Two big announcements from Instant Fantasy Sports this week:
1) We've added daily basketball contests to our site. So far all of our leagues have lasted one week. These new contests last only one day! We expect these daily leagues to be popular because of the quick turnaround. You can buy in, draft your team, watch the games, and get paid within less than 24 hours. Check out daily hoops contests in our lobby now.
2) We've set up a system of alerts that will help you keep track of your drafts on our site. Click on the "My Account" tab and then click on "Alerts" and you'll see the options we have set up for you. You can choose from email, audio, and popup alerts that will occur when your draft fills up, when it starts, and when it's your pick. Like many of our additions to the site, this one comes directly from user feedback. Please let us know what you think of the alerts system!
As for football, we've come to week 14. Let's take a look at the RB situation to give you some hints for your drafts this week. We like LT and Westbrook as the top two backs this week. This is probably not a surprise. After that it gets a little murky though. Here are some candidates:
- Joe Addai was a number one overall pick in some IFS leagues just a few weeks ago. He has really fallen off however and the Colts running game might struggle against the Ravens defense this week. We would stay away from Addai in week 14.
- Earnest Graham has been a stud since taking over the starting job in Tampa. He's had a TD in four straight games and has had 100 yards on the ground in three of those contests. He has a favorable matchup this week as well. His name is not known as well as some others in this list but that's changing fast.
- Ryan Grant is similar to Graham: he wasn't expected to be a fantasy force this year but has really shined since his team has been giving him the rock. Oakland can't stop anybody on the ground and Grant has had some decent production through the air as well.
- Steven Jackson has been good since returning from his injury, but has not racked up a 100 yard rushing game. The Bengals defense is a little hard to predict, but this should be a pretty good matchup.
- Adrian Peterson (MIN) is a horse. We all know it by now. The only questions are whether he'll get enough carries to be a top 5 performer and whether his injured knee will hold on. We wouldn't bet against him.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Basketball Comes to IFS!
As you may have seen in our email announcement, we launched our weekly basketball contests this week at Instant Fantasy Sports. We want to use this post to take a look at some of the players who are leading the league using our scoring system so far. Okay, if you're a fantasy basketball fan, you know that guys like Kobe, LeBron, Yao, and Garnett are always going to be top picks if healthy. None of those guys have disappointed yet this year.
Some guys you might not expect are hanging around the tops of the rankings, though. One is Carlos Boozer. His huge point and rebound averages make him a monster in our format. Another big guy to consider is Dwight Howard, who brings the points and boards like Boozer, but adds 2+ blocks per game. Remember, each block is worth 3 points at Instant Fantasy Sports. There are also two guards lighting it up: Chris Paul and Baron Davis. Paul has already established himself as an elite PG in the league and you can count on him for big points and assists every night. Baron is always an injury risk, but seems to be healthy and the focal point of his team's offense so far. Then there's a guy who savvy fantasy players have been drooling over for a little while now: Josh Smith. J-Smoove is one of those rare players who brings production across the board in every category. He's a little banged up right now, so you might want to lay off of him until he's back healthy, but a healthy Josh Smith is a guy I want on my fantasy team any day of the week.
As for football, we think you should check out two RBs this week that we don't normally recommend. Clinton Portis and Chester Taylor. Don't pick these guys over the every week studs, but if you have room at the back of your lineup, we like them as potential big producers this week.
Let us know how you like those basketball contests if you play some this week. We'll be adding daily basketball leagues shortly.
Some guys you might not expect are hanging around the tops of the rankings, though. One is Carlos Boozer. His huge point and rebound averages make him a monster in our format. Another big guy to consider is Dwight Howard, who brings the points and boards like Boozer, but adds 2+ blocks per game. Remember, each block is worth 3 points at Instant Fantasy Sports. There are also two guards lighting it up: Chris Paul and Baron Davis. Paul has already established himself as an elite PG in the league and you can count on him for big points and assists every night. Baron is always an injury risk, but seems to be healthy and the focal point of his team's offense so far. Then there's a guy who savvy fantasy players have been drooling over for a little while now: Josh Smith. J-Smoove is one of those rare players who brings production across the board in every category. He's a little banged up right now, so you might want to lay off of him until he's back healthy, but a healthy Josh Smith is a guy I want on my fantasy team any day of the week.
