FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

Saturday Night Edition
August 10th, 2019

The Return of Fantasy Football

It’s been a bit of a hiatus for me, but it’s that time of the year again and I have returned to my computer to once again engage in Fantasy football conversation.

Now it’s not like Fantasy Football was my best girl that went away for a long spell, but for the long months of the football offseason she has been missed dearly. 

With NFL training camps in full swing and the first week of Preseason games nearly complete, she is back! The new fantasy football season is here and fantasy drafts are right around the corner; are you ready for some fantasy football?

For myself, my early prep has been engaging in the latest, but not the newest trend of ever growing in popularity Best Ball drafts. I am loving these leagues, especially with the slow clocks; 8 hours works for this guy who often has a lot of distractions that can get in the way.

So, enough with small talk, time to dig into some fantasy chatter to open things up.

This being my first entry of the 2019 season, I’m not going to go to deep into my speculations or predictions, but rather just keep this opening announcement to the new season succinct.

This time of the year is always the best for us football enthusiasts and it’s even greater for those of us that enjoy playing fantasy football. Along with the NFL camps opening fantasy shows on the radio and podcasts online are heating up with relevant conversation for the upcoming season. I am an avid listener of many shows and yes, I’ve already picked up my three fantasy mags for my upcoming live drafts later in the month of August.

Best Ball leagues have been a great way for myself to jump back in the mix in a fast way, but I am keeping in mind this format is a beast of its own and is very different than the regular season long redraft league.

Along with participating in the many BB drafts I have completed (my current count as of this blog entry is at 4 leagues), I am still in the middle of several and plan on adding quite a few more. If I have anything to share at this time, my biggest takeaway from playing in these Best Ball drafts thus far is learned strategy.

Just like your Daily Fantasy sports lineups, for me anyway, in BB “stacking” has become very popular. As I draft receivers or pass-catching running backs, when it’s time to snatch a quarterback I am often looking at stacking. I am finding now, that as I draft in the early rounds of Best Ball, I am positioning these “stacks.”

I will leave with this, there are a lot of interesting stories concerning players in new places, change of scenery, with many potential outcomes; in my next entry I will share some of my early season Buy and Share list.

That’s my take.
~David G. Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

Saturday Late Night Edition

October 13th, 2018

Week 6: Lineup Starts & Sits

In my season long leagues, I have several line-up conundrums I am facing this week with players like RB-Adrian Peterson, RB-Isaiah Crowell, and TE-Greg Olsen.

These are some of my Week Starts;

QB-Kirk Cousins, Min: The Vikings signal caller is back home this week coming off a big win over the Eagles in week 5. In his last four starts Cousin has passed for no fewer than 296 yards (over 400 yards twice) and completed over 30 passes. With the running game stuck in neutral, the Vikings have leaned on Cousins arm and Sunday should be more of the same.

RB-Tevin Coleman, Atl: With Devonta Freeman OUT in this one, Coleman should see enough opportunity to take advantage of a poor Buccaneers defense ranked 8th in most fantasy points allowed to opposing runners.

RB-TJ Yeldon, Jax: With Leonard Fournette still sidelined, I like Yeldon’s workload. In his last two games Yeldon is averaging 19.5 touches, including 10 targets in week 5. He’s also scored 3 times in the last two weeks.

WR-Calvin Ridley, Atl: I’m riding with Calvin for another week. He’s coming off a let down in week 5, but this matchup against the Buccaneers is a can’t pass up. Ridley has six touchdowns this season and on Sunday he’ll be looking for number seven.

TE-Greg Olsen, Car: The Panthers don’t have any reliable passing receiving options outside of running back Christian McCaffrey, so with tight end Greg Olsen returning, he should step into a situation where he’ll likely be heavily involved. He’s a risk playing with the foot injury, but if he’s on the field, he’s in my lineup.

Here are some of my Sits;

RB-Adrian Peterson, Was: The Redskins offense as a whole was atrocious in week 5, and with Peterson banged up, his week 6 outlook is not very promising. I’ll sit Peterson and avoid this situation.

RB-Nyheim Hines, Ind: With the return of RB-Marlon Mack (expected to start Sunday) and rookie running back Jordan Wilkins seeming to have earned himself some playing time, this is another situation I am going to avoid.

QB-Alex Smith, Was & Redskins receivers: In week 5 on Monday night against the Saints, Smith looked horrible; poor throws, throws in the dirt, inaccurate passes. His performance was enough to have me worried whether he can be trusted. I need to see a strong performance going forward before I trust anyone in the Redskins passing game.

That’s my Take

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

Saturday Late-Night Edition

October 13th, 2018

Week 6: DFS Saturday

So, it’s been a while since my last entry, but like the rest of the fantasy football universe, I too have been playing the usual seasonal and weekly leagues.

So far, my track record for DFS has been break-even, so with some tasty Week 6 matchups, let’s see if there’s an opportunity to cash out this week.

The two primary day games where we could see a lot of fantasy explosions come in the Buccaneers-Falcons and the Bengals-Steelers, where the offensive weapons are plenty and the defenses are struggling.

