Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Fearless Predictions, Injury Updates, News, Mailbag

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Fearless Predictions, Injury Updates, News, Mailbag
Release Date: September 8, 2015
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
[Transcript Timestamps Included]

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Introduction

The episode kicks off with the familiar banter among the hosts, setting an energetic tone for the upcoming Fantasy Football season. Andy Holloway introduces the agenda, which includes fearless predictions, injury updates, news highlights, and listener mailbag questions.

Quick Question of the Day

Topic: Sam Bradford's Game Participation
Question: How many games will Sam Bradford play in the 2015 season?

• Andy Holloway [04:32]: "Sam Bradford, how many games will he play in this season? There are 16 regular season games, and he will play in 12. Really?"
• Jason Moore [04:47]: "He has, you know, I think his rookie year and one other year he played 16, and every other year he's been injured."
• Mike Wright [05:20]: "I'm all in. All in on Bradford, baby. All year."
• Outcome: Eventually, it’s revealed that Sam Bradford is out for the season, disappointing some predictions. Andy acknowledges Bradford as a valuable asset in many leagues.

News and Updates

Key Highlights:

1. T.J. Yelden Starting Week One [07:58]:

   • Andy Holloway: T.J. Yelden is officially listed as the starter, providing optimism for fantasy owners who were concerned about Denard Robinson potentially starting.

2. Arian Foster Injury Report [10:16]:

   • Adam Schefter reports that Arian Foster could return in four weeks but may be sidelined for six or more, adding uncertainty to his availability.

3. Player Movements:

   • Rashad Jennings listed as starting running back for the New York Jets.
   • Matt Castle signs with the Buffalo Bills, potentially impacting E.J. Manuel’s role.

Injury Rundown

The hosts discuss the status of several players ahead of Week 1:

• Trey Mason [11:19]: Likely not playing due to game-time decision.
• Devontae Freeman [11:27]: Hamstring at 90%, expected to play.
• Alshon Jeffrey [11:49]: Set to play, though Jason expresses concern about potential severity if he's out.
• Mike Evans [12:31]: Confirmed to play but with limited participation.
• LaShawn McCoy [12:34]: Cleared to play after participating in drills.
• Other Players: Joy Bell, C.J. Spiller, Duke Johnson, Ty Hilton, Roddy White are all set to play. Michael Floyd and Victor Cruz are doubtful.

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore [11:27]: "I am going to lean that he is not going to play."
• Mike Wright [12:44]: "Yes. But very limited."
• Andy Holloway [12:54]: "Jason, who is your biggest disappointment of the season?"

Fearless Predictions

The hosts present bold predictions across various categories for the upcoming fantasy season.

Fantasy MVP

• Mike Wright [16:54]: "I'm going with Jordan Matthews... I believe he can finish as a top five wide receiver."
• Jason Moore [17:31]: "Eddie Lacy is a surefire pick... a young healthy guy on a high power offense."
• Andy Holloway [18:00]: "Sam Bradford has the ability... if I'm looking to draft Tannehill or Bradford, it's Bradford."

Surprise Player of the Season

• Jason Moore [20:12]: "Ryan Matthews can surprise a lot of people, finishing as a flex option."
• Mike Wright [20:56]: "Eric Decker will benefit from the improved Jets offense with Ryan Fitzpatrick."
• Andy Holloway [21:16]: "Frank Gore could run his way to a top five finish with consistent performances."

Biggest Disappointment

• Mike Wright [23:11]: "Joseph Randle will disappoint due to overvaluation and injury concerns."
• Jason Moore [24:08]: "LaShawn McCoy will be the biggest disappointment because of nagging injuries and declining performance."
• Andy Holloway [25:30]: "Alfred Morris will disappoint due to a struggling offensive system and inconsistent performance."

Top Five Player Unexpectedly

• Jason Moore [26:45]: "Lamar Miller will surprise as a top five player with increased opportunities."
• Mike Wright [28:18]: "Brandon Cooks will excel with increased targets from Drew Brees and Sean Payton."
• Andy Holloway [28:05]: "Frank Gore’s unexpected rise due to offensive consistency and volume."

Fantasy Rookie of the Year

• Mike Wright [29:30]: "Amar Abdullah is poised to take over the running back role."
• Jason Moore [30:02]: "Nelson Aguilar has the talent and opportunity to become a top rookie receiver."
• Andy Holloway [30:08]: "Amari Cooper will push for high catch numbers and solid performance."

Handcuff to Win Your League

• Mike Wright [31:45]: "Duke Johnson as the handcuff, providing depth and potential high usage."
• Jason Moore [35:03]: "Frank Gore as a handcuff to Josh Robinson, ensuring backup potential."
• Andy Holloway [33:19]: "David Johnson as a handcuff to rely on Ellie’s injury and increased usage."

Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway [16:34]: "The season is here. It is time to watch."
• Jason Moore [17:44]: "A lot of the guys that I look at in the first round have the potential to bust. Not that Eddie Lacy can't get hurt, but I see him as a sure thing."

Mailbag

Listeners submit their questions, which the hosts address with strategic advice.

1. Paul from Minneapolis [38:14]:

   • Question: Should he upgrade from Eli Manning and Carson Palmer if Sam Bradford or Tom Brady becomes available?
   • Advice:
     • Mike Wright [39:01]: "If Bradford's on your waiver wire, I would drop Palmer for him."
     • Jason Moore [39:12]: "Don't need to make a move and hurt your roster to get Bradford or Brady."

2. Greg from Louisiana [39:53]:

   • Trade Proposal: Greg Olson, Ryan Matthews, Tory Smith for Jeremy Macklin, Jordan Cameron, and Chris Ivory.
   • Advice:
     • Mike Wright [39:53]: "I would take the Macklin side. I love Olson."
     • Jason Moore [40:20]: "It's really tough, but if you need a starting running back week one, take the Macklin side."

