Josh Culp's Blog, page 46

FanDuel FFFC Week 2: Beginner’s Luck

Week 1 was a really interesting one for the NFL and it wasn’t any different for me. I have played some fantasy football with a league buy-in for season-long fantasy football, but even just a $10 investment for Week 1 had me excited to watch games more than season long has ever had me. Going into Monday night I had a shot to get into the big payouts but the Lion’s defense and Andre Ellington had to have very impressive outings for that. While pretty much all of my players put up good numbers, here are some notable players that helped my team place 716th out of 23,793 (not too bad for my first go at it) and take home $20:

WR: A.J. Green @ Baltimore Ravens — Cost: $8,300 — Points: 22.6

I thought that A.J. Green had put me in a rough spot after spending $8,300 of my cap space on him, until right at the end of the early games on Sunday. Green ended the game with a 77 yard TD catch to close out the Baltimore Ravens. Without that catch Green would have had 54 yards receiving and 0 TDs. I picked a stud playing a suspect defense and he burned them deep, which will work for me.

TE: Julius Thomas vs Indianapolis Colts — Cost: $7,400 — Points: 31.9

Thomas got started early and didn’t get involved much in the second half but didn’t need to. I feel like I need to pick a Bronco player each week, not just because they are my team, but because they broke offensive records last season and should be plenty effective this season. I certainly chose the correct one this time, Thomas caught 3 TDs in the first half and ended up with over 100 yards receiving to go with it.

I am glad that I stuck with the team I picked and wrote about, but the Andre Ellington pick didn’t help me once news hit about his injury. I almost changed it, but I was too attached to my lineup so I rolled the dice despite his questionable status. This is one difference between season long and weekly (DFS), questionable tags are way more ugly due to the salary cap scenario; hopefully that is my only experience with a late in the week questionable tag. The move to keep him on my team could have been boom or complete bust but he played and landed 8.5 points, which was a lot better than 0.

Week 2 Team:
QB: Andrew Luck vs Philadelphia Eagles – Cost: $9,200

Luck comes at a pretty hefty price, but has a pretty awesome match up at home. The Eagles allowed the most passing yards in the 2013 season and they just allowed Chad Henne and the Jaguars to have a pretty solid day. Henne finished the game with 266 passing yards and 2 TDs in Philadelphia, so if they are in an away game against a much better QB the numbers ought to add up to a very solid fantasy start.

RB: Arian Foster @ Oakland Raiders – Cost: $8,300

Foster plays against the Raiders in Oakland, after playing a pretty solid game against the Redskins. The Raiders are a gift that keeps on giving to running backs; the Raiders allowed a league most 212 yards to the Jets this past week. Arian Foster has still got it, until he gets hurt, so hopefully it is not this week while I have spent a solid amount of my salary cap on him to get me big points. Big plus to playing week to week fantasy football is that there is no draft position, so when it is your turn to pick, all the studs are available. I go into the draft hoping to get a specific player that I am a big fan of that year and my draft position takes them away from me. Week to week I can play any stud I want if I think the price is right.

RB: Alfred Morris vs Jacksonville Jaguars – Cost: $7,200

Morris had a solid game coming off a very productive 2013 season, he ran for 91 yards off of just 14 carries against the Texans due to trailing them for most of the game. The Jaguars allowed the Eagles to have a pretty solid week one against them and had a putrid 2013 season in regards to defending against the run. The Jaguars were 29th in the league in rushing yards allowed and 29th place for rushing TDs allowed with 20, just over one a game, I will take those odds.

WR: Golden Tate @ Carolina Panthers – Cost: $5,000

Golden Tate won’t get as much attention as Calvin “Megatron” Johnson but he had a solid game in Week 1. He caught 6 balls for 93 yards, and while the Carolina defense isn’t super forgiving, the insane passing game that the Lions had against the Giants came in a game where they dominated them. I believe that this game will be a lot more competitive and possibly a game where the Lions can be playing catch up. This bodes well for the opportunities for Golden Tate to slip by the defense while they are focused on Megatron.

WR: Kelvin Benjamin vs Detroit Lions – Cost: $6,600

Benjamin had a great first NFL outing against the Buccaneers and I think he will continue to contribute at a pretty high level as the main target for Cam Newton. Benjamin is a perfect red zone target with his size and jump ability; he should be able to add another TD to his total this week at least. Kelvin Benjamin should be a front-runner for rookie of the year; his ability and the lack of talented pass catchers surrounding him are big factors in that. I am taking advantage of the still low price tag before it starts to rise to his talent level.

WR: Demaryius Thomas vs Kansas City Chiefs – Cost: $8,700

I have to pick a Bronco every week, the only time I might have to break it is against the Seahawks, but I probably will go for it anyway. Going with the “fan pick” makes it fun, plus the Broncos offense being the #1 offense in the league makes it easy to justify. Demaryius Thomas was targeted 11 times and was shut down against the Colts; he couldn’t seem to find the running room. I watched the whole game and he is still just as fast, has great hands and the ability to destroy defenses so I imagine that Peyton will give him a confidence boost against the Chiefs and throw him a couple of touchdown passes.

TE: Zach Ertz @ Indianapolis Colts – Cost: $5,600

The Colts allowed Julius Thomas to go off for 3 TDs before the game even made it to halftime. I am a realist and Ertz doesn’t have the same abilities as Julius Thomas, however, he should be able to put up solid numbers against the Colts. The value of Ertz is going to be tied to TDs due to the number of talented mouths to feed in Philadelphia. While his targets may be low, they will most likely include red zone targets. Banking on TDs is always risky but at this low price I figured it was worth the risk to free up the cap room to slide in some more top level talent.

K: Robbie Gould @San Francisco 49ers – Cost: $4,600

Picking which kicker will have a good day is tricky, it seems to be almost completely random, but there is some rhyme and reason to it. The key that I use to finding that kicker to find offenses that are good enough to push down the field, but stingy enough defenses to stop them before they get in the end zone. That is the recipe I see here and that will set up Gould for at least 3 FG attempts and he is one of the more sure-fire candidates to hit almost all of them.

D: Green Bay Packers vs New York Jets – Cost: $4,700

While the Packers got destroyed by the Seahawks in Week 1, they had a long week to prepare for Geno Smith and the Jets’ offense. The reason that the price tag is so low and why this is a risky start is due to the fact that they couldn’t tackle anybody last week. With the extra time to prepare as well as Geno Smith still making some errant throws I figure it adds up to some solid fantasy points.

