Here’s a testimonial from one of our guest bloggers, Chuck from Two Cents from Beantown

I am an independent sports blogger who runs his own business with it all and I had the good fortune of meeting Josh and Adam then subsequently posted as a guest writer on Sports Fan 4. It was a pleasure, the both of them were completely professional, yet down to earth and cool as well. I developed new online friendships and more followers to my Two Cents From Beantown blog after I guest posted on Sports Fan 4. It was a blast, and something I’d do again in a heartbeat for them if asked.

Every year there is the one guy that nobody sees coming that ends up beating you and ruining your fantasy football season. Examples in the 2009 season include, but are not limited to, Sidney Rice – WR Vikings, Mike Sims-Walker – WR Jaguars, Jamaal Charles – RB Chiefs, Jerome Harrison – RB Browns, Jason Snelling – RB Falcons and Steve Smith – WR Giants. These players went mostly undrafted or were selected very late in 2009 fantasy drafts. The persons that had the foresight to select one of these players or the person lucky enough to land one of these player via free agency or the waiver wire, benefitted greatly. Below are sleepers for the 2010-11 season position by position.

Quarterback

Alex Smith (49ers) – Last season Smith scored 183 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. Smith threw for 248 yards on 372 attempts with 18 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions after taking over in week 6. The 2010-11 season will be the first time Smith has had the same offensive coordinator in back to back years. The 49ers are much improved on the offensive side of the ball. With the emergence of Tight End Vernon Davis, a full year for Michael Crabtree to develop, drafting two starting offensive linemen and the recent signing of Brian Westbrook, this offense has the potential to put up big numbers in a weak NFC West Division.

Running Backs

Arian Foster (Texans) – Foster only scored 53 fantasy points in 6 games last season, but this year he is on top of the depth chart in Houston. With the injury to rookie Ben Tate and fumbling and durability issues with Steve Slaton, Arian is going to stay there. Foster has ability between the tackles and can run away from defenders. Last season Slaton (131) and Ryan Moats (101) split most of the carries. Look for Foster to get around 225 carries with 10 touchdowns and have Slaton come in to spell him if he can hold onto the ball. Andre Johnson is a serious deep threat so teams cannot afford to stack the box. This should open up nice running lanes for Foster.

Montario Hardesty (Browns) – Montario is a rookie out of Tennessee. He is 6’0, 225 lbs. and reminds me a lot of Jamal Lewis. Hardesty is a hard runner than knows how to put his shoulder down and gain yards. He will cut into Jerome Harrison’s carries, especially at the goal line. The Browns have a quality offensive line and should be able to run the ball effectively. Cleveland coach, Eric Mangini is on the hot seat, so he needs production and wins now. If Harrison isn’t getting the job done, Mangini will not hesitate to play Hardesty more. Look for Hardesty to come in much like Willis McGahee and steal touchdowns from Jerome Harrison.

Chester Taylor (Bears) – Signing with the Bears was a great move for Chester Taylor. The Bears signing Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator was a lucky break for Chester Taylor. Taylor is an excellent receiving back and has been buried behind Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. Taylor is behind Matt Forte on the depth chart, but Forte failed to produce last year and may have a short leash for another coach on the hot seat, Lovie Smith. Chester has an excellent burst and great ability in the open field. Taylor is an excellent selection in Points Per Reception leagues and has the potential to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Taylor, while splitting carries, can gain 500 yards rushing and 600 receiving. He may end up in a Marshall Faulk roll in Martz high power offense.

Wide Receivers

Jordan Shipley (Bengals) – Every team in the National Football League wants to find the next Wes Welker and the Bengals may have done just that by drafting Jordan Shipley in the 3rd round this year. Shipley has the speed and hands to create a mismatch as a slot receiver. Antonio Bryant may not play a down in a Bengals uniform due to a knee injury, creating an opportunity for Shipley to show he can produce as a rookie. Shipley is a wise late round pick in PPR leagues and leagues that give points for individual kick return yardage.

Devin Thomas (Redskins) – Every year a receiver entering his 3rd season emerges and puts up big numbers. Devin Thomas is entering his 3rd season and has the size, 6’2″, 215 lbs. and speed to become a quality fantasy wide out. Washington added Donovan McNabb this offseason so look for more deep passes and big plays. If Thomas avoids the injury bug he should produce solid numbers and has the potential to take huge strides.