As for football, we think you should check out two RBs this week that we don't normally recommend. Clinton Portis and Chester Taylor. Don't pick these guys over the every week studs, but if you have room at the back of your lineup, we like them as potential big producers this week.
Let us know how you like those basketball contests if you play some this week. We'll be adding daily basketball leagues shortly.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Week 10
It's week 10. And here's what you need to know about week 10 at Instant Fantasy Sports. The Patriots are on bye. The top two overall scorers, Brady and Moss, are out for your drafts this week. This should make for some interesting picks. With these guys not playing, who is the #1 pick this week? Here are some candidates:
- Westbrook - hard to argue with a RB who caught 14 balls for 90 yards last week, in addition to his rushes.
- Addai - The main cog in the powerful Colts offense. Could be a shootout in San Diego this week. Another guy who catches a lot of dump-offs out of the backfield.
- Tomlinson - Do we need to explain why LT is a good pick?
- Peterson - Dude broke the all-time record for rushing yards in a game, as you all know. He's basically the Vikes whole offense at this point.
- Owens - With Moss out, TO becomes a top option at WR.
- Wayne - The injury to Marvin Harrison has vaulted Reggie Wayne into elite status. If Harrison doesn't play or if he's limited, Wayne could have a huge game.
We don't think guys at any other positions are legit #1 options this week. Gates, always a favorite of this blog, put up a real stinker last week. Do you think you might pick someone else if you got the first overall selection this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.
- Westbrook - hard to argue with a RB who caught 14 balls for 90 yards last week, in addition to his rushes.
- Addai - The main cog in the powerful Colts offense. Could be a shootout in San Diego this week. Another guy who catches a lot of dump-offs out of the backfield.
- Tomlinson - Do we need to explain why LT is a good pick?
- Peterson - Dude broke the all-time record for rushing yards in a game, as you all know. He's basically the Vikes whole offense at this point.
- Owens - With Moss out, TO becomes a top option at WR.
- Wayne - The injury to Marvin Harrison has vaulted Reggie Wayne into elite status. If Harrison doesn't play or if he's limited, Wayne could have a huge game.
We don't think guys at any other positions are legit #1 options this week. Gates, always a favorite of this blog, put up a real stinker last week. Do you think you might pick someone else if you got the first overall selection this week? Leave us a comment and let us know.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Week 9 NFL
We've come to week 9 of the NFL season - the halfway point. If your season-long fantasy teams aren't doing so hot and have fallen out of playoff contention, remember that you can always draft a new team at Instant Fantasy Sports. On to some thoughts about week 9:
- QB - Tom Brady is a sick animal. You know this already. The thing to remember in our format is that you want to draft the player with the highest value relative to other players at his position. Brady is that guy right now and he will be that guy until he slows down. If you're not lucky enough to land Brady this week, some sleepers we like are Jay Cutler and Drew Brees.
- RB - We're a little fearful of the talk out of Indy that Kenton Keith is going to steal carries from Joe Addai, but we're touting Addai here until we see his numbers drop off. LT is the other obvious top RB choice. Lendale White has really been turning it on the past few weeks, so check him out if you miss out on the top 5 backs. Cincy can't stop anybody, so Marshawn Lynch is also an option this week. This is a good week to pass on Fast Willie Parker who has a bad matchup against the Ravens.
- WR - Honestly the top of the WR category has been pretty boring this year. Same guys every week. You know who they are. If you're looking for an end-of-draft sleeper who won't be on anyone's radar, we like Dwayne Bowe this week, but he's not an option in 2-man leagues.
In other news, we're hard at work testing our basketball contests this week and will be rolling them out very soon. If you want to get in touch with us about anything, leave a comment here or drop us a line at support@instantfantasysports.com .
