Squish (252)
e-roc (119)
Jeff (53)
Mal (45)
Tommy (45)
Ken (42)
Amir (37)
Tj (29)
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for this week. It’s championship week for most league’s out there, so hopefully these tips can help you bring home the bacon! As usual, please feel free to leave a comment on any of our posts with additional hit/miss questions and we’ll try our hardest to get back to you in a timely fashion. Good luck!
Latest Updates: aaron rodgers RSS
-
Hits & Misses - Week 16: CHAMPIONSHIP TIME!
Brandon
-
Hits & Misses - Week 14: Win or Go Home!
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for the upcoming games, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) In most leagues out there this is the first week of the playoffs, so you absolutely need to win if you want to continue your journey towards that league championship. Hopefully a few of these hit and miss suggestions will help you make those tough roster decisions and if they don’t, please feel free to leave a comment with your specific situation. Good luck!
-
Hits & Misses - Week 12: Happy Thanksgiving!
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week twelve, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) With Turkey Day right around the corner and a record three games being played tomorrow, we needed to post the hits and misses ASAP this week. As usual, I left off a few obvious picks from the list, including Ricky Williams running over the Bills, Larry Fitzgerald smoking the Titans secondary and Greg Jennings beating up on the Lions, but there is still plenty of picks to go around. Hopefully everyone has a great holiday weekend, filled with lots of fantasy football points! -
Hits & Misses - Week 9: Baseball is finally over!
Brandon
Now that baseball is finally over, we can focus on the sport that should have a spotlight at this point in the year…football. Before we get to the players though, remember to enter in our contest to win a $50 NFL.com gift card simply by predicting the top fantasy quarterback of the week (my QB “hits” might help you out!) Also, if you’re feeling generous, head over to the Fantasy Football Librarian’s site and vote for FFGeekBlog.com in her first annual Readers’ Choice Poll.
Anyways, that’s enough self-promotion…here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week nine, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) (More …)
-
Hits & Misses - Week 3: Bring out your Steve Smiths!
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week three, listing players who you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those who you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) As usual, I tried to keep the most obvious players off the list, such as Drew Brees against a Bills defense that is allowing over 330 yards per game through the air (make sure to have him in your lineup this week though.) Anyways, let’s get to the good stuff, starting with a pair of receivers who share a name… (More …)
-
Last minute hits and misses heading into your draft
Brandon
If your league hasn’t had it’s draft yet (such as the two Matt and I are in), I felt it necessary to share my last minute thoughts on some key players at each position. I’ve created two teams, The Hits and The Misses, that include players you should target or avoid in your league’s draft. Keep in mind that I’ve intentionally left out some of the most obvious guys and focused on the players that you might not have thought about as much.
The Hits
QB: Aaron Rodgers, Packers – Rodgers quietly had one of the best years of any fantasy quarterback last season, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. The offense returns intact (and a bit healthier overall) and should allow Aaron to put up even better numbers this year. In many leagues, he’s being drafted after Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Kurt Warner, but when all is said and done, he could have better numbers than all three of them. (More …)
-
Quarterback rankings for 2009
Brandon
Here are our quarterback rankings for this season. Don’t forget to check out the rest of our cheat sheets here.
- Tom Brady, NE – He looked great this past weekend and seems to have no lingering issues from the shoulder injury. Draft him with confidence and watch attempt to break the records again.
- Drew Brees, NO – Brees tops a lot of other site’s quarterback rankings, but maybe it’s a little Patriots-bias that puts him in the #2 spot on my list.
- Peyton Manning, IND – He’s still Peyton Manning and he’s still got Reggie Wayne (and others.)
- Philip Rivers, SD – Decent receivers, pass-catching tailbacks and Antonio Gates make for a lot of targets.
- Kurt Warner, ARI – As long as he remains healthy, he’s throwing to a pair of Pro-Bowlers (unless Anquan Boldin gets shipped out of town) and will continue to put up solid stats.
- Aaron Rodgers, GB – He’s got a great target to throw to in Greg Jennings.
- Donovan McNabb, PHI – Wide receivers still somewhat suspect, but McNabb will make the most with what he has.
