Pickups

Kevin Smith, RB, DET – Smith is the one of the biggest surprises of the week as he tallied the most fantasy points of anyone in the NFL on Sunday and yet no one had him started on their team. This obviously makes him very likely to be a hot pick up and with the Jahvid Best injury situation so up in the air, I see no reason why this guy shouldn’t be owned in every league.

Santana Moss, WR, WAS – Even though the Redskins are in shambles, Moss is a very good playmaker that creates bad match ups lined up as the slot receiver.  Shanahan has been pretty good at utilizing him when he was healthy and while the team will likely continue to struggle, Moss should mean good things for their offensive production. He was playing like a WR2 or really good flex-play before his injury.

Toby Gerhart, RB, MINN – Peterson said that he was hoping to be out there next week but he won’t be if he has a high-ankle sprain.  We need to hear the results of today’s MRI to know for sure but if you own Peterson, you can NOT afford to let someone else pick up Gerhart.

Chris Ogbonnaya, RB, CLE – This game was probably the best performance that a running back has had in Cleveland all season.  I still like Hardesty more but until he comes back and plays better than Ogbonnaya, I would rather own Ogbonnaya.

Carson Palmer, QB, OAK – It sure looks like Oakland is a playoff team and they aren’t likely to have their playoff seeding locked up before week 17.  They will only get better when McFadden comes back and Palmer will only get more acclimated to his new surroundings.  I wouldn’t say the sky is the limit but Palmer might just be a top 10 fantasy QB  again the rest of the way. Don’t let him continue to sit on free agency.

CJ Spiller, RB, BUF – Of the big-time injuries that happened to RBs this week, Jackson’s is the one that concerns me the least. Buffalo is reeling from their absurd list of injuries that occurred in this game and they had more than their fair share prior to this week. There are no amount of injuries that justify this performance against the Dolphins but if Jackson does miss a game, which could easily happen, Spiller will be the feature back and is worth a pick up if your throwing a Hail Mary trying to make the playoffs.

Joe McKnight, RB, NYJ – It looks like Greene and LT are both going to be back for the upcoming game against the Bills on Sunday.  If your in a deep league or have an open roster spot, you might want to look at McKnight.  The match-up is great and he ran the ball very well last week.  He may end up being the starting RB for the Jets before long.

Dump List

Maurice Morris, RB, DET – The emergence of Kevin Smith AND the chance that Jahvid Best comes back soon kills Morris’ value. Drop him in all leagues.

Michael Jenkins, WR, MIN – This group of receivers are un-ownable except for Harvin.  His value comes from his versatility and ability to score on a hand off, reception OR kick return. Ponder might be playing solid football but he isn’t a miracle worker and can’t keep Jenkins relevant to fantasy-owners.

Roy Helu, RB, WAS – With Torain appearing to be the starter, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Helu started next week, I am ok with Dropping Helu if you need to fill another spot on your roster. The unpredictability is maddening and I don’t think you can trust any Redskins RB to start at the moment anyways.

Vincent Brown, WR, SD – With Rivers playing so poorly and the offense as a whole struggling as a result, feel free to drop Brown already.  There aren’t many weeks left and with Floyd coming back soon, I don’t think Brown can make me trust him enough to be worth a start in the playoffs.

Ryan Grant, RB, GB – Ok, so we know for sure that the Packers are just going to go to the air against everyone and when they do try and run, it will be with Starks.  There is no reason to own Grant anymore.  His value would remain pretty low even if Starks was placed on IR tomorrow.

Jason Hill, WR, JAC – Hill has been the receiver you want to own this season in Jacksonville but Gabbert hasn’t been able to gel with this offense so far this season and I just can’t imagine holding on to Hill or Mike Thomas in a standard league.  Gabbert was particularly bad this week and I would just cut your loses and get someone else to ride your bench if your still holding one of these guys.

Ryan Torain, RB, WAS – If I had to pick a Redskins back to own, it would be Torain. I would assume if you are that desperate for an RB, its a rough season.  If he is just going to sit on your bench, drop him. There is a handcuff that would be better out there anyways.

