As I told my viewers last week, watch out for Aaron Gordon and Ben Simmons because of their break out performances. If you listened to my advice about Ben Simmons, then you can thank me later. He continues to be the best player on the court for the 76ers; he is second on the team in points and rebounds, and leads the team in assists and steals. Aaron Gordon, on the other hand, fell off the ship for a little bit but still continues to produce. The playoffs for fantasy football are finally upon us and you know what that means, right? Your team has the possibility to win the big prize for your fantasy football league. These late pieces of advice could be the difference between being the champion, or wishing you would have made these moves to be the champion; do not be the team to get knocked off first round of the playoffs. I hope my advice comes through for your fantasy football team to become victorious. The suspensions of Juju Smith Schuster, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Rob Gronkowski, tight end for the New England Patriots, impacts a lot of fantasy rosters. Rob Gronkowski is the second leading scorer for all tight ends and this week he is facing the fourth worst passing defense in the league. so his suspension is a very very big loss. The good news is his suspension only accounts for one game, which is doable to recover from. I expect Brandin Cooks to be the best recipient of the New England Patriots from the loss of Gronkowski. He is the team’s most productive wide receiver, so it is no brainer to start Cooks in your lineup. Now, if you’re looking to find a replacement tight end for Gronkowski (like me), I love Stephen Anderson, tight end for the Houston Texans. Anderson is a match up nightmare and is starting to come into his own. He just came off his highest scoring game of the season last week, and now is going against a bad 49ers squad. Juju Smith Schuster has seen his role increase dramatically throughout the season. Ever since a monster game in week 8 (top scoring receiver that week), he makes a case for a legitimate start in your fantasy lineup. His top of the line speed poses a threat to any defense, unfortunately he will not be able to showcase his talents this week because of a one game suspension. If your team makes it through this week, play Smith Schuster. Now, obviously, Antonio Brown (top scoring receiver in the NFL and receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers) will see even more targets this week because of the loss of Smith Schuster, so he should have a big game. Brown received 16 targets when Smith Schuster was out for injury, which is so far the most he has received all season. Also Le’veon Bell, running back for Pittsburgh Steelers, will be a big recipient from the loss. He received 12 targets (most all season) and 20 carries when Smith Schuster was out because of injury; expect a big game from both players.
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First, let's do a recap of my previous blog post. If you read my first blog post, then oh boy you were in for a treat! All but one of my predictions were true. I guess this teenage kid does know what he is talking about, after all my fantasy football record so far is 8-1. The reason why I did not get all predictions correct is because the third string running back, not the second string, received the start. I do not think anyone in their right minds saw that coming. With fantasy basketball underway (undefeated so far), many players have over performed so far this year. But let's not get too much ahead of ourselves since there is a lot of basketball yet to be played. Some players suffer from what I like to call, streaky syndrome. That is, looking like the best player in basketball for one game or looking like the worst player in basketball for another. You never know what version you’re going to get. Ben Simmons, a rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers, has done a fantastic job so far. He suffered a season ending injury last year before the season started and boy oh boy he is on a mission this season to quiet his critics. The way he is progressing, if you don't already have him on your team, get him. He has quickly become one of the best all around players; he can rebound, score, and pass as good as anyone which adds tremendous fantasy value. Also he can play any position on the court, which is rare. Aaron Gordon, power forward for the Orlando Magic, is having a breakout year. Currently, he has increased every statistic since being in the NBA with nearly doubling his points per game and nearly tripling his three point percentage. He already achieved a career point game this season, scoring 41 points. Gordon played both center and power forward his previous three season, but now he is strictly playing power forward and it has made all the difference. Some players have spurts where they look like the best player on the court or the worst player on the court. J.R. Smith, among a few others, fall into this streaky category. J.R. Smith is only averaging 5.2 points per game and his season has been one massive cold spell. It only takes one game for him to be as hot as can be; the only problem is no one knows when that will happen. Smith makes for a risky player because his cold spurts last just as long as his hot ones. Ricky Rubio, point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is my next streaky player. If Rubio can make the three point shot then he would be one of the best high value point guards in the league, simple as that. However, he struggles from beyond the arch causing defenders to back off, daring him to shoot. He is a great finisher, rebounder, and passer for point guards, so he still has some value. But when he does make the three point shot watch out! This week in Fantasy football is bound for sleepers, winners, and as always underachievers a.k.a losers. The sleepers are the hardest to predict, but when you are right boy does it pay off. First let's start off with the sleepers. I expect Latavious Murray, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, to have a big week. Since Dalvin Cook recently tore his ACL, the Vikings will put their rushing workload to Latavious Murray. The Vikings rush the ball 44.13% of the time (ranking 12th in the NFL), which is a recipe for success in hopes for a great deal of yardage for Murray. My next sleeper is Doug Martin, running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is Martin’s first game back, since he received a four game suspension for the beginning of the season. Martin battled through injuries all of last season, in result he will be hungrier than ever to return to his 2012 self. Furthermore, Martin is going against the fourth worst defense in the NFL which his chances for a good week are high. My first winner this week is, of course, Kareem Hunt who is a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kareem Hunt is on pace to break the NFL rookie rushing record which was set by Eric Dickerson in 1983. Kareem Hunt has only been below 20 points once, however he scored 18 which is still only two points shy of 20. He is going against a top 15 defense against the run, which makes it somewhat of a challenge, but I still expect Hunt to carry forward his monster year so far. My next winner is Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers just came off a 30 point outing last week, and I expect him to have a huge game. He is going against the 12th worst passing defense this week, furthermore the whole Packers team will be well rested since they played in the Thursday night game which results in 11 days of rest. Now let’s switch to the losers. I predict Alshon Jeffery, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, to have a rough week. He is being matched up against Patrick Peterson, one of the league’s best corner backs. Peterson allowed zero receiving yards against Dallas last week, who has a top receiver in Dez Bryant. Peterson will cause mayhem for Jeffery; he is an athletic freak with cover skills that are as good as anyone’s in the NFL. My next loser is Charles Clay, tight end for the Buffalo Bills. He is facing the third best team in the league for defending the pass. Through four games, Clay has only managed to have one game in which he scored below fifteen points. I believe this is another game in which he scores eight points at the most. Clay has taken the league by surprise with his production so far- no one saw this big of a year for him- after all he is the fourth best tight end currently. My name is Grant Winkel, and I am a senior at Dunlap High School. I live in Edwards, Illinois, a town in Peoria County. I am the youngest of three boys with two loving parents and two crazy energetic dogs. I have participated in baseball and golf all throughout high school. Sports have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started baseball when I was 7, football when I was 6, golf when I was 12, and basketball when I was 7. I watch football and basketball religiously, however I am just as knowledgeable in baseball. After all, baseball is my favorite sport. Since I am a sports fanatic, I plan to provide the most accurate and helpful information to any fantasy owner out there. There are a lot of bloggers and so called "experts" who use an extreme amount of bias toward their favorite team or player. I can assure you there will be no bias in my future posts.
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AuthorMy name is Grant Winkel and I am a sports connoisseur. Archives
December 2017
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