player's page...

I absolutely love it when I have a full slate of articles to share with you guys - seriously, my browser is chock full of excellent analyses and pretty much everything you need to get psyched about the 2011 season (for those interested, at the time this post is published, there still isn't a deal yet ...). Let's dive right in to today's links without further ado: Rankings, oh rankings - love 'em: When Yahoo is polishing up the rankings, you know the season can't be far behind - Big Board Top 100 . If it's their positional rankings you seek, head here for their Preseason QB rankings (from there you can link to other positions as well). LestersLegends.com's 2011 Fantasy Football RB Rankings Razzball.com's 2011 Top 10 Fantasy Football Quarterbacks You all know I love stats, probably more than your average fantasy footballer and I'm sure I sometimes get carried away with stories that the stats tell. Rotoworld's When the stats deceive is a nice...

Victory feels so close, my friends. Let's keep our fingers crossed that all these positive 2011 season rumors aren't all for naught. And as a side note, as soon as the lockout is lifted, my goal is to get back to my normal in-season posting every weekday - as always, if there's a topic you're particularly interested in, shoot me an e-mail and I'll do what I can to include it in these links. Speaking of e-mailing me, the first person to e-mail me wins access to FantasyFootballXtreme.com's 2011 Fantasy Draft Kit ( I'll post an update here when the kit is spoken for, which based on last year's enthusiasm for FFX's draft kit will be in about 2.2 seconds Draft kit is spoken for, thanks for all the interest!). I'll be giving away another kit next week and then 2/week when August rolls around. West coasters, I promise to post this offer at a later time next week to make sure you get in on the action. Those of you in the market for a little draft ...

It's been a long, full day here - we're closing on our new house in Knoxville, Tennessee at the end of the week and since we won't actually be there in person for the closing, we unexpectedly found ourselves today with 24 hours to turn around 82 pages of paperwork, which required visits to two different notary publics and multiple trips to Kinkos. Good times. But the papers are signed, the funds are being transferred...the deal is nearly sealed! Two weeks from tomorrow the movers will truck our stuff out of here and I'll be a travelin' blogger for a week or so. In the meantime, plenty of fantasy football to talk about here: With the lockout talks going so swimmingly, I feel like folks are feeling more comfortable putting rankings out there. Here are a few that have been posted or updated recently: FOXSports.com's composite rankings for the top 200 players SI organizes RBs into 8 tiers from the linchpins to the late-round fliers SonsofRoto.com has their Ve...

In a mere 5 weeks I will be on the road with 2 cats, a 10-month-old baby, a husband, a litter box, and a few suitcases all crammed into a rental car as we move from Brooklyn (our home for the past 2 years) down to Knoxville, Tennessee (our home of the future). Those of you who have been around the blog for a few years know that we've moved somewhat frequently, so you can imagine my delight upon hearing that my husband's future employer will cover the cost of not just our move, but the packing of our possessions. Packing?! Tremendous! I can't quite imagine how it will feel a few days before the move to have absolutely nothing boxed up and for all of our many baby-related items to remain strewn about the house. To celebrate the awesomeness of that, let's enjoy the Manning Brothers' "Football Cops" trailer . Or perhaps I should celebrate with wings from good ol' Buffalo Wild Wings (who sent me to the Super Bowl in 2010 , so they have my eternal love). I...

Can we all get together and lobby to make September into Fantasy Football Awareness Month or what? Happy September and happy drafting - my week has been full of drafts already and the fun is really just beginning. I took MJD with the 3rd overall pick in a draft last night and am hoping that was the right move (Ray Rice was just sitting there, calling for me...). One of our links will address the MJD knee issue but I also have the results of the Buffalo Wild Wings League draft that I participated in on Monday night for you all. Adam Levitan of Rotoworld did a live chat during the draft , so check out his chat for the picks plus a bit of sage commentary. I feel only okay about my team; some picks felt money, others were a stretch or a panic pick when my guy went right before my turn. You all know how that feels I'm sure, what drafter doesn't? So moving on to today's links: Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy takes a look at the 2010 Top 10 Overvalued Players - remember thi...

I've got lots of links for you today that I've been culling all weekend. I also want to make sure you all know that my updated average rankings position spreadsheet will be updated later today and I'll either have it up tonight or tomorrow. I wanted to wait until the all-important Week 3 games were finished and I hope that's not too late for most of you with your drafts. Speaking of drafts, I have several this week (including the Buffalo Wild Wings League draft tonight!) and I know that many of you do, too. If you'd like an extra place to draft and try your hand at playing against me in a sense, head on over to RapidDraft.com where my rankings and draft strategies are used for one of their avatars . Plus if you are RapidDraft.com's big winner, there's a $100K grand prize and really, who couldn't use that? Let's get to today's links: First up this morning is a look at drafting strategy from Razzball - Drafting From Positions 5-8 . Having don...

Now that all of the Week 1 preseason games are in the books, we can start thinking a bit more about how injuries and outstanding players from this week might affect the season. Remember that's a big "might" though there's always something - or should I say someone - interesting that emerges during the preseason. So let's get right to it and read up on today's links: A great first place to start today - The Hazean's Notable Preseason Heroes to Date discusses some dudes you might want to keep an eye on. And of course after last night's NY/NJ teams showdown, you'll want to keep Giants rookie Victor Cruz on your radar as well - see Giants Rookie Cruz Shines With Three Touchdown Catches for more on that front. Roto Arcade's First down: Handoffs galore are in Spiller's immediate future takes a look at some developments from this weekend's games but I'm also on board with the conclusion here that grabbing an elite QB like Aaron Rodge...