Conclusion

The hosts wrap up the episode by reminding listeners to check out the Week One rankings on their website and tease upcoming guests like Nick Mangold. They encourage fans to engage via their website and social media for future content and updates.

Closing Remarks:

• Andy Holloway [42:53]: "Thank you for listening to another edition of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.thefantasyfootballers.com and follow us on Twitter at theffball."
• Mike Wright [42:45]: "If you have an open free agency, I've grabbed so many players."

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This episode offers a comprehensive blend of strategic insights, bold predictions, and practical advice, making it a valuable resource for fantasy football enthusiasts gearing up for the 2015 season.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Foreign.

[Jason Moore]

To the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Tuesday, September 8th. That's what day it is. That is the day, two days. The calendar says Tuesday and we are the Fantasy Footballers back again. Yet another episode of the podcast and we are excited for the season. My name is Andy Holloway. I am joined by Mike the fantasy hitman. Right.

[Mike Wright]

Greeting tings.

[Andy Holloway]

Greeting tings.

[Mike Wright]

That sounded like green tings.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, green tings from Mike. Jason Moore is here as well.

[Jason Moore]

Hello, everybody. Reddingtons.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for being yourself. Welcome, welcome to the show. We have a good one for you today. We're going to be bringing some fearless predictions to the airwaves.

[Mike Wright]

I hope you didn't have too much coffee because these, these takes are bold.

[Andy Holloway]

They are bold. They are strong, caffeinated.

[Mike Wright]

I didn't sleep last night on the energy and power of some of these takes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, yes. So we, we're also going to go through an injury rundown. There are a lot of guys that are kind of questionable for week one. So we want to poll the experts here and ask them, hey, are they gonna play or not? Because you need to know that information. So you can find us on YouTube, you can watch us on the Fantasy Sports Network. Yeah, we love the Fantasy Sports Network. We're on there three times a day. You can follow us on Twitter, the ffballers. We're pretty active on Twitter. We try to answer questions and interact with the listeners. You can go to thefantasyfootballers.com and you can get your ultimate draft report. You can submit a question to the show. We'll be answering some mailbag questions today. We try to do that on every show and I believe we're going to do a mailbag show tomorrow to answer some more questions. Make sure you subscribe on itunes. If you like what we're doing, if you like this show and if we're helping you out, go subscribe and review the show. I want to talk for a second. Just, just a brief second. I've got a quick question for you, but I want to talk for just a second about this show. If you've been listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast, we've been putting out episodes all season long, ever since February.

[Jason Moore]

Off season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, off season, off season, in season, around the season. It's always football here. So we, if, if you've been listening, though, we've had some ads in the show lately. Sponsors, great sponsors. And one of the things that we really try to do is these sponsors support the show. They Keep the show going. They let us do what we do. We are here, and it is an independent podcast, and it is us three, and we are trying to put out the best fantasy football content that combines stats and smarts and video and analysis. We try to get really good guests for you, and we try to help you win your league. That is the goal. That is why we do this. We thought there needed to be a show that had very good audio quality and very good content and brings you what was lacking in this space. So if you hear sponsors from the show, those are sponsors that we've looked at and we've said, hey, we believe in these sponsors and we've vetted them and we suggest them to you, and they support this show. And so we appreciate our sponsors, and we know that's a little different than what it was like before, but that's really what keeps the show going. And so if you hear from some sponsors, we appreciate it when you check them out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we turned down a lot of. A lot of sponsors because we don't. We don't let everybody on.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And one thing that's really cool is to see the response of listeners to different sponsors, especially, like, handsome, fancy, you know, people sending, how much they enjoyed the product and things like that. So we appreciate your support of our sponsors, and we just want you to know how much we appreciate the sponsors because they get. They get the show going.

[Mike Wright]

We're like the. We're like the lifeboats from the Titanic. Not everyone gets in.

[Andy Holloway]

That's sad. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

A little dark with that one.

[Jason Moore]

People died there, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that was a long time ago. We've moved on.

[Andy Holloway]

They're still dead.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Too soon.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so let's get into it. The quick question of the day is a simple yet complex one. Sam Bradford, how many games will he play in this season? There are 16 regular season games, and he will play in 12. Really?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're just taking kind of an arbitrary probably injured for a few games perspective.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. What else could I do other than an arbitrary answer to this? I don't have an actual crystal ball. Here's where I'm coming from.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a fair point.

[Jason Moore]

Where I'm coming from is the fact that he has, you know, I think his rookie year and one other year he played 16, and every other year he's been injured. And so you just have to, you know, I'm splitting the difference here. I'm giving him the majority of the year.

[Andy Holloway]

The.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's going to be incredible when he's in, but I expect that he'll miss a couple, right? I mean, that's why the question's in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it is.

[Mike Wright]

I'm all in. All in on Bradford, baby. All year.

[Jason Moore]

16, Andy, tiebreaker. We're going to find out right now. Is Sam Bradford going to play the entire season? We get to find that out early.

[Mike Wright]

Here's a question. Do we know where his ACLs repaired from? Cadaver ACLs?

[Andy Holloway]

I have no information on the matter.

[Mike Wright]

Titanic.

[Andy Holloway]

Not the Titanic. Cadavers. Real quick question for Jason before I answer.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Was the four games he's missing, are those in the middle of the season or are you talking season ending?

[Jason Moore]

Is season ending. Injury. He's going to play 12 and at.

[Andy Holloway]

13, we said fearless predictions. I'm going to say he's going to play all 16 games.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, the fantasy reaper has cursed him. We just found out that Sam Bradford is out for the year.

