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Marc Bulger has been ruled out for the Ram’s week 13 game against Atlanta. Torry Holt becomes no better than a mid-range WR2, and Isaac Bruce barely even merits consideration at WR3, if you’re desperate.
Right now, I’m thinking Engram, Johnson, Marshall, Addai, and Graham, but I feel a little crazy for benching McGahee, since he’s been my one really consistent player all season. Thanks!
Brandon’s take: That’s not a bad situation to be in Natalie, as most of your players are set up to have pretty solid games this weekend. I agre with your Addai, Graham, Marshall and Engram picks, but I actually think you could play Willis McGahee instead of Calvin Johnson in the flex spot. Odds are they will post similar stats, but I think McGahee is the most consistent at this point.
Matt’s take: Calvin Johnson should have a very nice day against the pathetic Vikings secondary (I just can’t stop picking on them this season), so I think he’s the best start of all your WRs. I hate McGahee against the Pats; I’d leave him out of your lineup entirely and go with Addai and Graham at RB, Engram and Johnson at WR, and Marshall at the flex spot.
Here’s a look at the guys who spent their time in week 12 doing one of three things: rumblin’ up the player value charts with big performances, bumblin’ through a rough week and making their owners nervous, or stumblin’ so badly that their fantasy value took a major hit.
Frank Gore, RB, SF: Gore ran all over Arizona, a team that up until last week had been pretty solid against the run. His 200+ yards and 2 touchdowns got him back in his owners’ good graces, as long as he can stay healthy (never a sure bet, as demonstrated when he aggravated his ankle in the first quarter – for once, though, he toughed it out).
Ryan Grant, RB, GB: He looked good for the third game in a row, but keep in mind that this is Brett’s show, and the Packers are a passing offense, regardless of the score. He’s not always going to turn 15 carries into 101 yards (like he did last week).
Did you go and start Eli Manning last weekend based on my "stud" prediction? If so, you’re probably not too happy with me…but who would have known he’d throw 4 INT against the league’s worst pass defense?! I did make a few solid predictions though, as Favre and his receivers went hog wild against the Lions, as did Kurt Warner. The Dolphins running game was horrible, as expected (with a little help from the weather), and the young guns Brodie Croyle and John Beck were pretty bad as well. However, along with Eli, I must admit that I mad a few botched picks, starting with A.J. Feeley (come on…was I the only one that predicted a bad game here?) and Rudi Johnson.
This week though, I have some suggestions that should boost your team in to the playoffs (if you’re not there yet), or move you to the upper seeds in your playoffs. If you’re out of contention already, than hopefully these picks can help you spoil some other poor fools weekend. Good luck to everyone and hopefully FFGeekBlog has helped you in some way to earn a playoff birth!
Thomas Jones (NYJ): If Jones expects to score a touchdown this season, this might be his last chance. The Jets are playing a Dolphins defense that has allowed a rushing touchdown a game to this point in the season and last game these two teams played, Jones ran for 110 yards. Expect big things from Jones this weekend as long as the game is not played in 4 inches of mud.
Justin Fargas (OAK): Fargas has been solid since moving into the starting role for Oakland and this weekend he should continue on that trend against a lowly Broncos rush defense. Look for 100 yards and a score from Fargas this weekend.
From the Indianapolis Star:
Colts coach Tony Dungy repeated the team’s expectation that eight-time Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison could return for Sunday’s AFC South showdown vs. Jacksonville after missing six of seven games with a bruised left knee.
"It’s hard to say," Dungy said Monday. "That’s what we’re hoping, that Marvin will be back and ready to go and practice. If he’s able to do that and play, that will be a big lift to us."
Obviously, Harrison owners have been anxiously waiting to get him back into their lineups and will do so if he’s available on Sunday, so this news is more pertinent to Anthony Gonzalez owners. Gonzalez had a very nice game (6 catches, 105 yards) last week after returning from a thumb injury, but he’ll obviously be less involved if Harrison is good to go. If Harrison does play, I’d still consider Gonzalez an OK #3 WR option, since it seems unlikely that Harrison will immediately be able to participate as much as he normally would.
After eagerly awaiting his return to the NFL, injury troubles in the Dolphins backfield gave Ricky Williams the chance to be the starting running back this past Monday. Six carries and fifteen yards later, his season is over. Williams tore his chest muscle and rehab will take over five months, but he should be ready for next season his agent says. Will he get another chance in the NFL? Probably. Will he ever be an effective running back in the NFL again? Probably not.
Well, it’s week 13 and in all of my fantasy leagues, that means it’s the last week of the regular season. If you’re in a standard Yahoo! league, then odds are that you’re in the same situation. I will try to provide some suggestions on players that could help your team get that final push into the playoffs, but like I’ve emphasized before, if you’re relying on waiver-wire pickups to carry you through the playoffs, you’re most likely in big trouble.
