Week 11 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 17, 2013 | Fantasy Football

First and foremost, my thoughts are with those in the Chicago area who were impacted by today’s tornadoes. The few photos I’ve seen looked devastating. The Bears and Ravens eventually played through the wind and rain, which brought with it the 2012 version of Ray Rice. Granted, the Bears defense gives up big games to basically everyone on the ground. But hey, gotta start somewhere. Sure, Rice probably just bought enough trust to find his way back into lineups only to disappoint again. But at least we know the old Rice is still in there somewhere.

I did pretty well at the top of my rankings this week, but fell victim to my own high hopes for both Jordan Reed and Andre Ellington. Reed was lost early due to a concussion, while Ellington was held in check by a Jaguars defense that decided to get beat by the pass this week instead of the run. Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd obliged. Floyd continues to be a borderline WR2, hampered only by the inconsistency of Palmer.

I noted on Fantasy Football Sunday my expectation that Bobby Rainey would take the lion’s share of the work in Tampa’s backfield and noted him in my Ballsy segment. I never expected this. The good news is that if you picked up Rainey you’re sitting pretty, not having to wonder week-to-week if it’ll be Leonard or Rainey getting more of the work. It’ll absolutely be Rainey. Doug Martin owners gotta be just livid, as he was forced to play through Hurricane Freeman, and got hurt before Mike Glennon got comfortable in the offense. First Mike James and now Rainey look just fine in that backfield.

Ben Roethlisberger looked just fine as well, tossing four touchdown passes in his best game of the season. That’s four TDs in two of his last 3 games. Expect Roethlisberger near or in my top 10 for next week in what’s shaping up to be a rough week for quarterbacks based on byes and matchups.

Matt McGloin will NOT be in my top 10 next week, but damn was that a nice debut from the undrafted rookie. I benched Rashad Jennings (much to my later dismay) thinking the Raiders wouldn’t move the ball at all, but the Texans proved that their terrible defensive season wasn’t a product of opponents in this one. At home against McGloin, there’s no excuse for what they did. And for me picking them up and playing them. Matchups are important for position players in fantasy, but for defenses it keeps being proved time and again that it doesn’t matter. A bad to mediocre defense doesn’t get better against a bad offense. It just makes that bad offense look better. Hopefully I’ve finally learned my lesson.

Joe Haden struck again this week, scoring a touchdown and holding AJ Green to two catches. Giovani Bernard led the Bengals with four catches. Someone Andy Dalton managed three touchdown passes with just 93 yards passing and two interceptions, which was a weird way to get to right around where I thought he’d be this week.

EJ Manuel showed Geno Smith who the premiere rookie quarterback in the AFC East is despite missing two of his primary weapons in Robert Woods and Stevie Johnson. So Marquise Goodwin and TJ Graham stepped right up, combining for 155 yards and a touchdown each. If CJ Spiller were only healthy and/or effective, the Bills might actually have something here.

On the other side, Santonio Holmes had just an OK return with two catches but did manage 71 yards. More importantly, Chris Ivory got 15 carries for 98 yards and a score. That’s 15+ carries for Ivory in three of his last four games. The days of Bilal Powell taking a significant chunk of work appear to be over.

Remember when Andre Brown was supposed to snipe touchdowns from David Wilson? How about Brandon Jacobs sniping scores from Andre Brown instead? With Brown needing a ton of carries last week to be effective and generally in his career being touchdown-dependent, this is going to definitely impact Brown’s ranking next week.