[Mike Wright]

No breaking news.

[Andy Holloway]

That sucks. Especially, especially for our fearless prediction section later where he will be involved in my predictions. So Sam Bradford is certainly a hot topic. He's an exciting name and compared to some of the kind of middling quarterbacks, he's the one I want to own in a lot of leagues. So, yeah, pretty excited about that. Pretty excited about FanDuel as well because week one is almost here, guys.

[Mike Wright]

We need to talk about daily daily fantasy sports. Fanduel the leader. Week one is here. The salaries are ready. You can get your team going. Let me tell you something. FanDuel pays out more winners than any other site. They pay out over $75 million a week. That's a lot of cache. It's a salary cap format. Format. And that means you get to pick any players you want. This isn't a draft. You say, I want Sam Bradford. I want Adrian Peterson. Boom, they're on your team. Your entry fees start as little as $1, so anyone can play and little.

[Andy Holloway]

Fuel to the FanDuel fire. I suggested the Jaguars as a possible cheap defensive selection. They're like $4,000 in FanDuel. Yesterday it came out that Carolina is not starting. Devon funches like It's Ted Ginn Jr. And Corey Brown.

[Jason Moore]

Corey Brown.

[Andy Holloway]

So this better be the Jonathan Stewart show or you're going to get some defensive production from Jacksonville. That is my fearless prediction for the FanDuel section. But yeah, we love FanDuel.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So just go to FanDuel.com, click on the microphone in the upper right hand corner and use our promo code ballers, which rhymes with dollars, because every dollar you deposit, FanDuel will match it up to 200 bucks. $200 that gets earned out as you play. So don't Forget, go to FanDuel F a n d u e-l.com and use our promo code. Ballers.

[Andy Holloway]

Ballers. All right, let's get into the news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

And we will transition this news section into the injury rundown as well. But a couple, couple bits of news. The one big one is TJ Yelden has been officially listed as the starter for Week one. This is good for Yelden. Owners that were concerned Denard Robinson might start the season top of the depth chart. Yelden is an interesting fantasy commodity, very interesting because he is young and he is very talented and he can catch the ball. In fact, in preseason, the limited work that we saw from him, the best work I saw was in the passing game. So he doesn't have a very good Week 1 matchup, but he is the starter. And so what are your thoughts on Yelden and this announcement and is it, is there any way, anything to grab onto for what you expect from him?

[Jason Moore]

Well, I expected him to be the starter Week one, so I don't feel like this is news. As far as my outlook on Yelden, it's essentially that he is a somewhat talented back. I don't think we're talking about, you know, a Todd Gurley here, and he's in a middling offense, so I think his ceiling is very, very capped. He's not going to be all that great. You say that, you know, you liked what he saw more in the passing game this preseason, and I agree. But it wasn't because he did anything special in the passing game. It's because he was atrocious in the run game. So. Well, I'm just saying I didn't think.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I thought he looked okay.

[Jason Moore]

My eyeballs, that's just my take. But I think he's going to be, you know, he's going to get the volume. He's definitely going to get the opportunity to start. The problem, I think, is going to be a talent and team position. So I see him as, you know, an RB3.

[Andy Holloway]

Another depth chart note. Rashad Jennings was listed as the starting running back in New York atop the depth chart. We also had Matt Castle signing with the Bills.

[Mike Wright]

He's back.

[Andy Holloway]

He's back. And so anything to say about those at all?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, it was a salary move. He is now, I imagine, very, very cheap for the Bills to have on there. And that puts a Little bit of fire on that EJ manual resurgence hype that people were hoping for.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I wasn't hoping for that.

[Mike Wright]

Some people were.

[Jason Moore]

Why couldn't resign?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, they had to save money for Matt Castle. Yeah. Adam Schefter has reported that Arian Foster could return in four weeks but that he could be sidelined six or more. So Schefter is taking the entire gamut of possibilities for this news break.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the deal. Aaron Foster could play week one. He could play week 16. Breaking news.

[Andy Holloway]

Breaking news. So this was kind of the first negative ish report that we've had about Foster since the kind of the weeks were shrinking in his injury. So just keep that in mind. The truth is we don't know. I think that's what that report tells us is he could be back in early October. He could miss a couple extra weeks. We don't really know. I think we do know this. When he's back, he will be back. That is the approach they've taken with him returning from injury and they rely on him a lot. And so when he's back, he will be valuable to your team. So hopefully he will be back sooner than later, at least for all of the teams in which I own him. All right, so let's go through the injury rundown. This is a will they, won't they play this week? Give me your thoughts on them. The first one on the list, Trey.

[Jason Moore]

Mason, game time decision is what's being said on Tre Mason. I am going to lean that he is not going to play.

[Mike Wright]

I would agree.

[Andy Holloway]

Devontae Freeman, they said hamstring at 90% is what he said today. Will he play?

[Jason Moore]

I believe he will play.

[Mike Wright]

I think he will play as well.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, everyone wants to know this question. I'm sure you guys have insight that nobody else has. Alshon, Jeffrey, yes or no?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. However, if it's a no, I am not going to be surprised if the injury is more severe than is being led on just like they did with Kevin White. And it's going to be reported. You know, he might be out four weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Trepidatious. Yes. From Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I was I heard a Bears beat reporter on the radio yesterday and it is hilarious. What is going on in Chicago of the coaching staff will not tell them anything. The coaching staff won't even tell them who is starting on the offensive line because that is a huge advantage. Huge strategic going on from the Chicago Bears of buffoonery.

[Jason Moore]

He's being sneaky like a fox. Johnny boy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes or no, Mike yes or no?

