Fantasy Football Librarian

Word from 49ers training camp is that Frank Gore broke a bone in his right hand during practice on Monday - during a non-contact drill even. Oh Gore. He will be re-evaluated in a week and is likely to miss most of the preseason. Read more here with Yahoo Sports . For the fantasy impact, check out Greg Rosenthal's blog, Pancake Block . In other RB news, Chester Taylor also sustained an injury during training camp this morning. The Hazean has the details for you but personally I find this downward spiral of RBs a little disconcerting...

This weekend proved to be a great football weekend. I am going to my first Monday Night Football game, baby. Broncos non-season tickets went on sale this past Saturday and we got tickets for the Nov 19, Monday Night Broncos-Titans game. Knowing Colorado's weather it is likely to either be 70 degrees and balmy that night or 30 degrees with a foot of snow. I'll pull for the former. This was the weekend of the fantasy football podcast for me. Two podcasts to check out: 1. The Sports Guy talks with Matthew Berry about fantasy football 2. Bruno Boys wrap up their coverage of the league with talk of the AFC West Time to go camping! Training camp has arrived and I'm thrilled. Here in Denver, there were multiple news specials on the Broncos training camp with interesting stuff including Marcus Thomas, a 300+ pound DT starting things off right with a series of round offs and back flips - extremely impressive. There's some concern about the WR position with both Rod Smith and Br

Have you all seen this yet? I'm highly amused by this...thanks to FantasyFootballGoat.com for the link. Enjoy!

I can think of few things that unravel a championship fantasy team like an injury. We all have to weigh the injury factor on draft day when we're staring down the Clinton Portis decision. Or the Donovan McNabb decision. Or the Warrick Dunn decision [photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images]. Or the Kevin Jones decision (the list goes on...). You've got to be a hawk when it comes to injuries - so for some assistance turn to SI's The Hurting. On another note, I've found an interesting disparity between those who are picking up another RB in the 2nd round versus those who are going with a WR in the second round. Gregg Rosenthal makes a good case for picking up a WR in his blog, Pancake Blocks . However in 2007 Wide Receiver Profiles , ProFantasySports.com is convincing in their argument that this year there is great depth at the WR position and missing out on an RB2 to get one of the few top WRs could be more damaging in the long run. To me, so much of it depends on your draft

Over the past few weeks I've been part of a 2-round mock draft with fellow football bloggers. On Tuesday, the final draft selection was made and the results are listed below. There were a surprising number of QBs taken so early but the explanations and analysis for all choices were enlightening. In a couple of weeks we'll be drafting for real in a football blogger draft for the season. Unfortunately I will be on an airplane during the draft (trust me, I'd get out of it if I could) but this should be a good time to test Yahoo's auto drafting skills. Or perhaps just my pre-draft player ranking skills. First round LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers [ TINO Sports Page ] Steven Jackson, RB, Rams [ The Hazean ] Joseph Addai, RB, Colts [ MWC Football ] Larry Johnson, RB, Chiefs [ Blaine Clancy ] Frank Gore, RB, 49ers [ Fantasy Football Librarian ] Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles [ Curveballs for Jesus ] Peyton Manning, QB, Colts [ Next Gen Pro Football ] Laurence Maroney, RB, Patr

Greetings, FF fans. Great news for all - football season is another day closer. Last night I woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare that I foolishly somehow drafted a TE in round 1. Maybe that was just me (yes, honestly), but I know the rest of you are just as pumped for the arrival of the 2007 football season. So let's welcome it in with some Training Camp Previews from Fanball . Looking for a little insight on the defensive side? Bruno Boys provides a list of 3 sleeper defenses in their article Bruno Boys Crystal Ball: Three Sleeper Fantasy Defenses . Many of you liked the offensive line rankings that I've linked to in the past ; so if you're in the market for more, check out ProFantasySports.com's Offensive Line Report - they provide not only a quick letter grade for each of the 32 lines but also a more in-depth summary for a handful of teams such as the Lions, Colts, and Chiefs. This article is part of PFS's Draft Kit , which is not only free (thanks PFS!) bu

I'm in the process of amassing overall fantasy draft rankings and creating an average ranking position for the Top 100 players based on expert and not-so-expert opinions. While scouring the web for these rankings, I came across 159 Cheatsheets from Clayton Gray on Footballguys.com . You have to check this out. This guy taken several of the most popular scoring systems and created an individualized ranking for each of the possible starting lineup permutations. So let's say you're in a league where all TDs are worth 6 points, receptions are worth 1 point, passing yards are 1 point per 20 yards and rushing yards are 1 point per 10 yards...and you're lineup is a 2QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1PK, 1DT. Well never fear, here's your ranking . And if you're in a different league that only gives 4 points for TDs, but otherwise all the details are the same - again, no problem, here's that individualized ranking . There are small but important differences between the two. I mean

