Who is The Fantasy Judge?

The Judge is a regular guy who likes watching and betting on sports. His first season playing fantasy football was a disaster, selecting Jeff Blake over John Elway and regretting it for the next 17 weeks as Elway went on to win the (real) Super Bowl. The Judge's next year was a complete turnaround, winning the league championship after pairing a rookie named Fred Taylor in the backfield with Jamal Anderson, and scooping up Vinny Testaverde, who had started the season as the Jets' backup QB, off waivers.

Although the Fantasy Judge remains a casual fantasy player, every year he prepares by buying a few magazines, subscribing to a few websites, seeking some inside knowledge and hoping to identify emerging talent while they are still under-the-radar.

Occasionally, the experts who write these magazines and websites do indeed deliver. But the Judge has also noticed that plenty of high-value players are completely missed by these so-called experts, and often in critical situations (such as the #1 draft choice, fantasy playoff weeks) following the expert predictions can destroy a season. Over the years, the Judge (like most of us) has experienced all kinds of fantasy disasters, and it feels even worse when the idea for a bad benching or waiver move came from some so-called "fantasy expert."

Now, the Judge doesn't expect 100% accuracy, far from it. Sports are all about actions and reactions, making adjustments from an original plan, and unplanned or unpredicatble events taking place regularly. It's why Timmy Smith, who ran for 126 yards during the entire 1987 season, racked up 204, plus 2 TDs, in that year's Super Bowl, a yardage record that still stands. It's how Eli Manning, a mediocre QB at best, managed to upset the undefeated Patriots in 2008 and another strong Patriot team in 2011. Or how some unknown wide receiver that your fantasy opponent grabbed off waivers to replace an injured starter, manages to have a career-best game and crush your dreams of a playoff run. No fantasy expert could predict these specific things. But, the Judge believes there is value in following the experts' predictions over the long-term and assess which are more likely to offer intelligent, thoughtful, and accurate predictions more often than their competitors, thereby giving you, the fantasy team owner, the best chance of making good decisions.

I want to tell the Fantasy Judge what I think!

Sure. Here's his contact page.