[Mike Wright]

Yes. But very limited.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike Evans.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

LaShawn McCoy, who, I will add, participated in individual drills on Tuesday. Will.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Joy Bell.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

C.J. spiller.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Duke Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Ty Hilton.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Roddy White.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Confident. Michael Floyd.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Devon. Oh, I'm sorry, did you say no?

[Jason Moore]

I said no.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Devonte Parker.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that's exciting. I'm excited to see what he has.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Victor Cruz.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

No way.

[Andy Holloway]

Zachary?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

No. All right, so out of all of those guys, any other thoughts? I mean, if Michael Floyd doesn't play, John Brown looks good. Week one, that is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's. There's a lot of things. Our rankings are slowly coming out. The week one, they are mostly there.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Week one rankings are out. They might be. They'll definitely be tweaked as more news comes out through this week. But we are. We are almost into week one mode. Starting tomorrow, we will be completely looking at the week ahead. Every single player who, who to start, who to sit, who's going to beat who, matchups, the games. So make sure this is the time I've been saying all off season, if you're listening right now, you are the people who are going to keep listening through the year and win the championships, because that's when they're won. Not at the draft.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. So you can go to the website, the fantasy footballers.com, click the rankings button and see who we have in week one. Jason, you're still don't show up.

[Jason Moore]

Well, they show up for me, so I don't know what to tell you when I go to the website. Look at all of my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe I just need to refresh.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Take your Jason block off your computer.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So the week one rankings, I personally block all Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I want my rankings accurate, so. All right, so let's talk about one of our sponsors. You've heard of them before. One of our favorite apps on the app Store. Listen, the wait is finally over. The NFL regular season kicks off this week. I was hoping to get an amen.

[Mike Wright]

Amen.

[Andy Holloway]

It means it's time to get off the couch and get to the stadium. So the question is, do you have your tickets yet for the first home game of the year? Because if you do not, you need to go and download the SeatGeek app today. Because you can use the promo code footballers in the SeatGeek app, and you get a $20 rebate off your first SeatGeek purchase. We've had people tweet us about this. They love the SeatGeek app. They're getting cheaper tickets than they can get anywhere else.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the SeatGeek app does a ton of other things that other ticketing apps and ticketing sites don't do. First, they pull in the tickets from hundreds of other online sellers to create a one stop shop for tickets. So when you shop on SeatGeek, you're seeing virtually every ticket option available for that game all on one page. Also, they have a feature called Deal Score. It ranks every ticket on the market with a 1 to 100 value. It gives you value rankings that showed up on a color coded interactive map. So you can just look at it, see this is the best value ticket and grab it. And finally, the SeatGeek mobile app makes the ticket buying process super easy. One click, you can buy a ticket in a second.

[Mike Wright]

So here's what you do. Foot Clan. You Download the free SeatGeek app today. You enter promo code footballers and then you know what they do? They send you $20, $20 for free after you've made your first purchase. Every ticket purchased on SeatGeek is backed by a 100% guaranteed SeatGeek app promo code footballers.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I want to. I'm so excited about this section because it is. There's an aspect of conjecture in this. There's an aspect of everything we've seen in the offseason. So I want to talk about our fearless predictions for the 2015 fantasy season. The season is here. It is time to watch. I'm going to be right. You guys are going to be right sometimes, but wrong a lot. And all of my predictions will come true and I will be lifted upon the shoulders of the Foot Clan.

[Jason Moore]

Our Foot clan knows right now that the fantasy reaper is speaking. So they can't wait to hear what you say. So they know who will die.

[Mike Wright]

They got some handcuffs to pick up.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, fantasy MVP. Who is the fantasy MVP for 2015? Mike, let's hear that fearless prediction.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with Jordan Matthews. Why am I taking Jordan Matthews? Because.

[Andy Holloway]

Great question.

[Mike Wright]

He is a guy. He is a guy in the third round who I believe can finish as a top five wide receiver. If everything goes right for him, he will be an absolute monster. The Eagles offense is. Is about as high powered as they come in the NFL right now. Jeremy Macklin is gone. Chip Kelly has given us two high level wide receiver ones in the in his two years. I think the guy is now Jordan Matthews and the time is right.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Jason, who is your fantasy MVP from left field, from way deep down the list.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's gonna be crazy. Shock everybody. It's. You might not have heard of him. His name is Eddie Lacy. Eddie Lacy at the top. Look, I still need to put my name to this and I actually do believe that he will be fine.

[Andy Holloway]

You're supposed to take your fantasy mvp.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy mvp? Because there's very few question marks on him. For me, with the loss of Jordy Nelson, I think he's going to be used more in the red zone.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I thought you were going to say nine routes. Like they're going to send him out on more notes.

[Jason Moore]

No, Eddie Lacy to me is a surefire pick. And if you're picking in the first round, you don't want to bust. And a lot of the guys that I look at in the first round have the potential to bust. Not that Eddie Lacy can't get hurt, but I see him as a sure thing. A young healthy guy on a high power offense. It's what you have to have to win a league. I don't look at any fantasy rosters at the end of the year and see that they don't have an RB one. So Eddie Lacey to me, is this year's fantasy mvp.

[Mike Wright]

Is this Jason Moore or is this. Is this Taylor Swift over here? Because this guy is fearless.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. With Eddie Lacy, I didn't have the back of the album up, so I didn't know the Taylor Swift.

[Mike Wright]

That's a.

[Jason Moore]

You want fearless? That's a joke.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a joke for our tweeners.