I opened the Denver Post this weekend to find a multi-page Broncos Training Camp Preview waiting for me. This was extremely exciting - after months of waiting for more than a single article or footnote on the NFL/indictments, I have several pages of Broncos info. Football is back, baby. For those Broncos fans or just Jay Cutler fans out there, check out Fanball.com's Jay OK for the fantasy outlook on a rising star that Brandon Stokely likens to Peyton Manning. Somewhere my Knoxville-native husband just shuddered at the thought that anyone could possibly be likened to a football god like Peyton. It appears as though the Best Sports Stuff blog is going to be providing us with a series called Fantasy Football Sleeper of the Day - the series starts here with JP Losman [photo: Winslow Townson, AP]. FootballOutsiders.com has just made my day. Check out their review of CBS Sportsline.com NFL IDP Experts League they were involved in recently - it's 29 rounds. Yes, 29. And chock fu

...who loves fantasy football. And perhaps more importantly, my fellow librarian-also-blogger understands why I think my research/library background aids in unearthing helpful fantasy football info. For those interested in the deep, dark librarian-ish details, check out the Research Quest blog that declared fantasy sports the national sport of librarians . Yes, a national sport for librarians. Nice work, Paul. For those wanting more fantasy football info and less library talk, don't worry, I've got you covered. 1. Rotoworld's Evan Silva gives valuable QB drafting advice, particularly for those of you who end up not taking a top QB...Evan's advice? Hold out and pair up some later round QBs as your strategy for winning. Interesting stuff in Targeting Mid-Round QBs . 2. A free draft guide? Wait, that actually exists these days? Yes, it is chock full o' info - see the Fox Fantasy Draft Guide for rankings, sleepers, busts, and team reports. 3. Read up on the Chester T

As noted in an earlier post, I'm part of a 2-round mock draft with 11 other football bloggers. With my first pick (#5) I selected Frank Gore . The rest of the picks from round 1 & 2 can be seen here . Now my turn has arrived again and I must admit, I'm fairly pleased with my options. Part of me is very tempted to start the WR train but I'd rather go with another RB, someone who is bound to provide more consistency than even the best WR (agree? disagree?). But with the 20th pick there's no such thing as a sure bet - each of these guys has fallen to #20 for a reason. So I've whittled my options down to the following less-than-awesome-but-still-pretty-amazing guys: Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James, and Cedric Benson. Clinton Portis Pros: In 8 games in 2006, he had 523 yards rushing, 170 receiving and 7 TDs Previous to 2006, he was averaging 1,483 yards and 11 TDs a season Nice receiver, peaking with 40 receptions in 2004 As TJI points out, having a work-in-progress

Are you sitting around, staring at the work e-mails piling up and yet you can't stop yourself from staring into space and pondering the burning questions of the 2007 football season? Will Peyton return to Super Bowl greatness this year? Is there life without Tiki? What will happen to Pep...or for that matter, Vick, Rex, Romo, Randy Moss, and a slew of others? If so, you're in the right place. Not only do I lack judgment against those who can't focus on work when FOOTBALL is coming, but I have the answers to your top 15 NFL questions - as deemed by CBS Sportsline . Next...the kicker. You are required to draft a kicker whether you like it or not. And who knows, perhaps you'll be jumping around singing the praises of the gold-footed Jason Elam because he's awesome, yes, but also because he helped you eke out a win over your fantasy nemesis. I've been there and I love Elam for it. So to help with the drafting of a kicker, see SportingNews.com's Kickers: Yes, you

Here's another listing of o-lines - this one, Top 10 Offensive Lines , comes from FFToolbox.com [photo: Redskins.com]. Several of my fantasy leagues require that I start 2-3 WRs and a TE/WR (so often falls to a WR...), so I've been trying to find some solid WR-specific rankings to prepare for the season. The Huddle provides a list of WRs that they believe are slipping, becoming less valuable - check out 2007 Wide Receiver Turnover for the details. WR rankings to come soon - ranking/site suggestions are always welcome. Perhaps you're wondering what will become of the RB in your keeper league that was traded during the offseason, such as Willis McGahee, Travis Henry or Jamal Lewis? Check out SportingNews.com's RBs: Old faces in new places for the scoop on those guys and several others. Bonus: if you like catching the daily weather forecast, this article's style might be right up your alley.