I left $100 on the board; I don’t think this has any effect on the outcome of my team this week. I think this is the best team that I can come up with so I am going for it.

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The DraftKings Huddle: Week 2 Plays

I don’t know about you but I’m happy Week 1 is in the books. A few of my QB and RB recommendations flopped but I’m very happy with how the value WR’s and high end TE’s performed. Enough about last week, let’s get back to work and dig into my plays for Week 2 featuring DraftKings pricing. If you have $27 to spare this week, I highly recommend jumping in DK’s Sunday Million as its paying out an insane $100,000 to 1st place.

QB’s:

Peyton Manning/Broncos/$8,800: C’Mon Man, is this for real?  Peyton is going to be hard to fade this week and will be in a ton of cash game line ups. This isn’t to say he’s a bad play in GPP’s but keep in mind Peyton at this price should see around 40% ownership in these things.  Peyton had a solid opening week and draws a favorable match up this week vs a Chief’s defense that gave up 700+ yards and 6 TD’s to him last year.

Andy Dalton/Bengals/$7,500: Dalton looked strong in his season opener going for 301 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT’s. This week the Bengals head home to host the Atlanta Falcons in a match up that should no doubt be a shoot out. Vegas has the opening line at 48.5 O/U and if had to choose, I’d be taking the over. The only thing that has me a bit concerned with Dalton is the Bengals growing commitment to the run. Week 1 saw a pretty balanced attack but looking at some home/away splits, its tough to ignore the ground and pound game plan at home.

Matt Cassel/Vikings/$5,200: The majority of QB’s this week are priced in the 7,000 range thus finding a value QB this week was somewhat difficult. I wanted to put Jake Locker here but I’m not thrilled with his price when compared with the rest of the field. Back to Cassel for a minute, this week he faces his former team (The Patriots) at home. The Patriots new and improved defense is better than what we saw last week but give Cassel and the Vikings credit. Last week Cassel faced a strong Rams defense and held his own putting up 170 yards and 2 TD’s. Peterson will be active in this game cutting into some of Cassel’s production but I feel this is a sneaky GPP play that is hard to ignore considering his price. Another interesting note here is Vegas has the O/U set at 49 good for 4th highest on the board this week.

RB’s:

Matt Forte/Bears/$8,000: As you can see, elite RB’s aren’t cheap this week. Forte faces the 49′ers this week who gave up 118 yards and a TD to DeMarco Murray last week. Murray added 3 receptions for 25 yards in the passing game as well. Forte should easily match these numbers and make for a safe play this week.

Arian Foster/Texans/$7,000: Foster is coming off a 100+ yard performance vs the Redskins. Up next for Foster and the Texas is an Oakland Raiders team that gave up 6.2 yards per carry last week to Chris Johnson of the Jets. Foster showed signs of his old self carrying the workload rushing 27 times. In a week where pricing is soft, saving $1,000 here at RB could be very beneficial in helping you upgrade your QB or WR to top tier elite talent.

Justin Forsett/Ravens/$5,000: The Ravens have been in the spotlight this week thanks to their former lead RB Ray Rice. Forsett came out of nowhere week 1 after the Ravens coaching staff benched Bernard Piece for fumbling on his 6th rushing attempt of the game. In total, Forsett racked up 70 yards and a TD on the ground to go along 5 receptions for 14 yards. Keep an eye and ear out to reports leading up to Thursday nights kick off as it’s possible The Ravens may utilize a running back by committee hurting some of Forsett’s upside.

WR’s

Demaryius Thomas/Broncso/$7,000: $7,000? That price deserves another C’Mon Man! Thomas didn’t have the best of days last week against the Colts but was targeted pretty heavily in the red zone. At the end of the day, Thomas totaled 4 catches for 48. Have no fear, the Broncos meet the Chiefs this week and you’ll have to go back to the 2012 NFL season in order to find a game where Thomas didn’t go for 100+ yards against KC.

Jordy Nelson/Packers/$6,600: Jordy was targeted early and often last week vs a tough Seattle secondary.  This week is a different story, Jordy and the Packers face the Jet’s who looked vulnerable against the Raiders allowing rookie David Carr to put up 151 yard and 2 TD’s on 20 completions. Expect Rodgers to have a great game and Jordy should be his favorite receiver as usual.

Justin Hunter/Titans/$4,300: Hunter will provide some salary relief this week and he also begins my weekly bullying of the horrendous Dallas defense.  Hunter didn’t see the field as much as I’d hope last week but it was his targets that caught my eye.  Playing time should increase this week and it was clear Locker noticed Hunter targeting him more than teammates Nate Washington and Kendall Wright.

Mohamed Sanu/Bengals/$3,400: Sunu was on my radar last week but I will admit that I ultimately faded him. Things change this week as his price is just too good to ignore considering how active he was with Marvin Jones sidelined due injury. Sanu found playing time in multiple positions in the offense including lining up in the backfield and the slot. Sunu is perfect for your gpp’s this week as he allows you to spend up at other positions.

TE’s

Rob Gronkowski/Patriots/$6,000: Brady’s favorite and most reliable pass catcher made his long awaited return to field last week hauling in 4 catches for 40 yards and a TD. Gronk was limited seeing only 38 of 88 snaps but he made the most of them getting targeted a team high 11 times. Gronk continues to be limited in practice but as long as plays on Sunday, he should be a great play week in an week out.

Also consider:

Greg Olsen/Panthers/$5,900

Dwayne Allen/Colts/$4,100

Kyle Rudolph/Vikings/$3,900

Defense:

Buccaneers/$3,200: The Bucs host a Rams squad that surrendered 5 sacks last week to the Vikings. Combine this with the fact that St. Louis doesn’t have a QB, the Bucs should have a good opportunity this Sunday. For those of you keeping track at home, the Rams will have to choose between Shaun Hill (who looked terrible last week before getting pulled) and Austin Davis. Vegas has the O/U in this set at 37.5.

Also consider:

Texans/$3,500

Redskins/$2,900

TOUR Championship Fantasy Preview

Don’t let the NFL distract you as we sprint to the finish line of the 2013-14 PGA TOUR season. After three legs of the Playoffs under wraps, we have 29 of the best golfers in the world teeing it up at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

East Lake GC is a Donald Ross designed course; a par 70 that measures 7,307 yards with average sized bermuda greens that run pretty quick, and some narrow fairways. The last five winners are Henrik Stenson, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas, Jim Furyk, and Phil Mickelson. Studs. Tee-to-Green.