[Mike Wright]

They're out there, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Hey, my fantasy MVP is very compatible with Mike's because if Mike's happens, this is going to happen to some degree it is Sam Bradford. And so when I said he'd play 16 games, certainly I believed that's necessary for an MVP type of season. Fantasy wise, I think the sky is the limit for Sam Bradford. He has an offense that is going to get more plays run than anybody else. Two point conversion opportunities, better physical skills than anybody who's been in that offense before. Has the ability to move around in the pocket to a degree that despite the ACL injuries, is far greater than Nick Foles. And he has weapons and he has tools and he has Chip Kelly and demarco Murray and just a bunch of weapons. So I think Sam Bradford has the ability. Like if I'm deciding late in drafts, which has happened a lot, if I'm looking to draft Tannehill or Bradford, it's Bradford. If I'm looking to draft Palmer or Bradford, it's Bradford. If I'm looking for Stafford or Eli, I'm just taking Bradford in all of my leagues because I can go stream a guy if he doesn't work out.

[Jason Moore]

It's true. I've seen it. So you heard it here first pick up Mark Sanchez.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I think the two point conversion thing here we haven't talked about enough. Tim Tebow is gone. It looked the experiment they were running was Tebow running those. I still think they run them with Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford can get you an extra four points a week if they, if they go for multiples, which is huge. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

It is not small. All right, the surprise player of the season is Jason.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go. We got a lot of Eagles offense here today and I'm going to stick with it. With Ryan Matthews as the surprise player of the season, not only is he going to surprise, as far as being super duper valuable, I've got him later on today as well. But when DeMarco Murray is playing, Ryan Matthews is going to be valuable. I think Ryan Matthews can be a flex option week in, week out and you're getting him, you know, in the seventh round. So I think that he's going to surprise a lot of people out there.

[Andy Holloway]

Real quick because he's a good pick for a surprise player every week. You'd start Matthews over sprols?

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. 100%.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right, Mike, who is your surprise player of the season?

[Mike Wright]

Going a little bit deeper and I'm going with my man up in New York. I'm going with Eric Decker. I think the jets offense is massively improved, especially when you toss Brandon Marshall into the mix. We've seen Eric Decker be extremely productive when he is the number two wide receiver. Sure, that was Peyton Manning throwing him the ball, but Ryan Fitzpatrick is, we've talked about him before, is a perfect quarterback for fantasy because he will, he will sling the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

He is a gunslinger, a bearded gunslinger.

[Mike Wright]

He will take the chances. And Eric Decker, I think is going to be the benefactor of some heavy double coverage on Brandon Marshall.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, my surprise player of the season is Frank Gore and he is a surprise player to me because I think he has top five potential despite his age and despite the fact he will not be extremely flashy. Last year the Colts had 337 rushes from running backs for 1300 yards and 13 touchdowns. Obviously, not every carry in the backfield is going to go to Frank Gore, but last year you saw a 3.8 average across all of them. In fact, we knew Bradshaw was Kind of the most efficient there at a 4.3, but he only had like 90 carries for the team last year. So T. Rich had a ton of carries. You had boom Heron, you had. Even Tipton got carries. And Gore has had 10 straight years of 4.1 a carry and above. He is very consistent and in limited work last year, Bradshaw caught 32 or 38, I think 38 passes in that offense. Somewhere in that range, 32 to 38. Gore has caught 50, 60 before in his career. So just from a volume on a good offense perspective, I think Gore could kind of run his way to a top five finish with consistent week after week performances. Staying healthy and being on an offense.

[Mike Wright]

Like that, I saw a really funny picture because we like to pile it on Trent Richardson and it was as does most defense. So it's two Trent Richardsons. It's Trent in Alabama uniform and Trent in Colts. And it says, hi, I'm Trent, I'm Alabama Trent Richardson and I have DirecTV. And then it's I'm Indianapolis Colts Trent Richardson. I have cable.

[Andy Holloway]

Very nice. Well, that's true. That's ridiculous. Yeah. Biggest disappointment of the fantasy season will be Joseph Randle. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

And I do not believe in Joseph Randall as a player. The when you look at his production last year, it was a mirage. He was not getting his. He had over six a carry and that was because he was breaking huge runs on passing downs when he was not the feature back and the focal point of the offense. I don't think he has the ability to carry it. We heard yesterday that I am still a Kristen Michael Truther and I believe that week, let's say week six or so maybe when's their bye week? Week six? Week six, Week seven. I think that Michael has the talent to overtake Dallas and I think Randall City.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He's like. He's like Godzilla and he will come and destroy buildings. But I just. People are overpaying for Randall and Darren McFadden is a walking injury. So I'm going with Michael as the Dallas back.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Jason, who is your biggest disappointment of the season?

[Jason Moore]

My biggest disappointment this year is going to be Lashawn McCoy. You drafted this guy and subsequently traded.

[Mike Wright]

I know.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he was. It was just a value of where he went because his name value. And then I traded him for someone else and got upgraded draft picks next year. I think that was pretty good moving. But I do, I think LaShawn McCoy is going to be this year's biggest disappointment because you still do have to Take him in the first round. If you don't get rid of them, then you've got him on your team. Here's a guy who has been. He was drafted number one or number two last year. Overall, it was a big disappointment because he was, you know, hampered by nagging injuries. He's had more workload than any other back by a wide margin over the last three years. He's a smaller guy. He's getting a little bit older. He's not old yet, but he is definitely for that. As far as, you know, we talk about the difference between age and between, you know, Usage, age and LaShawn McCoy has had some crazy usage and he's showed that his body is starting to be hampered by injury now. Now in the preseason, he's been injured, he's been hampered by. He hasn't been able to get on the field. Why in the world would we think, you know what, he's just going to get over this in game one and he's going to play and get the rock 100 times and keep playing and never be hampered again the rest of the season, not get injured. I think he's going to be slowed down. I think he's going to miss some games and I think he's going to be a big bust that you got to take in the first or second round. So LaShawn McCoy is my.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a hot take.

