In case you haven’t yet heard, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice has had hip surgery and will miss upwards of half the 2010-11 NFL season. Obviously that means you probably don’t want to draft him for your fantasy football team…at least not until the last couple rounds, if you must. With Percy Harvin suffering with migraines, this means that WR Bernard Berrian and TE Visanthe Shiancoe (and Javon Walker?) will most likely be Brett Favre’s top targets heading into the season. Draft accordingly!
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Sidney Rice to miss half the season
Brandon
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Ask the Geeks: Perplexed by the flex spot
Brandon
This week in our Ask the Geeks post we take a look at the flex spot and who makes a good play:Paul asks: Hey Guys a quick ? for you, just finished draft I took Josh Morgan (Flex) to go along with Colston, V. Jackson, R. Williams and S Moss. Jamaal Charles and Donald Brown are still available. Should I add one of those 2 running backs and ditch one of the receivers? Thanks for your help and advice. have a good season
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Brandon
Looks like Brett Favre won’t be playing for the Minnesota Vikings this season, as he’s announced that he’s staying retired (although we’ve heard that before!) I have to downgrade Bernard Berrian and Adrian Peterson slightly if Favre is not the quarterback, as they need someone to take the heat off the running game and Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels are not really the ones to do it.
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Hits and Misses - Week 11: Turner the Burner ready to blaze!
Brandon
Last week I came through with my second great feature pick of the season (I know, only two through ten weeks is a little embarassing!), as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson absolutely torched the Packers defense to the tune of 225 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. I ended up the week with a respectable 15-5-3* record, helped out by stellar, three-score games from Thomas Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew, along with a solid performance from Tony Gonzalez and a predictable, lackluster showing by Steve Slaton (could he be hitting the rookie wall?) Although the Jets passing game proved to be non-existant in their demolition of the Rams and Peyton Manning had a huge game against one of the better defenses in the league (ironically, his two best games this season against the Steelers and Ravens…go figure!), I still finished with some fairly good predictions and I hope to do the same this week. For week 11, my sure bet is for Michael Turner “The Burner” to have a big game against a less than average Broncos defense in Atlanta this weekend, so get him in your lineup!
* Hits-Misses-Pushes
Hits
- Michael Turner, RB, Falcons: I admit, I tried to come up with some clever saying here that some how involved the Broncos, Turner the Burner, and the game being a potential barn burner, but I couldn’t come up with some all that witty, so I ended up with the title you currently see on the post. Anyways though, continuing the trend (big games against bad defenses…poor games against good ones) that he has followed all season, you can expect big things from Turner this weekend as he takes on an Denver defense that is allowing 5.6 yards per carry. This should turn into a barn burner if all goes according to plan…and expect Turner to be right in the middle of the action. (More …)
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Guest Post: Adrian Peterson: 2nd Half Fantasy Star?
Josh
Editors’ note: The following post was written by a guest blogger, Josh from Pro Football 101.
Coming into the season, the expectations for Adrian Peterson were through the roof. After an extremely impressive rookie season, one in which he broke the NFL rushing record for a game with 296 yards vs. the San Diego Chargers, there was a lot of talk about 2,000 yards in 2008. The reasoning behind this train of thought was that last year, at the midway point, he had already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark and if not for an injury, which threw off his momentum and kept him out for two games, he might have done it then.Fast forward to the midway point of 2008 and it’s a very different story. He’s still one of the elite backs in the game (823 yards, 6 TDs), but circumstances surrounding him have changed and they haven’t necessarily been for the better. (More …)
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Week 9 Weekend Wrap-Up: Halloween hang-over
Brandon
While I wish I could write about something super-exciting that happened this past weekend in the NFL, there just wasn’t a whole lot going on worthy of it. The most interesting thing to happen was probably the Chiefs near-victory over the heavily favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so we’ll start there…
- Tampa Bay 30, Kansas City 27: While the final outcome of this game was pretty predictable (TB beats KC), the score was no where near what we all expected. I’m not sure which stats are more interesting: 1) a non-quarterback for both teams (RB Earnest Graham for the Bucs, WR Mark Bradley for the Chiefs) threw a touchdown pass (with the Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen catching the touchdown from Bradley) or one of the top run defenses in the league let up over 100 yards to a rookie (Jamaal Charles) who plays for the Chiefs. Anyways, in the end it doesn’t matter what the score was, as the Chiefs couldn’t find a way to stop the Jeff Garcia to Antonio Bryant (8 catches for 115 yards and a TD) connection all day long.