- Matt Schaub, HOU – He gets the joy of throwing to Andre Johnson…one of the best receivers in the NFL.
- Tony Romo, DAL – DOWNGRADE! Roy Williams has been a disappointment so far and the rest of the receiving corps worries me.
- Matt Ryan, ATL – He’s primed for another solid year throwing to Roddy White and crew.
- Jay Cutler, CHI – His main target is a reformed kick returner, but I have enough faith in Cutler’s abilities to believe he can get it done with anyone running routes.
-
Top 25 scoring fantasy football players through 13 weeks
Brandon
It’s been 13 weeks since the season started and four since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this is a list of the top fantasy football scorers so far this season, based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are in, which follows near-standard scoring rules…
Note: The number in parenthesis is the ranking of the player after week 9.
1 (4). Drew Brees, QB, Saints: Brees has been a yardage and touchdown machine this year, even with his top receiver from last season (Marques Colston) out for a bit. I’m sure he helped many a team into the playoffs this season.
2 (3). Kurt Warner, QB, Cardinals: Warner’s stats were pretty close to Brees’ and while he did throw less interceptions, he fumbled the ball a lot more. However, I’m sure he’s on a lot of playoff bound team’s rosters.
3 (5). Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers: Packers fans can’t complain about the production they got out of the quarterback after Favre’s departure and they should be happy that they won’t have to worry about the position for another decade or so.
4 (6). Jay Cutler, QB, Broncos: While I was expecting a bit more out of his “favorite” receiver Brandon Marshall, Cutler has been all that fantasy owners could have wished for.
5 (1). Philip Rivers, QB, Chargers: He’s dropped off a bit over the past few weeks, but you can’t really complain considering the receivers he’s passing to. (More …) -
Guest Post: Week 14 QB Fantasy Football Rankings
Josh
Editors’ note: The following post was written by a guest blogger, Josh from Pro Football 101.
Must Starts
1. Kurt Warner vs. St. Louis Rams. Warner and his offense have had a tough go of it these past two weeks, as they were beaten by better football teams from the NFC East, but this is the week that we begin to hear the Warner MVP chants again.
Heading back to Arizona, the hapless Rams come to town and bring with it its suspect defense. Look for Warner to locate his talented trio on the outside and eclipse the 300-yard mark with at least three TDs.
2. Peyton Manning vs. Cincinnati Bengals. I’m not sure what happened on Sunday, but Manning certainly disappointed many fantasy owners with his 125 yard, two INT performance vs. the Browns. And since his defense couldn’t get off the field, he had very little time in which to work with.
This week, back at home, we like Manning and his offense to bounce back against the Bengals and for the QB to throw for at least 250 with a couple of scores. (More …)
-
Hits and Misses - Week 12: Peyton ready for a playoff run
Brandon
Although the Patriots lost a close one to the Jets, last week ended up being a pretty good week for me in all areas of the fantasy football world. Not only did I win in nearly all of my leagues, but my predictions ended up with a stellar 19-4-5 record, led by great games from Turner the Burner, the Arizona passing game and DeAngelo Williams, along with sub-par efforts from Kyle Orton and Willis McGahee (even with Jake Delhomme doing his best to submarine me and one of my fantasy teams!)
With the playoffs fast approaching though, and me still needing a win or two more to clinch the playoffs in a few leagues, let’s move on to my picks for this week. I’ll start with the man who should help many a fantasy team make the playoffs in week 12 by handing out a good ol’ fashioned beatdown to San Diego…Peyton Manning.
Hits
- Peyton Manning, QB, Colts: This weekend Indianapolis will head to San Diego to take on a Chargers defense that has been one of the worst in the league against the pass (possibly due to the absence of their top pass rusher in Shawne Merriman?) For all those managers who drafted Manning with a top pick in their league and have been disappointed so far (although the past few weeks he’s been pretty good), this game should serve as redemption. The Chargers are allowing 267 passing yards on average to an assortment of signal callers across the league…and this weekend they take on one that is slightly better than your “average quarterback.” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect 300 yards and at least two scores from Peyton this week.
