Eli Manning – Page 2 – The Fantasy Sports Coach

Fantasy Football:NY Giants BreakoutCandidates
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Fantasy Football:NY Giants BreakoutCandidates

Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football:NY Giants BreakoutCandidates

The New York Giants are one of the key teams this year in fantasy football. While some teams are almost entirely ignored during drafts, like our neighbors the New York Jets, the Giants have seven players that will be drafted in almost every 12 team fantasy football league. Here we take a look at all seven and their potential to breakout.

Eli Manning– Eli’s fantasy football stock has come down since last year and that’s just fine by me. While Eli was unable to match his 2011 numbers in 2012, he may be able to surpass those 2011 numbers this year. Eli will rely on a veteran offensive line to keep him upright as he looks to put up huge numbers. The loss of Ahmad Bradshaw will be tough as he was an excellent pass blocking running back and was proven pass catcher out of the backfield.Andre Brown and David Wilson will vie for their touches in the passing game, but only if they can pick up the blitz when called upon. A healthy Hakeem Nicks, a content Victor Cruz, and an emerging Rueben Randle will have defensive backfields on their heels. Brandon Myers is a steady tight end who is an excellent route runner and has soft hands which will be a nice addition for Manning. With all of these weapons Eli could break his career highs and reach the golden QB territory of 5, 000 yards and 30+ touchdowns. One thing he will not and should not do is run with the ball.

David Wilson – I may sound like I am beating a dead drum, but David Wilson’s talent will be hard to ignore. He must prove himself a willing blocker before he gets the keys to the Giants’ backfield, but his skills are undeniable. His biggest comparison player in fantasy football has been C. J. Spiller who was a break out star last year after starting the season as the second running back in Buffalo. Talented backs like Spiller and Wilson are hard to keep on the bench especially after they pick up the nuances of the pro game. if Wilson averages 15 touches a game he is an excellent RB2 this season.

Andre Brown – I fully expect Andre Brown to be a big piece of this offense if he stays healthy. Brown totaled 8 rushing touchdowns last year in limited duty and will be the featured goal-line back this season. His ADP is extremely low for his scoring potential and might be one of the best value picks of a fantasy football draft this year. If Brown gets 15+ touches plus goal-line work he will be a low-end RB2 and excellent flex option.

Hakeem Nicks – Hakeem’s skills are never in question, it’s just his health. With Nicks being extra careful this offseason and not pushing through little injuries here and there, he will be entering the season the healthiest he has been in at least two years. With the extra motivation of a big free agent pay day hanging over his head he could outperform his current ADP by leaps and bounds. He had been drafted as the 5th WR off the boars in previous drafts and now he is being drafted somewhere around the 16th wide receiver off the board. He can easily be a top 8 wide receiver if he stays healthy. 70-85 receptions,1200-1350 Yards, 8-12 TDs should be easily attainable if he is healthy.

Victor Cruz – Victor Cruz could have had a lost season if the Giants didn’t step up to the plate and sign their star receiver from Patterson New Jersey. With Cruz reporting to training camp with a fat new contract in hand he will be eager to live up the money. Sometimes that pressure can be tough to overcome, but Cruz has faced tougher challenges in life and come out on top. I expect Cruz to continue his dominance as one of the best inside wide receivers in the game as he has already shaken off the rust and linked up with Eli Manning in the preseason for a 57 yard touchdown against the Steelers. 80-90 receptions, 1100-1300 yards and 9-11 touchdowns would be an excellent season for this Giants’ star.

Rueben Randle – I have already posted today about Randle’s break out potential, but it’s worth noting that Kevin Gilbride has been personally singled out Randle time and time again during training camp and OTA’s as being one of the best Giants on the practice field. His time may not be this year as he could be Nicks eventual replacement, but in deeper leagues Randle could be a great lottery ticket. If there is an injury to a starting wide receiver there may be no more talented receiver, who’s currently not a starter, to step up and take his place. I expect Randle to have 40-50 receptions for 800-900 yards and 6-8 touchdowns.

Brandon Myers – While in most 10 team leagues Myers may be overlooked on draft day he is being drafted on most sites as the 13th tight end going off the board. Myers production will pale in comparison to his 2012 season in Oakland where he was the only option in the passing game, but he will be a nice piece to the Giants passing game puzzle. His route running savvy and soft hands will make an excellent fourth option in the Giants passing attack. I expect Myers to have 45-60 receptions, 500-650 yards, and 6-10 touchdowns. Not bad numbers for your back up tight end.

This article originally appeared at www.bigblueview.com on July 17th, 2013.

