If you’re a multi-sport fantasy player, then you’re probably smack dab in the middle of baseball draft season right now.  Even so, it’s never too early to start thinking about fantasy football.

Fantasy football analysis won’t pick up in earnest until after the NFL Draft and the majority of the free agency period, when potential team rosters are more clear and fantasy baseball has settled into a groove.  Still, a variety of on-line experts have posted early editions of football player rankings for 2013, and this much is already clear: You’re going to have to pay more for your favorite Buccaneers this season. Continue reading →

Fantasy football keeper leagues come in all different shapes and sizes. But for this exercise, let’s assume the most popular version. If you keep a player, you give up your pick in the round in which you originally drafted him.

Simple enough. If you drafted Vincent Jackson in Round Five of the 2012 draft, then you give up your 2013 Round Five pick. So… is it worth it?

This season, in standard leagues, Vincent Jackson ranks fourth among wide receivers. His yardage output has him ranked fifth in the NFL, while his eight touchdowns are tied for ninth. At nearly 12 fantasy points per game, he is absolutely one of the heavy hitters in fantasy leagues across the nation. Heck, with the season he’s having, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ranked in Fantasy Premier leagues as well. Continue reading →

Each week, NFL.com Fantasy Editor Michael Fabiano provides fantasy football players with a very useful “Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em” rundown, highlighting the best matchups at each position for that week.  This week, as many fantasy owners head into the semi-finals of their playoffs, the Buccaneers-Saints game in New Orleans is going to draw a lot of eyeballs.

Fabiano breaks down his “Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em” advice into the six typical fantasy lineup categories – quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, kicker and defense – and he leads each of those segments with one “Start of the Week.”  This weekend, half of those highlighted starts come from the Bucs-Saints tilt.

Tampa Bay Josh Freeman is Fabiano’s “Start of the Week” at quarterback, a nod to the Saints’ troubles on defense and Freeman’s 420-yard performance against them in Week Seven.  For similar reasons, Fabiano likes the Buccaneers’ Connor Barth at kicker, and he calls Barth a “top-notch” fantasy option at his position this season.

The Saints get in a “Start of the Week,” too, which isn’t surprising given that the first meeting between these two teams was a wild shootout featuring nearly 1,000 yards of combined offense.  New Orleans’ Marques Colston is his top choice at wide receiver, which is a bolder pick given that Colston has not been a highly productive fantasy receiver in recent weeks.

Check out all of Fabiano’s “Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em” advice to see where other Buccaneers and Saints rank in Week 15.  Hint: Check out the “sleeper” category at the tight end position.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had unexpected fantasy success at each of their offensive positions. Josh Freeman, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin, Connor Barth and Mike Williams have all come alive since the bye week and all currently sit at a higher fantasy point ranking than they were predicted during drafts. And within the last five weeks, tight end Dallas Clark has made his emergence as well, making his way onto fantasy teams by way of three touchdowns in his last four games.

The only fantasy football position that has been unreliable this year out of Tampa Bay has been the defense. In terms of fantasy points, that crew has been all over the board: four games of 12 or more points; five games of two or fewer. Their highest-scoring performance of the year came in Week 10 against the San Diego Chargers at home when they put up 17 points. In the three games since: a total of seven points.

It is certainly not a trustworthy play this week, but looking at the Buccaneers this season and looking at their Week 14 opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, might make them a solid sleeper play if you are in a pinch. Continue reading →

There are a number of ways fantasy football keeper leagues can be run. In some, you keep as many players as you like from one year to the next. In others you can keep, say, three players, but only if they were drafted after Round Four. Et cetera.  For the purposes of this exercise, however, let’s assume you are allowed to keep one player but it will cost you your pick in the round you originally drafted him. For instance, if you want to keep a wide receiver that you drafted in round seven, then in next season’s draft, you will not have a pick in Round Seven. Continue reading →

Sunday will mark an interesting reunion between two former Indianapolis Colts teammates. Now, playing for different teams, Dallas Clark of the Buccaneers will be facing Peyton Manning of the Broncos for the first time ever.

The duo played pitch-and-catch in Indy for eight years. In that timeframe Clark caught 393 passes for 4,535 yards and 44 touchdowns. From 2007-2009, the heyday of the pair, Clark had 235 catches for 2,507 yards and 27 touchdowns, solidifying him as a must-own fantasy tight end.

So far this season, Clark has not had the fantasy football numbers that he is seen in the past, as he has made a return from two injury-marred seasons. But in recent weeks he has been showing signs of life as the Tampa Bay Buccaneer offense continues to thrive. On the year, Clark has 31 receptions on 45 targets; 11 of those receptions and 15 of his targets have come in just the last two games while he has scored twice in his last three outings.

With defenses planning heavy to stop Doug Martin’s impressive running game, while paying equal mind to the Buccaneers’ receivers that have compiled a league-leading number of receptions of 40+ yards, Dallas Clark has snuck his way into sleeper status in the last two weeks. Continue reading →

We’ve already taken a look at Buccaneer running back Doug Martin and where he would fall if we were to have a midseason fantasy football repack. But he isn’t the only surprise to rocket out of Tampa Bay this season. Quarterback Josh Freeman has certainly turned some heads as well. While Freeman is still far from being considered a consistent fantasy football elite like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or Tom Brady, he has been making quite a splash in some leagues.