It was a long day at my real job today, my friends (yes, I do actually have a real librarian job for you newbies to the site), so the thought of all of the fantasy football drafts I've got coming up in a few weeks is certainly perking me up a bit tonight. I've been trying to limit the number of leagues I'm playing in this year without a ton of success and thought I'd mention a few of the more public leagues I'll be part of since they might be worth following as the season starts up. First up, as many of you know, I was the champion of the inaugural Buffalo Wild Wings Fantasy Football Blogger League and I won a trip to the Super Bowl - incredible. Can't say enough awesome stuff about that experience and I'll be back to defend my title this year. There's a BWW site dedicated to the league - right now it's all last year's content - but I recommend scoping it out for blog postings from the other players, who are just as impressive a crew as last yea...

It's visiting season here in Brooklyn: friends of ours from our Boulder, CO days swung through NYC during an east coast road trip so we've spent the past few nights happy houring it up with them, and now I've got a good friend from college in town this weekend. It's great to have friends around, gotta love being surrounded by such fun company. Fortunately they all have a great deal of respect for the need to post to FFLibrarian, so I've got a post full of great links for you today: I sound like a broken record when I talk about what Jay Clemons pulls together in SI's latest Fantasy Clicks , but every time I read it I really am impressed that Jay has bundled so much fantasy intensity into one post. I guarantee you'll find value in this sucker with some highlights being: 1) a flow chart of sorts that guide you in your first 5 picks depending on which draft slot you've landed and 2) an in-depth review of drafting from the 6th slot and 3) RB tiers. I'm ...

My dad has gone completely bananas and has dedicated an extensive amount of time and energy over the past several day to researching our various family lineages online. I've got all sorts of fascinating characters in my family history - politicians, vaudeville actors, Amish, town founders, poets - and I didn't anticipate finding any of it as interesting as I do. But perhaps I should have been more prepared for that since as all fantasy football buffs know, a look back in time can really be quite informative. Today we've got a growing number of rankings being published and even more are en route with August just around the corner. Several of you have asked if I'll be pulling together another average rankings position spreadsheet as I did in past years, and yes, I will be! I'll be posting the first set of average rankings around August 10-15th or so and will update it at the end of the month. I know many of you found it to be a useful tool for draft day so here's...

A week from tomorrow is the big move in my household...though "big" is all relative seeing as our new place is merely half a mile away; not quite the Boulder to NYC move we made last summer. But one of the best parts about this move is that we're switching around our cable tv a bit and will soon have access to the NFL Network. Many of you can understand how happy this makes me (sad but true...) - perhaps all of the packing and moving is worth it if only even for the football upgrade! I've been a little quiet this week with kind of a lot going on here but I know we're getting to the heart of fantasy football prep season so don't worry, I've got you covered with some high quality links for your Friday afternoon entertainment. More and more sites are cranking out their rankings (or just updating what they've already published) and another set of rankings you might want to scope out is from The Sports Outlaw - take a look here for their standard ranking...

I've got a full day today, my FF friends. I'm meeting with some library folks here in NYC this morning and I've got my Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star Blogger League draft tonight around 7:30. I'm almost positive that I'll be drafting live from the local Brooklyn BWW so if you're in the area, feel free to swing by if you can. I might be intensely deep into draft mode, but I'd love the support. Plus who doesn't want to start the week with a tasty brew? I'll keep you all posted later this afternoon if plans change. A few quick links for you since I'm running out the door - I'll try to post more later today. For those already looking for waiver wire advice, take a look at Hatty Waiver Wire Guru's video waiver tips . First of the season. Those FFLibrarian old timers know that I heart offensive lines (if you need a reminder of how great o-lines are, take a look at what John Tuvey from The Huddle pulled together ) - so it warms my heart to see ...

Happy football day! College football is here, preseason football continues. LOVE it. I've been a little slow on this past week's preseason contest winner (which QB had the most yards) but I'll be posting an update on that front later today. In the meantime, the preseason week 4 contest is: which TE will have the most receiving yards this week and how many yards will he have? Send me an e-mail with your guess for a chance to win a season-long subscription to FFXtreme . So I tried to limit the number of fantasy football leagues I would be playing in this year - I bowed out of two since I wasn't sure I could handle doing 7 leagues again (one of them inevitably falls through the cracks). But of course, new leagues came up that I just couldn't say no to (like the BWW league ) so I'm back up to 8 leagues. How did this happen?! If I seem to be going insane at any point during the season, don't be surprised. Let's jump into today's latest and greatest: I g...

I survived my meeting with a personal trainer - I was dead on with the presumption that I'd get my butt kicked for my poor posture (and man, are my shoulder blades ever paying for it today!) but at least I was complimented on my squats form. Anyway, one of my goals is to run faster, better, longer - all that good stuff. It's possible that my plan to run like Usain Bolt though might be in peril (the dude keeps breaking his own record!), but I'm trying to get inspired by having the World Track & Field Championships on in the background this morning (I guarantee my husband and brother-in-law are both quite jealous of my morning). Whether or not this will translate into speed at the gym is to be determined... But back to focusing on football! I love this tidbit from FootballOutsiders on Chad Ochocino kicking not only an extra point in last night's game but also a 61-yard opening kick to start the 2 nd half. Heads up Peyton Manning naysayers - he had a great night la...