I'd like to welcome our two new teams to the 2014 VP3 Fantasy season: Bradys Brothers and Marceline the Vampire Queen (name to be confirmed).
The draft is hours away and I'm sure we're all eager to get this thing started.
So to get us there, how about another story from Madden 15:
I started my Madden Ultimate Team the other night. It's a mode of playing that combines the Madden gameplay with old fashioned trading cards. Rather than just picking a team to play you unwrap trading card packs and you play the players you get in your card packs. You make a few selections at the outset and depending on those decisions you receive certain starting packs. I chose to focus on my short-passing game. The MUT system then dealt me the Short-Passing game trading card pack which I opened with great gusto. I then burst into laughter/outrage when I saw the quarterback I had been dealt: Johnny 'football' Manziel.
Johnny Football is a rookie, taken in this years draft in the first round by the Browns. He is a young superstar in the making, but he is a long way from that point yet. He carries a massive chip on his shoulder and is more famous for being a party boy/jerk than a footballer. When he got selected at the draft he made his signature hand gesture on stage, rubbing his finger together in the money-making motion. In one pre-season game he received a large fine for giving his opponent the bird, and he got into trouble in social media for posting a photo of himself in a bathroom with what appears to be dope. All of this without actually being able to read a playbook - somewhat necessary for a QB, but not at the college he went to where they play fast and loose.
The Browns are a long-term loser team that have never really got their act together. They brought Johnny Football into the team alongside another young QB and made them compete for the starting job. It's been an embarrassment really. The Browns are ontrack for another terrible season and JF is ontrack to be looking for a new on two years time after posting a terrible record at the Browns. My crystal ball gives him a 70% chance of ending up like Tim Tebow, for those with football memories. The Browns needed to draft a decent O or D line player and then buy a veteran QB in free-agency - they did not need to draft a young fratboy like Manziel to make their lives difficult. But some teams never learn.
On my MUTs team Johnny Football is now 2-0 in the pre-season and looking good. Until I can unwrap a better QB and then its back to the bench or the Auction for Johnny Football. Probably still a better outcome than his actual career trajectory.
See you all after the draft.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Happy Birthday Agent P
It's your birthday .....
I hope the years have been kind, as a head coach I guess you don't have to be as young and spry as your players .....
... lets hope the the football gods gift you a good draft tonight ... I say good and not great 'cause you know round 4 isn't that far away ......
Birthday Hugs from Adam W. (HC II, coaching legend, all round nice guy, Ksc, etc)
I hope the years have been kind, as a head coach I guess you don't have to be as young and spry as your players .....
Birthday Hugs from Adam W. (HC II, coaching legend, all round nice guy, Ksc, etc)
Friday, 29 August 2014
Thursday, 28 August 2014
Madden 15
The second most exciting day of this time of year was yesterday, August 28 - the day Madden 15 is released. The most exciting day being, of course, next Friday when the first NFL game for the season is played.
Like any good NFL obsessive I bought Madden 15 and quickly raced home to oooh and ahhhh at all the new candy. And ooh and ahhh I did.
It took a few minutes to install on my Xbox One but before long I told Madden my favourite team was the Patriots and I was invited to attend training camp. Well, it's a good place to start. I stopped the Basic Offence trainer pretty quickly, lob versus bullet pass? I've worked out. On to Defence.
Wow! Madden for years has kept the camera rotated the same way whether you are playing O or D: the O is at the bottom of the screen heading up and the D is at the bottom of the screen going down. This is fine when you're playing O and the camera is behind the head of your QB, you can see what is going on and get a good feel for the field. But when you're playing D - well you never cared that much about individual assignments as you were not behind the head of your D. As one reviewer characterised it: playing defence was something you did until you could control the offence again. Not anymore. On D the camera swings around and can tuck in tight behind a defender. There are all new controls for defensive players that make playing D, well, like playing D. It was a lot of fun.
