Question 1: Asked by @Steel_Thoughts

for 3rd place. Pick 2 to start (position doesn’t matter) S.Moss(@NYG), D.Thomas(NE), Mendenhall(@SF) or Spiller(MIA)?

Answer

I am starting Demaryius Thomas and Mendenhall in this situation.  I could see benching Mendenhall for Spiller but the Bills offense scares me at the moment and the only guy I trust is Stevie Johnson. Mendenhall has a tough match-up in front of him and he probably won’t make too much happen but all it takes is one big play on an outside run or a screen play and he’ll be fine for you.  Its a gut call on my part but Mendenhall is worth the risk here in my opinion.

Question 2: Asked by Connor

I need a TE for this week, preferably one that has a chance to get me more than three points. I currently own Heath Miller and have 2 options on free agency that stick out, Gresham and Celek.  Who has the best shot at a nice game this week?

Answer

I would go with Gresham here.  I think that regardless of match up he is the most ownable of the three and with St. Louis as an opponent this week he is likely to do just fine.  There is a concern that the receivers and backs will all be doing so well that they don’t need the TE but Gresham is Cinci’s best possession receiver at the moment and I don’t think they can afford to not use him.

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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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1.	Vernon Davis	Vs. STL
2.	Dustin Keller	@ CLE
3.	Jason Witten	@ NYG
4.	Jacob Tamme	Vs. CIN
5.	Aaron Hernandez	@ PIT
6.	Chris Cooley	Vs. PHI
7.	Visanthe Shiancoe	@ CHI
8.	Marcedes Lewis	Vs. HOU
9.	Heath Miller	Vs. NE
10.	Tony Moeaki	@ DEN
11.	Tony Gonzalez	Vs. BAL
12.	Greg Olsen	Vs. MIN
13.	Ben Watson	Vs. NYJ
14.	Brandon Pettigrew	@ BUF
15.	Brent Celek	@ WAS
16.	Todd Heap	@ ATL
17.	Kellen Winslow	Vs. CAR
18.	Tony Scheffler	@ BUF
19.	John Carlson	@ ARI
20.	Kevin Boss	Vs. DAL
21.	Jermaine Gresham	@ IND
22.	Bo Scaife	@ MIA
23.	Rob Gronkowski	@ PIT
24.	Owen Daniels	@ JAC
25.	Anthony Fasano	Vs. TEN

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Question 1: Asked by Emily

Should I drop D. Driver and pick up Britt??

Answer

No, even though Britt has been surprisingly consistent at finding the end zone this season, Driver is an integral part of one of the best passing offenses in the league.  The Packers are riddled with injuries and they will get better.  This week Britt’s TD streak is in question as we do not yet know if Vince Young will be playing.  You very well may have someone worth dropping for him on your team, but you can’t do it for Driver.

Question 2: Asked by Anonymous

I drafted Finley, then traded for Clark and now I am screwed! Which TEs that are likely to be on free agency do you like the most?

Answer

I feel your pain, but luckily for you there are a TON of serviceable replacements.  You will likely need to swap them a few times throughout the year, but I will list off some of the options you have to chose from.  They are in order of how much I like them: Tony Moeaki, Heath Miller, Marcedes Lewis, Benjamin Watson, John Carlson and if Chris Cooley sits, Fred Davis ought to be a great play this week.

Question 3: Asked by @benstori

BenJarvus Green-Ellis or Brandon Jacobs as a flex play this week? #fantasyfootball

Answer

I am pretty well known for disliking Brandon Jacobs. I don’t tend to have any nice things to say about him, most adjectives including fat, slow, worthless, etc. When I read this and didn’t know my answer immediately… I surprised myself.  Once I thought about it, I did end up realizing that Jacobs is still fat, slow and worthless so I have to say go with the law firm this week.  Despite how unpredictable his value is sure to be all year long, he is going to be the back that the Patriots trust on the red zone.  His membership in the committee backfield is always something to be concerned with, but he is more than just a goal line back.  Jacobs is able to be dropped in a standard ten-team league and has no big games left in the tank.