- QB - Tom Brady is a sick animal. You know this already. The thing to remember in our format is that you want to draft the player with the highest value relative to other players at his position. Brady is that guy right now and he will be that guy until he slows down. If you're not lucky enough to land Brady this week, some sleepers we like are Jay Cutler and Drew Brees.
- RB - We're a little fearful of the talk out of Indy that Kenton Keith is going to steal carries from Joe Addai, but we're touting Addai here until we see his numbers drop off. LT is the other obvious top RB choice. Lendale White has really been turning it on the past few weeks, so check him out if you miss out on the top 5 backs. Cincy can't stop anybody, so Marshawn Lynch is also an option this week. This is a good week to pass on Fast Willie Parker who has a bad matchup against the Ravens.
- WR - Honestly the top of the WR category has been pretty boring this year. Same guys every week. You know who they are. If you're looking for an end-of-draft sleeper who won't be on anyone's radar, we like Dwayne Bowe this week, but he's not an option in 2-man leagues.
In other news, we're hard at work testing our basketball contests this week and will be rolling them out very soon. If you want to get in touch with us about anything, leave a comment here or drop us a line at support@instantfantasysports.com .
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Week 8 Thoughts
Week 8 is an interesting one for fantasy matchups! You have some tough matchups for some guys who are traditionally picked high and some easier matchups for some lesser known players. If there was ever a week to take a chance with some unusual picks, this is it.
QB - Brady. Thanks Captain Obvious. After him though, it gets very interesting. Our personal pick at #2 this week is Big Ben Roethlisberger. The Cincy defense is ridiculously bad. If a defense can make Chad Pennington look like a decent NFL QB, you know they stink. Our sleeper this week is Derek Anderson, who is also playing a bad, bad defense (STL). Hey, maybe Anderson isn't such a sleeper. He is the #8 overall scorer in our format so far this year, ahead of Peyton, Palmer, and all other QBs not named Brady or Romo.
RB - LT. Duh. Double duh. But then it gets a little murky. Parker is a strong play, but PIT passed a lot last week and was effective with it. Addai is always an option, but the word out of Indy this week is that Keith will see an increased role in the offense. Gore has an injury, so check his status before you draft him. Westbrook has a tough matchup but is one of those guys who could go off for an insane week at any time. Our sleepers this week are Marshawn Lynch and Jesse Chatman. Who else are the Dolphins going to give the ball to?!
WR - Yawn. Nothing to see here really. The same guys who have been putting up studly numbers this year are all good picks this week. Don't sleep on Reggie Wayne. This is finally the year that he emerges as the #1 option (and yes, this should continue even when Harrison is completely healthy).
K - Don't over-react to Bironas. That was a one in a million game. No reason to think he will be Superman every week.
QB - Brady. Thanks Captain Obvious. After him though, it gets very interesting. Our personal pick at #2 this week is Big Ben Roethlisberger. The Cincy defense is ridiculously bad. If a defense can make Chad Pennington look like a decent NFL QB, you know they stink. Our sleeper this week is Derek Anderson, who is also playing a bad, bad defense (STL). Hey, maybe Anderson isn't such a sleeper. He is the #8 overall scorer in our format so far this year, ahead of Peyton, Palmer, and all other QBs not named Brady or Romo.
RB - LT. Duh. Double duh. But then it gets a little murky. Parker is a strong play, but PIT passed a lot last week and was effective with it. Addai is always an option, but the word out of Indy this week is that Keith will see an increased role in the offense. Gore has an injury, so check his status before you draft him. Westbrook has a tough matchup but is one of those guys who could go off for an insane week at any time. Our sleepers this week are Marshawn Lynch and Jesse Chatman. Who else are the Dolphins going to give the ball to?!
WR - Yawn. Nothing to see here really. The same guys who have been putting up studly numbers this year are all good picks this week. Don't sleep on Reggie Wayne. This is finally the year that he emerges as the #1 option (and yes, this should continue even when Harrison is completely healthy).
