Week 5: Good calls, bad calls

This week I didn’t make my usual list of predictions, instead I opted to let my rankings do the talking. There were some significant missteps on my part, but also some pretty good calls. Here’s a recap of the ‘good calls, bad calls’ of week 5.

Good Calls:

Shaun Hill – QB Detroit
I put Hill in the top 10 (QB #10) expecting him to have a very good game against the St. Louis Rams. Hill did not let me down throwing for 227 yards and 3 TDs. This might be the last we hear from Hill, as Matthew Stafford may be ready to return after the Lions bye in week 8. Hill will almost certainly start against the NY Giants this week in the Meadowlands. But if you haven’t picked him up by now, don’t waste your time.

Brett Favre – QB Minnesota
Not many people had Favre as high as I did in this week’s rankings (QB #11). Favre looked terrible in the first half on Monday night, but showed much more aggressiveness in the second half. Favre finished the night with 264 yards passing and 3 TDs. The arrival of Randy Moss will help Favre tremendously. Moss gives Favre a deep threat, and Moss opens up the middle of the field for Percy Harvin. Favre should now be considered a serviceable fantasy football starting QB each week.

Mark Sanchez – QB NY Jets
After three consecutive weeks of two or more TD passes, Sanchez (QB #17) struggled on Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings. Sanchez was held without a TD pass and managed just 191 yards on 44 passing attempts. Sanchez and the Jets travel to Denver this week where they should be able to run the ball against a weak Broncos run defense. Don’t look for Sanchez to be the type of QB to give you multiple TDs each week.

Felix Jones – RB Dallas
Some fantasy football prognosticators continue to put Marion Barber ahead of Jones, but I didn’t. The Cowboys found out this weekend that Jones is a much better runner than Barber and expect Jones to get more of the carries going forward.

Brandon Lloyd – WR Denver
I have told countless number of people to pick-up, or keep Lloyd on their team. After years of knocking around from team-to-team, Lloyd has proven to be a great WR for Denver. His 135 yards and 2 TDs against the Baltimore Ravens should signal to all fantasy football owners that Lloyd is an every week starter. If you're still on the fence about Lloyd, consider this, Orton targeted him 14 times on Sunday. Yes, he's going to be big the rest of the season.    

Bad Calls:

Peyton Manning / Aaron Rodgers / Matt Schaub
I lumped these three guys together because they made up 60% of my top 5 QBs for the week. Together they accounted for one TD (Rodgers 5-yard TD pass to Donald Lee). The trio had good match-ups, but struggled to find the end zone. These guys will all be back in the top 5 again, we’ll call this week an anomaly.

Kyle Orton – QB Denver
A week after I proclaimed Orton a weekly top 10 QB, I put him at #15 because he was facing the Baltimore Ravens. Orton proved me wrong once again throwing for 314 yards and 2 TDs. I promise you, unless Orton has an injury, he will be in my top 10 every week.     

Ryan Mathews – RB San Diego
I have been wrong about Mathews from the day I started prepping my first cheatsheet. Mathews was supposed to be the guy in San Diego when LaDainian Tomlinson left. Five games into the season, and Mathews is still fighting to make a name for himself. I had him ranked in the top 10 (RB #10) this week, but again he failed to produce much. His 59 yards rushing led the team, but his 9 carries were second on the team behind Mike Tolbert (12 carries). I still believe Mathews will display flashes of greatness yet this year, but its taken longer than his fantasy football owners would have hoped.