Weekly Twitter Observations
Each week I walk 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.
Quotes of the Week
All fantasy football is good. I don’t care what kind of league you play in. Just PLAY fantasy football.
— Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) August 27, 2015
I had to include this tweet from Jeff simply due to the fact it should remind everyone that in the end fantasy football is a game and is meant to be fun. While some people are making careers or even hitting the daily fantasy lottery, the vast majority of us simply should want to play for the sheer enjoyment. Good luck to all this season.
I hate when I really, really want a player, but the owner who has him, has part of his Franchise name with the player I want in it. Sweet.
— Izzy Elkaffas (@DLF_IzzyE) September 3, 2015
Trading may just be my favorite part of fantasy football. Izzy makes a great comment on those situations though where you know you will be unable to trade with that guy who wants your first rounders for life for their NFL man crush.
LeSean McCoy, RB BUF
I have in no way been a fan of whatever is going on in Buffalo this season from a fantasy perspective. Tyrod Taylor is a quarterback who has 35 regular season attempts in three seasons and inaccuracy has always been his M.O. Now I see him being compared to Michael Vick in his prime. Nope. The offensive line was one of the worst units last season and I do not see enough of an upgrade to expect vast improvement. Now, enter LeSean McCoy who many are still expecting big numbers from based on opportunity as Sigmund Bloom recently remarked,
Heard a lot of arguments to draft McCoy based on volume, but few if any based on McCoy himself. We can do better w coveted 1st/2nd rd picks
— Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) August 31, 2015
Last season, McCoy was one of PFF’s worst rated running backs coming in at 55 of a qualifying 57 runners who claimed at least 25% of their respective team’s offensive snaps. That is not good and LeSean definitely struggled to pick up yards last season. His yards per carry averaged dropped nearly an entire yard from 2013 to 2014 to 4.2 and his usage and performance in the passing game were the worst of his career. In Buffalo, his scoring opportunities will also be much fewer than what he was afforded in Chip Kelly’s offense so the upside just does not appear to be there. Finally, you have a running back who may not even be ready for week one of the regular season dealing with a hamstring injury. The Eagles were fine with letting McCoy walk and gave his big salary to another runner, so you have to believe they saw something in health or ability that was not worth keeping around. Personally, I do not see him finishing as a top 12 RB this season. At 27 and with the number of career touches he has logged I find it difficult to expect his fantasy value to last much longer. Currently he sits around the 7th overall running back in dynasty ranks, which is too high for me. If you could get two years out of McCoy or Marshawn Lynch I would be choosing Lynch every time. I also expect younger runners like Lamar Miller and C.J. Anderson to outperform McCoy this season and would definitely rank ahead of him long term. So based on current perceived market value I would definitely be a seller and preferably before the season starts.
Melvin Gordon, RB SD
A lot of worrying has taken place recently over the Chargers Melvin Gordon as seen in tweets like Jeff’s
Gordon, Oliver, Woodhead RBBC. Looks like same old rushing story in SD this yr. Hard to trust Gordon as RB2 https://t.co/OO6rHBcr9P
— Jeff Haseley (@JeffHaseley) September 3, 2015
No one wants to hear the dreaded running back by committee line when drafting fantasy runners, but to be honest there just are not that many “workhorse” backs left. Teams are using specialists in different aspects of the game and divesting for the most part in money spent at the running back position. Of course San Diego took Gordon with their first round pick so you know the team wants to see him succeed.
Melvin Gordon crushed it at Wisconsin and his 2014 season was highlighted as he nearly set the rushing yards record and added 29 touchdowns to his resume. Gordon fits the “look” of what an NFL running back should be but also came with a few knocks against him coming out of college. Mainly he was never seen as a good pass catcher and would use speed to get around the outside of defenses rather than bang it up through the middle. The Chargers come equipped with a solid third down running back who, as Cian Fahey mentioned, is the better runner today,
Woodhead is just a better RB than Gordon at this stage of his career. Not a major issue, but not ideal considering their investment/team.
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) August 30, 2015
To be fair, Gordon is still a rookie and expecting him to perform to the level of a player like Danny Woodhead on day one is tough. His preseason performance to date has been pretty bad averaging just 2.3 yards per carry on 20 runs, though no other Charger running back has looked great either. In 2013 when Ryan Mathews played all 16 weeks, he averaged just under 18 carries a game. Over the 2011 to 2013 seasons combined, his carries per game were around 16.5 on average. If Woodhead takes all of the third down work and Branden Oliver is used more in relief of Gordon, 16 touches a game sounds about right. In PPR leagues, he will obviously be valued less but getting between 900 to 1,000 yards and six to seven touchdowns seems appropriate year one. Gordon still remains the 10th overall running back for me in dynasty as the team will give him all the opportunities to succeed. I also agree with fellow DLFer Eric on his recent statement and potential to buy low on Gordon in the future.
Melvin Gordon could turn out to be this years version of Bishop Sankey If that happens I will be buying Gordon next year, just like Sankey now
— Breeze (@BreezeIDP) September 3, 2015
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Golden Tate, WR DET
A player I have seen sliding down rankings of late is Detroit’s Golden Tate. Tate is coming off a career year where he posted over 1,300 yards receiving and fell just shy of 100 catches. Of course, many will point out Tate was golden (see what I did there) when super stud Calvin Johnson was out of the lineup or simply playing decoy. There is no denying this, but a recent mention by Nick Mensio got me rethinking where I value him in fantasy.
Yards Per Pass Route Run a good indicator of success for WRs. Top 4 this preseason: Golden Tate, Chris Givens, Brandin Cooks and Steve Smith.
— Nick Mensio (@NickMensio) September 1, 2015
Last preseason’s leaders in Yards Per Pass Route Run: 1. A.J. Green. 2. Dez Bryant. 3. Antonio Brown.
— Nick Mensio (@NickMensio) September 1, 2015
In no way am I suggesting Golden Tate could end up with a fantasy season like Green, Bryant or Brown (and neither was Nick) but it does highlight he is continuing to play at a high level.
Over the last three seasons, Golden Tate has averaged right at 14 yards per reception. This preseason he is a perfect 7-for-7 on targets and racking up 24 yards per catch. Again, Calvin Johnson has not been in the picture, so Tate was sure to shine. But even with Calvin playing during the regular season, I believe Tate should be in line for around 80 catches and 1,100 yards. This is his second year in the system and Matthew Stafford’s confidence in him appears high. The one thing I really like about Tate is if Calvin does miss time, Golden’s ceiling quickly shoots up to WR1 type levels. Johnson has missed games the last two seasons and has never been the healthiest of receivers. Personally, I still see Golden Tate as a low end WR2 in fantasy with big upside potential.
Fantasy Team Name of the Week – 2 for 1
Millions of people play fantasy football and all approach this game we enjoy with different levels of intensity. Above all, though, you should be playing to have fun and that is why the perfect team name is so important. Share your favorite team names in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter. Also, feel free to use the image provided here as well.
Demaryius Targaryen
Forte Year Old Virgin
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.
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Luke practically owns the Twitter machine at @FFGator
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- Weekly Twitter Observations - March 11, 2016
