Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - Week 7

TO Alert Level - Remains at Elevated

Willis McGahee - alot of people had you on the bench this week. 105yds and a TD could have helped many in their games. But you've been so inconsistent no one can trust you.

Steven Jackson - welcome to the world! Watching reports of a quad injury during this week, but this is the performance fantasy football owners were looking for.

Kyle Orton looks to be for real. Like the way he is managing the game and throwing downfield. But if you had either the Bears or Vikings DEF/ST yesterday, you might have gotten no points for the yardage and points given up. If you score INTs, defensive touchdowns and sacks you may have come out with positive points. Look for information on the Devin Hester injury.

Peyton Manning what happened? You and Marvin and Reggie looked great last week and then throw up a dud. And then to have two passes picked and returned for touchdowns. Could have been an abberation. But the Colts are now officially fighting for their playoff lives.

I'm not worried about Drew Brees and the Saints offense. Jeremy Shockey is saying the Saints may have rushed him back too soon. Well, did we expect but an injury or injuries this year from Shockey?

Love the Titans DEF/ST, hate their offense. You would think Kerry Collins would have been better than Vince Young but they are about the same. Collins' stat line yesterday was 11-18 for 123. Game manager to the extreme.

I'll keep saying it until something happens: When is Darren Sproles going to get more touches. Only 2 yesterday while LT2 ran 14 times for 41 yards. Chargers need s spark and Sproles could be the guy but like I said before: They don't want to hurt LT2's feelings.

Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 6

TO Alert Level - Now At Elevated, up from Guarded

TO didn't have any statement to make after the game yesterday, but did you see the outfit? He had on over sized sunglasses, a dress shirt with a black bow tie and a bright yellow sweater. Wait a minute, words don't do it justice, here it is courtesy of FanIQ



Tony Romo OUT for the next 4 weeks with a broken finger. Brad Johnson steps in. Bad news for TO. Not because Johnson can't throw, but because they'll try to get the run game more involved. Marion Barber owners, your ears should perk up.

Thomas Jones thank you sir for showing up. That is what all us fantasy players expected, though not all in one game. 2TD rushing and 1TD receiving. If you can give 75 yds and a TD a game we'll be extremely happy.

Nice game by the rookie Matt Ryan for ATL in an exciting win. Joe Flacco, not so much. Not that you should have been starting either one of them anyway. Same with JaMarcus Russell.

The Colts offense FINALLY showed up. Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne all looked good. Joseph Addai is now part of my "NEVER DRAFT EVER AGAIN" list. I said earlier this year that he always seemed dinged or coming out of games. He came out in the game and did not return, but Tony Dungy says he's OK and should be available for the next game. Joe is fragile is the only conclusion.

Matt Cassel looked all out of sorts against the Chargers. Randy Moss, left out in the cold. Wes Welker is still valuable in a PPR league with lots of targets and catches, but not getting alot of yardage. Was last week's great game by Cassel an anomaly? We shall see...

Warrick Dunn's 122 yards was made by Earnest Graham putting aside his ego and blocking for Dunn when all the other fullbacks got injured. So watch the injury reports this week and see if Storer and Askew will play. If they don't, Graham might have another bad stats game.

Phillip Rivers had another nice game with 3TD passes. He's going to carry this team the rest of the season as LT2's toe does not seem to be getting any better. I think there is going to be a matter of time before people ask why Darren Sproles is not getting more touches. They don't want to hurt LT's feelings...

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Work, Week 6

First an apology to Terrell Owens: Seems that the reason he was crying and seemed upset after the game this past weekend was that he had a death in family. My condolences and my apologizes for thinking you were being a jerk because he only had two catches.

TO Alert Level - Now At Guarded, down from High

RB Correll Buckhalter, PHI
RB Lorenzo Booker, PHI
Brian Westbrook has two fractured ribs. Ouch! I don't care if you're wearing a flak jacket. Every defensive back will be making a special effort to reach out and touch Westbrook on his ribs for the coming weeks.

TE LJ Smith, PHI
People forgot about LJ because he was injured early in the season, but he's a big threat when he's healthy. McNabb has to throw it around.