Jeremy Maclin (Eagles) – Kevin Kolb is taking over at quarterback in Philadelphia and the player to benefit most from this will be Jeremy Maclin. The Eagles will go to a traditional west coast offense where the wide receivers will run short timing patterns and have an opportunity to gain yards after the catch. Maclin caught a lot of passes from Kolb on the second team offense last season, giving the two a good chemistry. Maclin is a bigger receiver than Desean Jackson and will be asked to run the more difficult routes. Maclin will break out and end up in the pro bowl, gaining over 1,000 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Tight End

Ben Watson (Browns) – Eric Mangini brought in Ben Watson to give QB Jake Delhomme a solid target to get first downs. Watson is familiar with Mangini’s system due to the time they spent together in New England. Ben is a solid receiver and will be a threat in the redzone. The Browns rushing attack should free Watson up in play action and give him many opportunities to catch passes.

I have won 6 Fantasy Football Titles in the past 4 seasons by identifying sleeper players and having them come up big for me. Keep in mind sleepers are serious gambles. Drafting every player I listed and starting them weekly will land you in last place faster than the St. Louis Rams. Good Luck and may the Fantasy Football God’s bless you.

Follow Bill Kitts on twitter @americanwnfk
Thanks to Navin75 for the photo of Jordan Shipley.

Manny Ramirez tested positive for hCG last year and received a 50 game suspension during the MLB season. Different than Ramirez who said he tested positive for hCG by taking medicine that was prescribed to him by a doctor, Brian Cushing stated that his positive test was a result of over training:

“Every individual is genetically different. I had a unique situation where something like this occurred and we have the science to back it up. It’s taken months. It’s really beyond what we ever thought and it’s beyond the regular medical doctor”.

I’m neither a doctor, nor a trainer, but one thing that I can be sure about is that no matter how hard you train (which I have done in the past), your body can not produce something that already doesn’t exist in it. For instance, the body naturally produces creatine yet we add more creatine as a supplement when training. Even if we do not add the creatine to our supplement regiment, the body will continue to produce creatine anyway. The human body does not produce hCG on it own, meaning that training or “over training” will not result in the body producing hCG.

If by some freak of nature, Cushing is an extraordinary human being and does produce hCG just from working out, then reap the benefits and play all 16 games next season. This being highly unlikely, seeing as the use of hCG as a performance enhancing drug is to maintain and increase testosterone levels during steroid cycles, Cushing is just another athlete on the list of performance enhancing drug users that got caught and will pay the extreme price of doing so for the remainder of his career and any shot at the NFL Hall of Fame when his career is over.

As the story continues to develop I will keep you posted and also ask that you do the same here in the comments section below.

Thanks to The Brit_2 for the photo of Brian Cushing

Josh,
With Youk on the DL does that put a fork in the 2010 Red Sox? Is Theo Epstein kicking himself in the ass for not going after Adam Dunn?
Regards,
-Bill (in Saratoga, NY)

The fate of the 2010 Red Sox won’t solely lie in the hands of Kevin Youkilis. With Youk being out for the entire season due to surgery on his thumb, Pedroia still out on the DL and our bullpen being the mess that it is, Adam Dunn wouldn’t be the only answer to change the fact that we’re 7 games out of first place and struggling just to get into contention for the AL Wildcard.

The vast injuries all season has hampered our ability to win, but it comes down to more than scoring runs when a team that was based on pitching and defense can’t even cover the bases that they were designed to. Theo put together a great premise and roster for a steroid-free era of baseball where the home run is seen less often and pitching and defense will win games, however, the majority of the season our starting roster has not been in tact at all.

Youkilis is the heart of the team and our best player, but reiterating the fact that baseball is not a one man sport, we have far too many holes overall that acquiring Adam Dunn wouldn’t be enough to push us into the post season.

Josh,
With the extent of the injuries growing within the Red Sox and the lack of quality middle relief, how do you see the rest of the season going? What happens with the team this offseason? Something has got to give with the makeup of this team. Even the quality starting pitching we have can not make up for the lack of defense and offense. Losing to lesser teams with your stud pitchers is not the way to go. What changes need to be made to possibly improve the makeup of the team.
-Matthew (currently in Bahrain)

Following up on the previous question I can say that I still believe the Red Sox can make a push for the Wildcard. There’s no way that both the Yankees and Devil Rays will be able to keep up their hot streaks for the remainder of the season. Boston is one of the most determined teams in Major League Baseball with tons of heart. The injuries, the bullpen and the hurt put upon our starting pitching just fuels the team more to do better and play harder. The wins will start to fall into place and we’ll get a shot at the post season.