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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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Love

Drew Brees, QB, NO - Madden curse be damned… Brees finally looked like the elite QB you drafted when they came off their week 10 bye and beat up on a weak opponent in the dome.  This week, the Saints play the rebounding Cowboys in Dallas and are heavy favorites.  The Cowboy secondary is young, inexperienced and while they have been playing well… we are talking about the Super Bowl champions.

Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN - With how much the Vikings offense has struggled lately and the new head coach being charged with the responsibility of trying to provide a stability to the team, it appears as if we can expect a heavy dose of the league’s best running back… Adrian Peterson.  More recently, Favre has suggested simplifying the play book to help the Vikings get back to fundamentals and playing sound, error-proof football.  All of these signs point to Peterson carrying the load for the rest of the season.

Calvin Johnson, WR, DET - Many of the elite WRs from draft day have under-performed.  Megatron is not one of them.  The Patriots allow over 25 points per game to the WR position and Johnson has been a beast in the red zone this season.  He remains a must-start, regardless of the QB situation… especially against the young and inexperienced Patriots secondary.

Tom Brady, QB, NE – The Patriots’ signal caller is an elite fantasy QB, he doesn’t care who his receivers are and his owners shouldn’t care about bad match-ups when starting him.  After a big game against the Steelers two weeks ago, you can’t get caught with him out of your lineup against the Lions.

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, PIT - Even though Mendenhall has only managed to top 90 yards ONCE since the return of Big Ben, you start your running backs against the Bills.  Buffalo, despite their success recently, is 32nd against the run.

Mario Manningham, WR, NYG – With the news that both Smith and Nicks will be out this week and Nicks for longer than that… Manningham is about to have a HUGE second half of the season.  The Giants have fumbling issues and are going to need to give Brandon Jacobs more carries.  Since this is not a recipe for success in my book, the emphasis will be placed on the passing game for their week 12 match-up against the surging Jaguars.

Heath Miller, TE, PIT – Much like you start your running backs against the Bills, you start your tight ends against them as well. With all the injuries to top-end TEs this season, many fantasy owners have to turn to the waiver wire on a weekly basis to try and rotate out people with good matchups.  The Bills have allowed the most touch downs to opposing TEs (8) and playing the top guy that faces them each week is a pretty solid strategy.

Hate

Fred Jackson, RB, BUF – He has been huge for fantasy owners that held him on their bench for the first half of the season and I like him down the stretch.  Not this week however!  The Steelers have not allowed a 75 yard rusher this season and I do not expect that to change against a team that lost 8 straight games to start the season.  Production in the passing game is his only chance at a decent game, but the blitzing scheme of the Steelers should beat the shaky o-line of the Bills.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN - I feel like he has made this list a lot this year, but with the Jets as his opponent… he deserves to be here again.  A team that can’t hold a 21 point lead against the Bills is not likely to have a strong outing against an elite defense.  We don’t know which receiver will be on Revis island for this game, so stay away from ALL Bengals wherever possible this week.

Matt Ryan, QB, ATL – Even though Ryan is typically a stud at home, the Packers defense is playing great lately. Clay Matthews is likely to be the defensive player of the year for the 2010 season and should limit the production of Ryan and the Falcons offense.  Lower expectations for everyone, but start your studs in Michael Turner and Roddy White.  Ryan is not a stud, so look elsewhere if you have a decent option to replace him.

Donald Brown, RB, IND – The Chargers come to town this week and have played some inspired defense so far this season.  Brown has yet to have a break out performance and the chances that we see that in this game is very slim.  Look elsewhere unless you are desperate.

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Love

Tom Brady, QB, NE - The Patriots have quietly been the best team in the NFL so far this season.  As the only team to only lose one game thus far this season, it is hard not to view them as a Super Bowl favorite.  For fantasy owners, this week is a dream come true with the match up against the Browns.  Look for Brady to have a nice game as well as the Law Firm. As far as who will be CATCHING the balls Brady is throwing… who knows.