WR Mike Walker, JAC
Seems to be the go to guy in Jacksonville. Someone had to step up since no one else was. Also watch Matt Jones. His drug possession case was knocked down because he agreed to drug counseling. So no shot of him missing time. He's been playing well too.

WR Donnie Avery, STL
Someone else besides Torry Holt and Steven Jackson has to make plays for the Rams to break out of their funk. This is a stretch with the Rams playing the way they are. Take a chance if you have bench space.

WR Bernard Berrian, MIN
Emerging guy for the Vikings. Nice game last week. Gus Frerotte is not your ideal QB but he's throwing when they put eight in the box against Adrian Peterson.

Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 5

Larry Johnson averaged 100 yards per game the last two weeks. Only problem is: He had 198 last week and 2 yds yesterday. 2!!! TWO!!! How pathetic is that?? Damon Huard looked ill-prepared for the game and it's killing Dwayne Bowe owners like me.

Hey Matt Cassel my apologies. I said you could not get Randy Moss the deep ball. You did yesterday in a nice win for the Patriots.

Sage Rosenfels cost his team the game with his fumbles with time running out. But if Schaub was too sick to play, why was he on the sidelines in full uniform? If you were using Schaub as a bye week fill-in, thought he was playing and then found out he wasn't, you got screwed.

The Colts are still not right. They are a couple of plays from 0-4 as opposed to 2-2. Eli is the bettter Manning QB right now, playing on the better team. At least the turnovers gave Reggie Wayne a chance to score the TD at the end of the game. The transfer of #1 receiver is complete. Marvin Harrison's age and injuries have made him the 2nd or 3rd option. But if you have him, you've got the play him.

Speaking of not right you can't tell me something is not right with LaDainian at this point. The Chargers lose again and his stat line is
12-35 rushing
5-22 receiving
I don't think you have any choice but to play him. You'll never get the value you want for him at this point, unless your trade partner is looking at LT2's reputation and not his current stats.

35 year old Isaac Bruce is still pulling down catches in Mad Mike Martz' system. Everyone thought Bryant Johnson would be the man, but Bruce knows this system and JT O'Sullivan trusts him.

Clinton Portis is fantasy RB stud for the year. He's been injury free the last few years and has played up to the potential he had when he left the Broncos. Jason Campbell has been very solid, but not spectacular in fantasy football terms. No turnovers and 4 straight wins.

I am very concerned about Calvin Johnson AKA MEGATRON and Roy Williams. WR talent can't overcome bad QB play and a bad O-line.

Santana Moss! Calling Santana Moss! Where are you? 0 catches. No stat line yesterday. Not even an end around...

Steve Slaton, you are the man. Third straight week of excellent fantasy football stats. 93 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Thanks for showing up too Andre Johnson. Hopefully you can stay off the injury list for an extended period time to put up the numbers you're capable of.

I'm officially on TO watch now. Did you see his press conference? His team won, but he only got two balls for 67 yds and a TD. He made a rambling statement about God and reality and didn't take any questions. He seemed like he was holding himself back because the Cowboys won and he really had no basis for complaining. And then during the game Jerry Jones comes to the sideline to talk to TO. For a guy whose team is 4-1, he sure looks disgusted...

Remember last post I said Cedric Benson was a player I would never draft again after screwing me last year. Benson has come back to haunt me again, signing with the Bengals to take away carries from Chris Perry, who I have in two leagues. Perry is not doing himself any favors, fumbling again yesterday and has a total of 5 for the year. I'm getting reeaaallly close to dumping Perry....

Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 4

Larry Johnson, maybe you're not washed up after all. Fantasy beast this weekend. Damon Huard made all the difference in this game. Herm, what took you so long to figure this out?

Denver DEF/ST = HORRIBLE

So I think Brett Favre digested more of the playbook this past weekend. 6TDs. The Jets DEF/ST didn't come out of the locker room after halftime however. Chad who, Laveranues Coles?

Make sure you have backup plans for Carson Palmer. His elbow issue may linger and he has not sounded too confident on returning this week.

