Nimble w/Numbers

Nimble w/Numbers

Vol.1 Issue 11 

12/21/2019

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Put your money where you mouth is.” It’s a phrase that originated in the 1930’s as a call to support what you cared about with your money or your time. Makes sense. But given the American bent towards individualism, there’s no surprise that is has since been appropriated by the masses as a friendlier way to tell someone to “put up or shut up.” When you actually break the phrase down, it really has an ingenious way of showcasing the human desire to be both right (ego) and also to win (survive). If you listen hard and long enough on Sunday mornings, you can faintly make out its Tell Tale Heart, capriciously beating within the dystopian Id that is the sports gambling community. If you would indulge me a brief story to help me illustrate my point. A while back my NY Giants loving brother-in-law believed so strongly that that his G-men would beat Ray Lewis and the Ravens in Super Bowl 35 that he was was willing to financially back his blusterous claim. When push came to shove, I challenged his resolve and said, “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is.” He was powerless to resist the challenge and retorted, “I’ll bet you $20 the Giants win the Super Bowl.” After making the ominous wager, he boasted again, “I would bet anyone!” Having realized that he had not quite learned his lesson, I did what every great brother-in-law would have done and I called a few of my friends into the room to get in on the action as well. In total, he lost $60 that day. LOL! He may have foolishly backed an obvious loser, but he stood by what be believed in and at least he was man enough to put his money where his mouth was.

I say all of this because after spending the last few months listening/watching all the weekly DFS tout sights’ podcasts, I find it a little disingenuous to hear DFS after DFS analyst tell us that they will, “have quite a bit of Saquon today” or “Derrick Henry is all over my lineup” or “Matt Ryan will be one of my top QB/WR stacks.” WTF does that mean? In the end they have covered all their bases, but not truly taken a stand. There is no quantification. What I have come to realize is that I could care less about who an analyst touts on their Youtube channel (while stuffing pizza down their throat) and instead I want to know who actually makes it into their weekly DFS lineups. Don’t tell me that you are “going to be getting a shit ton of Julio today”, I want to see your receipts! What are your player percentages? Show me the percentages!!!!

After reflecting on my own process, I have decided to write my weekly DFS article after I have entered all of my DFS line-ups. Now, I will be able to accurately track who I am playing each week and more importantly, put my money where my mouth is with my DFS advice. Here are my player percentages for both the Saturday and Sunday main slates. My receipts.

QB/WR Stacks with favorable match-ups 

QB	Russell Wilson $8,300	Drew Brees $8,200	Matt Ryan $7,700	Phillip Rivers $7,500
WR	Tyler Lockett $7,600 DK Metcalf $6,300	Michael Thomas $9,000 *Jared Cook $6,600	Julio Jones $8,000 *Austin Hooper $6,000	Keenan Allen $6,800 Mike Williams $6,500

High Cost value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Lamar Jackson $9,300	Kyler Murray $7,700
RB	Christian McCaffery $10,800	Saquon Barkley $8,800	Zeke Elliot $8,700	Chris Carson $8,200
WR	Michael Thomas $9,000	Julio Jones $8,000	Amari Cooper $7,700	AJ Brown $7,200
TE	Zach Ertz $6,900	Jared Cook $6,600	Mark Andrews $6,500	Darren Waller $6,500
DST	Pittsburgh Steelers $4,900	Baltimore Ravens $4,500

Low cost/high value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

RB	Alvin Kamara $7,200	Kenyan Drake $7,100	Austin Ekeler $6,800	Adrian Peterson $6,500
RB	Devonta Freeman $6,200	Kareem Hunt $6,100	DeAndre Washington $5,600	Latavius Murray $5,500
WR	DeVante Parker $6,900	Keenan Allen $6,700	Zach Pascal $6,600	DJ Moore $6,600
WR	Michael Gallop $6,500	Terry McLaurin $6,500	DK Metcalf $6,300	Tyler Boyd $6,300
TE	Austin Hooper $6,000	Noah Fant $5,900	Jacob Hollister $5,700	Greg Olsen $4,900
DST	NO Saints $3,800	Dallas Cowboys $3,600

I wish you all the best in week 16!

May the fantasy gods be with us all! 

