Fantasy Football Librarian

The playoffs have come to an end in my leagues but I am sure there are plenty of you out there still needing some last minute advice. Or maybe just interested in who the big players of the week might be with such an odd week in terms of studs and duds. With so many playoff implications, this week promises to be an unusual stat week. So here are the start/sit sites for Week 17 NFL Start 'em Sit 'em FantasySharks Start/Bench List FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em CoachBox's Start/Bench Recs NFLFreaks Start-Bench List ProFantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em RotoWorld's Last Minute Decisions Happy college bowl season to you all. We have an annual family bowl pool that involves about 30 family members and pets hedging their bets on the bowl games. I'm happy to report that I am currently tied for third right now - back by only two games. Perhaps I'll have more luck with the bowl pool than I did with fantasy football this yea...

First, football. Here are the Start/Bench sites for Week 16. Best of luck to you all. FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recs FantasySharks Start/Bench List NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProfantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em SI's Start 'em, Sit 'em NFL Start 'em Sit 'em A massive snowstorm hit Denver yesterday - we were supposed to fly out of Denver back to Washington, D.C., for Christmas. This did not happen. After a trip out to the airport and getting two flights cancelled, we returned back to Boulder by bus. The normal 1 hour bus ride took over 7. It was fairly awful. The roads were parking lots with cars stranded all over the place. Thankfully, we finally made it back home at about 8:30 last night and are stuck here in Colorado until Saturday. On Saturday we are on the highly coveted flight to Baltimore (not even our original destination) through San Francisco. Ouch. But we...

This week might be a little light on posts since we will be traveling back east to be with our families for the holidays [ornament from Designer Ornaments]. I'll do what I can though in getting the bench/start sites up here on Thursday. For now, a few articles on waiver issues (is anyone even scouring the waivers still?) and other advice for those of you dominating the playoffs. Or those of us just trying to maintain our pride in the consolation rounds... FootballDocs Pick-up/Drop Advice Fabiano's Strange Happenings in Fantasy Playoffs RotoWorld's The Morning After FoxSports.com's Stars & Flops

While even you best defensive plans can go awry and the Julius Peppers players of the world can let you down unexpectedly, it definitely pays to check out the IDP reports each week to see who the "experts" would start or sit. So here's your weekly IDP update: FootballSharks.com The Hive, Part I FoxSports IDP Nation ProFantasySports IDP Report

Welcome to Week 15, fantasy footballers. The addition of a Saturday night game is sure to bring some of us a little holiday cheer - personally, I'd say having a game to watch on 4 different days of the week is like Christmas come early. But holiday parties call this Saturday night and I'm not sure I can request that the host turn on Cowboys/Falcons. We'll see. In the meantime, here are the week's start/sit advice sites. Enjoy! FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recs FantasySharks Start/Bench List NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProfantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em SI's Start 'em, Sit 'em NFL Start 'em Sit 'em

Looking for some advice for your lineup as Week 15 quickly approaches? While I definitely support the ol' dance-with-them-that-brung-you mentality, I also think the waiver wire could pose some very interesting options for those of you desperately needing to secure your place in playoffs. For example? I dropped Jason Elam last week (a spectacular kicker but with that hamstring tweak I wasn't taking any chances) and picked up Josh Scobee. Scobee went nuts and gave me something like 14 or 15 points. Even with a missed field goal. So get out there and see if there might be someone on the waivers worth picking up. RotoWorld's Waiver Wired FoxSports Quick Hits: Recap - notes on favorable matchups for Week 15 NFL Daily Dish - Fabiano's waiver list from 12/11 And on another note, tonight at the Walnut Brewery in Boulder, we will be celebrating Scott and Kevin's 240th b eer and thus the culmination of their membership in the Mug Club. Soon their 32 oz mugs will be sitting ...

In this last week of games before playoffs, I had a truly magnificent fantasy week. Forget the fact that the MNF game hasn't even happened yet - I'm still going to go 3-0 in my leagues this week and while it's an awesome feeling it's also rather bittersweet. I am extremely sorry to say that I did not make it to the playoffs in any of my 3 leagues (see below for explanation). So that said, I feel immense pleasure in going 3-0 in a big way this week just to prove that my teams are still fighting (thank you, Jones-Drew! [photo: David E. Klutho/SI]). I stayed up late last night running some 3-way ANOVAs to try and determine the variance between the means of each player in each of my teams and came up with the conclusion that my teams are still awesome (fine, so I didn't actually run the ANOVA and I haven't even thought about what an ANOVA test is since fall of 2000 in a required stats class that I put off until my senior year of college but actually really enjoyed)....