Michael Turner, RB, ATL - Turner has been a stud for fantasy owners.  There are not many backs left in the NFL that get the number of carries that Turner does and since they are going against the league’s 30th ranked run defense a hundred yards is seemingly guaranteed.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, NYG – With the status of Matt Hasselbeck still unknown and how thoroughly the Raiders decimated the Seahawks, it is hard to fall in love with this season’s breakout receiver.  Nicks has vaulted past Steve Smith to be the goto target for Eli and the Giants passing attack.

Eli Manning, QB, NYG - The Seahawks have an easy schedule this year being part of the NFL’s least competitive division, the NFC West.  The fact that they are ranked 29th against the pass with this easy schedule is a bit misleading… Manning should be in for a 300 yard performance with a couple of TD passes.

Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN - The Vikings offense with Randy Moss was able to stretch the field and pass the ball effectively with Percy Harvin not drawing so many double teams.  Now that they are without Moss again and Favre’s injuries are stacking up, the obvious strategy for Childress and the Vikings offense is a heavy dose of Peterson.  Given that the Cardinals are allowing an average of 143 yards per game it should be a good week for AP’s fantasy owners.

Matt Forte, RB, CHI - This will be interesting to see how this game plays out.  Against the Bills, the smart choice is to run the ball as often as possible, but that really does not fit into the Mike Martz scheme.  Forte has made some BIG plays to help the Bears struggling offense and with the Bills being so bad against the run it is likely that we see a couple big runs this week too.

Greg Jennings, WR, GB - After David Garrard threw four TD passes against the Cowboys secondary last week, it is hard not to love Aaron Rodgers in this match up.  With Driver being hampered by a bad hamstring and shut out for two weeks straight, Jennings is the only trusted target that Rodgers has left.

Hate

Chad Ochocinco, WR, CIN – Conventional wisdom says that 85 is a better fantasy option than TO, but past performance this season says otherwise. I am done sticking to my guns on Ochocinco and while this will likely change before long… start TO and bench Ochocinco for this week.

Jahvid Best, RB, DET – It may have taken fellow Lions RB Kevin Smith a LONG time to fully recover from last season’s knee injury… now that he is back and Best has been under-performing since week 2 the carries are being split.  Until Best shows some flashes of the play making ability he demonstrated at the start of the season, feel free to bench him (though given the bye weeks that will be tough).

Matt Schaub, QB, HOU – Being one of the weeks with six teams on a bye, you aren’t likely to have a better option than Schaub… but he sure has been disappointing to the fantasy owners that drafted him.  Going against the league’s best defense (statistically) means we’ll have to lower our already-low expectations.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN - I am on record as hating Palmer for a while now.  His play has declined over the years and the only reason his is own-able still is due to the fact that the Bengals refuse to run as often as they did last year.  But, given their tough Monday night match up against the Steelers in week 9, I doubt you need much convincing to sit him.

Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC - The two big games that Bowe had, came with great match-ups and while I spent most of last week trying to convince people that the Bills are not a good match up for your QBs and WRs… it isn’t a bad match-up either.  Last week Bowe only caught three passes for 16 yards and while one was a TD you were probably expecting better.  Don’t do that anymore, he should go back to being just as disappointing as he was earlier in the season.

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Studs

Michael Vick, QB, PHI – Vick is proving to be a very serious threat for fantasy owners after another huge game on Sunday.  In Philadelphia, Vick has more weapons than he has ever had before in his career and appears to have matured as a pocket passer.  This makes Vick even more frustrating for opposing defenses because he still has the speed to extend plays and make runs that no one else in football can.  I think it is reasonable to expect Vick to be a top 10 fantasy QB unless things take a dramatic downward spiral.

Kyle Orton, QB, DEN – Going up against the high-powered Colts offense Orton and the Broncos were forced to try and keep up with their aerial attack.  Even though they lost I was really impressed with the Broncos’ ability to stretch the field as Orton totaled a career-best 476 yards.  He only got one TD though and the team was terrible at running without Knowshon Moreno in the lineup.  Orton will be an efficient QB throughout the season if you have a bye-week need or injury.