Nimble w/Numbers

Nimble w/Numbers

Vol.1 Issue 10 

12/13/2019

Fantasy football is not dead. But it might feel that way for some of us as we mourn the loss of our fantasy football teams. I cried (on the inside, like a real man) after my fantasy football team “I’m at Full Chubb”, may it RIP, was eliminated 168.95 to 167.5 on Monday night. My team was stacked with Drew Brees, Nick Chubb, Chris Carson, Chris Godwin, DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, Keenan Allen, Darren Waller and Mark Andrews. This genius left both Drew Brees (54.7) and Ryan Tannehill (41.1) on his bench and played Carson Wentz (29.4). This was just the latest heartbreak in a sad 15 year fantasy football career of near misses and never has been championships. While I was openly grieving and lamenting on Tuesday morning, my wife hit me with, “It’s enough to make you quit.” I retorted, “What did you say?” in my best Will Ferrell Anchorman voice. Followed by, “I will never quit! I want to win dammit!!” Cooler heads have prevailed and thankfully this years’ story hasn’t been fully written yet since I still have one more bullet in the re-draft chamber. I’ll fill you in next week and let you know if I am playing for $1400 or for $200. God help me if it’s not for $1400!

Great news for both of us is that fantasy football does not have to be over!! We can get right back on the horse and fire up some daily fantasy football (DFS) to help ease the pain of our loss. Hell, I’m getting the band back together this week and I am picking my re-draft team in DFS. You should too. Or maybe you are out for blood. Got knocked out in the first round by McCaffery, saddle up and ride him to DFS glory in some weirdo DFS style revenge fantasy. No more Patrick Laird after your team got eliminated. DFS is all Patrick Laird, all the time! The beauty of DFS is that you can be any team you want to be. 4 out of 5 (80%) fantasy football analysts recommended it to therapeutically treat “Fantasy Football Derangement Disorder” more commonly known as FFDD, which often occurs in the weeks, and for some months, after the fantasy football season has ended. Signs of this ever increasing disorder include stalking mock drafting lobbies, angry Tweeting the fantasy analyst blaming them for making you start Russell Wilson and muttering “JuJu fucking Smith Schuster” repeatedly under your breath at work. There is hope for you in DFS. Come and wash off your sorrow and be reborn into a whole new fantasy szn.

Winners!

I splurged in week 14 and played in the 1.65M GPP as well as my weekly smaller GPP tournament. Analyzing these winning lineups, we will deconstruct the roster build and use the lessons learned to build our own optimal lineup for week 15.

Winning lineup for Week 14 Fanduel $1.65M Sun NFL Dive ($9 to enter) contest.

Winning lineup for Week 14 Fanduel $125K Sun NFL Hail Mary ($1 to enter) contest.

Analyzing the Weekly Winners

• Michael Thomas & AJ Brown stacked with their respective QBs netted 65.5 and 59.64 . It is hard to win without picking the top stacks of the week.
• Each had one of the two top RBs with Austin Ekeler at 29.3 and Aaron Jones at 28.2. They also selected strong mid-value RBs in Freeman, Henry and Gordon who didn’t sink their chances.
• Game stack shootouts! The Emmanuel Sanders/Michael Thomas game stack was good for 55.5. We all saw that one coming.
• The $300,000 winner leveraged cheaper WRs in Pascal ($6,100) and Terry McLaurin ($5,600) who ended up both finding the endzone.
• Pittsburgh DEF (4.2x) continues do deliver fantasy value each week.

QB/WR Stacks with favorable match-ups 

QB	Deshaun Watson $8,200	Jared Goff $7,800	Baker Mayfield $7,800	Baker Mayfield $7,700
WR	DeAndre Hopkins $8,600	Cooper Kupp $7,600 Robert Woods $7,500	Amari Cooper $7,700 Michael Gallop $6,800	Jarvis Landry $7,400 Odell Beckham $7,200

High Cost value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

RB	Dalvin Cook $8,500	Leonard Fournette $7,700	Todd Gurley $7,600	Raheem Mostert $7,500
WR	DeAndre Hopkins $8,600	Kenny Golladay $7,900	Julian Edelman $7,700	Julio Jones $7,500
TE	Travis Kelce $7,300	George Kittle $7,200	Zach Ertz $6,700	Darren Waller $6,200
DST	New England $5,000	San Francisco $4,500

