Welcome back. Gotta say I've enjoyed the time away, spending more time with family and catching up on life in general. Now feeling rested (or as rested as I can feel with three kids 5-and-under) and ready to dive into another 200 days of all-things-fantasy. Hope you all are doing okay, and looking forward to reconnecting.
For the second straight year, I'm joined by the same five thoughtful, affable, and reliable folks--official FF4W commenters here to help make sense of the next 6+ months: Tommy Barnett, Robbie Lange, Joel Verzosa, Aaron Weaver, and Matt Weavil. This page is all about accurate unconventional predictions, courtesy (we're not here to be assholes), and responsiveness. If you're looking for advice, at least one of us will make every effort to offer it. Sometimes it'll take an hour or two or three. Sometimes later that day. Sometimes only a few minutes, such as on Sunday mornings, when we're frenetically fielding 150-250 questions before the opening kickoff. So keep your questions coming, and we'll continue to do whatever it takes to get you the best answer in the least amount of time.
As with previous years, here's what's in store for preseason content:
Last year FF4W consisted of about 200,000 words of content. We answered about 15,000 questions. Today marks the beginning of an exciting and intense 6+ months. No one knows what will happen, only what might happen. Fantasy reality will turn into disbelief--and then turn into a new reality--perhaps hundreds of times this year. Let's brace for whatever comes and enjoy the hell out of it.
For the second straight year, I'm joined by the same five thoughtful, affable, and reliable folks--official FF4W commenters here to help make sense of the next 6+ months: Tommy Barnett, Robbie Lange, Joel Verzosa, Aaron Weaver, and Matt Weavil. This page is all about accurate unconventional predictions, courtesy (we're not here to be assholes), and responsiveness. If you're looking for advice, at least one of us will make every effort to offer it. Sometimes it'll take an hour or two or three. Sometimes later that day. Sometimes only a few minutes, such as on Sunday mornings, when we're frenetically fielding 150-250 questions before the opening kickoff. So keep your questions coming, and we'll continue to do whatever it takes to get you the best answer in the least amount of time.
As with previous years, here's what's in store for preseason content:
- Top 300 Player Rankings -- PPR and Standard editions. Updated daily and distributed weekly in July and a little more often as we get deeper into August. Sign up using the big blue box on www.fantasyfootballforwinners.com. In the interest of full disclosure, last season 183 people signed up for the rankings, and the average voluntary donation was $7. If you're entirely opposed to using PayPal or other online transaction services, message me: I'd rather you receive the rankings for free than not receive them at all. To those who did donate, thank you; we're earning about $1 per hour writing for this site, but it would be $0 if not for your generosity.
- 32 Teams in 32 Days -- Starting tomorrow I'll continue my annual team-by-team fantasy rundowns--one per day. Each column will highlight all fantasy-relevant (and potentially fantasy-relevant) players for each team, as well as some early-preseason predictions and boom-bust players to watch. A lot of the stats I share are based on my research. I spend a lot of hours between May and June gathering intel on each player and looking for numbers beyond the obvious stats. Sometimes it's just me with an Excel spreadsheet, copying and pasting data for 10 minutes and then looking for trends (or breaks in trends) that no one else is talking about.
- Contrarian Predictions -- I'll roll with another batch of unconventional player predictions. A cornerstone feature of this page since 2013, these player prognostications go against universal recommendations. In other words, I'll point out if an RB that zero out of 100+ experts rank in the top 40 will actually finish in the top 30. These are not "let's be outlandish for the sake of being outlandish" picks. I won't tell you Cameron Artis-Payne will be a top-5 RB. These are calculated predictions along the edges, hopefully giving you some tangible advantages over most of the fantasy universe.
- Survivor Pool -- For the past three years FF4W has sponsored a Survivor Pool. The winner gets social media shout-outs and a 30-minute fantasy consultation by phone. Last year Matt Neidhart beat out a record 140 competitors to win the prize. So Matt, you and I need to talk. He joins Mike Hoff (2016) and Randy Scoggins (2015) in this glorious winners circle. Stay tuned for entry information in the coming weeks.
- Latest Fantasy News -- For six weeks starting in late July, I'll continually weigh in on camp news and the repercussions of preseason games. We'll get a better sense of depth chart battles, injury implications, and other variables impacting hundreds of players' values.
Last year FF4W consisted of about 200,000 words of content. We answered about 15,000 questions. Today marks the beginning of an exciting and intense 6+ months. No one knows what will happen, only what might happen. Fantasy reality will turn into disbelief--and then turn into a new reality--perhaps hundreds of times this year. Let's brace for whatever comes and enjoy the hell out of it.