Since your defenders can help you win or lose a game far more than we all sometimes realize, here's a little help in the IDP world: ProfantasySports IDP Report RotoWorld IDP Nation FantasySharks The Hive - two editions this week, here's #1 and #2

This past weekend one of my fantasy teams lost by less than 1 point, pulling me out of the top 4 spots and thus out of the playoffs. Not cool. I plan to dominate the consolation round when the time co mes, though the prospect of being the #5 team at best is still pretty disheartening. I'm hoping the rest of you had better luck and if you're still searching for advice on start and bench calls, I'm guessing it's likely you're a champ. So here you have it, Week 14's Start/Sit sites - the links will be updated as the sites go live... FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recs FantasySharks Start/Bench List NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProfantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em SI's Start 'em, Sit 'em NFL Start 'em Sit 'em

As we go into Week 14, just another reminder that some of you will need to get your lineups set by the Thursday game. Though if you don't know that by now, I'm guessing you might not be making it to the playoffs. So here are a few waiver wire articles and some thoughts on next season - already. If your season is basically over, I suggest taking a look at the big playermakers right now and making some mental notes about who to pick up come next August. Or if you're in a keeper league, grab em now. CBS Sportsline Fantasy & Reality RotoWorld's Waiver Wired Week 14 FootballDocs Pickup/Drop Advice

Last night I found myself in a rare place where I actually cared more about an entire NFL team than about individual player stats. Quite honestly, that doesn't happen all that often (trust me, I feel a significant amount of angst over that as a football fan). We had some friends over last night for a Jay Cutler Era party - I mean how could you not? I had my fingers triple-crossed that Cutler would have a monster debut, making the late season QB switch a little more credible. This past August I had gone down for an afternoon of Broncos training camp and was completely impressed by Cutler in action. So for most of the season I have had him sitting on the bench of my dynasty/keeper league, just waiting for him to explode onto the scene. That hardly happened last night. However, as my friend Jody said, there might just have been shades of Elway in Cutler's performance. The ultimate compliment from a guy like Jody who is a lifelong Broncos fan. But for the most part the game was alm...

Seems like a few of the usual suspects from the start/sit world didn't get the memo that football starts tonight .If they had, I'd like to think they would've lent a hand to those of us whose lineups must be set stat. Fortunately there are still a handful of sites that are up and prognosticating: FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recs FantasySharks Start/Bench List NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProfantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em SI's Start 'em, Sit 'em

Looking for some advice on your IDPs this week? ProFantasySports IDP Report FantasySharks The Hive - link will be updated when The Hive goes live FFToday IDP Notes

Maybe, like me, your already less-than-stellar TE went down with a leg injury this past weekend and you're sitting there looking at the waiver wire and quietly cursing every single person in your league for hoarding TEs (I mean is Dan Campbell as good as it gets?). Or you're just pissed at tight ends for not actually being better this season. Where's the performance? Regardless, it's waiver wire time for week 13. Here's some help: FootballDocs Pick-up/Drop Advice SI's Late Sleepers CBS Sportsline's Fantasy & Reality: Who Can You Trust? FoxSports Waiver Watch RotoWorld's Waiver Wired

Clearly the idea of having NFL games on as many nights of the week as possible is awesome, so I'm kind of excited about this whole Thursday Night Football thing. However, it really throws a wrench in the lineup situtaion - in my CBS league we must have our whole lineup set one hour prior to the kickoff of the first game. Anyone else in this situation? If so, get ready for several weeks of gambling on those game time decision guys. Like Marques Colston [photo: Wash Post] and his ankle injury - do I play Colston or Henderson in Week 13? It adds an extra challenge right when we are all battling for playoff spots. Should keep things interesting and I highly recommend that you all check your league/host rules for any changes that this TNF tradition might bring.

The Pats came into this week's game without having beaten a winning team this season. I believed in the Bears - and perhaps the strength of the NFC - a little too much. I should've listened to SI's Dr. Z and his forecast for the week. (Yes, I am referring to an actual paper resource for fantasy - unless of course you've gone to the trouble of putting your subscriber info into SI's site and you are exclusive enough to read the online version .) Or perhaps I should've just listened to Pete and Katie: one hardcore lifelong Pats fan and one New Englandish transplant sister of mine - I made a wager with them at halftime of the Bears/NE game that the Bears would win. And the Bears and I both lost. Humble pie for me. While I really needed Brady to crash and burn for playoff reasons, all hope is not lost yet. Lucky for Pete and Katie, I won't go nuts like this guy did , but I am definitely liking the sounds of double or nothing. Wait, against Detroit? Hmm, well craz...

