By Alex
Which was a more decisive match?
Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3
AC Milan 4 Barcelona 0
Which WR’s Are Prime And Pine Time?
August 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment
By Vince Mullins
We of course will start with your 2008 WR PermaStarters :
1. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech vs. E. Washington (#6 FCS)
2. Chris Williams, New Mexico State (IDLE)
3. Jarett Dillard, Rice at SMU (Friday)
4. Dante Love , Ball State vs. Northeastern (Thu.)
5. Emmanuel Sanders, SMU vs. Rice (Friday)
6. Michael Thomas, Arizona vs. Idaho
7. Jeremy Maclin, Missouri vs. Illinois in St. Louis
8. Casey Fitzgerald, North Texas at Kansas State
9. Bryan Anderson, Central Michigan vs. E. Illinois (Thu) (#18 FCS)
10. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State at Washington State
Right now, these are the guys you start regardless of opposition. There is no set number, it is simply my subjective list. People will fall off but rarely return. Players will be added as I gain confidence in them. On that radar:
Stephen Williams, Toledo; Duval Kamara, ND; Jeff Moturi, UTEP (a 2007 member); Jamarko Simmons, Western Michigan; and two freshman in Julio Jones, Alabama and DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss .
Each of the radar guys should get started in Week One – injuries will keep Percy Harvin and Malcolm Lane off the list for now.
PINE TIME
As our own Will Carroll tipped you Aug 5 in Triage Time , Percy Harvin will not play in the opener versus Hawaii due to heel tenderness. Get used to hearing the injury scoops here my friends as this was just on the AP wire. See Will’s recent article on Malcolm Lane also to grant him some pine. Remember that Boise’s Jeremy Childs is out Week One due to suspension.
SPOT STARTS
I doubt you need one fresh off the draft, but some nice matchups for some mid-level guys on my preseason cheat sheet…
Eric Peterman and Ross Lane of Northwestern vs. Syracuse – the boys in Vegas have the number at 57.5 points, yet it would not surprise me to see the Wildcats do that by themselves.
You should play all of the Tulsa guys too as they open at UAB. Brennan Marion and Trae Johnson will get off regardless of the QB shuffle, but look for Slick Shelley to make an early season impact.
Pitt WR vs. Bowling Green – Oderick Turner and Derek Kinder are first-day NFL draft talents, and I sense that Bill Stull can make a name for himself. The Falcon D still has nightmares of Tulsa going by them from the GMAC Bowl.
Brandon Gibson, Washington State – CFO and RB analyst Drew Smith lobbied me all pre-season to move him higher than #26, but know this – Cowboy D is still a sieve. Give BG the PT. Balls should be flying all over Qwest Field in this neutral field game. As a big Cowboy fan I must say this one scares me a bit. Awesome pic here for Drew…
CUIDADO! ACHTUNG!
Quan Cosby , Texas vs. FAU – Owls are the class of the Sun Belt but cannot hold up at the line of scrimmage. Longhorns run all darn day.
Oregon WRs vs. Washington – Jaison Williams stands tall at the #1, but the rest of the depth chart is up for grabs. Seriously, take any three off this two-deep roster and they would start anywhere but maybe USC or Missouri.
Anyone in the Louisville-Kentucky game – was it just twelve short months ago that you could play ALL WR in this game? Kentucky QB issues make Dicky Lyons a troubling option, and Cardinal wideouts have dealt with expulsions, gunshots and ACL tears.
Rejus Benn, Illinois at Missouri – beat writers say Benn will look like Percy Harvin plus twenty pounds this year, getting the ball in his hands as a hybrid WR/RB (see my delicious.com feed at bottom right of the screen as I highlighted this last week). Tigers defense is exceptional – I cannot bring myself to recommend Pine Time, but at least temper your expectations.
SLEEPERS
Josh Smith , Colorado at Colorado State – Matt Hayes of the Sporting News called Smith “the new Jeremy Maclin”. Colorado State still is rebuilding.
