In Part 1 of this series, I investigated the NFL’s passing revolution through the prism of global statistical trends. I noted that last season marked a pivotal uptick in overall efficiency (rather than pass/run ratio), which also substantially lifted running backs’ yards per carry average across the league. I also highlighted how fantasy RB1s have recently made a resurgence in receiving production. In this installment,…...

When using the Zero RB strategy, owners target wide receivers and tight ends in the early rounds. Even if an early running back is drafted, teams using this strategy generally are weaker at the running back position. If a Zero RB team can hit on running backs who have value later on in the draft, they are set up very well to succeed. This year…...

Last Season Was Historic The 2018-19 NFL season may be best-remembered as the dawn of the so-called “passing revolution.” Sure, we’ve witnessed the NFL’s gradual shift towards efficient passing offenses over the last two decades, but last season was on another level. Patrick Mahomes took the league by storm en route to NFL MVP honors. He posted a ludicrous 5,097-50-12 passing line, which ranks eighth…...

From 2001 to 2013, fantasy owners watched as 19 third-year wide receivers hit 200 points for the first time. Over the following four years, only Davante Adams managed the feat, and buzz over the third-year WR breakout disappeared. Even during the earlier era, second-year receivers still held a sizable edge. They’ve now widened that lead considerably as NFL offenses scheme to unleash their highly-drafted stars…...

Shawn Siegele looks at the eight most explosive NFL “breather” backs and explains how to exploit their sometimes silly, occasionally ridiculous, and always crazy 2019 ADPs. I have an admission to make. I love the small backs, and I love the freakish athletes. I love run to daylight and have little interest in three yards and a cloud of dust. But, even more than how…...

We are less than a week from the kickoff of the 2019 Scott Fish Bowl (#SFB9). The scoring format is largely unchanged from last year and it still includes a points-per-first-down scoring component and a points-per-reception component. Given the video games theme for #SFB9, Scott Fish has incorporated a bonus scoring component. The added five points for every 50 yards threshold a player crosses will…...

Scott Fish Bowl 9 drafts are just days away. Unless you already play in another “half-PPR, half-point per first down, TE-premium, three flex, one superflex, achievement bonus league,” chances are you might be underprepared. Luckily, you can get a quick handle on how to approach your draft using our new (and free!) SFB9 Game Log Explorer app. One of the first questions worth answering is…...

In Best Ball Workshop No. 11, we discovered a key insight for constructing our BestBall10s lineups. As Shawn Siegele began to put together his list of 5 Players the Roster Construction Explorer Wants You to Target, he realized that one of these receivers deserved a slightly deeper dive. Last year at this time I was writing about JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cooper Kupp, pointing out how…...

In part 1 of this series, we concluded that rookies drafted outside of Round 3 of the NFL draft have very low odds of being “usable” in redraft leagues. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they should be avoided on draft day. As a reminder, a usable player is one who scored 160 or more PPR points over the course of their rookie season. Even…...

Earlier this week, I took a look at three little known players from the AFC generating some column inches this offseason. With that in mind, it seems only fair that we offer a similar spotlight to three men from the NFC. These players are not superstars by any stretch. But they have caught the eye of their coaches and/or beat writers in the last few…...

In part 1 of this series, we concluded that rookies drafted outside of Round 3 of the NFL draft have very low odds of being “usable” in redraft leagues. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they should be avoided on draft day. As a reminder, a usable player is one who scored 160 or more PPR points over the course of their rookie season. Even…...

It seems that only novices place significant importance on OTAs or minicamps. Novices, or people with undying affection for the performance of players playing sans pads against their teammates — I mean, if you’ve read one tweet about how great DeVante Parker looks in June you’ve pretty much read them all. But sometimes a team, or normally a coach, will give us a nugget about…...

SHOULD REDRAFT PLAYERS TARGET ROOKIES? IN THIS SERIES, DAVE CABAN REVIEWS ROOKIE DATA FROM THE PAST TEN YEARS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION.   In part 1 of this series, we concluded that rookies drafted outside of Round 3 of the NFL draft have very low odds of being “usable” in redraft leagues. As a reminder, a usable player is one who scored 160 or more…...

Should redraft players target rookies? In this series, Dave Caban reviews rookie data from the past ten years to answer this question.   We’ve spent the last four months poring over prospect profiles, evaluating measurables, and analyzing landing spots. While the majority of this research was done through a dynasty focused lens, the excitement it generated will undoubtedly find its way into our redraft processes…....

It has been said in the past that NFL stands for Not For Long, as well as No Fun League and of course the lesser used National Football League. All three may be true, but the first pretty much sums up the fleeting nature of the game, and the careers of the men who ply their trade in it. But it seems that after missing…...

  If there’s a surefire way to earn our love here at Rotoviz, it is to be uber-productive. Since being drafted in 2013, Keenan Allen has been one of the most productive receivers in the league. He’s one of only fourteen receivers to haul in 400 receptions over that time and he did it in the second fewest games played. Also Allen’s last two seasons…...

Rob Gronkowski’s retirement leaves a massive gap in New England’s offense — and the fantasy impact of Gronk’s retirement is just as big. The all-time great TE teamed up with Tom Brady to wreak havoc on the league for the last decade, winning many people fantasy championships in the process. Though Gronk’s swan song season was average, the Patriots offense will still look completely different…...

The NFL Draft will soon be upon us, with the league welcoming an injection of new and exciting talent into its midst. But even with all of these shiny new toys that teams will soon be dying to play with, fantasy owners would be wise to remember that there are still a host of veteran players that can be valuable fantasy assets in the coming…...

It was a frustrating season for Kerryon Johnson’s fantasy owners in 2018, forced to watch a plodding and ineffective LeGarrette Blount steal carries from the electric rookie. And here we go again in 2019 — Blount gone, replaced by C.J. Anderson, another big runner with designs on destroying your fantasy dreams. But is Anderson’s addition really a disaster for Johnson’s redraft and bestball value? Or does it simply make…...