Studs

Vincent Jackson, WR, SD – It is nice to see both Jackson and Rivers back with some elite fantasy numbers. Jackson went crazy in this game as the Chargers were throwing a lot to try and keep pace with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.  I never really punished Jackson in my rankings for the poor play of Rivers early on and I do expect the Chargers to turn things around.  Bottom line is the Packers are the best team in the NFL and the Chargers were in that game till the end and that is saying something.

Willis McGahee, RB, DEN – Willis came back very quickly from his hand injury and I was concerned that it might have been too soon. It turns out that it was not too soon at all.  McGahee had a phenomenal game and provided a great balance to the Broncos offense.  This balance forced the Raiders to slow their pass rush on Tebow, which really allowed him to excel in this game too.

Julio Jones, WR, ATL – It finally happened and I can’t really say that I am surprised. Jones’ talent was self-evident and it was only a matter of time before his big play ability led to a huge fantasy performance. Jones is going to be a bit of a hit or miss guy but I think he is a very good flex play. You don’t want him to have these type of games on your bench.

Matt Moore, QB, MIA – What the hell Kansas City? Coming off a three game winning streak, you can’t beat the Dolphins at home? They LOVE to lose and have been finding a way to forfeit games all season.  I was mildly considering the Chiefs as a potential wild card contender despite their injuries but that is dead now. Moore is not a serious option down the stretch as KC’s secondary is not very good without Eric Berry.

Reggie Bush, RB, MIA – We might need to consider Bush for more than a potential flex play.  Daniel Thomas was active in this game and Bush stole the show again.  He was just shy of 100 yards rushing and had a TD.  Once you add the 50 yards receiving, you’ve got a 20 point fantasy outing.  I think Bush has won over the coaching staff, who would probably like to stay employed and I think we can expect 15-20 touches for Bush as long as he stays healthy.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, SEA – This was an impressive outing for Lynch who has been unbelievably inconsistent since he had that 1000 yard rushing season as a Buffalo Bill a while back.  This isn’t a situation like Julio Jones, where you want to start the guy on a weekly basis to avoid missing these performances.  Lynch doesn’t often have even a decent game and I don’t see how he can be trusted unless he gets another solid performance or two over the next couple of weeks.

DeMarco Murray, RB, DAL – I don’t think there will be much of a competition for touches with Felix Jones anymore.  Murray has been great, even when the offense has struggled. I think Murray has earned a feature-back role in this offense and might be one of the best keepers going into next season.

Duds

Chris Ogbonnaya, RB, CLE – He clearly isn’t ready or capable of being a lead back in the NFL.  He might have still be seeing the bulk of the carries on this offense next week against the Rams but if you don’t need him for next week, get rid of him. Hardesty is the guy I expect to take over the starting job when he returns from injury and I think he has a decent shot at being a solid flex play once he does indeed return.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, OAK – This is not a surprise to me. Hey-Bey has speed and can be tough to cover at times.  It is not yet clear if there is a reason why he didn’t get on the field very much after 4 straight games of 8 or more fantasy points but I’ve been steadfast in saying that Jacoby Ford is the best receiver on that team and the guy I want to own.  I’m not excited about starting any of them quite yet but as Palmer improves and gets acclimated to this offense, the value of Ford might rise significantly.

Michael Vick, QB, PHI – This was a very winnable match up for the Eagles who went from being a team I thought would make it into the playoffs as a wild card team, to probably being too far behind to be a factor.  I am not concerned too much about any Eagle’s fantasy value the rest of the way as the schedule looks very favorable and this team is about big plays, which are near impossible to rely on.

Beanie Wells, RB, ARI – It is crazy to me that Wells was shut down by the Rams defense when he has had some good performances against some solid rush defenses this season.  I am going to treat this as an anomaly but I am certainly a little nervous about how bad he was in this game.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI – I think you need to keep starting this guy but he has NOT been a very good player for fantasy owners.  I am done ranking him above Maclin after 0 points this week. But at least as a flex play, you HAVE to keep him in the game.