Low cost/high value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Ryan Tannehill $7,600	Tom Brady $7,600	Ryan Fitzpatrick $7,300	Eli Manning $6,800
RB	Kareem Hunt $6,700	Joe Mixon $6,700	Phillip Lindsay $6,400	Kenyan Drake $6,200
RB	Matt Breida $5,600	Duke Johnson $5,600	Patrick Laird $5,500	Chris Thompson $5,200
WR	Emmanuel Sanders $6,900	DeVante Parker $6,900	DJ Moore $6,800	Keenan Allen $6,800
WR	Michael Gallop $6,800	Deebo Samuel 6,500	DK Metcalf $6,300	Darius Slayton $6,300
WR	Terry McLaurin $6,000	Mecole Hardman $5,600	Danny Amendola $5,400	Chris Conley $5,100
TE	Noah Fant $5,700	Tyler Higbee $5,700	Dallas Goedert $5,700	Ian Thomas $5,300
DST	Kansas City $3,900	Chicago Bears $3,800

Weekly Best Lineup –  RB/WR Balanced

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Baker Mayfield	$7,700
RB	Leonard Fournette	$7,700
RB	Todd Gurley	$7,600
WR	DeAndre Hopkins	$8,600
WR	Jarvis Landry	$7,400
WR	Chris Conley	$5,100
TE	Zach Ertz	$6,700
FLX	Patrick Laird	$5,500
DEF	LA Rams	$3,600

Weekly Best Lineup – RB Heavy

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Eli Manning	$6,800
RB	Dalvin Cook	$8,500
RB	Leonard Fournette	$7,700
WR	Sterling Sheppard	$5,900
WR	Kenny Golladay	$7,900
WR	Terry McLaurin	$6,000
TE	Zach Ertz	$6,700
FLX	Patrick Laird	$5,500
DEF	New England	$5,000

I wish you all the best in week 15!

May the fantasy gods be with us all! 

Nimble w/Numbers

Nimble w/Numbers

Vol.1 Issue 9 

12/7/2019

Show me the money! Fantasy football is the best form of sports entertainment. Full Stop. Over the last 20 years fantasy football has grown into a billion dollar industry with around 60 million people participating in 2019. There are lots of compelling reasons people are playing fantasy football, but why the sudden explosion in popularity? I know that in my home re-draft league, the draft night spectacle is wild and well worth the price of admission. But it has to be more than bros loving football and getting together to bro out and talk copious amounts of trash while slamming beers and while trying to figure out why Sammy Watkins went in the third round. In reality billions of dollars are wagered/gambled each year on fantasy football. Cash is king. And until recently, I thought that most fantasy football participants all agreed that the ultimate purpose for playing fantasy football was to cash. That’s why I was shocked when I came across a poll that Jeff Ratcliffe from ProFootballFocus (PFF) conducted on whether or not you should pick players up off the wavier wire after you have been eliminated from the playoffs. 44% of the over 5,000 people who voted, indicated that they think “you should keep playing” even if you do not make the playoffs. It was stunning to me that such a large percentage of the fantasy football community clearly doesn’t that the losers in your fantasy league shouldn’t take precedence over the winners.

Why would people who have nothing to play for keep picking up players even after they have been eliminated from cashing? My own core belief on this issue is that once the playoffs have started and you are eliminated from contention, no longer having the opportunity to win cash, you should under no circumstances ever pick up a player off of the waiver wire. (If you play in a no money league. First, WTF? And second, this doesn’t apply to you). Firmly entrenched in my beliefs, I bravely dropped into the comments on Jeff’s thread and mixed it up with the 44% to try to find out where they had lost their way.

• Draft Picks are on the line – I sucked all year and now I want to be rewarded
• Avoid the Toilet Bowl punishment – I don’t want to wear a dress at Arby’s!
• The Consolidation bracket made me do it – I can’t think for myself
• I paid for this dammit! – Me > People who can actually win money
• Over my dead body! – I cannot let anyone win because I am insecure.

