Chux: Loud & Clear

To cap off our Preseason "Fantasy Football Question of the Day" Series, we've put together our tiered positional rankings. Josh ranked the QBs, I ranked the RBs, and Uly ranked the WRs. These are based on Half PPR Scoring Settings. Keep in mind that with the Week 3 games still taking place, these rankings are a bit fluid and are subject to change by the time the Regular Season gets underway. Quarterbacks Tier 1   Tom Brady  Aaron Rodgers  Drew Brees  Tier 2   Russell Wilson Matt Ryan  Tier 3   Kirk Cousins  Derek Carr  Marcus Mariota  Jameis Winston  Andrew Luck (too much upside; when playing he's tier 1/2)  Tier 4   Ben Roethlisberger  Cam Newton  Dak Prescott  Tier 5   Philip Rivers  Matthew Stafford  Tier 6   Andy Dalton  Eli Manning  Tier 7   Carson Palmer  Carson Wentz  Tyrod Taylor...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What are your thoughts on drafting a "backup" or second QB on your teams for leagues where you only start one? What are instances where you should get one, and what are instances where you shouldn't? Charles: I used to be someone that would always draft a second QB to be a backup on my roster because I wanted insurance in case my starter got hurt or started playing horribly. And in deep leagues that have 14 or more teams you could make an argument for doing so still, depending on how the roster construction is set up and how the draft starts to unfold. However, for leagues that have 12 or le...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What out of the norm league rule or setting would you like to try in a fantasy league?  Charles: This idea was brought up in our council meeting this year and I've found it to be very interesting: Relegation. You set up two leagues, one designated as the "major league" and the other designated as the "minor league". At the end of each season, the two worst scoring teams in the major league will be sent down (relegated) to the minor league. In turn, the champion and the highest scoring team for the season will be promoted up from the minor league to the major league. There will stil...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. In a Best Ball league draft, what are you thoughts on grabbing two top QBs within your first 5 rounds? Josh: My strategy for Best Ball is either one QB early then one after the mid rounds (i.e. pair Tom Brady and Philip Rivers), or I go two mid round QBs like Derek Carr and Jameis Winston. Uly: I would be  more tempted to grab two of the top QBs in a Best Ball draft. You will essentially be guaranteed a top score from that position and it puts others at a disadvantage. You can fill out your roster then with a few more guys who will have those top scores a couple times the season, ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. Today's question was submitted by my friend Rob Cellasio. Does team allegiance have any effect on who you draft, don't draft, or just in the way you construct your team in any capacity? Uly: I am a Giants fan but when it comes to fantasy football I try to construct the best team possible. If you're a Cowboy, Eagle, or Redskin I don't care. The end goal in fantasy is to win it all and if any player from any team can help propel me into winning money, that's what I'm looking at. The one year Demarco Murray did great on the cowboys I had him in a league. I'm not going to pass up a...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What are some fantasy football "superstitions" or routines you have (i.e. last lineup check, won't draft players from certain teams)? Uly: I do like to check all my lineups like right before kick off, if I don't I feel like I messed something up. I always like to draft someone from Hard Knocks in one of my drafts. They may not stay on my team but I need to draft one. And there is usually one player that I make sure is a constant on my rosters in each of my leagues. Josh: My only thing is I have to check my lineup right before kick off. Then I won't look at fantasy scores until all of the ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. After Week 1 of the preseason which players are tending up and which are trending down your draft boards? Charles: I haven't been able to watch video of all of the games yet, but based on the few I have seen so far I'm going to say Reuben Foster is trending up on my draft board right now. The Niners were able to grab Foster late in the 1st round and I believe even more now that he was a steal. In the few snaps he had against the Chiefs, Foster was flying around making plays both in the run and pass game. He even had a good chance at an interception in the end zone on the first series of the game. ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. Assuming that the suspension stands at 6 games, what are the fantasy implications for Cowboys players as a result? What should Ezekiel Elliott and Darren McFadden's values be in auction and snake drafts now? Josh: If I was drafting today I think Zeke goes right after Isaiah Crowell so mid second round, and if I have Zeke then I'd be trying to grab McFadden in the 10th or so. In auction I really think it's fluid. There's definitely a strategy to getting Zeke. If you already have McCoy I'd be more willing to spend on Zeke and McFadden. If my money was spent on OBJ I am less likely to spend on ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What are the fantasy implications of yesterday's trades involving the Buffalo Bills, LA Rams, and Philadelphia Eagles? Charles: So to sum up, Buffalo not only traded away Ronald Darby to the Eagles in exchange for Jordan Matthews and a 2018 3rd round pick, but they then traded away Sammy Watkins and their 2018 6th round pick to the Rams for EJ Gaines and a 2018 2nd round pick. In essence they got rid of 2 young, talented players for high picks, an above average slot receiver, and a decent CB. I guess they've decided to rebuild in Buffalo. If you look at their WR corps now it consists of newly acquired Jor...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. With Week 1 of the Preseason officially underway, name one, two, or a few players that you are keeping an eye on and why. For example, someone who is in a position battle for a starting job, a star coming back from a major injury, or a rookie showing what they can do. Charles: There are a number of players league wide that I will be watching, but the 2 that I'll be watching the most are from my team: Eagles RBs Donnell Pumphrey & Wendell Smallwood. For all of Spring and Training Camp so far one of the storylines has been how much the team has used Pumphrey in the passing game, essentially in the ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. Who is your top IDP at each position (DL, LB, DB)? Charles: For DL and LB, it's pretty chalk for me. JJ Watt and Luke Kuechly are still the top DL and LB, respectively. Despite missing last season, I still can't put anyone above JJ Watt talent wise, so if he's healthy he's on top. And I don't see any reason for Kuechly to not still be a tackling and coverage machine. I trust his proven consistency a bit more than I'm worried about another concussion. As far as DB goes, I'd have to say Landon Collins, even though I don't expect the INTs to be there like last season. He's...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What is your preferred draft strategy in snake drafts and auction drafts? Charles: I pretty much covered my auction draft strategy in the question from August 6th , so I'm just going to go over my snake draft strategy. I'm pretty flexible and fluid when I do snake drafts. There's not as much strategy and planning required going into it compared to auction drafts so it's a lot less stressful. I try to find a good balance of picking the best player available and getting the best value pick as well. So for instance, in a year where there may be only 1 elite fantasy TE (I'd argue that that...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. What is your biggest pet peeve in fantasy football? Charles: I talked about this in a previous blog post titled " Some Fantasy Football League Ideas ", and if you know me well it's the one thing I'm most adamant about when it comes to fantasy football: Trade Vetoes by league vote. Can you imagine if in the NFL every trade that a team made was put up for a league vote by the rest of the team owners? Don't you think that so many of the Patriots' trades would get vetoed? Owners would say "I don't want the trade to go through because it would make the Patriots too good", or ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. Going into an auction draft how do you construct your budget and how flexible is it? Charles: I pick out any players that I want to specifically target, separate them by position, and set a max amount for them that I cannot go over (I use the Draft Dominator app and FantasyPros.com as a base for player values). I take into account that some players might go over my set budget so I make sure to have a good amount of players listed. So for example, my draft board might consist of 8 RBs and 7 WRs. Then I set another budget but this time for each position. The amounts I set have to equal up to the $200 max budget. In...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. Who do you think will be the top QB-WR duo in fantasy this season? Josh: I am going to go with Jameis Winston and Mike Evans. Evans led the league in targets last year and with added weapons around I think it makes both of them more dangerous. Even with less targets Evans may be the best redzone target in the game. A better offense as a whole means a more effective Evans. Charles: Winston and Evans would be my 1st choice as well, but since Josh already picked them I'll talk about another capable duo: AC/DC, aka Derek Carr and Amari Cooper. Both Carr and Amari have the potential to be an elite and I expect ...

Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below. In honor of Jordan Reed what injury prone players are you willing to take a risk on this year and who are you flat out avoiding? Uly: In honor of Jordan Reed, he would be the player I will flat out be avoiding at his cost. This year there are a bit more tight ends available that you can get much cheaper that will more than likely last you the whole season where as with Reed you most definitely will be picking up fill ins for multiple weeks. The injury prone player I'm willing to take a risk on is Danny Woodhead. At a position where depth is key, taking a shot at Woodhead is completely worth it. He immediate...