Peyton Hillis, RB, CLE – Hillis has done what almost no running back in football has been able to do in a few years, run for over 100 yards against the Ravens.  This is quite an astonishing feat to be honest, but Jerome Harrison is likely to see a lot of carries when he is healthy.  Hillis should be considered a flex play from here on out, but he is the RB I would rather own from Cleveland after that game.

Anquan Boldin, WR, BAL - I was big on a lot of the Ravens but with Ray Rice getting hurt and Boldin shredding the Browns secondary, there was not much room for anyone else on the Ravens offense to be productive.  Anquan pulled in 142 yards and THREE TDs in an a surprisingly close win for the Ravens.

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, PIT – I had him on my love list this week and even with passing TDs Mendenhall was still able to find the end zone himself as well as get up over 100 yards.

Austin Collie, WR, IND – With Anthony Gonzalez and Pierre Garcon gone and Champ Bailey shadowing Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie is a beast.  It is going to be very interesting to see how the depth chart ends up once Gonzalez and Garcon come back.  If Collie can win the number 2 job, he will be what I thought Garcon was going to be… a top 15 receiver.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI – A lot of people doubted DJax’s ability to make big plays without Donovan McNabb at QB.  Initially I thought Vick at QB was going to be worse for Jackson than Kolb would have been, but with Vick’s new-found poise in the pocket Jackson should be able to make these big plays almost as consistently as last season.

Louis Murphy, WR, OAK – We have been waiting quite a while for one receiver in Oakland to step up and earn the top spot and it appears that it will be Murphy.  After back to back good games Murphy should be able to fill the role of WR3 or flex play.

Dustin Keller, TE, NYJ – Sanchez has no other options for mid range passing plays and it appears that Keller is more than up to the task.  Keller has been a real surprise for anyone brave enough to take a chance on him and with Santonio Holmes being a deep threat, I don’t see his return as much of threat to Keller’s number of targets.

Duds

Matt Forte, RB, CHI – The Bears are the real deal and I am not concerned about Forte down the stretch, but this week he was only able to get fantasy owners 3 points.

Marques Colston, WR, NO – Lance Moore stole the show in a shocking Saints home loss to the Falcons.  I still view Colston as the best WR2 in fantasy football despite only getting 4 catches for 25 yards.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL – The Cowboys offense finally looked like we thought they would and Austin has his first bad game of the season.  Roy Williams did not likely transform into a reliable receiver overnight so I cannot see him cutting into the work that Austin would normally get.  Houston consistently double teamed Austin and considering it was not an effective strategy I would not expect too many teams to focus on him that much.

Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ – I am still shocked that LT is the best RB in New York, but I do expect that to change as the end of the season approaches and LT wears down due to age.  Don’t start him unless you have to, but definitely don’t get rid of him.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN – I know Ochocino is the more-often-started fantasy player, but his lack of production is the fault of Palmer and the reason I think Chad’s owners should try and trade him.

Steve Smith, WR, CAR – Matt Moore was at least able to use his best weapon effectively once per game, but Clausen will have brighter days ahead and I am not panicking on Smith yet.

Michael Crabtree, WR, SF – I don’t know what else to say, other than the 49ers suck.  I was confident they would win their division and it is bad enough that it is still a possibility.  I don’t agree with firing their Offensive Coordinator, but don’t drop Crabtree yet unless you can work him into a good trade.

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Pickups

Ryan Torain, RB, WAS – As long as Mike Shanahan is coaching in this league there will be some great waiver wire pick-ups at running back.  Torain tied Portis at 7 carries and while neither looked particularly good, each of them was able to rip off a big gain.  The Redskins as a whole looked pretty inept most of the game as they suffered a loss on the road against the Rams.  Bad weeks happen and while you still can’t start any of the Redskins running backs Torain and Portis should be on a roster as one of them will end up getting the majority of the work.

Roy Williams, WR, DAL - We cannot expect this kind of performance from Williams OR Austin down the stretch, but Williams may just not be useless after all.  While he did take the workload of Miles Austin this week, he will mostly cut into Dez Bryant’s production if he can remain a factor in this offense.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE – Belichick remains true to form and after recently losing 2 of their top running backs the Patriots still deployed a committee of four running backs and being against the Bills they were all effective. BJGE (get used to it) by far led the team with 16 carries and fell just short of 100 yards (including a TD).  Given the soft match up and the likelihood that the Patriots feature someone else next week I wouldn’t start any of them, but Taylor and Green-Ellis deserve a spot on someones roster.

