All posts by Wayne Cavadi

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 2 Starts and Sits

Well, folks, if you read Wayniac Nation’s first attempt at Starts and Sits last week, you must be thinking we are fantasy morons and not experts. It was a rough first stab, but in our defense, it was a bizarre week for fantasy. I don’t think anyone expected Jamaal Charles to get seven touches. Nor did most expect Darren Sproles to outscore the terrible tipping LeSean McCoy (who apparently redefines Shady on a daily basis).

I had a few starts that made me look pretty good. Jeremy Maclin had 20 to 22 points depending on your scoring format. Brady wasn’t a complete bust as he still grabbed 15 to 17 points. Antonio Gates came out and threw up 14 points. Aside from Cam Newton, if you started who I said to sit, you were golden! Le’Veon Bell dropped 30, Kendall Wright had 20 and Martellus Bennett had 21.

It’s a new week which brings new life to our expert picks. Without further ado:

WEEK TWO STARTS AND SITS:

Mike Dunton (@dartbus1521):

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Starts: 
Michael Floyd, WR – He’s going against a weak Giants defense and for that matter you should start Carson Palmer as well.

Dennis Pitta, TE – He’s a strong option against a Steelers defense that struggles with the tight ends and the Ravens are seriously lacking a run game.

Sit: 
Cam Newton, QB – We know he is playing this week, but I don’t trust his timing with his new wide receivers and Detroit’s defense looked somewhat decent against the Giants this past Monday. He needs to prove himself healthy this week.

J.D.
Start:
Kendall Wright, WR – The Cowboys are a mess. They could hardly move the ball on offense and can’t stop anyone on defense, so take advantage of this while you can! This week, the improved Titans offense with Ken Whisenhunt will have their way with the Dallas defense. If you don’t have Manning, Brees, or Rodgers, consider Jake Locker in what could be an offensive shootout. He could put up top five production this week. Get Kendall Wright in your lineup immediately and expect a Megatron performance!

Sit:
Matt Ryan, QB – Sit Ryan after a franchise record setting passing record in week 1?! As much as I love the Falcons, last week was an emotional come-from-behind victory that relied on timely turnovers and 2 clutch 50-plus-yard field goals. Traveling to Cincy, I see a huge let down against the Bengals. The Falcons don’t expect to have Jake Matthews back for this matchup against a tough defensive front, so expect Cincy to take advantage! Ryan will get pressured and hurried alot and I expect Dirk Koetter to utilize his four dynamic running backs to allow Ryan to get the ball off quickly. I don’t expect more than 200 yards from him this week. Besides Julio, I would be cautious of starting any of Atlanta’s offense this week. I hope I’m wrong!

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Ted Reed:
Start:
Golden Tate, WR – I think the Panthers will be all over Megatron (as if that matters) giving Tate some opportunities.

Sit:
Jay Cutler, QB – If he can’t beat the Bills at home how is he going to beat the 49ers in San Francisco?

The Wayniac:
Starts:
QB: Jake Locker – I have to agree with my partner JD here. Locker shredded a very good Chiefs defense for 266 yards and a touchdown before shutting things down with the run for most of the fourth quarter in the Titans upset blowout at Arrowhead. Now, Whisenhunt makes his Nashville debut and with the arsenal Locker has to play with against the Cowboys, I can see a 30 point day on the horizon.

RB: Carlos Hyde – Hyde kicked off his NFL career against the horrid Cowboys defense and looked good – better than old-man-Frank Gore good. Hyde had the touchdown last week and averaged 7.1 yards a carry. The Bears allowed 193 yards rushing to the Bills as three different backs piled up over 50 yards each. Hyde is going to be the touchdown guy. I can see a 13-15 point week on the low end in this Sunday Night match-up.

Photo credit: ESPN
Photo credit: ESPN

WR: Reggie Wayne – Monday Night Football is going to be a shootout between the Eagles and the Colts. Wayne showed this past Sunday he is fully healed from last year’s injury and at 35, just as reliable as ever. Wayne snagged nine receptions for 98 yards against a Broncos defense that was supposed to be vastly improved from last year. There should be little defense played Monday night, so start the old man with confidence.

TE: Zach Ertz – Ertz had one of the better games of his career in the comeback victory over the Jaguars snagging three passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Nick Foles needs a safety net in their spread, fast moving offense, and Ertz looks like he is establishing quite the rapport with Foles. There will be a lot of points dropped Monday night, and Ertz will be in the hunt for a bunch of them.

Def: Tampa Bay Bucs – I have two words for you as to why the Bucs are a good start this week. Austin Davis. That is all.

Sits:
QB: RGIII – He had all sorts of trouble with J.J. Watt in Houston and just didn’t look right. The Jaguars had a vicious first half attack last week in Philly, one which looked like it would give RGIII the same trouble Watt did. Maybe he is adjusting to a new offense, maybe he is still shaky from his injury, or maybe he just stinks.