Is Eli Manning Elite? From a Fantasy Football Perspective

Is Eli Manning elite? Ask a New York Giants fan and you will get an emphatic “Yes!” as they describe the Super Bowl winning drives and calm nerves displayed in every big spot. Magician-like throws to David Tyree and Mario Manningham are described in high definition quality while smiles spread across their faces. As John Malkovic in “Rounders” said,”The kid has got alligator blood.” Great quarterbacks are measured by championships and not by numbers on a page.

Win a road playoff game at Lambeau Field? Check!

Win a Super Bowl against an undefeated team of destiny? Check!

Face the New York Media day in and day out and never embarrass the franchise? Check!

You ask a fantasy football owner the same question and you get a completely different reaction. Most fantasy owners wouldn’t be very comfortable coming out of a draft this year with Eli Manning as their QB1 unless they were in a 2 QB league. Manning looked to be heading up the fantasy QB ladder after his fine 2011 season, but followed that up with an average 2012. He almost reached the magical 5,000 passing yard milestone in 2011 but fell 67 yards short. He threw 29 touchdowns against 16 interceptions and looked to be in a tier just below the top 3 fantasy QBs heading into 2012. His average draft position was at an all-time high last year as he was drafted as the eighth overall QB in fantasy drafts. Unfortunately Manning didn’t even reach 4000 yards, but still managed 26 touch downs in 2012.

While Manning’s disappointing 2012 in fantasy production may have left a bad taste in some mouths, I am not adverse at taking a second bite of the apple. I don’t believe his career is headed in the wrong direction. I really see him as being in his prime and just needing the pieces around him to play at a higher level. He still has the arm strength, he still has the alligator blood and now he has a healthy Hakeem Nicks. Not only does he have Nicks, but he has a motivated Cruz, an emerging Rueben Randle and a reliable Brandon Myers.

With opposing defenses being forced to defend every inch of the field again I believe Eli will put up excellent numbers. I project him for 4,200 yards and 28 touchdowns. While I would love to think that Eli could challenge 5,000 yards again, I have to be realistic. Most QBs who throw for 5,000 yards get a lot of added yardage from dumping the ball off to running backs in the passing game. Look at what Darren Sproles has done for Drew Brees and what his absence has taken away from Phillip Rivers. Getting a feel for how to be patient and feel the defense on screen passes is an art. Wilson has the talent to be a weapon, but I need to see his feel for the passing game before I count on 500 or more yards from him. If Wilson ends up with the 280 yards receiving that I project for him this year than that puts Eli in the 4,200-4,300 zone.

I have Eli Manning as my last QB1 in a 12 team conventional scoring league. Many sites have Russell Wilson ranked ahead of Eli at this point, but I still feel Seattle is a run first team that won’t ask Wilson to do too much in his second year. Manning will more than likely be drafted from rounds 7 to 10 in 12 team leagues this year. Sometimes as a last resort QB1 and sometimes as a quality backup to a running QB like RG III or Cam Newton. While he may not be drafted high, Eli can still lead your team to the fantasy championship. He just might need a little help from your other positions. Eli is not in my top 10 fantasy quarterbacks as of right now, but he is the only QB I want with the ball in his hands in the fourth quarter of a big game in real life! Ernie Accorsi had the vision and the guts. Tom Coughlin and Kevin Gilbride had the patience. And we as Giant fans are reaping the benefits.

This article originally appeared at www.bigblueview.com on June 21st, 2013

Fantasy League Commissioner Wanted

You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone. While Cinderella’s early 90’s power ballad may have made me queasy at the time, truer words were truly never spoken. I had no idea how lucky I was that my buddy from age five had been our fantasy football league commissioner for all these years. He was truly unbiased and thoughtful in every situation. Whether it was rule changes, votes for new members, or controversial trades, he always put the integrity of the league first. Over these last 15 years, I now realize I have taken him for granted. I never knew how much he improved my quality of life until I started venturing out into new leagues recently.

I feel like all three major sports leagues in the U.S. could take some notes from my old commissioner. Roger Goodell with the NFL has put himself front and center in all things and only cares about his own legacy. Bud Selig has made MLB an old buddy-buddy league that is full of underhanded dealings and biased rulings. David Stern walks around believing that he made the NBA a must see league, even though it was the league that Magic, Bird and Jordan made. I’m not talking about Gary Bettman because, well this isn’t Canada. Is it?

I have joined a bunch of different leagues the last few years and found the commissioners have closely resembled at least one of the big three. In one league, rules were changed after the draft that clearly benefited the commissioner and his cronies. His Bud Selig impression was not appreciated and I was quickly a one and done league champ. The worst situation was when I joined a dynasty fantasy football league that was clearly run by a Roger Goodell clone. Every correspondence was rank with arrogance. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he traded for Jimmy Graham and Dez Bryant and gave up Eli Manning and Michael Turner. I died a little inside when I emailed the entire league to ask for some back up with my protests to this trade-rape, and found no backers. When I pressed one league member about why he didn’t protest the trade he said, “It wouldn’t matter if we protested, the commissioner has complete autonomy over the league and will beat down any challenges in the ranks.”

