Do team fan forums help? (1 Viewer)

[Psilo]

Or is there any real way to navigate between good analysis and homer optimism?

I keep up with 1 team: the saints. I know that team inside and out. And by default I keep up (not quite as much) with the rest of NFC south. And from watching sports media I keep a decent idea of teams like seattle, NE, Dallas etc...

but, I have no clue about JAX. They have had maybe 5 worthwhile fantasy options in as many years (and that could be a stretch). So I want to suss out Yeldon and re-evaluate Julius Thomas, see if Greene is worth anything...etc.

You go onto the team forums and it is just sunshine, rainbows and lombardi trophy talk (I am just using JAX as an example, no idea if they really have that on their forums). so-and-so is going to get ROTY! --same talk from every fan forum. Even when they cite media blurbs from mini/training camp, it still seems homer biased.

Where can you go to get good, unbiased analysis on teams you don't keep up with? Even big media names have their bias, like Cowherd will have you thinking Randle should go in the 1st round with his homer bias. Where can I go to get decently acquainted with teams that get lost in the fray for me?

 

[Freelove]

Good analysis is well-reasoned.

Homer BS is poorly-reasoned or unreasoned.

Being able to spot good reasoning and differentiate it from bad is a skill you have to develop.

 

[MattFancy]

Beat reporters seem to be level headed more often than not

 

[BoltNlava]

ok..I'll bite..

There is some great info that can be mined though the moaning and whatnot (my team thread included btw's), so if your're football savvy you'll see it. Be wary to post in other teams threads tho'...gotta know your ####...this is what you knew already tho' I'd assume.

 

[Psilo]

are there any good websites that have at least decent analysis? I like Rotoworld for its abridged no-nonsense sort of factual reporting. Walterfootball is a joke. Bleacher Report is glorified click bait.

Is this the point where I step up and get a subscription somewhere? As of right now, I seem to get the most worthwhile analysis from twitter. Maybe I should search for a twitter follow page on here.

 

[BoltNlava]

Up to you..sites like these are good for debate and analysis.

 

[Psilo]

yes they are. I really like the assistant coach forum. This one seems really dynasty heavy though.

 

[MattFancy]

yes they are. I really like the assistant coach forum. This one seems really dynasty heavy though.

It's dynasty heavy right now because there isn't much else going on. During the season, this is as good of a source of info as you'll find anywhere else. Especially for free.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

Good analysis is well-reasoned.

Homer BS is poorly-reasoned or unreasoned.

Being able to spot good reasoning and differentiate it from bad is a skill you have to develop.

This is absolutely true. There is a wealth of information available for the well-read fantasy owner now. Almost too much, and we all have access to the same stuff.

Learning to separate the good from the bad, the useful from the excess, the rational from the homer, is part of what makes a successful owner in the long haul.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

yes they are. I really like the assistant coach forum. This one seems really dynasty heavy though.

As Matt said, it's because it's June. Dynasty leagues are active right now, redraft leagues aren't.

 

[Biabreakable]

If you are looking for team specific information some suggestions:

Super Bowl Nation. This website has pages and blogs dedicated to each of the 32 teams under different titles. For the Jaguars you have Big Cat Country. These pages will help you find the biggest stories for each team currently and you can search for specific players as well. There are several dedicated writers for each as well as fan posts. If another website or publication writes something interesting about the team, one of these writers will usually link and mention that in their articles. Some of these are organized really well also, for example this links all of the 2015 free agents the Jaguars signed and some analysis on how each player will fit with their new team.

ESPN blog follows a similar format with their NFL Nation link to all 32 teams, For example Jacksonville stories there.

Certain teams that interest me I sign up for their local newspaper, for example the Miami Herald. So I get certain stories that those teams may be alerting the people on their mailing lists about. I think this is a good way to keep informed about specific teams you may want to keep closer tabs on or who you just want to learn more about.

Here in the Shark Pool there is a team specific thread for most of the 32 teams as well. Fans of those teams will link articles of interest and have discussion about the team strengths and weaknesses with some prognostication or expectations for the season ahead.

Then there are the player threads that drill down into specifics of certain players, where they are on the depth chart, some projections and any other news related to those players. These threads will have a lot of opinion without much back support for those opinions as well. But that makes the threads churn I guess.

You can also just go the NFLcom team pages. You will get a lot of fluff here. But you will also get a lot of video and information coming from the public relations department. If you find stuff here you know it is legit, it just has a PR slant to it.

 

[cr8f]

are there any good websites that have at least decent analysis? I like Rotoworld for its abridged no-nonsense sort of factual reporting. Walterfootball is a joke. Bleacher Report is glorified click bait.

Is this the point where I step up and get a subscription somewhere? As of right now, I seem to get the most worthwhile analysis from twitter. Maybe I should search for a twitter follow page on here.

You like Rotoworld's comments? I think some are reasonable, but some are not.

It is a good central source of most news though you can check out further yourself.

 

[Skeletore Eh]

As an eagles fan, I'd recommend staying out of the Eagles thread if you're looking for valuable insight

 

[cheese]

For me, I don't think so. I have a few team specific guys I follow on Twitter who I trust. Other than that, I prefer to keep an eye out for homers on here that I trust and their value holds some weight for me.

To your point, I'm the same way. I try to contribute to Bengals threads because I feel like I have some insight, but I'm guessing along with everyone else on the other 31. That is part of the value of FBG.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Do team fan forums help?

Yes, when there's participation. I think the best is the Browns thread. The key there is there is debate; even though it's driven by just a few posters, it's a mixture of optimism and skepticism (well it's the Browns). The worst is the Chiefs, year after year there is little to no discussion in that thread, no matter how good or poorly the team is doing.

Some constructive criticism for the site - people in the past have talked about the lack of moderation, partly I guess that's about driving good topics and keeping it substantive about FF itself. But I think one area where one staff member should be devoted is to reviving certain topics and pinning them every year, Another issue IMO is they should take the trouble to merge the team threads, why lose all that valuable discussion from over the years? Take the time to merge all the years' team threads into one main team thread by team. I just think it would help. I think it was Faust who went through the trouble of teeing up new team threads for 2014 last year, many went unused, but Faust should get a medal. Like I said they should merge all team threads by team under one thread and bump them progressively during the offseason.

Also, to really, really help things, they should fix the damn search function. Yes it matters, yes it worked better before the upgrade. The best asset of the site is knowledge over time and they lose so much of it if their users can't find it.

 

[pizzatyme]

I think the Colts are going to be totally awesome this year for sure! Luck with 60 TDs, TY with 20 TDs. Gore with 20 TDs.