With approaching cooler weather and autumn leaves, the smells of pumpkin spiced lattes looming in coffee shops around the country.
Monday morning water cooler talks about the best catches, runs and plays of the weekend. Team jerseys with the summers dust washed off worn with pride. Tailgaters bringing out secret recipes handed down from father to son. It hits me, IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON!
This is where you will hear about team standouts, holdouts, games and plays of the week. FFL sleepers, keepers, waivers and trades, everything Football from who’s hot to who’s not.
I’m not a professional sports guy just a fan and a guy ready to get away from the mundane everyday runaround from the past 7 months. Being able to ignore for one day everything else and watch 10 hours of football on a Sunday for the next 17 weeks.
BBQ with friends and family, nudge your neighbor and make a friendly wager or play in a for fun Fantasy League or highly competitive league where the looser gets shamed publicly or gets a crazy tattoo picked by the champ. So now that the formalities are out of the way lets get to it shall we?
Trades
So, by now, you may have heard about the trade between the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders as reported by ESPN, Khalil Mack, arguably the best defensive player in the NFL was traded Saturday morning after a long negotiation process. This trade makes Mack the highest paid defensive player in the NFL at a $141 million protentional. Pressure is on now for both teams to perform this season. Chicago also traded DB Deiondre’ Hall to the Philadelphia Eagles for a conditional 2019 7th round pick.
Rookies
Top 5 rookies this year to watch and the rolls they may play or not play in the over all scheme of things. According to NFL.com the following 5 guys are the ones to watch this year and the roles they will play.
Saquon Barkley, RB Giants, will be the starter this season for the Giants with his big play ability and the additions to the O-line this offseason look for big things from Barkley.
Quenton Nelson, OG Colts, likely the most plug and play guy in this years draft for a starting guard.
Bradley Chubb, OLB Broncos, as a tandem with Von Miller look for a rise in pass rush and sacks from the Broncos D.
Derwin James, S Chargers, 1st round pick and versatile player that Gus Bradley will love on this defense.
Roquan Smith, LB Bears, now with the pairing of Smith and Mack look for the Butkus award winner to make a big impact in the Bears D.
Transactions
On Sunday according to ESPN, 27 teams waived, acquired or placed player on IR. Teams like the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and the New York Giants who made as many as 19 changes to their practice squad. Monday another 15 teams again made changes to their rosters and practice squads. Most notable was San Francisco 49’ers RB Jerick McKinnon being placed on IR, reports ESPN. McKinnon went down for a torn ACL he received towards the end of practice on a non contact play. Mckinnon is taking this in stride, he said via Twitter, he will be back stronger in 2019.
I just want to thank everybody for the encouraging messages , calls, love and support. Im so grateful to have so many loving people in my life . This is a blessing in disguise I will be back stronger than ever in 2019!!!
— Jerick Mckinnon (@JetMckinnon1) September 2, 2018
Fantasy
By now draft day has most likely come and gone. For most of us, we have a strategy that we would like to stick to. Only RB’s and WR’s in for first 5 to 6 rounds. Maybe you want a good QB or the number 1 TE in round 3. What ever the strategy is, make a plan and do your best to stick to it. If you are in a league where you do not know the order in which you are drafting have 2 to 3 strategies ready, beginning, middle and end of the draft lineup. I had two drafts this year in which I was last pick one because I was last years champion and the other was just luck of the draw.
The waiver wire, use it. If you are in a league that does not penalize you for waivers use them, I am a huge fan of Defense and Kicker by committee. I pick and choose as I need week to week it frees me up to hold more RB’s and WR’s on the bench. After all you can use up to 5 of these positions per week and only one DEF and K.
I am an advocate of two QB’s, even though the QB position is so stacked with talent now. The only advice is pick a QB that is on a team that may be in the hunt but maybe playing from behind in a lot of games, you want that QB to throw. The reason I keep a second QB, its not as a back-up, although it helps. I want the QB who throws to the number one receiver this year maybe it’s Antonio Brown. When I play the team that has AB as a starter you can bet I am going to put in Roethlisberger to take Brown out of play especially when it comes to a point for point situation.
Remember defense wins Super Bowls, playing to limit points can be more effective than scoring more than your opponent. Look ahead on the schedule see who you play in two weeks, three weeks down the road. This will aid you in having a team that will play all their players in the playoffs. Don’t have a great player that at the end of the season is going to ride the pine because he is being rested by the team for the playoffs. Get the guys on teams that have to fight and scratch to get in the playoffs. With all that out of the way on drafting next installment will be about the players, who’s on it and who’s not. Good luck to all FFL teams this 2018 season.