[Mike Wright]

Hot take, disappointment. I'll tell you this. Any running back who's going to get 100 carries in one game, I want that guy on my team.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's a fair point.

[Jason Moore]

You can average a yard.

[Andy Holloway]

He will overtake Buffalo. All of Buffalo.

[Mike Wright]

He's no Michael.

[Andy Holloway]

No. All right, so my biggest disappointment is Alfred Morris. Not for a lack of love for Alfred Morris the man, but for a lack of love on that offensive system. I just think that team is going to struggle. It is going to be A Cousins, Colt, McCoy, maybe even RG3 Carousel of Doom on that offense. And it will hurt Alfred Morris in consistency and it will hurt Alfred Morris because I think Matt Jones will get involved in third down, which I know Helou was involved as well, but I just think that Morris has had kind of a career arc that has been very stable to declining in terms of production. And so I just am not excited about Alfred Morris. And so I think he'll disappoint people who are slotting him as an RB2 for the whole season. So. All right, this next one is the top five player that we did not see coming another way to say that would be a guy that ends up in the top five, that we had no idea whatsoever he would end up there. Except for right now, when we make a fearless prediction about it. Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Me. I'm gonna go. Me?

[Mike Wright]

You're a top five player.

[Jason Moore]

I'm a top five player this year.

[Mike Wright]

I didn't wait.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't see that coming.

[Mike Wright]

What team?

[Jason Moore]

The Indianapolis? No, the Kansas City Colts. Oh, yeah. All right. So I am going with Lamar Miller. Ironically.

[Andy Holloway]

Lamar, the man you chose Lashawn McCoy for.

[Jason Moore]

I traded Lashawn McCoy for. I think that Lamar Miller is coming into his own. At the end of last year, he was fantastic. This year in the off season, good things have been said about him. The coach is saying that they're willing to ride him as a workhorse. They didn't draft a running back in the first four rounds. People were worried, like they had to pick someone up there and you know, they were going to. Are they going to get Todd Gurley? They were one of those destinations that were hot for running back. And yes, they got Jay Ajayi, but you got to remember they bypassed him to the fifth round and now he's on the pup. I think it's going to be the Lamar. The Lamar Miller show in Miami and I think that offense is going to be better. He's going to be catching a lot of balls and I just think there's the opportunity for him to finish the year as a top five. He finished top 12 last year, so why can't he go a little higher as some of these guys from last year dropped down? So he's outside the top five and I think could finish top five and you won't see it coming.

[Andy Holloway]

So I won't linger on mine. It's Frank Gore from earlier. I gave all the reasons why I think Frank Gore can end up as a top five back and you didn't expect it, but just with the offense. So, Mike, who is your top five player that you did not see coming?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with Brandon Cooks and especially did not see this coming because I was not.

[Andy Holloway]

Especially with your own thoughts, you didn't see yourself predicting this?

[Mike Wright]

I've been slow to jump on the Cooks train and I just. I really think that he's going to soak up a bunch of targets. They're moving him back to the role they had him in early last season, getting him the bubble screens, doing what they can to get the ball in his hands. I don't necessarily think he is an elite level wide receiver, but in that system with Drew Brees throwing him the ball and Sean Payton as an offensive mind, really, really getting him involved. I think Brandon Cooks can put up the numbers that will make him a top five.

[Andy Holloway]

This quarterback had more completions last year than anybody in the NFL.

[Mike Wright]

Drew Brees.

[Andy Holloway]

Drew Brees, yeah. So that is a good pick. I like that. He has a ton of upside and a ton of talent. Alright. The fantasy rookie of the year. Everybody wants to know which rookie is going to be the Next Odell Beckham Jr. Or any of the 12 other guys that contributed on offense last year as a rookie. So looks like we all chose. Oh no, we didn't. I thought we all chose wide receivers. It's back, baby.

[Mike Wright]

Abdullah Express is fully ready to go. I took some time off because I thought you guys were getting a little too tired of the Express, but we are back and we are fully on board for Amir Abdullah this year. Joy Bell is a. Has been. He is done and Abdullah will be running away with that job in a few weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Can you please update your Amir Abdullah choo choo train meme that you have on Twitter to a Detroit helmet. Yeah. To a. Because it was the Nebraska helmet.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's a little dated. So if you're really on this thing, you're going to need to spend eight to 10 hours of updating that meme.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to put a request out to my man, our Photoshop man. And let's get Abdullah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Put a public request out there. That's way smarter. All right. I'm going to go with Amari Cooper. I think Derek Carr is a gunslinger in an ascending talent in the league. Not an elite talent, but I think he knows who to throw the ball to. And Amari Cooper is the guy. He is incredible in and out of breaks. He will be a PPR upside type of play. And for me, he is the fantasy rookie of the year. I think he's just completely solid and probably going to push 90 to 100 catches this season if he stays healthy. So Jason, you have a wide receiver on your list as well because you only pick guys from one team.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And actually it's just like Mike said in all his rationale for Jordan Matthews, I'm going to go with Nelson Aguilar. Nelson Aguilar is in a system and in a situation where he could finish as a wide receiver one. You know, and if that happens, he's going to be the rookie of the year. So I feel like his opportunity is there, his talent is there. He's very Talented. We've seen that in the preseason already. So I'm going Aguilar.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I believe.

[Mike Wright]

I believe in Nelson's upside in that offense.

[Andy Holloway]

I've said they're a system wide receiver type of, you know, one week. They don't necessarily pick a guy and say, I'm going to target Jordan Matthews. They pick a play and a playset and a plan. So Aguilar could make huge.