Correlated Stats

At this point in the game, it’s hard to make a case against most in the field statistically. Especially when you look at the top 15 in the FEC standings. They are all studs. Instead, we can use some basic stats to eliminate the bottom-dwellers. Looking at the past winners, we don’t see many great putters. Instead, let’s look at adjusted scoring, par 4 scoring average, and strokes gained: tee-to-green. Pretty standard stuff.

Correlated Tournaments

BMW Championship – Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy

Wyndham Championship – Camilo Villegas, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia

British Open – Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els

U.S. Open – Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson

Travelers – Kevin Streelman, Ken Duke, Marc Leishman

Wyndham is another Donald Ross course, good. The BMW, British, and US Open are all big events, so we get the pressure aspects of golfers that consistently perform on the big stage. The Travelers is another par 70 track that is a similar difficulty as East Lake. It has been a good indicator of correlated success in the past. The best Travelers’ horses in the field are Bubba, Sergio, Day, Rose, and Webb. Webb and Sergio are also horses at the Wyndham. In fact, Sergio is right up there on all five correlated tracks.

Players to Watch

Rory McIlroy: The man to beat, plain and simple. He did what he needed to pre-Playoffs and now has coasted to the finale. I think he pushes on the pedal and takes home his first FedExCup.

Jim Furyk: After knocking on the door all season long, it would only make sense for Furyk to finally win again. With top 10s in 10-of-18 FEC events, he’s on the safe side.

Sergio Garcia: He’s no longer a young pup, but he’s nearly accomplished his best season on the PGA TOUR. With five podium finishes, he’s nearing in on $5 million in earnings. Like Furyk, he’s played too good and too consistent to leave 2014 without a win. Plus, we already mentioned how good he’s been at all five correlated courses. Let’s get on board.

Jordan Spieth: Speaking on consistency, that’s exactly what Mr Spieth provides. Barely old enough to drink a John Daly, Spieth has already yielded seven FedExCup tournaments inside the top 29. With only 29 golfers teeing it up this week, that is safe to become 8-for-8. A win would surprise nobody.

Adam Scott: He’s the par 70 master, he’s got six top 10s in his last 10 par 70 events.

Matt Kuchar: I’ve got a strong feeling about Kuch this week. Sometimes I believe in this karma stuff too much, but I feel like him and his caddie deserve a big win this week. I can actually already picture Kuchar bawling on the final green as him and Lance Bennett hug for a strong one-two minutes.

Bubba Watson: Got back on track last week, but that was only his second top 15 in his last 10 events played on par 70s. I’m not banking on a repeat of last week, as he’ll be wishing there were more par 5 scoring opportunities.

Rickie Fowler: Letting the beat build toward his next PGA TOUR victory, but the beat just keep building. The good this week? He’s third in par 70 performance in the field. The bad? He’s 24th in this week’s field in 2014 bermuda performance. It’s a small obstacle, just something to consider before you go all in.

My Top 29 for the 2014 TOUR Championship

1. Rory McIlroy

2. Sergio Garcia

3. Jim Furyk

4. Adam Scott

5. Justin Rose

6. Matt Kuchar

7. Bill Haas

8. Bubba Watson

9. Rickie Fowler

10. Jordan Spieth

11. Zach Johnson

12. Jimmy Walker

13. Hunter Mahan

14. Webb Simpson

15. Gary Woodland

16. Jason Day

17. Hideki Matsuyama

18. Chris Kirk

19. Ryan Palmer

20. Martin Kaymer

21. John Senden

22. Billy Horschel

23. Patrick Reed

24. Brendon Todd

25. Kevin Na

26. Russell Henley

27. Cameron Tringale

28. Geoff Ogilvy

29. Morgan Hoffmann

FEATURED CONTEST: DraftKings $27 TOUR Contest to win $3.5K

Fantasy Golf Contests

GolfLogix Fantasy Golf: Powered by the GolfRadar platform, this is an awesome free contest to enter. You have 100 coins to pick up to 10 golfers. You get more bonus points if your lower priced golfers do well. Prizes vary week by week.

GolfWeek Fantasy Golf: Also powered by the GolfRadar Platform. Same rules as the GolfLogix contest above. Enter this contest as well for another chance to win.

Fantasy Feud: The PGA Feud of Champions is live, and has $15,000 up for grabs. You must earn your seat into this tournament throughout the year. There are 40 seats up for grabs. Then there will be a four week tournament to decide who goes home with the $2,000 first place prize. Check it out.

DraftStreet: Sad news, DraftStreet has been purchased by DraftKings. Try out DraftKings if you were a big fan of DraftStreet.

DraftDay Fantasy Golf: DraftDay is another Daily Fantasy Sports site, and one of the few that actually offer PGA contests. It is salary-cap format. Buy-in ranges from $1 to $219.

TOUR Championship – DraftKings Edition

Welcome to Atlanta, where the players play and they golf on East Lake like ev’r'day. Okay, not everyday, but this Thursday through Sunday, for sure. I’ll have a full preview of East Lake and the tournament tomorrow, per usual, but for now let’s take a look at DraftKings to see what lineups we can scrape up.

It’s important to remember this week with just 29 (potentially less if Day or anyone else WDs) and no cut, the salary savers at the bottom of the barrel are legitimate options. Don’t be afraid to stack and tilt your way to a stars & scrubs lineup if you think the guys at the top are good bets for top 10s.

Follow the Form

Rory McIlroy ($10,600) 8th-5th-22nd-1st-1st

Ryan Palmer ($7,600) 4th-16th-74th-5th

Bill Hass ($8,300) 16th-9th-15th-2nd-27th-41st

Hunter Mahan ($8,300) 59th-64th-1st-7th-15th

Jimmy Walker ($8,300) 20th-9th-89th-7th-26th

At this stage of the Playoffs, it’s going to be hard to find anyone who isn’t in good form. However, this team above gives you the #1 golfer, Rory combined with four others who are swinging a very hot club. You have $7,100 at that point to snag your sixth golfer.

Donald Ross

Sergio Garcia ($4,900) Top 10s in five of nine Donald Ross, including win.

Justin Rose ($8,900) Top 25s in nine of last 10 Donald Ross courses, including win.

Webb Simpson ($8,100) Top 10s in six of 13 Donald Ross, including win.

Zach Johnson ($8,200) Tops 10s in four of last nine Donald Ross.

Jordan Spieth ($9,000) Top 25s in three of four Donald Ross, including two runner-ups.

