Can’t Cut List is our way of showcasing the friends, partners, and affiliates of The Undroppables. Fantasy Football has been a way for us to connect with people all over the world, allowing us to make strong bonds and friendships. Throughout the way, we’ve been fortunate enough to connect with the industry’s top upcoming names. Meet some of the brightest minds that have influenced us in our processes.
Math Wiz
One of the first people we wanted to sit down with was Mike Liu (@MiKeMeUpP), a fantasy football addict and member of #TeamAnalytics. If you haven’t come across Mike on Twitter, you’re probably not doing it right as he is one of the select few who have successfully blended analytics with tape despite his strengths in manipulating data.
Before we dive into Mike as a fantasy football diehard and savant, here is some background on who he is as a person when off the Twitter machine.
Mike grew up in Toronto, Canada and lived there for most of his life. After studying mathematics, accounting and finance (which lends itself very well to this game of probabilities that we play), Liu eventually found his way to California for work. Since then Mike has been working a full-time career in the finance industry, crunching numbers, manipulating spreadsheets and identifying outliers in heaps of mind-numbing digits.
In the offseason and during free time, Mike enjoys attending live sporting events (he recently attended the 2020 CFB National Championship Game) and playing poker. Mike has competed in the World Series and World Poker Tour – Bahamas, holding his own against the pros as he’s been able to leverage is understanding of probabilities.
#TeamAnalytics
Because he’s spent so much time in spreadsheets, Mike has been naturally been inclined towards data and analytics and has gained the skills to make the numbers work for him. It also doesn’t hurt that the NFL has evolved and gravitated towards a more analytics-driven approach. Mike is also more inclined towards analytics because he does not have hundreds of hours to grind tape (although he’d love to).
On the other hand, Mike has tremendous respect for the tape grinders because there are so many nuances to the game that a casual fan doesn’t understand. As Mike concedes, the normal eye isn’t able to see while a seasoned tape grinder can identify the outliers. In the end, however, Mike stresses the importance of both (analytics and tape) to be successful in fantasy football, because there are so many variables and “no one truly understands how these variables affect each other.” It just so happens that Mike grew up and worked in numbers his entire life. Mike knows he isn’t a film guy so he will look to the film guys to see what they’re saying about prospects. Then Mike will take a deeper dive with analytics.
Diving into his approach, Mike utilizes a “bettor’s mindset” as he used to bet a lot of sports. This is based on finding an edge through data. What can you do to get more information on a player? As Mike puts it, analytics may not identify the hits, but helps you weed out the busts by increasing your odds of hitting by reducing the pool of potential misses.
Changing the Game
After a solid run with Dynasty Nerds, Mike was recently recruited to Dynasty League Football by legends Ryan McDowell (@RyanMc23) and Ray G (@RayGQue), adding to a powerhouse lineup. It was a tough move for Mike as the Nerds provided him with an opportunity to break into the industry, but the opportunity to learn under some of the top analytics minds (e.g., Peter Howard, Drew DF Bean Counter) was one Mike couldn’t pass up. At DLF, Mike will be continuing to churn out dynasty and devy content. So make sure to lock in that premium DLF subscription.
It’s no secret (or surprise) that Mike is quickly becoming a thought leader but he remains humble and eager to learn. Crediting names like Ray G, Garrett Price from the Nerds and Nick from BDGE, Mike isn’t afraid to glean knowledge from experienced minds. Liu also looks to gain insight from up and coming analysts including friends of the fam, JetPack Galileo for JPG’s signature cut-ups; Jim Nastic, a fellow Canadian who loves to interact with others on Twitter; and David Zach who is putting in some great work with yards created by running backs.
Stacking Chips
It’s all about results in this game and in the past year, Mike took down 5 fantasy football championships, improving from 4 the year before. This was also his first year playing DFS and ended up in the black while developing a process to build. A 9% ROI in year one is nothing to be disappointed with. Suffice to say that Mike’s process has proven results.
Draft Szn Quick Hits
Here are 4 names Mike has his eyes on heading into the 2020 draft season:
- Cam Akers – Mike has been beating the drum before the 2019 season started. Looks like a rRaw prospect when Mike watches him, but he is the most physically gifted athlete with the highest ceiling. Some of the jump cuts he made were just insane.
- Tua Tagovailoa – Best QB prospect since Andrew Luck. Mike discovered Tua from watching “Elite 11” and really wishes he didn’t get injured. Regardless, Tua is still Mike’s QB1 in this class.
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Another guy that Mike has been high on. A really good pass catcher, elusive, and doesn’t go down on first contact. CEH feels like he has a safe floor.
- Jalen Reagor – A better and more complete version of Henry Ruggs. Reagor is extremely athletic, can beat press, and boasts high percentile scores in breakout age and college dominator rating.
Words of Wisdom
“Engage with people and put out good content.”
