Thursday, July 31, 2008

PossessionPoints.com Season Preview Issue

PossessionPoints.com will release its Preseason Preview issue on August 18th. As always, PossessionPoints.com is a paper-free and environmentally conscious company. Our e-magazine Issue goes beyond the typical pre-season information. We analyze every team and project their performances based on not only their last season’s PossessionPoints but changes made in personnel and coaching. The Preseason Preview is a valuable tool to have during the season.

Remember, new to the 2008 season is our in-depth and unique coverage of Fantasy Football. Using a new analysis method, PossessionPoints.com will forecast individual player values on a one-week, four-week and remainder of season basis. This is an essential and invaluable tool for serious Fantasy players. As with our team coverage, PossessionPoints.com uses its easy red,yellow and green color-coded graphics to tell you exactly which player is the hot pick.

Of course, during the season, our members will receive via e-mail, their weekly matchup pages that project winners both straight up and against the spread, as well as performance rankings based on the PossessionPoints stat. Subscribers have access to our Members area where they can view trend lines and more detailed information on their favorite teams.

Look to our site or blog for team and player information in the coming weeks.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Disgruntled Players on the Move

Let the games begin! Already this week, NFL players, who have made it clear that they are unhappy with their teams, have made bold moves to find a team they like more. The first players to participate in the “I don’t like where I am and I want a new team” game are Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins and Jeremy Shockey of the New York Giants.

Jason Taylor’s switch from Miami to Washington came out of a legitimate need for Washington to find a Defensive End. On the opening day of the Redskins’ training camp last Saturday, Washington lost veteran Defensive End Phillip Daniels to a season-ending knee injury. What activity caused such a severe injury on the first day of camp is not quite known, but it left Washington in a lurch. Enter Jason Taylor who had indicated to Miami on several occasions that he wanted to be traded to a contender. If that did not come to pass, his playing days would probably be over after this year. When Taylor found out about the Redskins’ needs and their interest in him he extended his playing time for at least another two seasons. To acquire Jason Taylor, the Redskins gave up a second round draft pick in 2009 and a sixth round draft pick in 2010. All in all, PossessionPoints.com feels this was a bargain for the Redskins as Taylor is a six-time Pro Bowl player and is still in great playing condition.

This week the Giants also got rid of a disgruntled teammate when they traded Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints. Shockey has made no effort to hide his displeasure for both Giants’ management and Giants’ Quarterback, Eli Manning. It’s funny to note that when Shockey was an active Giant, Manning stumbled in his efforts to become a top-notch player. However, as soon as Shockey and his loud opinions found themselves disabled, Manning began to show off his obvious talent and less obvious leadership ability and led the Giants to the Super Bowl. Did Manning’s transformation cause the Giant front office to re-think Shockey’s leadership role on the team?

In the long run, the Giants’ reasoning does not matter. What does matter is that Shockey gets to go play for his former Offensive Coordinator Sean Payton in the Big Easy and the Giants’ get a second and fifth-round draft pick.
Player moves such as these is why PossessionPoints.com does not rush to put out our Preseason Preview issue. What do you think about this trade? Do you think the Giants made a good deal or do you think Shockey was too valuable a player to give up? We would love to know your opinion.

Friday, July 18, 2008

PossessionPoints.com adds Upickem to its site in 2008

One of the newest features in PossessionPoints.com this season is the addition of the Upickem contest. Players can sign on to play the weekly contest through PossessionPoints.com’s website. The contest is free to all. There is no need to be a PossessionPoints subscriber. However, once you are on the site, feel free to see what PossessionPoints.com can offer you as an NFL fan or Fantasy Football player. As a subscriber, you will receive weekly matchup pages for all NFL teams plus individual analysis of each NFL player on a weekly and 4-week basis.

After you sign on to the Upickem site, you will be eligible to win UPickem’s weekly national prize and their season-long prize as well. Those who sign on to Upickem through PossessionPoints.com will also be eligible for some surprises from PossessionPoints.com as well.

Join the fun and come on board with PossessionPoints.com this season. Details are on our website at http://possessionpoints.com


Separate registration required even if a subscriber

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sneak Peak at PossessionPoints Fantasy Data

Previously we announced that PossessionPoints.com was expanding into Fantasy Football player data. We told people that we would be compiling lists by position of “expected values”. This is a new concept, so we are going to take the time to explain what “expected values” are in more detail.

Did you ever wish that you could figure out how a player would do by factoring in not only his performance but the performance of the defense he was playing against? Even if you took the time to do this for one player, could you take the time to do the same thing for all the players in the same position throughout the league? When you see a “list” of the top 20 players by position, do you ever wish you knew how much number 5 was worth relative to number 1 or number 10 on the list? Anyone who plays Fantasy Football can see the advantage in this type of knowledge.

Well, PossessionPoints can help the fantasy player attain this knowledge and more by analyzing all the data and help you, the fantasy player pick the best team each week. Below are 3 example lists for wide receivers based on 2007 data (obviously, no 2008 rookies are on these lists yet), and the 2008 schedule. (Off-season player trades and moves have yet to be incorporated into the data base but will be put in prior to most Fantasy Football drafts). The lists below contain the top 10 expected value performers for the first week, the first 4 weeks, and the remainder of the season (which right now is the full season).

Player Data Week 1
Player Data Next 4 Weeks
Player Data Rest of season



This information will help you plan your team whether you are playing a traditional Fantasy game or a “player market” game like Rotohog. (Click on the Rotohog icon to go to their site and find out more about their game, take it from us, it is a lot of fun
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In the typical PossessionPoints style, we give you information with colors as well as numbers. As with our regular PossessionPoints stat that shows NFL team winner and loser projections, "Red" means a bad performance, "Yellow" means a so-so performance and "Green" means a good performance. In our Fantasy Football stat, we have omitted "Yellow" for now. The Red and Green in the Fantasy Football stat conveys information about the Defenses that the player is up against. For example, take Terrell Owens. His 16.10 points is above the value we would have expected if he were up against an “average” pass defense in week 1. Likewise, his average performance is helped by the pass defense numbers of the first 4 opponents. Based on the numbers or just the color-coded graphs, Owens would just edge out Randy Moss for the first week. If you are not a numbers person, don't fret. Look to the colors as your guide.

Randy Moss’s 4-week number is hurt by the fact that the Patriots have a BYE in week 4. When Week 4 arrives that bye week would be highlighted in “Red”. However, as you see from the remainder of the season chart, we would expect Moss to be the top producer at WR in 2008 based on his 2007 data and 2008 schedule.

So, if you are a Fantasy player who tends to draft, hold and hope for the best, then you would love to get one of the top 7 wide receivers for the season. If you look at the charts, you see a 20-point fall off between Jennings and Boldin. The big question with Jennings is: will he be as productive if Favre isn’t throwing to him. Time will tell and his number could change drastically based on early 2008 data. If you actively manage your team with trades or purchases (like the Rotohog game) then you will be much more focused on the “next week” and “next 4 weeks charts”.

Oh so much to talk about and oh so little space. Go to http://www.possessionpoints.com/ for more info. As the season approaches we will post much more info.