B.T.S

What a show we have tonight! Chad Potier does his final In The Dugout segment for the year as the San Francisco Giants have won the World Series. You can keep up with Mr. Potier here http://HereWeGeaux.blogspot.com.

Following the In The Dugout segment, we will be joined by James Reid from http://startingfantasylineup.com the Fantasy Football player's guide to dominating your league. Big Jim will take all questions, breakdown Week 9 match ups and tell you who to drop and who to pick up. Don't forget to check out Jody Smith's site as well for further guidance (http://gridironexperts.com).

Lisa Horne and Kevin Paul from FoxSports will join us to break down the BCS and all things college football. We will also feature a surprise guest who will be making a case for a certain non-BCS school. You don't want to miss this as things could get a little ugly, controversial and out of hand. We wouldn't have any less at ThaSPORTSKRIB.

Finally we go Thru The Ropes with Charlene May, returning from an illness that sidelined her last week. We will break down the Judah-Matthysse, Lopez-Marquez and Pacquiao-Margarito fights. We will also interview Holly "Lil Bear" Lawson on the heels of her pro debut. There's plenty of controversy to go around here as well.

We also have a couple of special guests including Chicago Louie who breaks down all things sports related to the Windy City. Model and official Krib HOT HONEY Victoria Hampton (@VeeTheModel on twitter) joins us to give listeners a different outlook on the entertainment industry.

Yo definitely don't want to miss this. Tomorrow I will reinstall my Smack of the Week so be on the look out for that. ThaSPORTSKRIB would like to thank all our faithful listeners, callers and contributors. We wold also like to shoutout Shane our new Fantasy sports blogger.

Lost Romo?

Week 8
 
Before the season started the Cowboys were a strong possibility to be the first team to play in the Super Bowl they are hosting. Any notion of a Cowboy Super Bowl home game faded on Monday night, when QB Tony Romo broke his collar bone. He will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, and since the Cowboy’s record is 1-5, it’s difficult to see him playing again in 2010. This leaves Fantasy Football owners dealing with another disastrous injury to deal with!
Chances are you drafted Romo fairly early this summer and now you are scrambling to save your season. It’s obvious that the Romo owner has two options; make a trade or the waiver wire. If your plan is to find someone to trade you a QB, consider the market and your situation. I am sure as soon as Romo went down people were lining up at the door trying to sell you a QB, I know I would. If you are going to trade do not make the mistake of paying a high price for an elite QB. I know it’s difficult to see a top 10 player go down. I can understand your first reaction is to find a player with comparable production to replace him, but the truth of the matter is that to do so you will have to pay a high price. You do not want to take a player like Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson and trade them for an elite QB. If you do this you will be in the same position you are now, except RB will be your weakness instead of QB.  Instead, find the owner who has some extra QB’s on his bench and make him a reasonable offer that would strengthen a weakness on his team.
I would encourage all Romo owners to explore the waiver wires to find a starter, or add depth at the QB position.  When you explore your options look at recent performances and strength of the players upcoming schedule. A QB that is likely on waivers, that have a favorable schedule and has recently played well is Matt Cassel of the Chiefs. If the thought of Cassel starting as your QB for the rest of the year scares you, there are two other options I would recommend. One is Matt Stafford of the Lions. He is back after a week one shoulder injury and he has Calvin Johnson to throw to.
The other is a stud QB that has gone relatively unnoticed for the numbers he has been posting. That QB is Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Buffalo Bills. I know what you are thinking but do not let the team he plays for influence your decision to start him. Fitzpatrick has been on fire since taking over for the ineffective Trent Edwards, and he is not the reason the Bills are 0-6. My reasoning behind recommending him as a viable replacement is that if the Bills want to win a game or two this year then they have no choice but to throw the ball. If you think about it even if they are losing they have to throw the ball. As long as he can stay away from the interception it’s a win, win situation.

