Love and Hate Lists for Week 17

Love

Matt Schaub, QB, HOU – With Garrard already listed as out on the injury report for the Jaguars, the Texans are heavy favorites to win this game.  The weakness of the Jags defense is in their secondary.  All season long I have written that the CBs of the Jags have not been able to cover opposing wide receivers with any consistency.  If the Texans have Andre Johnson back and healthy, Schaub should be in for a big game to close out the 2010 season.

Steven Jackson, RB, STL – Last week the Buccaneers had a big second half on the ground against the Seahawks.  There was plenty of success to be had through the air as well, but the Rams are less likely to be as aggressive with a rookie QB on the road.  I expect St. Louis to feature SJax heavily this week and he is among the most consistent performing fantasy running backs in the NFL.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI – DJax is a streaky and inconsistent player.  He has HUGE potential going into any given week, but also has a decent chance to flop and get you nothing.  To me, with a player like this (and I owned him last year on my championship team) you HAVE to start them on a weekly basis.  Trying to guess which weeks he will blow up  is a recipe for disaster. After making it through a slow outing last week, can you afford to miss out on his big game next week?

Jamaal Charles, RB, KC – Charles is by far the most productive back in the league’s top ranked rushing offense.  It is a two back system where he shares work with Thomas Jones, but yet he has been a staple inside the top 10 of my RB rankings all season.  This is due to a dynamic play making ability as well as his threat to catch the ball out of the back field.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL – McGee did enough at QB in relief of Jon Kitna last week to keep me confident in Miles Austin’s production.  There has been no declaration from the Eagles about how much time their starters will see but with Andy Reid hinting that he will be benching some starters, Asante Samuel is not likely to play all four quarters.  Look for Austin to put up some good numbers this week even if it is in junk time.

Ryan Mathews, RB, SD – With Tolbert leaving the field on an ugly injury last week, Mathews should be the feature back for the Chargers against the 31st ranked rush defense.  This past week he was able to move the ball effectively and should be a quality RB2 for you in your last fantasy match up of the 2010 season.

Hate

Vincent Jackson, WR, SD – With the Chargers being knocked out of the playoff race, I have concerns that we will not see their best game this week.  Philip Rivers knows only one way to play and that is at an elite level and Ryan Mathews has something to prove.  VJax on the other hand has proven to be a bit selfish by holding out and is the one player that I fear will not give 100%.  He still ranks as a WR2, but lower your expectations.

Joseph Addai, RB, IND – Now that he is back in the lineup, he will be receiving more work with each passing week since the Colts will not trust their younger talent with the entire season on the line.  Dominic Rhodes has been picking up the slack in the mean time and you should expect him to carry the load late in the game if the Colts get ahead.  Addai may very well have a good game this week, but the threat to lose goal line carries and a good potion of the carries is too great to think of him as anything more than a mediocre flex play.

Jahvid Best, RB, DET – It was nice to see this young, exciting player able to make a splash again.  It was however, not enough to trust him in your championship match up! He is the best RB in Detroit for fantasy-purposes, but still should only be used in very deep formats.

Michael Crabtree, WR, SF – With a new head coach installed for just this Week 17 match up, I would stay far away from any 49ers not named Vernon Davis.  The 9ers are not unfamiliar with changes happening in the coaching staff, but this is largely why Crabtree was not a more consistent option for his fantasy owners throughout the season.

Jermaine Gresham, TE, CIN – The Bengals offense looked very good last week, but with the Ravens as opponents in Week 17 there is little reason to expect this rookie to have a big game.  Baltimore is only allowing an average of 4.9 fantasy points per week to the opposing tight end.