If you're anything like me, you're probably feeling completely disoriented about which day of the week it is. And when do you get to watch the NFL again? And see your fantasy stats roll by again? Seems like a long time since Thursday's games. So here's a little something to tide you over until tomorrow. Oh and welcome to the Cutler Era, my fellow Denverites. FFToday.com's Steppin' Up/Down NFL.com's Burning Questions for Week 12 RotoWorld.com's Last Minute Decisions

And let's not forget those defenders - here's a little love for that other side of the ball. Read on for IDP advice: ProFantasySports IDP Report FantasySharks The Hive And since I feel like this is not enough, here's another waiver wire article for you: Fox Sports/Rotter Waiver Watch

Last night I was jarred awake as one of my cats walked across me in an attempt to curl up in the crook of my arm. As I lay there getting tickled by whiskers, I realized that I had been dreaming about football. In my dream I was drafting a team for the Broncos. Truly a dream. I can only assume that this is due to reading about the Ravens draft in Next Man Up right before falling asleep. But it's official - I am obsessed. Apparently I can't get enough football while I'm awake so I now bring it with me to REM. Awesome. But now to starting and benching. Here are your columns for the week - I'll give them links as they go live: NFL Start 'em Sit 'em FantasySharks Start/Bench List Football Docs Bench/Start CoachBox's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recommendations NFLFreaks Start-Bench List ProFantasySports Start 'em Sit 'em CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em SI Start 'em Sit 'em

Thanksgiving week means a short turnaround in the football world. Those of us in Denver (or who have the NFL Network) will be blessed with three games on Thanksgiving Day [art: Dean Rohrer]. I mean truly, can there be a better way to 1) start a 4-day weekend or 2) give thanks than to have football games on all day long? Didn't think so. But what this means is that you'll have to pay quick attention to your lineups this week. Start-Bench sites are likely to go live early - I know that NFL's Start 'em Sit 'em will go up on Wednesday night. I'll be sure to get a blog going on Start-Bench sites as the time gets closer. In the meantime, I know fantasy teams that completely fell apart this weekend. Wheels came flying off the playoff machines thanks to injuries from McNabb, Kevin Jones, Marques Colston, Reuben Droughns, LaMont Jordan (though who was really counting on that guy to get them to the playoffs?)...and Bulger, what is going on? As a two-league Bulger owner, I...

I have a lot of pride at stake when I play my friend Ethan this weekend. Not sure what will pull me through to victory but if it comes down to IDPs, I'm set. I mean how did I manage to get Julius Peppers [Globe Staff Photo/Matthew J. Lee], Jared Allen, Bart Scott, and Cato June? Phenomenal. Ethan, you have no hope. But in another league, I have a few holes here and there that need to be patched up with my IDPs. Where to turn? If you need some advice, check these sites out: FantasyShark's The Hive ProFantasySports IDP Report RotoWorld's IDP Nation

So here they are: Week 11's Start-Bench suggestions from around the www. As usual, when the sites go live, I will update the links. Enjoy! NFL Start 'em Sit 'em SI Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Sharks Start/Bench List FootballDocs Bench/Start Advice Ask the Commish CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em CoachBox.com's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recommendations NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProFantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em

Stepping outside the realm of fantasy stats ever so slightly, I thought I'd mention a few football things that I have recently discovered. First off is the book Next Man Up - my brother-in-law gave it to me a few weeks ago due to my ever-increasing passion for all things football (thanks Brian!). The book is John Feinstein's inside look at a year spent with the Baltimore Ravens - an attempt to capture all the ups and downs of pro football. As a librarian I can't help but encourage people to read books, and obviously this could be an excellent choice for those of us who truly can't get enough football in our lives. Go. Read. Next...I don't know quite which one of these shirts I find the most appealing, nor if I would actually be able to wear one in public. But I still find them really entertaining. Winning in the irreverently hilarious category would be Jesus Drafted My Fantasy Football Team . Though I think my favorite one is the Unstoppable Fantasy Football Team ...

I'll be honest, one of my ff teams began the season as an absolute disaster. Something in me thought that Daunte Culpepper was going to be IT this year. That didn't happen and my team has been seriously struggling. Until a few weeks ago - and now I've won 3 in a row and don't plan on losing again. However, the rib injury to Willis McGahee has created a little bump in the road [photo: Rick Stewart/Getty Images] - while I fixed it temporarily with Wali Lundy, I just don't see Lundy pulling through as the powerhouse I need. And Maroney, another RB on my team, has completely abandoned the huge potential he showed earlier this season. So to make it to the playoffs, now I need a new star RB. [note: the mere fact that I still have a chance to even make it to the playoffs should be shocking and amazing to those of you in my league.] Are there any of those even left? Any suggestions from the rest of you would be welcomed. For now, I'm off to troll the waiver wire to see...