Laurence Maroney, RB, DEN – Once we found out that Moreno was going to miss the game due to his hamstring injury Correll Buckhalter became a very popular late-week pickup that was expected to do well against a Colts defense that had not been good at stuffing the run.  While he did not do well, averaging 2 yards per carry on 12 carries it is clear that his ex-offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is more comfortable with Maroney as the lead back.

Dustin Keller, TE, NYJ - Hard to argue with his current production, but down the stretch Santonio Holmes will be the primary target for Sanchez and the Jets passing game.  Keller will remain a red zone target for Sanchez and could end up a top 10 TE on the season.

Aaron Hernandez, TE, NE - PPR owners that might need a TE do not need to look any further than this guy.  What really impressed me in this game was the end-around Hernandez took for a 13 yard game on the opening drive.  He looked like Wes Welker for a second there.  If you aren’t in a PPR league Keller is a better pick-up until Hernandez can prove he is able to find the end zone.

Dump List

Mohamed Massaquoi, WR, CLE – The Browns offense was more effective against this tough Ravens D than the Jets was this week and Massaquoi was not able to catch a pass.  Cribbs is the receiver that I want in Cleveland and he is almost definitely available unless your league counts return yards.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN – The Panthers struggled all game and the Bengals leaned heavily on Cedric Benson who was very effective in week 3. Even with the success of Benson Palmer was unable to make either “superstar” wide receiver fantasy-relevant.  This once-great QB’s career is over and while they do not have any better options for this year, I expect the Bengals to target a QB early in next year’s draft.

Fred Jackson, RB, BUF – Lynch is the RB to own in Buffalo (other than Spiller of course!) and since the Bills offense won’t get any better than they were this week and either a trade or an injury will likely need to happen before you would consider using Jackson again this season.

Correll Buckhalter, RB, DEN – It is clear that 3rd down back is the only role Josh McDaniels intends to use Buckhalter in.  4 carries is not enough to be productive.

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Every few days I will be breaking down each position in fantasy football to help you get ready for draft day.  Since they get all the glory let’s get it started with the Quarterbacks.  I am also updating the rankings for each position the day that the I do the breakdown.  You can catch the QB ranks here.

The Top Two

When ranking QB’s for fantasy drafts there are really only two options for the number one spot, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.  Both of these guys are precision passers with a big arm and touch when it is needed.  Not much room for criticism when talking about either guy.  Personally, I think there will be almost no difference in production from these guys in the passing game.  I rank Aaron Rodgers at number one solely because of his rushing ability.  It is never much, but around the goal line Rodgers is very good about getting the TD one way or the other.  In standard scoring the rushing TD is worth more than the passing one.  I expect around 300 yards rushing on the year and 3-5 TD’s.

The Rest of the Elite

Ranks 3 – 7 on my rankings are as follows: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Matt Schaub, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo.  My best recommendation is that you wait for one of these guys on draft day.  Last year Aaron Rodgers had a huge lead in total fantasy points among QB’s, but that won’t be likely to happen twice.  Typically, the difference between the number 1 QB and number 10 QB is not quite as big of a difference as you would think. For example, I just talked about the huge lead Rodgers had on the number 2 guy last year (who was Drew Brees).  That lead was 47 points.  The difference between Brees (2nd highest scorer) and McNabb (10th highest scorer) was only 23 points!  After these five guys you should not be confident with starting anyone regardless of their match up.  If you do land one of these guys then I believe there will be no need to draft a backup QB, just pick someone up off of waivers for their bye week.  Using this strategy will allow you to pick an additional high-upside guy at RB or WR in the late rounds.

