In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
Reads: Frank’s Flops
I have a slightly depraved colleague who refers to himself as “Frank.” I’m not sure if “Frank” is his real name, but after meeting him I forgot to ask. He’s a lot like Seinfeld’s Kramer in the sense that you might notice one outrageous thing about him immediately, but within 30 seconds you realize that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Continue reading
This was actually my first squad, but admittedly I was a little uncomfortable going with so many first and second-year players as starters in my offense. As the summer played out, I see that perhaps my first inclination has as much or more promise as the team I published last month. The only changes I made to this squad since July were at guard and the defense. The offense is pretty much as I built it. I’ll call this my Rookie Scouting Portfolio Writers Team and the other team my Footballguys/Football Outisders squad. I have mad love for all three places, but couldn’t fill just one squad.
There are more RSP Writers Teams in the can that I’ll post as the season gets under way. You can go here for a complete look at the project, including the spreadsheet and rules so you can play at home. Continue reading
Warning: If you use my picks to place bets, make fantasy picks, or enter other contests of prognostication, you are a fool and you deserve to lose. Unless you have a stroke of dumb-luck success and you’re giving me a cut of the winnings, don’t write me about your failure.
It’s that time of year, folks.
What a lame lead sentence. When isn’t it that time of year? If you’re an American sports fan, don’t you get tired of “that time of year?”
Barring the strategically accented tokens of estrogen, sometimes it all seems like an endless, besuited parade of middle-aged, balding, flaccid white men trying to tell us what time it is. CNBC lookalikes promoting, informing, and sometimes (if not purely by accident) entertaining the masses about an upcoming season. It’s all brought to you by corporations selling its brand of self-medication: booze, junk food, and pills marketed with hints of lurid fantasies to escape whatever part of reality you dread facing at any moment.
Welcome to [insert sport here] season, brought to you by Propecia, Viagra, and Celebrex. You’ll be able to hold your water, keep it up, and move your hips long enough without an ache so you can have just enough fun with that special someone before your skin develops a horrific rash, your kidneys fail, and your heart explodes.
Earlier this week I joined Jarrett Behar and Tim Stafford of Dynasty League Football for the DLF Podcast. You can find and download the show here. Behar, Stafford, Ryan McDowell, and crew at the DLF do a wonderful job with the site. Check it out.
With only days away from the start of the NFL regular season it means time is running out for us to project our hopes on the league, its teams, and its personnel. If the NFL genie granted me 20 wishes (Jimmy Johnson helped me negotiate this deal for the Genie’s right to Trent Richardson), here’s what I’d wish for. Continue reading
Why I Thank You Every Week
Nearly eight years ago, I worked in the call center industry. Yes, thank you for that quick twinge of collective telepathic sympathy – the job is truly a weigh station for lost souls. Continue reading
Lance Zierlein was kind enough to invite Sigmund Bloom and I to a hangout to talk overrated and underrated fantasy prospects. Here’s the 24-minute conversation that starts at the 0:27 mark.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/8gHLsT49NyQ]
Brandon Lloyd…Choo-Choo!!!
Bramel RSP Q&A
You gotta love reading the work of a writer who understands how to complement simplicity with complexity and present it in an easy to understand manner. I think Jene Bramel does this as well as anyone in the football hemisphere today. Whether its injuries, X’s and O’s, or fantasy football strategy, Bramel is a must-read.
I especially enjoyed comparing my team with his, because Bramel was a huge part of putting this project together. We installed Continue reading
Many of you may remember that I did a series on David Wilson’s game at Virginia Tech and how it translates to the NFL. One of Wilson’s issues was the tendency to bounce runs outside to attempt the big play. I euphemistically call this “the corner store,” because it is fun to visit but few things are good for you there.
I just saw a promising David Wilson quote from Ralph Vacchiano’s Twitter feed that I think is worth reading.
Is rookie RB David Wilson ready for a bigger role? Yes, because he’s already learned a few lessons about the NFL…
“In my position in this league you can’t go out there and try to make the big play all the time,” he said. “At least I’m not comfortable to go out there and do it now. You can turn a bad play into a worse play by always trying to have the greatest play. I won’t say (I’ve) so much changed (my approach), but I know the playbook more, so I know what to expect a little bit. When I first got here I barely knew the playbook and the plays, and I just knew enough that the coaches would say ‘messing up’ and start screaming at me. When you get more into detail in the playbook and know what you are doing, you can become more of yourself.” #NYG
Whether he can do this on the field is a different story, but the fact he can verbalize it is half the battle.
Joe Goodberry writes for Cincyjungle.com. A regular of the football Twitterverse, Goodberry is one of the diehard draftniks frequenting social networks during the offseason. His RSP Writers Project Team is quarterback-driven on offense and features a 4-3 defense with two well-known 3-4 outside linebackers as bookends in his front. Find out the thought process behind his team and the risks he took. Continue reading