Monthly Archives: August 2023

Five NFL Fantasy Sleepers that will bring you to the Top of your League

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By Kalen Lumpkins

Kalen is a fourth year BGSU student from Toledo, Ohio. He is a sports management major with a minor in journalism. His primary sports interests include football and tennis, but he also has an interest in a wide variety of other sports, from baseball to hockey. His dream job outside of college is to be a sportswriter for an organization like ESPN or Sports Illustrated.

August 25, 2023

The NFL season begins on September 7, the day when most fans will start to manage their fantasy football teams. As the Lion-Chiefs kickoff game approaches, some may still be looking at which players will elevate their team above their friends and league mates.

The good news for these fans is that they have come to the right place. The upcoming list will give these avid participants five players who will give a major boost to whichever fantasy team you draft them.

However, we will not be looking at the top of the draft order (yes, you should draft Travis Kelce if he is available). Instead, we are diving beyond the top ten for each division.

With that said, here are some players that you should pick up if they so happen to fall in your lap (All stats and fantasy projections are from ESPN):

ALEXANDER MATTISON

As the projected RB26, Alexander Mattison is slated to be the starting running back for the Vikings after Dalvin Cook’s departure to the Jets.

As the backup to Cook for the last four seasons, his workload is fairly light. Still, it is hard to ignore that Mattison performed well while Cook was sidelined.

In 2021, Mattison led the league in touches, rushing yards, and fantasy points in four games as the starter. This potential, along with being a part of a top-tier Minnesota offense, puts Mattison in a prime position to produce.

Alexander Mattison is a low-risk, high-reward option that is primed to do wonders in your RB2/FLEX position.

AARON RODGERS

Two seasons ago, Aaron Rodgers being a sleeper pick seemed like insanity. As the projected QB12, though, this scenario has become a reality.

It would not be far-fetched to call the Hall of Famer’s 2022-23 season the worst of his career. The Packers finished 8-9, and Rodgers finished as QB25.

A-Rod (12 INTs) and his receivers (29 dropped passes) were never on the same page, and the season ended on a sour note as the Lions ended any playoff hopes the cheeseheads had.  

Now, Rodgers will begin perhaps his final chapter with the Jets, and New York will give #8 (the new number will take some getting used to) some of the best weapons of his career in Garret Wilson and the returning Breece Hall. We have seen what A-Rod can do with the right pieces, and it should be an offensive spectacle that Jets fans have been awaiting for years.

It is reasonable to think that 39-year-old Rodgers is set to regress, but the upside of the QB is large enough to take the risk.

RACHAAD WHITE

After the departure of Leonard Fournette, Rachaad White (projected RB19) has been handed the keys to the Buccaneers’ rushing attack. Tampa Bay is going through some major changes, which should be perfect for the former Sun Devil.

Tampa Bay is entering a post-Tom Brady era (for real this time), and the replacement for TB12 will most likely be Baker Mayfield. While this may sound like a major downgrade, the former top pick has opted for safer throws in recent years, which will benefit Rachaad White owners in PPR leagues.

In a Week 12 game against Cleveland, White played 91% of the snaps and finished with 14 carries for 65 yards along with 9 catches for 45 yards. This resulted in 19.9 fantasy points (in basic rule PPR leagues), a number that could now pop up every week.

While he may share a few snaps with Chase Edmonds, his dual-threat ability should elevate any fantasy team that drafts him. Rachaad White will make a high-quality RB2 or a low-end RB1.

JUWAN JOHNSON

As quick as a blink of an eye, Juwan Johnson (projected TE21) went from do-not-draft lists to one of the top fantasy scorers of the 2022-23 season. He finished as TE15 last season, and his 7 touchdowns were the fourth-best out of all tight ends.

However, with great performances, comes great inconsistency. Johnson frustrated his fantasy owners last season by ending a game with zero catches and yards just a week after a multi-TD performance.

The switch from Jameis Winston to Derek Carr at QB could fix the TE’s spottiness. Carr is used to his quality tight ends, after all.

Juwan Johnson may be the riskiest draft choice out of all the players on this list, but making him a TE2 will surely bail your team out in a few games.

GEORGE PICKENS

Now, you may have seen George Pickens on a few ‘poised to breakout’ lists, along with his quarterback Kenny Pickett, but his current projection of WR31 would make you think otherwise.

His rookie season was filled with highs and lows, but he became the deep threat of the Steelers offense as the season progressed. He will want to raise his targets, though, as he finished 48th in that category last season.