- New York Jets 26, Buffalo 17: I’m surprised that the Jets even won this game, considering the play of Brett Favre (201 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT.) Either way though, as a Patriots fan I can’t complain about how bad either of these teams look these days. Honestly, even though they’re the only team in the division without a winning record, the Dolphins are the team that scares me the most to challenge New England for the division crown. (More …)
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Sell High, Buy Low: Trade ideas for Week 9, 2008
Matt
If your team needs some help and you’re looking to make a trade to bolster a position, here’s a list of players to look for and work into those deals this week. Players listed under Sell High are overvalued – meaning that I think they’re performing at a level they won’t be able to maintain throughout the season, and thus are ripe to be traded away while their value is still high. Those listed under Buy Low are the ones to look for on other peoples’ teams – hopefully their owners are discouraged by their poor performance thus far, and will trade them away for a song.Sell High
Bernard Berrian, WR, MIN – He’s had three straight games with 80+ yards and a score – against three of the worst teams in the league at stopping the pass (New Orleans allows the 6th-most passing yards per game, Detroit the 2nd-most, and Chicago the 4th-most). Frerotte-to-Berrian isn’t exactly an unstoppable force, and the minute opposing defenses decide to pay closer attention to Berrian (probably starting about now), this connection’s going to fizzle.
David Garrard, QB, JAC – Poor David Garrard. Just when he finally develops some chemistry with a receiver (Matt Jones), it looks like he’ll probably lose him to suspension fairly soon. While Jones is gone for three weeks (whether it starts this week or next), expect Garrard to revert to his early-season form, when he was averaging well under 200 yards and rarely threw for a score. (More …)
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Ask the Geeks - Week 8
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).Alan asks: Receiving Steve Slaton and Anquan Boldin for Bernard Berrian and Ryan Grant. Yay or nay, fantasy geeks.
Brandon’s take: Alan, at first glance, it appears you would be getting the better of this trade. In terms of fantasy point average per game, right now Steve Slaton (11*) and Anquan Boldin (16.6) are a good deal ahead of Ryan Grant (7.5) and Bernard Berrian (11.6). However, looking at their schedules for the remainder of the season, Grant and Berrian actually have the easier path to the playoffs. Their schedules, coupled with A) the fear that Steve Slaton could hit the infamous “rookie wall”, B) the question of how effective Boldin will be when coming back from his pretty serious injury a couple weeks ago, and C) the fact that Cardinals wide receiver Steve Breaston has played well in relief of Boldin, leads me to recommend you do NOT make the trade. Last season Ryan Grant came on strong towards the middle of the season and I expect the same to happen this year. I also think the Frerotte-to-Berrian connection in Minnesota should hold up for the rest of the season and pay you solid dividends. Good luck…hopefully this helps!
*Points are approximations from one of the leagues that Matt and I are in. (More …)
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Hits and Misses - Week 7: Calling all Titans running backs
Brandon
So it looks like the FFGeekBlog cover curse lives on as Matt Cassel and the Patriots receivers managed to fall flat on their face last weekend against the Chargers. I’m not sure what it is that causes every player I mention in the headline to go out of their way to play terribly, but we’re switching it up a bit in hopes that it doesn’t continue. You’ll notice that the post has been renamed Hits/Misses, instead of Studs/Duds (maybe it was the use of the word “stud” or something), so we’ll continue using this new name and hope that my luck can change.