Deon Murphy , Kansas State hosts North Texas – Mean Green may still be the #119 defense in the land. Murphy may not be a sleeper based on his rep as an elite return man, but he should get to the house twice.
UPDATE: Kyle Halderman, Air Force host Southern Utah – with Ty Paffett not close to full speed after two surgeries in off-season, sophomore Halderman becomes the starter at WRZ. Yes same position as Chad Hall last year.
Things I look forward to discussing on Sunday
- Which USC wideout will tempt our free agent limits after the game versus Virginia?
- How much fun I had watching Rice-SMU on Friday night.
- How will the Auburn spread look against ULM (Warhawks know the Tony Franklin offense from his time at Troy)?
VEGAS CLUES
Games where the big money play-uhs expect 70 points and you should play anyone on your fantasy lineup.
SMU at Rice 73.5 – might be too low
Hawaii at Florida 71.5 – Gators could break the highway speed limit
North Texas at Kansas State 71.5 – are their two less respected programs in the national media? We like them here, just sayin…
Ronaldinho Makes Sterling Milan Debut
August 31, 2008 By 4 Comments
By Alex
Despite AC Milan’s 2-1 loss to newly promoted Bologna, the squad played with creative authority – something they lacked all of last season. The main force was the splendid duo of Pirlo and Ronaldinho. The latter being a sharp spark plug all game long. While Milan’s attack remains a work in progress its midfield looks healthy and balanced – if not downright powerful.
With the aforementioned Pirlo and ‘Dinho directing the offense, Milan is blessed with a powerful trio that helps to anchor the midfield with the opportunistic and ruthless Ambrosini, the under appreciated genius of Seedorf and the recently acquired Flamini who serves as a sort of midfield sweeper.
And I didn’t even mention Kaka and Gattuso.
Where there are some concerns is at the back line. Abbiati is probably an upgrade from the unsteady Dida and unreliable Kalac. Kaladze has suddenly for the second straight year begun to struggle and Maldini is simply showing his age. This will put pressure on Jankulovski and Zambrotta to stabilize the defense. Zambrotta for his part was a marauding menace for Milan all game long.
Alas, let’s not forget Bologna won the game and despite being outplayed didn’t really give up outright chances to Milan. The workload for keeper Antonioli was light. Bologna were led by Zenoni and a revived di Vaio who never seemed to run out of gas.
Bologna’s victory basically highlights what they’ll need to do all year long: win as a team.
Finally…
August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
By Beaker
…The Montreal Alouettes make a defensive stand. Not once, not twice but three times they stopped the BC Lions at the one-yard line in a thrilling 30-25 victory.
Why three times? What else is new with the Als? Penalties. Twice they were called back because of an offside. I can’t help but wonder if this will bite them in the ass in the playoffs.
The Als proved they can finally beat a Western division opponent. They needed that because I don’t see how they won’t make the Grey Cup in November.
Zenit Knock Out Manchester United
August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
By Alex
FC Zenit defeated Manchester United 2-1 this week to capture Russia’s first Super Cup title.
No one should be surprised even if it was at the expense of the Red Devils. During the last UEFA campaign, it was obvious that Zenit was a world class team and now they have a chance to prove their “big-league” worth as they are now grouped with giants Real Madrid and Juventus in Champions League group play.
Something tells me they’ll do just fine. After all, last year Zenit beat German powerhouse Bayern Munich and Scottish champions Rangers to win the UEFA Cup and have now added United to that list this year. If anything, Juve and Real are the under dogs this time around.
Their victory over Man Utd. was made all the more impressive when striker Andrey Arshavin ( the most popular Russian since Trotsky) was not penciled into the starting line up.
For its part, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side was on record as saying they were going to take the Super Cup seriously by fielding a full squad for the encounter.
It wasn’t enough as a possibly rusty Man Utd. were beaten by a better squad on this night. United thought they equalized at one point only to find out that Paul Scholes had deliberately directed the ball into the net thus earning him a red card.
Man U’s loss propelled me to look at their track record in tournaments. Beyond the EPL, Manchester United are not as decorated (or at least have not had as much success) as some other European sides. Notably Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Juventus and arch rivals Liverpool.