After the D trainer we moved on to concepts. Madden 15 is willing to take your hand and walk you through NFL playbooks, explain how to read a defence, how to pick the best play to beat the D and how to execute it. It takes you through why offence plays are drawn the way they are, and which route to throw to depending on what the defence does. Of course, you can jump straight into a game and play like normal - but I found it useful, intriguing and left wondering why they didn't do it years ago. Maybe the expectation has been that Madden gamers are ex-high school footballers? Computer games for jocks? But for a simple Aussie like me, left to figure it all out, having my own personal tutorials and coach in Madden is like a dream come true.
The graphics: amazing. Physics: amazing. Environment: amazing. The interface has had a major makeover and is, at times, intimidating. There is so much information presented with so little time to read it before you have to select a play. Couple that with extra information on my phone via the SmartGlass companion and it's almost information overload. I'll get used to it as I log countless hours, like every year.
This is a video showing the transition of Madden from its Neanderthal roots in the late-80s to next-gen simulation:
Like any good NFL obsessive I bought Madden 15 and quickly raced home to oooh and ahhhh at all the new candy. And ooh and ahhh I did.
It took a few minutes to install on my Xbox One but before long I told Madden my favourite team was the Patriots and I was invited to attend training camp. Well, it's a good place to start. I stopped the Basic Offence trainer pretty quickly, lob versus bullet pass? I've worked out. On to Defence.
Wow! Madden for years has kept the camera rotated the same way whether you are playing O or D: the O is at the bottom of the screen heading up and the D is at the bottom of the screen going down. This is fine when you're playing O and the camera is behind the head of your QB, you can see what is going on and get a good feel for the field. But when you're playing D - well you never cared that much about individual assignments as you were not behind the head of your D. As one reviewer characterised it: playing defence was something you did until you could control the offence again. Not anymore. On D the camera swings around and can tuck in tight behind a defender. There are all new controls for defensive players that make playing D, well, like playing D. It was a lot of fun.
After the D trainer we moved on to concepts. Madden 15 is willing to take your hand and walk you through NFL playbooks, explain how to read a defence, how to pick the best play to beat the D and how to execute it. It takes you through why offence plays are drawn the way they are, and which route to throw to depending on what the defence does. Of course, you can jump straight into a game and play like normal - but I found it useful, intriguing and left wondering why they didn't do it years ago. Maybe the expectation has been that Madden gamers are ex-high school footballers? Computer games for jocks? But for a simple Aussie like me, left to figure it all out, having my own personal tutorials and coach in Madden is like a dream come true.
The graphics: amazing. Physics: amazing. Environment: amazing. The interface has had a major makeover and is, at times, intimidating. There is so much information presented with so little time to read it before you have to select a play. Couple that with extra information on my phone via the SmartGlass companion and it's almost information overload. I'll get used to it as I log countless hours, like every year.
This is a video showing the transition of Madden from its Neanderthal roots in the late-80s to next-gen simulation:
Draft is imminent
With 4 days 1 hour and 22 minutes to go head coach of the Illuminators, Adam W. would like to welcome the new coaches along witb those returning from last season. He also would like to take this opportunity to suggest that if you don't want to see the light burn brightly in your eyes you should take the easy way out and quit now .... you've been warned .... don't complain at the end of the season when the lights take out the league and the cup .... oh and have a good time people .....
Monday, 25 August 2014
Pre-draft rankings
My fellow coaches,
The draft is less than a week away and while I'm sure most of you are just kicking back waiting for the online draft to allocate you a team, a few Coaches are agonising over their pre-draft ranking: coaches like me.
Firstly, the draft will determine a draft order - coaches will be assigned position 1 to 10. Position 1 gets first pick in the first round. To make things... not necessarily fair, but more fair, in Round 2, position 10 will pick first, through to position 1 picking tenth. And it will keep snaking on and on until the teams are filled.
