Dave Gettleman is not the most popular man in the greater New York area these days. After the Giants started his general manager tenure 1-7, ultimately finishing his first year 5-11, Gettleman began cleaning house, trading defensive end Olivier Vernon and superstar wideout Odell Beckham, Jr., in separate deals to the Cleveland Browns. The Beckham…
When it looked like Lamar Jackson had scored yet again, bringing the Ravens a 26-7 lead, I, ironically, felt a sense of relief. “Ok,” I thought, “the Browns are better, but they aren’t quite there yet.” Then came the comeback and Baker Mayfield being inches away from avoiding that last minute interception and giving the…
When the Browns traded back into the first round in the 2007 Draft to take Brady Quinn, after having secured Joe Thomas with the third pick, waves of euphoric optimism cascaded over me. This was it, I thought, after 8 seasons of futility, dysfunction, and false hope, the Browns have finally turned the corner. They…
After a truly mesmerizing display on Monday Night Football, the offensive juggernauts in Los Angeles and Kansas City are on a bye this week. If you haven’t had a chance to look at the highlights, I suggest you get on that immediately. Within these highlights, you’ll see where the NFL, and by proxy fantasy football,…
After taking a sabbatical to cover the Brownsian fall of Hue Jackson, it’s back to fantasy football in Week 10. Last week saw a plethora of fantasy story-lines from Julio Jones’ first touchdown, to the potential emergence of total wildcard Nick Mullens, to the long awaited re-emergence of Duke Johnson. This week I’ll be looking…
When Hue Jackson stood at the podium for the first time as the Browns’ head coach, he said he understood it would be a process. To me, he looked like a savior during that first press conference. He advised everyone to be patient and talked about his excitement working with an innovative new front office lead…
Week 8 takes us to the halfway point in the fantasy football season. Thus far the Rams, Steelers, and Chiefs have been the most fertile grounds for fantasy points. While the Bills, Cardinals, and 49ers have proven themselves too volatile to trust. I do not fault these 3 teams, as injuries and rookie errors have…
Week 7 in the fantasy football season finds Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Oakland, and Seattle all on their bye weeks. Bad news for Rodgers and Roethlesberger owners, perhaps good news for Derek Carr and Amari Cooper owners. At least they’ll be spared the aggravation. Raiders jokes aside, it’s not just Rodgers and Roethlesberger; James Conner, Antonio Brown,…
Week 5 was another strange week in the NFL. Graham Gano kicked a game winning 63 yard field goal, Greg Joseph kicked the ugliest game winning field goal in recent memory, and one of the NFL’s best kickers, Mason Crosby, missed 5 kicks against the Lions. The Jets running game rose from the ashes, the…
Ryan Fitzpatrick will return, at least for now, to his slumber under the surface. Four of the five rookie quarterbacks taken in 2018 NFL Draft have assumed starting responsibilities for their respective teams. Julian Edelman and Mark Ingram are set to return from their suspensions. The Tennessee Titans beat the defending Super Bowl Champions despite…
This past weekend someone asked me why fantasy football is so difficult. I told her, quite frankly, it is so hard because the NFL is almost impossible to predict. Right on cue the Bills beat the Vikings and the Lions beat the Patriots with their first 100 yard rushing performance in 5 years. This, of…
Before I start writing and you start reading, let us try to take a moment to process the featured image above. Specifically: is this the greatest thing ever to happen or a sign the excesses of Western Civilization have finally gotten completely out of control? I wonder . . . Okay, so now that we…
Week 1 has come and passed, now we move on to Week 2. Or at least you, the reader, can move on to Week 2. I admittedly still need a bit of time to process the Browns and their tie against Pittsburgh. This is not the place to vent about the lack of jet sweeps…
The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote . . . Ha! I’m just kidding. Unlike my last article, I won’t be funneling my analysis through Ancient Philosophy. Hence the Caddyshack reference. No, no, instead I’d like to take some time and share a few storylines in Week One that should have a significant impact on the…
“Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science – in all of biology” – Bill Nye And especially in the game of football. Yet unlike nature, where changes can be gradual and take life cycles, evolution in football must be swift, must be effective, and preferably must be trailblazing lest ye be left…
Perhaps one of the bigger stories of the whole offseason is that former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant remains unsigned at time of writing. But fear not, I see a bright future still in the NFL for Dez, if he wants to embrace it. Now before I delve into this piece, I’m just going…