Who to start...who to bench. Now that you've less than 3 days until Sunday, it's time to get your lineups set for the week. Here are the weekly start-bench sites: NFL Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Sharks Start-Bench List SI Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Football Docs Bench/Start Ask the Commish CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recommendations NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProFantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em Got any other sites you really like? Let me know and I will add them to the list. Almost every week, one of our buddies (the commish in two of my leagues) calls us on Sunday morning to talk about the week's matchups. At the end of the conversation he leaves us with a very official, completely genuine "good luck" - even if he's playing one or both of us. He takes it all very seriously (who doesn't?) but I love that I get that "good luck" from him every week. So classy. And on tha...

Can you believe we're past the bye weeks already? Time to step it up in fantasy football. Here are a few articles to help in your domination of Week 10 games: ProFantasySports.com's IDP Report PigskinAddiction's Waiver Wire Work FantasySharks Waiver Wire Pickups FFToolbox's Waiver Wire Bargains FoxSports Waiver Watch CBS Sportsline's Playing the Waiver Wire

For the record, I have beaten my nemesis. Waahaahaa! However, I need a miracle tonight from 2 defenders (Burgess (oak) and Hamlin (sea)) and my kicker (Josh Brown) in order to beat my husband. If they don't give me a combined total of 37 points, then I'll have to wait until 2007 to play Scott again, I fear. And I would like to point out that this is complete luck on Scott's side - sorry, dude - but his IDP London Fletcher had 21 points. That's unreal. What a beast. And I lost two players to injured ribs - Willis McGahee and Bernard Berrian. I must be bad rib luck. Heal quickly.

Yet another reason to love Cato June [AP photo]...check out this article from CBS Sportsline. This man plays fantasy football (here's a stat I'd like to know: how many NFL players play fantasy football?). And Cato sits those on his fantasy team that he plays against in real Colts life. What a guy. I always knew I liked having him on my team but I thought it was for his hard-hitting skills and awesome last name. You see, I'm one of those people that really loves their birthday and since I was born in the month of June, I feel some sort of kinship with Cato June. The list of reasons to love Cato June is growing...

Here we are with just one more full day before football begins again. My beloved Wildcats take on Iowa followed by Ohio State next weekend. It won't be pretty. I've come to terms with the fact that Northwestern is goi ng through yet another rebuilding year and that there won't be any surprise wins (even though beating the Buckeyes would make my season). In fact, one of my friends even referred to my reaction to NU's loss to Michigan as mature. I call it giving up. So instead I'm putting all of my football energy for the weekend in my fantasy teams. This is particularly true since I am playing my nemesis in one of my leagues (no, not my husband). Perhaps I'm alone in this but every season I seem to develop one particular nemesis that I just really want to beat. And beat badly. Usually it's because they say asinine things on the message board or smack talk in a really irritating way. I've been known to mutter their team name under my breath during draft ...

Oh ProFantasySports.com, thank you for an early Week 9 IDP Report . Usually this doesn't come out until Friday so I will consider this a little All Saints Day present. Once again I will be playing my husband in one of our leagues this weekend. Perhaps my final chance until 2007 to beat him in fantasy football. I would say wish me luck but with the help of the IDP report, I am convinced that luck is not necessary. Unless I lose again - and then it's all luck, baby. I've been updating the Waiver Wire Wisdom entry so keep checking it if you need waiver help this week. Happy birthday to the Hee Man . Can't believe you've made it this far.

Week 9 will be here before you know it. Get on the waivers now before it's too late. More articles will be added as the week progresses. Most Valuable Network's Work the Wire, the Waiver Wire Fantasy Football Docs Pick Up Drop ProFantasySports.com's Waiver Wire FFToday's Through the Wire

Yesterday I spent several hours basking in the sun (that's code for turning pale red and gaining even more freckles) at INVESCO Field watching a great Broncos/Colts game and squinting from my exceedingly high seat over to the jumbotron to try and read the fantasy stats as they scrolled across. I do love my Broncos - we made a trip out to Broncos training camp this August which only cemented my high opinion of Jason Elam, Al Wilson, Nick Ferguson, Tony Scheffler, Jay Cutler...the list goes on. So it was great to watch them again live and in action [photo from denverbroncos.com/Ryan McKee]. And Peyton Manning is basically a sacred man in our household. So all told I thoroughly enjoyed being at the game (particularly with thanks to the half-priced tickets legislation at Mile High that made this trip possible). Yet I couldn't help but wish that I was at home with several games to choose from on tv and constant fantasy stats access. That seems so wrong. Of course part of it is proba...

