One of the most difficult tasks in head-to-head fantasy leagues is trying to determine who the “hot” and “cold” players will be in any given week. You can’t use historical or seasonal averages because, well … by their very definition, ...

I looked at wide receivers (since 2007) who had amassed at least 170 targets in a season and had a reception percentage of at least 55 percent — then I examined how they fared the following season. The results were good, if not outstanding.

Every year, readers will point out how this season will be different, that their favorite runner will buck the odds … and every season, the math holds up. Don’t be unnecessarily reckless; if you’re at the top of your draft, convince some other suckers to grab Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey.

When should you draft different positions? Should Saquon Barkley be taken ahead of Michael Thomas? Should Aaron Donald be grabbed ahead of George Kittle? Heck, where should any position be drafted as compared to any other position?

John concludes the regular season with his Week 17 NAR Rankings.

I'm liking Andrew Luck this week in a must-win situation against the Giants... Jared Goff needs to regain some of his swagger, and quick; the Arizona defense may allow him that opportunity.

Drew Brees has had consecutive sub-par outings, causing him to slide a bit. With just two games to go, can Tom Brady put together a strong kick to end up in the Top 12?

While Dalvin Cook hasn't been running the ball all that well since his return from injury, he's been a decent RB2/Flex play over the last three games. The Vikings' RB has average 88 scrimmage yards, five catches and 0.67 TDs per game in that span, good for an average 18.2 PPG...

Matt Ryan has been having a really solid season thus far without as much hype as guys like Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes, but he's one of three QBs with 4,000+ yards so far (along with Mahomes and Roethlisberger) and his 28 TDs are tied for sixth in the league.

Oakland has given up the greatest number of fantasy points to opposing tight ends, so this might be one of those weeks where Ben Roethlisberger looks for Vance McDonald a bit more than usual.

Christian McCaffrey has hauled in 80 catches in 12 games this season, which puts him on a pace to finish 107 catches-- which would surpass Matt Forte's RB record of 102.

Andrew Luck kept his impressive streak of tossing at least three TDs in a game going last week. The streak now stands at eight games, during which Luck has tallied 27 TDs against just eight INTs...

Go-go JuJu! JuJu Smith-Schuster moves into the Top 10 this week, and in doing so forms the second WR pair (with Antonio Brown) to be atop the rankings-- joining the Adam Thielen-Stefon Diggs combination.

I've always liked Tevin Coleman's skills, and he's certainly played adequately since running mate Devonta Freeman-- but I'm a bit disappointed that he hasn't taken his production to the next level.

Lost among all the fabulous QB play this season has been Andrew Luck's comeback season. After having missed all of last season to injury, Luck has done away with lingering concerns that he'd regain his old form.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Vikings make use of Dalvin Cook. Coming off a bye, the Vikings' coaching staff stated this week that they had no concerns about Cook participating in full practices-- great news for fantasy owners...

I’m sure 95 percent of the owners out there figured that Jack Doyle would’ve been the tight end to have in Indianapolis, but the team forgot it wasn’t Andrew Luck who had the chemistry with Doyle – it was Jacoby Brissett.

Welcome to The Lowdown for Week  10. This is my little corner of the fantasy football universe — feel free to pull up a chair and stay a while! For Whom the Bell Tolls Following the Steelers’ big win over ...

There are a few people I know who still view James White as a third-down back; those people are idiots. White has piled up 766 rushing and receiving yards, combined with 61 receptions and 10 total TDs... that's some pretty good, RB1 type of production.

Let's admit it: Fitzpatrick should've never have been benched for Jameis Winston... Fitzpatrick figures to be one of the better performing field generals this week, but one of the few guys who is a stronger play this week is Cam Newton.

He missed a couple of games due to injury, but Colts RB Marlon Mack currently shakes out as a RB1 according to the NAR, ahead of guys like Adrian Peterson, David Johnson and Phillip Lindsay. Mack has been good enough to reign in the number of throws that Andrew Luck has to attempt every game.

