Accepting
APPlications
by Jermain Baker, Posted: July 24,
2010
I
go through the same ritual every year. It’s week 14 and the season
is winding down. I’m in the middle of an intense time consuming
research session trying to cobble together a winning line-up for
that final playoff push. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for
the fact that I had to do this for five different teams, with five
different scoring systems, five different waiver systems, you get
the idea. I’m starting to get tired and I tell myself , “never
again…five leagues is too many. Next season I’m cutting back to two,
maybe three leagues at most…yeah that’s it.”

Top 5 Riskiest Draft Picks in 2010
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: July 24,
2010
I've
been producing fantasy football cheat sheets for over 15 years. My
process for ranking the players at each offensive position involves
a combination of gauging player history, considering strength of
schedule, assessing offensive philosophy changes, monitoring
training camp reports, and watching preseason games. These
activities combine to create a top loaded fantasy football cheat
sheet that's second to none. My main goal is to produce teams that
are loaded with solid point producers, which I really feel is the
key to winning championships. But no matter how thorough I am
in preparation, there are still certain players that I simply will
not draft under any circumstances on draft day. These risky
draft picks still have to be included in our rankings, but I'd
rather let someone else take a chance on them. On the surface there
may be nothing

Preparing for Your Fantasy Football Draft
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: June 30,
2010
The fantasy football draft is the single most important event of the
year for serious players. This event separates the true challengers
from the pretenders. Intimidating to some, drafting a successful
team is actually a fairly easy skill to master. It begins like most
things by doing your homework.
Start with a Plan
To begin the fantasy year, you obviously need
a good, up to date draft tool that lists each of the offensive
starters in the NFL, we typically call it a
fantasy
football cheatsheet. Cheat sheets can be obtained from a
variety of sources including, fantasy football magazines, internet
searches, or online gurus. Find one that features a format that’s
comfortable for you to work off of or develop

Mock
Draft Manners in Fantasy Football
by Jermain Baker, Posted: June 23,
2010
As
the popularity of fantasy football has exploded one of the more
enjoyable creations has been the mock draft. Hard as it may be to
believe to the uninitiated, pretending to draft a fantasy team is a
useful tool for testing out strategy and is just a hell of a lot of
fun. Both Yahoo and ESPN offer a mock draft feature. Other providers
may offer them as well but I have yet to try them. Both Yahoo and
ESPN offer a chat feature in which you can communicate with your
fellow mock drafters. If you're new to mock drafting or have been
doing it for a while here are some good rules to follow.
1.
Try not to sign up for a draft if you can't participate. These
mock drafts are designed to help
people try out different draft
strategies and therefore work best when populated by


Players
to Avoid for Your 2010 Fantasy Football Draft
by Jermain Baker, Posted: June 18,
2010
Every year fantasy football is filled with hot prospects you have no
business selecting on draft day. Fantasy Football draft
guides, internet websites, and the so-called experts herald the next
great thing in fantasy football only to have these guys crash and
burn costing you a potential championship. Our
philosophy on drafting championship caliber teams is to make every
pick count. Be sure to select solid point producers with every
pick and you will find yourself making a deep run into the fantasy
football playoffs. The following is a list of guys you'd be
smart to let someone else take a chance on. With the level of
quality talent that's available on draft day, do yourself a favor
and avoid these guys.

2010 NFL Draft Recap:
Where to Draft this Year's Rookie Class
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: June 14,
2010
Each year the NFL Draft brings an infusion of talent and youth to
NFL teams around the league. As veteran players age or teams fill
areas of need with talented rookies, fantasy owners should look to
modify their preseason rankings in order to account for the new
additions to these NFL rosters. Gauging exactly where rookie talent will
fill in at and to what degree they might contribute to NFL rosters
during their first year can be tricky, but by following their
development in team mini camps and through preseason games, the
astute fantasy football mind can quickly flesh out the breakout
point-producers from year one bench riders.

Growing Trend: Women in Fantasy Football
by Crystal Bolos, Posted: June 12,
2010
And so another
football season is nearly upon us. This is to be my ninth season
playing fantasy football. Nine years of following players and
building strategies. Nine years of stealing picks and praying for
the success of my sleepers. Nine years of spending Sundays
simultaneously glued to the TV and computer, with a cold beer in my
hand. I yell at the refs, and call out the Quarterbacks. I wear my
favorite jersey and I send taunting texts to fellow league owners. I
fully immerse myself into the ranks of superfans as I lead my
fantasy team(s) to victory. However, what surprises most opponents,
is that I am a woman.


Who Should I Pick?
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: June 6,
2010
Now that’s an interesting question. When I look across the draft
board for the 2010 fantasy football season there are all types of
guys I like and dislike this year in fantasy football.
Selecting players in the draft is all a function of position.
Who is there that can help my team? What players are good value at
the spot I’m looking to select them? How can I maximize value
for each pick throughout the draft? On this year’s board,
there are several players that stick out as great fantasy value
picks and some that I’d just as soon let someone else take the
gamble on.
Quarterbacks
The top six quaterbacks in this year's
fantasy crop look incredible. With the recent rule changes
instituted by the NFL intended to protect the quarterback position,
along with limiting what a defense can do both at the line of
scrimmage and in coverage, scoring from the quarterback position is
up throughout the league. To be competitive this year, you
must have a solid QB on

How Do I Get Started?
by Jermain Baker, Posted: June 3,
2010
Getting
started in fantasy football is very easy but try to begin as early as
possible. Start by picking up a couple of fantasy football
magazines from your nearest bookstore and by scanning the internet for fantasy football websites. Concentrate on the offseason changes
that will directly affect NFL offenses and defenses. Have they
picked up any free agents of note? Any impressive
draft picks? Has
the offensive or defensive philosophy changed? Have there been
coaching changes? All of these questions will lead you down the
path to determining which teams have players that you should be
paying attention to during the preseason.

