Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Seven weeks ago the New York Giants were coming off their second loss of the season to the Washington Redskins. It was pathetic to say the least.  Who would have predicted that they’d finish the 2011 season as Super Bowl Champions?  For the second time in four years the Giants pulled off a miraculous run that saw them prove all the odds makers wrong. As a diehard fan of the G-Men, I’m absolutely giddy about the whole situation. Here’s what I learned on Super Bowl Sunday:

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Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Super Bowl XLVI is just a few days away and now is a good time to take a look back at the 2011 fantasy football season. We certainly had another great year full of surprises, sleepers, busts and Tebow. The lockout took the fun out of the offseason and for a long time it seemed that there might not be a 2011 NFL season. Fortunately that didn’t happen and before we know it, the 17 weeks of the regular season have come and gone.  I always feel a little bit of a letdown when the season winds down. In my “A Look Back at 2010” article, I nailed a few of my predictions including the continued success of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots; the lack of consistency among wide receivers; and that fans of the New York Jets should temper expectations for the team in 2011. Here’s a link to the article in its entirety for those of you who missed it: http://www.brunoboys.net/entry/10-things-i-learned-this-season-a-look-back-at-2010/.  I’m confident that I’ll be right about my observations and predictions for the year ahead. In the meantime, here are 10 things that I learned this season:

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Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Could we have asked for a better pair of Conference Championship games than what the NFL gave us last Sunday? For better or worse, both games were won on the leg of a kicker. While I think that the two teams that will face off in Super Bowl XLVI on February 5 were outplayed by their competitors in the Conference Championship games, that’s the way it goes sometimes.  In any case, here’s what I learned on Sunday:

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Written by: Jimbo Jones
Staff Contributor: Allie Fontana
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Welcome to the Conference Championship Round edition of the 2011-2012 Fantasy Football Roundtable, our weekly article offering fantasy insights and predictions. Bruno Boys writer Jimbo “Waiver Wire” Jones is joined each week by another member of the team to discuss burning questions and hot topics on the minds of fantasy football owners and share their predictions on the Conference Championship games, which players will deliver and which ones won’t, and projections for key fantasy-relevant players. Bruno Boys Allie Fontana mixes it up with Jimbo Jones this week.

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Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by: Allie Fontana

The NFL Playoffs are the gift that keeps on giving. Epic games, fantastic upsets and even Tim Tebow haters were vindicated last Saturday night. As a New York Giants fan, I’m ecstatic with the 37-20 romping the team gave to Green Bay on the Packers’ home turf. Here are the 10 things I learned during the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs:

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Written by: Jimbo Jones
Staff Contributor: Allie Fontana
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Welcome to the Divisional Round edition of the 2011-2012 Fantasy Football Roundtable, our two-part weekly article offering fantasy insights and predictions. Bruno Boys writer Jimbo “Waiver Wire” Jones is joined each week by another member of the team to discuss burning questions and hot topics on the minds of fantasy football owners, offer opinions on the players who flashed or crashed the previous week and make predictions about which players will deliver for their fantasy owners and which ones won’t.  Bruno Boys Allie Fontana mixes it up with Jimbo Jones in Week 19, also known as the Divisional Round. 

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Written by: Jimbo Jones
Staff Contributor: Allie Fontana
Edited by: Allie Fontana

Welcome to the 2011-2012 Fantasy Football Roundtable Part II: Divisional Round Predictions featuring Who’ll Have the Better Fantasy Week? and Over/Under Projections about fantasy-relevant players by Bruno Boys staff writer Jimbo Jones and managing editor Allie Fontana. Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are Jimbo Jones’ and Allie Fontana’s—they may or may not be in agreement with the official position of Bruno Boys Fantasy Football. Our goal is to provide readers with additional insights and perspectives on hot topics in fantasy football as well as the week’s most talked about players.