The online draft will allocate the highest ranking player in its ranking list. Currently, the top ten is:
RB Adrian Peterson
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Jamaal Charles
RB Matt Forte
RB Marshawn Lynch
RB Eddie Lacy
WR Calvin Johnson
QB Peyton Manning
TE Jimmy Graham
RB Arian Foster
The Coach who scores Pick 1 would be allocated AP and the coach left with Pick 10 is allocated Arian Foster. Do you want Foster? He was amazing in 2012, got injured in 2013 and has question marks on his game time for this season. A risk at pick 10?
How does the online draft pre-rank the players? Some arcane formula based on previous years scores, age, position and a projection for the coming season. Is it any good? Probably. But does it suit your style?
The long established wisdom is you take Running Back early, try to get a stud Wide Receiver and then a good QB and TE. This is because there are a few stud RBs that are more likely to put up high numbers than the large assortment of moderate to good WRs and QBs. There are easily 10-12 QBs that can fit in any team and post good numbers week in and week out. And you can only start 1. But you can start up to 3 RBs. So you need good ones.
But the NFL has changed over the last few years - stud runnings backs are becoming rarer because a teams are using 2 or 3 running backs in a game, spreading the precious fantasy points among the committee. For example, LeVeon Bell, RB for Pittsburgh Steelers, is set to do a bit of running in the open field this year. For a RB, 10 yards gained = 1 fantasy point. But the Steelers are set to use LaGarret Blount when the get close to the endzone, so its likely that Blount will score the TD. 1 TD = 6 points. In the old days, Bell would pick up, say, 30 yards rushing and the TD on the drive for 9 fantasy points. Now, Bell gets 3 and Blount gets 6 and neither are overly useful for the poor fantasy coach that has either Bell or Blount.
But that is just a projection of 2014. Maybe Bell gets all the carries and all the TDs. Or maybe Blount does.
So maybe coaches want to over-rule the online draft system and go for their own system. Maybe taking Peyton Manning in Round 1 is the way to go. Or maybe WR mega-stud Calvin Johnson. Or TE Jimmy Graham.
You can change your own draft order by opening up the Fantasy site, going to your team and clicking on the Pre-Draft Ranking link. Click on Edit Overall pre-rank and you can create your own ranks, and also set a list of players you do not want drafted under any condition.
You don't have to pre-rank all 1,000 players, just select your preferred players and after those are used the online draft will revert back to the pre-determined draft order.
Team Doof is working against established Fantasy Theory this year and is not following the standard RB in the first round expectation. Will it work? Of course it will: Team Doof are gonna be World Champions this year!
Feel like dabbling in Fantasy Theory, see what the 'experts' are advising:
Draft Strategies: QBs
Draft Strategies: WRs
Draft Strategies: RBs
Draft Strategies: TEs
Need to know before drafting
Player Draft breakdown
The draft is less than a week away and while I'm sure most of you are just kicking back waiting for the online draft to allocate you a team, a few Coaches are agonising over their pre-draft ranking: coaches like me.
Firstly, the draft will determine a draft order - coaches will be assigned position 1 to 10. Position 1 gets first pick in the first round. To make things... not necessarily fair, but more fair, in Round 2, position 10 will pick first, through to position 1 picking tenth. And it will keep snaking on and on until the teams are filled.
The online draft will allocate the highest ranking player in its ranking list. Currently, the top ten is:
RB Adrian Peterson
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Jamaal Charles
RB Matt Forte
RB Marshawn Lynch
RB Eddie Lacy
WR Calvin Johnson
QB Peyton Manning
TE Jimmy Graham
RB Arian Foster
The Coach who scores Pick 1 would be allocated AP and the coach left with Pick 10 is allocated Arian Foster. Do you want Foster? He was amazing in 2012, got injured in 2013 and has question marks on his game time for this season. A risk at pick 10?
How does the online draft pre-rank the players? Some arcane formula based on previous years scores, age, position and a projection for the coming season. Is it any good? Probably. But does it suit your style?
