Huddlegeeks.com Fantasy Football: Silver and Black MakeoverWritten by Jason Clarke
Have you ever watched one of those home makeover shows where ‘crew’ from whatever show it is, takes a seemingly ordinary house or room and makes it into some fantastic dream room that owner usually is ecstatic about? Al Davis must have watched a few of these shows while his team was sitting home for playoffs and decided he could do same for his offense. He followed same basic premise but spent a little more than usual show and their ‘crew’ does.The Raiders offense in 2004 had enough talent to be average, but never really made fantasy owner think, “I’m drafting some Raiders this year!” They finished ranked 18th in league in total scoring offense, scoring an average of 20.0 point per game. They had an offense that could win some games if they played above average defense. Problem was, Oakland finished ranked 30th in total defense so more offense was needed in Raiderland and in a hurry. The Raiders had some building blocks for a good offense like a strong-armed quarterback in Kerry Collins, a stud of a LT prospect in Robert Gallery, some athletic tight ends in Doug Jolley and Teyo Johnson and a playmaking WR in Jerry Porter. The biggest problem was fact that Raiders did not have a guy in backfield that they could hand ball to 25 times a game and make a difference. They also needed another receiver to take pressure and coverage off of Porter. Defenses could concentrate on shutting down talented receiver and not worry about getting burned by any of other Raiders receivers. At times, defenses would drop seven defensive backs into coverage to stop Porter because they had no fear of Raiders ground game. What a difference and off-season makes! The Raiders head into 2005 season as, on paper, one of most improved teams in NFL and possibly one of most explosive offenses in league as well. Their biggest acquisition, by far, was trade of LB Napolean Harris and a first round draft pick for Minnesota WR Randy Moss. Moss is biggest playmaker at wide receiver position in game today. He is kind of player that is tailor made for traditional Raiders downfield attack. Opposing defenses are no-longer going to be able to concentrate on shutting Porter down when they have to worry about big play ability of Moss.
| | Huddlegeeks.com Fantasy Football: The Art of the Value DraftWritten by Jason Clarke
Many fantasy owners believe that key to having a good year in your respective league is to hit on your first few picks in your draft. While it’s true that you have to make those first few picks count to have a chance to compete in a league, real great teams are probably built deeper in draft, in rounds five or later. This is area of draft where you learn who has done their homework and prepared and who just picked up a fantasy magazine on their way to draft.This method is almost an art form of knowing not only what player to pick, but when to pick them. To be informed and have a great feeling about a guy, but blowing that homework and picking him in round 3 negates all work and preparation. Get your studs and stand-bys in first several rounds, then start picking your spots to take guys you feel, or you have been informed about, that should have great years. Take for instance a couple of receivers from this years crop of value players like Andre Davis (CLE) and Terry Glenn (DAL). These players have been, for most part, very consistent performers in this young season. These two receivers have been outperforming many players taken, in most drafts, rounds ahead of them. Put Andre Davis’ numbers next to Koren Robinson or Chris Chamber’s statistics. You’ll see that Davis has outperformed both of these receivers who were picked higher in most leagues this year. Davis has advantage on these two in yards and draws even with Chambers in TD’s with two. In one of my leagues, Chambers was drafted in round five and Davis in round ten. And Koren Robinson, who Davis out performs in yards and TD’s, he was taken in fourth round. How’s that for value in a tenth round pick??
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