I realize that lots of leagues incentivize continued participation once the playoffs start by tying draft picks to where you finish in the consolidation ladder or forcing the last place finisher in the league to some outrageous form of humiliation. Both of these ideas makes sense on the surface. Keep people involved in the league. Make the draft order interesting. Got it. But explain to me why it should trump (Sorry, I hate even correctly using that word now.) my ability to win cash. Your little last place tournament isn’t the reason we are here. It’s like going to a basketball court. Getting a team together. Waiting your turn. Getting on the court. Losing a game. And then teaming up with the team that lost the first game and kicking the winners off the court so that you losers can run a game. You lost. Take your ball and go home and then open up your computer or phone and play DFS.

Still others argue the old tried and true, if someone built the bridge, we have to walk on it fallacy. When did we lose the plot and decide that since ESPN and Yahoo have a consolidation bracket, it is mandatory everyone participate in it? I’m guessing that Jake is the kind of guy that never fails to fills out and mail in the warranty card for his electric toothbrush. Oh it is simple Jake. You can simply disregard the consolidation ladder because it isn’t required to win the championship.

And of course, there is the most American argument of them all. ME! It is all about me and my fun. I will be playing every single week and actively trying to disrupt people who actually can win money. Oh, its a dick move alright. Imagine people thinking that a game that they are eliminated from should somehow be negatively impacted by them. This is just gross. This guy would be kicked out of my league immediately. I respect the guys I play with in my home league too much to purposefully try to take food out of their mouths. If you play fantasy football to be a dick to your friends and family, your definitely helping me prove my point.

My decent into madness (Jeff’s Twitter thread) did not deter me. All of the reasons people provided made some sense. They weren’t outrageous, they just were short sighted and individualistic. They elevate participants who have lost the chance to win cash and placed them on par with those who still have skin in the game. This is where all of their arguments fall apart. Not all fantasy teams are created equally, and those that cannot compete for a championship shouldn’t hinder those who can once they have been eliminated. Here is my suggestion to all the good fantasy football participants who did not make the playoffs: Play DFS.

Winners!

Now let’s take a look at some of the DFS winners who took down some of the smaller GPP tournaments. Analyzing these winning lineups, we will deconstruct the roster build and use the lessons learned to build our own optimal lineup for week 14.

Winning lineup for Week 13 Fanduel $125K Sun NFL Dive ($1 to enter) contest.

Winning lineup for Week 13 Fanduel $50K Sun NFL Hail Mary ($0.25 to enter) contest.

Analyzing the Weekly Winners

• Both lineups featured a low priced QB/WR stack from a high scoring game.
• Identify High Scoring Games! The winners featured a combined total of 9 Dolphins/Eagles players on their rosters. That was 50% of their rosters.
• Miles Sanders was a stone cold steal last week priced at only $5,800.
• The WR combo of Davante Adams and DeVante Parker netted 52.8 fantasy points.
• Tyler Higbee played the pass funnel 32nd ranked Arizona Cardinals defense and went for 7 rec, for 107 yards and 1 TD.
• Silver lining: Both winners swung and missed (Chubb – 8.4 and Agholor 7.6) and were still able to bring home the victory.
• Cheap DEFs are still back! Bucs DEF scored 23 points for a 6.1x value and the Chiefs scored 22 points and had a value of 5.2x.

DFS Resources

Each week I peel back the current and share part of my process for constructing my DFS lineups. This week I am sharing the outstanding work of Jeff Ratcliffe and the great team at ProFootballFocus. Jeff’s weekly fantasy focus article contains insights and analysis that helps me identify key players to build my core lineup around. I highly recommend you add Jeff to your weekly DFS process as well!

QB/WR Stacks with favorable match-ups 

QB	Aaron Rodgers $8,100	Sam Darnold $7,700	Baker Mayfield $7,600	Ryan Fitzpatrick $7,400
WR	Davante Adams $8,000 Allen Lazard $5,600	Robby Anderson $6,400 Jamison Crowder $6,000	Jarvis Landry $7,300 Odell Beckham $7,800	DeVante Parker $7,200  *Mike Gesicki $5,400

*QB/TE Stack

High Cost value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Lamar Jackson $9,000	Aaron Rodgers $8,100	Sam Darnold $7,700	Jameis Winston $7,700
RB	Christian McCaffery $11,000	Derrick Henry $9,100	Aaron Jones $7,800	Melvin Gordon $7,300
WR	Michael Thomas $8,000	Davante Adams $8,000	Chris Godwin $7,900	Kenny Golladay $7,400
TE	Austin Hooper $6,600	Mark Andrews $6,600	Jack Doyle $6,300	Darren Waller $6,200
DST	Green Bay Packers $5,000	Houston Texans $4,700