K - Don't over-react to Bironas. That was a one in a million game. No reason to think he will be Superman every week.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Week 7 Football and Some Basketball Questions
Okay, maybe we were wrong about Antonio Gates. After five straight big games, Gates had a bit of a stinker in week 6 and Gonzalez and Cooley had big weeks. Even Winslow and Shockey beat out our boy Antonio this past week. We'll quiet down a little bit about picking Gates #1 overall in your leagues, but we maintain that it's a reasonable strategy given the right matchup.
In happier news, Larry Johnson returned in week 6. Look for LJ to have some big games in the coming weeks. If you can get your hands on him in week 7, do it. Our sleeper pick from week 6, Kurt Warner, got hurt, so we'll consider that a neutral result (although you could argue he was more likely to get hurt given his age).
Some more thoughts about week 7:
- You probably don't need us to tell you this, but Tom Brady would be a good #1 pick this week againt Miami. The top QBs (Brady, Palmer, Peyton, Romo) probably won't change all year unless someone gets hurt.
- It's LT's bye, so there isn't a clear #1 RB this week. We like LJ as we mentioned above. If Westbrook is healthy, he should have a big game. Ronnie Brown has a tough matchup but he's such a huge part of his team's offense especially given the trade of Chambers this week that we still think he's a reasonable top 5 RB against the Pats. Reggie Bush is another option after the Saints looked like a totally different team in week 6. You might want to give Joe Addai a week to get back in the swing of things after missing some time. We say to pass on him this week.
- With Edwards and Steve Smith on bye this week, the WRs to target are Moss, Owens, C Johnson, Housh, and Plax (if healthy).
- This is the one week we won't talk about Gates as a TE option (he's on bye). Focus on Witten and Gonzalez this week, though we don't think Tony G can keep up the pace he's been on.
Shifting to basketball for a second, we'd love your input on a question we have about formatting our leagues. This is copied from our newsletter:
In happier news, Larry Johnson returned in week 6. Look for LJ to have some big games in the coming weeks. If you can get your hands on him in week 7, do it. Our sleeper pick from week 6, Kurt Warner, got hurt, so we'll consider that a neutral result (although you could argue he was more likely to get hurt given his age).
Some more thoughts about week 7:
- You probably don't need us to tell you this, but Tom Brady would be a good #1 pick this week againt Miami. The top QBs (Brady, Palmer, Peyton, Romo) probably won't change all year unless someone gets hurt.
- It's LT's bye, so there isn't a clear #1 RB this week. We like LJ as we mentioned above. If Westbrook is healthy, he should have a big game. Ronnie Brown has a tough matchup but he's such a huge part of his team's offense especially given the trade of Chambers this week that we still think he's a reasonable top 5 RB against the Pats. Reggie Bush is another option after the Saints looked like a totally different team in week 6. You might want to give Joe Addai a week to get back in the swing of things after missing some time. We say to pass on him this week.
- With Edwards and Steve Smith on bye this week, the WRs to target are Moss, Owens, C Johnson, Housh, and Plax (if healthy).
- This is the one week we won't talk about Gates as a TE option (he's on bye). Focus on Witten and Gonzalez this week, though we don't think Tony G can keep up the pace he's been on.
Shifting to basketball for a second, we'd love your input on a question we have about formatting our leagues. This is copied from our newsletter:
For our weekly basketball leagues, which of the following do you prefer and why?
a) Your team scores the sum total of all the points scored by your players in that week (this means that if Kobe Bryant plays 2 games in a week, and a lesser player plays 4 games in that week, the lesser player will be more valuable).
b) Your team scores the points scored by your players in their best two games that week (no matter how many games a player plays, you get credit for his two highest scoring games that week).
c) Your team scores the average points scored by each player that week (take the total points a player scores in a week, divide by the number of games he played, and you get the average score).
Post thoughts in the comments or email us. Thanks. Good luck in NFL week 7.