Before I go into the suggestions for this week, I’d like to mention that I have renamed this column "The Wire", as the previous title of "Waiver-Wire Pickups, Keeper Sleepers and Spot Starts" was too long and cumbersome. I know that the new title is currently being used by some other fantasy sports websites, but I’m hoping that our readers can see beyond my un-originality and continue to read the posts. Anyways, without further ado, here are your pickups for this week…
Adrian Peterson (RB-CHI): Although Cedric Benson wasn’t the greatest running back in the NFL, he was definitely the uncontested starter in Chicago. Now that Benson is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an ankle injury, expect Peterson to get the full load and a chance to see what he can do with it. (More …)
Wow. That’s all I can say after last night’s game, where the A.J. Feeley-led Eagles nearly accomplished the upset of the century. I have to give props to the Andy Reid and the Eagles defense, as they were able to make Tom Brady look nearly human with all their blitzing schemes and by somehow managing to contain Randy Moss. In the end however, it was not to be. Let’s just hope Baltimore doesn’t give the Patriots that much trouble next weekend though…I prefer the blowouts I think. Anyways, here are some of the fantasy standouts from the past few days (I’ve included the Turkey Day games as well)…
Drew Brees (QB-NO): 260 passing yards, 8 rushing yards, 4 TD (3 pass, 1 rush), 1 INT
Which Saints team will take the field next week? Jekyll or Hyde?
Brett Favre (QB-GB): 381 passing yards, 3 TD
Packers vs Cowboys…Favre vs Romo…Old vs Young…huge game next week for NFC supremacy
Brandon’s take: Wow, when you’re blog starts getting asked for fantasy advice from famous dead presidents, you know you’ve made it! However, we’re pretty sure we know this reader…and although he might grow a shaggy beard from time to time, he’s no Honest Abe. Anyways, with regards to the question, I’m going to recommend that you stay with the hot hand…which is Kurt Warner at this point. All three defenses that those quarterbacks are playing are middle of the road pass defenses, but I think Warner is playing at the highest level right now. Kitna is coming off a 3 INT performance against the Giants and I just don’t have enough faith in Garrard as a passer yet. As long as Warner is healthy, I’d keep him in there through the playoffs, as the rest of his schedule is fairly weak (SF, CLE, SEA, NOR, ATL, STL) and he’s got the dynamic receiving duo in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
It seems that after his latest neck injury, Kansas City Priest Holmes may finally be calling it quits. He is expected to announce his retirement this afternoon. With Larry Johnson still out with a foot injury, rookie Kolby Smith becomes an immediate waiver-wire/free agent pickup.
Week 11 is in the books, and my projections ended up being fairly solid. Chester Taylor, Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson, and the Arizona passing game led the way for my stud picks. Besides Thomas Jones, the rest of the Jets offense was bad, as projected, so that went in my favor. However, the Giants passing game was a little disappointing, as was Willie "not so fast" Parker. As it’s a short week (Happy almost Thanksgiving!), I figured I should get these stud and dud picks out there as soon as possible. In the spirit of things, I bring to you FFGeekBlog’s studs and turkeys.
Brett Favre / Wide Receivers / Donald Lee: Favre is playing out of his mind right now and shouldn’t let up when the Pack goes to Detroit this Thanksgiving.
Matt Schaub / Andre Johnson (HOU): Back-to-back weeks on the studs list…not too shabby. No one has been able to stop Johnson in the three games he’s played this season, so why would the Browns and their NFL last 23 allowed passing touchdowns be the first team?
Here’s a look at the guys who spent their time in week 11 doing one of three things: rumblin’ up the player value charts with big performances, bumblin’ through a rough week and making their owners nervous, or stumblin’ so badly that their fantasy value took a major hit.
Cedric Benson, RB, CHI: Finally, some music to Benson’s owners’ ears: Benson played so well for once, the Bears’ chief regret is that they didn’t give him the ball more often. How’s this passage by Chicago Tribune sportswriter David Haugh sound to you, Benson owners?
The burst everyone had been waiting for finally showed up on a 43-yard touchdown run on the Bears’ first run from scrimmage. The emotion everyone wondered if Benson was capable of showing poured out of him like sweat after the most satisfying run of his NFL career.
Meanwhile, backup Adrian Peterson did nothing with the carries he received. It’s still Benson’s job to lose, and he’s got the Chicago press, including the Tribune (above) and the Sun-Times, on his side for once. Lovie Smith is really doing a heckuva job, by the way – you leave Benson in all season while he struggles, then take him out the first time he plays well?
Alright, we’ve reached week 12 of the NFL season and to be honest with you, free agent pickups are most likely not going to help your team all that much at this point. However, I’ll still give you a few players that made an impact (or the headlines) this past weekend and should be available in your league (just in case!):
Ricky Williams (RB-MIA): That’s right folks…Ricky Williams has made the Waiver-wire pickup list this week. He’s begun working out with the Dolphins and there is a chance that he could play as early as this Monday against the Steelers. I wouldn’t get too excited about picking him up, but for a team that is severely struggling at the running back position, or a team that owns Jesse Chatman, he might be a decent pickup.
