Profile - Ezekiel Elliot

This blog is about the Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliot. Elliot, also known as “Zeek”, just ended his second year in the NFL. Zeek went to Ohio State University for college where he ran all over his opponents. His success at the college level transitioned right into the NFL. He was drafted 4th overall in the 2016 NFL draft and so far, that pick has paid off well for the Cowboys. Zeek is built like a boulder and possesses all of the skills that you want in a running back. He has the speed to out run defenders, combined with the strength to shake off tackles and the vision to find the right gaps. He is also fortunate to be running behind arguably the best offensive line in the league, so there is plenty of room to run. His rookie season, he put up excellent numbers. Zeek ran for 1,631 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry and 15 rushing touchdowns. These are great numbers for any running back in a season, especially a rookie. In an earlier post, I ranked Zeek as my number one player in dynasty fantasy football. He is as consistent as it comes and is loved by all of his fantasy owners. You can pretty much assume his numbers last season would have been the same if not better, but his season was cut short from a suspension from the NFL. His suspension was very controversial. Although he was never officially convicted of domestic violence, this is a very serious issue with professional athletes and the NFL decided to crack down and suspend him for 6 games. He may have some off the field issues, but if he learns from his past mistakes and stays out of trouble, he will be an elite running back and fantasy football asset for many years.

Interview

For this blog post I have decided to interview last year’s champion in my main dynasty league. This is a league that my friends from home and I have been playing in for about 9 years now. Just recently, we switched to the dynasty format. Last year’s champion was a friend of mine named Jack. I reached out to him to ask him a couple questions about the season and his team. When I asked about his strategy when first putting together his team he replied, “I knew going into the startup draft that I wanted to build a very young team. I really focused on the incoming rookie class a lot”. Turns out this was a very good strategy because last year’s rookie class was stacked and provided many fantasy football studs. He ended up having a pretty good roster to start the season, but no one would have guessed it would be a championship team. I asked him how he went about actively looking to improve his roster mid-season. He said, “It is very important to stay active throughout the whole season. I was always looking to improve my team especially through trades”. The big trade that he made about half way through the season was when he traded two established veteran players on his team and in return got two more rookies and a draft pick. Pretty much right after the trade, the two rookies he received started to really take off and it took his team to the next level. “In dynasty, you have to be willing to take some risks. When the trade first happened a lot of other league members thought I got the short end of the deal but I trusted my gut feeling and it paid off for me in the end”, said Jack. He went into the playoffs as the number one seed and eventually went on to win the championship game by only 1 point. “The number one seed doesn’t always win, but in fantasy football anything can happen and my team fortunately came out on top”. Now his team already has a title under its belt and he still has very young and talented players for the future.

Top 10 Dynasty Players

For this post, I have put together a list of my top 10 dynasty fantasy football players. These 10 players are game changers for your rosters and will most likely being going in the first round of startup drafts this year.

1.     Ezekiel Elliot, RB

To me, Zeek is one of the most talented and safe players. If I had the first pick of the draft he would be my number one choice because he is a beast and runs behind a great offensive line.

2.     DeAndre Hopkins, WR

Hopkins is an elite talent who can make crazy catches and huge plays. The best part about Hopkins for dynasty is that he is very young and he also has a very young and talented quarterback throwing him the ball.

3.     Odell Beckham Jr., WR

Odell could be number 1 on the list but he has had some off the field issues in the past. Disregarding off the field problems, Odell does things that no one else can do at his position and still has a lot of years left.

4.     Todd Gurley, RB

Gurley is another running back like Zeek with a ton of talent and is in a great offensive system. He is also very young and will be helping fantasy teams for many years.

5.     David Johnson, RB

DJ had an amazing first year in the NFL, but was unfortunately injured in the first game of last season. I expect him to bounce back and go right back to his rookie season form.

6.     LeVeon Bell, RB

Lev has been changing the running back position over the last couple years. His patience to find the best holes to attack and elusiveness makes it hard for defenses to stop him. He is also the best pass catching back in the league.

7.     Antonio Brown, WR

Antonio Brown is no doubt the best wide receiver in the NFL, the only reason he isn’t top of this list is because he is already 29 years old and his quarterback may be thinking about retirement soon.

8.     Mike Evans, WR

Evans is a big body receiver that can go up and catch everything. The Bucs struggled as a team last year but you can look for them to bounce back and expect big numbers from Evans.

9.     Davante Adams, WR

The best part about Davante Adams is his quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is arguably the best in the league and he and Adams have great chemistry. Adams is a touchdown machine.

10.  Michael Thomas, WR

Michael Thomas is very skilled and benefits from Drew Brees throwing him the ball. The Saints run the ball a lot but when they throw, it is usually Thomas’ way.

Review of Fantasy Football Podcasts

This blog post is to review some of the different podcasts in the fantasy football industry that you can use to help improve your knowledge on fantasy football. Podcasts can be very beneficial when doing research and trying to strategize for upcoming seasons. They’re a great thing to listen to on commutes to work or any free time you may have. Personally, my all-time favorite podcast is The Fantasy Footballers. Although they focus on specifically re-draft fantasy football, they offer very useful information and advice to improve your knowledge on the current NFL players for the current year. On top of being very helpful, the three guys who make the podcast are extremely entertaining. They come up with all of these different games that they do during the podcasts and are constantly making me laugh. The Footballers are great because they release episodes year-round. They do 5 episodes a week during the season and 2 a week in the offseason. Another very good podcast to listen to is the Dynasty Nerds. This is my favorite podcast that focuses specifically on dynasty. These two guys are very experienced in dynasty fantasy football and they have proven their knowledge through all of the success they have had in their personal leagues. They also do a good job of keeping the podcast entertaining and engage listeners. The last podcast that I wanted to mention is the Dynasty Happy Hour. This is a fun podcast to listen to that is very laid back and entertaining. They constantly are bringing guests on to the show to help and provide good insight. All of these podcasts are very helpful and will improve your knowledge on the subject, putting you in a better position to succeed in your leagues.