Remember this squad at the Wyndham Championship? It was the lineup that contained Villegas during his victory as well as David Toms. It was a big winner, so let’s see if it repeats this week. The downfall is the salary it leaves you, just $6,200 to pick either Kevin Na or Russell Henley.

Tournament Horse-tory

Webb Simpson ($7,900) 4th-5th-22nd

Jim Furyk ($9,300) 14th-7th-1st-7th-6th

Geoff Ogilvy ($6,700) 11th-13th-16th

Zach Johnson ($8,200) 7th-15th-9th-16th

Justin Rose ($8,900) 6th-2nd-20th-15th

Ogilvy playing the wildcard option here, the rest of the team fills in nicely. There are a lot of close routes you could take when filling out this team as Sergio, Haas, Mahan, and Adam Scott are all good options with above average course history.

Handpicked Value Plays

Cameron Tringale ($6,4300): After Stadler let us down with the local knowledge play last week, it’s time to hop back on the train with Tringale. Tringy went to college just 6 miles away at Ga Tech, and he’s ready to sting his way to victory #1 on the PGA TOUR. Okay, it likely won’t come this week, but he could certainly contend.

Russell Henley ($6,100): Let’s stick with the local knowledge angle. As a Georgia native and alum, Henley will feel right at home here on the bermuda greens. Just two weeks removed from a runner-up finish, let’s see what Henley can do on a comfortable track.

Patrick Reed ($6,400): What? Future of Fantasy is endorsing Patrick Reed? Crazy right? Not at this price. With no cut and not much pressure on the line entering the week outside the top 15, I could see Reed flipping the script and having one of his “good weeks”. At this price point, you’re getting maximum upside for your dollars and cents.

Good luck this week and happy fantasy golfing!

FEATURED CONTEST: DraftKings $27 TOUR Contest to win $3,500

DraftKings Week 1: WR’s, TE’s and Defenses that should be on your radar

It’s here! The 2014 NFL season kicks off Thursday evening with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Seattle Seahawks. If you missed my article last week where I covered Week 1 QBs and RBs that should be on your radar.

Today, I’ll be wrapping up my opening week picks on DraftKings with Wide Receiver’s, Tight End’s and Defenses. Good luck out there this week and if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as possible.

Wide Recievers:

Victor Cruz, Giants ($6,300): Bust out the Salsa dance, Cruz should see a flurry of targets this week as he faces a defense that gave up the 3rd most fantasy points to the WR position last year. There is always concerns with Eli Manning and lets be honest in that Cruz had an unimpressive 2013 season but expect Cruz to be active this week. Consider Cruz on both cash and GPP line ups.

Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals ($6,700): DraftKings came out of the gate this year with pretty tough pricing. This could be a result of the recent acquisition of DraftStreet who had extremely sharp pricing. Regardless of the pricing, we need to dig for the best value at each position. In terms of WR’s, I like Fitzgerald at $6,700. Fitz should see plenty of targets and can easily find the red zone vs a bad San Diego Chargers defense that gave up the 6th most points to WR’s last year.

Eric Decker, Jets ($5,200): I do not recommend this pick in cash games but I think in a GPP, Decker should be on your radar especially for this price. Decker got paid this off season and will be the Jets number one receiver on the depth chart. I’m not thrilled with the QB situation in New York but thankfully this is Daily Fantasy Football and we focus on match-ups on a week to week basis. The Jets open up their 2014 season again the Oakland Raiders who gave up the 4th most fantasy point to WR’s last year.

Emanuel Sanders, Broncos ($4,800): Sanders is priced a bit higher than I’d like but I’m confident he’ll still reach value as Peyton Manning and Broncos kick off their 2014 campaign vs the Colts. The Colts gave up the 14th most fantasy point last season and Sanders should get plenty of targets given the four game suspension of Wes Welker. Don’t forget the chemistry Sanders and Manning showed in their 3rd preseason game, the two hooked up for 5/128/2.

Markus Wheaton, Steelers ($3.300): I’m not a fan of these ‘experts’ comparing his routes to that of Mike Wallace but Wheaton will be the starting X receiver for the Steelers week 1. The Steelers lost both Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery this past off season paving the way for Wheaton to find more reps on the field in his Sophomore season. Much like Eric Decker, proceed on Wheaton with caution. I personally think he will easily reach value but he might be best as a salary saver on a GPP only roster.

Tight Ends:

Jimmy Graham, Saints ($7,800): This price is scary high but in a week where salary’s are all over the place, I think Graham needs to be in your roster IF you can fit him in. The Saints square off against the Atlanta Falcons who last year gave up a healthy 9/145/2 to Graham in their two meetings. I want to also note that this game has the 3rd highest over/under on the board this coming weekend.

Julius Thomas, Broncos ($5,800): Immediately after hearing Wes Welker will be suspended for the first four games of the season, I bought a front row ticket to the Julius Thomas show. Thomas will see a plenty of targets and will be a huge part of Denver’s offense this Sunday. It’s worth noting that Thomas was a red zone machine last year hauling in 12 TD’s over the course of the season.

Antonio Gates, Chargers ($3,400): Antonio Gates and the Chargers travel to Arizona who gave up by far the most points to Tight End’s last season. There’s no question Gates is getting old but if this preseason was a preview of things to come, Gates should have himself a very productive season. The one concern here is the presence of Ladarius Green ($3,200). Green who I also think is in play this week should see his fair share of targets this week but if I had to choose just one, Gates would be the guy I’m rolling with.

Defense:

Carolina Panthers ($3,300): Carolina is a great play for a couple of reasons. First, this is the lowest over/under total on the board this week according to Las Vegas. Second, the Panthers defense destroyed Tampa Bay last season finding their way to the QB eleven times in their two meetings.

Philadelphia Eagles ($3,200): The Eagles defense will be heavily owned this week as they open up vs a terrible Jacksonville Jaguars squad who gave up the 6th most fantasy points in 2013. Combine this with the fact that Jacksonville will be playing from behind, the Eagles defense should have plenty of turnover opportunities this Sunday.

BMW Championship Fantasy Preview

Chris Kirk, captain of USS Enterprise, took home the hardware last week at TPC Boston. While Kirk has been steady all year, the win last week still came out of left field. Don’t get caught with your mind wondering this week, order should be restored as someone elite takes down Cherry Hills this week.

As I mentioned, Cherry Hills Country Club is the venue. Just a 15 minute drive down the road for me, I was hoping to go check it out, but bachelor party takes precedence in this case. You only get married once. At least, that’s the idea.

