Week 5: Fantasy Football rankings -- QB, RB, WR/TEs

QB
1. Peyton Manning vs. Kansas City
2. Drew Brees at Arizona
3. Aaron Rodgers at Washington
4. Philip Rivers at Oakland
5. Matt Schaub vs. NY Giants
6. Eli Manning at Houston
7. Matt Ryan at Cleveland
8. Tony Romo vs. Tennessee
9. Joe Flacco vs. Denver
10. Shaun Hill vs. St. Louis
11. Brett Favre at NY Jets
12. Sam Bradford at Detroit
13. Donovan McNabb vs. Green Bay
14. David Garrard at Buffalo
15. Kyle Orton at Baltimore
16. Kevin Kolb at San Francisco
17. Mark Sanchez vs. Minnesota
18. Carson Palmer vs. Tampa Bay
19. Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Jacksonville
20. Josh Freeman at Cincinnati

RB
1. Steven Jackson at Detroit
2. Maurice Jones-Drew at Buffalo
3. Arian Foster vs. NY Giants
4. Adrian Peterson at NY Jets
5. Chris Johnson at Dallas
6. Frank Gore vs. Philadelphia
7. Cedric Benson vs. Tampa Bay
8. Ahmad Bradshaw at Houston
9. Peyton Hillis vs. Atlanta
10. Ryan Mathews vs. Oakland
11. Joseph Addai vs. Kansas City
12. DeAngelo Williams vs. Chicago
13. Jahvid Best vs. St. Louis
14. Ray Rice vs. Denver
15. Jamaal Charles at Indianapolis
16. Ryan Torain vs. Green Bay
17. Beanie Wells vs. New Orleans
18. Michael Turner at Cleveland
19. Mike Tolbert vs. Oakland
20. Michael Bush vs. San Diego
21. Matt Forte at Carolina
22. Fred Jackson vs. Jacksonville
23. Chris Ivory at Arizona
24. LaDainian Tomlinson vs. Minnesota
25. Thomas Jones at Indianapolis
26. LeSean McCoy at San Francisco
27. Felix Jones vs. Tennessee
28. CJ Spiller vs. Jacksonville
29. Brandon Jackson at Washington
30. Willis McGahee vs. Denver
31. Marion Barber vs. Tennessee
32. Tim Hightower vs. New Orleans
33. Ladell Betts at Arizona
34. Mike Bell at San Francisco
35. John Kuhn at Washington
36. Correll Buckhalter at Baltimore
37. Jonathan Stewart vs. Chicago
38. Cadillac Williams at Cincinnati
39. Shonn Greene vs. Minnesota
40. Jason Snelling at Cleveland

WR/TE
1. Reggie Wayne vs. Kansas City
2. Calvin Johnson vs. St. Louis
3. Roddy White at Cleveland
4. Austin Collie vs. Kansas City*
5. Randy Moss at NY Jets
6. Miles Austin vs. Tennessee
7. Andre Johnson vs. NY Giants**
8. Hakeem Nicks at Houston
9. Antonio Gates vs. Oakland
10. Anquan Boldin vs. Denver
11. Dallas Clark vs. Kansas City
12. DeSean Jackson at San Francisco
13. Greg Jennings at Washington
14. Mark Clayton at Detroit
15. Pierre Garcon vs. Kansas City
16. Terrell Owens vs. Tampa Bay
17. Jermichael Finley at Washington
18. Brandon Lloyd at Baltimore
19. Lance Moore at Arizona
20. Donald Driver at Washington
21. Chad OchoCinco vs. Tampa Bay
22. Dustin Keller vs. Minnesota
23. Marques Colston at Arizona
24. Malcom Floyd at Oakland
25. Percy Harvin at NY Jets
26. Chris Cooley vs. Green Bay
27. Larry Fitzgerald vs. New Orleans
28. Steve Johnson vs. Jacksonville
29. Braylon Edwards vs. Minnesota
30. Jeremy Maclin at San Francisco
31. Mike Sims-Walker at Buffalo
32. Steve Smith (NY) at Houston
33. Derrick Mason vs. Denver
34. Zack Miller vs. San Diego
35. Dwayne Bowe at Indianapolis
36. Kenny Britt at Dallas
37. Santana Moss vs. Green Bay
38. Eddie Royal at Baltimore
39. Kevin Walter vs. NY Giants
40. Mario Manningham at Houston
41. Santonio Holmes vs. Minnesota
42. Jabar Gaffney at Baltimore
43. Visanthe Shiancoe at NY Jets
44. Mike Williams (TB) at Cincinnati
45. Louis Murphy vs. San Diego
46. Dez Bryant vs. Tennessee
47. Devery Henderson at Arizona
48. Lee Evans vs. Jacksonville
49. Johnny Knox at Carolina
50. Vernon Davis vs. Philadelphia

