Twitter Reactions

Luke Wetta

twitter

Each week I will be walking through the Twitterverse extracting some of the best commentary from trusted fantasy football minds. Twitter can be overwhelming with the amount of information that streams live, but it also proves to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to communicate. In 140 characters or less you can learn something about a player you may have never thought of from trends, stats or analysis.

Torrey Smith, WR BAL

I always find Baltimore Ravens receiver Torrey Smith difficult to evaluate in fantasy. In his first three seasons he was often seen as more of a big hitter registering a small number of catches for high yardage. As Rich Hribar noted, we saw a different look in 2014.

[inlinead]The most surprising element from Rich’s tweet was just two catches for more than 40 plus yards. Smith actually failed to break the 100 yard barrier this season and truly really only was helped by his eleven total touchdowns. Steve Smith Sr. also proved to take a large number of targets from Torrey as he saw 38 fewer than the previous season when he also racked up more than 1,100 yards. Obviously in PPR leagues, Torrey Smith loses value while averaging around three catches per game, but even in those formats he provided WR2 numbers this season. Looking to next season I would assume the targets and yardage would climb back up a little, but I do not think it would be enough to compensate for the regression in touchdowns. Quarterback Joe Flacco threw for seven more touchdowns in 2014 than he averaged the previous three seasons and Torrey was a direct beneficiary of that number as his touchdown total was five more than the previous three year average. Even in standard leagues, Smith came in as a low end WR2 and I see nothing to suggest that to improve. I am definitely not buying Torrey in dynasty and if you can sell him after a productive fantasy season buoyed by touchdowns I would make the move.

Trent Richardson, RB IND

It was another disappointing year for Trent Richardson’s fantasy owners as he appeared to be the guy you could never really cut but also could never really start. His ineffectiveness on the field in fantasy was highlighted nicely by Ryan McDowell who tweeted,


Both Ahmad Bradshaw and Dan Herron were able to run for 4.5 yards per carry this season in the Colts offense while Richardson managed a paltry 3.3. The scoring opportunities were also not available as Andrew Luck rushed for as many or more touchdowns than each running backs and Bradshaw made a living catching passes for scores when he played. To cap off his season this past weekend (and I realize he was sick), Evan Silva delivered a tweet that literally made me laugh out loud.

Trent is signed for one more year and I cannot see him putting up better numbers next year than he did this season. At best he winds up being a complementary running back that struggles to complement. While the running back position in fantasy is normally short lived and volatile, Richardson is just not a player I want to be involved with any more. Even at the young age of 24 I would be taking players like Andre Williams, Latavius Murray and Knile Davis straight up.

Donte Moncrief, WR IND

To be honest I was high on Donte Moncrief coming into the season. I did not have expectations of him overtaking T.Y. Hilton or Reggie Wayne, but surely he could overtake the aging Hakeem Nicks. Unfortunately Nicks still out-snapped Donte in 2014 601 to 422, which was likely a mixture of being a rookie and head-scratching coaching (see Trent Richardson). Despite the wide margin in snaps, Moncrief managed to accumulate more yards on six fewer catches partially thanks to a 70% catch rate. He has shown big play ability as seen most recently versus the Bengals but clearly needs more playing opportunity. After the aforementioned play Pro Football Focus’ Mike Clay remarked,


Depending on how the offseason goes, this could easily become a reality. Nicks is an unrestricted free agent and even if he is around I cannot see him holding off Moncrief again. Reggie Wayne is also a free agent and while he has expressed desires to return for his 15th season with the Colts, injuries and time could relegate him to number three duties. Currently I would place him around 30th overall at the wide receiver position ahead of others such as Percy Harvin, Cordarrelle Patterson and Pierre Garcon.

Jimmy Graham, TE NO

As the fantasy season wrapped up, dynasty players started mock drafting. DLF’s Ryan McDowell shared an interesting tweet in regards to this season’s preseason number one tight end, Jimmy Graham.

I am currently participating in a DLF Mock Draft where he was taken just outside of the first round at pick 13. If you asked most people I believe the consensus would be that Graham had a disappointing season in fantasy. When comparing his stats versus his Average Draft Position then I would definitely agree as he barely outscored Torrey Smith in 2014. But when looking at pure production he still managed 85 receptions, nearly 900 yards and ten touchdowns. I avoided Graham in every draft this season choosing to focus on Rob Gronkowski as his price was too much. But seeing that he still put up strong numbers while suffering through a shoulder injury he may actually fall back to a reasonable price in 2015. 11, 9, 16, 10. Those are Graham’s touchdown totals the last four seasons. Include in that a floor of 900 yards with expectations to eclipse 1,000 and you still have a top tier tight end that can be obtained for a much cheaper price than 12 months ago.

Alex Smith, QB KC

I am of the opinion Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is just an average option in real life football and even worse in fantasy. Whether it be his focus on his first read, countless check-downs or “game manager” attitude that keeps him from advancing the ball down the field, I am not a fan. George Kritikos shared a stat that supported my thoughts tweeting,


I realize Smith is not a hot commodity when fantasy drafts are taking place or even a viable option on the waiver wire in most leagues, but his play also affects his teammates. While he receiving corps may be underwhelming to say the least, I could not see Calvin Johnson making much of a difference running 4-yard routes. More closely though Smith is a drain on Travis Kelce’s upside. While many blame Reid for not utilizing the tight end more this season, I also assume Reid knows what he is doing and did not feel comfortable with Alex targeting “mini Gronk” ten plus times a game. Kelce is a physical talent, but neither Alex Smith or Andy Reid are going anywhere so the cap on his potential will remain.

Flip Ranks

I might be shamelessly plugging the site I am writing for, but if you have not happened to check out the DLF Flip Ranks definitely take a moment. I found the one to one comparisons help really differentiate between players. Have fun, enjoy and provide feedback.

Special call out to Pro Football Focus’ Premium Stats for providing a great tool to pull some of the data and information in this article.

[ad5]

luke wetta
Latest posts by Luke Wetta (see all)