Week 11 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 12, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees vs. San Francisco
2. Peyton Manning vs. Kansas City
3. Russell Wilson vs. Minnesota
4. Nick Foles vs. Washington
5. Matt Stafford at Pittsburgh
6. Robert Griffin III at Philadelphia
7. Case Keenum vs. Oakland
8. Mike Glennon vs. Atlanta
9. Cam Newton vs. New England
10. Tom Brady at Carolina
11. Josh McCown vs. Baltimore
12. Ryan Tannehill vs. San Diego
13. Philip Rivers at Miami
14. Carson Palmer at Jacksonville
15. Andy Dalton vs. Cleveland
16. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Detroit
17. Colin Kaepernick at New Orleans
18. Jason Campbell at Cincinnati
19. Alex Smith at Denver
20. Matt Ryan at Tampa Bay
21. Geno Smith at Buffalo
22. Eli Manning vs. Green Bay
23. Joe Flacco at Chicago
24. EJ Manuel vs. NY Jets
25. Scott Tolzein at NY Giants

I don’t think I’d have believed you if you’d have told me this preseason that there would be a week this season where Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Mike Glennon would be in my top 10.

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Week 10 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 10, 2013 | Fantasy Football

So much for easing Andre Brown back into action. Tom Coughlin took advantage of Brown’s fresh legs to the tune of 30 carries and a bonus reception en route to 119 combo yards and a touchdown. At 3.8 yards per carry, the Giants probably thought they were watching a Hall of Famer at work compared to what they’d seen to this point. I was hesitant to recommend Brown for fantasy lineups this week with talk of Peyton Hillis still getting the start and a bulk of the carries. Good ol’ subterfuge. Brown’s a weekly RB2 the rest of the way.

It wasn’t pretty—it often isn’t when the 49ers and the Panthers play, let alone against each other—but Carolina proved its winning-streak wasn’t completely fueled by sub-par opponents. Frank Gore managed to salvage fantasy value with 103 combo yards, and surprisingly DeAngelo Williams was the only player to find the end zone. Normally he’s the only one who doesn’t. Jonathan Stewart got the most carries, though, so the fantasy value in the Panthers backfield remains nil.

Jay Cutler looked to be on his way to a good day in the first half on Sunday, but his second half was brutal due to Alshon Jeffery dropping not one, but two touchdown passes, and an ankle injury that sidelined him for the final Bears drive. Jeffery still managed a good fantasy day while Cutler was ultimately disappointing. Josh McCown came in and threw a touchdown late and could be a desperation play for fantasy owners looking for help with Aaron Rodgers and potentially Cutler out, Jake Locker done for the year, Colin Kaepernick, Terrelle Pryor and Cam Newton struggling to get things done with their legs AND arms, and Andrew Luck’s schedule starting to catch up with him.

The Tates are playing for contracts, and Golden certainly looked the part with his touchdown catch Sunday. Probably the best I’ve seen all season in the back corner of the end zone. Ben was OK with Arian Foster now out for the season, but I expect he’ll improve as his ribs do.

Speaking of nice touchdown receptions, the second of Andre Johnson’s two touchdowns was right up there with Golden Tate’s. Case Keenum was a guy I had my eye on for this week but didn’t want to recommend playing him on the road against Arizona. Turns out he was one of the better guys this week. In a good matchup, I’m more than happy to throw Keenum in there if he’s going to keep feeding Johnson.

Same goes for Nick Foles. I was cautiously optimistic this week simply due to that Dallas clunker a month ago, but at this point Foles has done enough to be a low-end QB1. He’s also made Riley Cooper a viable WR2 option. Not a ton of targets, but the big plays are there.

Talk about efficiency—Tavon Austin caught two passes and scored on both for a combined 138 yards. And he ran back one of the more impressive punt returns of the season for another score. It was nice to see Austin involved and doing what he was drafted to do, but I’m hesitant to get too excited about a guy who still only had three targets. I don’t think he’ll be housing his receptions at a Joseph Fauria-esque rate.

Luck got plenty of yardage and a touchdown, but the three interceptions were uncharacteristic. I noted Luck as a sell-high candidate two weeks ago due to his schedule the rest of the way and the loss of Reggie Wayne. It’s been painfully obvious there’s no one besides TY Hilton who’s trustworthy in that passing game. They’ll be a touchdown here or there for Coby Fleener and maybe Darrius Heyward-Bey, but I’m going to have a hard time ranking Luck higher than 8^th in any week the rest of the way, which is where I had him for week 10.