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San Diego Chargers vs Tennessee Titans

This really should be a VERY entertaining game for us to watch on Christmas.  I expect a high scoring affair so go ahead and bench these defenses for your playoff or super bowl match-up.  Rivers should do very well this weekend as well as Gates with Keith Bulluck out the middle will be much easier to attack.  Obviously Johnson is a must start as he is almost a shoe-in for a hundred yards on the ground and a score.  You may see a bit more receiving yards than normal here as like with Benson last week the Chargers are good at marginalizing their opponents rushing attack.  They can’t make CJ irrelevant as he is just as big a threat out of the backfield.  Britt is still your fantasy option at QB but Gage will vulture a few targets from him so town down expectations.

Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Rushing yards are at a premium so tone down expectations on Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall.  Rice is a must start however because of his worth in the passing game but you shouldn’t expect a huge day.  Mendenhall would likely be sitting but other starts from this game are Derrick Mason, Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward.  I like Holmes quite a bit, more than Ward this week as the Ravens are vulnerable to the deep threat and thats what he is so he has a huge upside.  Downgrade Heath Miller as the Ravens have the line backers to cover a TE in man coverage pretty well.

Denver Broncos vs Philadelphia Eagles

This game could have its fair share of fireworks as the Broncos are desperate to prove that last week was a fluke and the Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the league.  DeSean Jackson is an obvious must start as there really doesn’t appear to be any defense that is prepared for his speed.  They do have a good secondary and should do an okay job limiting him from too big of a game, but Celek should should benefit from all the cover three and quarters coverage that Jackson will force.  Stay away from Kyle Orton, and every Eagle running back you may have.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs New England Patriots

The Jaguars have to win to stay in the playoff hunt and the Patriots can clinch the division with a win so both teams have something to prove.  The normal cast of starters will still apply and you can expect a big day from the Patriots receivers as the Jags are pretty bad at corner back.  Downgrade Garrard some as he never looks quite as good away as he does at home, but I do expect Mike Sims-Walker to do just fine as the Patriots secondary is pretty weak itself.  Oh and Maurice Jones-Drew… rumor has it he’s pretty good so go ahead and start him too. =P

Have a Very Merry Christmas, I will have player rankings updated tonight or before the game Christmas Day!  Please forgive me if I don’t do a mailbag article though, I don’t see me nieces and nephew enough as it is!

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Nick

Ok, here is the deal. I’m having a lot of mixed emotions on who I should start this week. I don’t think I can go wrong with my options, but it is the playoffs and I need all I can get. In our league, our roster looks like this. QB WR WR RB RB TE W/T W/R. I’m set at QB with Schaub and my #1 and #2 RB are AP and MJD. My starting TE is Dallas Clark. As of now I have Greg Jennings and Robert Meachem in my WR spots. This is where I don’t know who to play. I have 2 spots to fill (W/T and W/R). I have Antonio Bryant, who I really like this week. Dwayne Bowe who has a good match-up against the Browns. Heath Miller who may see some action with Woodson on Holmes and Ward being banged up. I also have Beanie Wells and Arian Foster who have great match-ups. Which 2 players should I play in my last 2 spots? And I forgot to mention it is a PPR league. PLEASE HELP!

I would put Bryant in as the WR2 and probably play Bowe and Wells this week.  Wells isn’t a PPR threat but he has a great match-up and they seemed to cut out Hightower really early after that fumble last week.

John

gore maroney moreno charles or jacobs which 3 do i start

Gore Moreno Charles for sure Maroney is going to share too much to have a big game

Kolby R

Baltimore vs Chicago or Arizona vs Detroit
I am currently planning on starting Baltimore. They will crush the pocket and force turnovers. What do you think?

Ravens are my number 1 defense this week, good luck bud!

Matthew

hi jim. i decided to bench sims-walker last night (ugh!), and now i’ve got to go with bowe or manningham this week. what do you think?

Manningham shouldn’t be on your roster anymore so its definitely Bowe!

Quiet Time

Defense: GREEN BAY vs Steelers or ARIZONA vs Lions this week?

WR PPR league: Calvin Johnson??? or Derrick Mason?

Manningham shouldn’t be on your roster anymore so its def Bowe.  And Cardinals Defense is my 3rd, so play them.

Weez

Do I have a better chance starting Boldin/Breaston against the Lions with a banged up Fitzgerald? Or should I start Meachem over Breaston? No way I’m sitting Boldin though. Even after he cost me a win last week….*grumbles*

I like the Boldin Breaston play, and it has nothing to do with Fitz =D

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