Squish (268)
E-roc (127)
Shirley (66)
Jeff (53)
Tommy (53)
Mal (51)
Ken (44)
Amir (40)
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: steve smith RSS
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Hits & Misses - Week 16: CHAMPIONSHIP TIME!
Brandon
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Hits & Misses - Week 13: Win or Go Home
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week thirteen, 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 the playoffs right around the corner, you most likely need a win badly this week to clinch that first round BYE (or to even get a playoff spot!) Hopefully our list this week can help you get over the hump and into your league’s tournament, where you will surely bring home the bacon because you frequent such an awesome and knowledgeable fantasy football website! Alright, enough tooting of our own horn, let’s get to the hits and misses for this week and GOOD LUCK!
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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! -
Brandon
Does anyone else out there hate these Thursday night football games? I have Panthers receiver Steve Smith in one of my leagues and all I can picture happening is that he has a lousy game tonight and I depress about it for the next three days. However, with Steelers rookie receiver Mike Wallace as my only other option, it appears that I’m going to have to stick with Smith and hope for the best. Of course, if he does well I’ll have a nice head-start going into Sunday’s games, but I’d still prefer all my players play on Sunday (or Monday)…not Thursday.
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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 …)
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Hits & Misses - Week 6: Brady Back in Business
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week six, 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!) Normally I would leave off the most obvious picks, such as Tom Brady against the Titans. However, the Patriots passing game hasn’t lived up to it’s billing so far this year and there are managers who are probably considering benching this week, so I’ve included him as a reminder to get him in your line-ups! Anyways, here we go with the hits and misses for the week… (More …)
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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 …)
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The Wire - Week 3: Plaxico who?
Brandon
Here’s our waiver wire recommendations for week two, starting with a pair of receivers who seemed to have solved the questions the Giants had at the position. As I mentioned last week, The Wire is organized into four categories: Get ‘em in there, Pick up and hold, Stopgaps, and Pretenders. “Get ‘em in there” are the players worth of a start right away, while “Stopgaps” are the players who will get you through a short-term injury or bye week. “Pick up and hold” is just what is sounds like and “Pretenders” are those players who might have had one good week and immediately picked up in every Yahoo Public league out there…don’t waste a roster spot and waiver claim on them. This week I’ve added the Yahoo! ownership rank (in parenthesis) for each player so you know which guys have a better chance of being available in your league. Anyways, here we go…
Get ‘em in there
- Mario Manningham, WR, Giants (58%) – He’s rocketed up from being a “Pretender” to having me believe he and Smith will be the Giants top receivers this season.
- Steve Smith, WR, Giants (70%) – Looks like he’s become Plaxico Burress’ replacement and should be Eli’s top target all year.
- Correll Buckhalter, RB, Broncos (48%) – As long as he stays healthy, it looks like Buckhalter is the man in Denver. He’s worth starting as a borderline RB2 or flex play based on the match-up.
- Brent Celek, TE, Eagles (49%) – Celek showed some skills last season and it has apparently carried over, as he’s now put up solid numbers in two straight weeks. If you’re not getting production out of your current tight end, give Celek a try.
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Top Five WR and TE for Week 2, 2009
Matt
Here’s the second half of my top-five series for this week – the first half was on the QB and RB positions. Normally it would all be one post, but it’s hard to predict when I’ll have free time to write a post with this two-month-old around. Parenthood – you gotta get you some of this!
Wide Receiver
- Andre Johnson (@TEN): Call his week 1 performance (4 catches, 35 yards, no scores) what you will – a blip, early-season rust – just don’t call it a sign of things to come for Andre Johnson and the potent Texans offense. The Titans gave up a whopping 363 yards through the air last week to the Steelers, and Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward both hit the 100-yard mark. With Kevin Walter back in the lineup, the Texans are back in their comfort zone and ready to pounce.
- Steve Smith (@ATL): The Eagles utterly shut the Panthers down in week 1, intercepting three of the 13 passes thrown Smith’s way. If he’s targeted 13 times again this week, he’s in for a monster game in Atlanta. An angry Steve Smith is a dangerous Steve Smith. Let’s just hope he doesn’t punch anybody. Again.
- Calvin Johnson (vs. MIN): The Vikings offense is a force of nature and its run defense is arguably the stoutest in the league. The only way to stay in the game against them (not that the Lions have a snowball’s chance in hell) is to pass the ball, so pass it they will, and Johnson will probably more or less singlehandedly make the score at least somewhat respectable.
- Randy Moss (@ NYJ): Are the Jets really that good? They sure looked it last week, but if I had to bet their track record against that of the Brady-Moss connection, I’ll take the one that set all those records not long ago.
- Larry Fitzgerald (@ JAC): With Boldin’s hammy better but still not quite healed, the Cards offense should start slowly rounding into shape this week. Until Boldin and Breaston are back to full health, though, defenses will still be able to key on Fitz like they did last week. I can’t list him any higher than #5, but there’s also no way he doesn’t get a spot on this list.
