"The Neidhawks" has been identified. The winner of the 3rd Annual FF4W Survivor Pool is none other than Matt Neidhart, a member of the FF4W community since 2014. Congratulations to Matt and to any friends and family members he wishes to share this honor with. For his prize, Matt will receive a shout-out on this page (check), a shout-out on Twitter (sometime this weekend), and a 30-minute fantasy phone consultation.
I was hoping Toshiba would sponsor the contest this year so I could give away a 60-inch TV. But I forgot to contact Toshiba.
Matt beat out a record 140 competitors and joins previous winners Mike Hoff (2016) and Randy Scoggins (2015) in this very exclusive winners club. If you want back in on the excitement next season--or if you're looking to become a first-time contestant--there are no criteria for entry except an Internet connection and a dream.
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Last night's game played out somewhat as expected. I missed big on Jimmy Graham (who I inexplicably failed to mention yesterday) and Jermaine Gresham (who I deliberately failed to mention). Both guys accounted for three of the game's four TDs. I also missed on Thomas Rawls, who couldn't get anything going and was limited to 39 yards on 12 touches.
Larry Fitzgerald was a mixed bag, reinforcing my belief that he came in overvalued, catching four balls for 32 yards thru three quarters. Then with Richard Sherman knocked out, Fitz went off in the fourth with six catches for 81 yards. Not a coincidence. Fitz is a risky weekly starter going forward and should be sold high if at all possible. Russell Wilson also was a mixed bag, racking up 238 yards and two TDs, putting him on track for low-end QB1 numbers; I thought he'd do better.
The rest played out largely as expected. Adrian Peterson was useless, as were the trio of early-season-hyped receivers J.J. Nelson, John Brown, and Jaron Brown. All three should have been dropped in most leagues when Carson Palmer got hurt. And Andre Ellington outperformed AP on only five touches (AP had 22). Once again, if anyone in the Cards' organization is listening, your best chance at winning is giving Ellington 12+ looks a game and scaling AP back significantly.
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A quick word on trading. Yesterday a reader asked for advice: he needs a QB upgrade, and one of his opponents has stockpiled six of 'em. Who should he try to trade for, and who should he give up?
Before negotiating with an opponent, I want to know how they value their own players. Sometimes I can figure this out by looking at who they've been starting and benching in recent weeks. But sometimes it's not clear.
So suppose I'm eyeing one of three opponent QBs. I ask them directly (because directness is a key to successful fantasy trading), "Who do you value most and least?" If the person they value least is an undervalued target of mine, I now have a better sense how much to offer for him. If the person they value most is, in my view, overvalued, then I don't need to waste time trying to pry him away.
Let your opponent do some of the heavy lifting. Empower them to empower the negotiation--to cut through the B.S. and present the facts as they see it. Because trading usually isn't about convincing someone of something. It's about finding and exploiting the holes in their logic.
I was hoping Toshiba would sponsor the contest this year so I could give away a 60-inch TV. But I forgot to contact Toshiba.
Matt beat out a record 140 competitors and joins previous winners Mike Hoff (2016) and Randy Scoggins (2015) in this very exclusive winners club. If you want back in on the excitement next season--or if you're looking to become a first-time contestant--there are no criteria for entry except an Internet connection and a dream.
---
Last night's game played out somewhat as expected. I missed big on Jimmy Graham (who I inexplicably failed to mention yesterday) and Jermaine Gresham (who I deliberately failed to mention). Both guys accounted for three of the game's four TDs. I also missed on Thomas Rawls, who couldn't get anything going and was limited to 39 yards on 12 touches.
Larry Fitzgerald was a mixed bag, reinforcing my belief that he came in overvalued, catching four balls for 32 yards thru three quarters. Then with Richard Sherman knocked out, Fitz went off in the fourth with six catches for 81 yards. Not a coincidence. Fitz is a risky weekly starter going forward and should be sold high if at all possible. Russell Wilson also was a mixed bag, racking up 238 yards and two TDs, putting him on track for low-end QB1 numbers; I thought he'd do better.
The rest played out largely as expected. Adrian Peterson was useless, as were the trio of early-season-hyped receivers J.J. Nelson, John Brown, and Jaron Brown. All three should have been dropped in most leagues when Carson Palmer got hurt. And Andre Ellington outperformed AP on only five touches (AP had 22). Once again, if anyone in the Cards' organization is listening, your best chance at winning is giving Ellington 12+ looks a game and scaling AP back significantly.
---
A quick word on trading. Yesterday a reader asked for advice: he needs a QB upgrade, and one of his opponents has stockpiled six of 'em. Who should he try to trade for, and who should he give up?
Before negotiating with an opponent, I want to know how they value their own players. Sometimes I can figure this out by looking at who they've been starting and benching in recent weeks. But sometimes it's not clear.
So suppose I'm eyeing one of three opponent QBs. I ask them directly (because directness is a key to successful fantasy trading), "Who do you value most and least?" If the person they value least is an undervalued target of mine, I now have a better sense how much to offer for him. If the person they value most is, in my view, overvalued, then I don't need to waste time trying to pry him away.
Let your opponent do some of the heavy lifting. Empower them to empower the negotiation--to cut through the B.S. and present the facts as they see it. Because trading usually isn't about convincing someone of something. It's about finding and exploiting the holes in their logic.