Week 6 Whiparound

by | Oct 13, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Seven catches this season, five touchdowns for Joseph Fauria.

We’ve seen Brandon Pettigrew make the least of his considerable size and athleticism, but if Fauria can continue to be a red zone threat opposite Calvin Johnson then we’ll be seeing plenty more big fantasy days from Matt Stafford and the rest of the Lions offense. From a fantasy perspective it’ll be tough to trust Fauria regularly unless he starts getting a few more looks per game, but he’s certainly going to be picked up in several leagues this week.

Steven Ridley and Maurice Jones-Drew owners have to be feeling good right now, though Ridley owners have the far better chance of extending this feeling long term. If Ridley’s going to get 21 touches, he’s almost assured to provide RB2 value at the very least each week. LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden still combined for 14 touches in this game, but hopefully Ridley showed enough with his 4.8 yards per carry and no fumbles (!!!) that when there aren’t so many touches to go around, he’ll still get around the 20 per game.

Speaking of workhorse backs, Eddie Lacy was phenomenal on the road against the Ravens despite not getting in the end zone Sunday. The Packers will have to continue feeding their big back if Randall Cobb and James Jones miss time with their respective knee injuries.

Terrelle Pryor didn’t have a good fantasy day, but for a guy who was under siege in a tough environment I actually liked what I saw for the most part. I especially liked Denarius Moore remaining his top target, and Moore has now scored in four of five games started by Pryor. He’s becoming a must-start WR.

Same goes for Larry Fitzgerald—yes, I’ve said this before. But apparently I don’t like listening to myself. After some negative reports in regards to Fitzy’s hamstring I actually started Danny Amendola instead. At this point I can only hope Amendola can live a normal life outside of football with the hits he’s taken and injuries he’s sustained. Amendola should’ve had a long touchdown before leaving the game if Tom Brady could’ve hit him in stride, but I don’t know that Amendola and Brady will ever spend enough time on the field together for things to click.

I entered this weekend worried about Vernon Davis’ lack of receptions so far this season, wondering if he was even a sell high since he was saving his fantasy value with touchdowns. Eight receptions, 180 yards and two touchdowns later, I’m not worried.

I am worried about Michael Vick getting his job back. The Tampa Bay defense is no slouch against the run or pass, but Nick Foles went into the pirate ship and left with four touchdowns worth of booty—three through the air and another on the ground. The running game clicked with Foles under center, and DeSean Jackson was able to make Darrelle Revis look pedestrian. Vick owners, its time to pony up FAAB for Foles.

Sam Bradford also somehow ended up with three touchdown passes despite only throwing 16 passes all day. I’m chalking it up to Houston being inexplicably terrible. I’m not sure how the Texans have fallen apart like this, but there’s obviously something seriously wrong to get beaten this badly at home by St. Louis. Tough defenses were a reasonable excuse in previous weeks. Not this time.

Drew Brees failed to get the ball to Jimmy Graham for the first time this season, and Graham left with an injury before Brady’s late-game heroics. If defenses start copying New England’s defensive strategy against Graham, which they will, Brees will have to start getting the ball to Marques Colston, who has just three catches the last two weeks. I’ll stand by Colston as a buy low—he’s not just a buy REALLY low.

Finally, I thought Willis McGahee was a good play against the Lions this week based on his usage last week against Buffalo. Turns out, Rob Chudzinski still likes Chris Ogbonnaya plenty, as he wound up with one more touch than McGahee and the touchdown I figured would belong to Willis. McGahee owners, you’ll need to grab Ogbonnaya if you can, and then probably sit both on your bench until you see some consistency in how they’re used.