This offseason is going to be the most active that Boston has ever had. With the huge season that Adrian Beltre had and his lack of team chemistry, we’re not going to offer him a huge long-term contract that he is going to want and deserve for his 2010 numbers. We’re also going to have to revamp our entire bullpen except for Bard and Papelbon, which I don’t necessarily agree with. It’s time to give Bard the closer role and trade Pap for a big bat or a consistent, strong middle reliever for the 5th-8th innings type of guy.

We also need to let go of all the loyalty that we’re holding with the ’04 and ’07 guys like Lowell, Varitek, Papelbon, Dice-K, Wakefield and maybe even Papi and start rebuilding the team for better hitters, consistent middle relief and better fits for the clubhouse that will bring back that family like style that we’ve had in the past when we were winning more games. The make up of the team will then be improved, leading to winning the games that we’re expected to win just like you said.

Why did Michael Vick get his job back when a normal person who commits a felony ends up working at McDonalds?
-April (in West Roxbury, MA.)

This is a subject that I wavered on at first. When Vick was finally re-instated by Roger Goodell I agreed with the decision, but I also feel that it should go both ways and not solely based on the fact that he is an NFL superstar. Vick was sentenced, served his time and then returned to the field. Another player that had a run-in with the law that I couldn’t agree with however, was Donte Stallworth. Donte was given a 30-day sentence for DUI manslaughter. How the hell does anyone get 30 days for killing another human being yet a man who killed dogs got two years? I would also say that Stallworth should have been able to return to the league after serving his sentence, but I was devastated that he got 30 days for killing someone.

Sadly, it all comes back to the fact that they’re NFL stars. If you or I committed either of the crimes that they committed, we would both be serving maximum sentences and then return to the world with no chance of employment. I agree that once you serve your time you should then be able to move forward and continue on with your life, but that’s just not the way it works.

How many times is Brett Favre going to retire?
-Jason (in Huntsville, AL.)

As many times as he wants. This saga will continue to be the story when there is no story in sports that day during every NFL off season for the next few years. Brett has earned the right to skip training camp and he should do so.

Josh,
Do you feel like Brett Favre is being selfish with the way he is acting in terms of his holding out on a decision to play or not? Should the Vikings put a timetable on his decision? Or are the Vikings being selfish in allowing this behavior in hoping they get a marque quarteback?
-Matthew (currently in Bahrain)

He’s not being selfish, this is just the way it’s going to be for him every off season until he actually retires for real. The Vikings are doing the right thing by not placing a timetable on his decision. Giving him a deadline will cause him to retire, un-retire, and cycle over and over anyway. He doesn’t need to go to training camp anymore and he can make his final decision at the last minute based on his health and his desire to play. The Vikings aren’t being selfish either. They may be putting themselves in a tough situation by not having a solid replacement for Favre if he does decide not to play this season, but they know what they’re doing and everything points to Favre playing this season. I do see them taking a quarterback in the first round in next years draft when Favre’s contract is up and the off-season delays could cause them to enter the season without a quarterback though.

Should the Patriots trade Tom Brady? At this point, he’s not going to get any better and as shown with Bledsoe and Cassel the system is the real star here in New England. Sure, Brady might be the best fit for the system, but wouldn’t we be better off trading him for a bunch of picks and improving the team as a whole?
-Adam (in Dorchester)

No.

Josh Gans is a Boston Sports Fanatic that will give you the answers from the fans point of view and not the run of the mill answer of the week that you’d get from the other major sports networks. If you have any questions for Sportsfan4, e-mail us and we’ll get your questions posted for the next mailbag. The more questions we get, the more often we’ll answer them and you’ll get to see your questions here and get the answers you need.

Thanks to waltarrrrr for the photo of the USPS Mail Box

I want to know how the world feels about the milestone, so give us your vote and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Also, I couldn’t resist, I need to leave you the quote from Barry Bonds’ website, congratulating A-Rod after he hit the home run, classic!

