Where did The Huddle have Big Ben ranked this week?

[Howie]

I am strongly considering a move to another pay FFB service next season. I have been disenchanted over the past few years with the weekly projections from service I have been using and this weekend...a big weekend for FFBers playing for a SB title...is when the crystal ball needs to be unclouded.

 

While the service I use has Big Ben at #9...and that is better than all other sites I have referenced (save for the possible lone exception of Chris Harris, ESPN, ranking him #8 this week), I'm curious if there was a hunch from the guys at The Huddle that a bigger game would be had?

 

It seems most of the pay services' pre-season projections/rankings are quite comparable, so I'm ultimately attempting to find a group which offers superior in-season guidance.

 

Thanks.

[tazinib1]

#24

 

ETA: If you are looking for somebody to hold your hand, then the Huddle isn't for you. If you want sound, experienced guidance during the season, then the Huddle is a site you should give a shot to. Just please don't be the one who bitches and moans when you lose cause you chose to start a guy somebody told you to start. In the end, it is your decision who you start. The service here is just a means to justify it, not blame it when it doesn't go your way.

Edited December 24, 2010 by tazinib1

[Furd]

There wasn't a reason for anyone to think that he'd have a big game.

 

You could rush for 100 and 1 against the Panthers brah.

[Menudo]

I love these posts.

[Easy n Dirty]

I love these posts.

 

I hear you. But it does give a launching pad to discuss the format of The Huddle's weekly start/bench advice. Poster above says The Huddle has Roethlisberger at #24, but the reality is that neither of the two weekly articles necessarily put Roethlisberger at a specific ranking within the QB position. In may cases, neither gives what would qualify as solid advice if you're in a bind between two players. DMD's weekly projections will indicate which player he thinks is in line to score more points, but as has been discussed here many times, including by him, the end result can be very dependent upon where he credits TDs, especially once you get past the QB position. To use an extreme example, DMD's projections this week have Josh Morgan outscoring Roddy White, but nobody really thinks he's advising anyone to bench Roddy White this week, is he? And certainly not for Josh Morgan.

 

As for the Start/Bench list, if you're truly torn between two players, chances are upwards of 75% that they are both rated S2, so that doesn't give alot of guidance either.

 

I understand that everyone is responsible for their own decisions, etc. etc. - but I wonder sometimes if the format of weekly start/bench advice should at a minimum encompass what most other FF sites provide, which is a simple listing of players in order by position (I personally like what ESPN provides, with rankings from 4 FF columnists plus a consensus based on the 4 rankings, I'd like to see The Huddle provide that myself).

Edited December 24, 2010 by Easy n Dirty

[Howie]

#24

 

ETA: If you are looking for somebody to hold your hand, then the Huddle isn't for you. If you want sound, experienced guidance during the season, then the Huddle is a site you should give a shot to. Just please don't be the one who bitches and moans when you lose cause you chose to start a guy somebody told you to start. In the end, it is your decision who you start. The service here is just a means to justify it, not blame it when it doesn't go your way.

 

Thanks for the info regarding BB's ranking by The Huddle this week as well as your comments. You are correct as to ultimate responsibility related to start/sit decisions...however, there are enough free services with "expert" opinions, I am just trying to identify a clear leader when it comes to the in-season projections- especially if I am paying for the advice. It may boil down to not having a clear-cut leader in this realm and if one is to subscribe to a given site some of the supporting tools (e.g., draft software, team trackers, etc.) should be the exclusive focus rather than accurate player projections.

[tazinib1]

Thanks for the info regarding BB's ranking by The Huddle this week as well as your comments. You are correct as to ultimate responsibility related to start/sit decisions...however, there are enough free services with "expert" opinions, I am just trying to identify a clear leader when it comes to the in-season projections- especially if I am paying for the advice. It may boil down to not having a clear-cut leader in this realm and if one is to subscribe to a given site some of the supporting tools (e.g., draft software, team trackers, etc.) should be the exclusive focus rather than accurate player projections.

 

Another factor is the people who live at any given forum. After 15 yrs, I have found that the group of people here at the Huddle are far and above the best bunch of guys/gals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

[keggerz]

Do you play IDP? If not you should

[loaf]

Do you play IDP? If not you should

shaddup already.

