As part of the kickoff to this blog, I’ll share some of the players I got right and wrong as the season progressed last year from the notes I took for myself.
5 Players I Got Right
Keenan Allen
Without a doubt the best grab for me last season as I snatched him before his first monster week at Oakland. The week before that game, he had a solid game on paper against the Cowboys (5-80 yds) but the catches he made in the game were far more impressive than the stats suggested. He was clearly a guy that could go after the ball against good coverage and, with Rivers starting the season as hot as he did and Floyd officially done for the year at that point, was a great gamble to be solid the rest of the way. His ownership percentage was about 5% when I grabbed him so definitely the player I can most brag about. In fact, because I was loaded at WR at the time, had to drop T.Y. Hilton to get him, who Allen outscored the rest of the way. Wish they were all like that.
Marvin Jones
Thought he took over the #2 spot from Sanu (who was dropping balls all season to that point) in the Detroit game where he look great but for some reason the experts still weren’t on him. I was and I grabbed him Sunday morning and started him in my leagues as I assumed no one would notice him if the experts weren’t mentioning him during the week. That was the day he went for four TDs. Love his talent. Hate his injury history as this preseason has shown us his fragility once again.
Andre Ellington
Looked great when splitting carries with Mendenhall and I assumed would be a decent play if Mendenhall went down and was. Didn’t really trust him because of Arizona’s terrible O-line last season but is clearly a great player and excellent for PPR. Just hope the line is improved this season. Could be a stud and his average draft position is showing that already.
Brandon Lafell
Was a popular sleeper last season and I hated him from the get-go. Never looked good at really any point to me and, let’s face it, part of that is due to his QB’s accuracy. Nothing he did last season makes me want to ever consider him as a fantasy player again.
Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins
While both of these guys had moments in the sun last season, I never fell for the hype after seeing them in the early games. Far too many drops for both on easy passes that were hitting them between the numbers. Made Brady’s numbers suffer badly because of their play. Were not worth roster spots for me.
5 Player I Got Wrong
Andre Roberts
Looked ridiculously good the first game of the season last year and I assumed would take over for Floyd as the #2. Caught every catch-able ball that game and did so against good coverage. Called him a stud in my notes. Oops.
Alshon Jeffery
Started the season badly last year and I thought might lose his job at one point. And if you look at his numbers during those games, it certainly looked that way. Wrong. He was an absolute stud the rest of the way and part of the best WR duo in the league in my opinion.
Jamaal Charles
About midway through last season, it appeared teams were beginning to stack the line against him and were not respecting the KC passing game (rightfully so, in all honesty). He had a few sub-par outings and I thought he would continue that the rest of the way as teams adjusted. Dead wrong as the KC offense proved better than expected and teams really chose not to stack the line down the stretch. I’m still amazed at the way defenses backed-off the line against the Chiefs late last season.
Stephen Hill
Hill is such a physically imposing guy and showed good hands early last season. I assumed he was going to have a pretty solid season, particularly as a PPR guy. In all fairness to him, part of the problem was the erratic play of Geno Smith at QB. His size suggests he should be a great redzone target but understand one key thing about the Jets last season: they were firmly committed to the run. They wanted to pound it and they did no matter how bad it was going at times. This hurt Hill and makes none of their WRs the slightest bit interesting in fantasy this season. That new RB they have, however…
The Entire Giants Offense
That O-line last season…wow. At times I kind of assumed they hated Eli Manning the same way the convicts in The Longest Yard temporarily hated their QB and let the opposing D-line destroy him. That first half against Carolina was the worst pass-blocking I’ve probably ever seen by an O-line in the NFL. That being said, I assumed Coach Coughlin would, once again, turn that team around and get the relevant fantasy players back on track. Wrong again. They never recovered and their fantasy players paid the price. And just a potential heads-up for this season: they don’t seem to have improved much from last season, as recently reported by ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Last Minute Fantasy Football Pickup 