Kenny Pickett has shown an increase in confidence in his throws during the preseason, a sight that everyone in Pittsburgh should love to see. The Pickett-Pickens connections have been a charm, and they will look to bring this into the regular season. George Pickens will continue to share targets with Dionte Johnson, but a big step for the Steelers offense seems to be in fruition. Pickens will be a steal for the flex position.

The Angels’ Biblical Struggle

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Caption: Shohei Ohtani dawns Samurai headgear and celebrates with teammates after a Home Run.

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

August 13, 2023

The Los Angeles Angels decided to pull (arguably) the greatest baseball player of all time off the trading block in what looks to be a statement move. The Angels have shown baseball that they are doing everything they can to get Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout to the playoffs.

On the 27th of July, the Angels announced that they would NOT be trading Ohtani at this year’s deadline. The team then proceeded to acquire pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez as well as two players with past ties to the team in C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk.

They got all four of these players without having to give up much at all and I think they will all be great late-season pickups for LA. However, simply acquiring these players isn’t going to automatically put the team in first place. They are in a very tough division dealing with both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros who are currently in first and second place, respectively.

The Angels now sit in fourth place, 12.5 games behind Texas and are six games behind the Seattle Mariners. On top of that, they are 6.5 games back from holding a wild card spot and punching their ticket to the postseason. They trail Tampa Bay, Houston, and Toronto who are all currently in place to get wild card spots as well as Boston and the Yankees who have them by 3 and 4 games respectively.

Now only time will tell if the Angels made the right decision keeping Ohtani for the full year. Some people might be of the opinion that they should have traded Ohtani while they still had control so that they could get something for him. Some might think that they still have a chance for a postseason push, although chances seem to be fading fast.

Many were speculating that a trade deal for Ohtani would be team altering. A team that wanted Ohtani would have more than likely had to give up their top prospects as well as one or two Major League ready players who could fill a roster spot right now. There were very few teams who were willing to make that sort of shift in a franchise and I believe that Angels GM Perry Minasian didn’t want to be remembered as the GM that traded (possibly) the greatest player of all time.

That being said, the biggest question now outside of the will they/won’t they playoff talk, is what team is going to have the funds and ability to pay Shohei Ohtani this offseason?

The Angels seemed to be going into “win now” mode with all of their eggs in the basket for this season, so I would be very surprised to see a resigning. We always have the huge market teams like the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, and San Diego. Especially with the Mets dealing their 40-year-old, $40 million pitcher (Max Scherzer) to the Rangers and their 43.3 million pitcher (Justin Verlander) to the Astros, they could be selling this year to make salary space for the money Ohtani will command.

I think it is entirely reasonable to assume that Shohei will sign the largest contract in baseball history in terms of average yearly salary. I would even venture to say that paying North of $50 million a year would be more than fair. When you think of all that you are getting with Ohtani OUTSIDE of his pure baseball greatness, you realize that he can entirely change the way the baseball world looks at a team.

He is easily the most marketable player in baseball right now, everyone loves him as a person, he has done wonders in bringing Japanese fans to MLB and expanding that market. In terms of being on a team, what more could you ask of a player?

Another aspect of Ohtani that has been overlooked is the fact that he is a two-way player. So, the way I see it, if you sign him to a long-term deal, even if he starts falling off as either a pitcher or a hitter in a noticeable way, he can just stop doing one and focus on the other. Now, obviously that is a decision that is entirely up to Shohei, but I still think it could be an option in the future.

I think the most reasonable outcome of this upcoming offseason would be a team inking Ohtani to a 1–3-year deal. He is still going to take a ton of money a year to play so I can’t see many teams committing to Ohtani at his price for much more than that.

As of today, Ohtani is slashing .302/.403/.680 with a 1.083 OPS, a 187 OPS+, 39 HR, 7 triples, and 66 walks. He is leading MLB in all of those stats minus his .302 average.

As a pitcher he is 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA, 131 ERA+, 156 strikeouts and has only given up 18 HR in 120.2 innings pitched. He is also leading the MLB with 5.9 hits per 9 innings.

He is clearly dominant in all facets of his game. He made this incredibly evident on the 27th of July during an Angels doubleheader. In the first game, Ohtani was the starting pitcher and threw a complete game shutout which is becoming increasingly rare in today’s game. He was hitless in the first game going 0-5 at the plate, but once pitching wasn’t on his mind, he let us know. In the second game of the day, Ohtani hit not one but TWO homers furthering his home run lead over everyone else in Major League Baseball. I was super excited for this trade deadline in the MLB and as exciting as it has been, I am super stoked to get to watch the Shohei sweepstakes unfold over this offseason.