Friday, October 15, 2010

Week 6: Fantasy football rankings -- QB, RB, WR/TE

QB
1. Philip Rivers at St. Louis
2. Tony Romo at Minnesota
3. Eli Manning vs. Detroit
4. Peyton Manning at Washington
5. Jay Cutler vs. Seattle
6. Kyle Orton vs. NY Jets
7. Drew Brees at Tampa Bay
8. Brett Favre vs. Dallas
9. Aaron Rodgers vs. Miami
10. Ben Roelisberger vs. Cleveland
11. Matt Schaub vs. Kansas City
12. Joe Flacco at New England
13. Matt Cassell at Houston
14. Tom Brady vs. Baltimore
15. Vince Young at Jacksonville
16. Mark Sanchez at Denver
17. Matt Ryan at Philadelphia
18. Josh Freeman vs. New Orleans
19. Donovan McNabb vs. Indianapolis
20. Alex Smith vs. Oakland

RB
1. Chris Johnson at Jacksonville
2. Frank Gore vs. Oakland
3. Adrian Peterson vs. Dallas
4. Ahmad Bradshaw vs. Detroit
5. Rashard Mendenhall vs. Cleveland
6. Michael Turner at Philadelphia
7. Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Tennessee
8. LeSean McCoy vs. Atlanta
9. LaDainian Tomlinson at Denver
10. Steven Jackson vs. San Diego
11. Ray Rice at New Engalnd
12. Arian Foster vs. Kansas City
13. Jamaal Charles at Houston
14. Ryan Mathews at St. Louis
15. Matt Forte vs. Seattle
16. Ryan Torian vs. Indianapolis
17. Shonn Greene at Denver
18. Michael Bush at San Francisco
19. Ronnie Brown at Green Bay
20. Jahvid Best at NY Giants
21. Marshawn Lynch at Chicago
22. Ricky Williams at Green Bay
23. Joseph Addai at Washington
24. Felix Jones at Minnesota
25. Peyton Hillis at Pittsburgh
26. Mike Tolbert at St. Louis
27. BenJarvus Green-Ellis vs. Baltimore
28. Brandon Jackson vs. Miami
29. Brandon Jacobs vs. Detroit
30. Willis McGahee at New England
31. Knowshon Moreno vs. NY Jets
32. Chris Ivory at Tampa Bay
33. Earnest Graham vs. New Orleans
34. Marion Barber at Minnesota
35. Darren Sproles at St. Louis
36. Jason Snelling at Philadelphia
37. Thomas Jones at Houston
38. John Kuhn vs. Miami
39. Ladell Betts at Tampa Bay
40. Cadillac Williams vs. New Orleans

WR/TE
1. Randy Moss vs. Dallas
2. Reggie Wayne at Washington
3. Hakeem Nicks vs. Detroit
4. Miles Austin at Minnesota
5. Roddy White at Philadelphia
6. Malcom Floyd at St. Louis
7. Brandon Lloyd vs. NY Jets
8. Antonio Gates at St. Louis
9. Andre Johnson vs. Kansas City
10. Anquan Boldin at New England
11. Percy Harvin vs. Dallas
12. Brandon Marshall at Green Bay
13. Wes Welker vs. Baltimore
14. Roy Williams at Minnesota
15. Calvin Johnson at NY Giants
16. Steve Smith (NY) vs. Detroit
17. Kenny Britt at Jacksonville
18. Dallas Clark at Washington
19. Greg Jennings vs. Miami
20. Austin Collie at Washington
21. Mike Wallace vs. Cleveland
22. DeSean Jackson vs. Atlanta
23. Hines Ward vs. Cleveland
24. Eddie Royal vs. NY Jets
25. Donald Driver vs. Miami
26. Jeremy Maclin vs. Atlanta
27. Zack Miller at San Francisco
28. Johnny Knox vs. Seattle
29. Michael Crabtree vs. Oakland
30. Santana Moss vs. Indianapolis
31. Dustin Keller at Denver
32. Marques Colston at Tampa Bay
33. Jabar Gaffney vs. NY Jets
34. Pierre Garcon at Washington
35. Braylon Edwards at Denver
36. Davone Bess at Green Bay
37. Louis Murphy at San Francisco
38. Dwayne Bowe at Houston
39. Danny Amendola vs. Dan Diego
40. Nate Washington at Jacksonville
41. Lance Moore at Tampa Bay
42. Chris Chambers at Houston
43. Brandon Tate vs. Baltimore
44. Robert Meachem at Tampa Bay
45. Vernon Davis vs. Oakland
46. Santonio Holmes at Denver
47. Mike Williams (TB) vs. New Orleans
48. Mike Sims-Walker vs. Tennessee
49. Brandon Gibson vs. San Diego
50. Aaron Hernandez vs. Baltimore

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Week 6: Working the waiver wire

With bye weeks and injuries, it’s getting harder to put a consistent fantasy football roster together each week. Fortunately, there are several quality pick-ups this week that can help your team in a pinch. At this point in the season you’re not likely to find an every week starter on the waiver wire, but you can find weekly fill-ins. Here’s a list of players that should be good replacements in week 6.
Vince Young – QB Tennessee
There never seems to be an appetite for Young until you really need a QB. This week is a perfect match-up for Young, a Monday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags are near the bottom of the league when it comes to pass defense. With Buffalo, Cincinnati, Carolina and Arizona all on bye this week, I doubt there’s much need for a bye week fill-in. But Young could be a good replacement for Aaron Rodgers, if he’s out, or Jay Cutler, who’s returning from injury.
Mike Hart – RB Indianapolis
Anyone who plays a prominent role in the Indianapolis Colts offense should garner attention. With Joseph Addai and Donald Brown both nursing injuries, Hart could be the Colts feature RB on Sunday against the Washington Redskins. Hart is a versatile RB who works well in the Colts offense. If Addai and Brown are both out for an extended period of time, Hart should be considered an every week starter for your fantasy football team.
Kenny Britt – WR Tennessee
Three TDs in three games will land you on virtually every waiver wire list. Britt has been Vince Young’s favorite red zone target of late, and his match-up this week could yield more success. Britt has disappointed a lot of fantasy football owners during his young career, but now he appears ready to contribute. Britt is a good play this week against Jacksonville and should be considered for your starting line-up.
Brandon Gibson – WR St. Louis
With Mark Clayton done for the year, Gibson could be the guy to step into the starting WR role. With Danny Amendola working the underneath routes, Gibson could be the guy to stretch the field. Clayton was having a solid season before tearing up his knee. The young Gibson could grow-up fast in this new Rams offense. (For the record, Amendola is the better pick-up of the two WRs, but I’ve already suggested you pick him up in previous posts.)
Steve Johnson – WR Buffalo
The guy with the ordinary name has been extraordinary the past three weeks. Johnson has four TDs in his last three games including 2 TDs against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Johnson is clearly QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite target in Buffalo, and should be picked up. I expect Buffalo to throw the ball a lot this year, considering how bad they are. The Bills are on a bye this week, but if you need a WR going forward the third year WR is a great option.
James Jones – WR Green Bay
With TE Jermichael Finley now likely out 8-10 weeks with a bum knee, Jones could be the guy who reaps the benefits. The Packers do not have a solid back-up TE on their roster and I expect them to use 3 and 4 WRs more often. Aaron Rodgers targeted Jones eight times on Sunday against the Washington Redskins and I expect his role to increase. Give Jones a solid look if you need a WR.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

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.