RB: Reggie BushJoique Bell carried the ball six more times and ran better than Bush. Bush is quickly becoming a slot wide receiver in this high-flying Lions offense. The Panthers defense is heads and shoulders better than the Giants. This is a bad week for Bush.

WR: Keenan Allen – The Chargers had trouble passing against a Cardinals defense missing The Honey Badger. Now they have the Legion of Boom. Add the toughest DBs in the business with the dropsies the Chargers receiving corps had last week and this is a recipe for disaster.

TE: Antonio Gates – Last week, I told you to start him and he had a good week. This week, like his cohort Allen, he goes against the Legion of Boom. The Seahawks dismantled the Packers, I don’t expect much less against the Chargers. Sit them all!.

Def: Rams – This offense is not going to be good enough to keep their opponents off the field for too long. Throw in an injured Chris Long and this once Top Ten defense is suddenly middle-of-the-road.

NFL Week 1 Hangover Cure: WEEK 2!!!

The NFL provided a hell of an opening weekend for football junkies out there. The Eagles, Dolphins and Falcons led inspired comebacks to claim victories, while the Bills rolled into Chicago and upset a team that many touted as a Super Bowl contender with an MVP candidate in Jay Cutler at the helms. The lowly Browns showed tremendous poise in a monstrous comeback that fell just short against the Steelers while the defending champs look like they have the moxie to be the first back-to-back Super Bowl winners since the Pats did it a decade ago.

Two of the biggest stories of the upcoming week have to do with off the field issues. I’ve already told you my thoughts on the Ray Rice issue (which you can see here if you missed it), so to see how this further unravels will be quite interesting. Elsewhere, the 32 player reps have yet again put off the vote about the hefty punishments from the league’s drug policy. Josh Gordon and Wes Welker anxiously await the results in hopes of returning to the field.

How do the boys of autumn follow up a weekend like that? It will be a tough act to follow, but there are some highly intriguing games on the slate for the coming week. The week kicks off Thursday night, when arch rivals square off as Ben Roethlisberger takes his Steelers to Baltimore in a match-up with Joe Flacco. It should set the tone for an action-packed weekend.

-Keep reading for the Top 3 Story lines of Week 2!>

What is Wrong with the NFL?

September 1, 2006. That was the day Roger Goodell took the reigns of the NFL and replaced Paul Tagliabue as Commissioner. His main goal was made clear from day one: to clean up the NFL and impose a fierce player conduct policy. He was known as the man who was here to “protect the shield.”

Goodell has since become a fine-bearing, suspension-levying authoritarian beast. He rules the NFL much like Drew Carey “judged” Who’s Line is It Anyway? with no rhyme or reason behind his judgements. It started in 2007 with Pacman Jones and has reached his all-time low Monday with the Ray Rice elevator video leak. It’s time for the NFL to reexamine their leadership.

– Click here to see why Goodell must go!>

The Wacky Week in Sports

What a weekend, folks. The NFL’s kick off to its 2014 season was chock full of surprises, comebacks, upsets and fantasy football let downs. The Wild Card standings in the MLB shifted once again as the Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates are making their push. College football had an overall soft week as less than a handful of significant games were played. And it was all overshadowed by Ray Rice and the complete ineptitude of Roger Goodell.

– Keep reading for the Wacky Week that Was!>

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 1 Starts and Sits

It’s here, IT’S here, IT’S HERE! When the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers kick off that pigskin at 8:30 Thursday night, millions of fantasy geeks will release an orgasmic sigh of pure ecstasy. The next 13 weeks will be spent endlessly researching the right players to bench and to get into your line-up so you can play some December Fantasy Football in weeks 14, 15 and 16. Well, folks, we’re here to help.

Each week, you will get a few Starts of the Week and Sits of the Week from the Wayniac Nation fantasy experts (if you forgotten who they are, get familiar with them here). We’re not going to waste your time like some so called experts telling you that Peyton Manning and Dez Bryant are good starts. Nor are we going to sit here and tell you to bench the likes of Adrian Peterson or Aaron Rodgers because of the defenses they are playing. Let me give you a little hint: unless they are injured or on a bye, if you invested a first, second or third round pick on a player… you start them. How simple is that?

Not everyone is a Top 35 player though, and that’s where we come in. So, take out your lineups, open up those waiver wires and get ready for:

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WEEK ONE STARTS AND SITS:

Saucy T:
Start of the Week:
C.J. Spiller– Some of the shine has come off of Spiller after last year’s injury-plagued season, but he is an elite talent going up against a weak Bears defense. This will definitely help validate those owners that took a 3rd or 4th round chance on him.
Sit of the Week:
49ers Defense – Hard to come up with a sit for week one, since you should be starting your studs even with bad matchups. The 49ers though aren’t the 49ers without NaVorro Bowman and Aldon Smith, and Dallas has a ton of offensive weapons. Those fantasy owners that made SF the 2nd defense off the board will regret it starting in week 1.

Teddy Ballgame:
Start of the Week: Maurice Jones-Drew – Tempted to start him over Rashad Jennings.
Sit of the Week: Alfred Morris – Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt? No thank you.

