Daily Fantasy Football News July 5thby Michael Pichan (@FantasyNomad)
Hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July. There was not a lot of Fantasy relevant news, so here a couple that I felt would be helpful as you start gearing up for your Fantasy Football Drafts:
Michael Crabtree--WR 49ers
Michael Crabtree will return to the gym today. He'll be eased back into the weight room, probably starting off on a stationary bike or an elliptical machine to maintain his conditioning. That would fit the time line for recovering from an Achilles' heel tear.It boggles my mind some how much helium Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick has gotten going into Fantasy Football drafts. I have seen Kaepernick drafted ahead of Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Matt Stafford, and even Peyton Manning in some mock drafts this off-season, which makes little sense to me, especially considering he lost his number one wide receiver in Michael Crabtree. Does a team of wide receivers that include Anquan Boldin, Kyle Williams, and A.J. Jenkins (or Quinton Patton) look like a group that will provide near top five production for any quarterback? Yeah Kaepernick will likely provide excellent rushing totals this season, but not enough passing yards or touchdowns to warrant even a top eight quarterback ranking. Let others reach for him and you target one of the aforementioned QB's. 
Montee Ball RB Denver Broncos NFL
The Broncos want Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman to get most of the carries this year. Whereas, Knowshon Moreno will see the majority of his snaps on third down this season.As exciting as this may sound for some of you who are enamored with Montee Ball in both re-draft and dynasty formats, you should temper your expectations for Montee this season. Currently Hillman is listed as the top back on the Broncos depth chart, and that is quite a few cooks in the kitchen, on a team that relies heavily on the pass, to be spending a fourth or fifth round pick on Ball in re-draft leagues.  
Jordan Cameron--TE Browns
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Jordan Cameron saw "plenty of deep balls" during off-season team activities. Cameron was targeted just 40 times last season, a number that is surely to increase with the departure of Ben Watson and former Browns head coach Pat Shurmur and the arrival of new head coach Norv Turner along with new coordinator Rob Chudzinski who helped Greg Olsen have a career year last season and was part of the Browns staff when Kellen Winslow was having his success. I have seen Cameron being around the 15-19th tight end to go off the board in the majority of the drafts I have been involved in this off season, which should present excellent value for a player who I see being a top 15 tight end this season.
Scott Chandler--TE Bills
Scott Chandler is a month ahead of schedule in his recovery from ACL surgery and expects to be able to participate in training camp at the end of the month. Regardless, Chandler is not an ideal tight end target this season due to the low expectations from the quarterback on the Bills team and the fact Chandler is coming off of ACL surgery.
  • Michael Pichan is the host of multiple RotoInfo.com Radio Network Shows, frequent guest on Sirius/XM Fantasy Sports channel, contributor of written Fantasy advice and insight for Rotoinfo.com, and FSWA member. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post in comment section and/or e-mail him at thefantasynomad@gmail.com. Also follow him on Twitter @FantasyNomad for up-to-date Q&A and fantasy information. And check out his New Live Daily League Show: Daily Fantasy Happy Hour every M, T, and F 4-5pm.