A couple weeks ago I wrotethat now was the time to sell high on Broncos QB Kyle Orton, I got a ton of negative feedback for that call. I think his days of posting 20+ point games are over, I thought that two weeks ago and if I owned Orton then I would contact who ever owns Romo. Are we ready to give up on Chargers RB Ryan Mathews? Sounds like San Diego is losing patience with the rookie and Tolbert owners are inline for an increase in production if Mathews can not get the job done. Anyone else afraid of the emergence of Ravens RB Willis McGahee? If you own Ray Rice then the answer is YES, and you should be concerned. Rice does not look like the same back we fell in love with in 2009. He looks like he is not hitting the hole as hard or fast as last year, and McGahee is taking advantage of Rice’s tepidness.
Lineup decisions can mean the difference between a win and loss. Take last week for example; if you own Darren McFadden, did you start him? If you did a round of applause is in order, because you are one of a selected few who did. McFadden himself stated that if he did play he was only going to be around 70% effective. In the world of fantasy sports 70% effective equals a week on the bench. He proceeded to explode for a 40 point fantasy day!
The Chiefs scored some points this weekend, granted it was against Jacksonville but it is nice to see Cassel, Bowe and company take care of business. Sleeper alert: the Chiefs seem to be opening up the playbook running some plays for RB/WR Dexter McCluster, something to keep an eye on.
 
 

JersyMikeJr's Blurbs

It's funny that our new Fantasy sports blogger Shane pointed something out about Run DMC. he had the highest score in a fantasy game this year and there he sat on my bench. If the NY Gmen didn't knock Romo out of the game I might have lost my match up. We will do a short Fantasy Football segment so make sure you follow Shane @Fsportsguy on twitter.

Last week on the show we didn't really get to touch on the NFL's crackdown on "devastating" hits. It's probably a good thing. While I still think the fine on Atlanta's Robinson for his helmet to helmet collision with DeSean Jackson was a little excessive, it seems that if you lead with the shoulder you won't be punished in all likelihood. The jury is still out upon further discussion. What I was concerned about was the league cracking down on hits like Ray Lewis on Dustin Keller, but that doesn't seem like it's going to be the case. However, the days of Jack Tatum and Ronnie Lott becoming a thing of the past saddens me.

More to come

Week 7 Observations

Run DMC baby!! Did you start him? Probably not, only 16% of people in CBSsports.com leagues did. McFadden himself said that he was about 70%; so why would you start him? It was a wild, wild, unpredictable weekend in the NFL, let alone in Fantasy Football. Pending tonight’s game, it looks like Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the high score for QB for week 7 and Kenny Britt owns that honor at the WR position. I wonder who started that lineup. If you did, message me on Twitter because you should be writing this column!

News and Notes from Week 7

How bad is the Bears offense, specifically Jay Cutler? I heard on Twitter that after the game Cutler was at the bar, saw a pretty girl, made a pass at her, and that pass was promptly intercepted by DeAngelo Hall. I think from this point forward I am going to start a Defense that is playing the Bears, their offense is that bad.
I thought Brock Lesner got his head handed to him quickly on Saturday night, and the Broncos did their best Lesner impersonation on Sunday. A couple weeks ago I wrote in my weekly column that now was the time to sell high on Broncos QB Kyle Orton, I got a ton of negative feedback for that call. I think his days of posting 20+ point games are over, I thought that two weeks ago. Take it for what it is worth. Are we ready to give up on Chargers RB Ryan Mathews? Sounds like San Diego did, and Tolbert owners are inline for an increase in production. Besides Brett Favre broken ankle, the injury bug did not bite anyone of fantasy value. Anyone else afraid of the emergence of Ravens RB Willis McGahee? If you own Ray Rice then the answer is YES, and you should be concerned. Rice does not look like the same back we fell in love with in 2009. He looks like he is not hitting the hole as hard or fast as last year, and McGahee is taking advantage of Rice’s tepidness.
Above mentioned QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is on fire and unlike Orton I think this will continue for the rest of the season. My reasoning behind this is that if the Bills want to win a game or two this year then they have no choice but to throw the ball. If you think about it even if they are down they have to throw the ball so it is a win, win situation. The Chiefs scored some points this weekend, granted it was against Jacksonville but it is nice to see Cassel, Bowe and company take care of business. Sleeper alert: the Chiefs seem to be opening up the playbook running some plays for RB/WR Dexter McCluster, something to keep an eye on.
Any questions or comments, feel free to leave them or follow me on Twitter @fsportsguy

Backups for your Backups?

