FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

November 11th 2017

Saturday Morning Edition

Sunday’s Heroes Week 9

With six teams on the bye, there was still plenty of action on last Sunday and more than enough playmakers to carry your weekly lineup to victory. And while the list was full of many household names, there were also quite a few of your the not-the-Usual-Suspects. These are some of the names to keep watch for on Sunday Week 10;

QB-Jay Cutler; the Dolphins signal caller returned from injury and played his best game of his season on Sunday Night. Nothing more than an afterthought all season long, Cutler passed for 311 yards and threw three touchdowns against a weak Raiders secondary.

QB-Jacoy Brissett; the Colts quarterback played strong on Sunday completing 20 of 30 passes while throwing two scores and passing for 308 yards. It was a strong performance for a QB trending in the right direction.

RB-Alvin Kamara; as part of the Saints explosive offense, Kamara was dynamite on Sunday totaling 152 yards (68 ru, 84 rec), with two scores on just 16 touches. Kamara has become a pass receiving weapon this season and a weekly PPR stud.

RB-Corey Clement; the Eagles rookie running back had a big day on Sunday with three touchdowns on 13 touches. Not the usual outcome for Clement and not something owners can come to expect on a regular basis with Ajayi, Blount, and Smallwood positioned ahead of him on the depth chart.

WR-Terrance Williams; it was his first big game of the season on Sunday finishing with 9 catches on 9 targets for 141 yards receiving. Williams has the potential, but

WR-Robert Woods; the Rams receiver help lead his cast a week ago to a big win over the Giants; and big I mean by points. Wood pulled in 4 of 5 targets for 80 receiving yards and his first two scores of the season.

WR-Marqise Lee; quietly the former Trojan has emerged as the team’s No.1 receiver. Last week Lee led the team with 12 targets, 8 receptions, 75 receiving yards, and a touchdowns. On the year he leads the team in targets, catches, and yards. His score last week was his first for the season.

TE-Julius Thomas; the Dolphins tight end finally had his breakout game of the season posting a line of 6/84/1. Most of the year Thomas has been a model of non-production, but he does have 14 receptions on 20 targets over his last four games.

That's My Take.

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID' DAILY DIGEST

October 26th 2017

Thursday Evening Edition

Thursday’s Twitter Takes

It's never just about the matchup, but it's always about the game. Maybe tonight's contest isn't a battle between two Titans, but it can still offer a lot of excitement, thrills, and surprises; at least we can hope for it. It's Thursday night, what else are you going to do? Just sit back, enjoy the NFL action and hope we didn't jsut waste three hours of our lives.

"Tonight's matchup could be the snoozefest of the season, both offenses rank among worst; BAL-31, Mia-32" by @FantsySprtsHome

Then again, we thought that was the case when the Rams and Niners played a few weeks back. While it may have a lot of tendencies leaning toward a lot scoring affair, there are plenty of storylines to suggest we could be in for a few surprises.

"Ravens and Flacco could be in for long night against Phins D (ranked 10th total yards)" by @ FantsySprtsHome

Dolphins have been playing well this season, but the Ravens are at home and this could be just the type of setting to kickstart Flacco and company. But I’m not holding my breath.

"With Matt Moore under center, Stills could be a favorite play tonight. He's coming off a big game last Sunday" by @FantsySprtsHome

Don’t be surprised to see a rejuvenated and animated Moore tonight. He’s got a great opportunity to seize control of the starting gig in Miami, nothing that a big game couldn’t help cement maybe.

"Phins D pretty good, but trouble covering the backs could open up play for both Buck Allen tonight." by @FantsySprtsHome

I expect Buck to be very busy in the short passing game, as well as tight end Ben Watson. Flacco may not throw for a ton, but he could complete a lot of passes. Get out your PPR calculator.

"Jay Ajayi may be the only strong & must-play tonight; Ravens D last in the league allowing 145-yds/gm!" by @FantsySprtsHome

The Ravens D has just struggled awful this season against the run and this would be the type of game the Dolphins would need out of Ajayi, lots of carries and lots of yards; could open some play-action and allow Moore to take a few shots downfield.

That's My Take.

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

September 8th 2017

Friday Late Night Edition

That’s My Take 2017

Fantasy Player Notes

It’s time to talk about the big boy receivers, affectionately known as the tight ends. Now normally I might have included the Chiefs Travis Kelce, but we all got a good look at him Thursday; tremendous size and its apparent head coach Andy Reid is going to get him the ball. Kelce could be another Gronk this season. Now here are few names of players that are not like Gronk, but will have fantasy impact.

Fantasy Tight Ends

Kyle Rudolph

There’s little conversation going on about Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, at least I am not hearing much, but there should be talk. Last season with first year in Minnesota quarterback Sam Bradford, Rudolph turned in a stat line of 83-840-7. I have to be honest, that was the quietest stat line I remember from last season and it was good enough for the No.3 fantasy tight end. The Vikings biggest problem last season was their O-line and lack of running game; two things they addressed in the offseason. Any improvements in these areas will likely reflect with improvement in the pass game and Rudolph’s numbers. He may not have been drafted top five at his position in your draft, but there’s a good chance he finishes there.