The Best of the Rest

Rounding out the rest of the “starting” fantasy QB’s are Kevin Kolb, Joe Flacco and Jay Cutler.  This is where I would most like to make my QB selection for a standard scoring league.  My favorite QB to target in my drafts is Joe Flacco.  This guy is coming into his third year in the league.  It is time to put up or shut up for Joe, because he has the best set of offensive weapons any Baltimore Ravens QB has had at his disposal in a long time.  Flacco is a big sleeper for me this year because he has tools for every aspect of the passing game with Anquan Boldin and Dante Stallworth able to go over the middle and stretch the feild, Todd Heap and Derrick Mason for possession routes and short gains and we can’t forget about the element that Ray Rice brings to the passing attack out of the backfield.  Kevin Kolb has looked great in the first 2 preseason games and has even been able to involve DeSean Jackson in the intermediate routes which has me upgrading my expectations for both of them.  Jay Cutler is finally going to be playing in an offense that will use his strengths.  Mike Martz loves to stretch the field and pass it deep, I expect to see 30 – 40 passes per game.  I still foresee a lot of him getting hit and a throwing a similar number of interceptions… But he should have more yards and TD’s to make him a better QB in fantasy than he was last year.

The Rest

If you missed out on the top 10 QB’s that is unfortunate, but not the end of the world.  You will just now be left with the task of hunting the waiver wire for the guy playing against a terrible defense.  Among the best options in this group for you to scoop up on draft day are Brett Favre, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Chad Henne, Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger.  There are serious reasons to be concerned with all of these guys.  Most people wouldn’t even put Chad Henne in this group, but with Brandon Marshall able to help him stretch the field everyone on offense will improve this year.  McNabb will be able to keep the Redskins offense on the field for longer drives.  He has an uncanny ability to buy time in the pocket to pick up crucial 3rd down conversions.  This means more plays, more fantasy points from any Redskins you may own.  I don’t think Eli will get his second 4,000 yard season this year, but he should go over 30 TD’s and have a similar total number of fantasy points.  I am afraid of Favre this year now that Sidney Rice is down for an extended block of time.

Sleepers

Joe Flacco, Chad Henne, Alex Smith and Jason Campbell.

Busts

Brett Favre, Matt Ryan, Mark Sanchez and Carson Palmer.

Recap

The QB pool is very deep this year, but there is a steep drop off outside the top 10.  If you are in a 12 or 14 team league do not be one of the teams left out of the elite QB’s.  There are about 8 of them so wait as long as you can without missing the boat.  There is no need to reach for Rodgers or Brees but if you pick really late in the first round snatch one up, the next pick is coming soon.

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Week 2 of the preseason is in the books and fantasy football drafts are coming up rather quickly.  As the preseason continues we all carry on our search for sleepers in this years draft.

Eagles vs Bengals

Kolb continues to look strong through week 2, but most surprising to me so far is the involvement of DeSean Jackson in the intermediate passing game.  The primary reason for DJax not being a part of the elite group of receivers this year is that when McNabb left the team so did the deep ball.  Not entirely, but not many people throw long balls like Donovan.  Kolb has been making completions to Jackson over the middle and inside of 20 yards with much more frequency than McNabb did.  This won’t upgrade Jackson in my rankings but it will hold him firm at number 9 and removes a lot of the doubt I had about his consistency. I have yet to see much of anything from LeSean McCoy and I am starting to expect very little from him.  I recommend not taking the risk on McCoy on draft day, not when guys like Joseph Addai and Ronnie Brown should still be available in the next round.

My dislike for Carson Palmer is still growing after this last game.  2 interceptions and a bad decision that got his star receiver leveled in a preseason game.  Good judgment.  Also, there is a lot of talk about how well T.O. has done thus far.  They are trying to get the fan base excited and as much as the fans may love 85, they won’t get excited about him catching balls in the preseason.  My expectations for T.O. are for him to be marginally better than last season.  Someone will be reaching for him on draft day, don’t let it be you.  Lastly, I want to point out that Bernard Scott should never go undrafted this year (except for maybe 8 team leagues).  He has performed well whenever given that chance and with Benson being such a workhorse he is bound to miss a game or two.