In Draft Kings I am running a double stack with several players from these two matchups; QB-Matt Ryan paired with WR-Calvin Ridley and WR-Mohamed Sanu in my flex. The Bucs defense has allowed 9 receiving touchdowns to wide receivers and with the focus on Julio Jones, these two look like great prospects to find pay dirt.

Although Big Ben (Roethlisberger) is on the road this week, his week 6 matchup against the Bengals who allow the 7th most receptions to wide receivers make his two primary receivers (Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster) favorable plays this week as well.

Even with changes at Quarterback being made during their bye week, the Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans could be eyeing a huge Sunday against a Falcons secondary that has allowed 10 touchdowns to wide receivers (most allowed).

Speaking of a struggling defense, not only have the Falcons been torched through the air, but with a run defense that allows the 4th most fantasy points to opposing running backs, this is the week to play the Bucs Ronald Jones II. I am reading Jones may not start but given the state of the Bucs running game and this matchup, he should see plenty of opportunity to make some noise.

I have managed to see quite a bit of Browns Quarterback Baker Mayfield and I am impressed with his poise in the pocket and his arm strength. It’s a home matchup against a Chargers defense that will still be without pass rusher Joey Bosa. Given time to throw, I like Mayfield on Sunday paired with his number one receiver Jarvis Landry; three straight games with double-digit targets. With that much volume against the Chargers defense that allows the 6th most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, Landry looks like a solid play.

That’s my Take.

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

Saturday Night Edition

September 22nd, 2018

On the Cover This Week!

Do you believe in Magic?

How about FitzMagic?

In two weeks the Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has turned the fantasy world upside down; but are you buying it?

In two starts this season Fitzpatrick has passed for an astounding 819 passing yards (on pace for over 6,500 yards in 16 games), 8 passing touchdowns with one rushing; that’s a pace for 72 touchdowns in 16 games. To add FitzMagic is also completing near 79 percent of his passes; 48 of 61 and he currently leads all fantasy in scoring.

While the pace seems unsustainable, the FitzMagic carpet ride is likely to continue into week 3. With a Monday night showdown at home with the Pittsburgh Steelers, FitzMagic and the Bucs offense will be facing the league’s 15th ranked defense against the pass.

The Steelers secondary has allowed 7 passing touchdowns in two games, most in the league and they are allowing the 2nd most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks (standard scoring). They have also given up 9 pass plays of 20 yards or more this season, tied for 7th, while FitzMagic and the Bucs passing game have completed 12 such pass plays of 20 yards or more, including 4 for 40 yards or more (most in the league).

This definitely sounds like a recipe for another huge game for Fitzpatrick who was removed from the Bucs injury report this week and will likely have wide receiver Chris Godwin available, along with Mike Evans (230 receiving yards/2 tds), the 6th ranked fantasy WR in standard scoring, and DeSean Jackson (275 receiving yards/3 tds), the number one ranked fantasy WR  in standard scoring.

That’s My Take

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

Wednesday Night Edition

September 19th, 2018

Wednesday’s Weekly Wrap Up 

and Other Non-sense

So Week 2 was a bounce back week in a big way for all of my fantasy teams, largely due to some big games from my studs; Stefon Diggs (9 rec/128 yds/2 tds), Michael Thomas (12 rec/89 yds/2 tds), DeAndre Hopkins, (6 rec/110 yds/1 td), and Brandin Cooks (7 rec/159 yds). Play your studs or start your starters.

I drafted heavy for top tier receivers and benefited greatly in week 2, but not every week is going to go to script. My early picks at the running back are quickly fading with players like rookie Royce Freeman, Dion Lewis, and rookie Ronald Jones. It’s only week 2, so I am not pushing the panic button with Jones or Freeman.

The situation for Jones in Tampa is a little muddled at the moment. With all the success they are having through the air, current starter Peyton Barber (50th ranked RB in PPR), while ineffective on the ground (only averaging 2.6 yards/carry) has been afforded more time to hold the job. Jones will have to earn his way onto the field and when he does, we will see.

In Denver, Freeman (37th ranked RB in PPR) is another concern for me. There’s no question it’s a full-blown committee approach and non-stop rotation. For fellow rookie team-mate, running back Phillip Lindsay (14th ranked RB in PPR), the rotation has not affected his hot hand. Fantasy owners who used an early 4th/5th round draft pick on Freeman will have to remain patient and see how this shakes out. That will be my approach.

In the meantime, with my current RB situation a little in flux, I am streaming guys like Tevin Coleman and Giovani Bernard as starters.

With most of my leagues in the middle of waivers, a couple of streaming options I may be looking at for week 3; with LeSean McCoy banged up, running back Marcus Murphy is drawing some of my attention, and with Leonard Fournette a little dinged up as well, running back Corey Grant (coming off 6 receptions in week 2) may have some flex value.

A couple of noteworthy stashes; I am holding Broncos rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton in a couple of leagues; his 11 targets in two games has me believing he could an interesting mid-season play. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is stashed nicely on one of my rosters; his week 2 performance has me believing who could be rediscovering his QB form.

That’s My Take

~David Ortega