This course is playing as a par 70 that stretches to 7,350 yards. The greens are bentgrass and tiny, averaging just 4,700 square feet. Not unlike Ridgewood CC a few weeks ago where they averaged 4,800. Playing in altitude can be a tricky thing to handicap. Some say it’s 10% distance increase for every mile you go up. If we’re conservative and say 5%, then we can adjust the total course yardage to 6,982 yards. Even with altitude, I don’t think the 276 yard, par-3 eighth is going to be an easy one.

Correlated Stats

Adjusted Scoring: This is always a good one, and this week is no exception. Same goes for par 4 scoring. As the case is with all par 70s, there are plenty of par 4s.

Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green: This course looks to be set-up for ball-strikers. It’s not overly long, especially when you factor in the altitude, but it does offer a variety of distances. There will be plenty of holes for these pros to attack, while some holes are setup to have par be a good score. With the greens running at just 11.5 on the stimp, I’m going to factor tee-to-green play way more than putting. This is thee stat to look at this week, IMO.

Correlated Tournaments

As a new venue, I don’t want to pretend that we can confidently predict some correlated tournaments. However, the similarities to last week’s TPC Boston as well as Ridgewood CC from two weeks ago are pretty strong. A couple other venues that caught my eye with similarities were TPC Southwind (FedEx St. Jude) and Colonial CC (Crowne Plaza). TPC Southwind is a par 70, 7,239 yards with smaller-than-average greens and runs 12 on the stimp. The Crowne Plaza plays at 7,204 yards as a par 70, on bentgrass greens, smaller than average greens, and 11.5 on the stimp. Almost a 1-for-1 match with this week’s Cherry Hills. Take a strong look at those two venues if you need a tiebreaker this week.

Players to Watch

Phil Mickelson: Lefty won the International, just 30 minutes South of this week’s event, on two separate occasions. Sure, that was way back in 93′ and 97′ but it’s still a good sign that he’s not bothered by the altitude. That’s not all, prior to that, he had won the 1990 U.S. Amateur Event at this very venue.

Ernie Els: The Big Easy also did work at The Internaional. He won in 2000 and finished top 5 on numerous occasions. He’s flashed some form as of late, and I won’t be afraid to hop on the train this week if the price is right.

Zach Johnson: ZJ is the horse for the course at Colonial, which we pointed out the similarities above. He’s been on a mediocre run of play, but this course might catch his eye and give him a spark.

Harris English: Using the correlated tournaments, we see that FedEx St. Jude sets up similarily. That happens to be the site of Harris English’s first PGA TOUR win. Missing four of the last five cuts is not what you like to see, but the price is certainly right this week.

Adam Scott: Rory gets pushed aside for one week, as I prefer Scott to Rory when it comes to par 70 tracks. You can’t ignore Rory on any course right now, but I’ll take the Aussie this week if I’m forced to make a choice.

Rickie Fowler: Look at that, Fowler has his worst week in months and now he climbs into my top 10! Maybe I’m just a contrarian at heart. Okay, I know I’m a contrarian at heart. Fowler has been sitting in the 10-20 range in my power rankings during his run of strong play. Now that he’s had a mediocre week, I’m willing to take a shot on some teams.

Justin Rose: Took a week off, should be fully rested and ready to rock this week. Entering the week at 4th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, I like Rosey to at least find a top 10 this week.

Henrik Stenson: The emphasis on keeping it in the fairway has been prevalent in all reports for the course that I’ve read. Some of those may be referencing past tournaments, but some of them are from players at the venue this week. If it’s truly the case, and accuracy off the tee is important, then Stenson jumps right to the top of the page. The Swede can get locked in ang really barrage a course. I expect at least one really low round of Stenson this week. If he can keep his other rounds serviceable, he should be right there in the end.

Jim Furyk: Mr. FedEx, can’t ignore his success at every stop of the Playoffs. If putting is of secondary importance, like I suspect, it should be a good week for Furyk.

Brendon Todd: His game has been off recently, but this course could fit his eye. With accuracy needed, and an emphasis on scrambling due to the tiny green surfaces, Todd could regain his mid-season form. Worth a look in deeper formats.

Matt Every: Every in the Mile High City, where the mary jane is legal? I hope Every is prepared for the “random” drug test immediately following his rounds this week.

My Top 25 for the 2014 BMW Championship

1. Adam Scott

2. Rory Mcilroy

3. Phil Mickelson

4. Jim Furyk

5. Justin Rose

6. Matt Kuchar

7. Jason Day

8. Sergio Garcia

9. Rickie Fowler

10. Henrik Stenson

11. Bill Haas

12. Jimmy Walker

13. Jordan Spieth

14. Keegan Bradley

15. Zach Johnson

16. Charl Schwartzel

17. Webb Simpson

18. Graeme Mcdowell

19. Hunter Mahan

20. Bubba Watson

21. Gary Woodland

22. Chris Kirk

23. Martin Kaymer

24. Ernie Els

25. Graham DeLaet

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Fantasy Golf Contests

GolfLogix Fantasy Golf: Powered by the GolfRadar platform, this is an awesome free contest to enter. You have 100 coins to pick up to 10 golfers. You get more bonus points if your lower priced golfers do well. Prizes vary week by week.

GolfWeek Fantasy Golf: Also powered by the GolfRadar Platform. Same rules as the GolfLogix contest above. Enter this contest as well for another chance to win.

Fantasy Feud: The PGA Feud of Champions is live, and has $15,000 up for grabs. You must earn your seat into this tournament throughout the year. There are 40 seats up for grabs. Then there will be a four week tournament to decide who goes home with the $2,000 first place prize. Check it out.

DraftStreet: Sad news, DraftStreet has been purchased by DraftKings. Try out DraftKings if you were a big fan of DraftStreet.

DraftDay Fantasy Golf: DraftDay is another Daily Fantasy Sports site, and one of the few that actually offer PGA contests. It is salary-cap format. Buy-in ranges from $1 to $219.

The First Duel is the Deepest: Making the move from Season Long to FanDuel

The FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship Qualifier is a weekly contest to pick the best players for the amount of starting spots you have. It is a $10 entry fee with a chance to win 2 million dollars in the long run.

For more details on the contest and any other questions you may have check out FanDuel’s Website. I will be entering this contest each week and writing about my first experience in DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) which focuses on week-to-week football as opposed to season long. I have been playing season long traditional fantasy football for about 14 years now and I am looking forward to starting my first year trying out DFS. The salary cap is $60,000 dollars and I am making the best lineup I can for week one.