Redskins vs Ravens

Even though the ‘Skins were only able to put a field goal up on the board McNabb was able to demonstrate why players on this team will be fantasy-relevant again.  Throughout his time in the game McNabb was able to use his play-making ability to extend drives and keep the defense rested.  Being able to convert on third and long allows Portis to get more carries and receivers to get more catches and yards as well.  McNabb allows this team to have more offensive plays in a game than Campbell or any other option available to them.

The Ravens looked flat this week, even with Ray Rice on the field.  I am certainly not concerned about Flacco as the Redskins were among the better pass defenses in the league last year and they were a much worse team then they are now.  The only player on the Ravens that I do have concerns about is Derrick Mason. He has been hobbled by leg injuries through camp, is getting older and saw only one target on Thursday.  Flacco has a new toy to play with and he is good enough to make him forget that Mason is still on the field.

Dolphins vs. Jaguars

Henne is a great backup option for you this year.  I think he will develop into a top 10 QB by the end of the season, but there could be some growing pains early.  There weren’t any this week however… The Dolphins offense looked very strong and even incorporated Brandon Marshall quite nicely.  Look for Anthony Fasano in the late rounds if you really want a backup TE.  If anyone has the chance to do what Celek did last year, its this guy right here.

David Garrard was having a pretty good night before he got hurt and was pulled out of the exhibition game.  I have seen very little about his injury since it happened which leads me to think it is minor.  He has just enough skill to make Mike Sims-Walker a WR2 or flex play but Maurice Jones-Drew will remain the star of this offense.

Bears vs Raiders

We saw some good things from the Bears this week.  Forte had a nice TD run of 89 yards, which is a great example of how a Mike Martz offense creates holes in the opposing defense.  Cutler had a solid outing, no interceptions as well as finding Johnny Knox in the end zone in the second quarter.

The Raiders played good, solid football in all three phases of the game this week and won the game because of it.  This is a sign of good coaching and a franchise on its way back to prominence.  Not yet though, because there is not one receiver that can be relied on week-to-week.

Other Week 2 one-liners

Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee are not to be taken lightly, they will perform in Vincent Jackson’s absence.

Ryan Mathews should be a consistent performing RB2.

The Cowboys will have a few bad offensive games until they solidify their offensive line.

Miles Austin will produce consistently anyway.

Thomas Jones – 3.63 YPC and a fumble, Jamaal Charles 5 YPC and 23 yards receiving… Stop drafting Thomas Jones above round 8 or 9.

Mike Williams should be drafted in a 12 team league.

Arrelious Benn should not be.

Hasselbeck has something left in the tank, but it’s not what it used to be.

Aaron Rodgers really should be everyone’s number 1 ranked Quarterback.

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The Bengals were a heart wrenching team last season.  They won every game against divisional opponents with a devastating running game and stout defense.  Late in the year a team member passed away, and the team seemed to never recover from that.  They lost two consecutive games to the New York Jets in week 17 and then in the playoffs to end the season and left us all wondering if Carson Palmer has enough left in the tank to try and make one last playoff run.  Cedric Benson will continue to be the driving force of the offense and the addition of Antonio Bryant should give the passing game a significant boost as well.  I am torn about the allegations made against Benson recently.  It took quite a long time to hear about it which leads me to believe the incident was pretty low key.  I am an innocent until proven guilty kinda guy and will be treating the situation as though he wont miss any time.

Top Fantasy Players

Cedric Benson – This guy was robbed of comeback player of the year last year because of the league’s love affair with Tom Brady.  Benson was a workhorse for the Bengals, he carried the team to one of the best regular seasons they have ever seen.  Benson will not have quite as productive of a season, but should be a great RB2 option.

Chad Ochocinco – I know, he talks better than he catches. With that said he still catches pretty damn well, and now there is a very talented WR on the other side of the ball in Antonio Bryant.  Chad may just have his best season in a while… assuming I am wrong about Carson Palmer being done playing competitively in this league.

Antonio Bryant – Sleeper Alert! Bryant was a WR3 or flex option when he played in Tampa Bay, and now he upgrades offenses and quarterbacks.  With a back like Benson there is no way defenses will be scheming against the number 2 receiver.

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