-
Guest Post: Week 12 QB Fantasy Football Rankings
Josh
Editors’ note: The following post was written by a guest blogger, Josh from Pro Football 101.
Must Starts
1. Drew Brees vs. Green Bay
Once again, Drew Brees heads the list. This week the Green Bay Packers come to town in what should be a high-scoring affair. Brees has been a fantasy star the whole season and is on pace to break Dan Marino’s all-time passing record from 1984.
And in this one, he gets his favorite short weapon back in the fold: RB Reggie Bush. This should open up the underneath passing game which in turn will open up the deep ball to Colston and Moore. Look for another stellar performance out of Brees and the offense. (More …)
-
Guest Post: Week 10 QB Fantasy Rankings
Josh
Editors’ note: The following post was written by our new guest blogger, Josh from Pro Football 101. We’re happy to welcome Josh as a guest blogger – he definitely knows his fantasy football. -Matt and Brandon
Must Starts:
1. Kurt Warner vs. San Francisco. Most people around the NFL know how good Warner and this offense is, but this Monday, when the 49ers come to town, the entire country will find out on a national stage. Warner has been lighting it up through the air of late and we see that trend continuing this week back in the desert. While the Niners are pretty strong against the run, they have trouble vs. the pass, and with Boldin and Fitzgerald lining up on the outside against Clements and Harris, look for Arizona to exploit these mismatches all night long. Warner will eclipse the 300-yard mark for the third consecutive game and throw for at least two TDs. (More …) -
Top 25 fantasy football players after nine weeks
Brandon
It’s been nine weeks since the season started, and three since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this list is based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are in, which follows pretty standard scoring rules. At this point, most teams have had their bye, so the stats paint a pretty accurate picture of the players effectiveness this season.
Note: The number in parenthesis is the ranking of the player after week 6.
1 (1). Philip Rivers, QB, SD: It’s pretty amazing, but at the three, six and now the nine week mark, Rivers is STILL the top fantasy football player in the league.
2 (7). Clinton Portis, RB, WAS: Portis has been solid all season long and now that all the aberations are starting to fall off the list, the greats are shining through.
3 (6). Kurt Warner, QB, ARI: Warner keeps getting it done and now that receiver Anquan Boldin is back and in action, Warner shouldn’t stray too far from the top of this list.
4 (2). Drew Brees, QB, NO: The bye week dropped him down a few spots, but he’ll stay at the top of the list for the duration.
5 (3). Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB: Rodgers continues to prove that Green Bay made the right decision in letting Favre go. (More …) -
Hits and Misses - Week 9: Brandon Marshall ready to hand out tricks and treats
Brandon
To all of our devoted readers (and those who just stopped by for their first time), Happy Halloween! Make sure to go out and get some good candy (not the crappy kind that you hated getting as a kid!) to pass out to the kids tonight…or risk having to clean up toilet paper and shaving cream up in the morning.
Anyways, last week something relatively new happened in the world of FFGeekBlog hits and misses, which was that for the first time of the season, my feature pick did not completely bomb…nor did he do extremely well. For week eight, I recommended that you start Jets running back Thomas Jones at all costs against a Swiss-cheese style Kansas City run defense. If you took my advice, you probably don’t completely hate me…but you’re most likely not making up nicknames for me that include the words “genius”, “psychic” or “super awesome.” Against the Chiefs, Thomas Jones managed a mere 54 yards on the ground and also scored a touchdown, so while his fantasy stats weren’t something to cry about, they also weren’t something to warrant cover space on the revered Hits and Misses column.
After the dust settled though, even with Thomas Jones earning a “push” rating for the week (and J.T. O’Sullivan playing so badly that he lost the starting gig!), I still finished with a solid 16-4-5 (hits-misses-pushes) record, riding upon the shoulders of huge games from Drew Brees, Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, along with predictable stinkers from the Colts star receivers. This week I’ll try to continue my trend of solid picks, so here we go…
Hits
- Brandon Marshall, WR, Broncos: While Marshall’s numbers may have “dropped off” over the past few weeks (only 18 receptions for 200 yards in the last three games), it’s not because quarterback Jay Cutler was not looking his way. Brandon continues to get more looks than almost any other receiver in the league (possibly the most) and this week, following the bye, playing at home, against a fairly bad Dolphins secondary, I expect a huge performance from my doppelganger (in name only.) Cutler will have a big day, but I think it’s Marshall who reaps the most rewards as he hands out tricks to the Dolphins and treats to the fans. (More …)
-
Week 7 Weekend Wrap-up: Running backs gone wild!