[Mike Wright]

And not only have has Chip Kelly given us some spectacular wide receiver one talent, he's given us a two as well. Guys, remember this. Riley Cooper, huge was fantasy relevant for a year and last year it was Jordan Matthews. I believe he finished as a two. So to me, there's no reason why Aguilar can't also finish as a wide receiver too.

[Andy Holloway]

That is a good point. So the last one I have here in our fearless predictions is the handcuff that will win you your league. So this is the running back handcuff. I guess it could be a wide receiver handcuff, but the running back handcuff that will win you your league this year. Mike. It is obviously going to be Duke Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

Amir Abdullah is not a handcuff to me, my friend.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Amir Abdullah is a starting running back soon enough. But I'm going with Duke Johnson. We. We forget that last year when Alex Mack, the secret life of Alex Mack, was running the center position in Cleveland, Ben Tate was a spectacular fantasy opt. Andy is grimacing.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm grimacing because I got watered Andy last year because basically because Mack went.

[Mike Wright]

Out and he went all in on Ben Tate and there was no reason not to. If you watch the production that was happening, Ben Tate, Crowell, Terrence west, all three had huge games last year because of the offensive line. Now Terence west is gone. It cleared up the situation a little bit. And so I think that if Duke Johnson, he not. I think if I believe he has the talent to become a huge part of that offense. If he can stay healthy is the. Is the bigger question for me. But he'll be involved in the passing game. Cleveland is likely to be losing a lot of games, so Duke Johnson is going to have to carry some of that load.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't you see parallels between Crowell, Duke Johnson and Joy and Abdullah?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, I do.

[Andy Holloway]

In terms of maybe the percentage of time on the field and the way they'll be involved in the offense.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And I think it's. I believe it's possible for Duke to overtake Crowell for a majority of snaps.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I could see that. All right. For me it is David Johnson. Oh, that was beautiful. In unison. And I can't say his name without thinking that in my head. So David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals. And this is going to come from the perspective that Ellington has broken down many times. And so if Ellington either isn't as productive as he should be, I think David Johnson's value is going to rely, going to come from use and a lot of it in the passing game and at the goal line. And so those two things combined with Ellington's propensity to get injured and I just think David Johnson is a huge upside play. That offense is going to be vastly improved with Carson Palmer at the helm. And I still think they're, I mean, you know, you want guys from winning teams and the Cardinals 10 wins two years ago, 11 wins last year. Carson Palmer is back. This is a 10 win team to me. A 10, 11 win team in a, in a division that you know will be okay. So I like David Johnson as a potential handcuff to win New Year league.

[Mike Wright]

And here, here's why I like David Johnson. People are knocking him. Oh, he's not a great between the tackles runner, but he's a great pass catcher. How was Ellington so valuable as a pass catcher? If Ellington breaks down at all, David Johnson will be involved and he's going to get goal line carries just like Andy said.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that. Oh, oh no. That is an official disqualification of your selection, Jason.

[Jason Moore]

No, I already.

[Andy Holloway]

The handcuff that will win you your league has been disqualified. I already know. Brian Matthews was the answer I have on here. Yes, and you've changed it.

[Jason Moore]

I have changed it. I wrote down a different one.

[Andy Holloway]

Now you understand why I disqualified you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, because he's clear.

[Andy Holloway]

Because you said he had value week two.

[Jason Moore]

He's a starting value and so he will win you your.

[Andy Holloway]

He will no choice.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the reason I put him in as the handcuff is because should DeMarco Murray go down, he's a top five back. That's a guy that wins your league and that would be a handcuff role. However, same, same exact, you know, logic goes into Josh Robinson. Josh Robinson. Your guy, Frank Gore. Frank Gore, yeah, your guy Frank Gore for all of the reasons of his ability and the offense and he smells that boom. Herron did well there and yet was cut. So you've got Josh Robinson really as the guy where if Frank Gore goes down, he's got the talent and the opportunity to put together a very winning season. So he is very much worth being stashed right now. And he's not on a lot of rosters. He is available in your league right now if you've got Frank.

[Andy Holloway]

I have no problem with that at all. I like that selection. I think it is appropriate and you didn't cheat and use Ryan Matthews.

[Mike Wright]

I have a quick aside which I think is. Is somewhat funny that us, and it's not just us, lots of fantasy shows are buying into Ryan Matthews, as we should. He's a. He's a great talent.

[Andy Holloway]

And if tomorrow, I wouldn't say I'm not in. I'm not in that boat, just for the record.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, that's fine. But you're. You're in the boat of. If DeMarco Murray goes down.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

But here's, here's what we're not talking about. If Ryan Matthews goes down, DeMarco Murray is like a top three back.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

And Ryan Matthews can get injured just as easily as DeMarco Murray.

[Andy Holloway]

But yeah, he'll break a collarbone at the, at the. No, not fingers.

[Mike Wright]

Those things are titanium now.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they replaced them.

[Mike Wright]

But I just think it's funny that no one's really mentioning that we do the flip that Ryan Matthews.

[Jason Moore]

It's because of the workload though. Just more opportunity to get in for Murray.

[Mike Wright]

I just think it's a funny.

[Andy Holloway]

No, it is. It is a good point. And I mean, we all say things like, Murray could never repeat what he did last year, but he could repeat what he did last year with a offensive line in Philadelphia and no Ryan Matthews and a workload forced upon him. I mean, Chip Kelly wants to win games.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. LaShawn McCoy has back to back 300 plus carries.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll just throw this in there. Darren Sprols is underrated.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I can agree with that.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not going to be an every week consistent guy, but if you have to roll him out there in a dire situation. I'd rather roll him out there than a lot of other players because he could return a punt or catch a swing pass and go 67 yards and then you have made your entire fantasy week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's a great desperation player. I can agree with that.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice. You gave me the book.