At the beginning of the season, Freeman average draft position was around 125, the 13^th round in 10-team leagues. Fantasy owners were a bit scared to pull the trigger, not knowing if they would get the impressive Josh Freeman of 2010 or the underwhelming fantasy numbers of Josh Freeman, version 2011. And in the first four weeks of football this year, Freeman looked a bit more like that latter.

In those first four game, all before the Buccaneer bye week, Freeman averaged 10.25 fantasy points per week. His best fantasy performance, in Week Four, was still only enough to get him to 19^th in points for quarterbacks that week.

Since the bye week, Freeman has only fallen out of the top 10 QB performers once. He had three consecutive weeks scoring 20 or more fantasy points. In Week Seven, he was the highest fantasy scoring quarterback in the NFL. In the four games before the bye, he had 42 points. In the five since, he has 107.

After ranking in the twenties after the first four weeks, Freeman’s recent Continue reading →

We all know the story. In Week One, the Buccaneers held Cam Newton, DeAngelo Williams and the rest of the Carolina running attack to 10 yards. The Panthers ran 13 times all game, including Newton’s scrambles, which comes out to just .8 yards per carry. Carolina’s leading rusher was a wide receiver, Kealoha Pilares.

Can we expect another 10-yarder? It’s unlikely. Since Week One, the Carolina Panthers have jumped to 15th in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 109. They have gotten Jonathan Stewart back, who missed the first game due to injury, and both Cam Newton and DeAngelo Williams have gotten their feet beneath them. The trio has accumulated 873 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns this season.

But the matchup makes a strong case for another dominant run-stopping Buccaneers performance. Continue reading →

During the typical fantasy football draft, there is a surge in the second, third and fourth rounds to grab the best wide receivers in the NFL. Owners stress the importance of drafting a receiver who is number one on his team and likely to get them the most points throughout the year.

But, there is somewhat of a stigma attached to owning the second receiver on that same NFL team as well. Many fantasy owners ask how it could possibly benefit them to have two players who are essentially competing for catches, assuming that on any given week, one is going to trump the other, leaving their second man obsolete.

A quick look at the past, though, will tell you this is not always the case. Just last year, you’d have been dancing with the fantasy trophy if you had Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks from the Giants on your squad. The 2010 season saw the emergence of Pierre Garcon teaming up with Reggie Wayne in Indianapolis. And it is hard to forget the fantasy numbers put up in 2009 by New England’s pair of Randy Moss and Wes Welker or 2008’s Cardinals duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

But even with the lessons from the past, very few fantasy teams own the number one and two receivers from any given NFL team. Now in the middle of the season, it might be time at looking to tap into that market however. Continue reading →

It didn’t take much thought to decide what the topic of this Fantasy Brief should be. When any NFL player puts up more than 35 fantasy points, it’s generally a big deal. In fact, this season only two people have done it. In Week Six, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers posted a season-high 36 fantasy points, a number that got a lot of fantasy owners the W.

The only other player to break 35 also climbed above 40. And 45. And 50. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Doug Martin didn’t stop until he hit 51 fantasy points in standard leagues. That total is tied for the fourth highest single-game fantasy football score since 1970. There are only 27 running backs in the NFL that have more than 51 points this entire season.

Doug Martin has posted the highest weekly fantasy points total over the last two, with 83. The next highest scorer in those two weeks is Adrian Peterson with 47.

We should, however, take into account that over the past two weeks alone, Martin has posted 75% of his total touchdowns, 49% of his rushing yards and 57% of his total fantasy points. While he has essentially handed his fantasy owners two straight wins, we can plainly see that his stellar last two weeks are moderately set off by a more “down to earth” first six.

Still though, Martin has pushed his way to being fantasy’s highest scoring non-QB. So, if we were to redraft today, where would Doug Martin fall? In 10-team leagues, in the month of August, Martin’s average draft position fell anywhere from the late third to the late fourth, making him say, the fifth pick in the fourth round, 35^th overall. We can pretty safely say that he would be taken before that.

Nine weeks into the season, one can make the case that Martin could be drafted as a top-five fantasy running back, putting him solidly in the first round. Arian Foster should fall number one. Peterson, like Martin, would jump, likely falling at number two. The third pick would belong to someone looking to get an early QB advantage, taking Aaron Rodgers.

This is where Martin would begin to enter the conversation in most leagues. Also competing for the spot; fellow RBs Ray Rice and Marshawn Lynch and rookie QB Robert Griffin III.

While Rice and Lynch are both 29+ points behind Martin, they have the advantage of game-to-game consistency and, most of all, experience. Doug Martin has a few things working against him. First, Martin is without his two Pro Bowl starting guards, Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks. Second: the rookie wall. Martin’s number of carries continues to grow, and many NFL rookies have a hard time adjusting to the increase of games in a season versus their college days. And with well over half of his points coming in two weeks, we can not safely assume that it is a new norm.

Griffin III also enters the conversation, but there is strength at the QB position. Drew Brees is just eight points behind RGIII. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are both within 21 points. Compare that to the 29-point fantasy-point gap between Doug Martin and the next highest undrafted running back.

All things considered, the fourth- and fifth overall picks should belong to running backs with more proven track records, placing Ray Rice at number four and Marshawn Lynch at five. Consistency and a recent surge have QB Drew Brees falling at number six before it is time to consider the two rookies: Martin and RGIII.

Chalk it up to optimism or the aforementioned gap in points, but this fantasy writer would be announcing, “With the seventh pick in the 2012 mid-season fantasy football draft, we select Doug Martin, running back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”