Fantasy Football is almost Here

Fantasy football is right around the corner and a lot of people don’t know what they’re talking about. That’s why you need me. You need to win your league or at least not finish last so you don’t have to suffer through the crazy punishments being handed out to the last place finish.

So here are my rankings for the best 12 players at each position, starting with the quarterbacks.

1: This spot easily goes to Josh Allen. He’s a quarterback that can pass as a linebacker if forced to play there. I hope that sums up his physique for you. He’s 6’5” and 238 lbs. and was already seen stiff arming defensive linemen and actual linebackers that were attempting to tackle him. He has great rushing ability at his size has is the strongest arm in the NFL. In fantasy, QBs should be going in the fifth round at the earliest. I’ve seen Allen go in the early second.

2:  Next, and by an unexpectedly large gap is Patrick Mahomes. He lost his number one target in Tyreek Hill over the offseason and is left without an above-average wide receiver. He doesn’t have a useable running back either. The receiver that Mahomes will throw to the most is the tight end, Travis Kelce. Many people have dropped Mahomes in their rankings, but I disagree, Mahomes is just too good and creative to be an average fantasy QB.

3: By the smallest of margins from 2-3, Justin Herbert sits in third place. Herbert has QB1 (best QB at the end of the season, fantasy-wise) potential by the end of the season. He has a great receiving running back and two very reliable wide receivers. A strong point of this team is the offensive line, which will give the young Herbert more time to find his receivers. He doesn’t have the scrambling ability of the two QBs in front of him which obviously hinders his ranking.

4: Lamar Jackson is another QB that has QB1 potential if his elusiveness is on-point this season. If he is scrambling and working off of designed QB runs at a higher volume than last season, the defenses will be going crazy trying to figure out if it’s a run or a throw (which he can do very well). Jackson has explosive receivers and one of the best tight ends in the game, Mark Andrews. If Lamar can revert back to his MVP form, he will be the leading scorer on your team every week.

5: At this spot is someone who is being called Baby Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts. Hurts is the best QB at his value. Someone who’ll probably be picked around the 7^th or 8^th round, Hurts is a dual-threat QB with a very dangerous offense. I believe the Eagles are shying away from the run game this season after Miles Sanders posted a terrible season in 2022 so that just opens up more opportunities for Hurts to work his magic.

6: Next is Joe Burrow. He seems like the smaller and less creative version of Josh Allen unless it’s the playoffs when fantasy football already ended. Now, hear me out, if Burrow can get more creative and confident this season, he can even move up in my rankings, although, I’m going to hold out on moving him up too high on my list. Burrow has all the weapons he needs to be higher, like superstar wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, a few more above-average wide receivers, and an improved offensive line. I think it’s crazy that some rankings have him at #8 or even lower.

7: Here I have Kyler Murray. I know, it hurts even me to put him this low after I won two leagues with him at the helm. Except, I predict that the downward trend he showed late in the season last year will carry over to this season. His number one receiver, DeAndre Hopkins is suspended for the first six games of the year and Hopkins had injury scares last year, which doesn’t bode well for the Cardinals’ offense. They acquired Marquise Brown, but he never made as big an impact on the Ravens as everyone expected, so why should the narrative differ? Murray is still a solid option, though.

8: Russell Wilson will be a very interesting QB for fantasy this year. He was traded from the Seahawks to the Broncos this year but I don’t believe that will make too much of a difference. People underestimate the Broncos' offense. The Seahawks had two good or great receivers, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and the Broncos have the same thing, two good or great receivers, Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. Sure, his offensive line isn’t that great and he still doesn’t have a good tight end. But it’s the veteran Russell Wilson, he’ll still be a very reliable fantasy option.

9: Dak Prescott is a very hit-or-miss QB, but I really like him. He’s leading one of the most dangerous offenses in football this season, with three dependable players to throw to and as usual, a great offensive line, Prescott is shaping up to be a pretty good fantasy QB. Prescott is 29 years old, there is not that much room for improvement, and I predict this is the last season we can rely on him to scramble for a few yards, but if his offensive is humming along, he’ll be a top fantasy scorer. But remember, he is very hit or miss, he can go off for 35+ and then come back the next week and drop 11, believe me, I know from experience.

10: At the ten spot we have Tom Brady, the GOAT of football. Last year he went crazy and tore up the football field and played amazingly, for the umpteenth season in a row. Although, that was with Rob Gronkowski and a fully healthy Chris Godwin. Godwin is still on the team, although he’s coming off of a torn ACL, and who knows how he’ll come back. Although Brady has a good offensive line, he’s going into his 45^th year of life and it’s really hard for me to believe that he will play well, yet again. Brady’s been a statue in the pocket his whole career, and his agility only rivaled by an oak tree, so there’s no potential running upside there. But he’s the GOAT, and Father Time hasn’t caught up to him, and who knows if he ever will, so Brady might feel cute and deliver the best season a QB has ever posted in the NFL.