[Mike Wright]

It. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so let's go ahead. A good reminder. Check out the week one rankings. Like Jason alluded to earlier, we have a very good rest of the week for you. We've got Nick Mangold on the show. He will be on the show tomorrow. The starting center for the New York Jets.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, kind of a big name and a big beard.

[Mike Wright]

Many beard related Questions for Nick Mangold.

[Andy Holloway]

All beard, all the time with Nick Mangold and I drafted. We have all the matchups. We got Thursday Night Football in two days. Yeah, that's just excitement. Yeah, that was my excitement voice.

[Mike Wright]

I was gonna make a musical thing, but I think it would have been copyright infringement, so I kept it out.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's go ahead and answer a couple of listener questions before the end of the show.

[Jason Moore]

Mailbag.

[Mike Wright]

Mailbag.

[Andy Holloway]

Alright. If you have a question, you can go to the website, click the Submit a question button button. You can dial us 302-464-TFFB and leave us a voicemail question.

[Mike Wright]

Rotary phones only.

[Andy Holloway]

Rotary only. Yes. And you have to video tape yourself calling us on your rotary phone.

[Mike Wright]

The Taylor Swift truthers don't know what a rotary phone is.

[Andy Holloway]

You're the tweeners.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. This question comes in from Paul in Minneapolis. He said, hey, guys, I found your show a couple months ago. He loves it. He loves the frequency of the shows. So here's his question. He went with our advice to stream late round quarterbacks. He ended up with Eli Manning and Carson Palmer.

[Mike Wright]

Boom.

[Andy Holloway]

Should he be worried about upgrading that position for say, a Bradford or a Brady or somebody else, or should he hold steady?

[Mike Wright]

If Bradford's on your waiver wire, I would drop Palmer for him. Because you have Eli. Yep. That's the only reason.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Don't be worried, though.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, not at all.

[Jason Moore]

You don't need to make a move and hurt your roster to get Bradford or get Brady. If either of them are on your waivers, I like them better.

[Mike Wright]

Eli Manning takes on The Cowboys Week 1. Eli Manning is going to feast. I'm just telling you.

[Andy Holloway]

Greg in Louisiana, he said he has a trade question for us to evaluate and we're getting a lot more of these, which is fun. I'm trying to make a lot of trades and in my leagues because I get stir crazy in this time of year, so I just make trades. All right, Greg in Louisiana says Greg Olson, Ryan Matthews, Tory Smith for Jeremy Macklin, Jordan Cameron and Chris Ivory. Would you do that trade? Who's that trade in favor of?

[Mike Wright]

I would take the Macklin side. I love Olson. I think he's a top three guy. But I think Jordan Cameron is one of the tight ends who's talked about not nearly enough over this offseason with paired in the Miami offense with Ryan Tannehill. I've grown to love Macklin and Ivory is a. Is a big upgrade on Matthews until there's an injury. So that's the side I want.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree with that. Jason, do you agree with that?

[Jason Moore]

And it's really tough. If you need a starting running back week one, then I would take the. I would take that. But I see Tori Smith and Jeremy Macklin near the same. I definitely like Chris. I'm not a Macklin believer like you guys.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. They're not even in the same atmosphere.

[Mike Wright]

You don't have to be a Macklin believer.

[Jason Moore]

But Torrey Smith, I know. I've never liked Torrey Smith, but as my end of the year rankings, I've.

[Andy Holloway]

Got to be a water bet here. It's been a while since I've made a Jeremy Macklin water bet. So you've got to give me.

[Jason Moore]

There's nothing I'm going to water bet between. I'm not stock in Tori Smith, so.

[Andy Holloway]

Your statements mean nothing.

[Mike Wright]

Five spots. Jeremy Macklin will finish five spots.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me 10 spots better. I'll give you seven spots. Seven. I got seven.

[Mike Wright]

Give me seven. And what a bad. What a bad. Hey, the hand is up. The hand is up. The hand is up. It's coming down. It's coming.

[Jason Moore]

Water best.

[Andy Holloway]

I really feel like I love the pressure of the button. No, it's great.

[Mike Wright]

I'm putting it on the board.

[Andy Holloway]

Seven spots. Put it on the board. All right, we're work.

[Mike Wright]

And a side note, easy money. We are working on diligently on the app. We have been crushed with the draft board. So that has been Mike to the side.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike is talking about the water wheel app.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Yes, we're making a water wheel app for the foot clan. You're going to be able to execute.

[Andy Holloway]

Your own water bets, your own judgment.

[Mike Wright]

And embarrass them with soggy bottoms.

[Andy Holloway]

It is really fun. The loser of our big dynasty league gets a water from every single person before the draft and has to draft wet. And it is a delight. And this year he added a co owner and so they both had to get watered before the draft and they both got very wet and it was comical and we had a good time and we used the beta version of our app to do that. So they spun the wheel and they got watered in a bunch of fun ways. And so we're going to make that available to everybody. It's a free app. You'll be able to download it and execute water judgments upon your friends. So that is it for today's show. Like I said, Nick Mangold on the show. Tomorrow we're going to do some more mailbag and answer listener questions because they're coming in hot and heavy. And I want to remind everybody to check out Sleeper Bot. We mentioned them yesterday. A bunch of people, though, downloaded it and loved it. And they break news faster than anybody else, and that's really important in fantasy football. So check out the Sleeper bot app on iOS and Android. Any parting words, gentlemen?

[Mike Wright]

No, I just. I really agree with that news thing. If you have a. An open, open free agency. I've grabbed so many players.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Just for hearing it first. Yes. All right. Tune in tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you for listening to another edition of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.thefantasyfootballers.com and follow us on Twitter at theffball.