Low cost/high value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Ryan Tannehill $7,300	Kyle Allen $7,100	Andy Dalton $7,000
RB	James White $6,000	Jamaal Williams $5,600	Patrick Laird $5,500
RB	Alexander Mattison $5,100	Darwin Thompson $5,100	Bilal Powell $4,900
WR	D.J. Moore $7,100	Calvin Ridley $6,900	Keenan Allen $6,800
WR	James Washington $6,700	Tyler Boyd 6,300	Zach Pascal $6,100
TE	Vance McDonald $5,800	Ryan Griffin $5,600	Kyle Rudolph $4,800
DST	San Francisco $3,800	Tampa Bay $3,800

Weekly Best Lineup – WR Heavy

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Aaron Rodger	$8,640
RB	Kareem Hunt	$6,400
RB	Derrick Henry	$9,100
WR	Calvin Ridley	$6,900
WR	Davante Adams	$8,400
WR	DeVante Parker	$7,200
TE	Kyle Rudolph	$4,800
FLX	Bilal Powell	$4,900
DEF	NO Saints	$3,800

Weekly Best Lineup – RB Heavy

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Sam Darnold	$7,700
RB	Christian McCaffery	$11,000
RB	Derrick Henry	$9,100
WR	Robby Anderson	$6,400
WR	DeVante Parker	$7,200
WR	Diontae Johnson	$5,100
TE	Kyle Rudolph	$4,800
FLX	Bilal Powell	$4,900
DEF	San Francisco 49ers	$3,800

I wish you all the best in week 14!

May the fantasy gods be with us all! 

Nimble w/Numbers

Each week I will be highlighting my favorite fantasy football analysts. Make sure to check out the outstanding work that Jeff Ratcliffe does over at ProFootballFocus!

Jeff Ratcliffe @JeffRatcliffe Fantasy football for @PFF | Husband & dad | Rankings | DFS | Player prop bets | winning @SiriusXM host | TV on @CBSSportsNet | Wu-Tang | IG: jeffratcliffePhilly jeffratcliffe.com

Nimble w/Numbers

Vol.1 Issue 8 

11/30/2019

Heat is one of my favorite movies. During the dramatic bank robbery scene, there is a pivotal moment when De Niro and his team exit the bank. Brandishing automatic weapons and carrying millions of dollars in huge black duffel bags, they head towards their getaway car. The camera cuts to Al Pacnio and his LAPD Major Crimes Unit Team, who unbeknownst to the robbers, have descended on the bank in order to thwart the attempted robbery. De Niro and Tom Sizemore make it to the car and just as Val Kilmer exits the bank, money in hand, he allows a wry, smugly satisfied smile to briefly flash across his face. This portends to disaster though, he has celebrated too soon, and a split second later all hell breaks lose on the streets of LA. It is cinematic perfection.

My own personal “Heat” moment happened last Sunday. After smugly boasting of taking down a casino, my team and I were flat out robbed by the Washington football team (who of course won the game against the Lions outright). SMH. Since the Lions were the play of the day, we infused the match-up into all of our teasers and parlays. Just like our heroes in Heat, who thought they planned the perfect robbery, our bankrolls never stood a chance to make it out alive. There was so much bitterness when the Lions gave up the game winning field goal. Betting tickets were being ripped up and discarded left and right and once again the Washington football team was resoundingly cursed. We were all big losers. Everyone, except for Chuck that is. Who is Chuck you ask? I don’t know! None of us had ever met the guy. He just showed up as a friend of a friend and then took down a super parlay and won $2,000. He had cashed in his winning ticket and split by 4:10 p.m. leaving us all embittered and a bit shell shocked. To a man we all agreed. We had been robbed!! Oh and F Chuck!

Winners!

We are turning it around this week! Now let’s take a look at some of the DFS winners who took down some of the smaller GPP tournaments. Analyzing these winning lineups, we will deconstruct the roster build and use the lessons learned to build our own optimal lineup for week 13.

Winning lineup for Week 12 Fanduel $15K Sun NFL Dive ($0.05 to enter) contest.

Winning lineup for Week 12 Fanduel $60K Sun NFL Hail Mary ($0.25 to enter) contest.