Hunter Henry

Yes, the Chargers still have the future Hall-of-fame tight end Antonio Gates, but no doubt tight end Hunter Henry is a name on the rise. In his rookie campaign he started 10 games for the Chargers and finished as the league’s No.11 fantasy tight end (standard leagues). His 2016 numbers were touchdown dependent, but this season he should carve out a larger role in the offense and greatly improve on his 19th ranking in PPR last season. He’s a starting TE1 in 12-team leagues (bottom half) for me this season.

Jack Doyle

With the prospect of quarterback Andrew Luck throwing passes to him again this season, I believe Doyle can pick up right where he left off in 2016. A season ago Doyle finished as the No.13 fantasy tight end (PPR) with 59 receptions, 584 yards receiving, and 5 touchdowns. Doyle is probably going to be slow out of the gate with Luck sidelined the first couple of weeks, but he could be a strong sneaky play in the second half of the season. He’s got great fantasy value coming late off the draft boards.

Julius Thomas

After two productive seasons in Denver, the Dolphins tight end Julius Thomas has not been very fantasy relevant since; last season in standard leagues he was the 29th ranked fantasy tight end. Thomas arrived in Miami this offseason, enter head coach Adam Gase (Thomas’ old OC in Denver) and new quarterback Jay Cutler. Thomas is a big body tight end the team believes could finish with double figure touchdowns; add the Gase-Cutler factor. In 2015 when these two (Cutler & Gaes) were paired in Chicago, Cutler targeted his tight ends 127 times, for 88 receptions, and 8 touchdowns. Thomas is a sleeper tight end this season, with potential huge upside if he stays healthy!

That’s My Take. ~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

December 9th, 2016
Friday Night Edition

Friday's Fantasy Fixx

The Fantasy Playoffs are underway and unless you had the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in your lineup last night, with players like Rob Gronkowski (Injured Reserve), Julius Thomas (OUT), and Gary Barnidge (no quarterback) your options may be limited on Sunday. Playing in a multitude of leagues as I do each year, this seems to be one of the dilemmas I am not able to escape this week.

Gary Barnidge has been fantasy irrelevant since the season started and with the return of quarterback Robert Griffin III, there's no guarantee this will change and the risk this week is too great. With Gronk sidelined, fantasy owners can only hope that tight end Martellus Bennett will rise to the TE1 we believed him to be. So far in Bennett's past three games this has not happened; just 6 receptions for 40 yards receiving. Even with quarterback Tom Brady under center, Bennett may be too risky to sit on until Monday night.

Some options that some may be looking at for Sunday are the Redskins number two tight end Vernon Davis. Even with starter Jordan Reed in the lineup Davis has been productive at times, but faced with a tough matchup agains the Eagles (ranked 4th for the fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends). With so much at stake this week, owners may be better served avoiding Davis.

A less than (but still) risky play this week could be the Rams tight end Lance Kendricks. By far Kendricks has been one of the teams leading pass receiving options, third on the Rams with 73 targets this season. And this week Kendricks faces the Falcons defense that has allowed the 5th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. But like so many other options, Kendricks carries a lot of risk; just 2 catches for 13 yards last week. You have to like his matchup, but always the question "can you trust him?"

Probably my best option that I will lean on heavily this Sunday is the Niners tight end Vance McDonald. Now McDonald is coming off a week where the entire offense was completely ineffective and he only caught 2 balls for 9 yards. Prior to that McDonald had four straight games with at least 3 receptions and 46 yards receiving with two touchdowns. With the Jets coming to town and a defense that has allowed the 6th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends over the past four weeks, including three touchdowns McDonald is undoubtedly a strong play on Sunday.

That’s My Take

~David G. Ortega

WEEK 7: SUNDAY FAVES

October 24th, 2015
Sunday (Week 7)

Week 7: Sunday Favorites

I've been playing a lot of DFS lately and not because my season long teams are in the tank, to the contrary I play in four season long and like the looks of three (my fourth is a work in progress due to injuries).

I am following my standard plays in the season long leagues; play your studs and start your starters, but in DFS I am trying to swing for the fences.

Going through the schedule, here are a few of the picks I am liking this Sunday;

Over in London in the Bills-Jaguars matchup, I am on board with Julius Thomas coming off a strong week six performance. The Bills have allowed the 9th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends and are tied with allowing the 7th most receptions. Thomas was targeted 13 times last week, so he should see his fair-share of work this Sunday.

In the Vikings-Lions matchup, rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been a reliable pass-catcher in the Vikings passing game in the teams last three games. Over that span Diggs has hauled in 13 passes on 19 targets for 216 yards. He's yet to have a big fantasy day, but facing the Lions secondary that has been riddled for the 4th most receiving yards and ranks 9th in fantasy points allowed to opposing wideouts, this week it could happen.

Lastly, in the Browns-Rams game on Sunday, you have to love this matchup for rookie running Todd Gurley. He's had back-to-back solid games toting the rock 49 times for 305 yards. Tomorrow he faces the Browns run defense that has allowed a league leading 887 yards rushing this season and surrenders over 5.1 yards per carry. Gurley has looked solid the last two weeks and has to be licking his chops for Sunday's home matchup. I will have him in my lineups up and down the boards.

These are just a few of my favorites for Sunday.

That's my take.

~David G