QB: Drew Brees @ Atlanta Falcons Cost: $9,700

The cost is steep but Brees is worth it this week to me. First off, Brees is one of the most consistent QBs playing the game today and if anyone needs week one for an adjustment period it certainly isn’t Brees. Dating back to 2011, Brees has thrown 300+ yards passing and 2 or more passing TDs in each of his opening games. This includes last season where he scorched the Atlanta Falcons defense for 357 yards and 2 TDs. The Falcons defense was terrible against the pass last year allowing opposing QBs to throw for 31 TDs and just 10 INTs. Brees should cruise to some stellar numbers in this matchup.

RB: Andre Ellington vs. San Diego Chargers Cost: $6,800

Ellington steps into the starting role this season without much competition for touches and is added to my team at a reasonably low price. He had 5.5 yards per carry in 2013 on limited touches. There were 2 games where Ellington got 15 touches or more in 2013, against the stout Seahawks he ran for 64 yards off of 15 attempts, and against the Falcons porous run defense he ran for 154 yards off of 15 attempts and added a touchdown. Not too shabby numbers and the Chargers defense was mediocre against the run in 2013 so somewhere in the middle of those two glimpses of production wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Durability could be an issue for the season given his size (5’9” 199lbs), however, in the week to week fantasy football format there isn’t too much risk there.

RB: Chris Johnson vs. Oakland Raiders Cost: $6,500

Johnson is at a discount for his talent level and that is the basis of him making my lineup this week. The Raiders were middle of the pack against the run last season, and Chris Johnson had a relatively off season in 2013. Chris Johnson still is on the right side of 30 at 28 years old, and still showed some flashes with Tennessee in 2013. With Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell shouldering the load for the Jets in 2013 they were 6th in the league with 2,158 yards rushing. Johnson ought to fare well with this offense and I am willing to take a swing at him at this price.

WR: A.J. Green @ Baltimore Ravens Cost: $8,300

I am new to this but it seems similar to drafting in an auction league, which I have some experience with. Essentially you will be rewarded for finding the gems at low prices, but you will need to select a few stud players. No matter who Green is playing he is liable to go off for 100+ yards and 1 or 2 scores. Against the Ravens in 2013 Green caught 12 balls for 212 yards receiving and 2 TDs in 2 games. There aren’t too many other options out there at WR who are this close to a sure thing.

WR: Jeremy Maclin vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Cost: $5,000

Maclin missed the entire 2013 season with a torn ACL during training camp. The good news there is that it was during training camp so he has had a lot of time to recover. The coaching staff has to believe that Maclin is pretty close to 100% as they have him starting opposite Riley Cooper to start off the season. In his last full season he posted 857 yards receiving and 7 TDs sharing targets with DeSean Jackson lining up opposite him. This season he starts opposite Cooper and they have very differing play styles that ought to complement each other. The Jaguars were 25th in passing yards allowed and tied for 21st for passing TDs allowed so this is a good game for Maclin to get himself acclimated.

WR: DeSean Jackson @ Houston Texans Cost: $6,700

Jackson starts off the 2013 season with a new team and new QB which is why the very productive wide out is at a reasonably discounted price. Jackson had 1,332 yards receiving and 9 TDs last season with the Eagles and comes to Washington to start opposite Pierre Garcon. DeSean Jackson ought to be able to get less attention than he did with the Eagles starting across from a talent like Garcon as opposed to Riley Cooper. This pick seems a bit risky to me, but a big part of playing any style of fantasy football is taking risks.

TE: Julius Thomas vs Indianapolis Colts Cost: $7,400

Julius Thomas is the 3rd most expensive TE and I believe he is well worth the money this week. Wes Welker is no longer a question mark to play in week 1, he is officially out. This has nothing to do with his concussion; it came out of nowhere that Wes Welker will be suspended for 4 games for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. This opens up the targets in the middle of the field for Julius Thomas. This also ought to aid Thomas’s chances to get some more redzone targets.

K: Blair Walsh @ St. Louis Rams Cost: $5,000

I never put too much stock into fantasy kickers, but every point counts so I will do the necessary research to get the job done. Walsh is used to kicking in a dome and is now going to deal with a grass field at home during the 2014 season at the University of Minnesota’s stadium while their new stadium is being built. Since they are playing in St. Louis, Walsh will feel right at home on turf in a dome and the Vikings ought to have some drives fizzle out against an underrated Rams defense.

D: Detroit Lions vs. New York Giants Cost: $4,600

The Lions come in as the 2nd cheapest defense on FanDuel. They were not the greatest defense last season, but they were not that bad either. Picking the Lions is mostly due to the fact that they get to play Eli Manning, who threw 29 interceptions last season. Also Eli has not looked very comfortable with his first new offense since he started his career.

This is my first FFFC lineup and I believe it looks pretty solid. There are a few things I really like about this DFS style fantasy football. The first thing I thought about is how in DFS I will not have my #1 pick go down and ruin my season. In season long fantasy football you essentially drop a large amount of your “cash pool” into your 1st to 3rd round picks and rely on them be worth that much all season. In DFS the cost of each player is updated weekly. Another thing I really love is that you need to know more about the deeper talent and sleeper picks in DFS. Any given week there can be a player in a situation to go off and there is no player you can’t play on a week to week basis. I loved utilizing the waiver wire and matchup starts in season long fantasy football but there are a certain amount of “must starts” on your team and this style takes away those limitations. It can get kind of old to set your lineup in season long fantasy football when you have talented starters not worth unseating for your bench players. So far it is proving to be a fun new experience for me, can’t wait for this season to kick off.

Battle me at FanDuel Now!

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5 Reasons you need to try Victiv Daily Fantasy Sports

Take a look to your right and what do you see? It’s an animated gif explaning the benefits of Victiv Fantasy Sports in a few easy steps. You get 100% of your initial deposit. It’s free to try, but you get the most bang for your buck if you put your money where your mouth is. Try it out now. I don’t usually endorse new sites like this. These guys are going to be big, though.

1. 100% Deposit Bonus

This is where you get your return on investment. Imagine putting $100 into the stock market and immediately getting $100 back. This is basically what you get with this bonus. Take advantage now!

2. $4,000 in Freerolls during Week 1 NFL

Free to enter, thousands of dollars to win. Easy decision.

3. $2,500 extra dollars added to their Week 1 NFL contests

It wasn’t enough to give away free money to people trying out the site for free. Victiv decided to throw some extra cash into the paid money contests. Yup, they love you too. Victiv is throwing in nearly $3,000 of their own money into the week 1 NFL prize pools. Go enter some cash contests.

