Studs And Duds From Week 14
Studs
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC – There is certainly no better place to start than the guy who ended my season and the season of many others. MJD went absolutely crazy this week against the Buccaneers and totalled FOUR TDs on 136 all-purpose yards. He was the highest scoring player from week 14 and if he can carry the Jaguars’ offense, he can carry your fantasy team too.
Tony Romo, QB, DAL – Yes, Dallas lost the game. Tony Romo still had a big statistical performance for fantasy owners after starting RB DeMarco Murray went down early in the game. Felix Jones filled in well against a soft rush defense but it was Romo’s 321 yards and 4 TDs that really kept Dallas in this game and it took some late heroics from Eli to take this game from Dallas.
Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ – Assuming you didn’t reach for him as your RB1 at draft time, you may have gotten by and into the playoffs with Green as your RB2. Good for you if you did because now that he is on fire late in the year, he is fast becoming one of the best second RBs that you could ask for. And you have to love a player that is at his best when it matters most for you.
Julio Jones, WR, ATL – These big-play guys can be frustrating but you have to start them when they have a soft match up. And if you did this week with Jones, it paid off in a big way. He only managed 3 catches but they totaled 104 yards and two scores.
Rob Gronkowski, TE, NE – The only thing crazier than how unbelievably good Gronkowski has been this season is how early he will be taken in fantasy drafts next year. He has already set the single-season TD record which was previously 13 for tight ends. His current tally is 15 and counting with 3 games remaining. I heard an interesting fact on ESPN’s Fantasy Focus Podcast this week; If you took away all the TDs from Gronkowski and let all the other players keep theirs, he would still be the 4th highest scoring TE in the NFL for fantasy.
Marques Colston, WR, NO – The Saints offense did not look like it has in recent weeks. They don’t play near as well outside and the Titans secondary did a great job of bottling up the receivers of New Orleans until the 4th quarter. When it mattered most, to win the game, Brees found Colston twice on scoring plays and managed to squeak out a win.
Duds
Calvin Johnson, WR, DET – The Lions passing game was working pretty well with a soft match up this week and yet Calvin Johnson only had 29 receiving yards and 11 rushing. Three fantasy points is not enough from the top receiver in the NFL for fantasy football and it hurt a lot of people in a bad way. You have to keep starting him but I don’t expect teams to stop double covering him anytime soon.
Jermichael Finley, TE, GB – Zilch. Zippo. Nadda. This is exactly how many points and catches Finley had this week. Just one target too, that is what legitimately scares me. I expected more from Finley this year but his targets have been low and aren’t getting any better. He is not a top 5 option like he was drafted as.
Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG – Hey, Bradshaw… how about you show up to team meetings… He was benched for the first half of the game and wasn’t that productive in the 2nd half. Brandon Jacobs ran well in his place but there wasn’t much warning about this and it destroyed a lot of match ups this week.
Greg Jennings, WR, GB – This isn’t the first time Jennings’ numbers have been low but it is the first time that the entire Packers passing game had a mediocre day. That’s what happens when the running game gets the job done for a change. Don’t be too worried about it if you made it through but you could easily have been eliminated by Jennings’ poor performance.
