Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Sometimes, projecting the next breakout receiver is as simple as looking at last year’s passing target statistics.

What’s that? You don’t really compare year-to-year target statistics? Well, you should.

Take the case of Terrell Owens. The former Cowboy was leaving Dallas behind after the 2008 season, and without the team’s leading receiver, there were 140 targets in that offense to be divvied up. Some were inevitably going to Roy Williams and Jason Witten, but even so, some unheralded player was going to see a ton of looks in 2009.

Enter Miles Austin. After doing nothing in the first three games of the season, receiving only four targets on offense, Austin burst out over the season’s remaining 13 games, earning 120 targets for a per game average of 9.23 targets. As you know, Austin translated those 124 targets into 81 catches for 1,320 yards and 11 TDs. Yes, it can be that simple.

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Fanhouse Fantasy Football

With legend Stephen Strasburg now on the shelf for a year and a half with Tommy John surgery pending, the baseball world turns a keen eye toward Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman will be a setup man for the Reds so that’s not all that exciting, especially when it comes to fantasy baseball.  But, a 105 [...]
Fantasy Baseball Dugout

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin has been sentenced to 30 days in prison. The sentencing came down on Tuesday in an Arizona courtroom.

The 30-day sentence is actually the minimum sentence the goaltender could have received.

As many know, Khabibulin was stopped last February in Arizona. He was speeding his his Ferrari and was found to have a blood alcohol level of twice the state’s legal limit. According to TSN, “After the blood test, he was cited for an extreme DUI with a blood-alcohol content at .164.”

Khabibulin has appealed the decision.

As far as the Oilers are concerned, their goalie will be there in time for training camp when it gets under way on the 17th of September.

“As far as any discussion of further discipline or actions taken – league, ourselves – obviously that all has to wait,” Steve Tambellini said. “Can he come to training camp at this point? Yes, he can.”

The Oilers signed Khabibulin to a four year deal in 2009. The contract is worth million, but the goalie had to stop playing in November due to back problems. While the organization doesn’t think this incident off the ice will have any impact on his performance, there’s no telling what this kind of thing could do to a team’s morale.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Fantasy Hockey News

When it comes to fantasy football draft strategy, I’ve tried almost everything. RB-RB? Of course. Draft a quarterback in the first round? Sure. WR-WR? Most definitely. But all this trial and error has paid off.

After hammering out what I think is my best strategy to date last season in the “cutting out the middle men” fantasy football draft strategy and deciding how to play the first round, I think I’ve finally refined the best way to win your league on draft day this season.

And I’m going to share it with you.

What you need to win

Traditionally, we all took running backs because they were scarce. Not every team had a workhorse running back, and in a 12-team league, we needed to start at least 24 of them.

But now, there are 50+ running backs available since every team in the NFL has a time share. So after the five elite running backs are off the board—Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, and Frank Gore—we don’t have to use a first-round pick on a running back.

Not to say that you don’t need a decent running back. You just don’t have to pay a first-round price for one. It’s always nice to have a promising guy like Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Shonn Greene, Ryan Mathews, Ryan Grant, or Cedric Benson on your roster. But you can make do if you miss out on them.

You’ll notice I didn’t list Steven Jackson or Rashard Mendenhall on that list. I did that on purpose. They are on the cusp of what I would consider the top, reliable running backs, but they scare me more than they excite me this season. And much like the ladies, that’s not going to work for me when it comes to running backs.

Quarterbacks, while valuable, aren’t as scarce as running backs because each team only needs one. I love me some quarterbacks. Don’t get me wrong, but only a select few—Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, and Tom Brady—are worth taking in the first three rounds. If you miss out on them, you should wait. (But DON’T miss out on them. More on this later.)

That leaves wide receivers. If you’re following me so far, you understand that wide receivers are the new running backs. Receivers have become more reliable and valuable as the NFL becomes more and more passer-friendly. The top receivers are worth building a team around and can give you an advantage if you know how to draft your running backs late.

Guys like Andre Johnson and Greg Jennings are more consistent than the rest of the pack you’ll be able to draft later. My list of elites for this season also includes Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Miles Austin, Roddy White, DeSean Jackson, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Marques Colston, and Sidney Rice with Larry Fitzgerald right on the edge of greatness. (I’m not a fan of Matt Leinart at quarterback this season.)

So draft your elite wide receivers early and often, and you’ll have an advantage.