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Fee:
Start of the Week: Nick Foles or Jay Cutler. Both have a lot to prove and should have great Week 1 starts against mediocre defenses.
Sit of the Week: Mike Wallace. He shouldn’t be a starter on most fantasy teams in the first place, but if you drafted him as one, you probably have a crappy team anyway. Don’t make it worse by starting him against Revis Island and the revamped Patriots defense.

So, what does The Wayniac think?

Starts of the Week:

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QB:  Tom Brady. He had a rough season last year for Brady standards, But, at least for Week 1, he has a healthy Danny Amendola, Shane Vereen and Rob Gronkowski for the first time in a while. Throw in the fact that Miami has a bottom five defense and over the past three seasons, Brady has performed remarkably well in Miami (1119 yards passing, 7 touchdowns and just three interceptions) it’s a perfect set-up for a repeat 2011 Brady performance. That day, when the Pats opened the season in Miami, Brady went off for 517 yards and four touchdowns.

RB: Frank Gore. Nuts, right? But here is the way you need to look at it. The Dallas Cowboys defense will vie with the 2012 New Orleans Saints for one of the worst of all-time. Frank Gore will most likely be hurt or replaced by Carlos Hyde in a few weeks. Why not take advantage of Gore’s one big matchup and then bench him for the remainder of the year?

WR: Jeremy Maclin. The Eagles are playing the Jaguars at home. The Jaguars offense may be on the field for ten total minutes and Chip Kelly doesn’t believe in stepping on the brakes. Maclin will probably see about ten targets.

TE: Antonio Gates. That’s right. Frank Gore and Gates are both starts for me this week. Arizona’s secondary is silly good and they are going to do their best to take Keenan Allen, Malcolm Floyd and Eddie Royal out of this game (which in reality isn’t all that difficult, I mean when was the last time Eddie Royal had a fantasy relevant game?). Philip Rivers will have to check down to his backs and find Gates in the middle of the field. He may be old and lost a step, but he’s still good a getting open.

Defense: Basically, I will pick this team each week the same way I do my survivor pool: whoever is playing the Jaguars. Until Blake Bortles takes over, I can’t see this team hanging with any team true playoff contender. Start the Eagles all day.

Sits of the Week:

 

Courtesy of the Gatorade Superhero collection. Awesome!
Courtesy of the Gatorade Superhero collection. Awesome!

QB: Cam Newton. The Bucs may have lost Darrelle Revis Island, but they are still pretty stout. I don’t like a mobile quarterback with a shoddy rib against a Top Ten defense, especially when Tampa is at home and starting the new Lovie Smith Era.

RB: Le’Veon Bell. Cleveland was already an up and coming defense and now they have Karlos Dansby and Donte Whitner (or is it Hitner?). Throw in LeGarrette Blount as one of the league’s premiere touchdown vultures, and this doesn’t look good.

WR: Kendall Wright. I think Wright has a huge season on the horizon in 2014. But it will start in Week 2 against the Cowboys. The Chiefs defense, led by Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, is going to fluster Jake Locker all day and their secondary will be too much for the new look Titans. Whisenhunt will get this offense flying, but don’t expect it to start in Week 1.

TE: Martellus Bennett. The Bills secondary may be questionable but their front line is pretty stout. Bennett may have to stay in more often than usual to keep Super Mario Williams and Marcell Dareus off of Cutler, who is going to look to shred that Bills secondary going to Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery all day.

Defense: The Baltimore Ravens. I’m not sure how these guys are still fantasy relevant and in the Top Ten on several charts. It has to be name recognition, I guess. The Ravens do thrive at home, but Andy Dalton has a huge chip on his shoulder as the entire world is still confused as to how this guy is making the money he gets. Ravens may win the game, but it won’t be because of their defense. A.J. Green is going to have a fun opening day.

 

 

The WN Fantasy Football Report: 5 Bold Predictions for 2014

Kickoff is so close. I have all three of my rosters drafted and ready to roll and by now, most of you should as well. We have already discussed MVPs, breakouts, busts and top rookies to keep an eye on, but what else can we look forward to in the 2014 Fantasy Football Season? Today, The Wayniac Nation Fantasy Report explores FIVE BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR THE 2014 FANTASY SEASON.

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5. The Oakland Raiders will produce FIVE fantasy relevant players in 2014.

