Love

Jamaal Charles, RB, KC – Charles is a dynamic game-changing back that has never been used to his maximum potential in Kansas City.  While it still remains true that the Chiefs did not go out and sign Thomas Jones to ride the bench, Todd Haley will soon be shamed into doing the right thing and stopping this 50/50 time share shenanigans. If that happens this week, Charles just may return the favor for what Harrison did to the Chiefs last year.

Michael Vick, QB, PHI - Typically a QB stepping into a starting job mid-season wouldn’t show up on a list like this… but this one has pro-bowl credentials and a very squishy match up.  While the Bears’ receivers were not able to make big plays vs the Lion’s secondary that was primarily the fault of two Cutler turnovers and Matt Forte having probably the best game of his season.

DeAngelo Williams, RB, CAR – Even though he is in a time share, Stewart did not look very productive last week  and the Panthers tend to ride the hot-handed back hardest.  Playing against among the worst teams in the league should allow Williams the opportunity to have a great week and we all know he has the ability.

Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG – The Texans exposed the weakness of the Colts defense, the running game. Bradshaw is a VERY similar back to Arian Foster and the Giants have begun to embrace him as their lead guy.  Bradshaw will have a big game this week and while he wont be getting any goal line carries I still think he should be able to find the end zone at least once.

Brett Favre, QB, MIN - It will take him some time to find a receiver that he is comfortable with other than Harvin and last week he was unable to get the ball rolling.  I will never ask Favre to play like he did last season but he will have a good game so if you have one of the questionable QBs this week don’t hesitate to start Brett.

Brandon Jackson, RB, GB – He had a lot of chances last week to get him used to his new role as feature back in this high-powered Packers offense.  He has among the best match-ups possible against a weak Bills run D. If you are strong at the RB position I would not blame you for not wanting to put an unknown in over a proven RB2, but you should definitely use him for your flex spot if you have one.

Jason Campbell, QB, OAK – Campbell has been very consistent for faithful fantasy owners that have been willing to ignore bad match-ups and mediocre offensive talent to give this guy a start.  Now he gets the chance to have a good match-up so if you are in a 2 Quarterback league then this is an easy choice.

Roddy White, WR, ATL - This guy is the entire Falcons passing game this season.  White got targeted TWENTY THREE TIMES last week against the Steelers and was able to total 111 receiving yards in a very defensive game in which his team did not score a TD.  Now they play a poor Cardinals team that lost a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI – He may only get two catches this week, but if that is the case I’d say he has over a hundred yards and a score.  Vick is not a QB that DJax can excel with, but regardless of his QB i’d rank him top 10 against the Lions.

Wes Welker, WR, NE – Welker’s confidence in his knee was my issue last week and that cannot be an area of concern any more.  This week I worry about the match up, but with Revis nose-to-nose with Randy Moss all day and how effective the Ravens were moving the ball while attacking the other CBs I think Welker could end up in the top 5 points-wise this week.

Jason Witten, TE, DAL – When the line plays poorly the QB has to use his check downs and quick routes to pick up first downs.  Enter the tight end.  The Cowboys have one of the best in the league and if they want to win they need to get him more involved.  They play the Bears this week and the passing attack will be crucial to their success.

Chris Cooley, TE, WAS – It sure was nice to see McNabb rely on Cooley for the exact sort of plays I love Witten for this week.  Against a high-powered Texans offense the Skins will need to use an areal attack to keep up and Cooley could end up the leading receiver if the Texans decide to double cover Santana Moss.

Hate

Tom Brady, QB, NE – Last season the Bills were able to seriously impact the fantasy point totals of Brady twice, the Jets defense is much better than Buffalo’s so I think it is unreasonable to expect a 300 yard performance from Brady.  Also, it would shock no one if he was only able to get one TD.  I do expect him to be able to use Welker effectively as their only real weapon so as if you don’t have another top 10 QB this week then your gonna have to start him anyways.

Frank Gore, RB, SF - What a disappointment last week!  I am still speechless that the 9ers blew it last week against a mediocre Seahawks team.  With the Saints this week the 9ers will need to attempt to stretch the field.  If Gore has a slow start he is not going to do very well at all.  He is outside my top10 this week but not by much, so your still likely going to have to start him.

