Author: Brant Tedeschi

I'm Brant Tedeschi, a web developer and entrepreneur, from New Jersey with a degree in history from Monmouth University. I've been developing start-ups for the past 6 years and am the founder and lead developer of FantasySP. Follow me on Twitter or Google+

Antonio Gates held without a catch for the first time since 2008

Fantasy owners looking for a big game with Antonio Gates were disappointed on Sunday where he did not record a catch in a loss to the Patriots.

Analysis: Surprised? You should be.  This is the first time Gates has been held without a catch since 2008 against the Raiders.  It looked like the Patriots defense was wearing him down throughout the game.  Meanwhile Vincent Jackson had a career day.  Philip Rivers did look Gates’ way a few times and one pass was actually intercepted.  No word yet on if he suffered an injury, but for now we have to assume he is fine going into week 3.

Projection: This is clearly an unusual week for Gates, but expect him to put up solid numbers next week against a horrible Kansas City team.

FantasySP September 12th Weekly Release Notes

I had an idea the other day… a lot of tech companies create weekly release notes and send them around the office.  I don’t have an office or other employees. What I do have are loyal users who really seem to care about whats going on around here.  So from now on, I will make a weekly release notes post each Monday informing you guys of the biggest additions/changes to FantasySP.

I am a HUGE fan of transparency and hope that you guys will enjoy this.  So, here it is:

  • Removed quite a few unnecessary queries, plus tweaks to NFL.com fantasy to speed up the site
  • New users will receive emails from me asking them if they need help or have questions
  • Newsletters to all users have been added, and I plan to send these out during big announcements
  • Ed Belfour was showing up in NHL most viewed players accidently, fixes added to prevent inaccuracies
  • CBS Sports transactions are now being collected, still need to add support for the other leagues
  • Frontend to show league transactions partially finished and will be added to the site sometime this week
  • Added notification in the user box every Tuesday about weekly release notes

Injury free LeGarrette Blount largely ignored against Lions

During Sunday’s loss to the Lions, LeGarrette Blount only managed to get 5 attempts for 15 yards. Meanwhile Earnest Graham had 6 attempts for 13 yards.

Analysis: Blount was largely ignored on Sunday while they concentrated on the passing attack with Josh Freeman attempting 43 passes.  The Lions were winning for most of the game, but there was no reason to give up on the running attack.  As far as we know, Blount did not suffer an injury on Sunday.  Stay tuned for post game questions  as to what happened to the running game.  This was clearly a terrible game for Blount owners but don’t expect him to repeat this bad performance next week.

Jeff Karstens is a must start fantasy pitcher

Jeff Karstens just threw his first complete-game shutout the Astros with only 83 pitches.

Analysis:  Karstens has been quietly putting together an amazing season for the first place Pirates.  He is sporting a 2.34 ERA  and 1.03 WHIP.  In his 16 games started he has 11 quality starts and has not lost in his previous 8 starts.  According to CBSSports, he is only owned in 62% of the leagues.  Why?  It takes awhile to believe in a Pirates pitcher, but this guy will lower your team ERA in roto leagues and provide you with quality starts in head 2 head leagues.  Adding him to your roster right now is a no brainer and should be starting in all leagues.

A.J. Burnett’s 2011 Fantasy Outlook

A.J. Burnett had his first outing of the Spring and threw two scoreless innings, giving up two hits to the Astros.

Analysis: There is a lot of pressure on A.J. Burnett to bounce back from his 10-15 losing record as he goes on to say: “I know the cameras are on me, the spotlight is on me to turn it around”.  Fantasy owners of Burnett and Yankee fans alike know that he is an extremely inconsistent player.  One week he will go 7 strong innings giving up just a run, and the following outing he implodes and gives up 5 in an inning.  Burnett is the kind of guy that gets easily frazzled and can lose control of the plate and the game at any time.  Play him when he’s hot and avoid him when he’s cold because there is no middle ground with him.

Projection: Expect A.J. to post a close to .500 record as a pitcher this year.  He will string together a few wins in a row, but eventually he will come back down to earth.  When he does, just make sure he is out of your lineups.