I know what you’re saying. The Wayniac must have been out for a joyride with Le’Veon Bell. Well, I wasn’t. The Raiders have been virtually fantasy irrelevant since their 2002 Super Bowl season where the were led by former Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hen Rich Gannon. In fact, they haven’t had a winning season in the 11 years since then. This season, they have made some big changes. The Raiders have been led by these award winning quarterbacks over the last 11 years: Kerry Collins, Carson Palmer, Andrew Walter, Daunte Culpepper, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Campbell, Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin. Over that same amount of time Darren McFadden and Marcel Reese have the best passer rating out of that whole bunch. Derek Carr is already a huge improvement. This team got bigger and faster in the offseason. Maurice Jones-Drew is a rumbling back who loves the end zone. Now that he doesn’t need to be relied on for every play of the offense like he was on the Jaguars, he and McFadden will have lesser loads and more potent seasons than they have in a long time. Newly acquired James Jones is fast and can spread the field. Now he won’t have Aaron Rodgers chucking him the ball, but he has certainly proved an affinity for the end zone over the past few years. And you can never rule out Sebastian Janikowski. This guy can get you 15 points in a game with three 58-yard field goals. I’m not implying this is a playoff ready team or has elite week-to-week fantasy players on it, but they are vastly improved from last season. Keep them on your radar.

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4. Philip Rivers will prove to be the biggest steal of the draft.

No, that doesn’t mean he will be the 2014 Fantasy Football MVP, nor does it mean he will necessarily finish in the Top 5. Looking at the overall average of where most experts have Rivers ranked, he is about the 15th best quarterback. His average draft position is about the 99th pick. This is a steal and if you can lock him down in the eighth to tenth round, you’ve probably built an offensive power house and now have a pretty reliable guy at QB. Rivers has one season in the past five that he has thrown below 4,200 yards. His lowest touchdown total over that same time frame is 26. He has a five-year average of 4,334 yards passing and 29 touchdowns. I’ll take that all day from my ninth round pick. I think Rivers outperforms Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton, Tony Romo and possibly Nick Foles this season. All of those names have a reasonably higher ADP than Rivers. Yes, Whisenhunt is gone, but Frank Reich takes over as OC. He has a ton of weapons, including the speedy Keenan Allen, three good receiving threats out of the backfield in Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead and Donald Brown, and has two monster targets in the red zone in Antonio Gates and Ladarius Green. Rivers is ready for another solid fantasy year.

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3. Devonta Freeman will be the top scoring rookie.

I love Mike Evans and in The WN MVP, Breakthrough, Busts and Rookies article, I picked the standout wide receiver from Texas A & M as the top rookie. The more I think about it, and the more I watch his explosiveness, the fourth rounder Devonta Freeman has a huge chance to put up big numbers. The Falcons beefed up their offensive line and Julio Jones and Roddy White are healthy. Steven Jackson is not, and most likely never will be again. Jacquizz Rodgers can not carry the load of a full time back, so that leaves Freeman as the Falcons lead back. This offense is one year removed from being an explosive dynamo. Freeman can be a pretty big cog in that offense if the Falcons return to those heights.

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2. Eddie Lacy will finish a Top Three back in fantasy.

Eddie Lacy will do so well this season that you are going to have a hard time not picking him number one overall in 2015. Last year, Aaron Rodgers played a total of nine games. Lacy, without the services of one of the elite QBs in the NFL, still had  nearly 1,200 yards on the ground as a rookie while gaining almost 300 more through the air. Rodgers return doesn’t take away from what Lacy can do, it adds to it. Rodgers has never had a premier running back to take the pressure off him and has still always produced. Lacy hasn’t had the chance to have defenses focus on much other than him in his short NFL career and he succeeded in lieu of it. Lacy is going to gain close to 2,00 total yards this season and score 12 to 15 touchdowns. He will enter elite status and, as I said, be a consideration for top overall pick next year.

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1. Matthew Stafford is the number one QB in fantasy football in 2014.

Is it crazy talk to put Stafford over Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and quite possibly the all-time greatest quarterback ever, Peyton Manning? Maybe, but then again, maybe not. Manning lost Eric Decker and now, molly-loving, concussion-prone Wes Welker is gone for at least four games pending he doesn’t go off on a Walter White binge. Knowshon Moreno is gone to Miami, leaving an unproven Montee Ball in the backfield. He has great weapons in Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas, but this is going to be way more of a control offense than last season. Matthew Stafford has all of the pieces in place. Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in the Milky Way. People hate to admit it, but when healthy, Reggie Bush is one of the best receiving backs the NFL has ever seen. When he isn’t healthy Joique Bell is not much of a downgrade. Eric Ebron with no NFL experience at all is already a better option at tight end than Stafford has ever had and Golden Tate is unquestionably the best wing man Megatron has ever seen. Gone also is Jim Schwartz who could have easily been the worst head coach in the NFL. Pass happy head coach Jim Caldwell and new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi won’t show any hesitation in putting the Lions’ season in Stafford’s arm. This is a guy who already has a 5,000 yard season under his belt and has a guaranteed 1,500 yards passing to Megatron. The sky’s the limit for Stafford, and if you have him, you may be carrying home that trophy at season’s end.

Finally!!! We Are Ready For Some Football!!!

We are a few days away from the start of the greatest six months of the year. We tolerated a Stanley Cup Final, managed to get through the NBA Finals and are just about through with the marathon that baseball season is, and our ultimate reward is the beauty of NFL football. It all gets underway this Thursday at 8:30 PM when the Green Bay Packers travel to Seattle for a bout with the defending World Champs. One of the premiere defenses in football takes on The Discount Double Check and one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. It’s like football porn.

