Week 9 Fantasy Football Position Ranks

by Anthony Maggio | Oct 30, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees at NY Jets
2. Philip Rivers at Washington
3. Aaron Rodgers vs. Chicago
4. Tony Romo vs. Minnesota
5. Cam Newton vs. Atlanta
6. Robert Griffin III vs. San Diego
7. Russell Wilson vs. Tampa Bay
8. Terrelle Pryor vs. Philadelphia
9. Andrew Luck at Houston
10. Jake Locker at St. Louis
11. Matt Ryan at Carolina
12. Alex Smith at Buffalo
13. Tom Brady vs. Pittsburgh
14. Geno Smith vs. New Orleans
15. Nick Foles at Oakland
16. Josh McCown at Green Bay
17. Joe Flacco at Cleveland
18. Ben Roethlisberger at New England
19. Jason Campbell vs. Baltimore
20. Christian Ponder at Dallas
21. Case Keenum vs. Colts
22. Mike Glennon at Seattle
23. Kellen Clemens vs. Tennessee
24. Matt Flynn vs. Kansas City

If you’ve got the bye-week blues, kick the tires on Terrelle Pryor, Jake Locker or even Alex Smith this week, who are all ranked ahead of Tom Brady for good reason. (more…)

Week 8 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Oct 27, 2013 | Fantasy Football

So this is it, right? We don’t have to see Rashard Mendenhall getting carries for the Arizona Cardinals, anymore. Andre Ellington showed he is more than capable of handling the load, gashing the Falcons for 154 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Hopefully you’ve been sitting on Ellington for the last handful of weeks and had him in your lineup today. But if not, you’re looking at a RB2 pretty much weekly going forward. Imagine what he could do behind a good offensive line…

…which is what I was thinking when watching Steven Jackson on the other side of the ball. To be fair, Atlanta’s backs have been doing their damage through the air pretty much all season, so it’s not like Jackson was expected to do a lot on the road against a tough Cardinals defense. But if S-Jax doesn’t get 5-6 receptions a week, he’s going to have a tough time provide much in the way of fantasy value. Same goes for Tony Gonzalez, at least until Roddy White returns to garner a bit of defensive attention. He’s getting double covered virtually every passing down.

Meanwhile, Darren McFadden continues to provide more than anyone expected. Yes, he was at home against a terrible Steelers run defense, but he still had to get the job done. He did that and then some, scoring twice and running for 73 yards on 24 carries and another 5 yards on 2 receptions. So long as he’s healthy and getting 15 or more touches, McFadden will be helpful more often than not.

Speaking of helpful, Andy Dalton spent the first month of the season proving he wouldn’t be of any use to fantasy owners, only to spend the last three weeks putting up impressive numbers. The Jets aren’t the greatest pass defense ever, but they aren’t bad, either. But Dalton and Marvin Jones made them look silly. If Dalton stays consistent there’s plenty of room for a second receiver outside of AJ Green to have fantasy value. Entering the season I’d have guessed it would be Mohamed Sanu, but I think Jones has done more than enough to warrant at least a spot on a fantasy bench, if not a starting lineup or two when staring down good matchups.

If you like video game numbers, Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson probably put a smile on your face today. Unless, of course, you were facing Johnson in particular in your fantasy league. Johnson could’ve had an even bigger day if not stopped inside the five a handful of times. Stafford is making a bid to be considered on the same tier as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, though he’ll need a few more touchdowns to go with those huge yardage totals before he can stake a legit claim there.

If you haven’t dropped Eli Manning yet, please do so at this time. Go ahead and pick up Nick Foles, who was probably dropped after last week but will probably be starting again for Philadelphia after Sunday’s debacle.

Colin Kaepernick is back to his old tricks running the football—giving him a huge fantasy day despite throwing the ball just 16 times. I don’t think you’ll see another huge passing day from Kaepernick like he had in Week 1 against the Packers, but 2-3 combo scores a week are pretty much a given at this point, and maybe more when Michael Crabtree returns.

Oh hey, now Lamar Miller’s getting more of the touches, but Daniel Thomas is catching touchdown passes. Makes sense. Or not. Thomas probably needs to be owned in deeper leagues at this point because he’s still getting used and the waiver wire is pretty much barren. But without a touchdown, he’s likely to be a fantasy disappointment. Kind of like Miller has been—though his 112 combo yards today was exactly the type of game I thought he’d have regularly this season.

Finally, I guess Jimmy Graham’s foot is OK.