[Coyote]

I wouldn't complain about the advice here and I have been here since the beginning but I do think that some other sites have caught them. I will probably add another pay site next year that I think has given good advice this year, maybe even better advice. I rely on the forums here just as much as the info at the Huddle..............if I need to verify something that has happened right now, no better place than the forums. I do tire of the posts that blame the writers for bad decisions.......all this info is to allow you to make an informed decision, not a guarantee for results. If you can't make your own decisions why play?

[DMD]

In my projections - and I do not do rankings though they come out in descending FF point order according to your league on one page - I projected Ben Roethlisberger to pass for 230 yards and one touchdown. I also projected Mendenhall to have a big game of 120 yards and 2 TDs. That was tied into the fact that the Panthers allowed the #3 least amount of FF points to quarterbacks and yet were only #27 against running backs. My comment was :

Ben Roethlisberger has been inconsistent this year and while he has three games with three scores in each, he has only thrown for two touchdowns over the last four weeks. The offense has not scored more than 23 points in those games and all but the Baltimore matchup should have been a points bonanza against much weaker teams.

 

The Panthers have allowed multiple passing scores in several games but mostly opponents have just ran all over them and not needed to pass as much. That fits into what Big Ben is already doing anyway. No reason to expect a monster game this week - it won't be needed anyway.

 

My comment on Mendenhall was:

Rashard Mendenhall should love this week against a defense that has already allowed 17 rushing touchdowns to opposing running backs and high yardage to the backs who top the 20 carry mark. That should happen this week since Mendenhall already has ten touchdowns on the season and could use a nice rushing game.

 

The only fear here is that the Panthers fall behind and they allow Isaac Redman to have a bigger role to rest Mendenhall. But even if that happens, it should only be after a good performance. Consider Mendenhall very desirable to start this week. He's a lock to get one score and may have two.

 

What happened was that the second touchdown I expected from Mendenhall was rushed in by Roethlisberger who has rushed in only one touchdown in the last 23 games. It is not something to expect or rely on.

 

They only gave Mendenahall 18 carries in a home game against the #27 rushing defense and had Roethlisberger run six times (more than any time this year). So the variance in my projections was the Steelers not taking advantage of facing a weak rushing defense like most teams and connecting on a some longer gaining passes that boosted him to 320 yards for his second highest game of the year. Plus Roethlisberger scored the rare rushing touchdown to make most of his difference.

 

I predicted a 34-3 game but it was really 27-3.

 

My advice is don't try to find someone who can match up on the highly unlikely happening, find a source that you think is best at what usually happens.

[loaf]

so there!

[wiegie]

I predicted a 34-3 game but it was really 27-3.

don't feel too bad, you might do better next time

[cre8tiff]

don't feel too bad, you might do better next time

 

 

I rolled the dice and started Ryan over Ben. It made sense, and will likely lose me $100.00. So what?

 

Losing your cool over a bad decision in a game like this is ridiculous.

 

Besides, Ryan himself go go OFF!!!

[Qball86]

I rolled the dice and started Ryan over Ben.

 

Agreed you have to make your own decisions but I would like to see something resembling a "I would start a over b" like I think CBS does. I know you can see that with the S1,S2 stuff but a good point made earlier is that a lot of times two players are both S2 or 3. Gimme a hunch on one over another. Just a gut thing and not to open it up for me to come back and complain about "no one told me to start Bowe". Stats and research is fine but a lot of decisions are made by a gut reaction not stats.

 

Perfect example, the projections/start bench lists say to start Kitna over Ryan. My gut however says that in a big game at home for the division title, home field throughout the playoffs and a bye week and its on Monday night; the ATL/NO game could turn into a shoot-out. Meanwhile the DAL/ARI game is really for nothing and Dallas keeps saying they want all three RBs to have an opportunity to play. The Huddle has a lot of experts that study the game relentlessly, take out the black and white stats and what is their gut telling them.

[HowboutthemCowboys]

Agreed you have to make your own decisions but I would like to see something resembling a "I would start a over b" like I think CBS does. I know you can see that with the S1,S2 stuff but a good point made earlier is that a lot of times two players are both S2 or 3. Gimme a hunch on one over another. Just a gut thing and not to open it up for me to come back and complain about "no one told me to start Bowe". Stats and research is fine but a lot of decisions are made by a gut reaction not stats.