If we learned one thing from me and my group of NFL prediction makers (more endearingly known as The Thread), it’s that we aren’t very good at predictions. So, instead of trying to predict what the future holds five months from now, Wayniac Nation is going with a simpler approach… or at least one that makes us look less like a group of monkeys making uneducated guesses, which would, in fact, be one hell of a blog in itself, but that’s for another time. But I digress. Without further ado:

THE TOP THREE THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN WEEK ONE OF THE NFL SEASON:

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3. The Post Ralph Wilson Era of Buffalo Bills football begins in Chicago. 

When the NFL opens its season Thursday, it will be the first time since the AFL/NFL merger that Ralph Wilson won’t be a part of it. Since 1959, Wilson and the Bills were synonymous with AFC football and now the new era begins. The team is in flux as there is a battle over who the new ownership will be. Will the Bills move to Canada? Will feather-haired, denim-wearing, 80s pop icon, Jon Bon Jovi by the team and give it a shot (WHOOOOOAAAA he’s halfway there)? No one knows for sure, but here’s what we do know. The Bills, on paper, look like a terrible team. EJ Manuel may be the worst starting quarterback in football. The majority of this team, like Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, are much like their coaching staff: young and inexperienced in the NFL. Teams have rallied around disasters before (see the Boston Red Sox) and with the passing of the man who bares the name of their own home field, the Bills may be poised to make some noise this season. Starting things off right against a highly touted Chicago Bears team would be a great start.

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2. Jay Gruden takes over the Washington Politically Incorrects.

Mike Shanahan’s tenure in the Capitol City ends with a whimper on the heels of a 3-13 season. Shanahan, who’s four year reign in DC ended with a 24-40 overall record, did nothing to change my mind that he is one of the most over rated coaches in the history of the NFL. Shanahan was heralded as the architect who finally brought Denver their long awaited Lombardi Trophy, but the reality was is he was surrounded by Hall of Fame talent. John Elway and Shannon Sharpe were two of the best ever at their positions and Terrell Davis was the best running back in the game at the time. Shanahan and his power happy, run heavy offensive schemes didn’t seem like the right fight for a player as dynamic as Robert Griffin III. Maybe that’s why he kept playing him on a torn ACL? Anyway, now the one time Arena Football League MVP (no lie) Jay Gruden is at the helms. Considering this is the guy that just made Andy Dalton a multi-gazillionaire, I think what he can pull off with RGIII and his bevy of talented receivers that are all finally healthy or on new contracts will be exciting to watch. Unfortunately, they kick things off against my beloved Texans, and while I think they will win, I sure hope they don’t.

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1. Peyton gets some Luck on the first Sunday Night Football matchup of the year.

Andrew Luck is fourteen years younger than Peyton Manning, but they will be forever linked. Manning, arguably the greatest Colt to ever suit up (sorry Johnny U), and his heir apparent go head to head for the second time this coming Sunday. Last season, Peyton Manning got his Denver Broncos out to a 6-0 start by amassing 265 points over their first six games. This guy threw SEVEN touchdowns in a game and heading into Week 7 of the season, Manning had 22 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Right when everyone was saying this team was unstoppable, right when the undefeated talks really started to pick up steam, the Colts “next Peyton”  Andrew Luck wanted nothing to do with it. Luck went out and amassed four total touchdowns and the Colts defense did just enough to hold off Denver’s fourth quarter run for the victory. With the bitter taste from his Super Bowl loss last season, and revenge on the mind against his one-time Colts, we can only imagine what Peyton has in store. Last year, he had seven touchdowns on opening night. What can he and Luck give us from the Mile High City this year?

Game of the Week: Thursday’s matchup between Aaron Rodgers and his Packers and Russell Wilson and his Seahawks will certainly be exciting. As I just mentioned, any time that Luck and Manning face off will always be highly anticipated and full of action. The Wayniac Nation Game of the Week for week one has bigger implications than those two games, however. Fresh off their acting debuts on Hard Knocks, Matt Ryan, Roddy White and Julio Jones are armed and ready to prove last season was a fluke and that they are in fact way less boring of a team than they portrayed on Hard Knocks. Drew Brees has some new toys to play with, but he has his biggest and best one (Jimmy Grahamready to go and earn even more money than he just got paid. This isn’t simply a marquee matchup of two good teams. This game can lay the foundation of how the NFC South will be won.

Survivor Pool Pick of the Week: Every year I enter the infamous Beat The Pooch survivor pool and every year I seem to go home empty handed by week three. That being said, there are two ways to approach a survivor pool. One way is to just take the best matchup and not care about saving the good teams for later on in the season. The other approach is to gamble and take a team that no one else will pick, leaving you all of the good teams for an end run. So, if you want to play it safe, the San Francisco 49ers against that horrid Dallas defense should be a lock for week one, even giving up the five points. But if you got a little gamble in you, I really like the Vikings covering on the road against the Rams. If Bradford was there it would be another story, but I don’t see Shaun Hill keeping this team on the field long enough to keep Adrian Peterson off of it.