The long established wisdom is you take Running Back early, try to get a stud Wide Receiver and then a good QB and TE. This is because there are a few stud RBs that are more likely to put up high numbers than the large assortment of moderate to good WRs and QBs. There are easily 10-12 QBs that can fit in any team and post good numbers week in and week out. And you can only start 1. But you can start up to 3 RBs. So you need good ones.
But the NFL has changed over the last few years - stud runnings backs are becoming rarer because a teams are using 2 or 3 running backs in a game, spreading the precious fantasy points among the committee. For example, LeVeon Bell, RB for Pittsburgh Steelers, is set to do a bit of running in the open field this year. For a RB, 10 yards gained = 1 fantasy point. But the Steelers are set to use LaGarret Blount when the get close to the endzone, so its likely that Blount will score the TD. 1 TD = 6 points. In the old days, Bell would pick up, say, 30 yards rushing and the TD on the drive for 9 fantasy points. Now, Bell gets 3 and Blount gets 6 and neither are overly useful for the poor fantasy coach that has either Bell or Blount.
But that is just a projection of 2014. Maybe Bell gets all the carries and all the TDs. Or maybe Blount does.
So maybe coaches want to over-rule the online draft system and go for their own system. Maybe taking Peyton Manning in Round 1 is the way to go. Or maybe WR mega-stud Calvin Johnson. Or TE Jimmy Graham.
You can change your own draft order by opening up the Fantasy site, going to your team and clicking on the Pre-Draft Ranking link. Click on Edit Overall pre-rank and you can create your own ranks, and also set a list of players you do not want drafted under any condition.
You don't have to pre-rank all 1,000 players, just select your preferred players and after those are used the online draft will revert back to the pre-determined draft order.
Team Doof is working against established Fantasy Theory this year and is not following the standard RB in the first round expectation. Will it work? Of course it will: Team Doof are gonna be World Champions this year!
Feel like dabbling in Fantasy Theory, see what the 'experts' are advising:
Draft Strategies: QBs
Draft Strategies: WRs
Draft Strategies: RBs
Draft Strategies: TEs
Need to know before drafting
Player Draft breakdown
Thursday, 21 August 2014
2014 League Changes and Updates
Two weeks(ish [for the sake of my intro]) until Spring, and two weeks until the start of the NFL season: life and change are in the air and they smell good!
Two teams have dropped out for the 2014 season: The Iron Maidens and Woolibeans. That leaves two empty slots, to which two prospective coaches have been invited.
The rule change to the Flex spot has passed the Head Coaches table and will be in effect for 2014. This means that it is possible to start 2 WRs, 2 RBs and 2 TEs or 3 WRs, 2 RBs and 1 TE or 2WRs, 3RBs and 1 TE. The flexibility with the TE should make it more interesting.
The draft has been scheduled for Monday September 1, which may be as late as Tuesday evening AEST. This will give Head Coaches 2 days to examine their teams and make changes before the first game starts on Friday morning. Coaches should receive and email from NFL.com notifying them that they teams have been allocated.
Coaches have until the draft takes place to make changes to their draft order preferences.
I recommend installing the NFL Fantasy Football app to phones and tablets.
-Dan
League Commissioner and
Head Coach Doof's Playinator's
Two teams have dropped out for the 2014 season: The Iron Maidens and Woolibeans. That leaves two empty slots, to which two prospective coaches have been invited.
The rule change to the Flex spot has passed the Head Coaches table and will be in effect for 2014. This means that it is possible to start 2 WRs, 2 RBs and 2 TEs or 3 WRs, 2 RBs and 1 TE or 2WRs, 3RBs and 1 TE. The flexibility with the TE should make it more interesting.
The draft has been scheduled for Monday September 1, which may be as late as Tuesday evening AEST. This will give Head Coaches 2 days to examine their teams and make changes before the first game starts on Friday morning. Coaches should receive and email from NFL.com notifying them that they teams have been allocated.
Coaches have until the draft takes place to make changes to their draft order preferences.
I recommend installing the NFL Fantasy Football app to phones and tablets.
