Turns out the Moon is the only thing capable of covering the Sun (God)âŠ
In todayâs Fantasy Life Newsletter presented by Underdog Fantasy:
Anthony Richardson (shoulder) seems to be progressing great
Potential holdout looming for Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb?
What Now? Watch out for those blind spots
Itâs 4/9. Take it away, Ian HartitzâŠ
Ace ESPN Colts reporter Stephen Holder wrote a great story on rising second-year QB Anthony Richardsonâs off-season training after his brief â yet electric â rookie season was cut short due to a sprained AC joint that required surgery.
A few highlights from the piece (you can read the whole thing here):
Richardson seems to be doing great in his recovery, but does remain on a pitch count â roughly 40 or so throws per day.
Colts GM Chris Ballard after watching Richardson workout: âI was like, 'my God,' I mean, you wouldn't know that he's still in rehab watching him play football."
Richardson enjoyed some Chick-fil-A for a snack after his workout. Man, that chicken absolutely slaps. The breakfast is underrated too. And their lemonade on a hot day? Truly elite stuff.
Okay, maybe the last note wasnât overly important (editorâs note: definitely important).
ANYWAYS: For the Coltsâ sake, Richardson better be close to 100% by Week 1, as the front office did very little throughout free agency in the way of upgrading the offense. Re-signing No. 1 WR Michael Pittman to a three-year, $70 million extension has largely been their only big-time offseason move to write home about at this point.
Of course, head coach Shane Steichenâs well-schemed offense didnât look short on firepower when Richardson was on the field as a rookie. Last yearâs No. 4 overall pick proved to be a fantasy godsend during his limited opportunities in 2023:
Week 1: 20.9 fantasy points (QB4)
Week 2: 17.7 in 18 snaps before suffering a concussion (QB19)
Week 4: 29.6 (QB2)
Week 5: 4.4 in 22 snaps before suffering a shoulder injury (QB28)
Overall, Richardson averaged a robust 0.73 fantasy points per dropback last season â the highest mark among all QBs with at least 75 dropbacks. Not bad for a guy who only started (checks notes) 13 total games during his collegiate career at Florida.
That said: The passing performance wasnât pretty. Richardson ranked 45th in CPOE (-7.7%) among 49 qualified QBs. While his sub-60% completion rate isnât a death blow considering guys like Jared Goff (54.6%), Andrew Luck (54.1%), Josh Allen (52.8%) and Jalen Hurts (52%) were all worse as rookies, itâs also not exactly ideal.
And yet, the Fantasy Life rankers seem to be mostly buying into the hype at the moment:
Dwain: QB6
Freedman: QB8
Ian: QB8
However, Richardsonâs QB6 (pick 59.6) ADP over at Underdog Fantasy reflects the reality that there wonât exactly be an injury discount afforded to the 21-year-old talent. I (Ian) personally believe guys like Kyler Murray (QB10, pick 85.6) and Jayden Daniels (QB18, pick 129) present better value at cost due to their similar sky-high rushing upside and potential to operate from more lethal overall passing games in 2024.
Either way: Hereâs to hoping Richardson continues to get healthier and resumes providing more exhilarating highlights next fall.
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IT'S ALWAYS DRAFT SEASON ON UNDERDOG!
âïž Who is the best TE in this yearâs draft class? He could be the next Travis KelceâŠ
đ Awesome angle of yesterdayâs eclipse. Well played.
đ A threat to the rookie WR1 title? He has a case.
𫶠Turns out Patrick Mahomes can block. Dad mode: Activated.
đ Remember when Odell Beckham Jr. stared directly at the eclipse? Analytics.
đ€Ł There were a lot of good eclipse tweets yesterday. But one was objectively the best.
đ«° CeeDee Lamb isnât expected to participate in voluntary spring workouts. Get that checkbook ready, Jerry.
đ The best incoming 2024 WRs vs. press coverage. Very cool chart.
đ€ Bryce Young and his new No. 1 WR look happy. Comeback szn in the air?
The fantasy football season might be over, but we are NOT ready to unplug. Cooterdoodle is here to keep our minds in check by asking the age-old, evergreen question: âWhat Now?â
đ„ What Now? Blind Spots
Metaphorically speaking (unless you didnât heed the eye-protection warnings yesterday) we need to check on our fantasy football blind spots.
These are some areas that might get overlooked. If we canât see clearly, it might lead to potential mistakes. So, if weâre going to tackle the offseason and prepare for the battles aheadâŠ
Itâs time to check our blind spots.
đ Fantasy Hubris
While the odds werenât in your favor, plenty of you reading this won a championship(s) last year. Youâve won pride, money, and the respect of your peers. But mostly, youâve won the right to trash talk and brag to the 11 losers in your group chat.
And while Iâll never shy away from sh*t talking, all that gloating does come with a price: It may cause a major blind spot.
Think about it. If youâve won, youâve now got a sense of accomplishment and a little voice that says, âYou could do it again.â
But each year is a different beast.
If youâre getting comfortable in your leagues, youâre going to get lazy. Donât let a win distract you from the fact that weâve got another championship to catch next season.
Donât let pride get in the way of preparation.
đ€ Old Wounds
You know the feeling: A player has a down year when youâve finally decided to draft them. And now, because youâre bitter, youâre primed and ready to ignore any relevant data. Youâre not feeling too flexible or forgivingâŠ
Letâs say youâve sat around and watched your friends draft Travis Kelce in the first round for years. And each time Kelce landed on the board, you laughed ⊠only for them to later dominate the league with a 1,000-plus yard, double-digit TD-scoring player stashed into their TE slot.
Cool. So you decide to take Kelce early in your 2023 draft. This time itâs YOUR turn. And well, Bada Bing Bada Boom: Wounded.
But plenty of players have âdown yearsâ (and ADP shifts matter). Donât write a player off for good unless youâve looked at the data first. Then decide.
Donât let the pain of the past cloud your judgment.
đ© Flag Plants
This oneâs personal.
Note to self: Just because you planted your flag in a player and you benefited from it immensely all season long, doesnât mean that your flag has to remain firmly planted forever.
You can wiggle your little flag out of the dirt and move the goalposts a bit as information changes. Itâs okay, I promise.
Things change in the offseason. Sometimes, something as simple as a playerâs rising ADP can affect the level of ferocity in which you should defend their âdraft no matter whatâ status.
Itâs okay to love Puka Nacua and Rashid Shaheed, but itâs also okay to use caution. Thereâs no need to blow up your draft just to get them on your team. You hear me, Cooter?? Even if it is fun to think about.
Donât let the total eclipse distract from the fact that Duke Johnson is the University of Miamiâs all-time leading rusher