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Pickups

Torrey Smith, WR, BAL – Smith might have lost the trust of Flacco when he dropped the almost game-winning TD pass late in the game last night. The problem is, there was no one else for Flacco to look to a few plays later.  So Smith managed to make amends and hauled in a TD grab with less than 20 seconds left in the game.  Smith is a big-play threat and has at least three receptions in 5 of the last 6 games.  He will continue to improve and he has to be owned in all leagues.

Roy Helu, RB, WAS – Helu is available in over 80% of leagues as the Redskins offense has been terrible in recent weeks. Tashard Choice joined the Skins to further cloud the workload division for Shanahan but as the season slips away from them, I think it is safe to assume that Washington will look to the young guy and see what he can do.

Jacoby Ford, WR, OAK – I have been pretty steadfast in my evaluation that Ford is the top fantasy receiver in Oakland.  Carson Palmer created some doubt in my mind as each QB will have different levels of chemistry with each receiver but I am convinced again.  Ford is the top fantasy receiver in Oakland and the only one that I would even consider starting. And he is available in over 60% of leagues.

Jake Ballard, TE, NYG – There has only been two games this season where Ballard has been under 5 fantasy points.  Those games were in weeks 2 and 3.  Ballard gets his fair share of targets and makes the most of them. I am going to be considering him a top 10 TE and a weekly starter, regardless of match up.

Antonio Brown, WR, PIT – He has pretty clearly established his role in the Steelers offense. He is available in just over 30% of leagues and you need to go get him if he is out there in yours. No one has been targeted more on the Steelers and I think his value is only going to continue to rise.

Ben Tate, RB, HOU – Tate is only owned in roughly 60% of leagues and should be owned in all of them.  Both Tate and Foster were over 100 yards and while Foster will remain the lead back in the Texans’ offense, Tate is going to maintain value and would be a top 15 guy in the event that Foster missed any time. In the mean time, Tate is a potential flex play in the weeks where both guys are active.

Dump List

Jonathan Baldwin, WR, KC – Just when I thought the Chiefs might turn out to be a competitor despite all their injuries, they lose to the Dolphins and can’t even manage much in the way of offensive production.  Baldwin looked like he might take off and develop into a decent fantasy-receiver. My confidence has been shaken quite a bit and Baldwin was a long-shot to begin with, so cut your losses and get rid of him now.

Ryan Grant, RB, GB – I still expect the Packers to ride the hot hand but we wont be able to see it coming when Grant is going to see the work.  He only saw 4 carries last week and Starks was who they looked to late in the game when they were trying to run the clock and seal the win.

Mike Williams, WR, TB – Williams hasn’t been in double digit fantasy points since week 1 and while he hasn’t really blanked in a game for a few weeks, in shallow leagues you can drop him for an appealing prospect like say… Torrey Smith?

Pierre Garcon, WR, IND – Garcon just isn’t someone that I can trust to start.  He has issues with drops and is on the league’s last winless team. I don’t see him becoming a consistently performing fantasy-option.

Chris Ogbonnaya, RB, CLE – We hoped that he might be able to be decently productive as he was bound to see the lion’s share of the carries.  He didn’t get anything accomplished and if you don’t need a fill-in for next week’s nice match up against the Rams, then feel free to cut him.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, OAK – The Raiders offense is a bit of a mystery with Palmer at QB. As I said above though, Ford is the Raiders receiver that I want to start and Heyward-Bey has too big of a track record of inconsistency for me to trust him easily.

Knowshon Moreno, RB, DEN – Moreno was essentially invisible in this game. McGahee came back early from his hand injury and ran wild in this game. Moreno’s value has officially hit rock bottom and there is no reason left to keep him on your roster that I can see.

