I gotta apologize. I've had to attend to the normal going-ons of life over the past few weeks, mostly meaning I have had to turn my attention to things that actually pay me money. However, now that I have a few things settled, I've decided to turn back to my Fantasy Football addiction. Think of me as Robert Downey Jr. with alot less to lose. But I did get some games in yesterday (in a true man-like environment, complete with pizza, wings, and autumn settled candles) and I'm looking forward to sharing my findings. However, as my article length has been an issue with not only my readers, but also my love life, I've decided to keep it to a few relevant notes.
Philly v. San Fran;
LeSean McCoy is officially a top 10 back. He's used in every situation, and while San Fran isn't exactly the Pittsburgh D, he took his cortisone like a man and got the job done AGAIN. He's produced with Vick, he's produced with Kolb, and he's always a big part of the game plan. There's not that many must starts at RB in the league, but he's starting to look like one of them.
The only time the answer is " using in David Carr", is if the question is "How can I kill this drive by having my QB sacked twice and then overthrow an outside curl route?" If he starts week 6, feel free to cut the majority of your 49rs, and trade Gore. That said, I don't think he will. The next 3 weeks are Oakland, Carolina, and Denver. You can run on all 3, and I expect San Fran to do just that. I love the Niners new play calling. Not only do I think that Smith will keep the job......I think going forward he'll be a solid fantasy play.
Speaking of SF fantasy players.......I love the new play calling. It looks like the right thing is finally getting done by putting Crabtree in the Flanker spot, and moving Morgan back to split end. That gives Crabtree more flexibility to make plays. Buy now on Crabtree, Davis, Gore, and you should find Smith on the waiver wire.
Jerry Maclin is the new DeSean Jackson. At least while Kolb is under center. Even when Vick comes back, he probably has more week in- week out value as teams double up on Jackson.
Tennessee v. Dallas;
I figured out the problem with Dallas......it's my Romo Jersey. When I've worn my Romo jersey, the 'Boys have lost. When I wasn't wearing it in week 3 (I had plans immediately following the game) they won. When the Cowboys were down 17-3 yesterday, I took the jersey off, and a comeback ensued. Apparently while I'm wearing it, the Cowboys take on my tendencies for big risk taking, poor judgment, and sloppy play. On the upside, I've apparently vicariously banged Jessica Simpson.....when she was thin.
Hey....Felix Jones, nice to see you. Glad you can finally make it. Then again, after every running back not named Maroney has had similar success.........start all RB's you have against Tennessee. Except...you know...Maroney.
Roy Williams is for real. His hands aren't great, but his route running seems to have improved, and he looks to be on the same page as Romo. He's not an automatic start, but as long as the Cowboys need to chuck the ball 30 times in the second half every week, he's a nice guy to have on your team.
Kenny Britt will now start demanding some attention when the Titans actually throw. That translates into more consistency for Nate Washington.
Marion Barber has just become irrelevant for Fantasy purposes.
SD v. Raiders;
Mike Bush just made for a cloudy situation....but I don't think Oakland will push McFadden at this point. I like Bush to be grinding out games...but when will Oakland ever have a lead?
Never play the starting Oakland QB. Always play the backup.
Louis Murphy has quietly become a viable fantasy starter.
In a week where both Mathews and Tolbert were supposed to shine, neither had a huge impact. The bulk of the work went to Tolbert. That said, he wasn't very effective. In the long run....this may actually be a good thing. Mathews was sure to flame out in the last 3 weeks like every other rookie RB ever, so this helps save his legs a little for the end of the season. Congratulations Mathews owners....you can now get 70 yards a week out of your top 15 investment all season. He may actually get 5 more TD's over the next 11 games to top it all off.
Zach Miller is starting to become the option we new he would be. He's a solid start for the rest of the season, and about to make the transition from matchup play to must start.
Jags v. Buffallo
Trade MJD. Now. He's never going to get a full rest, so he'll be putting up mediocre numbers all season. There's plenty of owners that will still pay close to top dollar for him, so move him now before that "close to" becomes "far from."
Take a deep breath before bidding heavy on Steve Johnson. That said.......he's really showing how overrated Lee Evans is.