Week 6 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

by | Oct 8, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

  1. Peyton Manning vs. Jacksonville
  2. Tony Romo vs. Washington
  3. Drew Brees at New England
  4. Aaron Rodgers at Baltimore
  5. Robert Griffin III at Dallas
  6. Andrew Luck at San Diego
  7. Philip Rivers vs. Indianapolis
  8. Cam Newton at Minnesota
  9. Russell Wilson vs. Tennessee
  10. Tom Brady vs. New Orleans
  11. Alex Smith vs. Oakland
  12. Matthew Stafford at Cleveland
  13. Joe Flacco vs. Green Bay
  14. Ben Roethlisberger at NY Jets
  15. Matt Schaub vs. St. Louis
  16. Terrelle Pryor at Kansas City
  17. Colin Kaepernick vs. Arizona
  18. Andy Dalton at Buffalo
  19. Geno Smith vs. Pittsburgh
  20. Nick Foles at Tampa Bay
  21. Mike Glennon vs. Philadelphia
  22. Chad Henne at Denver
  23. Sam Bradford at Houston
  24. Brandon Weeden vs. Detroit
  25. Matt Cassel vs. Carolina

Not gonna lie–my Russell Wilson ranking is way more gut than science. The numbers in this one don’t portend to a good day, but his two best fantasy days so far have come in the two games where he should’ve been least likely to have them. Also, Geno Smith is creeping his way into the starting conversation in deep leagues.

(more…)

Week 5 Whiparound

by | Oct 6, 2013 | Fantasy Football

I noted on the air Sunday morning when talking about selling high on Reggie Wayne that eventually the Colts were going to figure out how to take advantage of TY Hilton’s big play ability. Turns out “eventually” meant Week 5. If Hilton was dropped in your league, race to the waiver wire to pick him up. Same goes for Justin Blackmon, whose four-game suspension ended emphatically with 136 yards and a touchdown. The Jags won’t get to play the Rams every week, but he and Cecil Shorts split 19 targets as evenly as they could and that should continue.

Austin Pettis now has four touchdowns in his last four games. Sam Bradford obviously trusts him in the red zone, but he’s only averaging 44 yards per game. He’s a dangerous week-to-week fantasy play due to the lack of consistent yardage, but he’s got to be owned in all leagues at this point and can be used as a bye-week fill-in at least.

Maurice Jones-Drew managed 86 combo yards in the same game and probably has more upside with Chad Henne under center, but with his offensive line losing Luke Joeckel to a broken ankle on Sunday and having already traded Eugene Monroe you’re going to want to shop that 86-yard performance hard on the trade market this week. Jones-Drew may have just hit his high-water mark for the season.

There’ve been two games this season Russell Wilson was supposed to put up limited fantasy points in—against a soft Jacksonville run defense that he wouldn’t need to throw against, and against a decent Indy defense on the road. Instead, those have been his best fantasy games. It’d be one thing if Wilson was producing at least useable fantasy digits in his other contests, but he’s done virtually nothing. Owners are going to be stuck having to start Wilson regardless of matchup if they want to be in on the big games like he had Sunday, but there’s still a high disappointment risk that will come with it.

Speaking of disappointment, Trent Richardson owners couldn’t have been pleased to see Donald Brown score from three-yards out. That’s supposed to be where Richardson makes his money since he’s not been a big-play guy in his short NFL career. If Brown’s going to be stealing goal-line looks, Richardson is far from a must-start fantasy back in a landscape that lacks options at the position.

Also disappointed were Marques Colston owners, who saw him get just two targets against a Bears defense that’s ceded big fantasy points to No. 1 receivers all season. Drew Brees has plenty of weapons to work with, so the occasional down day for Colston will happen. But with no touchdowns since Week 1 and just one game with more than 71 yards, I’m sure there are plenty of antsy Colston owners out there. Might not be a bad time to send out a trade offer for him. You can probably buy low.

Meanwhile, Pierre Thomas was catching two touchdown passes. If you’ve got him, you’ll never have a better chance to sell high. Thomas will be picked up in most fantasy leagues this week with running backs at a premium. But I can almost guarantee that in 3-4 weeks he’ll be right back on those same waiver wires after Thomas does virtually nothing going forward.

