Sunday, June 29, 2008

Name one player who you would not draft and will never be on your team

First, this is a trick question. Every player available is on my draft list. Some are just much farther down my draft rankings then others. Ultimately, anyone can provide value and if I think a player can help me win, then I will draft him.
As an example, Travis Henry and Kevin Jones are both on my RB boards. Yes way down in the 50-60 range. Still if one of them was around in a late round, I would take a chance on one of them as a sleeper. If they did not pan out, I could drop them and add some other player mid season. Although I think neither will do well this season they are on my draft list. No player is eliminated because it just limits your choices.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Top 5 Kickers and Strategy for drafting Kickers

Contrary to the quirky, yet comical ESPN commercial, Kickers are not a rare commodity that must be drafted early and often. Wait on these guys until the very end of the draft. How late? Well as always it depends on the size of your league, the scoring rules and the roster limits of your team, but these guys are the least predictable from year to year. As a general Rule of Thumb (ROT) I pick Kickers with my last or next to last pick and never get more than 1 unless you do not have the ability to get another throughout the season (leagues with no waiver wire aka draft master leagues I get more than 1 for bye week and injury insurance). Otherwise get one kicker and ride him until his bye week or unless he stinks and you can add another from Free Agency. Trust me there will be tons of Kickers available in most cases. Unless your scoring rules really reward long FGs, they will be better off drafted later and fewer.

1. Steven Gostkowski NE- Anyone who kicks for NE is going to get lots of Fantasy Points. The only concern here is that NE scores more TDS than FGs.

2. Adam Vinatieri IND-Same logic as above. If you kick for Peyton Manning and company, chances are you will get locks of kicks.

3. Nick Folk DAL- My sleeper from last year really came through. Dallas has not changed much from last year. Look for more of the same.

4. Mason Crosby GB- I do not believe the Packers will be the same this year without Brett Favre. A. Rodgers means more FG attempts when they stall on the opponents side of the field.

5 Rob Bironas TEN-Here is a sleeper Kicker that you may be able to get in the next to last rounds. TEN should improve on last years scoring performance.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 is #1 at Amazon.com in June

Sam Hendricks, author of the highly successful Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football, placed another book on Amazons list of #1 books. Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 is currently #1 in the category of Books, Entertainment, Puzzles and Games, Fantasy Sports. Both books are currently offered at Amazon at 10% off their published price. Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football is available in Hardback for $26.95 or in Paperback for $17.96 after discount ($19.95)
Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 is currently available for $11.66 (versus $12.95)

Sunday, June 8, 2008

TOP 5 TEs and why

1) Antonio Gates SD- A little banged up last year so do not let last years numbers fool you. The big thing is that he recovers from offseason surgery. He will. Pencil in 900 yards and 9 TDs.

2) Jason Witten DAL-Top ranked TE last year. That has to mean something. Yeah it means Gates was hurt. Jason gets his 7 TDs and almost 1000 yards but not as many catches.

3) Kellen Winslow CLE-Catches and yards are not the problem. It is TDs. KW gets 6 TDs and leads the league in catches/yards in 2008. That makes him TE#3.

4) Tony Gonzalez KC-Especially in a PPR league this guy is money. Lots of catches and yards, not so many TDs in recent years. He is getting a little old but has great conditioning and will be used by whoever gets the starting QB job.

5) Todd Heap BAL-Cam Cameron as OC. If (and that is the big IF) he stays healthy he could be #1 TE.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Both Fantasy Football Guidebook and Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 Top Amazon sales lists in June

Fantasy Football Guidebook currently sits at #1 on Amazon in terms of sales in the Fantasy Sports category. Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 (just released) currently sits at #3 on Amazon in terms of sales in the Fantasy Sports category. This places author Sam Hendricks as the only author to have two books simultaneously in the top 3 at Amazon in Fantasy Sports.
Fantasy Football Guidebook currently is on sale at Amazon for $17.96 (10% off). Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 retails for $12.95. Both are also available with free shipping at www.FFGuidebook.com.
Look for my rankings, projections and participation in Expert Drafts in the following magazines due out later this month: Fantasy Football Index, Fantasy Football Draftbook and Fantasy Football Diehards.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Press Release for Fantasy Football Almanac 2008

ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF FANTASY FOOTBALL ALMANAC 2008
“Fantasy Football Almanac 2008: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide” Available Online


LYNCHBURG, VA. – May 31, 2008 – Fantasy Football Almanac 2008: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide, written by Sam Hendricks, author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, is available today.
Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 is a handy, concise and informative source book. It is the updated version of last year’s highly successful book, Fantasy Football Almanac. Expertly organized and full of statistics, schedules, rankings and projections for 2008, it is simply the best book of its kind. This 2008 reference book is necessary for anyone involved in fantasy football and it is your single source for preparing for the FF season.

Sam’s rankings, projections and “expert” analysis appear in numerous fantasy football magazines including this year’s Fantasy Football Index, Fantasy Football Draftbook and Fantasy Football Diehards. Last year he finished in the playoffs in every “expert” league in which he competed.

As an avid fantasy football player for the past 17 years, Hendricks has won numerous league championships and has participated in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF). He will participate in this year’s National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) competition in Las Vegas, NV in August 2008. Hendricks has been the commissioner in leagues on three continents and continues to perform those duties today.

Fantasy Football Guidebook, Sam’s first book, was #1 on Amazon.com’s ranked sales listing during the months of April and May 2008. The book is on track to sell more than 1,000 copies in its first year of publication. Virtual Bookworm Publishing publishes both Fantasy Football Guidebook and Fantasy Football Almanac 2008. Hendricks wrote Fantasy Football Guidebook last year while on sabbatical from his job as an F-15 flight instructor for Boeing.

Fantasy Football Guidebook has received glowing reviews. Rob Zarzycki, top ranked WCOFF participant and author of Drafting to Win, said “By far the most comprehensive book I’ve seen on fantasy football to date.”


Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 (ISBN 978-1602641945) and Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football (ISBN 978-1-60264-020-7) are available from Virtualbookworm.com, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble (bn.com). More information can be found at the official websites, www.fantasyfootballguidebook.com, www.ffalmanac.com and www.sam-hendricks.com.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

5 Best WRs and Why

1. Randy Moss NE- Do I really need to explain this? Sure T Brady probably will not reach 50 TDs again. Instead lets just set our sights on a more probable 35 now that the NE RBs are healthy again. That means Randy will only get 15 TDs in 2008. Poor Randy.

2. Terrell Owens DAL-12 TDs is the average for this guy the past 10 years. Barring injury or disputes, he is the #2 WR.


3. Reggie Wayne IND-With Marvin Harrision rapidly looking like his knees will ground him, RW becomes the main man in IND. Even with more double teams 10 TDs is still possible with Peyton throwing you the rock.

4. Braylon Edwards CLE-Less catches but plenty of TDs as he is the big play man in CLE.

5. Larry Fitzgerald AZ-Opposite of Edwards. LF has lots of catches and yards just fewer TDs as AZ tends to stumble around the red zone. Still a great WR#5.