Blitz: Wisenhunt To Call Plays Again

Posted On Friday, May 28, 2010 by JakeTrain |

fantasy football newsI’ve rounded up a few links from around the NFL and fantasy football community to digest over the holiday weekend. Thank you to the brave men and women who have fought and continue to defend our homeland! READ MORE

It looks like Arizona HC Ken Wisenhunt will be calling the offensive plays again in 2010. The departures of WR Anquan Boldin and QB Kurt Warner combined with the play of last season’s rookie RB Beanie Wells should lead to more balance attack from the redbirds. Arizona rushed the ball only 365 times during the 2009 regular season, less than any other team in the NFL.

One of the more intriguing position battles to keep an eye on this pre-season will be in Texas where Jacoby Jones is trying to unseat Kevin Walter as the team’s #2 WR behind Andre Johnson. Jones has impressed HC Gary Kubiak early in in OTA’s and could become a low end WR3 for fantasy owners by draft day.

The Lions are reportedly going to take a look at LB Keith Bulluck. Bulluck played for Detroit HC Jim Schwartz in Tennessee and is coming off knee surgery.

Torry Holt will try to become the latest aging veteran to blossom into a useful role player on the Patriots in 2010. Holt’s experience and route running should help the Pats overcome the loss of Wes Welker and help mentor the younger receivers on the team.

Cornelius Griffin and E. J. Henderson are ahead of schedule in their respective recoveries from injury. However, both defensive starters remain questionable to be ready in time for the start of training camp.

Have a safe holiday weekend!

BOXCAR Football updates are also available on RSS and Twitter!

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Baggage Claims

Posted On Thursday, May 27, 2010 by JakeTrain |

2010 fantasy footballEach year fantasy owners must decide how much luggage they want to tote onto their 2010 fantasy football rosters. Before that can be done, we must first understand what “baggage” really means in fantasy football. READ MORE


What Is Baggage?

The concept of “baggage” is not new, but it’s meaning has progressed. Baggage is an umbrella word to collectively combine the history, track record, health concerns, etc. of each player into one lump sum. The sum then becomes a simple variable in our analysis of players each year. Every player has baggage in fantasy football-even the rookies.

Today, more than ever, blogs, tweets, text messaging and the rest of the online sharing capabilities are giving you the fantasy owner more access to player information than ever before. This evolution requires fantasy owners to learn the skill of sorting through the abundance of information. Everyone has always had an opinion, but now everyone is able to voice those opinions to the masses with relative ease.

Where To Claim Baggage?

2010 fantasy footballOne of the most wonderful things about having so much information at our virtual fingertips is the ability to choose how to use it, if at all. Having such a large selection allows you to narrow you choices to those you deem the most valuable and informative to serve your own fantasy football needs.

Under the big umbrella are two main types of baggage: factual-based and opinion-based. Factual-based materials are usually rooted in statistics and player news. Opinion-based resources are typically authored works such as blogs, message boards and articles scattered on fantasy football themed web sites. Educating yourself on the type of information you personally seek and where to find it requires a small investment of time in the beginning but saves time during the season. When set up properly, search engines, bookmarks and RSS readers combine to provide a powerful tool in sorting through all the baggage quickly and efficiently.

Baggage Comes In Many Shapes, Sizes

More often than not, we use baggage to solidify our preconceived perceptions on a player. We never set out to do this, but subconsciously we do it to a fault. The more we want to like a player, the more likely we are to overlook any “baggage” that comes with that player. You do it when dating in high school and you do it in fantasy football. It’s only human, but you need to understand this going in or your biases towards players will lead you astray!

2010 fantasy footballBaggage is just one word used to depict perception in fantasy football. When the term ‘baggage’ is attached to a particular player’s name it is generally considered to be negative in nature. Yet the word ‘upside’ is generally viewed as a positive endorsement. Which words do you use when describing a player? Which words do your opponents use? An observant owner may be able to draw insight into how their competition values certain players just by listening in casual conversation or reading emails. That is also why it is important to pick your own words wisely when talking about players in the pre-season-especially in leagues comprised of intelligent fantasy footballers.

