Links that Don’t Stink

The fantasy world is getting high on Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith, Justin Blackmon is converting the fake football masses, and Rotoworld‘s Evan Silva thinks your Rodgers/Brady/Brees fetish is super weird.

Let’s take a quick look at fantasy football’s most fragrant links from this morning…

• Torrey Smith has expanded his route running beyond the straight go pattern, a lovely little development for his quarterback, Joe Flacco, and fantasy ballers who have targeted Smith as a seventh or eighth round WR2/3. Smith tortured the Jaguars secondary in last night’s preseason game in Baltimore, grabbing eight balls for 103 yards. He dropped a deep lob pass in the first quarter that would’ve added another 30 yards to his total. Flacco locked in on Smith early, clearly trusting the second-year pass catcher even in tight coverage. Fantasy Douche has some fine Smith comparables from a while back, and check out The Fake Football’s various rankings of the Ravens’ ascendent pass catcher.

• Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert is still worthy of your disdain, but you can rely on the frightened pass chucker to target rookie Justin Blackmon, as he’s shown in two preseason games. Against the Ravens, Blackmon caught four passes for 72 yards, bringing his preseason totals to eight receptions and 120 yards. He was targeted eight times against Baltimore. Gabbert rarely targets big money man Laurent Robinson as his primary receiver, and when Blackmon has the ball, no defender takes him down one on one. Dude is big, strong, and fast, and based purely on volume (think a much better version of Greg Little), Blackmon will have fantasy value in 2012.

• Rotoworld’s Evan Silva released his latest Top 150 list this morning. Here’s the takeaway: Elite running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends should be your first and second round targets, not the Big Three of Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady, who were seen as the ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO WIN A FANTASY CHAMPIONSHIP at last week’s Fantasy Football Fest in Atlantic City. Silva says you’re doubly crazy because Cam Newton should be drafted before any of the Big Three. Silva says to shut your damn mouth about “repeatable” rushing touchdowns. NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal agrees with Silva on this point, as he made clear in a Twitter exchange with ESPN’s Matthew Berry this week.

• Read Bill Barnwell’s latest Grantland opus on how to think of fantasy football in ways your feeble little mind could have never imagined. Take hallucinogens for maximum effect.

And in shameless plug news, check out the best way to really screw up your fantasy draft and why you must — must! — use the Twitter Machine to ruin the lives of your fake football enemies.