The loss to Zenit brings United’s record in SC play at 1-2. The last time they participated in a SC final was in 1999 when Lazio defeated them 1-0. In Intercontinental Club Cup (FIFA Club World) play, they managed a 1-1 record beating Palmeiras 1-0 and losing to Estudiantes 0-1. The English Premier League as a whole have not done well against South American sides going 1-5 since the inception of the tournament in 1960.
Regardless, United does have a perfect 3-0 in Champions League and to many of its fans this is good enough.
They’ll have a shot at the FIFA Club later on this year and will look to become only the second European side (behind AC Milan) to win the tournament since being restructured in 2000. Liverpool and Barcelona each failed in their attempts.
Stats Corner: Guess What? Hockey Is Back Soon. Some Predictions
August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
By Chris Boersma
Based on the expected offense from the tables presented in the other posts, this would be the expected standings. There seems to be a lot of volatility in the east, but the west appears to be business as usual (changes smaller than 10 are not really that significant)
Western Standings
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Eastern Standings
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I think it’s worth saying I’m not very satisfied with the results, but I like the method. There are a few things I still need to work out, especially in terms of Crosby and Ovechkin’s offense. I also need to look at Tampa a little bit closer ( they are expected to score 300 GF – a little bit unrealistic).
We Asked…
August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Not so long ago if Manny, Greg and Joe were going to make L.A. a winner.
Given their recent streak I guess the answer is “Bye-Bye Dodgers.”
On the other side, the Red Sox are sticking a few nails in the Yankees coffin.
Instant Replay Comes To MLB – Finally
August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Dear MLB Video Replay:
Welcome to 2008. I’m sure catching up with the times was extraordinarily exhausting but you need to know how worthwhile your efforts are to baseball. You have the support of every human being having witnessed a Major League Baseball game since the Negro Leagues, in addition to anyone excluded above with the capacity to wipe their own ass.
Your presence is so valuable that we are willing to tolerate your shortcomings. You’re late, but we forgave you just as soon as you showed up. You’re a job-threatening robot, but your consistency and reliability are far too valuable to go without any longer.
What I like most is your drive to succeed. You persevered in the face of such strong resistance from the purists (see fans sired before World War I, pseudo-geriatrics and the Crypt Keeper). You have the heartwarming capacity to humiliate 4 — and sometimes as many as 6 — fat ego-maniacal stooges, a consortium whom are ironically your most dubious foes.
Thank you for coming and enlightening those previously blinded. Thank you for fighting the good fight and standing up for what you believe in.
Sincerely,
Rogge Takes Issue With Rogue Bolt
August 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment
By Alex
I have no idea why Jacques Rogge would single out Usain Bolt for unsportsmanship. It seems to me track and field has a history of poor sportsmanship. Carl Lewis wasn’t exactly Mr. Sportsman as I recall it.
Track and field athletes in general lack a certain politeness. Ever notice how they never look at the interviewer or camera when they speak? They always look like they need to be somewhere else.
It’s part of the culture and for Rogge to single out Bolt out of the blue is odd.
This coming from an organization with a moral record that is far from pristine.
NFL Fantasy Wide Outs
August 27, 2008 By 1 Comment
By Jeffrey Boyer
There are a number of WRs that look attractive this year based on our Fantasy Quants data. Players like Bobby Engram, Donald Driver, and Andre Johnson (see table below) will be huge value selections at different areas during your fantasy draft this summer.
However, our three top Fantasy Quant picks are as follows:
Greg Jennings
Much like Driver the departure of Brett Farve is certainly helping out the value position here. Both Jennings (right, IconSMI) and Driver are being selected later in drafts due to Aaron Rodgers taking over at QB. Valid perhaps, but we don’t believe its warranted. Jennings was a stud last season after returning to the lineup coming off of injury and had an incredible TD streak. This guy is a stud and has finally leapfrogged Driver as the #1 option in the Green Bay WR corps. We love his VRM number, Value Ratio, and Weighted number as well. Great 5th round draft pick.
