Fantasy Football, in Theory
A fantasy football podcast devoted to high-level strategy in the abstract.
info_outline
Episode 08 - This Is Not Amari Cooper, (and nor is it Luke Vosters)
09/19/2020
Episode 08 - This Is Not Amari Cooper, (and nor is it Luke Vosters)
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We are told that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. But the past and the future are temporally distinct, and one is not the other. So how are lessons to be drawn? This is the paradox at the heart of any efforts to let our knowledge of the past shape our expectations for the future. The introduction to today's episode is adapted from an essay I wrote in 2017 titled This Is Not Amari Cooper. If you'd like to read the essay in its original form, complete with pictures that are not the things they represent (but which are similar in structure, which accounts for their usefulness), you can find it here: If you want to view Luke's projection system and perhaps incorporate it into your own personal process, it's freely available here: If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks, as always, for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/16071911
info_outline
Episode 07 - O, What Tangled Webs We Weave
09/08/2020
Episode 07 - O, What Tangled Webs We Weave
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. What if everything we thought we knew about football was wrong? What if the all-time greats and the all-time goods and all-time okays were really just an indecipherable mess distinguished primarily by chance, a series of coins that could have just as easily landed on the other side (if they were even destined to be flipped at all)? What if the universe— to quote Fantasy Football, in Theory favorite J.B.S. Haldane— is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. Today I talk about how everything we see is a product of everything we don't see. If you want to read more about the history of the West Coast Offense and its roots in Cincinnati, I highly recommend this piece by Chris Wesseling of NFL.com: If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks, as always, for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/15923009
info_outline
Episode 06 - The People's Podcast, featuring Bob Mozitis
09/01/2020
Episode 06 - The People's Podcast, featuring Bob Mozitis
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. Who we choose to speak to shapes not only what we come to believe, but even the manner in which we think about things. Most fantasy football podcasts feature people within the fantasy football industry speaking with other industry insiders, which is a useful way to sharpen our thoughts and feelings about fantasy football. But what does this approach miss? Twitter-friend Bob Mozitis (@briks42) was kind enough to play guinea pig as I tried to find out. Content referenced during this episode includes: My historical fantasy value spreadsheets for QBs: RBs: WRs: TEs: (If you scroll right on the main page, you'll find quick filters to sort by production though a specific age or year of experience, at a specific age or year of experience, or after a specific age or year of experience.) If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/15840983
info_outline
Episode 05 - Some Names Stymie Analysis, featuring Matt Harmon
08/13/2017
Episode 05 - Some Names Stymie Analysis, featuring Matt Harmon
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. How do the labels we use affect how we see things, taste things, hear things, feel things, and interact with the world around us? And perhaps more importantly, what the heck does this have to do with football? Special guest Matt Harmon joins us to discuss. Content referenced during this episode includes: Fighting through negativity bias and a wide receiver's drop issues: What You See is Not All There Is: The Crayola-fication of the World, parts 1 and 2: What Quarterback Rate Stats Stay Most Consistant When a Quarterback Change Teams?: What Quarterback Rate Stats Stay Most Consistent When a Team Changes Quarterbacks?: Thoughts on Running Back Yards per Carry: When Do Yards and Touchdowns Per Carry Stabilize?: Career Leaders in Yards Per Carry, (Era-Adjusted): If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/5637184
info_outline
Interruptisode 01 - ...For No Good Reason
07/24/2017
Interruptisode 01 - ...For No Good Reason
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. In today's episode: Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant podcast about it from the comfort of their living rooms. If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/5562835
info_outline
Episode 04 - Being Right
07/17/2017
Episode 04 - Being Right
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. What do you do when one of your cornerstone beliefs is suddenly called into question? In the quest to be right, what does it mean to be wrong? In our quest to answer that question, we'll discuss stupid bar bets, obtuse statistical biases, overconfident basketball researchers, the history of the philosophy of science, (not to be confused with the history of science or the philosophy of science), and go over a long list of stupid things that I have believed. Here is a link to Believing We're Right isn't Being Right, the essay that inspired the episode: And, as promised, here's a list of things I've written about being wrong: Musings on Confirmation Bias - A Thought Experiment to Ruin Your Day - Harvin Runs a Jet Sweep - The Wrong Way to Build a Dynasty - We're Probably Thinking about Age the Wrong Way - Also, a piece on the tendency of analytics to sometimes overconfidently assert that because they failed to find evidence of something, it must not exist - If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/5548658
info_outline
Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 2
08/31/2016
Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 2
Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) and Danny Tuccitto (@IR_DannyT) ran a podcast called the Three Cone Drill. Last August, they invited Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) and me on to discuss a sprawling array of topics, and the resulting conversation was my favorite that I've ever had about Football, or a number of other topics for that matter. The Three Cone Drill podcast is now defunct, but Rivers and Danny have given me permission to re-host this episode so it is not lost forever. This is part 2, in which we question the validity of statistics and everything we thought we knew about player aging.