Thomas’ touchdowns paved the way for Jay Cutler’s second straight garbage-time extravaganza, which has also turned into Alshon Jeffery time. I’ve been hesitant to buy into Jeffery just because Cutler has a tendency to lock onto Brandon Marshall—and because I sometimes I’m too conservative in my Bears predictions trying to overcompensate for my fan bias. But he’s a big target, has great hands, and apparently now has Cutler’s trust. That’s enough for me to say he’s in the weekly WR2 discussion. Hakeem Nicks is trying to get back in that conversation as well and took a good first step with 142 yards on Sunday, but he’ll have to do it against a non-Eagles defense to really show something. Eli Manning, Rueben Randle, same thing.

Finally, I’m hoping that the weather in Cincinnati can be blamed for the lack of production, because otherwise I’m starting to get worked about A.J. Green. Not that he’s doing anything wrong, it’s just that Andy Dalton’s been unable to get anything going since Green’s big Week 1 when he racked up 162 yards and two scores. Green’s scored just once in the next four weeks, and hasn’t topped the 61 yards he totaled against New England. Dalton has faced some tough defenses so far, and I’m not ready to endorse even considering benching Green, but I am keeping an eye on him.

 

Week 5 Position Rankings

by | Oct 1, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

  1. Peyton Manning at Dallas
  2. Drew Brees at Chicago
  3. Aaron Rodgers vs. Detroit
  4. Philip Rivers at Oakland
  5. Matt Ryan vs. NY Jets
  6. Tom Brady at Cincinnati
  7. Cam Newton at Arizona
  8. Michael Vick at NY Giants
  9. Terrelle Pryor vs. San Diego
  10. Eli Manning vs. Philadelphia
  11. Tony Romo vs. Denver
  12. Matthew Stafford at Green Bay
  13. Sam Bradford vs. Jacksonville
  14. Joe Flacco at Miami
  15. Colin Kaepernick vs. Houston
  16. Matt Schaub at San Francisco
  17. Geno Smith at Atlanta
  18. Ryan Tannehill vs. Baltimore
  19. Alex Smith at Tennessee
  20. Andrew Luck vs. Seattle
  21. Jay Cutler vs. New Orleans
  22. Russell Wilson at Indianapolis
  23. Andy Dalton vs. New England
  24. Carson Palmer vs. Carolina
  25. Blaine Gabbert at St. Louis

 

Terrelle Pryor gets a good-matchup mulligan after missing last week’s juicy tilt with the Washington Redskins, so long as his concussion symptoms stay away.

(more…)

Week 4 Position Rankings

by | Sep 24, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

  1. Peyton Manning vs. Philadelphia
  2. Michael Vick at Denver
  3. Matthew Stafford vs. Chicago
  4. Drew Brees vs. Miami
  5. Tony Romo at San Diego
  6. Philip Rivers vs. Dallas
  7. Andrew Luck at Jacksonville
  8. Robert Griffin at Oakland
  9. Tom Brady at Atlanta
  10. Matt Ryan vs. New England
  11. Terrelle Pryor vs. Washington
  12. Alex Smith vs. NY Giants
  13. Russell Wilson at Houston
  14. Ben Roethlisberger at Minnesota (London)
  15. EJ Manuel vs. Baltimore
  16. Jay Cutler at Detroit
  17. Andy Dalton at Cleveland
  18. Eli Manning at Kansas City
  19. Joe Flacco at Buffalo
  20. Geno Smith at Tennessee
  21. Brian Hoyer vs. Cincinnati
  22. Mike Glennon vs. Arizona
  23. Matt Schaub vs. Seattle
  24. Jake Locker vs. NY Jets
  25. Carson Palmer at Tampa Bay

 

Terrelle Pryor’s ranked as a starter in a 12-teamer this week, and rightfully so based on a couple of bye weeks and in hopes that his brains are unscrambled by Sunday. Colin Kaepernick has gotta turn things around at some point, but a Thursday night road game seems unnecessarily risky for fantasy purposes.

(more…)