-Dan
League Commissioner and
Head Coach Doof's Playinator's
Monday, 18 August 2014
Pre-season update
My fellow coaches,
The season is a mere 16 or so days away. Only another 16 days to set your pre-draft preferences, update your team name and logo and ready your season-heckling schedule.
I'd like to thank the Coaches that have already confirmed their spots for this season.
And for some of you, only another 6 (SIX) days to let me know if you're playing this year before you are ejected from the League: time is running out. The sooner you let me know the sooner we can all move on.
So far the response for the proposed rule changes has been positive so it is probable that TE's will be added to the Flex spot. Coaches have until Friday to vote.
-Dan
The season is a mere 16 or so days away. Only another 16 days to set your pre-draft preferences, update your team name and logo and ready your season-heckling schedule.
I'd like to thank the Coaches that have already confirmed their spots for this season.
And for some of you, only another 6 (SIX) days to let me know if you're playing this year before you are ejected from the League: time is running out. The sooner you let me know the sooner we can all move on.
So far the response for the proposed rule changes has been positive so it is probable that TE's will be added to the Flex spot. Coaches have until Friday to vote.
-Dan
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Pre-season countdown: the hidden costs of fantasy football
Some firm in the US was tasked with calculating the financial cost to organisations of employees playing fantasy football and clocked it at $13 billion, up from $6bn two years prior.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2161720-firm-estimates-fantasy-football-costs-american-employers-13-billion-per-year
I'd like to thank the VP3 coaches for contributing to the doubling of fantasy dollars in the two seasons we have been active.
Without our efforts who knows what our firms could have produced with our attention firmly centered on their goals, instead of our own.
I'd also like to thank our firms for allowing us the space to clear our minds of their organisational-mumbo-jumbo with a little escapist fantasy. We are better workers for the short breaks we take each day to plot our opponents demise and wonder how it is that the benched player always performs better than the active ones, and what we can do to trick the universe into thinking the active player was benched so they perform better.
Obviously the $13bn is not really lost from the US economy - if it wasn't fantasy football it would be something else.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2161720-firm-estimates-fantasy-football-costs-american-employers-13-billion-per-year
I'd like to thank the VP3 coaches for contributing to the doubling of fantasy dollars in the two seasons we have been active.
Without our efforts who knows what our firms could have produced with our attention firmly centered on their goals, instead of our own.
I'd also like to thank our firms for allowing us the space to clear our minds of their organisational-mumbo-jumbo with a little escapist fantasy. We are better workers for the short breaks we take each day to plot our opponents demise and wonder how it is that the benched player always performs better than the active ones, and what we can do to trick the universe into thinking the active player was benched so they perform better.
Obviously the $13bn is not really lost from the US economy - if it wasn't fantasy football it would be something else.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
2014 Rule Changes
The following rule changes are put to Head Coaches.
1. Allow Roster options
Update: the rule change to swap an active for a benched player has been removed before it could be considered. Upon additional reading, the Head Coach is charged US$0.99 to make the swap. In the interests in keeping this free and fun for everyone, this will simply not be enabled.
2. Change the WR/RB flex spot
Default:
The standard Active team has two WRs, two RBs and one TE. There is an additional flex position that can
take either a third WR or a third RB.
Change:
The flex position can take either a third WR, a third RB or a 2nd TE.
Reason:
Tight End players are starting to become more dominant in the NFL as pass catchers. If this trend continues then TEs may contribute fantasy points like a WR or a RB. This provides the option of swapping in productive TEs for unproductive RBs or WRs - providing more flexibility and options for the Head Coach.
To vote for the rule, either post a comment or visit the poll at the VP3 Fantasy site and let your voice be heard.
1. Allow Roster options
Update: the rule change to swap an active for a benched player has been removed before it could be considered. Upon additional reading, the Head Coach is charged US$0.99 to make the swap. In the interests in keeping this free and fun for everyone, this will simply not be enabled.
2. Change the WR/RB flex spot
Default:
The standard Active team has two WRs, two RBs and one TE. There is an additional flex position that can
take either a third WR or a third RB.
