FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

David's Daily Digest

August 22nd, 2025

Friday Night Edition

PRE-DRAFT QUICK TAKES

All of the buzz or at least some of the pre-season (pre-draft fantasy football) buzz out of San Francisco is 2nd year receiver Ricky Pearsall. Early preseason action indicators would suggest he’s quickly becoming quarterback Brock Purdy’s favorite and number one target. With a banged up receiving corp in the Bay area, Pearsall seems a lock to be the leading receiver for the first half of the season. Fantasy Pros has Pearsall ranked as the WR38.

Another talk of the town in Tampa is the rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka. The word out of camp is 2nd year wideout Jalen McMillan is expected to miss extended time and with Chris Godwin’s return to action (not expected to be available week 1) uncertain, there’s opportunity to Egbuka to rise up. He’s a great sleeper candidate that could pay dividends early in the season.

Staying in Tampa, with the wide receiver room in the situation it is, another sleeper is tight end Cade Otton, a fringe TE1 in 10 leagues last season, finishing as the TE11 (minimum 10 games), averaging 10.0 fantasy points per game (1-point PPR). Otton finished 2024 with 59 receptions (on 87 targets) for 600 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns in 14 games. There are more appealing youthful options available, but Otton looks primed to be a TE1 in the early part of the season and he’s basically going undrafted.

That’s My Take.

~David G Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

David's Daily Digest

August 18th, 2025

Monday Night Edition

FIRST FANTASY DRAFT IN THE BOOKS

Well the first one is complete and in the books. As I review the results, I am quite satisfied with my team and the execution of my draft strategy.

To start with, let me prefix this summary with a key fantasy stat to keep in mind, in the league, it’s one point per yard, three points-per-reception, and passing touchdowns are 20 points, with all other touchdowns 25 points; this is the ultimate fantasy scoring league.

In this 10-team draft, one of my primary targets was one of the big top five scoring quarterbacks; Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Jayden Daniels. My player of choice was Joe Burrow (top scoring player last season). I took the third slot and took Jahmyr Gibbs, followed by The Drake (Drake London) in the second, Joe Burrow in the 4th, Matthew Golden (my 3rd receiver) in the 7th, Even Engram in the 9th, and Cooper Kupp in the 11th round.

These selections highlight how my draft went with Gibbs, London, Burrow, Golden, and Engram sitting at the top of my target list. There was a lot of luck, lots of patience, maybe some quiet wishes, but trusting my instinct and staying on the path.

I had some surprise picks, players I was even looking at (took a couple of flyers with Marquise Brown and Keon Coleman), but I was not detracted and stayed with my strategy and filled my lineup with anchors, high floors, high ceiling, and plenty of reliable depth. I packed my RB room with players like Tank Bigsby, Braelon Allen, and Austin Ekeler - let’s hope some of these pay off.

With the 2nd week of preseason games completed and the 2025 Kickoff only 17 days away, I’ve still got 4 more home (money) leagues and several online league drafts to complete. Time to do more research, until my next draft.

That’s my take.

~David Ortega

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

David's Daily Digest

August 16, 2025

Saturday afternoon Edition

FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT COUNTDOWN

I f**king love this time of year, no question my favorite. With the NFL season quickly approaching it’s time to get hyped for this year’s Fantasy football season. My annual Home Fantasy Football League (this is the one where the pot grows during the season and winners take is pretty nice - win this one and you own bragging rights for a year) draft is less than 24 hours away. I consider this 10-man league, a PPR league on steroids with a six pack of Monsters on top.

While our scoring is hyped up considerably, most of the fantasy football standard guidelines, practices, and strategies apply. We draft very closely in the same manner as any typical PPR league, with the exception, this is IDP and our roster is huge.

As I prep for the big day tomorrow, a couple of takes I will be bringing with me for the moment I am on the clock. Bucky Irving (my 22nd round keeper), Derrick Henry, and Chase Brown are off the board to start, so my focus is to build backfield depth and grab a top flight receiver early.

Our draft positions are determined by lottery on draft day, so regardless where I fall, I will be looking at running backs Jahmyr Gibbs (talent is too great to overlook) and Christian McCaffrey (bounce back from 2024 injury season) in the first round. Depending on where I fall, late first round or early, in the second round I will anchor my receiving corp with likely Amon-Ra St. Brown (high floor, steady), Nico Collins (Stroud’s number one), or Drake London (love his volume down the stretch).

As I move through rounds 3 through 8, I am looking at players like DK Metcalf (with his size and skill, Rodgers will feed him the ball), Josh Jacobs (Packers may lean more pass this season, but Jacobs is solid), D’Andre Swift (could be undervalued and a nice sleeper this season), Courtland Sutton (as Nix goes this season, so shall Sutton - could be a nice mid WR3/flex).

Some deeper selections I am targeting include, Zach Charbonnet (Walker’s injury history, the Zach attack could be back), Austin Ekeler (healthy, could lead RB’s in receiving this season), and Mathew Golden (willing to reach a little early to secure this cat as my 3rd receiver).

So much to absorb and consider, with the draft less than 24 hours away, time to do more research, some mock drafts, and of course pick up those necessities that will help me survive the long anguishing marathon that is the Fantasy Draft!

That’s my take.

~David G. Ortega 

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

David's Daily Digest

August 14th, 2025

Thursday Evening Edition

HERE WE GO AGAIN: FANTASY FOOTBALL IS BACK

At the peak of Summer, with the weather sizzling (here in California experiencing triple digits), there’s always a silver lining. The opening of NFL training camps and Preseason games on the NFL Network offer that slight brisk breeze of cool hope and excitement for the NFL & Fantasy Football fan.

With the NFL season still weeks away and Preseason Week 1 in the books, it’s the height of the Mock Draft season and ADP watch. I am a mock-drafting mad-man and I am diving head-first into mocks and public league drafts every day.

There is no better day in the calendar year than Draft day, except maybe Christmas. With NFL action underway, training camps in full swing, and dozens of mock drafts in the books, I am feeling it and getting the itch and great excitement for Draft Day.

The Home league, entering its 20th year has always been the pinnacle of all my annual fantasy football leagues, and with our draft only a few days away, it’s time to get the popcorn ready and your draft supplies together.

The 2025 Fantasy Football Draft Countdown starts now!

FSH NOTEBOOK: DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST

David's Daily Digest

December 14th, 2024

Saturday Evening Edition

Week 15: By the Numbers

Since Week 8, the Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase leads all wide receivers with 54 receptions, 699 receiving yards, and 9 touchdowns on 79 targets. He’s scored in four straight games and been targeted 9 or more times in six straight. He’s locked in as the number one fantasy receiver this week.

The Packers running back Josh Jacobs continues to carry the teams ground game with an average of 20.2 carries over his last four games while adding 8 rushing scores. His 10 rushing touchdowns since week 8 leads all running backs. Even with a road matchup this week against the Seahawks, Jacobs should be considered a must start RB1.

That's my take

~David G. Ortega