In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
The weekend mailbag is back! I’m also going to field Twitter questions. I think “new” technology like Twitter is fantastic and fantastically comical because as people we’re always behind the curve with how to use new tools. So I’m probably going to make fun of the questions I get on Twitter. If I rag on you or your question, I will provide a serious answer. Continue reading
Football Reads/Listens/Views
Alfred Morris RSP Evaluation – I grade on a 100-point scale. Morris received an 89 on my scale when I watched him play Auburn last year. An 89 is an immediate starter grade. I only watched one game and was reticent to rank him higher than 20th among backs because I didn’t get to see a strong sample size. However, I think you’ll find the details about what I saw commensurate with what you’re seeing from him in Washington. Continue reading
War Daddies. Chris Brown introduces this coach’s term of endearment for big, bad defensive tackles that man the middle of a defensive front in his ode to the position at Grantland. Brown, the author of the always excellent Smart Football, explains that when it comes to prioritizing the factors that make a good defensive tackle, size is only a fundamental consideration.
What separates a defensive tackle who earns an invitation to compete for a roster spot from a defensive tackle that has an integral role for an NFL team is fluid athleticism and a good football IQ. It might be important to have (Read the rest at Football Outsiders)
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.
Dave Richard works for CBS. His RSP Writers Team can be found here. His Q&A is below. He writes in short sentences. You’ll notice this tendency. Richard is economical. Get used to it.
Okay, not really. Richard is a busy guy and we appreciate the effort he made to contribute a team and add to the rich diversity of offerings to this project. I did asked follow up questions, but with fantasy football season nearing its peak I presume Richard is underwater with “who do I draft,” emails from the masses or readers in CBS leagues.
Seriously, Richard’s answers will probably be a refreshing to those of you that appreciate brevity but rarely get it here. Continue reading
Dave Richard is a diehard football fan and lives the dream as one of the few full-time fantasy writers in the business. Richard handles sports news and analysis for Fantasy Football at CBSSports.com and is one of many members of Pro Football Writers of America who I imagine will take cookies and pizza as bribes. The Florida native’s team takes some departures from the trends I’ve seen with most of the RSP Writers’ Teams I’ve seen thus far.
Richard invested in an upper echelon left tackle, took an unusual combination of tight ends, and invested in many rookies that I think will develop into underrated role players within the next few years. Two that come to mind immediately are Continue reading
Matt Williamson’s story is well-known to us at the RSP blog. The former Cleveland Browns scout graciously served as our unofficial quality assurance tester for the writer’s project player values. Due to a communication error on my part, some of the writers built rosters with only two quarterbacks. I’m letting it slide due to the sake of time, but just know that there would have to be some minor adjustments with Williamson’s squad to meet the three-quarterback rule.
I doubt the adjustment would seriously change the make up of his team, which at first glance is an offense with a powerful ground attack complemented by a fearsome vertical passing game, and a 34 defense with most of the money invested in linebackers. Williamson’s team is a fun mix of big and small investments with a lot of players that reflect his eye for talent combined with a willingness to rely on role players that fit his scheme.
I think the last part of that statement is an important one to remember. Good teams aren’t filled with superstars from top to bottom, but they do have a great mix of studs and players that are studly at a limited number of tasks. See comments for guys Chris Rainey and Williamson gets it.
At the same time, he also found potential bargains. His tight ends are a great example. If Fred Davis can stay away from situations where he has to be his own lawyer Continue reading
Chase Stuart took an aggressive, offensive approach to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio Writers Project, spending $93.5 million of his $150 million salary cap on his offense. Can’t say I blame him. He has a nice mix of young skill talent and veteran grit and his dollar cost averaging for his offensive line could pay off.
Although his defense has some clear weaknesses, he also has talented players that should do a good job of playing aggressive football when Stuart’s team has a lead. If this team gets behind early it could be problematic, but I can see how this offense is set up for this team to go 10-6, even in a tough division.
Learn more about Stuart’s team below as the writer at Footballguys.com, Pro Football Reference, and (his new blog) Football Perspective provides an engaging take on the RSP Writers Project. Continue reading
As promised, I’m posting reader-submitted teams for the RSP Writers Project. Ryan Booher has been excited about participating in this project for months now. He has delivered a fascinating roster filled with many players that I haven’t seen on teams submitted thus far. He’ll also be using the Diamond formation in a lot of base sets, which we might see a little bit in the NFL this year. Continue reading
I will have two teams in this project because I had too much fun just building one. I’m also learning too much from the process to build just one. If you’ve tried building a team, I think you know what I mean. However, I’ll make this squad my official roster despite how much I like the other team I’ll share later this month.
Offensive System
I’m implementing a system with a streamlined playbook and simple concepts that complement each other while hopefully using variations of plays that don’t force additional complexity with my blocking and route schemes. I want my quarterback to have enough freedom Continue reading