Alrighty, folks. That’s week one in a nutshell. So, rest up and get ready. Kickoff is just days away!

The Wacky Week in Sports

FOOTBALL!!! It’s back, folks, as the NCAA opened its doors for the 2014 college football season. There were some exciting football games for week one, especially amongst the top two spots. Elsewhere, the NFL made some news not by who made certain teams, but more so for who didn’t. Baseball has been creeping along, but Monday is September first and that’s when the final leg of this intense playoff race really heats up. And today, my Nitro League drafts on Labor Day Weekend Sunday for the 17th year in a row. Now, that’s just wacky, my friends. So sit back and get caught up on you Wacky Week in Sports.

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Week one is usually filled with some laughers to get the good teams rolling with some decisive victories. It didn’t quite go down that way, especially for the defending champs and Ol’ Saint Nick’s Rolling Tide. Jeremy Pruitt proved to be amongst the best defensive coordinators in the business, not just for what his new Georgia Bulldogs did in the second half of their game, but for how lost the Seminole defense looked without him. The unranked Oklahoma State put a huge scare into the number one seeded Seminoles, scoring 14 points in the final quarter to make Florida State sweat it out. The final score was 37-31 as the Cowboys outplayed the champs in the second half, outscoring them by one point. The Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic was almost an instant classic as unranked West Virginia hung around with Alabama for nearly the whole game, losing 33-23. TJ Yeldon made his presence felt as he went off for 126 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Down the road in Athens, the Dogs came out shaky in their first half of the Hutson Mason/ Jeremy Pruitt era in the matchup of the day that pitted number 12 Georgia versus the number 16 Clemson Tigers. After a first half that saw the Bulldog defense get run over to a score of 21-21, the Dawgs completely shutdown the Tigers in the second half, outscoring them 24-0 for a 45-21 victory. The attack was led by 2014 Heisman Trophy winner (yea, I’m penciling it in already) Todd Gurley who went off for 198 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He also added another touchdown on a thrilling 100 yard kickoff return touchdown. Can I just take Gurley with my first pick in today’s fantasy draft? The Jerry Bowl, the other marquee matchup of the day, must have given my boy Jason Steen a heart attack. His number 13 LSU Tigers were down to the number 14 Wisconsin Badger’s 24-7. With the Badgers notorious clamp down defense and time killing rushing attack, it looked like the Tiger’s day was done. However, behind wide receiver Travin Dural’s 80-yard touchdown and 151 yard day, LSU came roaring back with 21 unanswered points for the 28-24 victory. Finally, my boys in Delaware made a bold move by opening their season against the ACC powerhouse Pittsburgh Panthers. We lost 62-0 and now my football season is over. The Florida Gators game was cancelled due to scary conditions. Aaron Hernandez escaped and was running amok in The Swamp. No official NFL suspension of Hernandez has yet to be handed down.

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Which brings us to the NFL. Iron fisted Commissioner Goodell upheld Josh Gordon‘s one year suspension for smoking marijuana. Goodell admitted this week that he blew the Ray Rice domestic violence case in which he inexplicably only suspended Rice for two games after beating his wife unconscious. The punishment has now changed to a mandatory six game suspension for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second offense. Now, while Goodell made one thing right, he blew a chance to make Gordon’s wrong a right. There is no excuse for a year suspension on any crime that doesn’t endanger someone else’s life. Think about it, a then 22-year old kid who should still be in college, was caught with marijuana. In other words, he was being a 22-year old college kid. He didn’t hurt the face of the NFL like Rice did who had feminist groups up in arms over the decision. He didn’t hurt anyone else, like Aaron Hernandez and his multiple killing sprees (who as I already said, still has no official suspension from the NFL). It didn’t effect his game in anyway as a performance enhancer (unless of course he is like Ki-Jana Carter and openly admits that he can’t play if he isn’t high, dumbass). The only people hurt by Gordon’s one year suspension are Cleveland fans and Fantasy Footballers like myself who now can’t have the second best wide receiver in football on their rosters. Thanks, Rog.

This week was also final cut week for the 53-man Opening Day rosters. There were some surprises, like The Law Firm of BenJarvus Green-Ellis from the Bengals and Daniel Thomas from the Dolphins, but none rang out louder than Michael Sam from the Rams. It was a lousy fit from the get go with the Rams being so deep on the defensive line, but Sam came out and did a lot of things right that gave him a positive grade from Pro Football Focus. In the end, his two sacks (one of which leveled Johnny Football to the tune of Sam throwing that stupid Cash Money Dance right in Manziel’s face) and quarterback hurries weren’t enough to make him the 53rd player on the roster. The Rams hope to keep Sam on the practice squad, however most experts don’t feel Sam will make it through waivers and may join another team this Monday.