Situations and priorities change, and so does life. Three kids later, an ever growing workload, and free time that would only be envied by an indentured servant has made it impossible for me to take on the responsibility of being a league commissioner. I feel like I would be unbiased, fair, and decent, but alas I am not available for the job.

The ones that are available sadly don’t measure up. Think about it…who in their mid-thirties to early forties has time to run fantasy leagues? Single guys in their thirties or forties have the time, but do we really want them in charge? They are probably single for a reason. They have either never had their stuff together long enough to impress a mate or have been found wanting by the opposite sex (or same sex) when given the chance. Whether they lied, cheated, or stole none of these traits make for a good commissioner. Ideally, you want your commissioner to be like the dad from Growing Pains, not Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (Worst Commissioner Ever).

My real frustration comes from the laziness that has permeated some of these leagues. Instead of having an honest commissioner make fair decisions on trades, I have been forced to deal with league votes. How can a league vote ever be fair to a team in a playoff position? It’s like having ten angry jurors deciding your fate. Teams ahead of you have the bias of not wanting you to catch them. Teams below you want to catch up to you and will not be happy if you strengthen your squad. Then there is the team you are playing that week that has the ultimate bias.

Recently I made a trade that had to be put to a league vote. The GM that I was playing that week told me he was voting against the trade solely out of spite. The trade would have given me a little more power and he didn’t want me to make up a disadvantage in homeruns that week. I had to sit on my hands and hope everyone made a fair and unbiased decision. It was gut-wrenching, but it eventually passed. (P.S. Chris Davis hit a two-run homerun on Sunday for me to tie in homeruns and give me the RBI category)

So if you are reading this and feel you are a man among men, please step up to the plate and be a league commissioner. Fantasy leagues need you, I need you, and more importantly, America needs you!

This article also appears at www.FantasyJudgment.com as part of a weekly series called Coach Esser’s Diary.

The Curse of the Playoff Bye

Congratulations to everyone in fantasy land who have made it to the playoffs. A big gold star goes out to those of you who managed to get first round byes thanks to your successful regular seasons. While a week without fantasy football stress sounds like the perfect antidote to pressure endured over the last few weeks of the regular season, beware. A weekend of lounging comfortably and relaxing with your family while others are glued to their televisions, computers and smartphones can actually be your undoing.

Bye weeks for actual NFL players are spent on the golf course or catching up on long neglected household chores. Clean yards and gutters are fine and dandy for NFL players, but yard and gutters will remain a blight on my neighborhood until the league championship is mine.

While you occasionally glance at the scores and check the updates on Monday for injuries, your opponents will have the upper hand of firsthand knowledge. While you adjust your starters based on box scores and injury reports, your opponents will be using their eyes and ears to help them gain an advantage. The box score does not tell the entire story of a game. For instance, you would never know about a snowstorm in Buffalo or a torrential downpour in Miami by reading the stats. You might just be looking at the stats with blinders on, not realizing the starting quarterback was knocked out in the second quarter leading to your receiver having a terrible day.

John Skelton turning it over, again

I suggest you play the week. Pick your starters by doing your homework. Watch the games with a keen eye. Spend your weekend looking for trends such as Denarious Moore being benched again, or Steve Smith getting more targets with Brandon Lafell on the mend. Has Colin Kaepernick actually found a go-to receiver in Michael Crabtree? Does John Skelton throw the ball to Larry Fitzgerald constantly, or does he get hooked faster than I would while performing at the Apollo Theatre?

Injuries are a huge part of the sport and a huge obstacle for fantasy owners. If you have been playing musical chairs with your second running back, you may want to give the job to Montell Owings this week. His bruising style and fresh legs might just be the answer to your RB2 prayers. Danario Alexander is obviously the guy to start if you have injury concerns at receiver. I would have pushed for Cecil Shorts III to overtake any of your other WR2 options, but a concussion suffered against Buffalo has me, and everyone else who rode his hot streak into the playoffs, concerned. If I were the coach and GM in Jacksonville, I wouldn’t risk a possible superstar when we have nothing to play for.

Russell Wilson has been consistent enough to overtake Phillip Rivers, and quite possibly Eli Manning, as a starter for your fantasy team. I would ride him one more week if you have Ben Roethlisberger on your bench. I wouldn’t play him over Tony Romo, Cam Newton, or even Colin Kaepernick yet.

Good luck, and hit me up on Twitter @Coachesser for any start/sit questions you might have.