The Fantasy Football Sherpa

Hi everyone,

Here are the latest batch of players who’ve had their preseason projections updated:

• Mike Bell (RB, NO) - revised projections upward (Pierre Thomas’ injury) 
• J’Nathan Bullock (TE, NYJ) - removed from database (cut) 
• Tim Castille (RB, Ari) - removed from database (cut)
• Tony Fiammetta (RB, Car) - added to database (moved up depth chart)
• Ben Hartsock (TE, NYJ) - added to database (signed)
• Brian Hoyer (QB, NE) - added to database (moved up depth chart)
• Kevin Jones (RB, Chi) - removed from database (ankle injury - out for season)
• Dan Kreider (RB, Ari) - added to database (moved up depth chart)
• Billy Miller (TE, NO) - removed from database (torn ACL - out for the season)
• Buck Ortega (TE, NO) - added to database (moved up depth chart)
• Leonard Pope (TE, Ari) - removed from database (cut)
• Steven Spach (TE, Ari) - added to database (moved up depth chart)
• Jonathan Stewart (RB, Car) - revised projections downward (injured)
• Pierre Thomas (RB, NO) - revised projections downward (injured)
• Andrew Walter (QB, NE) - removed from database (cut)

Please let me know if you see any moves I may have missed, and I’ll be happy to update the database.

More updates to come as developments warrant.

Until next time,

The Sherpa

Fantasy Football Sherpa

The Fantasy Football Sherpa’s blog

@fantasy_sherpa on Twitter

Yahoo! Sports recently hosted a fantasy football draft for the mayors of 11 well-known cities (a league commissioner from Yahoo! is also participating to give the league 12 teams).  Each team is required to start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 D/ST.  The scoring system is fairly standard (4 pts per passing TD, 1 pt for every 25 yds passing, no points for a reception, etc.)

This contest is for a great cause - the winning mayor gets $15K to donate to the charity of his/her choice!  At the risk of receiving hate mail from 11 Chambers of Commerce, I decided it would be fun to predict the results of this contest using my projections from FantasyFootballSherpa.com.

Here are the participants (City, Mayor):

1. Buffalo (Byron Brown)
2. Green Bay (Jim Schmitt)
3. Kansas City (Mark Funkhouser)
4. Minneapolis (R.T. Rybak)
5. Oakland (Ron Dellums)
6. Oklahoma City (Mick Cornett)
7. Orlando (Buddy Dyer)
8. Pittsburgh (Luke Ravenstahl)
9. Sacramento (Kevin Johnson)
10. San Francisco (Gavin Newsom)
11. Tampa Bay (Pam Iorio)
12. Yahoo! (Oz?)

Pittsburgh is the defending Super Bowl champion - does that give Mayor Luke Ravenstahl an edge?  Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is a former NBA star - would that knowledge of what it takes to be a successful pro athlete give him an edge?  8 of the 11 cities in the contest currently have NFL franchises - would that give their mayors an edge?

Here’s how I see the contest playing out (cities listed alphabetically by tier):

Leaders of the Pack

1. Buffalo
   • Strengths
     • starting RBs (LaDainian Tomlinson & Willie Parker)
     • starting WRs (Randy Moss, Braylon Edwards, Lance Moore)
     • D/ST (Philadelphia)
   • Causes for Concern
     • RB depth (Beanie Wells, LeSean McCoy)
   • Homer picks
     • QB Trent Edwards
2. Kansas City 
   • Strengths
     • starting RBs (Clinton Portis, Brian Westbrook)
     • starting WRs (Roddy White, Wes Welker, Jerricho Cotchery)
   • Causes for Concern
     • RB depth (Earnest Graham, Willis McGahee)
     • WR depth (Jeremy Maclin, Nate Burleson, Amani Toomer)
   • Homer picks
     • QB Matt Cassel
     • WR Amani Toomer (since cut)
     • K Ryan Succup
3. Oklahoma City 
   • Strengths
     • starting QB (Matt Schaub)
     • starting WRs (Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Torry Holt)
     • RB depth (Donald Brown, Felix Jones, Darren Sproles)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting RBs (Ronnie Brown, Darren McFadden)
   • Homer picks (N/A)
4. Sacramento
   • Strengths
     • starting QB (Matt Ryan)
     • starting RBs (Michael Turner, Adrian Peterson)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting TE (Zach Miller)
     • WR depth (Deion Branch, Isaac Bruce)
   • Homer picks (N/A)

With a Little Bit of Luck

1. Orlando
   • Strengths
     • starting TE (Antonio Gates)
     • RB depth (Jonathan Stewart, Rashard Mendenhall, Julius Jones)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting D/ST (Arizona)
   • Homer picks (N/A)
2. Pittsburgh
   • Strengths
     • starting WRs (Marques Colston, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward)
     • WR depth (Kevin Walter, Donnie Avery)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting QB (Donovan McNabb)
   • Homer picks
     • WR Hines Ward

