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Studs

LeSean McCoy, RB, PHI – It isn’t often that Andy Reid lets a back see 30 carries, but I am not sure he has ever had one as good as McCoy. I thought that he was mostly just an edge rusher and receiving threat and that is what Reid likes from a RB.  He has proved me wrong this season and continues to impress after 185 yards and 2 TDs on the ground this week.

Steve Smith, WR, CAR – Smith now has five 100 yard receiving performances this season.  He is a top 10 receiver with Cam Newton at QB and has just been a draft day steal for all of his fantasy owners.

Steven Jackson, RB, STL – Jackson is too good to have been on your bench this week, even though we all expected a rout by New Orleans and limited carries because of a need to pass the ball.  Well that didn’t happen as the Rams upset the Saints in a big way on Sunday and Jackson was the key to this win.

Bills, D/ST, BUF – The one knock on this opportunistic defensive unit has been pressure on the QB.  Going into this week, they had the lowest sack total in the NFL with 4.  They had NINE sacks this week against Washington and forced 2 interceptions as they shut out the Redskins. Beck had a rough day and this was the first time in history that a Mike Shanahan team has been shut out. Impressive game by the Bills after coming off the bye week, which has spelled disaster for most teams this season.

Frank Gore, RB, SF – After posting 134 yards on 31 carries and scoring a TD this week, Gore has 4 straight games of over 125 yards AND a TD. Impressive after such a lack-luster start. The 49ers offense is forcing the ball down the throat of opposing defenses and I don’t see their strategy changing over the rest of this season. You HAVE to keep Gore in your lineup.

Nate Washington, WR, TEN – Nate had two scores in this game and it was by far his best game since Kenny Britt was hurt and he reached the top of the depth chart at wide receiver. I credit this to Javon Ringer bringing a balance to the Titan offense as he split carries evenly with Chris Johnson.

Duds

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE – Terrible call by me on Law Firm this week. In my defense, NO ONE saw Kevin Faulk’s return as a threat to Law Firm’s workload. Neither Ridley or Woodhead even saw a touch in this game and Faulk had over twice the touches that Green-Ellis did. Fantasy owners hate you too Coach Belichick.

Philip Rivers, QB, SD – The only reason that Rivers hasn’t been the biggest bust of the 2011 season is because Chris Johnson was a first round pick.  They have both been equally as bad.  Rivers has been out scored by Colt McCoy, Josh Freeman, Matt Hasselbeck and Mark Sanchez. Ouch.  No excuse this week as all his receiving weapons are finally healthy.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL – Admittedly the entire Cowboys offense was bad this week, but we have come to expect Austin to be a top 10 receiver and in the past two weeks he has been far from.  I was surprised to see Austin in the slot so much this week, with Robinson playing on the outside in three receiver sets. This was probably an effort to get a more favorable matchup for Austin and I expect Dallas to make a point to get Austin back involved in a big way against Seattle this week.

Ryan Torain, RB, WAS – The Skins are just falling apart and with Torain being injury prone, I expect Helu to take over the lion’s share of the carries VERY soon.

Wes Welker, WR, NE – The Steelers provided a very nice road map for how to shut down Brady and the Pats offense.  Play man-to-man and load up 8 or 9 people around the line of scrimmage.  The Pats don’t have an elite receiver that can go out there and beat man-coverage on a regular basis.  I am not worried about any Patriots down the road though.  Not many teams have the personnel on defense to execute this strategy like Pittsburgh does.

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Question 1: Asked by @aglikas

Would you trade Steven Jackson for Dez Bryant?

Answer

If you have a guy willing to do this, then go for it! Bryant is a play maker and Romo looks to find him at all times during the game. He will have some lack-luster performances at times because Miles Austin is back and healthy, but the Rams offense has scared me early in the season and I am VERY concerned about Jackson’s ability to make plays at his age. He definitely still has some gas in the tank, but he lost a step and that makes a HUGE difference on Sundays.

Question 2: Asked by @MFarrell21

Heyward-Bey or Avant this week?