“Congratulations Alex on hitting your 600th home run today, welcome to the club. Stay healthy and focused, you only have 163 to go. I’ll be watching and rooting for you along the way. Good Luck.” – Barry Bonds

Thanks to Keith Allison for the photo of Alex Rodriguez hitting a home run

Boston called up Dustin Richardson and Ryan Kalish from the minors and optioned Jeremy Hermida to Pawtucket. With Mike Cameron going on the DL, Daniel Nava was also re-activated. By dropping off Ramirez, we take that liability out of the bullpen, however, with all the roster moves and trading of minor league prospects to the Texas Rangers, our biggest acquisition was catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia who has been in the Rangers minor league system all season. Although the poll didn’t have quite the response we’re used to here at Sportsfan4 (with the reconstruction of the site, the polls will be on the lower right hand side of the page, under the new cool beans section), those who did participate felt that the Red Sox did need to make a move before the trade deadline.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Although Boston did make a few roster moves and some minor trades, I don’t quite think that this was close to the type of trade that Red Sox fans were expecting with a team in turmoil, unable to close out games with a shaky bullpen and an offense that seems to either light up the scoreboard or get completely shut down.

I have as much loyalty as the next man when it comes to our veteran players that have been in there since the ’04 and ’07 seasons, but maybe it’s time to make some bigger moves and take a chance. Varitek, Lowell and Ellsbury haven’t played much at all this season (partly due to injury), but we could manage to find a hitter or a middle reliever out there somewhere that would be reliable and consistent if we would package something together for a team that’s in need of any of those guys. One of our best hitters, Adrian Beltre, most likely won’t be back next season anyway and just doesn’t have the chemistry to be on this team. I mean, what kind of guy violently swings his helmet at his teammate for touching his damn hair?! With all the injuries we have, the one thing we don’t need is Beltre breaking someones hand or jaw with a batting helmet because he’s a frigging broad, but that’s a story for another day.

There’s so much that we could have done to improve our offense, forget about the concept of run prevention because we aren’t preventing anyone from scoring on us and get a few more reliable relievers to come out for innings 5-8. I still haven’t given up on the team, I can still see some guys getting healthy and the Sox making a run for the wildcard, but my hopes at winning the Division are slowly fading…

This Month’s Poll

Here’s a head start on this months poll. With Alex Rodriguez’s 600th home run being right in front of us, what do you think of the milestone?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Thanks to VickieVictoria for the photo of Theo Epstein

What is the Wildcat?

To set up in the Wildcat the offensive line comes out unbalanced, meaning the weak side tackle and tight end swap places on the line. (The line from strong to weak would be T,T,G,C,G,TE). The receivers line up in what is called Deuces (Twins to the weak side and a single flanker on the unbalanced side). The split end on the Twins side is normally where the Quarterback will line up and the inside receiver is where your running back or speed player will line up. There is an upback or H-back lined up behind the original tackle position on the unbalanced side. A running back or speed player will then line up behind center in a shot gun formation. “We just scratched the surface of what we were trying to do. This is not something that just came up and we scribbled on the board a couple days ago”says Miami Dolphins Head Coach, Tony Sparano.” The purpose of the Wildcat formation is to confuse the defense and allow yourself multiple options of what to do once the ball has been snapped. The Miami Dolphins used the Wildcat formation to perfection against the New England Patriots last season as well as some other teams who spent all week practicing against it and still couldnt stop them. The other reason the Wildcat worked so well for Miami is that it wasn’t their base offense. The Dolphins still came out and ran regular sets of their offense making it that much harder for opposing defenses to be able to stop them and have the right personnel in the game when they came out in the double wing formation.

What Can the Wildcat Do?

The Wildcat formation allows options and gimmick plays for the offense. With a running back taking the snap, he can immediately take a hole and run for a big gain with all the motion confusing the linebackers. The inside receiver on the twins side will motion toward the quarterback before the snap every play. This creates an option read for the player at quarterback. By reading the defensive end, the quarterback can either hand the ball to the motioning back or take it himself based on the ends line of attack. With the lone split end on the unbalanced side, this also sets up a reverse play after running the read multiple times. The player at quarterback also has an opportunity to run regular passing plays out of the Wildcat formation with normal protection from the offensive line and the H-back. Don’t forget that the reverse will also set up the reverse pass later on in the game. With the teams original quarterback lined up split out to the twins side, this also sets up the ability to run a wide receiver screen pass. The Dolphins can throw a screen to Pennington who can catch the ball behind the line of scrimmage and then have him throw a deep ball to the opposite side split end all the way down the field.