Brandon Marshall
What a year for Brandon Marshall in 2007. 102 catches, 1325 yards, and 7 TDs. Absolute stud numbers and this year – we get him at a discount. Marshall has been suspended for the first 3 games of the regular season, thus dropping his value and his average draft position. Not a worry for us, come weeks 14-16 (the money weeks) Marshall will be just fine. Looking at our Quant data, Marshall has big numbers across the board. Book Brandon Stokley late in your draft for weeks 1-3 and then ride Marshall to your playoffs in 2008. Grab him in your 4th round.
Jerricho Cotchery
Jerricho Cotchery was a Fantasy Quant pick in 2007. He was solid, but didn’t quite live up to his potential. This certainly wasn’t due to his play, but the poor quarterback play around him. Enter Brett Farve and you have a steal in the 7th round of your draft this season. We like Coles as well, but Cotchery offers up bigger upside, more consistency, and better value draft pick this season.
NFL WR 2008 FantasyQuant Worksheet
| Player | SD | Eff Ratio | VRM | ADP | Val Ratio | Weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason, Derrick BAL WR | 22.00 | 43.75 | 2.50 | 123.41 | 54.00 | 5.22 |
| McDonald, Shaun DET WR | 19.27 | 21.39 | 5.08 | 237.52 | 50.81 | 4.08 |
| Branch, Deion SEA WR | 21.30 | 24.05 | 7.02 | 164.12 | 39.48 | 3.48 |
| Engram, Bobby SEA WR | 22.67 | 36.25 | 4.21 | 97.71 | 35.42 | 3.74 |
| Stokley, Brandon DEN WR | 15.92 | 13.54 | 4.11 | 251.18 | 34.02 | 2.70 |
| Patten, David NOS WR | 17.92 | 11.76 | 10.55 | 234.29 | 27.55 | 2.22 |
| Jones, James GBP WR | 16.25 | 13.39 | 4.95 | 199.95 | 26.78 | 2.24 |
| Toomer, Amani NYG WR | 16.08 | 11.85 | 4.34 | 218.51 | 25.89 | 2.12 |
| Walter, Kevin HOU WR | 17.13 | 12.41 | 8.48 | 202.06 | 25.07 | 2.09 |
| Jennings, Greg GBP WR | 26.00 | 46.60 | 4.72 | 52.96 | 24.68 | 3.50 |
| Driver, Donald GBP WR | 20.33 | 25.69 | 4.80 | 87.97 | 22.60 | 2.49 |
| Randle El, Antwaan WAS WR | 15.54 | 9.11 | 7.36 | 230.39 | 20.99 | 1.70 |
| Galloway, Joey TBB WR | 21.00 | 19.65 | 10.88 | 102.98 | 20.24 | 2.09 |
| Marshall, Brandon DEN WR | 26.20 | 51.70 | 3.97 | 38.76 | 20.04 | 3.43 |
| Cotchery, Jerricho NYJ WR | 22.21 | 26.86 | 6.96 | 73.37 | 19.70 | 2.36 |
| Johnson, Andre HOU WR | 35.13 | 80.62 | 5.05 | 23.40 | 18.86 | 4.57 |
| Williams, Reggie JAC WR | 16.62 | 11.27 | 8.27 | 162.72 | 18.33 | 1.62 |
| Battle, Arnaz SFO WR | 14.79 | 7.72 | 3.97 | 236.48 | 18.25 | 1.47 |
| White, Roddy ATL WR | 23.87 | 26.93 | 9.71 | 65.54 | 17.65 | 2.24 |