Michael Turner, what is your deal with road games? Fantastic at home, muy mal on the road so far. Oh wait, you played KC and Detriot at home. That explains it.

Miles Austin? I may start believing last week wasn't a fluke.

Terrell Owens, you were targeted in a third of Dallas' offensive plays and you're still complaining. You're a first ballot Hall of Famer but you still haven't learned your lesson from Philly. STFU and play!

I believe in you Jason Campbell. Nice turnaround from your deer in the headlights play Week1. Hey Santana Moss, try not to get get injured!

Welcome back Steven Jackson! Now with Linehan gone, who's going to be your QB next week. I would suspect it's back to Marc Bulger. Jim Haslett needs to do something with that Rams DEF/ST. It just plain stinks!

If you own any Packer WR hope that Aaron Rodgers can play this weekend. You've got two true rookies behind him. Watch that situation this week closely.

Kurt Warner threw for over 450 yards. He also had 3 INTs and 3 fumbles. Kurt time to take off those gloves!

Waiver Wire Potential

Deuce McAllister, NO
Wow! A Deuce sighting! 73 yards and a TD. I'm still wary of his injury history.

Steve Breaston and Jerheme Urban, AZ
I know...I know...Jerheme who???? I would seriously doubt Anquan Boldin is going to play this weekend. Monitor that situation but look for Breaston or Urban on your waiver wire. Urban might have only gotten into the game bacause the Cards were down by 35 and they started using 4 WR sets.

Melwelde Moore, PIT
After Ray Lewis put a crazy pop on Mendenhall, he's out for the season. Moore is the last RB standing for the Steelers until Willie Parker comes back. UPDATE - PIT signed Najeh Davenport today. Davenport might start or split carries with Moore. Davenport has also been in the Steeler system for a long time before being cut.

Miles Austin, DAL
Tony Romo throws the ball all over despite what TO says. Worth a flier.

Lance Moore and Robert Meachem, NO
If you didn't pick them up last week, you might still have chance after nice performances by each this week.

Plaxico Burress, Fantasy Football Fool of the Week

Of course the year I pick up Plaxico Burress after his years of being injury prone - he starts the year 100% healthy, puts up decent numbers - AND - get suspended by the Giants for insubordination!!

WTF?!?!?!

Plax, you're a Super Bowl champ. You got the new, freshly signed contract you've been whining about for awhile. What is your problem?????

Giants are on a Week 4 bye, but now Amani Toomer and Steve Smith are good pickups. Even Domenik Hixon in a deep league.

Trent Green starts for Marc Bulger in St. Louis this week. Not sure if that makes a difference. Steven Jackson owners like me certainly hope it makes some difference.

Some other waiver wire potential

Rashard Mendenhall, PIT - Now that Fast Willie is out for at least this coming week

LeRon McClain, BAL - Whenever I hear the name McClain I think of "Die Hard"...but I digress... Willis McGahee is back but who knows how long he'll stay healthy and McClain is getting TDs

Steve Slaton, HOU - He's probably gone but if he's there...

Brandon Lloyd, CHI - Seems to be Orton's top receiving option at this point

Pierre Thomas, NO - Reggie Bush will see alot of action receiving and I'm not sure what the problem is with Deuce McA, but Thomas could be the beneficiary

Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, NO - With Colston and Shockey out, somebody has got to catch passes

Killer of Fantasy Football Dreams - The Bye Week

In one league I had Thomas Jones and my opponent had Brett Favre and Vincent Jackson.

I was leading by 16.

When I saw Favre got picked twice I thought I had a shot. When TJones I fumbled, I knew I was in trouble.

Favre had 3TDs, 2 INTs. Vincent Jax had 70+ yds receiving. I lost by 10.

Making me 2-1 in one league and 3-0 in the other.

This coming weekend begins the NFL byes. You must work the waiver wire tonight if you have the following teams:

Detroit,Indianapolis,Miami,N.Y. Giants,Seattle,New England

Some inexperienced owners get hosed during the bye weeks because they pick up all their running backs with Week 6 byes and then don't have any replacements.