4. Free Money

Did I forget to mention $4,000 in free money given away during week 1? No. Just don’t forget to enter. These guys, Victiv, are making a big splash.

5. Supporting the little guy

The world is run by major corporations, but they all started somewhere. There are so many small businesses that need your support. FanDuel and DraftKings have the backing of investors, but why not support the little guy?

ENTER NOW!

BMW Championship – DraftKings Edition

After a Monday finish, it was no surprise to see salaries delayed on DraftKings until midday, today. Unfortunately that meant a delayed DraftKings Edition from yours truly. Well, here I am now, ready to rock your socks off, DraftKings style.

Last week brought us plenty of surprise. I don’t think anyone could have foreseen Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Geoff Ogilvy, and Billy Horschel inside the top 5 while guys like Brandt Snedeker, Brendon Todd, and Patrick Reed didn’t earn four tee times.

With a new venue on tap this week, we could be in for some more surprises. You can’t bank on that, though. More often than not, things turn out the way we want them to. Let’s see what is crackin’ at DraftKings.

Follow the Form

William McGirt ($5,600) 69th-5th-8th

Rickie Fowler ($9,200) 23rd-9th-3rd-8th

Bill Hass ($8,300) 9th-15th-2nd-27th-41st

Hunter Mahan ($8,300) 64th-1st-7th-15th

Jim Furyk ($8,800) 23rd-8th-5th-15th

This looks an awful lot like last week’s form team. Makes sense, with most golfers not taking weeks off during the Playoffs. McGirt came back to Earth last week as expected, but he’s still super cheap and a couple week removed from back-to-back top 10s. Fowler’s price has regressed slightly, and might be worth a strong look this week.

Altitude

Ernie Els ($4,900) Top 10s in two of last three in altitude.

Justin Rose ($9,800)Top 25s in last three at altitude.

Webb Simpson ($7,900) Top 10s in three of last five in altitude.

Bill Haas ($8,300) Top 125s in four of last eight in altitude.

Geoff Ogilvy ($7,200) Top 105s in three of last six in altitude, including win.

This squad looks at the last 23 stroke-play events played at altitude. You can add in the Accenture Match-Play if you’d like. The Greenbrier is included in here, although it’s average altitude is quite a bit lower than this weeks. Still could be worthy since it requires different yardages at times. Another problem is the Barracuda Championship is an alternate week tournament, so most of those results are irrelevant to the field that is playing this week. Just some players to consider.

Tournament Horse-tory

Camilo Villegas ($5,700)

Jim Furyk ($8,800)

Kevin Na ($6,700)

Ryan Moore ($6,800) 13th-51st-3rd-2nd-19th-50th

Justin Rose ($9,800) 27th-13th-6th-37th-8th-7th

As if course history matters. These guys all finished well at this stage of the Playoffs, although, at a completely different venue. The fact that 12,200 is leftover, the exact salary of Rory, makes this an intriguing team.

Handpicked Value Plays

Ernie Els ($6,300): Big Easy absolutely owned The International, a tournament played just 20 miles south of this week’s venue. He won in 2000 and finished with top 5s on multiple other occasions. Of course, that was the old Ernie who dominated most weeks. Still, it’s a positive sign that he is unaffected by altitude golf and likes the Denver area.

Kevin Stadler ($6,400): The Colorado native has home-course advantage. He grew up playing altitude golf. He’s been back a few times over the past couple months to practice at Cherry Hills. Got to take the small advantages when you can get them.

Graham DeLaet ($6,600): This has got to be the lowest price you’ll ever find on the Canuck. In a game all about value, this week is a good time to strike. His game hasn’t been A+ as of late but nobody would really be surprised if he finally snagged his maiden win. On a course where ball-striking will take precedence over putting, give me GDL.

Good luck this week and happy fantasy golfing!

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The Toughest Division: NFC West

The 7-9 Rams owned the worst record in the division last year, and you can’t really blame them for going 1-5 in this division. The poor Cardinals went 10-6 and didn’t get into the playoffs; they were 8-2 against teams outside of their division. The Seahawks and the 49ers are two of the best teams in the NFL and will continue to be this season.

Seattle Seahawks – 2014 Projection: 11-5
2013 Record: 13-3

The drop in the Seahawks record is more of a reflection of their schedule than anything else, a lot of tough games for them, they get the AFC West instead of the AFC South this season and they play all the first place teams in the NFC. The Seahawks defense was the best at just about everything; they only allowed 14.4 points per game, they had an astounding 28 interceptions, 172 passing yards allowed per game, and allowed opposing QBs a 63.4 QB rating, more than 10 points lower than the 2nd place team. Between Red Bryant and Chris Clemons, the Seahawks are losing 26 starts and a pair of veterans.

The loss of corners Walter Thurmond and Brandon Browner will hurt their secondary depth a bit. Even with these losses the defense should be pretty stout, they retain the best defensive weapons. Richard Sherman with his 8 interceptions, Kam Chancellor with his 99 tackles, and 3 interceptions, Earl Thomas with 105 tackles and 5 interceptions, and Michael Bennett with 8.5 sacks are all coming back. They should be more than comfortable shutting down opposing offenses again this year.

On offense they lost their leading receiver, Golden Tate to free agency. Tate caught 64 balls for 898 yard receiving and 5 TDs. A healthy Percy Harvin will go a long way to replacing those numbers. However, a healthy Percy Harvin is hard to find, he missed half of the 2012 season and all but a few downs in one game in 2013. Jermaine Kearse is coming off 346 yards receiving and 4 TDs in his 2nd season, the Seahawks will need to see an increase in his production with Tate around. Marshawn Lynch will undoubtedly continue to go “beast mode”, he has run for 4,051 yards, and 35 TDs in the last 3 seasons with the Seahawks.

X-Factor – Russell Wilson has some big expectations this year. After a crazy good rookie season with 3,118 yards passing, 26 TDs, 10 INTs, Wilson backed it up with a very nice sophomore season with 3,357 yards passing, 26TDs, 9 INTs. After losing his top wide out he is still expected to lead this team to another super bowl, and he has the potential but can he do it?