Justin Forsett, RB, SEA – Silly me, I thought when the Seahawks cut Julius Jones he would NOT LEAD THE TEAM IN CARRIES ANYMORE.  Seriously Pete Carrol he had 8 carries for 18 yards… what is it about this guy that mesmerizes coaches so much?  It is in my mind the main thing that cost Jim Mora Jr. his job.

Jerome Harrison, RB, CLE – If you owned Harrison at all last year you very possibly benched him for his crazy ridiculous game vs the Chiefs due to the week to week guessing game at who in Cleveland would get the most carries.  Peyton Hillis tied Harrison for 9 carries and one-upped him with a TD.  Don’t start either one till something gets sorted out.

Randy Moss, WR, NE – Have you met Darrelle Revis? He is about to hurt your argument for a new contract mid-season.

Mike Sims-Walker, WR, JAC - Try and not use this guy this week.  He got blanked by the Broncos secondary which is good… but not great.  The quiet reports from local sources in Jacksonville during training camp that Mike Thomas was going to win the starting job were right and he just might pass MSW for the top spot on the depth chart.

No Comments »

One hell of a kickoff game has me pretty jacked up for Sunday, I don’t know about you all.  Lots of busts from the Saints offense this week, everyone but Devery Henderson for you deep format players.  Pierre Thomas was shut down in the first half but made up for it with one hell of a 2nd half to seal a close, physical and defensive week 1 victory.  On to the questions I have answered on twitter and during Yahoo! Q&A’s.  To get your questions answered ask me on Twitter (click the bird at the top of the screen) or you can tweet with the #StartSit hashtag, I am trying to get people to start using that! So help me out.

Question 1. Asked by Butcha

#2 wr this week?
Floyd vs kc
Knox or Aromashodu vs det

Answer

This is a really difficult call here, each guy comes in close to each other on my rankings.  I would try and use both Floyd and Knox if you are able to start one in the flex position, but I do not have any RB info to confirm that.  My rankings give the edge to Floyd but I am going to say to play Knox.  He is the deep threat and the Bears are going to allow big plays against the Lions on Sunday.  Aromashodu is a big goal line threat and ought to provide you some interesting options and depth at WR this season, but he won’t be your guy this week.

Question 2. Asked by @packers4

OK …Vince Young or Jason Campbell as starting QB in #fantasyfootball?

Answer

This is a tough decision, I don’t quite rank either as a starter this week. Campbell feels low in my ranks looking back on it at 22, but regardless Vince Young will be a better choice.  The Titans will be able to control the ball and VY should be able to get you in the area of 15 points.  Without the presence of a consistent receiving threat on Oakland it is not likely that Campbell can be as productive.

Question 3. Asked by @robertodileo

Someone help!! Who should I start at flex.. Bradshaw, TJ housh, dez bryant or maclin? #fantasyfootball #StartSit

Answer

Play Bradshaw here, the Panthers are not the strongest defense by any means and the running game can’t quite match-up to the firepower of the Giants offense.  Jacobs has been reacting like a child regarding being passed up on the depth chart, but should still see some goal line work.  Bradshaw is, in my opinion, a shoe-in for a thousand yard season, with 500 receiving likely as well.

No Comments »

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.

No Comments »

The Raiders are in disarray. They have made some strides towards improving in the long run, but over the short term there was not too much they could do.  Jason Campbell is an upgrade at QB but I still do not trust any receiving options other than Zach Miller in this offense. No chance of the playoffs for the Oakland and there should not be any Raiders taken in the first half of any draft.

Zach Miller – I really like Miller this year.  His new Quarterback used his TE Fred Davis beyond his potential last year.  He may start slow, but I think he could end up a top 10 TE this season.

Darren McFadden – No one will benefit from the departure of Fargas more than this guy.  However Fargas was the better player and McFadden is just a backup RB or flex guy at best.

Jason Campbell – This should be a better fit than Washington.  You couldn’t ask for a less pressure job than taking over for JaMarcus Russell.  However there is just not enough talent on the team for him to be better than a bad backup QB option.

No Comments »

First off, WELCOME TO THE PLAYOFFS! You made it!