If you've properly drafted you have at most one stud player out per week and/or have a suitable replacement ready and able to go off the bench.

If you don't, I'll have some options for you next post...

Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 3

Maybe Ronnie Brown has fully recovered from his knee surgery? Just wondering...

I just enjoyed that the Dolphins put 38 points on the Pats considering that they killed so many teams last year without mercy. Teams don't fear the Pats without Brady. Look for alot more teams to give NE "the business".

The unusual formations had NE completely confused. Ronnie Brown under center? Chad and Ricky split out wide? WTF!? That may not work again, but they got the victory they wanted.

Randy Moss owners, time to worry. Cassel is not going to get the ball to him on deep passes.

I turn to the Steelers/Eagles game and I see Kevin Kolb in there. Where is Donovan?!?! He comes back in after Kolb has a couple of plays but now I make sure I have a decent backup QB. This was my fear about taking McNabb - injury prone. Same with Westbrook, who left with a ankle sprain and never came back. Bad news for the Eagles - and me!

I may have prematurely called the demise of Carson Palmer with the decent preformance he had, but one thing is still constant - the bad Bengals defense. Nice to see Chris Perry show up and not fumble. I had him on the bench though. Can't trust this offense yet...

What a turn around for Jason Campbell. 2 TDs yesterday and 2 weeks of excellent performances after looking completely lost Week 1 against the Giants.

Besides Westbrook and McNabb, the notable injury I heard of was Jon Kitna. Left the game with a sprained knee. Lions have a Week 4 bye, but I have no idea who the backup QB is. I have big hopes for Calvin Johnson AKA MEGATRON. He and Roy Williams had nothing going yesterday. Rudi Johnson did have a pretty good game, but I'm sure not many people started him. We'll see what comes out of their bye week.

Trent Edwards had another nice performance. He spreads it around so you can't key in on one Bills' WR for waiver wire claim. Bills DEF/ST doing well also. Bills are 3-0.

I don't believe in Larry Johnson yet even after 100+ yards because I don't believe in his QB. Herm, why is Damon Huard on the bench still? Meantine Thigpen is killing Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez owners.

I'll be watching the Jets @ Chargers closely tonight. How effectively will LT2 play? What will Darren Sproles do? Will Brett Favre be unleashed? Will Thomas Jones get back on track? I have TJones in two leagues so I need some points. Brett, you need to handoff early and often!

Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 2

Javon Walker: You played in the game but had no catches???

LaDainian Tomlinson: You are no longer first pick, first round draft material. LT I hope you prove me wrong because we are only two weeks in. But if Darren Sproles is on your waiver wire, get him immediately. I was looking at the replay of his touchdown and I thought they sped up the replay. It was real speed and he looked like he was much faster than anyone else on the field.

Brandon Marshall: A beast. 18 catches, 166 yds, 1 TD. Could be the number #1 fantasy football receiver by year's end.

Tom Brady: Losing Tom Brady is not the end of the world for your fantasy team. If you're depending on one player to carry you to the championship, you've lost already. If your league's Tom Brady owner has given up hope, see what you can get for his/her prime players.

Jason Campbell: I don't know what happened to him this past week, but whatever it is, keep doing it. Haven't seen the game yet but the numbers show he was much sharper than last week's dismal showing.

Kurt Warner: Still got it when he's healthy and has protection. Arizona's DEF/ST still middle of pack, which means lots of shootouts and high scoring games. Great for Warner, Fitz and Boldin.

Players Looking Like Shells Of Their Former Selves
Larry Johnson
Marvin Harrison
David Garrard

Players to Look For on the Waiver Wire
Fred Jackson, BUF
Darren Sproles, SD
Michael Bush, OAK

More Random Thoughts on Fantasy Football 2008 - WEEK 1

Darren McFadden left last night's game with a shoulder injury. This could be nothing, I have not seen the reports yet. But this was the knock on him coming out of college, that he was a high injury risk. Look for Justin Fargas as a pickup or even Michael Bush on the waiver wire this week.

