Originally published August 5, Corbin Young reminds us of inexpensive second-year breakout candidates, including one who blew up in the first preseason game. In a recent article, I looked at three second-year breakout wide receivers. We used Blair Andrews’ previous research to help identify players. That article included three second-year receivers ready to breakout in 2021. But none of those three players are particularly cheap, with…...

Sam Wallace uses the Strength of Schedule Streaming App to identify three tight ends with favorable early-season schedules that are also priced at a value. In my latest piece, I sought to identify three quarterbacks with the perfect blend of early-season value and upside for those in single-quarterback leagues. Today, the goal is the same, but the position is different: tight ends. A notoriously tricky…...

Sam Wallace uses the Strength of Schedule Streaming App to identify three quarterbacks with favorable early-season schedules who are also priced at a value. Fantasy football is all about value. Our goal is to maximize the return on every pick consistently. A first-round selection has to live up to lofty expectations, or we feel let down. Consequently, if a late-round pick doesn’t perform as well…...

Shawn Siegele looks at why the best running back option in the RB Dead Zone might not be one of the dynamic rookies. And unlike Travis Etienne, this 2021 value occasionally falls out of the Dead Zone entirely. We’ve spent a lot of time at RotoViz the last several years explaining why you want to be careful about exposure to runners who are usually drafted…...

Shawn Siegele presents his 2022 first-round redraft projection and explains how it will help you win this season. On this week’s episodes of Stealing Bananas, Ben Gretch and I looked at the key metrics for predicting breakout seasons and avoiding collapse campaigns. In this exercise, I use the RotoViz research and tools to take a trip forward in our crystal ball. What will 2022 fantasy…...

Shawn Siegele outlines the key tactics and the six crucial players to select if you begin your fantasy football draft with a slot-based disadvantage. There is no safe place in a fantasy football draft. The 10 highest-drafted players of the last four years were all RBs. Seven of them posted win rates below 5.5%. Four of those were miniscule win rates below 2.5%. But it’s…...

Have the guts to search the RB Dead Zone for options? Shawn Siegele begins the Discount Series with a look at three RBs who can provide Austin Ekeler’s production without the first-round price tag. During our recent Zero RB series for Stealing Bananas, Ben Gretch and I suggested that the Dead Zone might be exactly where you want to look if you’re going to employ…...

Two of the projects that I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time working on are the Draft Dashboard (DD) and the Range of Outcomes app (ROO). Both tools are focused on helping redraft managers maximize their chances of winning in the coming season. The 2021 version of the DD was recently released. In a nutshell, it’s a drafting tool that helps users to keep track…...

Sam Wallace highlights three players fantasy managers should target before their values dramatically increase once training camp begins in earnest. Player values fluctuate throughout the year even when no football is being played. The offseason is a prime example of this phenomenon. Rookie picks increase in value as the NFL Draft approaches, and veterans who are in danger of losing their roster spot or seeing…...

Shawn Siegele breaks down the criteria we’re looking for in fifth-year breakout wide receivers and explains what it means for the veteran WRs who could become the next Emmanuel Sanders, Doug Baldwin, or Adam Thielen. Every year I publish the full breakout series, helping readers find the key metrics that lead to league-winning jumps at WR. My goal with the series is to help readers…...

In the final piece of a three-part series, Sam Wallace helps you decide which running back is worth the price tag on one of the most explosive, running back-friendly offenses in football. The growing narrative is to draft talented players regardless of their landing spot. Good players will make the most of their situation and provide value and fantasy production eventually. It’s solid advice considering…...

Want to select a running back early and still have the firepower to blow away your opponents at the key position? Michael Hitchcock helps you draft the first-round picks of 2022 at a big discount today. There are a lot of ways to approach the first round in 2021. You can go with Christian McCaffrey if you’re lucky enough to get the first pick or…...

In part two of a three-part series, Sam Wallace analyzes the difference between regular season and playoff production and how fantasy managers should use that information heading into 2021. In Part 1 of the Decoding Backfields series, I wrote about the value of understanding opportunity cost and how proper roster construction can make you a better fantasy manager. Today, I want to touch on a…...

Shawn Siegele goes deep into the numbers to answer one of fantasy’s most important questions: Can Austin Ekeler be the Alvin Kamara of 2021? It’s no secret that the 2021 first round is full of potholes, if not land mines. After Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook, fantasy drafters are faced with difficult choices between Kamara (QB), Derrick Henry (ceiling), Ezekiel Elliott (declining), Jonathan Taylor (bad…...

Last time we identified a couple of bargains at the running back position with a large ADP gap. We used research by Jack Miller on the ADP gap between RB teammates to identify Myles Gaskin and Mike Davis. Both running backs hold an ADP gap greater than 98.5 with their team’s RB2, which qualifies as a big-gap running back. However, small-gap backfields also provide an opportunity to find…...

Shawn Siegele breaks down the five reasons Clyde Edwards-Helaire is poised to become a 20% win rate back in 2021. Over the last four years, nine different backs have hit the 20% win rate level in FFPC best ball. Given the rhetoric around early-round RB, it may be a surprise to discover that only two of those backs were drafted in Round 1. That’s one…...