Every team needs at least one of these top wideouts to “win” their draft, but you’re even better off if you can nab two of them to fill your starting roster. Of course, that’s assuming that you start two wide receivers. If you start three wide receivers, I’d still limit myself to taking two elites early because you can wait on the third just to make sure you don’t miss out entirely on running back value.

I’ll explain the strategy I recommend to make this happen, but before I do that, a side note.

Plans: Made to be broken

No draft ever goes exactly to plan. You can’t know whom the rest of your league is going to draft. Several teams could draft quarterbacks in the first round, or no one could draft a quarterback for three rounds. We really don’t know. So you have to be able to adjust to what your league is giving you. That’s why I recommend the tiered draft cheatsheets, and that’s why I can’t tell you exactly how to draft each position.

So much like my first round strategy from last season, this strategy is just a starting point. Deviate from it as you have to in order to draft the best team possible.

Strategy on draft day

In 2010, I believe a championship team needs one of the elite quarterbacks and at least two of the elite wide receivers. If you get a reliable running back, more power to you.

And it’s all about how you play the first three rounds.

If you have a shot, go with one of the elite five running backs. You can build a solid team around a guy that is highly involved in the offense. While you might miss out on an elite quarterback because you’ll have to look at wide receivers in the second and third rounds, you can recover from that.

If you don’t get a shot at one of the elite running backs, you have you’re pick of WR-WR-QB, WR-QB-WR, or QB-WR-WR in the first three rounds. I like these sequences this season, and I think they maximize the value you get in the first three rounds.

Don’t use QB-WR-WR unless you really want Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning this season and your league scores passing touchdowns at six points. I don’t think any of the other elite quarterbacks should be considered until the second round.

In the fourth round, when it comes time to draft running backs, try to take the two best guys on the board right away. More than likely, other members of your league have moved on to drafting what’s left of the wide receivers and quarterbacks. You’ll have your pick of a good group of mid-level running backs who have the potential for greatness.

As you enter the chewy center of your draft, I’d suggest using the “cutting out the middle men” fantasy football draft strategy principles. Draft value and aim for sleepers rather than “safe” and “dependable” guys. You got your safe picks at the top of draft. For example, I’d rather have Jamaal Charles than Joseph Addai. I’d rather have Beanie Wells than Clinton Portis or Ricky Williams.

Make a special effort to get a lot of running backs. Since you didn’t draft them high, you’ll best protect yourself by drafting more of them. You want to load your roster with as many guys as possible who have the potential to be a top performer even if they’re currently a backup on their NFL roster.

You can also draft a few sleeper wide receivers later in the draft to compliment your studs. These wide receivers could become trade bait or free you up to trade your studs for one of the elite RBs you missed out on earlier in the draft. You can find a few good ones in Chris Harris’ article on “moneyball” wide receivers at ESPN.

With this strategy, you’ll “win” your draft just like I won mine.

Read more: 2010 draft, Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Andre Johnson, Beanie Wells, Brandon Marshall, Calvin Johnson, Chris Johnson, Chris Wells, Clinton Portis, cut out the middle men draft strategy, DeSean Jackson, Drew Brees, fantasy football draft, fantasy football draft strategies, fantasy football draft strategy, Frank Gore, Greg Jennings, Jamaal Charles, Larry Fitzgerald, Marques Colston, Maurice Jones-Drew, Miles Austin, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, player tiers, Randy Moss, Ray Rice, Reggie Wayne, Ricky Williams, Roddy White, Shonn Greene, Sidney Rice, tiering, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, winning

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Fantasy Football Fools

If Daniel Snyder were looking for someone to blame for the way things have unraveled in Washington with the Albert Haynesworth situation, then all he has to do is plant himself in front of a mirror.

I get that this may be an oversimplified way of looking at the situation, but considering this could have all been avoided had Snyder not fallen victim to the same losing methods that he has embraced over the years, the situation is rather simple to grasp.

Haynesworth is who he is and the same goes for Mike Shanahan. As Shanahan has alluded to, Haynesworth is used to getting his way but that’s not going to fly with his new head coach, who has proven in his short stint with the Redskins that his players will fall in line. If you play for him, you’re going to do things his way, which includes practicing if you want to suit up on Sundays.

If Snyder wanted to avoid this situation, all he had to do was pass on cutting (figuratively, of course) Haynesworth a 0 million check last offseason. But because he had to have Haynesworth’s talent, it didn’t matter what the defensive tackle’s track record looked like.

And let’s look at that track record for a moment.

During the third quarter of a game against the Cowboys in 2006, Haynesworth removed center Andre Gurode’s helmet and then thought it was appropriate to stomp on the man’s head. Only he missed, so of course Haynesworth had to try again and this time, his foot connected with Gurode’s forehead, narrowly missing his eye.