Week 4: Good calls, bad calls

I’ve had my moments this year, both good and bad, with my fantasy football predictions. Week 4 was filled with good calls, including a ridiculously close prediction involving Raiders QB Bruce Gradkowski. However, the week wasn’t without its misses. A certain RB in Seattle let me down again and now he’s second string to a guy who was in his wedding. It’s all covered in this week’s ‘good calls, bad calls’.

Bad Calls:

Justin Forsett – RB Seattle
Week 4 was the perfect opportunity for Forsett to solidify his status as Seattle’s top RB. Instead, he ran for just 65 yards on 19 carries. While Forsett didn’t appear in this week’s column, I have predicted big things from him in recent posts and on Twitter. I was clearly wrong because the Seahawks went and traded for Marshawn Lynch. Lynch, who was a groomsman in Forsett’s wedding, will now take over the starting role. Forsett meanwhile, will now go from feature back to 3-5 carries a game. It was clear Sunday against the St. Louis Rams that Seattle needed a more physical RB. They got it now in Lynch and he should be a good starting option in most leagues.

Malcom Floyd – WR San Diego
I expected a big game from Floyd against the Arizona Cardinals. However, it turns out the Chargers didn’t need him. He caught two balls for 45 yards and San Diego still won 41-10. Antonio Gates, the running game and San Diego’s defense were the reasons for the big win. I will take credit for recognizing that the Chargers would have an offensive explosion against the Cardinals, but I guess anyone could have seen that coming.

Mike Tolbert / Ryan Mathews – RBs San Diego
I would have bet you that Ryan Mathews would get more carries than Tolbert against Arizona. And I would have lost. Tolbert nearly doubled the number of Mathews’ carries (16 vs. 9) and it showed up in the stats. Tolbert ended with 100 yards rushing and a TD, while Mathews finished with 55 yard and a score. On Twitter, I recommended fantasy football owners sit Tolbert in week 4 with Mathews back returning. Hopefully on this occasion you didn’t listen.

Good Calls:

Bruce Gradkowski - QB Oakland
I’m sure my Gradkowski call had some people checking the time stamp of the blog post. I proclaimed Gradkowski a solid fantasy football starting QB in week 4, going so far as to recommend benching Donovan McNabb, Eli Manning and Kyle Orton in favor of Gradkowski. It turns out the Raiders QB was better than McNabb and Manning, and almost as good as Orton. Also in the article, I said Gradkowski would throw for 275+ yards and 2 TDs – he ended with 278 yards and 2 TDs. Now, even though Gradkowski didn’t out-perform Orton, that’s still a pretty darn good call.

Brandon Lloyd – WR Denver
My prediction that Lloyd would lead the current quartet of Denver WRs in receiving yards this season took another step towards reality on Sunday. Lloyd’s ability to stretch the field for the Broncos has made him the most valuable WR on their roster. Lloyd finished week 4 with 11 catches for 115 yards against a very good Tennessee Titians defense. Lloyd has three 100-yard games and leads the NFL in receiving yards with 454. We should learn a lot about Lloyd and the Broncos passing game when they face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, followed by the NY Jets in week 6.

Greg Jennings – WR Green Bay
The Packers looked to be cruising along Sunday against the Detroit Lions, with 3 first half TD tosses by QB Aaron Rodgers. One of those TD passes ended up in the hands Jennings, but that was about it. Jennings is a frustrating WR for fantasy football owners. His 2 catches for 25 yards are not what you want to see from a WR1. It’s not just the lack of catches by Jennings (12 recs.) that’s concerning, it’s the lack of targets. Through 4 games, Jennings has 26 targets, nearly half as many as WR Roddy White (50 targets). With that said, as long as Jennings keeps scoring TDs, the yards aren’t as critical and fantasy football owners will be happy.

Jahvid Best/Matt Forte
Both RBs were non-factors in their games on Sunday. You have likely seen the best of Best and Forte in the first three weeks of the season. Both the Lions and Bears have disastrous OLs and that is having an impact on Best and Forte’s numbers. Sell both these guys if you can find a buyer. (BTW-Todd Collins is starting in place of Jay Cutler on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Forte will find it even more difficult to run against the Panthers defense).