(More …)
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Brandon
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head based on the performance of my fantasy teams (and those that were against me)…
- Drew Brees is ridiculous. This was one of those match-ups that seemed too good (or bad, if you were playing against him like I was) to be true, but in the end somehow Brees played even better than expected and pretty much won the week for a team that had him playing.
- With Pierre Thomas out, Reggie Bush ran the ball just seven times. What?
- After his awful first half performance, Jay Cutler looked 200% better in the second half (besides that last interception!) I was regretting having drafted him for most of the game, but I was able to sleep a bit better after he at least threw one touchdown pass.
- Devin Hester and Earl Bennett should have solid seasons with Cutler…but what happened to Greg Olsen?!
- Felix Jones underwhelmed in the first game of the season.
- Carson Palmer couldn’t throw a touchdown pass against the Broncos?
- Is Julius Jones that good? Or is St. Louis that bad?
- Jake Delhomme is making my Steve Smith draft pick look pretty scary right now.
- While the Jets defense looks solid, the Eagles defense went crazy. (In one of my leagues, my opponent had Philly DEF, Drew Brees and Julius Jones. I lost.)
- Randy Moss needs to go HUGE tonight so the Patriots can beat T.O. and the Bills…and I can pull off the win in my other league!
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Matt
Just a few links for your Friday enjoyment…
- If you’re looking for fantasy football advice, there might be nobody better to get it from than the one guy who’s ever become a millionaire from playing it.
- Has the NFL truly become “considerably less dysfunctional” since Roger Goodell took the reins?
- Breaking: Steve Smith is back on the practice field. He was wearing a sling just three days ago, and was considered likely to miss some if not all of the preseason, so this is something of a surprise.
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Matt
WRs are dropping like flies today… Steve Smith was carted off the field with a shoulder injury, and Antonio Bryant will miss the entire preseason to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
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Wide Receiver rankings for 2009
Brandon
Here is our wide receiver cheat sheet for this season:
- Randy Moss, NE – With Brady back, expect mucho touchdowns again
- Andre Johnson, HOU – He’s a reception machine and racks up the yards as well.
- Larry Fitzgerald, ARI – The age of his quarterback scares me a bit, but Fitz is a monster and would probably produce even with Matt Leinart in the lineup
- Calvin Johnson, DET – The team HAS to do better this year and Megatron should see a boost in his stats
- Steve Smith, CAR – Injury scare seems to have passed.
- Reggie Wayne, IND – Should be one of the more consistent options on this list.
- Roddy White, ATL – He got his money over the weekend and immediately made an impact in the first preseason game. Any scare about White missing practices can be erased now.
- Greg Jennings, GB – He’ll be Rodgers top target all season long.
- Anquan Boldin, ARI – Saying all the right things and claims to be focused on helping the team win…not on getting more money.
- Terrell Owens, BUF – DOWNGRADE! As much as I think he would put up great numbers if healthy all year, I’m wondering if he’ll be able to stay on the field, as he’s already missing practices with a “bum toe.”
- Dwayne Bowe, KC – After being demoted to third string recently for attitude/weight issues, he had a huge preseason game and there’s no reason to move him down at this point.
- Marques Colston, NO – In this high-flying, pass-friendly offense, Colston should see the most passes.
- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, SEA – UPGRADE! Braylon Edwards and Brandon Marshall just keep making the guys right below them on the list look a whole lot more appealing!
- Chad Ochocinco, CIN – UPGRADE! He’s healthy this year and Housh is gone. I’m optimistic he can make the best out of the situation. Apparently he can even kick extra points!
- Wes Welker, NE – Last time Brady was at QB, Welker was a Pro Bowler with eight TD’s and almost 1,200 yards.
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2008 Fantasy Football Playoffs MVPs
Brandon
This season has been one of my best years ever in terms of fantasy football, as I made the championship in three seperate leagues, while playing in the third place game in two others. For that reason, I figured it made sense to create an All Fantasy Football Playoffs MVP team, highlighting the players that either caused me joy or pain over the past few weeks. Interestingly enough, only one of these players even made the Pro Bowl (Wes Welker…as a reserve). Anyways, let’s jump into the MVP awards for the 2008 playoffs…
Quarterback
Philip Rivers, SD: Rivers was the top quarterback in the league nearly the entire season, so it’s fitting that he would continue his fantasy football dominance of the position through the playoffs. This past Sunday, when some of you may have been playing in the Championship game of your league, Rivers threw for nearly 290 yards and four touchdowns, probably carrying more than one team out there to a league title. Let’s also mention that he’s thrown a combined nine touchdowns over the past three weeks, while averaging around 280 passing yards or so.