That of course, wasn’t the first time Haynesworth tried to imprint the bottom of his shoe on someone’s body. During the Titans’ training camp in 2003, he also kicked former teammate Justin Hartwig (another center) in the chest and had to be restrained by his teammates.

And this is just what he has done on the field. He also has gotten into trouble with the law, which includes arrest warrants and two misdemeanor traffic charges. Given that he has avoided suspensions, there’s probably no sense in rehashing the details but clearly the man has some behavioral problems.

Despite his talent, these infractions coupled with his price tag would have scared most owners and general managers away last offseason when Haynesworth was a free agent. But not Snyder.

And now he has a problem, doesn’t he? He has a defensive tackle that he overpaid for that is butting heads with the man he trusts to turn his franchise around. Considering Haynesworth is only in year two of the ridiculous contract that Snyder gave him, the only thing the owner can do is hope the situation corrects itself.

This issue certainly isn’t irreconcilable either. Haynesworth and Shanahan can still come to an understanding and work together to help the Redskins win, although that will require Haynesworth shutting his mouth and coming to the realization that the team will come first in Washington.

But to barrow a line from Bill Parcells, the proof is in the pudding. What has Snyder won? Since he has bought the Redskins, the team has had a losing record. Times have changed in the NFL — teams have to build through the draft, yet Snyder continues to believe that overspending on high-priced veterans like Haynesworth is still the answer.

If you want to pin blame on someone for this Haynesworth fiasco, start at the top.
The Fantasy Football Times

Filed under: MLB Injury Report, MLB Waiver Wire

Infielders/Outfielders

Troy Tulowitzki (SS, COL) - Tulowitzki was lifted from Sunday’s contest after straining his groin. He was absent from Monday’s lineup as well. He’s day-to-day for now, and says the injury is mild, but keep in mind he missed three days earlier this season with a similar issue and, well, groin strains can be tricky (almost as tricky as rocking a mullet in the year 2010).

Temporary Savior: If Tulow misses more than just a few days or is forced to the DL with this latest ailment, there are several available options on the wire who can help keep you afloat. Ian Desmond is the first name that comes to mind, as his across-the-board production over the last month has been rivaled by few at the position (.360-2-9-12-5). Deep leaguers might want to take a flier on Jhonny Peralta, who’s hit .298 with a couple of homers the last two weeks.

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Fanhouse Fantasy Baseball

I participated in my first mock draft of the season last Thursday night and I figured I’d post the roster and explain some of the picks.  I showed up at the last minute to the draft, so someone had the comedic idea to assign me the draft name ‘Fantasy god’ before I got there.  Not funny guys.  Thanks again to Jason at fBasketballBlog.com for setting it up.  You can check out Jason’s review of the entire draft at fBasketballBlog.com.   Henry at WeaksideHelp.com also posted a review of the draft and his roster selections.

The roster settings were 3 starting guards, 3 starting forwards, 2 starting centers, 2 utility players and 4 bench spots.  I was assigned the number 7 draft slot.  It’s also important to note that this is a H2H league setup.   Here are the entire draft results.

Round 1
With my first pick at number 7, I was lucky enough to grab a stud point guard in Deron Williams.  Williams is my number one ranked point guard this year and I’m thrilled to have his assists, points and threes.  Round 1 picks that I didn’t like:  Pau Gasol at number 4 and Stephen Curry at number 9.  Just way too early for both players.

Round 2
First, let me say that on the day of the draft I had only done rankings for PG, SG and SF, so I wasn’t very sharp with my PF and C  knowledge.  I took Carmelo Anthony with my second round pick because the SF pool is a little thin this year.  It didn’t dawn on me until about round 5 that were were just drafting forwards, not separating them into PF and SF.   I’m still happy with Carmelo though since he was my number 3 ranked SF.  Round 2 picks I liked:  Tyreke Evans at #19, Amare Stoudemire at #17.  Picks I didn’t like:  David Lee at #12.  The Lee pick isn’t horrible, but I like Amare a little better than Lee this year.

Round 3
Somehow Monta Ellis was still available and I snatched him up to pair with Deron Williams.   His 2.2 steals per game added to Williams 1.3 steals should help me in that category.   At this point I’m pretty much punting the turnover category though.  Picks I liked:  Joe Johnson at #25 and Russell Westbrook at #26.  I had both of those players queued up to take.  Picks I didn’t like:  Al Horford at #30.  Just a little too early for him.