So last week I complained about the lack of TE rankings/postings out there and what do I immediately find? Another TE article, this time from FFToday.com - as part of their Building a Dynasty series they include both the long term and short term value as well as job security for each of their top 10 TEs [Antonio Gates photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA Today]. With the football season creeping closer every day, many drafters are putting the polish on their own personalized rankings...and others are just thinking about the draft for the first time this year. No problem - either way, check out FantasySharks.com's More Bang For Your Buck . They've looked at players who can be taken a little later in the draft and still produce the fantasy numbers you need - who wouldn't want advice like this? Exactly. So we've got more - ProFantasySports.com's Undervalued Players to Draft also takes you through a list of middle or late round draft picks that just might put up some big num

Today I am conducting my FF searches through blogs only - I do love my Fabiano/NFL fantasy news but as I've mentioned before, I think excellent insight that many bloggers offer is often overlooked. If you're in need of brief player profiles, check out DR U Fantasy Football GURU - every day a new profile has been added for a player you're likely to consider drafting. Peruse the ginormous archives to see all the profiles (a little kudos to ginormous for being added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this year among other words including crunk and smackdown). Looking for some info on QBs that you might want to draft other than Peyton? Squibkick.com offers up a lovefest for Marc Bulger but also includes a nice one-sentence recap on many other QBs in the league. Read up. The TE. Oh the TE. I'll be honest, I loathed all my TEs last year. There were of course a few exceptional games but numbers in general were down on the TE front in 2006 and I've been left with some ge

The fantasy buffet for the day: In Offseason Movement: QBs , FFToday provides some good fantasy insight on QBs that have shifted teams in the offseason - Trent Green, Matt Schaub, and Brad Johnson to name a few. If you're in need of some fantasy prognistication for the 2007 season, have no fear. There are several options. First, check out FantasySharks.com's Boom or Bust 2007 for QBs, RBs, and WRs...personally, I appreciate the fact that several Broncos made the Boom list. Or try TheHuddle.com's 10 Players to Avoid in This Year's Fantasy Draft. From ProFantasySports.com there's A Few Names Not to Be Ignored , which lays out some sleeper options; some of these are more obvious picks than others. Again, love the Broncos sleeper TE pick with Tony Scheffler [photo: Cliff Grassmick, Daily Camera]. Saw him at training camp last August and even then he looked like he had some serious potential for connecting with Cutler - I can only imagine how he has benefited from a ye

Sorry, this post has no redeeming fantasy football value - just a quick note to say I think I almost flew on the same flight as Ben Roethlisberger this afternoon. My husband and I were on vacation visiting family for the long weekend and flew from Pittsburgh to Denver today; we arrived at the airport really early to accomodate another family member's flight time and tried to get on an earlier flight to Denver on stand-by. That earlier flight ended up being sold out so we didn't get on, but as we were sitting at the gate, first class boarded...and there was Big Ben. Or else a dead ringer for him. Not to sound like a star-struck teenager but it was pretty awesome. It would've been such a fine addition to the three hour flight to be able to muster up the gumption to meet the guy, too. Our weekend also included a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio - a surprisingly crowded and entertaining place, to be honest. A few photos of interest for you include Larry Joh

Greetings FF fans. It's time for my pick in the blogger mock draft set up by The Hazean . Pick #1 went to LT of course, pick #2 to SJax, and I'll be honest, I was surprised by pick #3 to Joseph Addai (though the more I thought about it, the more it made a lot of sense, nicely done MWC Football), and pick #4 to Larry Johnson. So I gathered rankings from 12 different "experts" in the fantasy football field. I'm sitting here staring at my spreadsheet and am wondering just how much these supposed experts know. Of the 12 rankings, 4 have Frank Gore slotted in #5, 2 have Shaun Alexander, 2 have Willie Parker, and 1 each for Addai, Peyton, Westbrook, and then one guy ranked Gore/Westbrook/Bush/Addai all as equals. Interesting stuff. Larry Johnson just does not exist below the #3 ranking on any of these. So after some deliberation, and consideration of the fact that I won't be picking again until July 20th, I narrowed it down to the final two contenders for pick #

As I mentioned, I'm part of this two-round mock draft and I'm picking 5th...my pick is coming right up (this Thursday) and I'd like to be as prepared as possible. Only catch here is that I'm flying out of town towards the middle of eastern Ohio on the night of July 4th - and my pick needs to be up on July 5th. I'm confident the timing will work out though and to prepare, I've been searching high and low for lists of top picks. In fact, I have a spreadsheet going of 9 different sites/rankings. Seems like Blogger should let me post an excel spreadsheet but I'm not so sure about that...I'll see what I can do. And in the meantime, here's some of the research on the top picks: The Huddle's Top 10 rankings for RB ...only their Top 10 rankings for each position are free, which is something I really don't care for. What I'd like to know is if this is their full-time job - if so, I suppose it justifies the fee a little more since we all have make