Answer

So this depends on the quality of your opponent this week in my opinion. Avant is the safer play. He is a possession receiver and is less likely to get you zero points. If you need a big day to beat one of the top scoring guys in your league, then you want to start Heyward-Bey.  Haden is out for the Browns and Darrius has seen an increase in targets over the past few weeks. Most all of us have been burned by our trust in an Oakland wide-out, but they do tend to have big games randomly and if that’s what you need, then go for it. The Raiders receiver that I would prefer to start is Jacoby Ford, due to his involvement in the running game and the fact that Oakland is always looking to get the ball in his hands in open space.

Question 3: Asked by @jersymikejr

Branch or Manningham?

Answer

I am not worried about Manningham’s recent drought at all. Cruz is bound to limit his targets, but Mario is a crisp route runner with good size and speed.  I expect him to develop into his role as a possession receiver and still be able to put up numbers consistently. Branch on the other hand is about to see less time on the field with Hernandez back and Brady able to line up in two-TE sets all the time again.

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Love

Chris Johnson, RB, TEN – CJ has been disappointing fantasy owners for two weeks after he held out of training camp for a contract extension.  He has a very favorable match-up against last season’s 31st ranked pass defense that lost two interior defensive linemen before the start of the season.  I’m not saying for sure he’s back to his old self, but this is the week I think they really try and get him back to being the featured play maker of the offense.

Steve Smith, WR, CAR – With how Cam Newton has been playing and how bad of a secondary Jacksonville has, I see no reason not to expect a very good outting from Smith again.  He looks to be rejuvenated by his rookie QB and I think he is a must start in your WR 2 spot this week.

Beanie Wells, RB, ARI – Wells has run hard in the first two weeks. And with his carries being up in the absence of Tim Hightower and Ryan Williams, you’ve gotta like Beanie’s chance at success against a bad Seahawks team. Treat him as a must-start RB2 this week.

Devery Henderson, WR, NO – He seems to get the big game a slight bit more often than Meachem does and I have the both ranked much higher than I normally would for this week.  Houston’s secondary is still quite a weak spot and who better to exploit it than Drew Brees?  there will be plenty of catches to go around and the Saints are going to take a fair amount of shots vertically this week.

Philip Rivers, QB, SD – Hopefully Rivers doesn’t get the Chargers ahead too quickly in this game and make the passing game irrelevant.  Without Charles and Berry, the Chiefs are way outmatched in this game and the sky is the limit statistically for Rivers and the Chargers. I wouldn’t be shocked to see another modest performance due to a couple rushing TD’s, but there is zero risk with Rivers this week.

David Nelson, WR, BUF – The Bills have the NFL’s top scoring offense. It just feels good to say it.  The bubble is almost certainly going to burst for us Bills fans as we host the Patriots in week 3, but not for fantasy owners.  Buffalo will score points and be forced to do it in the air as they try and keep pace with New England’s offensive machine. The Bills are going to use Nelson a lot more in his most natural role, as the slot receiver, now that Roscoe Parrish is on IR. The Amish Rifle (Fitzpatrick) really seemed to have a connection with him and after Johnson, this is the guy that will be the most productive in my opinion.

Ryan Mathews, RB, SD – The Chargers are going to dominate the Chiefs in week 3.  I don’t think many people would disagree with that and it makes Mathews an attractive start as an RB2 for all the carries he will likely see later in the game to run down the clock.  I like Tolbert a lot too, but with how difficult TD’s are to predict, the yardage total for Mathews makes him a safer play in my opinion.

Hate

Eli Manning, QB, NYG – Eli has played less than inspired over the first two weeks of the season and against a ball hawking secondary like Philadelphia has, I think Manning is just WAY too risky of a play.

Arian Foster, RB, HOU – We can’t even be sure he’ll be active in this game but even if he is, I don’t think you can expect very much from him in week 3.  One of the scariest things for me as a fantasy owner is to see a guy come back from an injury and have to leave the game early again. Expect them to bring him back slowly with how well Ben Tate is running the ball and the sudden lack of a competitive division.

Reggie Wayne, WR, IND – On talent alone, Wayne is still a top 10 fantasy receiver in my opinion.  He isn’t likely to finish in the top 10 of points scored but he is tough to beat from a consistency standpoint. You probably need to start him as a WR2 or flex play still, but you definitely need to lower your expectations.