I feel like I am watching an episode of the Twilight Zone! Every Monday, for the last 6 weeks, I find myself wondering through the aftermath of injuries from another day in the NFL. It doesn’t matter how you feel about the violence of the sport, or if you agree with the new rules the Commissioner put in place to help protect the players. The truth of the matter is that at any given time there is a good chance you could lose a productive player for an extended period of time. How do you replace someone like DeSean Jackson, Jermichael Finley, Dallas Clark, Austin Collie or Antonio Gates? Obviously you can not, but you can be prepared in the event if one of your starters goes down for an extended period of time. As a Fantasy Owner, you need to be proactive and plan for an injury to happen. How do you plan for an injury? The short answer is you need to add depth, at all positions, to your roster. The downside to this is that you will be forced to make some tough decisions on whom to drop/trade to add that depth. You will also have to take a chance on players that may or may not make an impact from this point forward. Anyone can give you their opinion on what players to add, but what players to get rid of? Only you can make that decision.
What I mean by being proactive is you need to take a chance on a player before anyone else in your league realizes their potential. I would rather claim a player, and stash him on my bench; then wait for him to have a good game and get into a bidding war to sign him. If he does not progress into the player you thought he would, just cut him loose for another sleeper. To do this you need roster space, and this is where you have to make some decisions. The first order of business is to cut any extra D/ST and Kickers off your roster. If you are saving them to fill in for a starter on a bye week, cut them loose anyways. You can always mix and match these positions when the time comes.
You drafted what you thought was a great team this summer but things have changed! First round selections such as MJD and Michael Turner are not even in the top fifty of the list of top scorers so far this season. Who would have thought that Ryan Torrain would have roughly the same amount of points as those guys?! Is now the time to trade away your first or second round pick? If you can add some depth to your roster in exchange for an underachiever then you should do so.
What can we expect from the helmet to helmet rule change that was instituted this week? Some think that nothing will change; I on the other hand see defenses playing less aggressively. If defenses become less physical then that would be a good thing for Fantasy Football. More catches will be made for more yards and more points will be scored. The NFL is thinking about adding two games to the regular season. At the rate players are getting injured, if they do extend the regular season then I need to get in shape. There might be an open tryout for the Patriots next year!

With injuries so frequent and severe this season, I developed a list of some deep sleepers that have a possibility of having a good second half of the season. These guys will not have an immediate impact for you team but give them time. They can pay huge dividends for the stretch run

V. Jackson-
I know I sound like a broken record about Jackson, but he is that good. Recent reports have Jackson signing his tender and reporting to the Chargers by Oct. 29th. This would make him eligible to play by wk 12. He is one of the best WR's in the game and he should be added for the stretch run if you have the space.

S. Rice-
If his recovery from hip surgery continues to go well, Minnesota's WR is scheduled be activated of the PUP list by wk 10. He had a great year last year and with the addition if Moss he should be able to find space for Favre to throw him the ball.

J. Starks-
The RB from Buffalo was considered a first round pick before an injury sidelined him for his senior season at the University of Buffalo. This year he pulled his hamstring in the preseason and was placed on the PUP list. He has been activated and should be in uniform on Sunday. There has to be a reason why the Packers did not trade for an RB. Most people, myself included, believe that Starks was the reason they did not. If he can stay healthy he could be a difference maker for fantasy owners.

A.Gonzalez(WR), B. White(WR), J. Tamme(TE) , M. Hart(RB) and Javarris James(RB)
The Colts are dealing with a rash of injuries to all of their receivers and both their starting RB’s. Collie had wrist surgery on Thursday and there are reports that Dallas Clark suffered a season ending wrist injury this past Sunday. Addai has nerve damage in his shoulder and his backup, Donald Brown, has been injured since his career began two years ago. The above mentioned players are backups but all have the potential to succeed when Peyton Manning throwing the ball.

Time to Make a Move Part 2

With 6 weeks in the books let's look at some buy low/sell high canidates. Below I compiled a short list of players that of players that may help you with any trade negotiations. For any suggestion or questions you may have, follow me on Twitter @fsportsguy.