Week 8 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

by Anthony Maggio | Oct 22, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Peyton Manning vs. Washington
2. Drew Brees vs. Buffalo
3. Aaron Rodgers at Minnesota
4. Matthew Stafford vs. Dallas
5. Robert Griffin III at Denver
6. Colin Kaepernick at Jacksonville
7. Russell Wilson at St. Louis
8. Tony Romo at Detroit
9. Michael Vick vs. NY Giants
10. Tom Brady vs. Miami
11. Andy Dalton vs. NY Jets
12. Matt Ryan at Arizona
13. Eli Manning at Philadelphia
14. Ben Roethlisberger at Oakland
15. Carson Palmer vs. Atlanta
16. Terrelle Pryor vs. Pittsburgh
17. Geno Smith at Cincinnati
18. Ryan Tannehill at New England
19. Alex Smith vs. Cleveland
20. Thaddeus Lewis at New Orleans
21. Christian Ponder vs. Green Bay
22. Chad Henne vs. San Francisco
23. Jason Campbell at Kansas City
24. Kellen Clemens vs. Seattle

Matthew Stafford struggled with Calvin Johnson gimpy. Megatron showed last week he’s no longer gimpy, so Stafford shoots back up the rankings. Also, it looks like it’s safe to get Colin Kaepernick back into fantasy lineups, at least for this week in London against the awful Jaguars.

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Week 7 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Oct 21, 2013 | Fantasy Football

So congratulations if no one on your fantasy team got hurt this week. It was no easy feat. I’m going to win one game and lose another based on Jay Cutler’s injury, which will cost him a month. If only that was all the Bears had to worry about. Their defense is decimated, and I wouldn’t trust starting them against anything but below-average defenses because their special teams and occasional forced turnovers won’t make up for the points allowed.

So Lamar Miller isn’t going to be a feature back, I guess. As a guy who owns him in three leagues, I’m not real pleased about it. I’m not going to drop him on the off chance Daniel Thomas gets hurt or the Dolphins finally decide that Miller needs 20 touches a game to do something special. I’m also not holding my breath.

Speaking of things I don’t like, I’ll be putting in bids for Darrius Heyward-Bey this week now that Reggie Wayne is out. He can’t make anything but the most basic catches, but hopefully the Colts can at least take advantage of his speed with a couple of slants per game, an end around and the occasional go route that he actually hauls in.

It was a nice run for Miles Austin, but Terrence Williams has looked too good for the Cowboys to go away from him. It’s amazing that Williams and Dez Bryant can keep putting up good numbers while Tony Romo doesn’t. I was flip-flopping Romo and Michael Vick to start the season based on matchups. Looks like I’ll be going back to that well.

Jordan Reed is really, really good. Yes, he faced the Bears this week, but almost regardless of matchup Reed is a TE1 the rest of the way assuming Robert Griffin III continues to target him. Teammate Roy Helu Jr. isn’t quite as trustworthy considering his three touchdowns Sunday matched his previous career total. Alfred Morris is still the No. 1 in Washington and is built for short-yardage work. I don’t see Helu sniping touchdowns from Morris regularly going forward. But with RBs at a premium right now, go ahead and grab Helu just in case.

I’m not a Tom Brady owner, but if I were I think I’d bench him immediately simply in hope of the reverse jinx snapping him out of this funk. Rob Gronkowski’s return should’ve done it, but Brady’s obviously still dealing with targets he isn’t completely comfortable with. He’s got a nice matchup at home against the Dolphins this week, but don’t be surprised if Brady tops out at one touchdown once again.

Remember when the Ravens won a Super Bowl? It’s OK if you don’t—this year’s team hasn’t reminded anyone of the glory days of February 2013. Ray Rice owners likely need to keep starting him simply based on the lack of other options, but they don’t have to like it. I certainly don’t. The good news is he’s still getting a ton of touches. Hopefully Eugene Monroe’s continues to mesh with his new offensive linemates and open things up a bit more, but this is another situation I’m not holding my breath on.

Finally, my apologies to Harry Douglas. I had absolutely no faith in him as a No. 1 receiver against the Bucs, but Tampa Bay chose to take Tony Gonzalez out of the game and let Douglas do as he pleased. I actually like Douglas as a No. 2 receiver once Roddy White comes back and think he’s due for a major regression this week, but I can eat crow after his big Week 7 performance.

Week 7 Position Rankings

by Anthony Maggio | Oct 15, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Peyton Manning at Indianapolis
2. Tony Romo at Philadelphia
3. Cam Newton vs. St. Louis
4. Philip Rivers at Jacksonville
5. Jay Cutler at Washington
6. Nick Foles vs. Dallas
7. Tom Brady at NY Jets
8. Aaron Rodgers vs. Cleveland
9. Andrew Luck vs. Denver
10. Eli Manning vs. Minnesota
11. Matthew Stafford vs. Cincinnati
12. Matt Ryan vs. Tampa Bay
13. Ryan Tannehill vs. Buffalo
14. Robert Griffin III vs. Chicago
15. Mike Glennon at Atlanta
16. Chad Henne vs. San Diego
17. Brandon Weeden at Green Bay
18. Colin Kaepernick at Tennessee
19. Josh Freeman at NY Giants
20. Sam Bradford at Carolina
21. Andy Dalton at Detroit
22. Joe Flacco at Pittsburgh
23. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Baltimore
24. Thaddeus Lewis at Miami
25. Geno Smith vs. New England

I’m extremely curious to see what Peyton does in his old building this weekend. I figured on a big game in Week 1 due to the revenge factor, but I can’t decide how the emotion might play into this matchup. Either way, should be a fun one to watch.

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