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Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG – Inactive

Darren McFadden, RB, OAK - Inactive

Joseph Addai, RB, IND – Active

Daniel Thomas, RB, MIA - Active

Plaxico Burress, WR, NYJ - Active

Kevin Kolb, QB, ARI - Inactive

Jermaine Gresham, TE, CIN – Inactive

Wes Welker, WR, NE – Active

Sam Bradford, QB, STL - Active

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE - Active

Fred Davis, TE, WSH - Active

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Question 1: Asked by @Shaban09

I just picked up D.J Ware.. im bare on RB this week with Mathews out.. who do I start.. Tomlinson or Ware?

Answer

This is a really tough call. Neither options is very good at all but I have to give the nod to Tomlinson. The bottom line here is that we just do not know how the carries will be split for the Giants.  In addition, the Giants will likely be attacking New England vertically in the passing game and the number of carries that there are to go around is very probably going to be low this week.

Question 2: Asked by @Dantvman

I need some trade advice.  I’m in 1st, guy in 3rd is offering me Garcon for Fitzpatrick.

Answer

This seems like a guy trying to sell-high on Garcon. Fitz’s value has dipped as Freddie Jackson has really taken over as the primary focus of the Bills’ offense, but he remains a GREAT backup and I don’t see any reason to give him up for a receiver that you would likely not even use in a Bye-week jam.  Hold tight and reject the trade.  If you don’t want to keep Fitz, shop him around to the rest of the league. I would think you are able to get more for him.

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Jets at Bills

I am lucky enough to be going to this game and there might not be one that has a bigger impact on the playoff picture in week 9. Buffalo currently sits atop the AFC East and would have the #2 seed in the playoffs if the season ended today. Currently, the Jets are on the outside looking in on the playoff race and would have a really steep hill to climb if they lost this game. On offense, the Jets have gotten away from the ground and pound offense that has gotten them to two straight AFC championship games.  Buffalo’s defense has been incredibly opportunistic and currently leads the NFL with 14 interceptions. In order for Sanchez to get the win for his team and get back on track towards their Super Bowl aspirations, it will take a heavy dose of Shonn Greene and the run game. The Bills offense has been very explosive and it all starts with Fred Jackson, who is having an MVP caliber season. The Jets have been weak against the run and Jackson will pick them apart if they turn the ball over or get off to a slow start and force Sanchez to go to the air and play from behind. Unfortunately for Jets fans, that is how I see this game going.  Jackson just always seems to make the big play when it matters the most and the defense is constantly turning the ball over in crucial spots to help them put the game away. Steve Johnson is a flex play despite being on Revis island this week.  Fitzpatrick will look to him when he is in man coverage and should be able to put up OK stats in this game.  He hasn’t been great in recent weeks and I do not think that he will be able to do too much, but I just don’t think he can be benched. You can start all your normal Bills and Jets in this game, but I would avoid Sanchez as usual and expect this game to be largely about the running game.

Giants at Patriots

The Giants have a two game lead on their division and have been getting some incredible performances from both Bradshaw and Manning.  Bradshaw unfortunately is going to miss around a month of time and I am not sure Brandon Jacobs will be able to provide the same balanced offensive attack.  Luckily for them you do not need balance to attack the Patriots secondary, which is ranked dead last in the NFL and is allowing 323 yards per game. Hakeem Nicks is questionable going into this game and his presence would mean the difference in this game being either competitive or a blow out. If he plays it could go either way but without him, I do not know if they will be able to keep pace with Tom Brady. Brandon Jacobs gets a bump in value with Bradshaw out and you should play every Giants wide receiver that you own in this game.  Tom Brady is of course a must-start despite a pretty average performance last week and there are still no Patriots Wide Receivers that I would go out of my way to start.  I am expecting a Patriot victory in this game but if Nicks plays it will be a pretty close and high scoring affair.