Still expecting big things out of an IDP who really has yet to get going this season? Or perhaps looking for a bye replacement for the week? Check out The Hive and IDP Report for help in sorting through all the IDPs that might still be available in your league.

Hoy hoy! The snow is coming down like crazy here in Colorado...makes me want to curl up with a laptop and report back on Week 8 advice for fellow fantasy footballers. So here is this week's list of Start/Bench sites - I'll update the links as the sites go live. Enjoy! NFL Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Sharks Start-Bench List SI Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Football Docs Bench/Start Ask the Commish CBS Sportsline Start 'em Sit 'em Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench Recommendations NFL Freaks Start-Bench List ProFantasySports Start 'em Bench 'em

Here you go - some articles to give you a hand for Week 8. Check em out. Fantasy Football Docs Pick Up/Drop Fantasy Football Jungle Wire Work FFToolbox Waiver Wire Bargains

This was a tough weekend in my world of football. I returned to my alma mater over a long weekend for my 5 year reunion and went to the Northwestern vs. Michigan State game. The one which made history thanks to NU's complete inability to hold onto their 35 point lead? Yes. In some small way, being there and being surrounded by thousands of other sad Wildcats fans was easier than watching this defeat at my house. I also have had a rough weekend in the fantasy world thanks to some bye week replacements and some generally hideous performances. [However, I was delighted to see Gonzo return to his old ways!] So on that note, for those of you who, like me, need some serious help in getting out of a football funk this week, I will be scouring the www for help. Stay tuned. And on a completely different note, cheers to Scott for a great Chicago Marathon , injured knee and all. You're the best.

So I'm finally going to bring myself to admit that I lost yet again to Scott. Not once, but twice. LT nailed the coffin shut with his outrageous 4 TDs. It hurts. Hopefully I'll have a chance to redeem myself before the season ends. Good work, Scott. In the meantime, some articles for the upcoming Week 7: ProFantasySports.com's Waiver Wire FoxSports.com's Starts and Flops FantasyFootballSharks.com's Waiver Wire

Here are a few articles to help with IDPs on bye; or just replacing bad IDPs. FFToday.com's IDP Notes FantasySharks.com's The Hive So it turns out that the janitor here does not actually live in a closet here at the library. She has a home but she spends the vast majority of her day in her closet here...much to the dismay of her hard-working coworkers it seems. But in other news, apparently several lab rats have escaped from their lab homes/cages and made their way across campus to the library. They are living here somewhere in the walls or in the stacks and are supposedly quite large. I've also heard a rumor that there is a "brunette Fabio-type of guy" that works in the basement. That is pretty entertaining. I'm feeling like there's no limit to things that could happen here. So here's to the weekend and many hours of football ahead.

Hoy hoy fantasy footballers and welcome to Week 6. This weekend is a big one for me - in all my many years of FF (3) I have never beaten my husband. This week I play him in not just one but two leagues. Scott, you're going down. So let's get down to business here. The Week 6 Start/Bench sites I will be looking at this week are below. I'm starting the cycle over again this week and will be analyzing the TE predictions. And speaking of TEs, Tony Gonzalez, where have you been this year? You're worrying me, Gonzo. Can it really be that the disappearance of Trent Green is the only reason that you can't put up decent numbers? FantasySharks Start-Bench List NFL Start 'em Sit 'em SI Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Football Docs Ask the Commish CBS Sportsline Coach Box's Wheelock's Start/Bench NFLFreaks Start-Bench List

After analyzing this week's Start/Sit sites for WRs I have reached the conclusion that one should never use these sites for WR help. WR performances are just too varied from week to week and apparently no one can very accurately predict which players will do well and which won't. So my best advice? Don't use these sites for WR help unless you are so desperate that you're willing to listen to advice that is perilous at best. Of the 8 sites that I looked at, only 2 ended up with suggested starters that performed better than their suggested benchers. Sad. So here are the top two performers of the week: 1. CoachBox Start/Bench Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 28.5 Suggested starters average fantasy points for the week: 6.5 Suggested benchers average ranking for the week: 42.5 Suggested benchers average fantasy points for the week: 6.21 2. SI Start 'em Sit 'em Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 32.75 Suggested starters average fantasy po...