Stuck in the Middle

1. Green Bay 
   • Strengths
     • starting RB (Ryan Grant, Pierre Thomas)
     • starting WR (Steve Smith (Car), Anquan Boldin, Brandon Marshall)
   • Causes for Concern
     • WR depth (Steve Breaston)
   • Homer picks
     • RB Ryan Grant
     • K Mason Crosby
     • Green Bay D/ST
2. Oakland
   • Strengths
     • starting RBs (Brandon Jacobs, DeAngelo Williams)
     • starting TE (Tony Gonzalez)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting WR (Santonio Holmes, DeSean Jackson, Donald Driver)
     • QB depth (Joe Flacco)
     • RB depth (Justin Fargas, Ricky Williams)
   • Homer picks
     • RB Justin Fargas
     • WR Darrius Heyward-Bey

Help

1. Minneapolis
   • Strengths
     • starting QB (Phillip Rivers)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting TE (Visanthe Shiancoe) 
     • QB depth (Matt Hasselbeck) 
     • RB depth (Cedric Benson)
   • Homer picks
     • WR Bernard Berrian 
     • TE Visanthe Shiancoe
     • K Ryan Longwell
     • Minnesota D/ST
2. San Francisco 
   • Strengths
     • starting QB (Peyton Manning)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting RBs (Frank Gore, Knowshon Moreno) 
     • starting WRs (Chad Ochocinco, Santana Moss, Percy Harvin) 
     • WR depth (Domenik Hixon)
   • Homer picks
     • RB Frank Gore
     • TE Vernon Davis
     • K Joe Nedney
3. Tampa Bay 
   • Strengths
     • starting TE (Chris Cooley)
     • starting D/ST (Pittsburgh)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting QB (Ben Roethlisberger) 
     • starting WRs (Terrell Owens, Greg Jennings, Devin Hester) 
     • WR depth (Michael Clayton, Hakeem Nicks)
   • Homer picks
     • WR Michael Clayton
4. Yahoo!
   • Strengths
     • starting QB (Drew Brees)
     • starting TE (Owen Daniels)
     • WR depth (Anthony Gonzalez, Steve Smith (NYG), Joey Galloway)
   • Causes for Concern
     • starting RBs (Steven Jackson, Kevin Smith)
     • starting WRs (Roy Williams, Ted Ginn, Derrick Mason)
   • Homer picks (N/A)

In case you’re curious, you can view the rosters and current standings.

So, which mayor will be presenting an oversized check to their favorite charity when the champion is crowned?  With the usual caveats about the unpredictable nature of injuries and their ability to wreak havoc on the strongest of fantasy football rosters, my predicted winner is Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett.  Let the games begin!

The Sherpa

Fantasy Football Sherpa

The Fantasy Football Sherpa’s Blog

@fantasy_sherpa on Twitter 

4 teams have their byes Week 9: Carolina, New Orleans, San Diego, and San Francisco.  Unless you’re in a league that’s so competitive that team owners speculate on players with bye weeks, I’d avoid picking up anyone from any of these teams this week.

Here’s a list of players who are probably on a roster in your league and will need to be replaced because of the bye week if they’re in a starting lineup:

Quarterbacks

Jake Delhomme, Drew Brees, Philp Rivers

Running Backs

DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Deuce McAllister (you may need to replace him for more than just this week!), LaDainian Tomlinson, Frank Gore

Wide Receivers

Steve Smith, Muhsin Muhammad, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Chris Chambers, Victor Jackson

Tight Ends

Antonio Gates

Kickers

John Kasay, Taylor Melhaff, Nate Kaeding, Joe Nedney

Defenses

Carolina

Here’s a list of recommended free agent/waiver wire pickups who may be available in your league.  I’ll give an indication of whether I believe these players should be picked up for just the short term (ST), for the long term (LT), or as speculation plays (SPEC).  Short term recommendations are players who should help fantasy owners in the next few weeks (due to injuries, benchings, suspensions, favorable schedules, etc.) but who will probably drop in value again later in the season.  Long term recommendations are players who have the potential to help their owners’ fantasy teams for the remainder of the current season.  Speculation plays are players who are unlikely to help your fantasy team in the short run (barring injuries, benchings, suspensions, etc.) but may have value later this season or in future seasons (for those in Keeper leagues).

Quarterbacks

Matt Ryan (LT), Marc Bulger (LT), Chad Pennington (LT), Matt Hasselbeck (SPEC), JaMarcus Russell (SPEC), Joe Flacco (SPEC), Dan Orlovsky (SPEC), Gus Frerotte (SPEC)

Running Backs

Kevin Smith (LT), Kolby Smith (LT), Kevin Faulk (SPEC), Fred Jackson (SPEC),  Michael Bush (SPEC), Ahmad Bradshaw (SPEC), Ray Rice (SPEC), Lamont Jordan (SPEC), Kenny Watson (SPEC), Selvin Young (SPEC)

Wide Receivers

Ted Ginn (LT), Bobby Wade (LT), Chansi Stuckey (SPEC), Michael Jenkins (SPEC), Demetrius Williams (SPEC), Brandon Jones (SPEC), Shaun McDonald (SPEC), Mike Furrey (SPEC),

Tight Ends

Visanthe Shiancoe (LT), Alex Smith (LT), Dustin Keller (SPEC)

Kickers

Josh Brown (LT), Matt Prater (LT), Dan Carpenter (SPEC), Robbie Gould (SPEC)

Defenses

Cleveland (ST), Atlanta (ST)
Until next time,

The Sherpa