Sometimes the same word can be used when discussing “baggage related” items in both positive and negative outlooks. In breaking down a generic RBBC one might say, “as long as RB2 is there to steal carries away from RB1 his upside is limited.” One could also say, “RB2 may be stealing carries from RB1, but RB1 is still getting more touches around the goal line, giving him more upside than RB2.” Same RBBC, yet each statement provides a different perspective on the players involved and respective ‘upside.’ Even in fantasy football, one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure.

Words like “love” and “marketing” are used commonly yet express a vast number of meanings. In fantasy sports, “baggage” is no different.


BOXCAR Football updates are also available on RSS and Twitter!
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Planning Starts Now For Draft Day

Posted On Friday, May 21, 2010 by JakeTrain |

Football season is revving up the engines and die-hard fantasy football enthusiasts are already inhaling every mock draft, list of rankings and position battle news they can find. It may be on the early side for planning your 2010 fantasy football roster but it isn’t too early to start planning the perfect fantasy football draft! READ MORE



If you have never been a fantasy football commissioner, you probably don’t realize the amount of planning and preparation that goes into staging one of the most enjoyable-and often memorable-times an “adult” can have annually: his/her fantasy football draft. To help make this occasion a success, fantasy football commissioners should start planning now.

Hurdle number one is always getting everyone in the league in the same place at the same time. Fantasy football is never going to trump most real life responsibilities for most of us so the best way to ensure you will have time for a fantasy football draft is to simply plan it early. As someone who has been in this position, it’s far easier said than done.

There are two ways to take on this challenge. The first way involves setting the time and date before filling the league. In doing so, you can simply fill the league with people who are available to be a part of the draft. If there is a conflict, you just keep looking before filling the spot. This method requires some time, which is why you should start sooner than later.

The second approach and probably the more common in leagues where most members are returning from previous patronage, is to conduct a quick survey. Talk to your league’s members and find out what dates are absolutely in conflict with their schedule. Also find out any preferences to location and potential budgetary concerns each member may have. Once this information is gathered, use it in selecting the best time, date and venue to hold your league’s draft. Providing these details to your league in late May and early June gives them enough time to plan accordingly and be in attendance.

Lastly, I want to mention draft proxies. A proxy is someone who essentially represents the owner of the team and drafts in their absence. Using a proxy works as often as it fails. Regardless, make sure everyone in the league is aware of the situation prior to the draft. If a proxy is to be used, make sure the entire league knows who the proxy will be and has time to voice concern or veto that person’s involvement. I’m not against using a proxy when needed, but I would express caution to any commission in handling these situations as it can lead to problems at the draft and throughout the season.


Rules of Thumb For Draft Planning

Plan early. You should be sending out reminders, not invitations in the weeks leading up to your draft. Make sure EVERYONE is planning early, not just you. One bad egg can make the whole room stink on draft day!

Better to have more room than not enough. I hate walking into a draft and finding myself having to cover up my rankings like a 4th grader taking a math test or worried about spilling my drink across the keys of my laptop because there isn’t enough room to work.

Extra seating and tables. Along with having plenty of room, being prepared to accommodate more people and their needs not only makes life easier but also makes everyone happy!

Electrical needs and equipment. If needed, who is bringing extension cords and/or power strips, internet routers and/or wires and if you are having it at a local eatery be sure to find out if you need to tape down wires and cords prior to the draft.

Non-participant support. Most commissioners also have a team to draft. If you think you are going to run the event as well as draft a championship caliber team you better have a horseshoe nearby! Find some nice people to lend a hand and don’t forget they need to know as early as possible too!

Draft etiquette. Expectations should be discussed and understood by EVERYONE involved with the draft. Everyone runs with different crowds and has differing views on what “happens” at a fantasy football draft. Make sure league participants are on the same page in terms of what the draft should be regarding food, smoking, beverage, language, are girlfriends/boyfriends/children allowed etc.

Be committed. If you are the commissioner and tell your league the draft will be live, the time and energy you put into making it happen falls under your duties as commissioner. If you don’t have the desire and passion to make a live draft successful, use an alternative style of draft.


BOXCAR Football updates are also available on RSS and Twitter!
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