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You know who it must suck to be? Bryce Harper. He comes up side by side with Mike Trout as the face of the new era of the MLB. The two of them were to rewrite the beloved books of stat filled history for saber metric geeks everywhere. Since then, Harper has become an injury-prone, whiny, little, disrespectful baby, while Mike Trout has become the face of baseball. Yes, Harper’s Nationals are making quite the run at the NL pennant, but Trout’s Angels are arguably the hottest team in baseball, and a lot of that has to do with Trout. And who doesn’t love to watch Trout play? Does anyone outside of the DC area even care about Harper? I know Atlanta fans would love to see him duct taped at home plate so their pitchers could rifle endless fastballs at him. Anyone else?

Anyway, Monday is September 1st and that means two things. One, rosters expand and we get to finally see all of those heralded minor league top prospects we have been hearing about all season. Two, these playoff races are heating up for an exciting finish. The AL has a legitimate six team Wild Card race going on, while the NL is a five team race with the surprise Miami Marlins still in contention. What is even more exciting is that aside from the AL and NL East, four of the divisions are still wide open. Justin Verlander finally put in a Justin Verlander performance to even the Detroit Tigers up with the surging Kansas City Royals atop the AL Central. Now the Michael Brantley led (yea, I actually typed that) Cleveland Indians, who are in a crucial series with the Royals, are creeping back into the hunt just 3.5 games out of first. By the way, is Corey Kluber the best pitcher in the AL? Where did he come from? In the NL, as Yusmeiro Petit keeps retiring batters (46 in a row, seriously?) and Madison Bumgarner continues throwing gem after gem, the San Francisco Giants are looking a lot like those 2010 and 2012 Giants. You know, those guys that wound up putting their one-time ace Tim Lincecum in the pen and got by on lights out pitching and timely hitting? Don Mattingly and his Dodgers better look out behind them!

That’s a wrap for this week, folks, because let’s admit it, no other sports really matter right now. That’s because we are just four days away from the kickoff to the NFL season. Enjoy your last Sunday of the Wacky Week in Sports because next week we move to Monday’s to recap all of your NFL action!

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Draft Day

This past Sunday, I had my first of three drafts. This one was for the Brookhaven Fantasy Football League (The BFFL) which is run by our own fantasy expert Nomi the Greek, and has all of the members of The Thread and even my fiancé as participants, even though Sperry is on his one year sabbatical. Being that this was the first draft that contained three of our own fantasy experts that brought you MVPs, busts, breakouts and rookies to keep an eye on, I thought I would recap my draft strategy and round by round performance to help guide you for your drafts.

I had the third pick in the draft. My whole goal was to put together a team that can compete for the title by going against the traditional way of thought that you need to grab one of the Big Three running backs with the first three picks.  I think that I did that, however, as anyone who has played fantasy for a long time will tell you, what looks good on paper usually changes about 45 seconds into that first magical Sunday. But that’s why we play, right? Well, that and an excuse to sit at a bar for eight hours every Sunday shoving wings and beer down our throats.

 

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Round One: The picks were, in order: Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoyCALVIN JOHNSON, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Jimmy Graham, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Eddie Lacy, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones and Aaron Rodgers.

I wasn’t surprised at all by who went in Round One, however, the order in which they went was a bit surprising. I thought Brandon Marshall would go in Round One before Julio Jones coming off his injury, but you need to remember, this draft is a bunch of Atlanta Falcons fans. I’m surprised Saucy T didn’t grab Matt Ryan on the comeback!

MY PICK (THIRD): Megatron. Leading up to the draft, I was rather ho hum, I will take whichever of the Big Three running backs landed on me. I was relieved that I didn’t need to make a pick. But then the morning of the draft I asked myself: Self? Do you want the third best running back, or do you want the best wide receiver in the universe? The answer became very clear. Take a look at Megatron’s three year average: 1712 yards, 11 touchdowns and 101 receptions. Not including any bonus systems for long touchdowns or 100 yard games, in a Point Per Reception scoring league, that means Calvin Johnson has averaged 338 points per season over the last three years. That’s ridiculous. I don’t care if they added Golden Tate, I don’t care if Reggie Bush and Joique Bell are receiving threats out of the backfield, and I could care less about the prospects of Eric Ebron stealing red zone targets. It goes Jerry Rice, then Calvin Johnson, end of conversation. If Megatron comes close to his 2012 season this year, we may see a wide receiver go number one sooner than any fantasy nerd imagined.

Round Two: Arian Foster, Dez Bryant, A.J. Green, Brandon Marshall, Andre Johnson, Jordy Nelson, DeMarco Murray, Drew Brees, Julius Thomas, Montee Ball, Antonio Brown and Gio Bernard.

I saw a few surprises in this round. I am a Texan fan through and through, but I think Foster and Andre may have gone a bit too high. I saw them more as a third or fourth round target. They are two aging, injury-riddled players. Then you throw on top of it that they are learning a new offensive system under a new quarterback and head coach, and it may take a few weeks for them to start putting up the points most are used to from them. Based on where Peyton Manning and Rodgers went, I think Drew Brees was a steal for John Smith. Has there been a more consistent QB in NFL history? There have been eight 5,000 yard passing performances in NFL history and four of them belong to Brees including the last three in a row.