Analyzing the Weekly Winners

• Both lineups featured a low priced QB/WR stack. Good reminder that you can find cheap value at QB and breaking the bank for Lamar Jackson isn’t always a recipe for success in GPP tournaments.
• One team had 4 Browns. I’ll give you a minute to process. Jarvis Landry has been fire the last 4 weeks with 29 receptions for 339 yards and 5 TDs.
• The RB stack in the JAC vs TEN game paid off in a big way with Derrick Henry and Leonard Fournette combining for over 60 points.
• Didn’t you get the message that it was Chris Godwin szn last week?
• Ertz was the only TE who actually saw game action last week. I kid (only 4 TE scored over 10 points on the main slate on Sunday).
• Cheap DSTs are back! Washington had an ungodly 7.0x value last week.

Podcasts

Listening to podcasts is pretty much a life requirement for anyone living in 2019. I’m sure that you wouldn’t be surprised to learn that each week I listen to select DFS Podcasts as part of my preparation for building my lineups. One of my favorites is the Rotobahn Podcast featuring Pete Davidson. Check out his outstanding work at Rotobahn and make sure to listen to his weekly DFS Podcast for player insights and match-up analysis.

QB/WR Stacks with favorable match-ups 

QB	Patrick Mahomes $8,600	Aaron Rodgers $8,100	Jared Goff $7,900	Nick Foles $7,500
WR	Tyreek Hill $8,400 Sammy Watkins $6,100	Davante Adams $8,000 *Aaron Jones $8,000	Cooper Kupp $7,800 Robert Woods $7,800	D.J. Chark $6,900  Dede Westbrook $6,900

*QB/RB Stack

High Cost value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Lamar Jackson $8,700	Patrick Mahomes $8,600	Aaron Rodgers $8,100
RB	Christian McCaffery $11,000	Aaron Jones $8,000	Josh Jacobs $7,700	Le’veon Bell $7,300
WR	Davante Adams $8,000	Cooper Kupp $7,800	Jarvis Landry $7,400	D.J. Moore $6,800
TE	Travis Kelce $7,100	George Kittle $7,000	Darren Waller $6,100	Ryan Griffin $5,600
DST	Philadelphia Eagles $5,000	Carolina Panther $4,700

Low cost/high value plays based on match-up, opportunity and breakout potential. 

QB	Sam Darnold $7,600	Nick Foles $7,500	Carson Wentz $7,000
RB	Kenyan Drake $6,400	Phillip Lindsay $6,300	Ronald Jones $6,200
RB	Miles Sanders $5,800	Darrel Williams $5,400	Chase Edmonds $5,000
WR	Alshon Jeffery $6,500	Emmanuel Sanders $6,400	Jamison Crowder $6,300
WR	Sammy Watkins $6,100	Christian Kirk 6,100	DeVante Parker $6,000
TE	Tyler Higbee $5,500	Dallas Goedert $5,200	Jack Doyle $5,000
DST	LA Chargers $3,900	Pittsburgh Steelers $3,700

Weekly Best Lineup – WR/TE Heavy

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Patrick Mahomes	$8,600
RB	Ronald Jones	$6,200
RB	Miles Sanders	$5,800
WR	Tyreek Hill	$8,400
WR	Davante Adams	$8,000
WR	DeVante Parker	$6,000
TE	Travis Kelce	$7,100
FLX	Darren Waller	$6,100
DST	LA Chargers	$3,900

Weekly Best Lineup – RB Heavy

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Kyle Allen	$7,200
RB	Christian McCaffery	$11,000
RB	Leonard Fournette	$7,600
WR	Alshon Jeffery	$6,500
WR	D.J. Chark	$6,900
WR	D.J. Moore	$6,800
TE	Jack Doyle	$5,000
FLX	Chase Edmonds	$5,000
DST	Baltimore Ravens	$4,000

I wish you all the best in week 13!

May the fantasy gods be with us all! 

Nimble w/Numbers

Each week I will be highlighting my favorite fantasy football analysts. Make sure to check out the outstanding work that Pete Davidson does over at Rotobahn!

Pete Davidson @Rotobahn http://Rotobahn.com is my baby. Fantasy Football writer and broadcaster for @WEEI. Unwilling sufferer of fools and lover of logic.