As there are 6 teams on bye for the first time ever, this coming Week 6 will be a challenge for many to fill in their bye slots. Here are a few articles to help: NFL Fantasy Extra Daily Dish Football Docs Pick-up/Drop Advice ProFantasySports.com's The Box Score Bandit

Here are a couple of articles to help with any last minute decisions you might need to make. Both are Week 5 rankings from FoxSports.com - just different authors and styles: Mark Harmon's Week 5 rankings - blurbs on the big and small players of the week Roger Rotter's Week 5 rankings - projected stats by position and matchup Happy 90th birthday to my grandmother!

Time to get your IDPs in order. For info, check out The Hive - and ProFantasySports should have their IDP Report up pretty soon, too. In the meantime, check out FoxSports.com's game predictions, which are organized by matchup. I'll have the link take you to the Colts/Titans game since Peyton Manning is kind of a big deal in our house (photo from athlon sports). Check back with me in a few years to see if my firstborn is actually named Peyton. In other news, I just found out that one of our janitors is actually living in the closet just down the hallway from my office. She removes the trash bin that normally resides in there and makes the closet her home. While this brings up all sorts of Seinfeld references I think the big questions floating around right now are 1) does the closet have a light (I certainly hope so) and 2) how long will this gig last for her? This just makes me completely grateful that the home I return to every night is bigger than 6X6 and doesn't smell...

Good morning fellow fantasy footballers. This week's analysis of the start/bench sites will include the websites listed below. Peruse at your leisure but keep in mind the growing track record they've all developed over the past several weeks. In fact, I think I might start up a small chart as a reminder of how each site has ranked - that will be forthcoming. FantasySharks Start-Bench List NFL Start 'em Sit 'em SI Start 'em Sit 'em Fantasy Football Docs Ask the Commish CBS Sportsline Coach Box ProFantasySports (comes out over the weekend) NFLFreaks Fantasy Football Cafe

Did you by chance pick up Daunte thinking that he was going to be back to his old 2004 antics? (Yes, I did.) And suddenly you're in a panic now that he couldn't even dominate the Texans? (Yes, I am.) If you're thinking that it's time to move on, before you make any rash trades or crazy decisions, my buddy Ethan Conway has created an excellent spreadsheet on potentially available starting QBs. Conway lists the QBs with their remaining schedules and the pass defenses they will be up against (based on performance from Weeks 1 to 4). It's even color-coded (scroll to the right for the key). Conway is in that sweet spot between grad school and a job and clearly has way, way too much time on his hands. But if the outcome is a helpful chart like this, then Conway, may you have this much free time every football season.

Need a little midweek help on your lineup? Or maybe like me you're just happy to still see Marques Colston topping all these get-em-while-you-can lists. Whatever the reason, here are some articles to help you through your Wednesday. ProFantasySports.com Waiver Wire - as the title indicates, this article gives a rundown on possible pickups off the waiver wire and why these guys are worthy of being your bye fill-in. Or your Daunte fill-in. FantasySharks Week 5 Waiver Wire - again, more waiver wire advice. Word to the wise, this guy uses a lot of exclamation points so if you're just settling into your day and your cup of coffee (as I am)...then beware the uber-enthusiasm here. FFToday Through the Wire - I like this one for its deeper analysis. When you're in a league where a lot of the waiver wire guys noted in these articles are already picked up, you need something like this to look deeper and find those overlooked players.

Week 4's analysis of how well the start/bench sites predictions for QB are below: SI Start 'em Sit 'em Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 11.75 Suggested starters average fantasy points for the week: 19.62 Suggested benchers average ranking for the week: 24.67 Suggested benchers average fantasy points for the week: 6.09 Finally SI steps up. Not only did their starters actually perform well but their benchers did not. At last the quality predictions I was expecting from them! All of their starters performed in the top 20 with an average of almost 20 points - not bad at all. Ask the Commish Sit or Start Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 12.83 Suggested starters average fantasy points for the week: 18.96 Suggested benchers average ranking for the week: 19 Suggested benchers average fantasy points for the week: 12.51 So one of the reasons I really think they did a great job this week is because ATC chose 6 QBs that performed in the top 10 of the wee...

Need some updates on your players after yesterday's games? Or in preparation for tonight's game? Check out ProFantasySports.com's player and team updates or get a review with Fanball's Sunday Observations . Still not enough? Try Fabiano's article on emerging sleepers for even more Monday morning info.