Steven Jackson, RB, STL – Even if he IS 100%, I’m hoping to not need him for more than a flex play against Pittsburgh.  I expected to see better offensive production from Bradford thus far and don’t think Jackson will exceed any expectations without teams being legitimately afraid of the passing game.

Fred Jackson, RB, BUF – I know what your thinking, he IS the 4th highest scoring RB in fantasy football over the first two weeks. But let’s face it… to keep pace with Brady, Buffalo will need to feature the vertical passing game and that suits CJ Spiller more than Jackson. I’m leaving Jackson as a low-end RB2 for this week, expect him to go up considerably when the match up is more favorable to a ground game.

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Love

Matt Schaub, QB, HOU – With Garrard already listed as out on the injury report for the Jaguars, the Texans are heavy favorites to win this game.  The weakness of the Jags defense is in their secondary.  All season long I have written that the CBs of the Jags have not been able to cover opposing wide receivers with any consistency.  If the Texans have Andre Johnson back and healthy, Schaub should be in for a big game to close out the 2010 season.

Steven Jackson, RB, STL – Last week the Buccaneers had a big second half on the ground against the Seahawks.  There was plenty of success to be had through the air as well, but the Rams are less likely to be as aggressive with a rookie QB on the road.  I expect St. Louis to feature SJax heavily this week and he is among the most consistent performing fantasy running backs in the NFL.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI – DJax is a streaky and inconsistent player.  He has HUGE potential going into any given week, but also has a decent chance to flop and get you nothing.  To me, with a player like this (and I owned him last year on my championship team) you HAVE to start them on a weekly basis.  Trying to guess which weeks he will blow up  is a recipe for disaster. After making it through a slow outing last week, can you afford to miss out on his big game next week?

Jamaal Charles, RB, KC – Charles is by far the most productive back in the league’s top ranked rushing offense.  It is a two back system where he shares work with Thomas Jones, but yet he has been a staple inside the top 10 of my RB rankings all season.  This is due to a dynamic play making ability as well as his threat to catch the ball out of the back field.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL – McGee did enough at QB in relief of Jon Kitna last week to keep me confident in Miles Austin’s production.  There has been no declaration from the Eagles about how much time their starters will see but with Andy Reid hinting that he will be benching some starters, Asante Samuel is not likely to play all four quarters.  Look for Austin to put up some good numbers this week even if it is in junk time.

Ryan Mathews, RB, SD – With Tolbert leaving the field on an ugly injury last week, Mathews should be the feature back for the Chargers against the 31st ranked rush defense.  This past week he was able to move the ball effectively and should be a quality RB2 for you in your last fantasy match up of the 2010 season.

Hate

Vincent Jackson, WR, SD – With the Chargers being knocked out of the playoff race, I have concerns that we will not see their best game this week.  Philip Rivers knows only one way to play and that is at an elite level and Ryan Mathews has something to prove.  VJax on the other hand has proven to be a bit selfish by holding out and is the one player that I fear will not give 100%.  He still ranks as a WR2, but lower your expectations.

Joseph Addai, RB, IND – Now that he is back in the lineup, he will be receiving more work with each passing week since the Colts will not trust their younger talent with the entire season on the line.  Dominic Rhodes has been picking up the slack in the mean time and you should expect him to carry the load late in the game if the Colts get ahead.  Addai may very well have a good game this week, but the threat to lose goal line carries and a good potion of the carries is too great to think of him as anything more than a mediocre flex play.

Jahvid Best, RB, DET – It was nice to see this young, exciting player able to make a splash again.  It was however, not enough to trust him in your championship match up! He is the best RB in Detroit for fantasy-purposes, but still should only be used in very deep formats.

Michael Crabtree, WR, SF – With a new head coach installed for just this Week 17 match up, I would stay far away from any 49ers not named Vernon Davis.  The 9ers are not unfamiliar with changes happening in the coaching staff, but this is largely why Crabtree was not a more consistent option for his fantasy owners throughout the season.

Jermaine Gresham, TE, CIN – The Bengals offense looked very good last week, but with the Ravens as opponents in Week 17 there is little reason to expect this rookie to have a big game.  Baltimore is only allowing an average of 4.9 fantasy points per week to the opposing tight end.

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