Surviving Fantasy Football:
A Girlfriend's Perspective
by Crystal Bolos, Posted: May 27,
2010
I
grew up in a
household that didn’t follow football, or any sport for that matter.
We didn’t root for our home team, let alone take the time to watch
any sporting events. Sunday’s were a day to get outside and play
because all you could find on TV was lousy football games. When I
did, on rare occasion, find myself stuck watching a game, it was a
blur of stops, starts, uniforms, and dizzying announcements. I
couldn’t follow what was going on and eventually I’d fall asleep or
change the channel in frustration. I had spent most of my life
despising football as a pointless waste of my time.


NFL
Draft Preview - Part 2 of 2
by Jermain Baker, Posted: April 22,
2010
Continuing with our two part series
analyzing the top ten picks of the NFL draft from a fantasy football
perspective, part two resumes with picks number 6 -10.
6.) Seattle Seahawks
After a wildly successful run as head coach at Southern Cal, Pete
Carroll was named VP of football operations in Seattle.
Carroll will have final say on personnel matters and has basically
been given carte blanche to rebuild the Seahawks according to his
vision. Armed with two out of the top 14 picks in the first
round, rapid improvement from last season's 5-11 record is not out
of the question. Top flight prospects at OL, RB, WR, QB, and DE will
all be available here. All are positions of need in some form
or another for the Hawks. Matt Hasselbeck battled back
problems all year, and at 35, isn‘t a long term solution. Walter
Jones also succumbed to injuries last season and may be at the end
of his Hall of Fame career. Jimmy Clausen might make

Best Acquisitions of
the NFL Off Season
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: April 20,
2010
With the NFL Draft rapidly approaching and the first wave of free
agency coming to a close, I thought it might be a good time to
review some of the better free agent acquisitions of the offseason
as they relate to fantasy football. Front office personnel are no
doubt looking to the NFL draft to reload, as collegiate stars bring
with them an infusion of youth and talent that can turn a franchise
around rather quickly. As a Fantasy owner, you too should be looking
at the happenings in the free agent market as they will directly
affect your own strategies on draft day. Being aware of what NFL
GM’s are thinking can pay big dividends when you’re on the clock, so
be sure to closely monitor both the free agent market and the draft
day war rooms. The following teams have really helped themselves by
addressing glaring needs on the offensive side of the

NFL
Draft Preview - Part 1 of 2
by Jermain Baker, Posted: April 19,
2010
The NFL Draft is impossible to predict. NFL Draft “experts” have
access to coaches tape, every NFL GM’s phone number on speed dial,
and an army of ex -NFL players and coaches on stand by to have their
brains picked like so much low hanging fruit. Still they sit well
below the mendoza line when it comes to figuring out just what the
hell is going to happen when the commish steps up to the podium with
each team's draft card in hand. The purpose of the “NFL Draft
Fantasy Preview” is to handicap the draft with a lot more emphasis
on the potential FANTASY possibilities, plausibility’s, and
potentialities not just for your favorite NFL franchise but for the
franchise that really matters your fantasy team.
1.) St. Louis Rams
The Rams have the ignominious honor of possessing the annual scarlet
letter of NFL futility, the number one overall selection. The
fact that Steven Jackson was still able to bulldoze his way


Draft Strategy
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: April 16,
2010
The Fantasy Football draft … a chance to make your mark, your
personal footprint on the fantasy football landscape. It’s where the
men are separated from the boys, where veteran savvy and fantasy
football experience shine through, and where a few astute, perhaps
maybe even serendipitous draft selections can distance you from your
competition and vault you into fantasy football infamy. Do your
homework, don’t over think each draft selection, and pick solid
producers each round and you will find yourself in contention for
that elusive championship crown. But if you get too cute, or happen
upon the
injury bug, your team implodes and you spend the season in
the proverbial fantasy football basement angling for the toilet bowl
trophy. Your success in a
fantasy football draft
resides in a lot of
preparation, a little experience, and a whole lot of luck.

What is Fantasy Football?
by Hans Steiniger, Posted: April 10,
2010
Fantasy
Football is the single most all-encompasssingly addictive
professional football activity that anyone can participate in. I’ve
roped in bosses, parents, siblings, girlfriends and frat brothers.
With the unprecedented popularity of the National Football
League, fantasy football continues to grow and cross all types of social
boundaries. I’m still waiting for the day my grandfather asks me to
help him draft his first fantasy football team.
But what exactly is
Fantasy Football? What is everyone talking about around the water
cooler? Why is it so prevalent in NFL pregame and halftime shows?
Why has it taken over NFL broadcasts and football analyst
commentary?

The Early
Days
of
Fantasy Football
by Hans
Steiniger, Posted: April 5, 2010
I hail
from an early era of fantasy football … before fantasy football
statistics scrolled across your TV screen during games, before the
internet offered fantasy football league websites that calculated
your fantasy scores for you, before network halftime shows showcased
fantasy football injury reports, before automated waiver wires. I
began my fantasy football career during the 1995 NFL season. My
starting lineup included Brett Favre at quarterback, Byron “Bam”
Morris & Craig “Iron head” Heyward at the running back position, my
wide receivers were Carl Pickens, Brett Perriman, and Wayne Chrebet,
my tight end was Wesley Walls. At kicker the venerable Pete
Stoyanovich booted field goals for me (when he was still in Miami)
and the San Francisco Defense rounded out my starters. I got close
to making the playoffs that year, but instead found myself in the
toilet bowl tourney, which I easily won. By the end of season I was
hooked. Fantasy Football became a huge part of my fall season
lifestyle as I chased that first elusive championship.


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