San Francisco 49ers – 2014 Projection: 11-5
2013 Record: 12-4

The 49ers came in 24th in total offensive yardage, and 11th in total points, and 30th in passing yards. They should be a much more productive offense this year with some signing they made. They retain Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis, 2,029 yards receiving and 20 TDs between those two. Only one other TD was received and it was by Michael Crabtree who missed most of the 2013 season with an injury. Crabtree’s last fully healthy season produced 1,105 yards receiving and 9 TDs and he is ready to roll this season. Steve Johnson joins the 49ers with some productive seasons at WR with the Bills which is a tough thing to do seeing that they haven’t had the greatest QB consistency there. Last but not least of the targets they added for Colin Kaepernick is Brandon Lloyd who sat out the 2013 season after many productive seasons. The 49ers aren’t depending on him being that he is their 4th WR but he should still have plenty of football left in him at the age of 33.

This has to be the best depth and starting group at WR in the league when you are talking about Brandon Lloyd coming in to be the fourth WR. In the 2012 season with the Patriots he had 74 receptions for 911 yards and 4 TDs. Frank Gore has been very consistently producing for the 49ers and should continue although he is on the wrong side of 30 by now. Gore’s age is why the 49ers drafted Carlos Hyde in the 2nd round, he can be utilized as a goal-line back immediately, his size (6’0”, 230 lbs) and ability to utilize it will come in handy. Hyde seems to have what it takes to become the #1 by the time Gore needs to hang up the cleats.

NaVarro Bowman’s injury will certainly be felt, his 120 tackles, 5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 2 INTs certainly had a very big impact on their 2013 success. The play where he tore his ACL/MCL was gruesome and I can still see it like it was yesterday (don’t google it unless you have a strong stomach), Bowman is still recovering from it and won’t return until at least week 7 as he was put physically unable to perform list. Patrick Willis will continue to hold it down up the middle as he has for many years now. Aldon Smith looks to continue his insane pressure on the quarterback. Smith, after having 14 sacks in his rookie season, then 19.5 sacks in his sophomore season followed it with 8.5 sacks in 2013 due to missing some time with injury. Smith is suspended for the first 9 games for off the field issues and failure to adhere to the substance abuse policy. Yet another example of off the field issues having big impacts on a team’s success.

X-Factor Colin Kaepernick will have some huge expectations with the team they built around him. He needs to take full advantage of it and take this offense to new heights. If Kaepernick can run this offense effectively then the 49ers could easily become the team to beat not only in the NFC but the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals – 2014 Projection: 10-6
2013 Record: 10-6

The Cardinals are unfortunate to be in the toughest division in football. They have one of the better defenses in the league; they allowed 20.2 points per game, good for 7th in the league. They didn’t struggle at getting to the QB with 47 sacks which ties for 6th in the league. They improved their secondary by picking up Antonio Cromartie, a 3 time pro bowler, to include 2012 and 2013. With Cromartie shutting down the opposite side of Patrick Peterson they are one of the better CB pairings in the NFL. Tyrann Mathieu missed the last 3 games of 2013; he had 2 interceptions and 11 starts at safety before going down. Mathieu had a knack for turnovers in college and is hoping it will translate into the NFL; he had 8 fumble recoveries (2 for TDs), 11 forced fumbles, and 4 INTs in 2 seasons playing for LSU. The Cardinals also signed Larry Foote from the free agency; he only played one game last season before an injury took away the rest of his 2013. He is a proven veteran who put in many solid years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cardinals offense has plenty to be excited about. Carson Palmer hasn’t been the same since he opted against Tommy John surgery in 2008 for a torn tendon and ligament in his elbow. Despite this, he is playing some of his best football since then, and is lucky enough to keep the same surroundings and favorite targets going into the 2014 season, so he is likely to improve on last season’s numbers. Larry Fitzgerald has been subject to a revolving door of QBs for years so I imagine is glad to see the same guy for consecutive seasons throwing him the ball. Fitzgerald caught 82 balls for 954 yards and 10 TDs in 2013. Michael Floyd had a terrific sophomore campaign with 1,041 yards and 5 TDs. Continuity at QB ought to help this young WR proceed to bloom this season. Andre Ellington played behind Rashard Mendenhall most of the 2013 season despite Mendenhall’s low 3.2 yards per carry. Ellington is taking over now that he doesn’t have to worry about Mendenhall; Ellington had 5.5 yards per carry in his rookie season and should be primed for a breakout season.

X-Factor – Andre Ellington needs to take full advantage of his opportunity to be the primary ball carrier in Arizona. Ellington added 39 receptions for 371 yards as well as his solid 652 yards on the ground off of 118 carries. If Ellington runs hard and puts forth the effort the Cardinals could even give a run at the NFC West.

St. Louis Rams – 2014 Projection: 4-12
2013 Record: 7-9

The Rams have lost Sam Bradford for the season again. Luckily for all other teams Sam Bradford was the last rookie to sign a ridiculously lucrative deal in the last season of the old collective bargaining agreement. Bradford will be making 14 million dollars this season watching the Rams play; this brings his total earned in the NFL to 65.1 million dollars. 65.1 million for Bradford to earn 18 wins in the past 4 seasons and this year with him not playing. On top of that the Rams will owe him another 13 million before he becomes a free agent following the 2015 season. The winner here is clearly Bradford, he won’t have to work the rest of his life and the Rams will have to continue to struggle and search for a new QB.

The Rams now must rally around Shaun Hill, a career back up whose most notable season was with the Detroit Lions always playing catch up in 2010. Hill threw for 2,686 yards, 16 TDs and 12 INTs that season. Tayvon Austin is prepped for his sophomore season after he had 418 yards receiving and 4 TDs in his rookie season. The Rams picked up Kenny Britt who has shown promise in his time in the NFL and still has time left to prove himself at 25 years old. If Britt can finally live up to his ability and focus on football he could be a great asset to this offense. Zac Stacy had a pretty solid rookie season; he just missed the 1,000 yard mark despite missing 2 games to injury and added 7 TDs.

The defense has plenty to be excited about but until they get some consistency at quarterback they won’t see too much success. MLB James Laurinaitis takes care of business; he had 116 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 9 passes defended, and 2 interceptions. Chris Long will continue to put consistent pressure on the QB; he had 8.5 sacks last season. The defense will keep them in a lot of games but ultimately they will be looking up at the rest of the NFC West wondering what could have been had they not paid Bradford that kind of money or he stayed healthy.

X-Factor – Zac Stacy will need to be consistently picking up some solid yardage on the ground to help open up the pass. Stacy needs to improve on his 3.9 yards per carry from his rookie season in order to make this offense effective. If he can manage to break 1,000 yards and 10 TDs the Rams could be looking at 8-8 or 7-9 instead of being in the 4-12 range. This division is just too tough for them to be near the top.

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