Ah, yes... London. Home of Shakespeare, tasteless food and warm beer... and for three times this season, play host to an NFL game. Needless to say, games played in London stink. I live on the East Coast, so that means a 9:30AM start for me-- which means not really being able to wake up early enough to check all the latest updates. I chuckle at the thought of somebody on the West Coast waking up at 6:30AM, because I know that'll never happen.

Kareem Hunt is starting to ball the last couple of weeks: as a matter of fact, he’s moved up five spots – from #11 to #6 – in just one week. If you’re playing Kansas City, I’m sure every team looks to take away the pass and risk having Hunt beat them ... which means Hunt should be seeing a lot of open space on Sundays for the remainder of the season.

The deal this week that sent Carlos Hyde from Cleveland to Jacksonville took me a bit by surprise, although it makes sense. By making the trade, Jacksonville is basically admitting a couple of things: (a) Leonard Fournette won’t be back any time soon, (b) T.J. Yeldon can’t shoulder the load by himself, (c) handing Blake Bortles an extension was a mistake.

Keep an eye on first-rounder Sony Michel. In the last three games, Michel has rolled up 316 rushing yards and punched in four touchdowns. While backfield mate James White is nine spots ahead of him, I have a feeling that Michel’s role will continue to increase as the season wears on ...

Other than Saquon Barkley, it seemed as if the entire team gave up after its first series. No fire, no hustle... just going through the motions. I get that Eli Manning is old and is less mobile than the Statue of Liberty; but can we at least try to buy him some time in the pocket?

On the heels of his record-breaking Week 5 performance, Drew Brees moves into the #2 spot in the QB rankings, right behind wunderkind Patrick Mahomes...

Carson Wentz is playing himself back into Top 10 levels, and since the Vikings seem to have forgotten how to play defense, there's good reason to have him in the top spot this week...

Zach Ertz is looking like he’s the best tight end in the NFL right now; while he’s second in points per reception (PPR) scoring, he’s much more consistent than Travis Kelce, Jared Cook and George Kittle ...

Welcome to The Lowdown for Week 4. This is my little corner of the fantasy football universe — feel free to pull up a chair and stay a while! I Is a Fantasy Football Expert The Rams-Vikings game this past ...

Will Fuller is a great deep threat who complements Hopkins perfectly and seems to be completely in tune with Watson; his main flaw, obviously, is his inability to stay healthy. His ceiling is so high, however, that I think he's worth a roster spot on your squad.

Welcome to The Lowdown for Week 3. This is my little corner of the fantasy football universe — feel free to pull up a chair and stay a while! How This Column Works You know the difference between guys like ...

Jared Cook? Jesse James? WILL DISSLY!? That's it, nothing makes sense any more....

After employing the process below for IDPs and getting some positive feedback from the Sharks community, I decided to do the same for the offensive players. Notice that this column isn’t about “sleepers”; it’s about identifying players who are likely ...

One of the most difficult tasks in head-to-head fantasy leagues is trying to determine who the “hot” and “cold” players will be in any given week. You can’t use historical or seasonal averages because, well… by their very definition, averages ...

Back in the day, before marriage and children came along, I used to watch a ton of football. I don’t mean all day Saturday and Sunday – I mean every day of the week, every spare moment. It was also ...

This week’s Fantasy Forecast will take a look at the correlation, if any, between player position, age, and performance.

Every pre-season while pro football players are in training camp, working on their skills, analysts like myself stare at seemingly endless amounts of data, hoping to find some pattern, some insight, that’ll be of use to our readers. We start ...

When should you draft different positions? Should Antonio Brown be taken ahead of Le’Veon Bell? Should Bobby Wagner be grabbed ahead of Zach Ertz? Heck, where should any position be drafted as compared to any other position? To answer that ...

As a fantasy sports writer (or any sort of writer, actually), you always want to be known for something uniquely your own. For me, when I finally decide to hang up my keyboard (probably soon), I’d like to think that ...