Change:
The flex position can take either a third WR, a third RB or a 2nd TE.
Reason:
Tight End players are starting to become more dominant in the NFL as pass catchers. If this trend continues then TEs may contribute fantasy points like a WR or a RB. This provides the option of swapping in productive TEs for unproductive RBs or WRs - providing more flexibility and options for the Head Coach.
To vote for the rule, either post a comment or visit the poll at the VP3 Fantasy site and let your voice be heard.
2014 Von Pepperstein III NFL Fantasy Football Season
My fellow Head Coaches,
On behalf of Von Pepperstein III, The Corporation, and
the NFL, I would like to welcome you all to the 2014 Von Pepperstein III NFL
Fantasy Football Season.
The NFL season is a mere four weeks away, the first
pre-season game is underway as I type - the long-dry is finally ending.
The time leading into new season is like the first
buds of spring: new life, new hope, new crushing victories - so much potential.
Who will reach out and grasp the potential? Who will hold onto it through the
highs and lows and Fantasy life?
Will Breesus King of the Drews repeat their epic
performance last year and take home the coveted crown? Can US Forces go one win
better and take it all? Last year Agent P ran rampant and scored a League high
1,500 points for the season, but still finished fourth overall. The Lighties,
Endless, Farnsworth and Doof are entering their third season in the League and
will all be looking to consolidate their positions as the elders, or can the
sophomore Zim, Wooli or Maidens mount epic campaigns of their own? Or will
another rookie enter the League and steal all the glory?
In the pre-season, anything is possible, everything is
up for grabs.
2014 Membership:
All 2013 coaches have been entered into the 2014
season automatically by NFL.com.
If you are ready for glory in 2014, please email me to
let me know (dan.spillman@gmail.com).
If you do not wish to play, please remove your team. Or,
if you can’t be assed logging in, email me and let me know and I will take care
of it.
If I have not heard from you by 19 August I will be
forced to harass you further.
If I have not heard from you by 22 August I will disassociate
you from your team and offer the team or slot to someone else.
If anyone is not up for 2014, then again, thank you
for playing in 2013!
2014 Team Names:
You are able to change your team names and images at
any time. Feel free to do so.
2014 Communications:
In 2013 we used the VP3 blog and NFL email list to communicate.
The blog was fine for Weekly previews and Washups but poor for socialising. If
other coaches would prefer a different platform then please suggest it and we
can trial it.
2014 Rule Changes:
In the offseason VP3 and The Corporation analysed the
2013 season. The analysis concluded that two rule changes may improve the
competitiveness and enjoyability of the game. The two rules are: being able to
swap an active player with a bench player after the round has finished; change
the WR/RB flex spot to include a TE, making the flex spot able to play
WR/RB/TE.
More information of the rules changes will be posted
at this site.
I invite all Coaches to consider the rules changes and
reply to me with your opinions.
2014 Draft:
The 2014 Draft will take place around 1 September. It
will be an Autopick draft, where the online server assigns players to teams.
The Autopick will assign players based on NFL.com’s ranking, or you can change
your preferred draft players. The Draft Order will also be managed by the
Autopick system.
2014 Pre-draft rankings:
If you wish to set your own preferred draft order and
over-ride NFL.com’s ranking system:
-Log in to fantasy
-Click on My Team
-Click on Pre-Draft Rankings
-Click on Edit Overall Pre-Rank
I look forward to another season with you all!
-Dan
Head Coach, Doof’s Playinators
VP3 Blog: http://vp3nfl.blogspot.com.au/
*Update: the rule change to swap an active for a benched player has been removed before it could be considered. Upon additional reading, the Head Coach is charged US$0.99 to make the swap. In the interests in keeping this free and fun for everyone, this will simply not be enabled.
*Update: the rule change to swap an active for a benched player has been removed before it could be considered. Upon additional reading, the Head Coach is charged US$0.99 to make the swap. In the interests in keeping this free and fun for everyone, this will simply not be enabled.
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