11: Here’s a controversial one: Trey Lance of the Niners. He didn’t even start last season, but this season I put him higher than Matt Stafford, Derek Carr, and Aaron Rodgers. I believe in this kid. I love watching young players play out of their minds and prove everyone wrong. Trey Lance is a baby Jalen Hurts. Give Lance two years tops and he’ll be Hurts. Give him another two or so years and I think he’ll be up there with Lamar Jackson. He has a lot of weapons around him to throw to and will be protected well in the pocket. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes as the QB7 or higher. Drafting Lance gives you the luxury of stacking up your team so heavily that you can just scoop him up in the 11^th or 12^th round.

12: Matt Stafford is last on the list. Many people will tell you it’s Aaron Rodgers but don’t believe them. Aaron Rodgers is getting older and he just lost the best wide receiver in football, Davante Adams, and his replacement, Allen Lazard, isn’t a quarter of the player Adams is. But Matt Stafford on the other hand is younger and has better teammates. Cooper Kupp, who is one of, if not the best wide receiver in football, Allen Robinson, and Van Jefferson are the wide receivers. Along with this storybook WR room, they also have a very dependable tight-end Tyler Higbee and a great offensive line. Odds are, that if you waited this long for a quarterback, the rest of your team will be so stacked with talent that a solid QB is exactly what you need.

This year, there are a lot of talented QBs for fantasy. Here are my rankings of the top 12 fantasy QBs for the upcoming season to help you win your league.

The running back list coming up next. 

 Why have the Amazins been Amazing?

You can count on three things in life: death, taxes, and the Mets giving their fans multiple heart attacks before the season ends. The Mets have been on an insane hot streak as of late, right after being on a pretty bad losing streak.

So let’s break it down, why have the Mets been so good?

Let’s start with some misconceptions on the topic. Social media will tell you that the Mets are 20-5 with Daniel Vogelbach on the team. This isn’t basketball, though, one player can’t make that great of an impact, especially when he’s not at the superstar level. It’s a cool stat, though, but Big Dan didn’t inject the Mets with any special sauce.

The Mets offense has also been in a slumber, waking up occasionally to put up the rare 8+ spot in a game and then go back to the average 3-4 runs per game. You can group the Mets offense into one group, with their ups and downs but note that each player has ups and downs with freaky consistency. Starling Marte hit two homers last night against the Braves. When will be the next time we see one leave the yard off Marte’s bat? Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or in three weeks. No in between. To show you I’m not exaggerating, our power hitter, Pete Alonso hasn’t hit a homer in his last 50 at-bats, but watch him go off for a three-home run game tomorrow. The catcher, James McCann’t, hasn’t barreled up a baseball since before I was born (unfortunately, this isn’t going to change). But hey, only like 5% of catchers are used for offense, we use ours for defense. James McCANNON has a registered firearm attached to his shoulder.

The two main reasons for the Mets' success that I can see are the insane squad depth they have and the unreal pitching they have.

Everyone, minus the catchers and the pitchers can hit somewhat. The Mets have no weaknesses. The Mets can afford to platoon players in the right position and rest the starters. That’s a premium not a lot of teams have. Like I said in my last blog, the Mets knew that squad depth wins a lot of baseball games for you, and they made good on that, by trading for a lot of backup hitters. This is even raised to a power when you look at the Mets’ top prospects and you see the first seven are position players. Two days ago, the first eight were position players until third baseman Brett Baty was called up. Boy did that guy make a difference. He hit a home run on the first swing he took as a big leaguer. And this is exactly my point, Baty was called up because Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme, the starting and backup third basemen, were both just put on the IL.

The Mets’ pitching has been top five in the league since Jacob DeGrom made his debut. Whether it be Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard as the supporting cast, or Zach Wheeler and Syndergaard, or the oddballs like Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha, or this year where the supporting cast is the other four starters playing out of their minds, Jacob DeGrom has always been a staple. No, probably not just a staple, more like a nail, but not a regular nail, like a railroad nail, he’s that important. This year, the Mets have the two best pitchers in baseball when they’re at their best, Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer, and the three other starters, Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker, the Mets would easily be the top 2 on any team in baseball other than the Dodgers.

Almost every night, you can get a solid 5 innings out of any of the starters, and usually, they’ll give you more. It’s demoralizing for any team to know that you aren’t going to touch any of the starters, especially DeGrom and Scherzer until you finally run them out of the game in the sixth or seventh inning, they have health concerns or it’s the ninth inning and the bulldog in the ‘pen wants to be unchained.