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/4633082
info_outline
Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 1
08/31/2016
Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 1
Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) and Danny Tuccitto (@IR_DannyT) ran a podcast called the Three Cone Drill. Last August, they invited Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) and me on to discuss a sprawling array of topics, and the resulting conversation was my favorite that I've ever had about Football, or a number of other topics for that matter. The Three Cone Drill podcast is now defunct, but Rivers and Danny have given me permission to re-host this episode so it is not lost forever. This is part 1, including a discussion on the philosophies and strategies of trading in fantasy football.
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/4633066
info_outline
Episode 03 - San Diego's Choice
08/16/2016
Episode 03 - San Diego's Choice
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. The 2007 San Diego Chargers were faced with a choice: part with one of the most successful coaches in NFL history, or with the hot GM who had figured out how to beat the NFL draft. Today, we re-examine that choice with the benefit of hindsight. In our autopsy, we'll discuss John Bogle, Wyatt Earp, and definitely-not-Albert-Einstein. Our findings carry rather striking implications for our own desires to evaluate talent in fantasy football, and raise a question that strikes to the heart of the scouting profession... ... Can anyone beat the NFL draft? If you want to read more on this topic, here are links to the articles referenced in this show. The First Index Mutual Fund: A History of Vanguard Index Trust and the Vanguard Index Strategy, by John Bogle - Are Certain Teams Better at Drafting than Others? by Chase Stuart - Cade Massey on Flipping Coins and the NFL Draft, by Brian Burke - Luck vs. Skill: Year-Over-Year NFL Draft Performance, by Steve Drake - Luck vs. Skill: Is Anyone Good at Picking Football Players? by Steve Drake - Luck vs. Skill: Are Picks After Trading Up Better than Others? by Steve Drake - No Team Can Beat the Draft, by Neil Paine - I've written in the past on the odd intersection between index funds and fantasy football, in a three part series on index investing in dynasty rookie drafts. Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at @AdamHarstad. Thanks for listening!
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/4595144
info_outline
Episode 02 - Multidisciplinary Genius, and Also Matt Waldman
08/03/2016
Episode 02 - Multidisciplinary Genius, and Also Matt Waldman
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. Episode 2 continues our look at questions of size and how much it matters for NFL players. If you're curious about any of the essays cited, you can read them here: I, Pencil, by Leonard Read - On Being the Right Size, by J.B.S. Haldane - The Biology of B-Movie Monsters, by Michael C. LeBarbera - If you enjoyed today's guest, you can learn more about the Rookie Scouting Portfolio at his site - You can also read more of his work-- as well as my own!-- at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also always available at my blog, .
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/4562893
info_outline
Episode 01 - The Bantam Menace
07/29/2016
Episode 01 - The Bantam Menace
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. Episode 1 looks at questions of size and how much it matters for wide receivers in the NFL. If you enjoyed this episode and are interested in further exploring this topic, here are some suggested readings: WR Size: Is It Valid Analysis, by Matt Waldman and Chase Stuart - Chubby Chasers Revisited: Do We Still Like Heavy Receivers? by Frank DuPont - And three articles by yours truly: It's Not the Size, (It's How You Use It) - Lies, Damned Lies, and Big Receivers - On Being the Right Size -
/episode/index/show/fantasytheory/id/4550841