Fantasy Football Review – part two

by | Jan 23, 2015 | We Forgot

We started our debriefing of the 2014 fantasy football season yesterday. (You can read the part one here.) Today we fantasy-football-logo1finish up our discussion with Fantasy Editor Anthony Maggio, who talked with us about how this season went and how things look heading into 2015.

Please let us know what you’d like to hear about during the offseason and share your thoughts on Anthony’s observations, whether you agree or disagree. And thank you for reading throughout the season.

Zoneblitz: Several rookie WRs continued to debunk the trend that it takes three seasons before they figure it out – who among the 2014 class do you see continuing to ascend and who might take a step back?

Maggio: Yeah, I think we can go ahead and retire the third-year receiver myth. The rookies this year were

Photo credit: Keith Allison, via Wikipedia

Photo credit: Keith Allison, via Wikipedia

incredible, and the top-end guys come back to very good situations. Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin will all continue to be the No. 1 options on their respective teams next year, and my only concern with any of them would be Evans and what the quarterback situation there winds up being. But even if the Bucs are breaking in a rookie, Evans will still be fantasy relevant.

I expect Jordan Matthews and Brandin Cooks to be the next best, and they could be joined by Davante Adams, Donte Moncrief and John Brown depending on whether certain teammates in Green Bay, Indianapolis, and Arizona, respectively, depart.

Martavis Bryant deserves mention, but I don’t see him turning into a consistent, reliable fantasy option. He’ll be big-play dependent, and I could see the Steelers bringing in someone else to be the No. 2 to Antonio Brown and leaving Martavis as the deep-ball guy. Jarvis Landry probably stays flat as well, as I think he’s a very good No. 2 possession guy, but won’t be an elite receiver. Allen Hurns, Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Marquess Wilson all have too many others to contend with at the position for me to expect them to take another step up in 2015. (more…)

Fantasy Football Review – part one

by | Jan 22, 2015 | Fantasy Football

The 2014 fantasy football season is now in the history books and we’re one game and one week away from saying the fantasy-football-logo1same about the real football season as well.

While things are still relatively fresh, we wanted to take the opportunity to bounce some questions off Fantasy Football Editor Anthony Maggio, whose insights you hopefully followed throughout the season.

In this two-part series, we’re seeing what went right and wrong this year while also asking Magsh to look into his crystal ball for some insight on what 2015 might look like. After all, it’s never too early to start prepping for your drafts, right?

Here’s what he had to say.

Zoneblitz: Who were your big fantasy disappointments in 2014 and will they bounce back next year? (more…)

2015 Hall of Fame Finalists Unveiled

by | Jan 8, 2015 | Hall of Fame

Two members of the St. Louis Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf era survived the cut down from 26

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

semifinalists to 15 finalists eligible for this year’s class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Kurt Warner and Orlando Pace along with San Diego LB Junior Seau are first-time eligible candidates who advance to the next round of votes.

They join 12 more modern-era candidates who will be voted on during the weekend of the Super Bowl.

The 12 are: (more…)

Bets, Picks, Survivor: Wrapping up 2014

by | Dec 29, 2014 | 2014 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks, NFL Survivor pool

The last 17 weeks have flown by in a flash. It feels like just a couple weeks ago I was boarding a plane for Vegas, where my last fantasy football draft took place. But in actuality, in a week or so, I’ll be collecting the winnings – and a sweet trophy – that go along with that title.

Enough bragging – this season was actually fairly frustrating for me otherwise. Middle-of-the-road in game picks. Good start in our bets segment only to see it disintegrate big time in the season’s final third. A lackluster performance in our inaugural survivor pool. In truth, there was never a point during this season during which I felt like I truly got a grasp on what was going to happen from week to week.

Some of my colleagues fared better than me, however. And in the spirit of accountability, here’s a breakdown of how those competitions went, starting with bets. (more…)

Pro Football HOF unveils semifinalists for 2015

by | Nov 18, 2014 | Hall of Fame

Four St. Louis Rams are among eight first-time eligible candidates who were named by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters as semifinalists for the class of 2015. Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Orlando Pace were part of the “Greatest Show on Turf” that won a Super Bowl and played in another during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The other four first-timers named semifinalists were Edgerrin James, Kevin Mawae, Junior Seau and Ty Law, rounding out a class

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

that voter Dan Pompei called one of the strongest first-year eligible classes in a long time.

The NFL Network unveiled those eight and 18 more candidates who remain alive as semifinalists on Tuesday night during an hour-long special.

While it’s a strong first-year class, those candidates don’t have an easy ride to induction. Most see Seau as a lock and several more say Warner and Pace are likely candidates, as well, but their cases for enshrinement in their first years of eligibility are less certain. And they face tremendous competition among the 18 semifinalists who are beyond their first years of eligibility. (more…)