I’m not talking about the Barry Bonds record home run ball here. I’m not even talking about Don Shula’s attempt to discredit the greatest football team in NFL history. What I’m talking about can probably only be understood by Yahoo! Fantasy Football managers. I’m talking about the * next to your ranking that signifies that you have clinched the playoffs. Last week in a few of my leagues, managers began clinching spots in the playoffs. Finally, this week I was able to clinch the playoffs in one of my leagues. What a great feeling (and I must say, I probably won’t see many more asterisks this year as in my other three leagues my teams are in serious do-or-die mode). Now I can sit back, relax, and watch the Patriots completely obliterate the Eagles and Ravens without having to worry that Tom Brady, Randy Moss or Wes Welker will simultaneously be obliterating my fantasy team…because it doesn’t matter (in that league at least). I hope that by using our superb fantasy football knowledge and advice here at FFGeekBlog.com, some of our readers are joining me this morning to celebrate the asterisk.
*
I was pretty pumped about our Draftmix Blogger Challenge victory a few weeks ago, though I have to admit feeling a little bad about winning something like that in our first season of blogging. Now I get word that the folks who run the Carnival of Fantasy Sports were nice enough to award the top prize to one of our posts in the first edition of their competition.
I’m really pleased to have our blog recognized, and even more pleased that it was one of my posts that took home the gold, and not one of Brandon’s. I believe the wisdom of Jack Black is particularly well-suited to this occasion: "Woohoo! I win! I win! One to nothing!"
Let me just put the stats out there first…then we can do a little analyzing:
Terrell Owens (WR-DAL): 8 receptions, 173 receiving yards, 4 TD
Randy Moss (WR-NE): 10 receptions, 128 receiving yards, 4 TD
The two combined for over 300 yards and 8 TD. That’s more fantasy points than the entire Ravens offense was able to compile through the first 10 weeks of the season (half joking, half serious)! These two guys (or their two quarterbacks), could have single handedly put you back in the playoff hunt…or could have knocked you out of the running (depending on which side of the matchup they were on). In terms of fantasy points, T.O. scored a little more than Moss, as the 45 extra yards helped. However, if you watched the games, you realized that Randy Moss scored all of his touchdowns in the first half of the game, and if Brady/Belichick/Moss wanted to, he could have had around 8 touchdowns.
Here are my RBs: LT, Barber III, Jacobs, Rudi Johnson, Watson
Here are my WRs: Boldin, Harrison, Chris Henry, DJ Hackett, Mark Clayton
We start 2 RBs, 2 WRs and 1 flex (WR/RB). I also own Kellen Winslow. I’ve been agonizing over this trade to figure out if its worth doing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Brandon’s take: A Dave (name?), thanks for submitting the question as an official Ask the Geeks query…it makes it a lot easier for us to offer advice when the questions come straight to our inboxes. Anyways, if you’re confident that LT or Barber III won’t suffer any injuries in your league’s playoffs…then I guess you could go for broke and accept the trade. However, I think being able to start LT, Barber, and Jacobs (2 RB + flex) is to your advantage, so I would recommend NOT doing the trade. Starting two of Boldin, Henry or Hackett should be pretty decent for you. (More …)
Obligatory explanatory introduction for the uninitiated: If you haven’t seen my previous “shocker” posts, my definition of a fantasy shocker is a player who comes out of relatively nowhere, has a gigantic, multi-touchdown game, becomes the hottest waiver commodity the following week, and then soon sinks back into the relative obscurity from whence he came. Like I’ve said before, these are long-shot picks and I don’t expect to hit on most of them.
Last week, I had high hopes for Amani Toomer, Isaac Bruce, Priest Holmes, Devery Henderson, and the man, the myth, the Vinny Testaverde. Bruce was on pace to qualify as a shocker until he tweaked a hammy; his 62 yards and a touchdown still qualified as a decent fantasy day, though. The rest – well, hey, that’s why I say they’re long-shot picks.
Even though there were some sabotage attempts on the Studs/Duds predictions last week, I was able to escape the week with a better success than failure rate again. While expected to excel, Priest Holmes and Antonio Gates fell flat on their faces, while Maurice Jones-Drew, Ryan Grant and Derek Anderson went on personal vendetta’s to prove that my "dud" designations were a load of crap. However, there were some silver linings…the Steelers passing game rolled, as did Brett Favre and Cedric Benson (!!! Well, he did great considering that he is Cedric Benson). As expected, Rudi Johnson was terrible and Philip Rivers attempted to earn me some brownie points for playing so horrendously that being categorized as a "dud" was an understatement. This week I promise to be a bit stronger with my predictions, so here we go…
Eli Manning / Plaxico Burress / Jeremy Shockey (NYG): The Lions just let up 259 yards and three touchdowns to Kurt Warner, so Eli and crew should be able to rack up some solid fantasy stats in this one against the league’s third worst pass defense.
Matt Schaub / Andre Johnson (HOU): Are all the pieces finally coming back together for the Texans? With Schaub and Johnson back on the field, this team becomes a much better passing team and is up against a defense that gave the St. Louis Rams their first win last weekend (the Saints).