Round 4
With Williams, Melo and Monta, I’m now in the market for a big man.  Tim Duncan is still there and he has Center eligibility.  I’m not sure I would have taken him without the center eligibility, but I’m happy to plug him in at center.  Picks I liked:  Carlos Boozer at #31, Derrick Rose at #36.  I would have taken Rose here, but I’ve already filled two of my three guard spots.  Picks I didn’t like:  Andrew Bogut at #35.  His elbow injury just scares me and he might not be ready for the season.

Round 5
I’m still looking for another big man in round five and I grab Joakim Noah to plug in to my other center spot beside Tim Duncan.  He should be a rebounding machine this season.   No favorite  picks in round 5.  Picks I didn’t like:  Nene at #43 (injury concerns), Darren Collison at #48 (too inexperienced, especially with guys like Mayo, Kevin Martin, Jennings and Brooks still on the board),  Raymond Felton at #49 (he’s Raymond Felton).

Round 6
After selecting Duncan and Noah, I saw LaMarcus Aldridge sitting there with Forward and Center eligibility and I just couldn’t resist.  Now I’ve got three guys who can play center, so I don’t have to worry about the position for the rest of the draft and I can concentrate on finding guards and forwards.  It’s comforting not getting stuck with a really terrible center, and now I’ve got two good ones and a competent backup in case someone gets injured.   The multiple position eligibility also provides me with a lot of flexibility for the rest of the draft. Picks I liked:  O.J. Mayo at #62.  I really wanted Mayo here, but Henry from WeaksideHelp.com stole him from me, even after he questioned my ranking of him on my SG board, haha.  Picks I didn’t like:  Kevin Garnett at #63.  Garnett won’t see 30 minutes a game this year.

Round 7
At this point I’ve got 2 guards, 2 centers and 2 forwards (one of which can go at center), so I’m looking for a forward.   I grabbed the underappreciated Luol Deng.  Solid scoring and rebounding, and he has guard eligibility too.  Picks I liked:  Yao Ming at #69 and Aaron Brooks at #70.  If you are going to gamble, Ming is a great lottery ticket.  Picks I didn’t like:  Rashard Lewis at #66.  He’s just a three point specialist these days.

Round 8
My roster is evened out now, so I’m looking for an upside gamble to fill a spot.  I selected Gilbert Arenas.  Arenas was playing huge before the gun incident and he’s had a lot of time to rest and heal those nagging knees.  I think it’s a good gamble and it fills my last starting guard spot, but now I’m probably going to have to select a backup guard, just in case he flakes out on me again.  Picks I liked:  Eric Gordon at #75 was excellent.  Picks I didn’t like:  Blake Griffin at #72 (just too big of a gamble for me), Anthony Morrow at #73 (he’s probably going to be just a three point specialist) and Jason Terry at #80 (not enough playing time).

Round 9
I’m still thinking about the Arenas pick and getting a backup guard as insurance is my primary concern.  Tony Parker is still out there and I take him in round 9.  Pretty good value and it lessens the anxiety of Arenas flaking out on me.  At least I have a solid backup in Parker.  Picks I liked:  J.J. Hickson (He could be a monster this year) and Chris Kaman (excellent value at center in the 9th round, especially if he can repeat his first half performance from 2009).  Picks I didn’t like:  Carl Landry (the forward spot for the Kings is really crowded).

Round 10
The starting roster is pretty complete so it’s time to pick up some solid bench players with some upside possibilities.  I selected the very disappointing Elton Brand in hope that a new head coach and new offensive system can get him going again.  We’ll see.  Picks I liked:  Al Harrington at #95 (had I been more prepared and done my PF rankings, I would have gone with Harrington over Brand), Ray Allen at #96 (great threes and percentages) and Andre Miller at #99 (just a solid value pick).

Round 11
It’s at this point where I realize it’s two months before the season starts and I’m really not that prepared.  I’m scouring the remaining players and take Andris Biedrins.  Yuck.  Just horrible.  I should have gone with Emeka Okafor at least.  Oh well, at least this convinces me that it’s definitely time to get those PF and C rankings done.  Picks I liked:  Terrence Williams at #103 and Josh Childress at #108.

Round 12
Emeka Okafor is still around and I take him, so I’m set with big men for sure.  Picks I liked:  Corey Maggette at #120 (great scoring and free throws).  Picks I didn’t like:  It’s hard to really criticize anything beyond round 11.