How on earth did I manage to face Cordarelle Patterson in not one, but two leagues this week? Just knowing that should’ve been enough for me to recommend him as a must-start on Thursday. Of COURSE he scored his first career receiving touchdown.

Week 10 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 5, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees vs. Dallas
2. Peyton Manning at San Diego
3. Philip Rivers vs. Denver
4. Matt Stafford at Chicago
5. Russell Wilson at Atlanta
6. Andrew Luck vs. St. Louis
7. Jay Cutler vs. Detroit
8. Cam Newton at San Francisco
9. Tony Romo at New Orleans
10. Colin Kaepernick vs. Carolina
11. Jake Locker vs. Jacksonville
12. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Buffalo
13. Nick Foles at Green Bay
14. Eli Manning vs. Oakland
15. Terrelle Pryor at NY Giants
16. Joe Flacco vs. Cincinnati
17. Andy Dalton at Baltimore
18. Ryan Tannehill at Tampa Bay
19. Matt Ryan vs. Seattle
20. Seneca Wallace vs. Philadelphia
21. Carson Palmer vs. Houston
22. Mike Glennon vs. Miami
23. Case Keenum at Arizona
24. EJ Manuel at Pittsburgh
25. Kellen Clemens at Indianapolis

Early reports have Jay Cutler coming back this week, and he’s right back in my top 10. Should Cutler’s reports of a return be premature, Josh McCown wouldn’t be more than five spots lower.

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Week 9 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 3, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Holy Nick Foles, Batman!

The Raiders actually played decent pass defense at home, but had Foles not completely regressed against Dallas prior to his concussion I’d have at least had him near my top 12. Instead, I recommended benching him. Whoops. He’ll be in my top 10 next week at Green Bay.

Mike Glennon won’t be, but I mean it as no disrespect after watching his poise in Seattle. The Dolphins pass defense is legit—as they showed Thursday against the Bengals—and they won’t be surprised by Tampa the way the Seahawks obviously were.

Shonn Greene fell about five touches short of what was expected from him, but with his first carry going for a touchdown he definitely served notice of fantasy usability as more than a handcuff. It actually turned into doubly good news, as it apparently sparked Chris Johnson to a HUGE day. The success on the ground ultimately limited Jake Locker and he turned in a clunker of a fantasy day, as did his receivers.

Zac Stacy’s ankle is apparently fine. That’s 60 touches for him now the last two weeks. As long as the Rams are going to keep feeding him like this, I’ll have a hard time keeping him out of my top 15 regardless of opponent. He’s about all St. Louis has going for it offensively, and fortunately for fantasy owners the Rams seem to know it.

It’s hard to complain about 337 yards and two touchdowns (plus an interception), but Tony Romo can’t seem to completely dominate in matchups he should. Obviously his game against Denver was historic, but since then his owners have been left wanting more despite seemingly reasonable production. Perhaps he set the bar a little too high with his performance against the Broncos. But unfortunately 300 yards AND three touchdowns in the same game seems like an unrealistic expectation regardless of how juicy his matchup is.

Adrian Peterson was finally let loose. I don’t think anyone is surprised by the results. Let’s keep that going, Vikings.

I’m cautiously optimistic about Chris Ivory, but I’m going to need to see consecutive weeks of 15+ touches before I can fully embrace him as an every-week fantasy option. He’s looked great—or at least good—when given the opportunity to carry the mail. The Jets just need to stick with him.

Two Washington running backs have three-touchdown games this season. None of them are named Alfred Morris. Still, Alf put up a season high in yards this week and continuous to get work as consistently as any running back. It’s OK to give an “aw shucks” about Darrell Young stealing some fantasy points, but be happy you’ve got a guy like Morris to plug in and not worry about every week.

Just when Ryan Mathews has earned a little trust in fantasy circles, San Diego goes and rips the ball away from him. Danny Woodhead has been and continues to be the more trustworthy of the two Chargers running backs for fantasy purposes. I would’ve liked to have seen Mathews get a shot during that final series for San Diego when they had first-and-goal at the one, but I s’pose that shows what the Chargers coaching staff thinks of him—and their offensive line.