Post thoughts in the comments or email us. Thanks. Good luck in NFL week 7.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Week 6 (And Recapping How Our Picks Sort of Stunk In Week 5)
Our week 5 picks were not the best we've ever made. This is summarized in a comment made by one of our users on our blog post from last week:
"Way to go guys... you really know how to pick. Romo had five picks and a fumble, LJ sucked yet again, Witten almost perfomed as well as Gates (meaning Gates is not worth the 1st pick) and Holt went off. Nice call on all of these. GG $6. "
What can we say? We think we're pretty knowledgeable about fantasy sports and we trust the sources we use, but nobody gets it right every week. Although Romo turned it over 6 times and was not atop the QB rankings from week 5, he did throw for 300 yds and 2 TDs. It's not like he has a terrible fantasy week. Larry Johnson...really, what can we say? He has not been any good this year. Somehow, we still have confidence in him. So much so that we are picking him again this week (see below). If you predicted that Torry Holt would have a great week with Gus Frerotte throwing to him and the rest of the STL offense seemingly sputtering, you're better at predicting these things than we are. As for Gates, we stand by our man on this one. Witten has had a big five week stretch, but we don't think he can keep pace with Gates. Witten will probably be the #2 TE the rest of the way, but we think Gates will blow him out of the water when it comes down to it.
On to some picks for this week:
- Here we go again, LARRY JOHNSON. I think we are just going to keep picking him every week until he breaks out of his slump. Surely then we will look like geniuses. All kidding aside, Cincinnati has the 29th ranked rushing defense so far this year. If LJ can't run against them, we might lose hope for him. Come on LJ!
- With Peyton on bye this week, the top QB choices are the same old guys: Brady, Palmer, and Romo. Romo has a tough matchup and didn't look so good on Monday night, so beware. In deeper leagues, don't sleep on Kurt Warner. Yeah, we said it.
- Speaking of Kurt Warner, he and Larry Fitzgerald should get together often against a Carolina defense that's not so good at stopping the pass. Whether Boldin plays or not, Fitzy is a very strong play this week at WR.
- Pick Antonio Gates this week if you can. Witten has a very tough matchup and nobody else shows up consistently at the TE position. Gates will win many leagues for his owners this week.
"Way to go guys... you really know how to pick. Romo had five picks and a fumble, LJ sucked yet again, Witten almost perfomed as well as Gates (meaning Gates is not worth the 1st pick) and Holt went off. Nice call on all of these. GG $6. "
What can we say? We think we're pretty knowledgeable about fantasy sports and we trust the sources we use, but nobody gets it right every week. Although Romo turned it over 6 times and was not atop the QB rankings from week 5, he did throw for 300 yds and 2 TDs. It's not like he has a terrible fantasy week. Larry Johnson...really, what can we say? He has not been any good this year. Somehow, we still have confidence in him. So much so that we are picking him again this week (see below). If you predicted that Torry Holt would have a great week with Gus Frerotte throwing to him and the rest of the STL offense seemingly sputtering, you're better at predicting these things than we are. As for Gates, we stand by our man on this one. Witten has had a big five week stretch, but we don't think he can keep pace with Gates. Witten will probably be the #2 TE the rest of the way, but we think Gates will blow him out of the water when it comes down to it.
On to some picks for this week:
- Here we go again, LARRY JOHNSON. I think we are just going to keep picking him every week until he breaks out of his slump. Surely then we will look like geniuses. All kidding aside, Cincinnati has the 29th ranked rushing defense so far this year. If LJ can't run against them, we might lose hope for him. Come on LJ!
- With Peyton on bye this week, the top QB choices are the same old guys: Brady, Palmer, and Romo. Romo has a tough matchup and didn't look so good on Monday night, so beware. In deeper leagues, don't sleep on Kurt Warner. Yeah, we said it.
- Speaking of Kurt Warner, he and Larry Fitzgerald should get together often against a Carolina defense that's not so good at stopping the pass. Whether Boldin plays or not, Fitzy is a very strong play this week at WR.
- Pick Antonio Gates this week if you can. Witten has a very tough matchup and nobody else shows up consistently at the TE position. Gates will win many leagues for his owners this week.
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