Anyways, along with the Patriots offense hitting a brick wall last weekend, the revival of the Brownies offense didn’t help my cause. However, I was saved by some big time performances by Thomas Jones (3 TD…not too shabby), Clinton Portis, and the failure of the Panthers running game leading me to a 11-7-3 (hits-misses-pushes) record. This week the Patriots tried to trick me into putting them on the list again as they take on a terrible Broncos defense at home, but as the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, I’m an idiot.” Even as a Patriots fan, there’s no way I can honestly put Cassel on here and expect him to put up stats I’d want anywhere near my fantasy roster. I have a really good feeling though that all my picks this week will be correct, so let’s jump right in, starting with those Tennessee Titans running backs…
Hits
- Chris Johnson (RB) / LenDale White (RB) Titans: Over the course of just five games, the Kansas City Chiefs are allowing an incredible 182 yards per game on the ground, which is even more crazy considering two of the teams they played have little to no running game (Patriots, Broncos). Worried that your running back might not find the end zone? Fear not…they’ve also allowed eight rushing touchdowns already. Chris Johnson and LenDale White are sure bets to go huge as the Titans and the NFL’s only remaining undefeated record head to Arrowhead this weekend. (More …)
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Studs and Duds - Week 6: Cassel ready to break out?
Brandon
After taking a sabbatical during week four, I got back on track last week and didn’t fare too badly with my predictions. Although again my title pick didn’t pan out all that great (the Detroit Lions passing game did NOT rebound after the bye week!), and my pick of Clinton Portis to have a rough go of it against the Eagles did not quite work out, big games from Matt Forte and Michael Turner, along with a weak performance (again!) by the Jacksonville running game led me to a pretty decent record for the week. As usual, I’ll be looking to improve again this week, and who better to lead me there but my boy Matt Cassel of the Patriots. So without further ado, here are your studs and duds for week 6…
Studs
- Matt Cassel, QB, Patriots: After a few weeks of the main “stud” not living up to their billing (Ryan Grant, Lions), I’m hoping Matt Cassel of the New England Patriots is the one to change my fortunes. Cassel gave Patriots fans reason to start believing in his abilities with a 66 yard touchdown bomb to Randy Moss last week against a middle-of-the-road 49er’s pass defense. This week his task should be a bit easier as the Patriots play the worst pass defense in the NFL in the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are allowing 266 yards per game through the air over the first five games of the season and have allowed an average of two touchdowns per game as well. If Cassel can simply get the average, it would be a fairly successful fantasy day. (More …)
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Studs and Duds - Week 2: Ryan Grant ready to roll!
Brandon
After all the dust has settled and the injury count has been tallied (bye bye Brady, Burleson, Alex Smith and for a little while, Colston), it’s time to recount my predictions for the previous weekend and give you a few more for week two of the season. According to my slightly-biased count, I finished last week 13-7-6, which isn’t all that bad I guess. Some of my better picks included Thomas Jones, who re-assumed his spot in fantasy football relevance with a strong showing against the Dolphins and Chris Perry, who did very little with his first chance to shine as the Bengals new starting running back, as expected. On the flip-side, I did miss a few picks, including Ricky Williams, who returned to his role as a deadbeat (in fantasy production that is) against the Jets, while Brandon “The Bruiser” Jacobs taught me (and LaRon Landry) never to doubt him again. Anyways, it’s time for your week two studs and duds, so hopefully I can provide a little insight that can help your team this upcoming weekend…
Studs
Ryan Grant, RB, Packers: Unless Michael Turner is one of the greatest running backs of all time, I see no reason why Grant shouldn’t be able to exploit the same gaping weakness in the Lions defense that the Falcons did when they obliterated (for some reason the word seems like an understatement) them for 318 rushing yards in week one!
LenDale White, RB / Chris Johnson, RB, Titans: If the Ravens, minus an injured Willis McGahee, could pound it out for 229 yards last weekend against the Cincinnati Bungholes, I have to believe a more talented duo can at least do the same. You should expect LenDale White (thunder) and Chris Johnson (lightning) to run the ball non-stop while the quarterback position for the Titans is currently going through somewhat of a a rough patch. (More …)