Why would you go with someone else's gut over your own?

[ebartender]

I would like to see something resembling a "I would start a over b" like I think CBS does.

 

If you value CBS's expertise so much then why not just go to CBS for that info.? Am I missing something or can't you just go to the game predictions and decide who you would start if you can't make up your mind yourself? I mean if Ben is predicted to score 35 points and Matt Ryan is only predicted to score 30 then it is pretty obvious to me that the person making the predictions would start Ben over Ryan. What happened to the days when owners did their own research instead of relying solely on the "experts"?

[Fatman]

I am strongly considering a move to another pay FFB service next season. I have been disenchanted over the past few years with the weekly projections from service I have been using and this weekend...a big weekend for FFBers playing for a SB title...is when the crystal ball needs to be unclouded.

 

While the service I use has Big Ben at #9...and that is better than all other sites I have referenced (save for the possible lone exception of Chris Harris, ESPN, ranking him #8 this week), I'm curious if there was a hunch from the guys at The Huddle that a bigger game would be had?

 

It seems most of the pay services' pre-season projections/rankings are quite comparable, so I'm ultimately attempting to find a group which offers superior in-season guidance.

 

Thanks.

 

Dude, completely agree. I've stopped using the Huddle and simply rely on this. CHAMPIONSHIP!

[Qball86]

Why would you go with someone else's gut over your own?

well it must be nice to have never asked someones opinion and I never said "here start my lineup for me".

 

If you value CBS's expertise so much then why not just go to CBS for that info.? Am I missing something or can't you just go to the game predictions and decide who you would start if you can't make up your mind yourself? I mean if Ben is predicted to score 35 points and Matt Ryan is only predicted to score 30 then it is pretty obvious to me that the person making the predictions would start Ben over Ryan. What happened to the days when owners did their own research instead of relying solely on the "experts"?

 

I also didn't say I value their expertise, I just like the format of something they do. I simply meant I would like to see the huddle experts add their insight to that same type of article/format. And Johnny Knox is predicted to score 12 with Roddy White 8. Is it pretty obvious that everyone should bench White for Knox? Would you? I doubt it, why, because your gut says you wouldn't do that.

 

And if you do all your own research, why are you on the huddle? How long does it take you to do your draft rankings each year? Must be tough going to every training camp to see what the depth charts will be and how people are coming back from injuries the year before. This is all someone elses research isn't it? Looking up someone elses research is not the same as "doing your own". Sorry I don't have time to comb through the NFL stats and produce trending charts and I'm sure the huddle prefers it that way otherwise their revenue model would be in serious jeopardy.

[rcswildcat]

I really hate seeing on these forums and the bottom of the artciles on the main page the following:

 

WDIS: pick 2 at flex. standard

 

Choice

Hightower

Woodhead

Felix

LT

Crabtree

MSW

M Thomas

Tamme

 

And then god forbid, if I dont answer the top 2, thats why I stopped putting my 2cents in on those.

 

The reason I play FF is to make these decisions, thats part of the fun. I weekly read ESPN, CBS, and thehuddle to see what they have for my guys, but in the end its my decision. If I didnt have a gut feeling and want to prove Im right to my opponent, why play? Its a game, and for whats it worth, I dont post much, but i read the huddle forums and pay section everyday, and they are well worth the membership, and much more knowledge is hidden in the articles then any popular site (ESPN, CBS, Fox, etc..). Not to be a kiss ass, but everyday there is a least 1 thing I read. I love Fridays when jumbo comes out.

 

But my membership this year was free too because I won something in the playoffs last year!

 

ETA: another I love about being a paying member is the side games that are constantly going on. i won 100 bucks in something else last year and DMD mailed me a check. that right there is worth a membership to me.

Edited December 24, 2010 by rcswildcat

[Pope Flick]

Agreed you have to make your own decisions but I would like to see something resembling a "I would start a over b" like I think CBS does. I know you can see that with the S1,S2 stuff but a good point made earlier is that a lot of times two players are both S2 or 3. Gimme a hunch on one over another. Just a gut thing and not to open it up for me to come back and complain about "no one told me to start Bowe". Stats and research is fine but a lot of decisions are made by a gut reaction not stats.