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Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by:Allie Fontana

Is there anything better than NFL playoff football? I love how history writes itself right before our eyes and this weekend we had front row seats to some awesome games. Tim Tebow once again proved the odds makers wrong with a thrilling, one-play overtime victory, while Drew Brees continued his torrid offensive pace. Eli Manning outplayed Matt Ryan the New York Giants defensive line seems to be back to its 2007 form, while T.J. Yates won the battle of the rookie quarterbacks with the help of Arian Foster and a focused Texans defense.  It was a great Wild Card Round weekend and here’s what I learned:

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- Written by Lane Rizzardini
- Edited by Marc Caviglia

2011 has now drawn to a close, and with the fantasy football season all wrapped up we’re using this last edition of Touch Me, Baby for 2011 to go over the entire season and see what stood out among the numbers.

It was an entertaining year overall, which we started off right by adding more player analysis, ten more tight ends to the chart, and more statistical categories to help make your weekly analysis easier. We watched Jordy Nelson and Victor Cruz emerge out of almost no where to become the leading receivers on their teams and forces in the NFL. We all let Maurice Jones-Drew fall to the second round of our fantasy drafts due to injury concerns, only to see him win the rushing title and rack up the most touches in the league.

We’ll break down some of the biggest standouts from the 2011 season as well as all the interesting facts and lessons we can glean for next season.

It’s never too early to get prepared for the season ahead, so slip into something comfortable and get ready to be touched for the last time this season! Thanks for reading!

**Stat Note: the stat referred to as “Plays” is found by calculating (Carries + Targets)/Total Team Plays**

Running Backs Touches & Targets

Running Back Notes:

1. Of all the big-name running backs that could have led the play total for the season, no one imagined it would be Maurice Jones-Drew, who saw his stock drop severely due to concerns about offseason knee surgery. He also played in the least productive offense in the league which averaged a measly 259.3 yards per game due to having absolutely zero weapons besides Jones-Drew, yet there was the Pocket Hercules blowing through eight-man fronts on his way to the league rushing title. He showed that injury concerns were totally unfounded and once again established himself as one of the best players in the NFL. Fantasy owners will not make the same mistake again.

2. Darren Sproles received less than 100 carries this season, but his value came in the 111 targets he received in the New Orleans Saints pass-happy offense, which led all running backs and would have placed 25th among all wide receivers, absolutely staggering numbers. If you had him in a PPR-league, he was a quality RB2 starter for you all season as he racked up 86 receptions that beat out all but four wide receivers, not just running backs. He is a perfect fit for the New Orleans Saints and should be just as valuable next season in an offense that won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

3. Marshawn Lynch carried the momentum (and probably some New Orleans Saints defenders) from that ridiculous 67-yard touchdown run from the playoffs last season into a breakout 2011 campaign that led to a No. 6 finish in fantasy points among running backs, largely due to an obscene streak in which he scored one or more touchdowns in 10 of the final 13 games of the season. He may not repeat these numbers in 2012, but he must be regarded as a top-15 back for his fierce running style that can lead to a lot of touchdowns for fantasy owners.

4. Matt Forte suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 13 but still managed to finish top-15 in total plays among running backs. This is due largely to his role as the feature back and overall focal point of the Chicago Bears offense, accounting for over 37-percent of the team’s total yardage until he went down. He should have no problem healing up over the offseason and since the Bears will surely have no plans of letting him go, count on more of the same workload for next season, which includes a sizeable amount of work in the passing game and makes him a Round 1 pick in all formats.

5. As usual, we were Shanahaned all season as the Washington Redskins head coach started Tim Hightower at the beginning of the season, then proceeded to go with Ryan Torain, Tashard Choice, even practice-squad back Evan Royster got a crack at things. The big winner at the end of the year though was Nebraska rookie Roy Helu, who emerged as the best of the group once Hightower went down and proved he could handle a sizeable workload with four consecutive weeks of 23-plus carries. Any Mike Shanahan backfield will be tough to deal with, but we continually see how profitable it can be to own one of his guys so it will be important to watch this situation closely in the offseason.

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Written by: James Burulcich
Edited by: Allie Fontana

And then it was over. Just like that the 2011 NFL season has passed us by and I hope you all managed to win one or two of your fantasy leagues. What a way to finish the year as well with three 5,000-plus yard passers, lots of playoff drama and a Big Blue division title. Here’s what I learned on Sunday.

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