Fantasy Football Sideline

Tavon Austin, WR, St. Louis Rams
Round 1, Pick 8 – West Virginia

The Rams traded up to get multiple threat Austin, making him the first offensive skill position player drafted in 2013. In 2012, Austin had 1289 yards receiving, 643 yards rushing, 813 yards returning kicks and 165 yards returning punts. Austin had 12 touchdown catches, three rushing touchdowns, and returned both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns.

The Rams lost Danny Amendola, but drafted not only Austin, but another wide receiver, Stedman Bailey, Austin’s college teammate at West Virginia, in the third round. Their quarterback, Geno Smith, went in the second round to the Jets.

For more information on Tyler Eifert, DeAndre Hopkins, and Cordarrelle Patterson,  Read the rest of this entry »

Montee Ball, Denver Broncos
Round 2, Pick 26 – Wisconsin

Ball set an NCAA record with 83 touchdowns (77 rushing and six receiving) during his four years at Wisconsin. He led the nation in rushing touchdowns in 2011 with 33. That year, Ball finished fourth in balloting for the Heisman Trophy. Wisconsin teammate Russell Wilson finished ninth.

Ball appears to be headed to a good situation in Denver. The team’s leading rusher in 2012 was Willis McGahee, but he’s 31 and coming off a broken leg and MCL tear.  Denver’s second leading rusher in 2012, Knowshon Moreno, underwent surgery after the season on the same knee in which he suffered a torn ACL in 2011.

For more info on Eddie Lacy, Le’Veon Bell and Giovani Bernard,  Read the rest of this entry »

EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills
Round 1, Pick 16 – Florida State

Though Buffalo signed Kevin Kolb to a two-year, $13 million contract at the beginning of April, there was speculation that they might use their first-round pick on a quarterback.  But if they did, many expected it would be Ryan Nassib, who was new Buffalo coach Doug Marrone’s quarterback from 2010 to 2012 when both were at Syracuse. And if not Nassib, it would likely be Geno Smith, considered by many to be the top-rated quarterback going into the draft. Instead, in what might have been the biggest surprise of the draft, the Bills, after trading down from 8 to 16, selected EJ Manuel, who ended up being the only quarterback taken in the first round.

At Florida State, Manuel won four straight bowl games, only the second FBS quarterback to do so. Current Minnesota Viking Christian Ponder was the Florida State starter most of 2009 and 2010, but was injured both seasons, giving Manuel the chance to win the bowl games.  Manuel was the number one quarterback at Florida State in 2011 and 2012, throwing for 3397 yards and 23 touchdowns in his senior year of 2012.

For insight on Geno Smith and Matt Barkley,  Read the rest of this entry »

This year’s NFL draft combine is in full swing. Every collegiate football athlete hoping to be drafted into the pros is complete a series of tests and drills in an effort to impress as many pro teams as they can. While the debate rages whether or not the draft combine is actually an accurate indicator of how well these athletes will play at the next level, there is one test given during the combine in which everyone is interested year after year.

The Wonderlic test.

A seemingly elementary-level aptitude test that is only 50 questions long. Questions like “Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. How much do 6 pads cost?”. And, to make things even more difficult than they already appear, players only get 12 minutes to complete their test.

Now mostly known as a comical tradition, the Wonderlic test has humiliated some of the most successful players in the NFL today. Likewise, other players that scored nearly perfect couldn’t last more than a year in the league.

Here are our top questions the league should’ve put on the this year’s test.  Read the rest of this entry »

This year’s version of the Super Bowl had it all.  A kickoff return for a touchdown, an exciting comeback, a blackout, and the smokin’ hot Beyonce.

Much to the dismay of the audience, and some gamblers, Beyonce began her halftime show with no cleavage showing…

In year’s past prop bets have been about the only thing that kept viewers interested in the blowouts that once had become typical of Super Sunday.  And, it seems like nowhere are prop bets more bizarre than the Super Bowl where offshore betting establishments and sites like FreeBets.org.uk try to get some attention with some interesting wagers to entice new players that think they have the edge.

It’s impossible to say when prop bets on the Super Bowl became so  popular, but I’m going with 1986 when William “Refrigerator” Perry was the topic of numerous prop bets on whether he’d be able to score a touchdown.

And, it isn’t just the coin flip that eccentric gamblers will bet on.  Although, 5 Dimes probably had the best odds on it at -101 for both heads and tails.

…but she didn’t disappoint as she removed her jacket for her second number of the halftime set. Many bettors breathed a sigh of relief.

Here are some of the crazier prop bets that we saw (and bet on) during Super Bowl 47:

• Who will President Obama predict to win?
• How long will the post-game hug between the Harbaugh brothers last?
• Will a liquid be dumped on the winning coach and fall on the field of play?
• What color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach?
• How long will it take Alicia Keys to sing the National Anthem?
• How many times will the announcers say “Harbaugh” during the game?
• Will Jay-Z appear on the field at halftime?
• Will Beyonce’s hair be curly, straight, or up?
• What color will Beyonce’s top be?
• Who will the MVP thank first?  No surprise, God was the favorite at 5/2.
• What will be the top tweets per second during the game?
• Will the Dow Jones go up or down on Monday?

While all of these prop bets are interesting, there is one that was a complete and utter lock:  “Will Beyonce show cleavage during the halftime show?”  It wasn’t a lucrative bet at -500, but that’s some action that I’d for sure like to hop on.