The Wildcat allows a team to line up in one base offensive formation and run several different plays based on reads and tendencies. The defensive coordinators in the NFL will be spending much of their time in the pre-season and practice week defending the Wildcat with the influx of teams adding this to their arsenal of offensive weaponry. “We decided we were going to stop the run first. We weren’t going to let McFadden beat us. We stressed accountability to the highest level. No matter how tempting it is to deviate from your responsibility to go to another guy, you can’t leave your man” said Mario Cristobal, Florida International Head Coach. The Wildcat also allows a team to display all of their speed and athleticism on the field at once. With the addition of Pat White from West Virginia, the Dolphins have added to their Wildcat by drafting a run first quarterback who can absolutely make an immediate impact at the NFL level by stepping into the Wildcat for Miami.

Is the Wildcat Here to Stay?

“There’s a way to stop everything. It’ll be a trend for a while. The NFL is so fast, they’ll find a way to defend it” said Channing Crowder, Miami Dolphins Linebacker. With the NFL being such a copycat league, I can see plenty of teams coming out in the Wildcat formation looking for success this season. It isn’t a formation that any team can run because they may not have the personnel needed to pull of all of the plays that the Wildcat has to offer. The Wildcat is going to be a huge hit in this upcoming season, but defensive coordinators are also going to study the film of what the Baltimore Ravens did to stop Miami last season and they will use that defensive front against it. On both sides of the ball, the Wildcat is all about assignments and responsibilities. If one player makes a mistake, it’s going to be a big play for the offense. I’m excited to see the Wildcat in the 2009-2010 season, but not if every single team is trying to run out of it when their offense isn’t built for it. As long as it doesn’t lead to offensive disaster for NFL games, the Wildcat is going to be widely seen in the NFL for at least a season or two.

This post was originally my first guest post on Chuck Hanf‘s blog, Two Cents From Beantown. I’d like to thank Chuck for giving me the option to re-post it here for you (as well as congratulate him on the recent birth of his daughter, Courtney Elizabeth). Plus, I always love going back and seeing what I’ve written in the past to compare it to the present.

Thanks to Zruda for the picture of the Miami Dolphins Wildcat Offense.

It’s been a slow off-season on the Brett Favre front, but ESPN has recently tried to make it news again. I don’t think this year is going to be as flashy and edgy as the past, he’s coming back, just not for training camp. Also, anyone that says Brett Favre doesn’t have the right as a 40 year old (21 NFL seasons) man to skip training camp (meant to teach the rookies and refresh the veterans) can blow it out their ass.

So far we know three things:

1. Brad Childress has not and will not give Favre a deadline to report to the team.
2. Brett’s latest statement: “Hell, you gotta quit sometime. Then again, maybe I will be doing this when I’m 50 years old, who knows?”
3. Favre has been throwing with the Oak Grove High School football team in Hattiesburg again, the same team he threw with last season to warm up before returning to the Vikings.

Feel the excitement in the air, Brett Favre will be back next season and this time he is going to lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl. I already won one bet off Favre coming back and making it to the NFC Championship game, so if you’re interested in upping the stakes Adam, you just let me know.

Thanks to shgmom56 for the photo of Brett Favre.

Too Much For TV

Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson are going to be the new wave of the NFL. This is going to be the Wade, LeBron, Bosh of the NFL. Both of these wide receivers have their own reality shows on VH1, did they not have the opportunity to meet one another and get to know each other better. C’Mon. Ocho Stinko went to the Bengals and said, “Yo, we need to sign my boy B.O.”. And then it shall be done. Carson Palmer is going to be looking for a bed at McLean Hospital before it’s all said and done.

I think they’re going to yuk it up and that Chad Johnson is a far better player than Terrell Owens, only that Owens has the ability to cry like a baby more/better when he’s not getting the ball enough (to his standards). That better not be a problem to a primary receiver that ended last season with 55 catches and 5 TD’s. The only way this is going to work is if Owens realizes that it’s Chad’s team and he’s going to be a possession receiver, a decoy route runner and a way to open the field and improve the running game.

Let’s see if Owens is another professional athlete who had the epiphany, “I just want to win one before I retire and get forgotten for my skills and remembered for being a d-bag”. It’s going to be a fun season to watch with all the hype and story lines created around this, so be prepared.

Thanks to Keith Allison for the photo of Chad Johnson.