Week 13 was a frustrating one for fantasy owners as it had its fair few upsets and narrow scrapes.  Superbowl champs fell to Bruce Gradkowski, the Patriots lost consecutive games, the struggling Giants got a win versus a good Cowboy team that is thirsty to prove itself, and the lowly Redskins had to literally drop the ball in order for the undefeated Saints to scrape by in an overtime win.  This week was filled with huge disappointments for fantasy owners and both cost people playoff births, as well as allowed some people to scrape in.  My Studs and Duds tomorrow should be a pretty lengthy one… but this is Player Adds and the Dump List, so lets get down to it!  Not really any injuries that elevate a back-up workload to that of a feature back so not an exciting list here, mostly for deeper formats.  With that said if you are in the playoffs then you’re starting cast is probably pretty well locked down.  Most all of these players are for insurance in case of an injury that you obviously can’t foresee, planning for injury is the key to success in the playoffs!

Player Adds for Week 14

Robert Meachem (NO) – I hate relying on a teams fifth offensive weapon, but Meachem is earning trust after a surprisingly consistent November, followed by

Garrett Hartley (NO) – I KNOW, WHO?!  Garrett Hartley is possibly the best player at his position for fantasy football and is owned in your league almost guaranteed.  John Carney is out in New Orleans and Hartley has taken over.  Gostkowski was ranked the number one kicker pre-draft this season and mostly because he was on an great offense.  The Saints are the top offense in the league and Hartley is their kicker… end of story.

Jason Campbell (WAS) – If you think this name is surprising wait for the next one!  Here are some numbers for you to consider: 24, 19, 12, 13.  These are his fantasy points (ESPN standard scoring) in four of his last five games, excluding an 8 point week 11 where he lost 6-3 versus Dallas.  If you start two QBs or are in a 14 team league you could do much worse for a back-up.

Bruce Gradkowski (OAK) – Ok, so this is definitely a bigger stretch than Campbell but I have been asked a few times about what to do in a 12 team 2 QB league where the fad is to hold 4 QBs in order to completely screw over the people who are in need.  This to me is a terribly fun format to play in and I want to help those of you out who are in this situation.

Louis Murphy (OAK) – This isn’t the first time he’s showed big play potential.  Trust him as far as Gradkowski can throw him.

Jerome Harrison (CLE) – OK, so I wouldn’t want to start any Cleveland Brown in the playoffs, but he finished Sunday as the second best fantasy back in the league with 21 points.  Harrison was only second to Brandon Jacobs who looked mediocre at best running the ball, however he had a huge screen pass go to the house and make the day look more impressive than it really was.  If Quinn can keep the offense on the field then Harrison could become relevant.

Devone Bess (MIA) – 12 team three WR league? Bess is a nice backup to have as he is an explosive player that can score from anywhere on the field.

Kenny Britt (TEN) – Not believe me last week!? Go get him!

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) – 100% dependant on Quinn’s performance, however he gets open plenty so look for him to make some plays while Brady develops.

Bo Scaife (TEN) – This guy is a favorite target for Vince Young, was before he got benched and has been since his return.

Fred Davis (WAS) – Great production recently, as far as TEs are concerned, great fill in if you lost someone to an injury.

Dump List

Matt Ryan (ATL) – The Falcons lost their swagger down the stretch this season.  Key injuries to Ryan and Turner have left the team struggling to stay mathematically in the playoff hunt.  Any chance they have at this point is minimal and I do not think you see a rush back on Turner or Ryan, and without both of these weapons at 100% the offense is very one dimensional, and mediocre.  Ryan has been a fantasy disappointment this season and it is time to drop him for a more capable replacement.

Mario Manningham (NYG) – Even when the Giants recovered and played good football Manningham was not part of the equation… I do not see the dynamic of the Giants receivers changing in the minimal time you have left.  I see questions about teams with Crabtree, Maclin, Avant, or Britt on free agents… all much better options down the stretch.

Rock Cartwright (WAS) – The Redskins did everything no one thought they could… keep the strength of their game (running) relevant throughout the entirety of the game!  And even with this being the case Cartwright was still a huge disappointment and can not be counted on for fantasy production in my book.  No Redskins back can be counted on till they get Portis back.

Larry Johnson (CIN) – If you took a gamble and gobbled up Johnson after his 100 yard performance you can drop him.  Benson had 36 carries coming back, he is the workhorse and there is little to no room for anyone else to produce stats.  LJ is only a handcuff at best, and I’d rather have Bernard Scott.

No Comments »