I realize it is impossible to keep my personal weekly FF battles out of this blog and so this morning I will just take a moment to relish the fact that I am about to go 3-0 in a big way. My point totals in all three games have blown away everyone else in the leagues and it's almost too great of a feeling. I've asked my sister to remind me of this awesomeness the next time I go 0-3 or have to live through a 2nd half as sad as the Northwestern/Penn State game this past weekend (In fact, I think I might have scared off my old friend Kevin with my extreme reaction to NU's demise...). So is it all of the extra research I've been doing and providing on this blog that has been the difference or just dumb luck?

Greetings and welcome to Week 4. This week the start/bench projections analysis will be done on the websites listed below, based on their calls on QB. Many of them don't have live links yet but as soon as they are posted I will update them. NFLFreaks Start-Bench List Fantasy Football Cafe Ask the Commish Sit or Start FootballDocs Bench-Start SI Start 'em Sit 'em NFL.com Start 'em Sit 'em CBS Sportsline Start 'em & Sit 'em FantasySharks Start/Bench List Fantasy Football Advice Start 'em Sit 'em Recommendations CoachBox Start/Bench Yahoo/KFFL Who to Start, Who to Bench Also, on an IDP note - don't forget to check out ProFantasySports.com's IDP Report .

...like it is in two of my leagues. I'm talking waiver wire. In a classic waiver wire/news monger style way, one guy in my league picked up Maurice Morris in 2 of the leagues we're in together and another guy picked up Michael Robinson in those same 2 leagues. So like vultures at the feasting table, those guys went in for the kill on some of week 3's latest injuries (though Conway, you might've been a little pessimistic about my boy Gore [photo by ESPN]). Hopefully you can take advantage of some of the hot deals of the week. Read on for advice. Fantasy Sharks Week 4 Waiver Wire Advice Fanball's Hot Pickups FF Toolbox Week 4 Waiver Wire Bargains

As noted in my previous blog Tight End Predictions , I am comparing the weekly sit/start calls made by several websites to help determine which one has the best predictions week after week. This week the results from 6 different websites with free projections are as follows: 1. NFL Start 'em Sit 'em by Fabiano Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 16.14 Suggested starters average fantasy points for the week: 11.06 Suggested benchers average ranking for the week: 31 Suggested benchers average fantasy points for the week: 6.69 For the 2nd week in a row, the nfl.com/Fabiano did a great job at selecting which players you should start and which you should bench. This one was a close battle though with Ask the Commish, listed below, making similar projections. Fabiano suggested starting 3 of the top 10 RBs and all but one of his starters were in the top 25. With the exception of Ahman Green, he chose benchers who had pretty subpar or mediocre performances at best. 2. Ask ...

When I started this blog I intended to try and leave my own weekly performance woes (or delights) out of the blog as much as possible. Yet I knew it was inevitable that I would post on here some Monday morning (or will it be every Monday morning?) with my hangup of the week. So here's my concern of the week... I'm pretty sure one of the unofficial rules of fantasy football is to avoid having the same guy in all of your leagues - a little diversification is good for lineups. I however did not follow that advice, nor another unofficial rule that says you should never count on a rookie to perform in week 3 as he has in weeks 1 and 2. In an overwhelming Marques lovefest, I picked him up in all 3 of my leagues and am now on the edge of either winning or losing in all 3 of those games. So here I am, sweating bullets over Marques Colston's big Monday Night performance tonight. Marques, my record depends on you.

For those of you who have procrastinated in getting your lineup set for the week - or those of you who want as much advice as you can get - here are a few articles for last minute counsel: 1. SI's Ten Fantasy Tips - advice ranging from Portis to Plummer to the Pep 2. FantasySharks The Prognosticator - includes a chart forecasting the rushing and passing status for each matchup as well as a couple paragraphs on key players in each game 3. Sportingnews.com's Sportingblogs with tips on your lineup from some "experts"

For week 3 I will be analyzing the start/bench calls made on running backs from the sites listed below. Check out each of the links for advice on your lineup but remember to check back on Tuesday to see which site actually gave the best advice. NFLFreaks Start-Bench List Fantasy Football Cafe Ask the Commish Sit or Start FootballDocs Bench-Start SI Start 'em Sit 'em NFL.com Start 'em Sit 'em

Fantasysharks.com has a great article each week on IDPs called The Hive - the studs, strong plays, gut checks, and stay aways are noted for each matchup with a sentence or two of analysis. Highly recommended.

