Fantasy football magazines aren’t all that
August 8th, 2009 at 12:10 am by Howard Chen under Sports
DISCLAIMER: this blog isn’t meant to be a form of self promotion. Instead, it’s just common sense.
Right now, with training camps having started up last week in the NFL, the time is now where you go to the grocery market and see fantasy football draft previews line the magazine racks. Most ordinary football fans playing fantasy have been known to purchase a few of these magazines for the sake of reference.
Don’t waste your money.
I’m not saying the information in those magazines are bad. I’m just saying that, by the time most leagues should hold their drafts, the preseason is just about over, position battles will have just about finished, and you’ll have your fair share of injuries. These are things that those magazines cannot predict. They’d be outdated. Now if you’re like me and you have a subscription to what I believe is the elite of sports magazines – Sports Illustrated – then you’ll automatically receive their fantasy football guide.
I’ve learned over the years that Sports Illustrated is actually very weak in their fantasy evaluations. They’ll occasionally get a sleeper right, but most of the time, that’s not the source to go to. Yahoo Sports, which puts on a GREAT fantasy-sports product, has HORRIBLE fantasy advice because as soon as somebody, regardless the sport, has one good appearance, they jump on the bandwagon. I personally believe in the advice of Fox Sports, and trust me when I say I am looking at this objectively and I am NOT doing any cross promotion.
Another great source of fantasy knowledge is Lance Zierlein, a Houston sports radio personality and the son of NFL assistant Larry Zierlein. Be sure to check out the Z report on the Houston Chronicle’s sports website (http://www.chron.com/sports). LZ knows his stuff, and he’s also a tremendous guy to boot.
As for myself, I create my own unique rankings where I use straight-up common sense. How many carries will a running back get? What team does he play for? If it’s a winning team, that means more value for a running back because he’ll carry the rock more to run out the clock. Is the team primarily a running team or a passing team? What weapons are around the fantasy player in question? What’s the offensive line like, because THAT seriously determines things.
And so I’m very close to beginning work on my fantasy football rankings. This blog will be where I keep you posted as to my thoughts. I’ll tell you this much… I think Pierre Thomas will be this year’s version of Steve Slaton- overlooked for no good reason, and then finish with a tremendous season.
Wow… didn’t mean to rhyme there.
Tags: fantasy football, Lance Zierlein, Larry Zierlein, LZ
Hey there! I'm the Sports Director here at WUPW-TV Fox Toledo. No, I wasn't born as Mr. Fantasy, but the nickname was given to me when I started becoming a guest on an all-spo...
If I was a betting man – and I am. I would say that I believe in some of the things mentioned – but if I am about to put together my list for fantasy football – I had better know or try to know what the other guy is picking. And if they are reading the magazines like Sporting News (my favorite) and on line with draft kits and the whole research dept. from espn working for them – I better have a good guess as to what they will pick or the ADP (Average Draft Position) of each player that I want – so that I get them on my team. Which after doing over 20 mock drafts online at mockdraftcentral.com (which was fun by the way) you have to use the magazines only because everyone else is.
Yea, I will say that the magazines are solid, but they lose effectiveness over time as injuries and other NFL drama develop. I only use my magazine that I subscribe to (SI) for bye week reference purposes. Other than that, I use my own rankings and philosophies.
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I have been away from the loop with football too long. I loved it as a kid, growing up. Being from Texas, it turned out always the Cowboys. Back then, the heroes were Roger Staubach and Tom Landry. Later on, after shifting to California, I found myself once in a while rooting for John Brodie of the 49ers, however it was always Cowboys when the two came head-to-head. Right now, I’m retired. The demands of output deadlines, personal initiatives and endless errands have receeded. And I wax nostalgically for the gridiron and also the pleasure of the tournament. Yes, I will be watching so much more football. You may bet on it.
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