Honorable Mention: Matt Cassel, NE (More …)
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Hits and Misses - Week 15: Time for an encore
Brandon
In most of my leagues, week 15 means we’re two games away from a 2008 fantasy football championship, so the hits and misses this week are magnified dramatically. In some twist of fate, neither of my best fantasy teams were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs this year, meaning I’m right there with you in using my own advice to get to the next round.
In terms of the action this weekend, it’s not usually my style to piggy back on a player (or players) who had a great game last week, but this weekend when Carolina hosts the Broncos, it’s too good to pass up. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart had a game for the ages in week 14 and while I don’t expect an exact repeat performance, something close would be nice! Anyways, let’s jump into the hits and misses for the week, starting with the Panthers two-headed monster…
Hits
- DeAngelo Williams / Jonathan Stewart, RB, Panthers (vs DEN): The new heirs to the Smash & Dash nickname played out of this world last week, with both Williams and Stewart breaking the century mark and scoring two touchdowns each against a Tampa Bay defense that had only allowed one rushing touchdown all season! While I don’t expect a repeat of those touchdown numbers this weekend, even against a worse defense, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them run for 100 yards and a score each against a Broncos team that is giving up nearly five yards per carry and almost 140 rushing yards per game (and that includes some teams that are MUCH worse at running the ball than the Panthers.) I also need to mention that I recommended to a couple people that they start Jonathan Stewart over Pierre Thomas this week…so let’s hope steps it up and makes me look smart! (More …)
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Week 14 Wrap-Up: Reggie Bush is back
Brandon
With the playoffs in action in many of the fantasy leagues out there, let’s just jump into the action that took place this weekend, starting with the Saints and their resurgent ground game…
- New Orleans 29, Atlanta 25: This is supposed to be the year that the Falcons win the division (after ending up in last place last season), but with a loss to the Saints, they now find themselves in third place and will be two games behind whoever wins tonight’s game between the Panthers and Buccaneers. For Atlanta, Roddy White put up another big effort with 10 receptions for 164 yards, but it wasn’t enough to counter the Saints dominant passing rushing game (?) Pierre Thomas broke the century mark and scored two touchdowns, while Reggie Bush (106 combined yards, TD) seems to be back in action, which can only mean good things for the Saints. (More …)
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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 …) -
Week 13 Wrap-up: Do we have to watch the Lions?
Brandon
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! If you were wishing that the football games would give you reason to ignore your family members and sit on the couch all afternoon, you were probably a bit disappointed with what transpired this past Thursday. In my opinion, this had to be one of the worst weekends of football in a long time, as eight of the fifteen games were near-blowouts, seven were missing a 30 point effort from either of the contestants, and three games featured teams whose leading rusher was either their quarterback or Jacob Hester (who needed one attempt to best LT!) Anyways, it was one of the most important weeks of football from a fantasy perspective, so let’s hope that the right guys had big days for your team, starting with the action from Turkey Day…
- Tennessee 47, Detroit 10 (Thursday): Is it time to remove Detroit from the Thanksgiving Day football schedule? After another pathetic performance from a team trying its hardest to go 0-16, do they really deserve a national audience every Turkey Day? Either way, the Titans got back to what got them to 10-0 a few weeks ago…the running game, as both Chris Johnson (125 yards, 2 TD) and LenDale White (106 yards, 2 TD) had a field day against the Lions. (More …)
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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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Ask the Geeks - Week 9
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).Scott asks: I have been offered Jay Cutler for Steve Smith. I am allowed to play 2 QB’s in my league. One of them can fill the open offensive position. My current WR’s are Smith, A. Johnson, Holt, A. Bryant, S. Holmes. My QB’s are Rivers and Russel. RB’s are L. White, Slaton, Fargas, J.Stewart. Right now I’ve been alternating between Stewart and Russel in the OP position. Do you think I should make this trade knowing that QB’s predominantly score more or am I losing too much of a stronghold on my WRs?
Brandon’s take: Scott, I was curious how many wide receivers you start in your league (not counting the OP position)? If you only start two, then I would definitely go for this trade. Jay Cutler is a HUGE improvement over JaMarcus Russel and he’s a guy you could leave in the OP position for the rest of the season. In that case, Andre Johnson and one of your other receivers should suffice to hold down the WR position. Even if you start three wide receivers, due to the fact that you get more points from quarterbacks than other positions, I’m still leaning towards you making the deal. Cutler should return from the bye week with his finger back in working condition and he should resume his regular destruction of opposing defenses. Steve Smith will continue to get tons of looks from Jake Delhomme, but in math terms:
(Jay Cutler – JaMarcus Russell) > (Steve Smith – Torry Holt)
Matt’s take: *shakes fist at Brandon for making him do math* I’d make the trade. I count no fewer than five weak secondaries on the Broncos’ upcoming schedule, which means the fearsome Cutler-to-Marshall machine will have lots of opportunities to do some serious damage. Especially in a two-QB league, a guy like Cutler is a game-changer who can singlehandedly win your matchup for you any given week. Can you say the same thing about Steve Smith?
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