As noted a few days ago, one of my goals with this site is to be able to provide ongoing stats on which websites out there really give the best advice on who to start and who to sit. So this week I focused on tight ends. I randomly chose 5 sites and compared results by looking at each noted player's ranking for the week among all the tight ends in the league as well as their total points for the week awarded by my yahoo league. Then by comparing the averages between those that a site picked to start and bench, you can get a good idea of how well their predictions turned out. If you happen to like numbers and would like to see the excel spreadsheet/formulas, let me know. I can work on posting that up here. Results below: 1. NFL.com Start 'em, Sit 'em by Michael Fabiano Suggested starters average ranking for the week: 18.29 Suggested starters average fantasy points for the week: 4.81 Suggested benchers average ranking for the week: 27.29 Suggested benchers average fantasy poi...

Welcome to the first bye week. Personally, I have a handful of holes to fill and feel that it's time to check out the waiver wires and see who is out there. One of my personal favorites has got to be Marques Colston (photo by Elsa/Getty Images) - this rookie NO Saint can be your WR or TE and has TD notches on his belt for both week 1 and week 2. Colston came from Hofstra so give a little love to the 1-AA - I've learned the hard way that not all 1-AA teams should be so underrated. At least I'm in good company this fall though...go Buffs . Need some advice? Check these out: 1. FantasySharks.com - an overview of some good pickups off the waiver wire 2. Fanball.com - already about a week old and you've always gotta be quick with that waiver wire, but there's definitely a solid chance that some of these guys are still around and available. 3. cbssportsline - a little repetitive of the fantasysharks overview mentioned above...what that really says to me is that the nu...

I don't really want to jinx myself but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go 2-1 this week...maybe even 3-0 if Heath Miller has another great game tonight. Based on my performance last weekend, this is pretty spectacular news and it's mostly thanks to some of my outstanding IDPs. In fact, I think Julius Peppers might have singlehandedly helped me dominate my buddy Ethan this week - so Ethan, this blog's for you. I took another look at my individual defensive players (IDPs) last week since I was frustrated with how poorly many of my drafted set of IDPs had played and I made some changes. Originally I had based my draft picks off of a pre-draft ranking based largely on predicted sacks for the year. Foolishly I overlooked the need for guys who can really tackle consistently - so I found new sources and compared options. My best addition for the week was Adalius Thomas who gave me 19.90 points and in my league (7 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception, a safety, and 1 pass defense...

I don't particularly care for change. So this year when one of my leagues switched from yahoo to cbssportsline.com as the league host, I got pretty grumpy about some of the new - or missing - features of sportsline. During the draft I'm pretty sure that most players in our league experienced a moment of panic when they realized that they hadn't actually read the rules on sportsline and that there are only 5 total slots alloted to RBs and WRs during the draft. In fact you are forced to take two team defenses, which I found to be especially egregious. This was a particularly hard lesson to learn with only 20 or so seconds remaining in my alloted minute-and-a-half during a late round in the draft...and not enough research conducted on my backup D. However, with a little time I have grown to enjoy certain aspects of sportsline far more than I anticipated. Following is a list of my pros and cons: CONS: --stingy draft rules in regards to position drafting as noted above --there...

What if all you're looking for are sites that will provide player news? Read on... NFL.com - One of the things I like about this news portion of nfl.com is that you can click on weekly headlines and get a review of all the headlines separated out by day. Along this same vein, they keep their news archives up going back to 2001. Want to look back and see who the top rookies were a year ago or just how many years in a row a certain player has gotten injured - check out the archives. Also linked off this site is the Injury Report - always helpful in making those sit or start decisions. What is it missing? A web feed. ( What is a web feed? ) Rotoworld.com - The Player News is frequently updated and offers a line or two of commentary to go with each piece of news. Call it the girl in me, but I like having the player's name listed in a heading that depicts their team's colors and logo. Nice. Also of benefit is the ability to sort by team, position, or go directly to a specifi...

One of my goals with this site is to do a statistical analysis of a lot of the "start 'em, bench 'em" sites that give you advice on which players to start each week. Everyone is hoping to find that gold nugget of information to give them an extra edge - but which sites give the most accurate advice? I will be compiling this information and will post the percentages weekly so you will know where - and where not - to go. If you have any sites that you would like included in this analysis, let me know.

Well, we're into Week 2 of the 2006 season and I keep trying to remind myself that this is a marathon not a sprint. After an 0-3 start from the three leagues that I am in, I feel less confident about starting up this blog. But then again it seems like just the right time to create what I hope to be the ultimate resource for fantasy football. I don't intend to give advice on who to bench, who to start - but advice on how to find the most promising information out there. As a librarian, information is my business; but football is my passion. More coming soon!