Brandon
After staying up late to watch my favorite baseball team lose to the Tampa Bay Rays (!) last night, I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle staying up for what will most likely be a disaster of a game tonight when the Fantasy Football Librarian’s boys from Denver come into Gillette Stadium to take on the Patriots…but I’ll give it a shot. The good news is that even though the Sox are done and the Pats chances tonight are not all that promising, the fantasy football gods seemed to shine down on me this week and I should pull off some solid victories in most of my leagues (although the fact that Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall having huge games against New England would help many of my teams causes quite the personal conflict!), including a potential victory in which I idiotically started Larry Fitzgerald on a bye. Anyways, enough of my rambling about New England sports and my fantasy teams, let’s get to the action from the weekend that caused my good fortunes, including a few running backs gone wild!
- Tennessee 34, Kansas City 10: I was pretty pumped about this game for one reason…the Chiefs helped me break the FFGeekBlog Hits/Misses cover curse! Kansas City came into this game allowing 180+ yards per game on the ground and what do you know…the Titans nearly doubled that average with 330+ yards. Hopefully you took my advice and started LenDale White (149 yards, 3 TD) and Chris Johnson (168 yards, TD), as you were rewarded heavily. (More …)
-
Top 25 fantasy football players after six weeks
Brandon
Well, it’s been six weeks since the season started, and three since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this list is based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are in, which follows pretty standard scoring rules. You’ll want to keep in mind that only about half the teams have had their bye week so far, so some of the numbers might be slightly askew, but it still gives a pretty decent representation of the production levels of the players mentioned.
Note: The number in parenthesis is the ranking of the player after week 3. An asterisk means the player has already had their bye week.
1 (1). Philip Rivers, QB, SD: Rivers is still the number one fantasy player in the league and you have to give him props considering the receiving corps he’s throwing to.
2 (9). Drew Brees, QB, NO: Drew takes a pretty good leap forward since week three and he should only get better once he gets Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey back.
3 (5). Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB: Brett who? Rodgers has been all that Green Bay could ask for in a Favre replacement…but it’d be nice to see the stats translate into something better than a 3-3 record.
4 (2). Jay Cutler, QB, DEN: He’s fallen off a bit in the past few weeks, but a big showing against a weak New England defense could work wonders for him.
5 (18). Tony Romo, QB, DAL: Romo tore the list up the past few weeks, moving 13 spots in the rankings. However, a broken finger that sidelines him for upwards of a month could be enough to take him off the list completely…but maybe he’ll play through the pain. (More …) -
Week 6 Weekend Wrap-up: Expect the unexpected
Brandon
Not that weeks one through five this season were predictable, but week six seemed to continue and possibly enhance the old motto “on any given Sunday, anything can happen.” Who would have expected a Colts team that is struggling to put up big numbers this year to rack up 30+ points on the league’s top defense? How about the Cardinals to beat the Cowboys (especially considering Arizona tried to hand Dallas the game on a silver platter?) Or Miami to beat up on the Patriots and Chargers in consecutive weeks, then lose to the 0-4 Texans? What about the win-less Rams to beat a Redskins squad that was on a four game winning streak (including wins against the Saints, Cowboys, Cardinals and Eagles!) If I’ve learned anything from this season, it’s that sports betting is not a lifestyle for the faint of heart. Anyways, let’s get to the action from this weekend…
- Indianapolis 31, Baltimore 3: Just when we thought that the Colts were starting to get old and the Ravens were back to their defensively-dominant selves, we get smacked with a dose of reality. Peyton Manning (271 yards, 3 TD) and his boys Marvin Harrison (three catches for 83 yards, 2 TD) and Reggie Wayne (eight catches for 118 yards, TD) were back to their old ways in this lopsided contest. Not much worth mentioning on the Ravens side of the ball, except maybe the fact that their three-headed backfield monster (Willis McGahee, Ray Rice, Le’Ron McClain) is probably making more than one fantasy team manager a little uneasy/angry. On a side note, my emergency play of the Colts defense this week in one of my leagues proved to be a pretty genius move I guess! (More …)
-
Ask the Geeks - Week 5
Brandon
Here are our responses to the first couple of questions for the week. Remember, you can always ask us questions by clicking the Ask the Geeks logo on the left sidebar (or this link).Jeff asks: I am in a league where QB TDs count as 6 points. My current QBs are Garrard, Bulger and Griese. I have been offered Aaron Rodgers and Jacksonville DEF for my Tennessee DEF. Should I make the trade?
