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About Eric Samulski - RotoBaller
NYC-based teacher, writer and filmmaker. Former collegiate and professional baseball player. Lifelong Bills fan.
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Eric Samulski - RotoBaller has written 445 articles so far, you can find them below.
Giants Cut Tight End Kyle Rudolph
The New York Giants cut veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph on Wednesday, ending his one-year stint with the team. The move clears $5.2 million in salary cap space for a team that has one of the smallest available pools of cap money in the league. While Rudolph only had 257 yards and one touchdown for... Read More
Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Keim Reach Contract Extensions
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim both signed contract extensions with the team on Wednesday and will be under contract through the 2027 season. Despite seemingly failing to meet expectations, the Cardinals have gotten better each year under Kingsbury, going from five wins in his first year to eight wins... Read More
Buying Back in on Alec Bohm
Let's start with a cliché because those are always fun. We've heard over and over again that "prospect growth is not linear." Well, there might not be a better example of that in the current MLB landscape than Bohm, who was drafted third overall in 2018 and quickly moved through the minor leagues, hitting .291... Read More
Outfielders to Fade - 2022 ADP Busts
We love finding value when it comes to fantasy drafts. We love it so much that we've made the term "sleeper" almost meaningless, throwing it around in all sorts of situations. We want to know who the next Cedric Mullins or Robbie Ray might be. But sometimes winning a league can actually come down to... Read More
Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (Chase Rates) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball
As the MLB and MLBPA keep working towards ending the lockout and getting baseball back into our lives, we've been keeping the offseason content going by digging into some 2021 stats. While we all obviously want the lockout to end, this is a useful time to do your research and have a better understanding of... Read More
Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (Pull Rate) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball
As the MLB and MLBPA keep working towards ending the lockout and getting baseball back into our lives, we've been keeping the offseason content going by digging into some 2021 stats. While we all obviously want the lockout to end, this is a useful time to do your research and have a better understanding of... Read More
Pitchers' and Catchers' Report: Volume 2 - Catcher's Corner Episode 23
Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) continue their preseason breakdown of pitchers and catchers being drafted in the same ADP range. They discuss if they'd take Willson Contreras over either Yasmani Grandal or Daulton Varsho and then break down the second tier of starting pitchers to explain why they love Shane Bieber, are back in on... Read More
Making the Case for Dylan Bundy
Earlier this week, I started writing an article about my favorite late-round starting pitchers for draft-and-hold formats and found myself digging into Dylan Bundy. I wasn't really expecting to find much that would make me want to draft him anywhere, but I was intrigued enough by the projection systems giving him consistent innings in Minnesota... Read More
Noteworthy Hitting Leaders (xSLG) - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball
There are stats for everything now. It's great, but it can also be overwhelming at times. Depending on where we look, we can tell ourselves all different types of narratives about a player. As a result, I've always been a proponent of identifying the stats that you find to be most useful/beneficial and focusing on... Read More
Exit Velocity Leaders - Statcast Review for Fantasy Baseball
As we wait for MLB and the MLB Player's Association to work through the lockout issues and move forward with the 2022 baseball season, we've been digging into a few players that stand out as good fantasy investments based on their 2021 Statcast numbers. As with evaluations of any metric, these should be taken as... Read More
Bears Hire Former Colts Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus as Head Coach
On Thursday, the Chicago Bears hired former Colts Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus to be their head coach. Eberflus took a Colts defense that was ranked 26th and 27th in total defense before he arrived and made them a top-10 unit. The Colts never featured tremendous pass rush rates and blitzed at one of the lowest... Read More
Jaguars May Not Hire Byron Leftwich After All
After earlier reports that Byron Leftwich was set to be the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, reports surfaced early on Wednesday that the negotiations were held up because Leftwich wanted Jacksonville to get rid of General Manager Trent Baalke to hire Adrian Wilson, who is Vice President of Pro Scouting for the Arizona... Read More
Dan Quinn Will Remain as Cowboys Defensive Coordinator
Dallas Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn has told teams that he will remain with the Cowboys next year and not pursue any more head coaching positions. Six teams had requested interviews with Quinn, but he decided to return in pursuit of a Super Bowl. The Dallas defense under Quinn this year finished as the number... Read More
Elijah Mitchell Doesn't Practice on Wednesday
San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell (knee) didn't practice today. Joining him on the sideline was the team's left tackle Trent Williams, who suffered an ankle injury in Saturday's win. Now, it's obviously early in the week and we should expect these two to play in the biggest game of the year. However, fantasy... Read More
Mohamed Sanu Activated from Injured Reserve