Let’s move on to the bullpen, specifically the closer because there isn’t much to talk about with the rest of the bullpen. As with every bullpen nowadays, the closer is the shining star of every bullpen, without fail, no team has that lockdown set-up, man or 6-7th inning guy.  

The Mets have been blessed with really good closers for a while now. First, it was Jeurys Familia, who would be the most imposing closer in baseball for quite a while, and then there was a limbo period in which no one was really “that guy” for the Mets. Then came Edwin Diaz. He started out rough, but he’s the best closer in baseball now. Period, end of the discussion, no debate. Not only does he have the scariest walk-up song – as a pitcher – that’s going viral everywhere, he will cut you open with only two pitches: his triple-digit fastball or his slider that cuts and drops at 90 MPH and is purely unhittable. 

2022 MLB Trades

Here’s my recap of the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline.

Is it just me, being a teenager, or have I not witnessed a baseball trade deadline where so few moves happened?

There was a very small amount of blockbusters and there were not too many small deals.

Starting with the Padres, the undeniable, irrefutable, and indisputable winners of the deadline; they picked up tons of talent over the week leading up to August 2nd.

They picked up Juan Soto, who may very well be the best player in baseball in just a few years. Sure, they’ll have to pay him a lot of money and roll that into their payroll that’s already paying Fernando Tatis Jr. for half a century. But Soto is just that good. He’s not too bad of a fielder, even though that’s his worst quality. What makes him the big bucks, though, is his plate discipline. Soto will take a pitch a half inch out of the zone and not just once a game, but probably once or twice an at-bat. This pitch selection helps him hit the number of extra-base hits he does.

They also traded for Josh Hader, who’s easily a top 3 closer in baseball right now. Along with Josh Bell and Brandon Drury, both of whom will be reliable bats off the bench or in the DH position. One of the most underrated moves the Padres made, however, was shedding a player, not gaining one. Eric Hosmer, whose golden days died out when he was on the World Series-winning Royals, was just clogging up salary on their payroll and San Diego traded him to Boston. Great move.

I mean, yeah, they had to get rid of a small village to get all these players but I think it’s worth it. The Padres are already talented and just got even more upgrades. A++ for the Padres.

Next, we have is the Yankees. How much better can these boys get? Well not too much. They got rid of Joey Gallo and got Andrew Benintendi, a very reliable bat to perfectly fill in for Gallo. They did pretty much everything they wanted to except win a World Series in August. They also acquired back end-of-the-rotation starter Frankie Montas and got yet another outfielder in Harrison Bader. A- for the Yankees.

You haven’t heard the Phillies in headline news, have you? I heard they got Noah Syndergaard and I merely nodded my head at that move, considering how much more Syndergaard has in the tank. They acquired a center fielder in Brandon Marsh (I bet you’ve never heard of him. Check his stats, though) and more bullpen help. Here’s a tip, if you ever find yourself as an MLB general manager and don’t know what to do at the deadline, just get bullpen help. It’s that perfectly average move, no one will praise you yet no one will criticize you either. A- for the Phillies.

It’s unfortunate the Mets couldn’t do anything big. Steve Cohen, a very aggressive owner took over the Mets a couple of years ago and the Mets GM, Billy Eppler, is also a fairly new addition. They were very aggressive in the offseason, but during the regular season, they didn’t trade for anyone great. The Mets got Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf, Tyler Naquin, and Mychal Givens, none of whom are going to have a prominent role in the club, but rather be platooned with other guys and getting a start once every four days. The Mets even had the prospects and the MLB talent to do it. They should’ve easily traded for someone above average to bolster the team. B- for the Mets.

Another blown opportunity comes from Los Angeles. The Dodgers could’ve made a super team. I’m not hoping for that, because that will take over the league, but they could’ve. They still have an insane farm system. They obviously don’t need it, so they could’ve thrown it all to a team with a star. Like the Nationals before Soto was dealt. Some might even say the Dodgers got worse by getting Joey Gallo because we know how Joey Gallo hits and where are the Dodgers going to put him. Terrible deadline from them, all they got was a little depth. C for the Dodgers.

The biggest loser of the deadline, though, is probably the Baltimore Orioles. For the Orioles, being on the losing side of something is not an uncommon occurrence; they actually encounter it quite frequently. They entered the deadline just 2.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot, and they got worse. Finally, after years of waiting, the Orioles could smell a playoff spot, and they haven’t blown it yet, but they are on a good path to doing so. Why would they trade away their best players? It’s definitely not to rebuild, we’ve heard that one before, and they’ve been in “rebuild mode” for five years. Unfortunately, it’s not that they could not have gone “all-in.” They have one of the best farm systems in the league, so it would be right for them to get all the players needed to reach that Wild Card spot. They were so close, but they were about to be so far. D- for the Orioles.

There weren’t a whole lot of moves this deadline, but the moves that were made carried a lot of weight with them.