| Crayton, Patrick DAL WR | 19.00 | 13.98 | 10.93 | 118.86 | 16.62 | 1.63 |
| Ward, Hines PIT WR | 20.38 | 22.46 | 6.37 | 71.37 | 16.03 | 1.95 |
| Bowe, Dwayne KCC WR | 21.64 | 27.24 | 5.94 | 57.40 | 15.64 | 2.12 |
| Holt, Torry STL WR | 23.87 | 39.62 | 4.49 | 38.99 | 15.45 | 2.63 |
| Coles, Laveranues NYJ WR | 20.27 | 18.09 | 9.53 | 85.00 | 15.38 | 1.72 |
| Chambers, Chris SDC WR | 18.47 | 19.56 | 4.66 | 73.81 | 14.44 | 1.73 |
| Williams, Roydell TEN WR | 15.00 | 5.68 | 8.87 | 252.17 | 14.31 | 1.13 |
| Curtis, Kevin PHI WR | 21.87 | 17.25 | 15.61 | 79.44 | 13.70 | 1.58 |
| Holmes, Santonio PIT WR | 23.67 | 28.22 | 8.51 | 46.92 | 13.24 | 2.01 |
| Houshmandzadeh, T.J. CIN WR | 27.27 | 43.43 | 6.63 | 28.11 | 12.21 | 2.59 |
| Johnson, Chad CIN WR | 27.07 | 37.42 | 8.66 | 31.16 | 11.66 | 2.30 |
| Welker, Wes NEP WR | 24.93 | 30.37 | 9.28 | 38.29 | 11.63 | 2.00 |
| Curry, Ronald OAK WR | 15.27 | 6.41 | 8.62 | 172.62 | 11.07 | 0.96 |
| Williams, Roy DET WR | 22.50 | 23.80 | 9.43 | 45.57 | 10.84 | 1.68 |
| Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR | 28.29 | 51.71 | 5.69 | 20.69 | 10.70 | 2.84 |
| Edwards, Braylon CLE WR | 29.07 | 51.61 | 6.07 | 20.30 | 10.48 | 2.82 |
| Boldin, Anquan ARI WR | 25.36 | 26.30 | 13.34 | 38.89 | 10.23 | 1.74 |
| Brown, Reggie PHI WR | 15.47 | 8.05 | 6.34 | 118.68 | 9.55 | 0.94 |
| Wayne, Reggie IND WR | 30.47 | 55.75 | 6.24 | 15.72 | 8.76 | 2.89 |
| Owens, Terrell DAL WR | 31.67 | 43.70 | 11.76 | 19.29 | 8.43 | 2.36 |
| Colston, Marques NOS WR | 25.00 | 32.03 | 8.45 | 25.10 | 8.04 | 1.85 |
| Moss, Santana WAS WR | 16.08 | 8.96 | 7.59 | 83.82 | 7.51 | 0.85 |
| Moss, Randy NEP WR | 36.00 | 63.38 | 8.93 | 11.84 | 7.50 | 3.13 |
| Smith, Steve CAR WR | 25.29 | 25.50 | 14.00 | 29.11 | 7.42 | 1.54 |
| Burress, Plaxico NYG WR | 22.13 | 19.16 | 13.44 | 38.44 | 7.36 | 1.27 |
| Johnson, Calvin DET WR | 16.79 | 13.28 | 5.05 | 49.13 | 6.52 | 0.97 |
| Gonzalez, Anthony IND WR | 16.45 | 7.79 | 16.09 | 83.29 | 6.49 | 0.73 |
| Evans, Lee BUF WR | 17.13 | 9.28 | 12.16 | 63.15 | 5.86 | 0.76 |
| Harrison, Marvin IND WR | 15.00 | 7.36 | 8.07 | 68.39 | 5.04 | 0.62 |
| Gage, Justin TEN WR | 13.36 | 2.05 | 6.36 | 191.30 | 3.92 | 0.33 |
| Burleson, Nate SEA WR | 13.87 | 3.52 | 6.25 | 109.59 | 3.86 | 0.39 |
| Jackson, Vincent SDC WR | 12.79 | 2.27 | 5.75 | 124.71 | 2.83 | 0.27 |
| Rice, Sidney MIN WR | 12.64 | 1.44 | 9.34 | 115.19 | 1.66 | 0.16 |
| Gaffney, Jabar NEP WR | 12.46 | 0.83 | 14.71 | 193.38 | 1.61 | 0.14 |