The San Francisco 49ers have activated Mohamed Sanu from the injured reserve ahead of this weekend's NFC Championship game. However, this does not mean Sanu will slide right back into his old role. Jauan Jennings has come on for the 49ers over the last few weeks and has proven to be a solid chain-mover for... Read More
New Giants GM Plans to Build Offense Around Daniel Jones
In his introductory press conference today New York Giants General Manager Joe Schoen said the team would "build an offense to accentuate what Daniel does best." This is good news for fantasy managers who roster Jones in dynasty leagues and good news for Daniel Jones' fantasy value next season. Jones was actually solid in his... Read More
SNF NFL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings - Chiefs vs Bills Showdown
Happy Sunday, RotoBallers! What an up and down first weekend of the NFL playoffs we had, with some fun games and a couple of utter blowouts. However, we have a great game to close out the Divisional Round on Sunday night as the Bills (11-6) head to Kansas City to take on a Chiefs team... Read More
Emmanuel Sanders Remains Healthy Following Wild-Card Weekend
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (knee) made his return from injury for the Bills' playoff game against New England and caught two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown. He come out of that game healthy and was able to practice in full all week, meaning he will remain active against a Chiefs team... Read More
Travis Kelce Could Be In For Tough Matchup Versus Bills
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce draws a difficult matchup on Sunday against the Bills. In particular, Bills linebacker Matt Milano, who the team usually uses to cover opposing tight ends, has given up the fewest yards per target in the NFL (min. 150 targets) since 2017. Milano also leads the NFL in coverage... Read More
Packers Could Have Fully Healthy Offensive Line For Playoffs
Green Bay Packers right tackle Bully Turner (knee) returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time in a month. This is just a week after the Packers welcomed back starting left tackle David Bakhtiari, meaning that the Packers could have their starting offensive line fully healthy for the first time in over half the... Read More
Leonard Fournette Returns To Practice Wednesday
Tampa Bay Bucs running back Leonard Fournette (hamstring) was designated to return from Injured Reserve and returned to practice on Wednesday. This was always the expectation, but it's nice to see the plans fall into place. Fournette should be officially activated from IR before Sunday's wild-card game against the Philadelphia Eagles and return to his... Read More
Micah Parsons, Tyron Smith Activated From COVID-19 List
Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons and left tackle Tyron Smith were both activated off of the COVID list on Wednesday, making it seem likely both will be able to suit up for the first round of the playoffs against the 49ers. Given how run-heavy the 49ers are and how dynamic their playmakers are in... Read More
Biggest Brl/BBE% Fallers - Hitters
Welcome to part two of my pre-season series on 2021 barrel rate risers and fallers. In the first part, I looked at the players who showed the biggest barrel rate improvement in 2021 and broke down whether or not we should believe that success will carry over into 2022. In this article, I'll look at... Read More
Week 18 Defense (DEF) Streamers and Starts - 2021 Fantasy Tiers, Rankings
For many of you, the fantasy football season is over. I know the last few weeks made it particularly difficult, but I hope it ended on a high note for you. At the end of the day, we all started playing this game because it was fun, so even though the season can be tilting... Read More
Eagles Non-Committal On Whether Jalen Hurts Will Play
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has said that he still hasn't decided if he will play his starters on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys, including quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Eagles have clinched a playoff spot and are currently the seventh seed but could only move to the sixth seed with a win and some... Read More
Giovani Bernard Back At Practice And Hoping To Return Sunday
Tampa Bay Bucs running back Giovani Bernard (knee) was working with training staff at practice on Thursday but head coach Bruce Arians said the team was hopeful they might get him back as soon as Sunday. With Leonard Fournette on the IR and Ronald Jones (ankle) not practicing, Bernard could return to a situation where... Read More
Diontae Johnson Placed On COVID-19 List
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. Even with the NFL's updated policies, it will be hard for Johnson to get cleared ahead of Sunday's game against the Ravens, but it is possible if Johnson is vaccinated and has two negative tests before the game. If Johnson does... Read More
Sony Michel Faces Tough Test on Sunday
Los Angeles Rams running back Sony Michel faces a tough test on Sunday in a crucial showdown with the San Francisco 49ers. On one hand, this is one of the only games in Week 18 where both teams have something to play for; the 49ers and trying to clinch a playoff spot, while the Rams... Read More
Kyle Pitts Doesn't Practice Wednesday
Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts (hamstring) missed practice on Wednesday after having to leave Sunday's game against the Bills early. Pitts was clearly hampered by the injury on Sunday, trying to come back into the game in the 2nd half and running with a noticeable limp. The Falcons want to get their star back... Read More
Devin Singletary Is The Bills' Clear Top Back In Week 18
Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary has emerged as the team's clear lead back over the last month of the season, playing a minimum of 70% of snaps in four straight games. Additionally, no other running back has seen more than 11% of the team's carries over that span, so the Bills rushing attack is... Read More