Ravens at Steelers

My favorite part of the AFC North is that these two teams meet up twice a year.  There is always some great football to be had when defenses of this caliber meet up and these have been the best two defenses for at least a decade or two. This particular game could get out of hand as the Steelers are surging and the Ravens struggling, but nothing forces you to play your best like a divisional rivalry game that decides who will sit in first place. I would stay away from any flex plays from either team and just focus on your typical starters: Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall, Mike Wallace and Ben Roethlisberger.  Anquan Boldin is typically a very good WR2 option, but I think of him more as a poor flex play this week against this Steelers team that just shut down Brady.  I like Pittsburgh to get a tough win, but the Ravens defense has not been what has struggled as of late so I don’t see it being by any more than 10 points.

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Love

Eli Manning, QB, NYG – After starting the season playing very mediocre football, Manning has really stepped it up in recent weeks and helped the Giants hold on to a 2 game lead on the NFC East despite injuries and mistakes. There might not be a team in the league that relies more on their QB to be successful and against a VERY soft Patriots secondary this week, the stats are almost sure to be there for Manning. The Pats have allowed an average of 19 fantasy points per game to opposing QB’s which is third worst in the NFL.

A.J. Green, WR, CIN – Andy Dalton and the Bengals have won 4 straight and look to continue their winning ways against the Titans this week. Each team is just half a game behind the division leader and will be fighting hard to not give up any more ground. Green has been phenomenal this season as there has been just one game where he has not either scored or been over 100 yards. He earned his spot in the top 10 of my WR rankings this week.

Fred Jackson, RB, NYJ – The Jets have struggled to stop the run this year.  They haven’t allowed a lot of big plays, but opposing teams have had little issue grinding out yards with an interior running game.  There is not a back in the NFL that is hotter than Jackson is and with Revis and company likely to limit opportunities down the field for Fitzmagic, Buffalo will need to rely heavily on Jackson.

Victor Cruz, WR, NYG – I talked about the soft match-up in the Eli section and would not be surprised to see Cruz as the top receiver for the Giants this week.  Cruz is just going to keep getting better with each passing week and his big-play ability is impossible to deny at this point.

Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ – Buffalo is averaging over 30 points per game on offense and has been better at defending against the run this year thanks in large part to Dareus. Rex Ryan and the Jets will NEED to run effectively against the Bills to keep their offense on the sideline. I am confident that Greene will put up some good numbers off the heels of his first 100 yard game since week 7 of his rookie season (2009).

Carson Palmer, QB, OAK – Let’s keep my “Love” of Palmer in perspective. You are not starting him in a standard league unless you are really hurting because of Cam Newton or Matthew Stafford being on bye week.  He isn’t likely to have a huge game here since he is still not in the best of shape and getting acclimated to his new team and offensive scheme. But if you are in a 2 QB league then you can do a LOT worse this week.  Palmer might have McFadden back, which would take a lot of pressure off him and the Broncos are the worst in the NFL at fantasy points allowed to QBs.

Hate

Steve Johnson, WR, BUF – This isn’t all because of Revis Island.  Fitzpatrick WILL look to Johnson when he is in man-coverage with Revis and I could see another game very similar to his past two weeks.  The problem is, he hasn’t been producing lately. He hasn’t hit double digit fantasy points in any of his past 4 games.

Joe Flacco, QB, PIT – The Ravens have really been VERY sloppy recently and the Steelers defense seems to have things turned around. Do you trust Flacco against the team that just shut down Tom Brady from start to finish? I don’t. Not when he was pretty bad against the Cardinals last week.

Ryan Torain, RB, WAS – With Tashard Choice joining the Redskins this week off of waivers, I am staying FAR away from Torain.  Helu is the guy I would play if I had to, but I would do anything you can to just leave all your Redskins on the bench. Apart from Fred Davis.

Antonio Brown, WR, PIT – I am pretty well sold on Brown at this point.  He is a play maker and a good deep threat. My issue with him is only for this week against the Ravens.  I think Ben will have a very tough time staying upright in this game and I don’t see Brown able to get too much done. He remains a very viable flex play in my rankings though as he has been targeted more than Steve Johnson, AJ Green, Greg Jennings, Mike Wallace, Jeremy Maclin and Vincent Jackson this season.

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