Brandon’s take: Jeff, I’m not all that high on your quarterbacks right now and having Rodgers in there (assuming he’s healthy) would be a pretty decent upgrade. However, I just took a look at my league and the difference in fantasy points between the Titans and Jags is pretty staggering. Tennessee leads the NFL with 66 fantasy points through four weeks, while Jacksonville only has 23…a difference of 43 points (over 10 a week!) Looking at the schedules of both “players” (Rodgers/Titans), the Titans seem to have the easier road ahead. I also think David Garrard will rebound from a rough first couple games (he did alright last week) and should hold down your quarterback position. In short, don’t make the trade. Keep the Titans and have faith in Garrard.
Matt’s take: What are you doing with Bulger still on your roster? I don’t think Rodgers is necessarily a huge upgrade from Garrard, especially since Garrard’s numbers will only improve as his o-line slowly returns to health. (More …)
-
Week 4 Weekend Wrap-up: Favre keeps on truckin'
Brandon
Before I go into any thoughts on the games from the weekend, I have one question: Has there ever been a week in the NFL where the combined age of the four quarterbacks playing in two games (Jets vs Cardinals, Vikings vs Titans) was greater than this week? This weekend we saw Brett Favre (38), Trent Green (38), Kurt Warner (37), Gus Frerotte (37), and Kerry Collins (35) all out there trying to show young whipper-snappers across the league how the game is played…with varying degrees of success (or failure). Anyways, let’s get into what transpired this weekend, starting with the barn-burner that took place as the Arizona Cardinals came into town to battle the Jets:
- Jets 56, Cardinals 35: You would never have guessed that the score to this game was 0-0 after the first quarter…but it was. Six Brett Favre touchdowns and 472 Kurt Warner passing yards (or whatever percentage he got after the first quarter) later, you end up with the final score of 56 to 35. Without going into too much more detail (you can see the stats for yourself), let’s just say that anyone who started Laveranues Coles, Jericho Cotchery, Edgerrin James, Larry Fitzgerald, or Anquan Boldin were not disappointed. Nor were the crazy Cardinal homers who started Steve Breaston or Jerheme Urban…if any actually exist (P.S. You’ll find Breaston on the waiver wire list this week…especially if Boldin misses any games after suffering a bad helmet-to-helmet hit.) (More …)
-
Top 25 fantasy football players after three weeks
Brandon
Now that the first three weeks of the NFL season are in the books and starting the official bye weeks, I figured it might be interesting to take a look at the top 25 players (based on the scoring system for one of the leagues that Matt and I are in – non-PPR) and see if there were any surprises in the mix…of which there were a few. Keep in mind that it’s only been three weeks, but it’s interesting to note that potential first round picks LaDainian Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Randy Moss, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady (a little different situation for Brady than for the others though) are no where to be found…
1. Philip Rivers, QB, SD – First of two young quarterbacks leading the league so far…
2. Jay Cutler, QB, DEN – …and the second. And to think, Cutler is here after missing his top receiving option for the first game. Expect to see these two quarterbacks on this list for a while.
3. Michael Turner, RB, ATL – Turner has been all that you could ever have hoped for through the first three games. While he probably won’t finish this high, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the top 15 at the end of the season.
4. Marion Barber, RB, DAL – The Barbarion is living up to his first round draft pick status.
5. Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB – Bet you didn’t expect to see Rodgers this high on the list, huh? (More …)
