Our Writers
About Our Writers
Gridiron Experts is a collection of hardcore strategists who focus on winning fantasy pools and picking games. Although a fairly new group, (established in the summer of 2008), our team of NFL diehards have been involved in Fantasy Football and picking winners for decades. Aside from giving our two cents on daily NFL news, Gridiron Experts focuses on strategies by looking outside the box, using formulas such as the “Outplay”. Breaking out stats that give edges in not only picking games, but picking fantasy players against certain defenses, is something Gridiron Experts takes great pride in.
Our Experts
Mike Rodriguez- Head Fantasy Expert & Pick’em Writer
Mike Rodriguez is pursuing a sports writing career, but has found he’s spent most of his time winning fantasy and pick’em pools. Mike lived in Las Vegas for about 3 years before moving to the West Coast. Mike has a unique style when picking games and digging for fantasy sleepers, finding late round steals each and every year. he was 2010′s Gridiron Experts fantasy pool champ and aside from his signature article NFL Man Cave, Mike Rodriguez loves NFL pick’em. Rigz has enjoyed a picking percentage of at least 82% for the last 4 years. Most recently Mike Rodriguez was perfect for 3 rounds of the NFL playoffs which included a perfect record straight up and against the spread capping off the Packers Super Bowl victory.
Jody Smith- Head Fantasy Writer, Expert/Editor
Jody Smith is a member of the FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writers Association) and a 22 year fantasy football veteran who turned to the world of fake football when his own career as a light-blocking, sure-handed tight end was tragically ended by the notoriously unfriendly Memorial Stadium artificial turf. Jody fondly remembers the days of accumulating fantasy results with a Monday morning newspaper, a spiral notebook and a pencil. Over the years he’s won numerous accolades and championships, and is a six time EFL champion. His work has appeared on numerous websites, including NFL.com, and has even been featured as far away as the Times of India’s world sports section. Jody is now featured here at Gridironexperts.com where he specializes in digging deep for sleepers and working behind the scenes to assist and edit many of the fine features that our readers enjoy. He’s a fierce supporter of the University of Texas and he, his wife and three year old son live in a quiet community halfway between Houston and Galveston Texas.
DC “Dynasty Champ” – Writer / Fantasy Expert
Being a huge college football fan is just one of the many advantages DC has when it comes to draft day for our Champ. DC has excelled in all types of fantasy pools, including keeper and auction pools, aside from the standard head to head fantasy version. DC believes that a fantasy team is won in the middle of your draft, not just after the first five rounds. Drafting value and posting smart line-ups each week is DC’s expertise. Expect DC to call out many sleepers and predict strong fantasy play at every position.
Kevin Roberts- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Kevin Roberts owns and operates NFL Soup and heads the fantasy football division of the site. Roberts also finished second in the Wide Receiver position in Fantasy Pros expert fantasy football rankings in 2010. In addition to running the fantasy football section of the site, Roberts contributes to NFL Soup’s NFL Draft coverage and breaking news reporting. Follow Kevin on Twitter@NFLSoupKevin
Ahmed Helmy- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Born and raised in the city that never sleeps… Minneapolis, MN. Not a die-hard fan of any team, but I do have allegiances to the Vikings and Timberwolves. And of course, above all, my fantasy teams (especially my dynasty team, which might be the best team ever assembled). I’m a power forward with a sweet jump shot, but think I can play point guard. I have a reliable driver, a reliable putter, and an unreliable iron game. Most say I’m funny, but most have a low bar for humor. I love to write, and my first draft is always my best draft.
Brian Jerzak- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Brian covers high school football, basketball and wrestling in Minnesota where he has lived his entire life. Fed up with his day job he decided to try writing as a hobby nearly ten years ago and that hobby has turned into sort of a second career. He has been involved in some way with football since he was a water boy for his high school team when he was in elementary school and has been playing fantasy football since before he could vote.
Phil Clark- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Phil has worked in advertising throughout his adult life, with most of his time spent in the television industry. But writing about the NFL is his true passion. Phil is also a transplanted Hoosier, who has lived in Nebraska for 25 years. While that has enabled him to watch a multitude of college games, he has always considered those Saturday contests to be appetizers, before the real games begin on Sunday. The Raiders are a large part of his NFL obsession, but he loves discussing all 32 teams.
Jacob Cooper- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Jacob Cooper is an adjunct instructor of English at a small liberal arts college in Arkansas. As an undergraduate, he worked for four years as a sports writer for his hometown newspaper while completing his B.A. in English. He learned the nuances of fantasy football from his cousins, whom he now dominates every year in their family fantasy league. He doesn’t consider himself a fantasy football expert; however, he has plenty of informed opinions and loves to write about everything, especially sports. Moreover, he is a huge Arkansas Razorback fan, and hopes to entertain you with every article.
Brandon Katz- NFL Writer
Brandon writes all of his articles from the fan’s point of view. His blend of humor, pop culture and sports observations provides a unique take on a lot of “beyond the field” issues. He calls it like he sees it and tries to make you laugh in the process. With over three years of writing experience, his fresh positions resonate with both the fan and the analyst.
Taylor DeChant- Writer / Fantasy Expert
Taylor DeChant is an aspiring sports personality hailing from the beaches of South Florida and is currently a student at Stetson University. He has been a Fantasy Sports addict since 2005 and participates in 4-6 leagues for each major sport. With well over a dozen championships since 2005 he finds his success with a keen eye for breakout talents and waking up at 3:00 AM to hit the Yahoo! Waiver Wire. DeChant wishes he could wheel and deal more, but friends have caught on to his knowledge and deny even the most lopsided of his trade proposals. He does it all for the love of the game.
Michael Light- No bio yet
Jon Taylor- No bio yet
Part-Time Writers:
Diesel – Writer
Our boy Diesel is a full time student of kinesiology and a part time gambler. Diesel has bet online with many sportsbooks for years now, and was recruited by Mike Rodriguez. Diesel is well respected amongst our team for his patience when it comes to betting. “Yoda” knows all the moves when betting online and shows excellent money management with his weekly column “Money Where Your Mouth Is”.
Matty “the Bulldog” – Writer
At first look, you’d think Matt could play left tackle or at least be a bouncer at some night club. But the Bulldog nickname came from his money skills as a financial advisor. Matt uses his Wall Street skills for giving advice, and finds it pays off as a gambler without having to sell his soul as a broker. One major perk to his profession is the free time it allows him; we always joke that he gets his mail sent to the casino.
STAFF
Mike Patch- Owner/ Web Designer
Mike is the owner of Gridiron Experts and handles all SEO along with the website ‘s design and layout. All link exchange questions and web design and or SEO decisions are made through Mike. You can contact him at: info@gridironexperts.com. Check out Mike Patch’s SEO and web design portfolio: Ethical Champ
Alicia “Lady Luck”- Senior Editor
Alicia was hired on as our Editor and is nick named “Lady Luck” after a very profitable vacation to Reno. She is also a passionate football fan, and enjoys spending her Sundays cheering for her team.
