Late-Round Perspectives: Graham Barfield

JJ Zachariason (0:00)

Graham Barfield is an owner at Fantasy Points who previously worked at Fantasy Guru and the NFL Network. He also worked with me at Numberfire back in the day. He's the creator of Yards Created, he's an analytics nerd, I think he's the first Jacksonville Jags fan that's been on this show. These are his late-round perspectives.

This episode is sponsored by DraftKings. There's no better way to lock in your fantasy dominance early than with Best Ball and DraftKings, where you draft once and ride your roster all season long. And right now, DraftKings is giving all customers a can't miss offer. Draft one, get one. Enter a lineup in the $15 million Best Ball Contest for just $20, and you'll score another Best Ball ticket to play free for a share of that 15 million, giving you a second shot to win big. It's easy, just draft your dream team once, no weekly management required, and let your top scorers automatically start each week. Across the whole season, every breakout star, every clutch play, every touchdown will count towards your quest for a share of $15 million. I'm drafting over there all the time. It's an absolute blast. So download the Draft Kings Daily Fantasy app now to draft your $20 Best Ball lineup to play for a share of $15 million and get a second ticket to play free for a share of that 15 million. That's two chances to win big without ever setting your lineup again. Draft one, get one, only on Draft Kings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. In New York, call 8778-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY to 467369 In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. 18 plus the most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. Voidware prohibited, one per customer. Enter the Best Ball $15 million Headliner Contest by 9-4-25 to get one bonus entry. $20 entry if you're required. Reward expires in 30 days. See terms at draftkings.com/nfl-best-ball. Sponsored by DK. Now back to the show. I always forget that you've got a Jags fandom background, don't you?

Graham Barfield (2:19)

Yeah, there's a dozen of us. We are very strong this dozen. All of us have Travis Hunter meetings where we basically just watch his highlights and eat doughnuts.

JJ Zachariason (2:32)

Yeah, it's good fun. Are you from Florida, right? And then you moved out west. Didn't you live in Florida at one point?

Graham Barfield (2:39)

Yeah, back in the Numberfire days, good memory, man.

JJ Zachariason (2:42)

Yeah, that's right.

Graham Barfield (2:43)

Yeah, I worked with you, man. I was 2013 or 14 and I was at UNF in Jacksonville. So, yeah, I'm a nomad though. I grew up in North Carolina and moved to Florida when I was a kid. Went to college there, then moved to Atlanta, moved to LA. I'm in Denver now.

JJ Zachariason (3:01)

Yeah, you've been everywhere.

Graham Barfield (3:02)

Yeah, I'm doing a whole NL West tour for anybody that's a baseball fan. I'm a Dodgers. I got Dodgers Rockies. I just need to knock off the Dbacks.

JJ Zachariason (3:10)

Yeah, just go to Arizona real quick. What part of North Carolina did you, I don't think I realized that. What part of North Carolina did you grow up in?

Graham Barfield (3:16)

Yeah, Boone, North Carolina. App State was like my backyard.

JJ Zachariason (3:21)

Okay.

Graham Barfield (3:21)

Yeah.

JJ Zachariason (3:21)

So you're not far from me at all with me being in Charlotte now.

Graham Barfield (3:24)

Yeah, you're Charlotte. Yeah. Yeah, dude, I love North Carolina. If I move back to the East Coast, if I ever move back, that would be where we go.

JJ Zachariason (3:33)

It's a great place to live, man. It's easy living, good weather. You get the mountains really close. You get the beach real close. You can get to either destination within a couple of hours. It's nice.

Graham Barfield (3:44)

Yeah. Amazing food, amazing people, just salt of the earth people, just super, super kind.

JJ Zachariason (3:50)

Yeah.

Graham Barfield (3:51)

Yeah, man.

JJ Zachariason (3:51)

It's great. You already mentioned the Numberfire stuff. I got to bring up the Numberfire stuff to start this off. For those of you who don't know, Graham was with me at Numberfire, I guess it was 2013-ish time. You were one of the early ones to the point where when I would recruit people to write at Numberfire way, way back in the day, this is when we were purely a startup, this is pre-fandal acquisition, all of that. I would call literally a telephone, like a phone call, each analyst, and I would sit and explain expected points to that analyst because we really wanted to push, because expected points wasn't nearly as just everywhere as it is today. And so, Numberfire had net expected points, which was the formula that Keith Goldner, the chief analyst had created. And I would call, we really wanted to push it, right? So I would call the analysts who were about to write for Numberfire, explain expected points.