Subtitle: The Hit Machine

Nimble w/Numbers

Vol.1 Issue 7

11/26/2019

This year I am thankful for the Turkey Bowl! For those who don’t know, the Turkey Bowl is a yearly spectacle that showcases the long since shattered dreams of grown adult men, who are still grasping at the glory of their football youth. As turkeys are getting stuffed, men all around the country are amassing in public parks, open fields and in big back yards to play football. The game is tackle, with full offensive and defensive lines, 1 point for TD, no field goals (we were crazy enough to implement full kick-offs the first few years) and there are no ties. There will be blood. A few concussions for sure. You cannot walk for the next few days. It’s football at its purest. It’s as American as pumpkin pie.

If you won’t mind letting me wax poetic, my illustrious Turkey Bowl career lasted from 1998-2005. I was a master play-caller and regularly brought index cards with hand-drawn plays into the huddle. It was like I invented the wheel route (thank you Madden 2000). But I wasn’t all brains back then. I lettered in varsity high school football (impressive I know) and was always down for a tussle on the gridiron. During one Thanksgiving game, I made a seminary student say what was probably his first official curse word in frustration. He bellowed, “What the hell” as muscled I him over onto his back to sack the QB. Most of the guys I played against over the years didn’t know how insecure and full of anger I was, which means they never stood a chance. I was a defensive monster and I liked it rough. I wasn’t going to chase anyone down, but if we met in the hole, you were going to become part of my Turkey Bowl highlight tape. My best hit ever was against an Italian Rugby player named Andre who was built like a tank. With me as his lead blocker one year, he beasted out and scored 3 touchdowns. Defenders were bouncing off him like he was Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl. He was unstoppable and I was a little jealous this newcomer was stealing a bit of my Turkey Bowl shine. I had played high school football dammit! The following year I made sure that we were not on the same team. One of the first plays from scrimmage, Andre took the hand-off and cut inside the B gap. I was playing middle linebacker, so I could get a running start. I had waited a year for this! Adrenaline surging, I shot into the hole and completely obliterated a 240 lbs statue of a man, while of course yelling out a primeval scream that attracted no attention whatsoever. The best of times!!

Ironically, Andre moved to Australia, played in a competitive American football league and nicknamed himself the “Hit Machine.” I like to think that each time he laced them up Downunder, he just couldn’t shake the image of me standing over him that fantastic Turkey Bowl morning, and deep down inside, he knew who the real “Hit Machine” was.

Sadly, my Turkey Bowl glory days are behind me now. I hung up the cleats and threw away the mouthpiece years ago. I’ve been married to a beautiful lady for 14 years, have two amazing daughters in elementary school, and my hands have grown soft from typing all day long. But, I will never forget my past Turkey Bowl triumphs and I won’t let Andre either.

Now onto business. I am so thankful that there are three NFL games on Thanksgiving so that I can get my DFS on! Here is a special Thanksgiving edition of Weekly Best Lineup to wet your beak before we get to Sunday’s main slate.

Weekly Best Lineup

POS	Player Name	Price
QB	Drew Brees	$8,500
RB	Devin Singletary	$6,600
RB	David Montgomery	$5,900
WR	Michael Thomas	$9,200
WR	Julio Jones	$7,800
WR	John Brown	$6,600
TE	Jared Cook	$6,700
FLX	Logan Thomas	$4,700
DST	Bills	$4,000

I decided to stack Brees and Thomas, which limited my RB selections to lower-priced rookies. Hoping that they both lives up to their 3rd round potential after being drafted this past spring with back-to-back picks. I like going top-heavy with Julio Jones, John Brown and Jared Cook who all have the potential to haul in a TD. My flex and defense were what was left when you stack the most expensive two players combined.

Hopefully, you all have a great Thanksgiving celebrating with your loved ones. My in-laws don’t believe in TVs or football and naturally, they will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year. So think of me while you are stuffing your faces with turkey and mashed potatoes and are thoroughly enjoying your holiday GPPs and cash games. I’ll be getting caught up on all the latest Boomer news that I didn’t know I missed. So glad I’m sober. They’ll be so much to digest.

May the fantasy gods be with us all! 

Nimble w/Numbers

P.S. “This is a Robbery” will be updated and addressed in the next issue. Let’s just say that it was a blood bath!!