 

Perfect example, the projections/start bench lists say to start Kitna over Ryan. My gut however says that in a big game at home for the division title, home field throughout the playoffs and a bye week and its on Monday night; the ATL/NO game could turn into a shoot-out. Meanwhile the DAL/ARI game is really for nothing and Dallas keeps saying they want all three RBs to have an opportunity to play. The Huddle has a lot of experts that study the game relentlessly, take out the black and white stats and what is their gut telling them.

 

 

I think your gut is wrong: Ryan is solid in leagues that take 2 points for INTs. However, his usual stat line is basically only slightlty above average. Kitna has shown to be more dynamic and since the Byes ended has been a top ten QB in most scoring systems, and pushing top 5 in some as well. Ryan sits right near the ten spot in many leagues. (in my big money league they're 7th and 13th respectively since week 11).

 

I also don't see a well balanced team like Atlanta trying to get into a shootout. That's not their game and they'll lose that. No, I'd expect the Turner Express in full force this weekend as they go ball control and keep Brees off the field. I'd go with Kitna.

[Qball86]

I really hate seeing on these forums and the bottom of the artciles on the main page the following:

 

WDIS: pick 2 at flex. standard

 

Choice

Hightower

Woodhead

Felix

LT

Crabtree

MSW

M Thomas

Tamme

 

And then god forbid, if I dont answer the top 2, thats why I stopped putting my 2cents in on those.

 

The reason I play FF is to make these decisions, thats part of the fun. I weekly read ESPN, CBS, and thehuddle to see what they have for my guys, but in the end its my decision. If I didnt have a gut feeling and want to prove Im right to my opponent, why play? Its a game, and for whats it worth, I dont post much, but i read the huddle forums and pay section everyday, and they are well worth the membership, and much more knowledge is hidden in the articles then any popular site (ESPN, CBS, Fox, etc..). Not to be a kiss ass, but everyday there is a least 1 thing I read. I love Fridays when jumbo comes out.

 

But my membership this year was free too because I won something in the playoffs last year!

 

ETA: another I love about being a paying member is the side games that are constantly going on. i won 100 bucks in something else last year and DMD mailed me a check. that right there is worth a membership to me.

Yeah, there is a place for those questions and it gets annoying when they show up everywhere. It's also annoying when people come back and say "I told you so" or "I knew you were wrong and now I lost". Thats why I said I agree everyone has to make, and live, with their own decisions. And not having a gut feeling and asking someone else their opinion are two different things. I take the advice I get at face value and as just that, someones opinion.

[MTSuper7]

Because different writers have different opinions, it does make for inconsistency in the different features on The Huddle. Though it would be more work, it would be nice to see rankings from each writer so we can see them by column with an average. I've seen other sites do this, and I think it's a nice way to see side by side how opinions differ on different players. Sort the rankings by average rank of the experts, and include commentary for anyone who has a significant variance from writer to writer. I'm not looking for you to tell me who to start. I'm looking for you to give me as much possible useful information so I can figure out who I want to start. I think something like I mentioned above would do that.

[Qball86]

I also don't see a well balanced team like Atlanta trying to get into a shootout. That's not their game and they'll lose that. No, I'd expect the Turner Express in full force this weekend as they go ball control and keep Brees off the field. I'd go with Kitna.

Fine, but I'm only starting Kitna now because you told me to. If you're wrong its gonna cost me a lot of money so you better be right.

 

I wasn't thinking ATL wanted to get into a shoot out but it seems NO can force the issue better than just about any team. End result being the same, a 35-30 type game. Kitna just seems more likely to go 200/1 as they work all 3 RBs into the ground game.

[HowboutthemCowboys]

well it must be nice to have never asked someones opinion and I never said "here start my lineup for me".

I was'nt trying to be smart.

I've been playing FF for quite a while. I've been a paying member at the Huddle quite a while longer than I've been a member of these boards.

I pay for the cheatsheets and priority news. I don't pay for start/bench or the projections. I used to literally change my lineups according to what DMD said back in the day. Now I read DMD's writeup every week because I enjoy it, but start who I feel will score the most points. Sometime's he's right, sometimes I'm right. You'll get alot more satisfaction setting your lineups every week doing it your way.