Buy Now
Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals has been a complete disappointment so far this season(based on where you drafted him), but his talent is undeniable. The Cardinals have turned to rookie QB Max Hall and he played pretty well last week. Hall targeted Fitzgerald 9 times and completed 7 passes for 93 yards. More importantly, the Cardinals are getting Steve Breaston back from injury when they resume play during week 7 and this will take some coverage away from him.

Other Buy Now Candidates
Jamal Charles, Shonn Greene, Matt Schaub, Steven Jackson, Vernon Davis, Brandon Marshall, Knoshown Moreno, DeSean Jackson, MJD

Sell Now
Denver Broncos QB Kyle Orton has been on fire so far this season, completing 140 passes for over 1700 yards. If you own him take the time to look at how he plays when the weather gets colder. Also, the Broncos are throwing the ball more this year, because the have been playing without RB Knoshown Moreno. Moreno is expected back within a couple of weeks and when he does, they will be passing less.

Other Sell Now Candidates
Brandon Lloyd, L.T., Matt Forte, Marcedes Lewis, Braylon Edwards

Time to Make a Move! Part 1

With the NFL trade deadline today we figured that it was time to talk about Fantasy Football Trades. Making a fantasy football trade is a delicate process, and like any business deal, the more you understand the more success you will have. Before you test the trade market, make sure you understand the type of your league you play in. If you are in a keeper or dynasty league then look to get players and/or future draft picks that can help you now and in the future. The following steps are geared for standard scoring leagues were your final standings have no bearing on where you draft the following year.

Step 1 Identify Position Need
Your team has depth at the HB position but you need a more reliable WR. First, look over every owner’s rosters and find someone that needs a HB. Don’t go to the owner who’s starting Foster and Johnson and offer another HB, its a pointless endeavour. Once you find a possible trade partner, identify and rank the players you would like to trade for.

Step 2 Know Your Team
In my experience, the casual owner focuses on the big name player and draft position. So if you have a player on your bench that you feel comfortable starting then you can offer a player you drafted in the first 2-3 rounds. Regardless of the statistics, you will get more in return if the best person you are trading is Chris Johnson then you would if the centrepiece was LeSean McCoy.

Step 3 Buy Low But Dont Be Cheap
The initial offer will let the other owner know how serious you are. Do not make a ridiculous, one sided opening offer, because this is the easiest way to stall trade talks before they even begin and ruin your creditability. Know what you want and what you are willing to give to acquire those players. Again, if you are trading the best player in the transaction then expect more, the same is true the roles are reversed. When making the initial offer request a counter, because your offer may be denied based on name recognition. You do not know what the other owner is thinking so make sure you keep the lines of communication open.

Step 4 Negotiations
Unless you have someone that accepts on the first thing offered you will have to negotiate. Use this time to sell your guys, point out all the good things about them and why it would make sense for the other owner to trade for them. Use any information you can to complete your trade. For instance, if the owner is a Patriots fan then use those players as trade bait. This is the most important stage of any trade and will determine who gets the best and worst of the deal. Being prepared and knowing player tendencies will give you the advantage. It is important to consider the potential of the players involved, not just past performance. Over the years I have noticed that 50% of a players’ production is achieved during 25% of the season. This is where your preparation will give you the advantage. You want to buy low and trade high this is the key to success in Fantasy Sports. If you can get a player who is not performing up to expectation, but has a history of performance, and you can trade a player who you think has peaked, then do so. Make sure you do your research because if you are wrong in your assumption then you could be throwing your season away. On a side note, do not send trade proposals that can be accepted while you are negotiating. To avoid a problem all negotiations should be done by email or phone only.

Step 5 Trade Acceptance
After you have a framework completed and you are ready to make a trade, take some time to review the trade and it’s implications on your team. Are you filling a team need? Are you giving too much for what you are receiving? These are all questions you should ask yourself before completing any trade. To be on the safe side, review your original rankings from Step 1, your team need, and the players involved one last time. Always go with your gut feeling, it may make sense on paper but if you do not feel right about the deal then walk away.

Working on Part 2 of this article and we will talk about Buy Low and Sell High candidates. Any player suggestions contact me on Twitter @fsportsguy