Round 13
I needed a guard here and totally blew it by selecting Shawn Marion.  Mike Miller was still out there and I just missed it.  Picks I liked:  Mike Miller at #130 (Miller is going to play big minutes and his rebound totals will be insane for a guard).

Round 14
I needed another guard and took Wilson Chandler.  If it were a real draft, I’d probably be cutting Chandler for the first promising thing that I could find on the waiver wire.

Complete Roster:
G   Deron Williams
G   Monta Ellis
G   Gilbert Arenas
F   Carmelo Anthony
F   Luol Deng
F   LaMarcus Aldridge
C   Tim Duncan
C   Joakim Noah
U   Tony Parker
U   Elton Brand
Bench   Andris Biedrins
Bench   Emeka Okafor
Bench   Wilson Chandler
Bench   Shawn Marion

Fantasy Basketball Daily

After being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, veteran forward Paul Kariya will miss the upcoming season. The news has got to be heartbreaking for Kariya, but the territory is familiar.

Kariya missed six games last December and January after suffering a concussion. And back in 1998, he wasn’t able to suit up for Canada at the Winter Olympics due to a concussion.

This sort of announcement does appear to symbolize the end of the line for Kariya. He was and will be remembered as a classy player with a full command of the game he so dearly loved to play. An electrifying skater and a deadly sniper, Kariya’s talent was always exciting and always memorable.

While it may be too early to signal retirement, I don’t think it’s much of a long shot to suggest that Kariya could be making a formal announcement soon. At age 35, he could conceivably have more to give to the game of hockey. But the concussion problems are starting to pile up and he’s not the player he used to be.

Bowing out gracefully now wouldn’t be a bad decision. It would preserve his legacy in the game of hockey and would keep his memories intact where they need to be.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Fantasy Hockey News

Down goes St. Stephen, the patron saint of fantasy baseball salvation. Everyone and their brother, not mine cause mine has an X chromosome and is called sister, said they knew this was going to happen. Phooey.  Can I say phooey? Well, I did and I am. It may be Mark Prior all over again, that would be awesome. P.S. I hate overhyped players. They come in with their pants all pleated and attitudes that reek of Drakkar. Rant over. ESPN made it their lead for like three days and actually interviewed his ulnar collateral ligament. Okay, now I’m done, I promise. It’s coming down to it, folks.  Only a few weeks left of fake baseball. Here are your week deuce deuce lesser owned two start pitchers for fantasy baseball.

Jake Westbrook (@Hou vs. Happ) (Cin vs. Wood)
Love me some ground ball pitchers. ERA a tick over 4 in NL. Not great, but I couldn’t do better. Playoff push is here early as they get Cincy in what may be a beanball weekend set.

Brian Duensing (Det vs. Galarraga) (Tex vs. Wilson)
ERA in the mid-ones, yeah, that’s “singular” at home. If he K’d more, I’d be like him like a kid staring at a puppy in the mall. Has dual eligibility so he has that going for him.

Travis Wood (Mil vs. Wolf) (@ StL vs. Westbrook)
Natalie couldn’t float, Travis uses swimmies. Cincy is chugging right now (16-7 in August). Playoffs are well within Dusty’s grasp, he will find some way to ruin it though.

Mike Minor (NyM vs. Niese) (@ Fla vs. Sanabia)
22 K’s in 18 innings. Looks to be the next best thing since sliced bread.

Joe Saunders (SD vs. LeBlanc) (Hou vs. Happ)
Runs his mouth a lot for a middle of the road starter. I like it. Haven’t been this juiced about a pitcher’s attitude since Pascual Perez.

Brian Matusz (Bos vs. Beckett) (TB vs. Davis)
Has the goods, three plus pitches. Only problem is, this week shows why his division is trouble.  ERA at a deuce in August.

Kyle Kendrick (@ LA vs. Montaserios) (Mil vs. Wolf)
Better on the road. Still gets lit up like Masterson versus lefties. Philly need to play some great ball if they want to secure a spot in playoffs. You could do worse, you could pick Pat Misch.

Dustin Moseley (Oak vs. Cahill) ( Tor vs. Rzepczynsky)
Far from a horse (obviously horses can’t play baseball). Depth of how deep he can go into a game is a concern, but has Yanks’ O behind him, so he can get away with saying, “Don’t worry about it,” but in a cool Steven Seagal ‘Out For Justice’ kinda way.

Paul Maholm (@ChC vs. Zambrano) (Was vs. Marquis)
I want to like him, but his stats make me sad. He goes against Marquis. so he’s better than at least one person I can think of.

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