Fred Jackson is looking might tasty........but the guy you want to trade for is Spiller. This week it was a 12/5 ratio in carries. Next week it will be 18/10. Then by week 10.....14/14. Then.....by the playoffs....we can start to use the phrase "it's Spiller time." Get it? Instead of Miller time? That will be awesome.
They let Karim run...but never threw to him. The Jags aren't a big fan of throwing to Jennings either when healthy. This is why you want Mike Thomas......if MJD goes down, he may see the largest benefit of getting more targets.
TB v. Cincy
Palmer is not running that huddle. It's a time share of OchoCinco and Owens. Question...how much longer is OchoCinco going to let Owens get all the targets before he starts demanding more attention from his QB? And how will that end?
Shipley is not being used as Palmer is looking towards a single covered Owens and a talented Gresham. However, as teams start using more zones to cover Owens and OchoCinco, Shipley will be waiting their with his flypaper hands to keep moving the chain.
Mike Williams is awesome. Told ya.
Good luck with the Tampa Backfield. I've cut all members from all of my leagues. Even Cadillac. Noone has enough talent to overcome that kind of time share.
You can say the same for Stroughter, Spurlock, and Benn. Tampa is rotating offensive players in and out, and.....it looks like an effective strategy. That means Williams on the outside, and the rest of the team using fresh legs to outrun coverage in the middle. The only person that's good news for.......Freeman.
Atlanta v. Cleveland
C'mon Turner. Seriously......here's what I can say about Mike Turner: He's not going to average over 7 yards a carry in very many games. Snelling is going to be a part of this offense for awhile. Not a huge part...but enough to devalue Turner. It's nice that he got 140 yards, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he still has one rushing TD in 5 games.
Who is Matt Ryan? Here's who I think he is.......not a premier talent, but still a winner. I just think he's a guy that plays to his level of competition. What that means is that just when it looks like he has a good matchup, you still can't trust him with the start.
Hillis did most of his damage in the air. The point is though...he still did damage. Against a very good defense. He's a week-in, week-out starter now.
There is no hope for the Cleveland passing game. Please....please....stop playing Massoquoi. Yeah...every few weeks he'll put up some numbers, but a guy like Louis Murphy will have a few huge games as well, and has a much more fantasy friendly floor.
St. Louis, Detroit;
The loss of Mark Clayton hurts everyone......everyone.......in St. Louis. Danny Amendola seems like a nice guy, and he has great hands and quickness, but he's not going to be drawing coverage away from S. Jackson like Clayton was starting to. Don't expect Laurent to suddenly step up either. The one guy that may benefit is the lightning quick, sure handed rookie Mardy Gilyard. But unless he comes in soon, the Sam Bradford hype may be over. If you need a QB that bad for a bye week....Freeman may still be available.
While we're on Clayton........how does a guy with no career track record study a playbook for 6 days and become a solid number receiver after 6 years in the NFL? Seriously? Was it the Baltimore way of doing things? Is he just that much of a late bloomer? Is it a piling up of injuries over his career? It's probably a combination of all of that....but that said......if Demetrius Williams suddenly shows up in a starting lineup, I''m buying.
Even though they put up 44 points....no real standouts for Detroit. Except of course Shaun Hill. Matt Stafford is currently standing in a store in China town speaking to a Holistic Healer, and trying to figure out if the cream he's considering buying will pass a steroid test. There has been no controversy because Detroit's still been losing despite Hill's solid play. But if the Lions can manage to down the Giants in week 6....and there's several reasons that I think they can do it....there's going to be some big decisions to be made as they go into their bye week.
Indy v. KC
Look.....here's the thing.......Mike Hart normally really does produce when given the chance. He just never gets a chance because of his pass blocking. KC's run defense is no push over. He got the same amount of yards as Addai did with less carries. I don't care who's coming back from injury next week, he may have pushed himself into the mix a little.
This is the last time I'll say this........Maoeki is for real.
KC didn't really give us anything new to talk about. Charles is actually the man unless they need to grind it out. Bowe is a matchup guy when he has smaller defenders guarding him. Blah blah blah. But despite doing everything they could to lose that game....they didn't get blown out. That Defense is that good, and you need to start respecting it.