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MY PICK (22nd): Montee Ball. This was my dream target and he somehow fell to me. I thought for sure Jon Blalock was going to grab him as a Denver Broncos fan, but he went with Manning’s favorite red zone target instead. Although Orange Julius may be a reach in round two, I get his thought process because he wouldn’t have been there much longer. And it gives me the running back I want. Manning does what he needs to do to get in the end zone, and if that means passing for 99 yards every drive to the one yard line and handing it off to his RB, he’ll do it. I think Ball is poised for a huge season.

Rounds three, four and five:

MY ROUND THREE PICK (27th): Matthew Stafford. I jumped maybe a round early on Stafford, but with the Big Three QBs off the board, I didn’t think he would have been around when I was up 18 picks later. And he wouldn’t have been, as Shane Goode, who grabbed Andrew Luck five picks later said he would have grabbed Stafford first. I have one of the best offensive monsters in football in Megatron and I wanted the hand that feeds him. In his three full seasons in the NFL, Stafford has never thrown for less than 4,500 yards and that is insane. Does his desire to win come into question? Maybe. Does his maturation, or lack thereof, worry some people? I could see that. But that’s for the Detroit Lions to worry about, I just need him to do what he has always done sine his days as a Georgia Bulldog and that’s sling the ball, preferably to Megatron.

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MY ROUND FOUR PICK (46th): Pierre Garcon. If you think having DeSean Jackson scares me about Garcon’s 2014 production, you’re nuts. The biggest concern with Garcon is himself. He was targeted an inconceivable 182 times last season and was only able to haul in 113 receptions and five touchdowns. But that was under the terrible Shanahan regime and an unhealthy Robert Griffin III. Garcon may not catch 113 balls again, but I can easily see a boost in his other numbers.

MY ROUND FIVE PICK (51st): Shane Vereen. Didn’t love this pick, but I wanted to lock up my second back with slim pickings left. I wanted nothing to do with Ray Rice after what he did to me last season and I felt it was too early to gamble on Bishop Sankey, who I like, but still has Shonn Greene and Dexter McCluster to battle with for touches. Vereen is in a Belicheck backfield, which means you never know what can happen, but he has supreme receiving skills and has never played a full season. Maybe this is the year he puts it altogether. If not, I am in a bit of a pickle.

The Rest of the Draft:

I really liked snagging Kendall Wright in the sixth round. Sure, he is a number one receiver who only had two touchdowns, but he’s still a number one. Hopefully, this is the year Locker stays on the field and puts it together as he has looked sharp in the preseason. I did not like taking Frank Gore, but he has some value in the seventh round. The way I see it is that I get to start him week one against the Dallas Cowboys Swiss cheese defense and then he can ride the pine. At 31 and a long list of dinks and mileage, he may not make it past week two! I misplayed the tight end position. My goal was to snag Kyle Rudolph who I thought would slip to me in Round 10, but the reigning champ, The Englishman, snagged him up in round nine. Any tight end in a Norv Turner offense is a great pick. So I called an audible and gambled on Ladarius Green. He is a monster of a specimen, but does have to contend with Antonio Gates in front of him. I hope the aging TE great misses a few games or plays limited snaps to keep him fresh throughout the year. Riley Cooper was a steal in the eighth round as the Eagles offense is a nice blend of passing and rushing, and with the amount of plays they see, he is sure to be a solid bye week replacement. My wild cards are two rookie receivers with very questionable quarterback play. Mike Evans in Tampa with Josh McCown and Marqise Lee with Chad Henne in Jacksonville could be breakouts or busts. Obviously I am hoping for the breakout. Garrett Graham is a safe play at TE, and being the homer that I am, I need a Texan.

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So my opening day line-up pans out like this:

QB: Stafford
RB1: Ball
RB2: Gore
WR1: Megatron
WR2: Garcon
Flex: Vereen
TE: Green
K: Sebastian Janikowski
Def: Arizona Cardinals

Did I succeed in building a playoff contender by passing on AP and Forte? I think I did. I have a few high risk, high reward guys, but overall, I drafted a team built on consistency. Most of my starters are of the what you see is what you get variety, and I like knowing that I have a team that can put up 100 points week in and week out. But, I will let you decide. Was my strategy right or wrong? Feel free to sound off below!

Well, with The Nitro League and Old School Football League drafts just a few short days away, be on the look out for 5 Bold Predictions for the 2014 Fantasy Football Season. Until then, happy drafting!

The Wacky Week in Sports

One more meaningless week of preseason football, and the NFL is back, folks! This week was a tease as many of the starters went well into the third quarters of their games. Elsewhere around the world of sports a 13-year old makes the Sports Illustrated cover, buckets of ice continue to douse our star athletes and baseball’s pennant races are prepping for an exciting home stretch. Sit back and get comfy, as Wayniac Nation takes you around the week of sports.

-Click here for all that was wacky!>