Javon Walker, I knew I didn't trust you. Scratched from the game because of a hamstring injury. How many fantasy football owners took you on name reputation alone in their drafts? How many had you in their lineups last night?

On the flipside, Eddie Royal looks like a legitimate player and not just a one week fill-in for suspended Brandon Marshall. With Marshall coming back next week and Jay Cutler playing extremely well, this could be the next high powered offense in the NFL.

Fantasy Football owners - heed this lesson - NEVER, EVER depend on a Bronco running back....unless it is a flex position on your roster.

Brett The Jet

The New York papers said it all today and they both said the same thing...

JET FAVRE!

Until I see Brett Favre in a news conference with the Mangenius and GM Tannenbaum with a Favre Jets jersey, I won't believe it. Because we all know how wishy washy and indecisive Brett Favre can.

He may wake up this morning and say "WTF?! I'm going to the JETS??????"

Can you imagine that?

And now he's in New York so the media would hound him from sun up to sundown...like they weren't planning to do that already.

Want to be a Cool Commish?

If you're a commissioner for a league like I am, you want to change things up to make it interesting for yourself and your fellow owners. To set the tone for the league, have a high tech draft with FANDRAFT software.

All you need is a projector or large screen TV and you have all the makings for a draft no one will forget. You'll feel like you're at the real NFL draft, with you in the Roger Goodell role. I like that the software puts a time limit on each team's pick and then announces the name of the player selected. Everyone can see all the picks so no one can say, "Is LaDainian Tomlinson taken already?"

I'm going to try this out at home first and see how it looks. If it looks good, I'm going to use it.

Marvin and Reggie - Happy Together?

I'm watching the NFL Network and the news scroll says that Marvin Harrison will not play in this weekend's Hall of Fame game. At first I am concerned but not really, only because there is a whole list of Colts not playing in the game. Harrison is getting on the older side of old for WRs and it would be nice to see him run some routes, make cuts at full speed and take some hits from DBs after his surgey. We'll have plenty of pre-season games to micro analyze how he runs, cuts, walks, gulps his Gatorade and adjust his cup...

If nothing else, his absence last year solidified Reggie Wayne's status as not only the top receiver on the Colts, but one of the top 3 in the league with Randy Moss and TO.

Reggie is generally going as the third wide receiver taken in fantasy football drafts but I might have to disagree. Look at the schedule WKS 14,15,16 for 2008.

IND
14: HOME vs CIN
15: HOME vs DET
16: AWAY vs JAC

NE
14: AWAY vs SEA
15: AWAY vs OAK
16: HOME vs ARI

DAL
14: AWAY vs PIT
15: HOME vs NYG
16: HOME vs BAL

Hear me out - I'm making a couple of assumptions

AFC South will be rough and tumble and the Colts will not run away from the division
AFC East will be cakewalk for Patriots
NFC East will be tough for all teams

this means...

Colts will be playing meaningful games in December at home in a DOME WK 14, 15 with all starters in fantasy playoffs and in Florida for WK 16

Cowboys will play WK 15, 16 of fantasy playoffs at home out of the cold of the Northeast

Patriots will be firmly in control of the AFC East and maybe playing for home field but will not be perfect and will rest key players.

Therefore I would take
TO then
Reggie then
Randy

I might even bump Reggie up to number 1 because he plays in a dome. Less chance of weather affecting his fantasy numbers.

It will be interesting to see the dynamic as the season plays out if it is really apparent that Peyton Manning is overlooking Marvin to find Reggie. Peyton will throw to whoever is open, but Reggie is his man now. Can Marvin gracefully take a backseat?

Lil' Stevie Throwing Hands

From ESPN

Hey Lil' Stevie you need to control that anger man...I mean really...

In terms of fantasy I would be shocked if the Panthers suspend him for more than a game and fine him some cash.

But he did have decent numbers last year with the revolving cast of QBs, including VINNY TESTAVERDE. How long will Jake Delhomme last? That is the real question. Delhomme is not even on my radar to draft this year.

And does Vinny have something on NFL coaches and GMs that they keep calling when someone goes down? Is there no one else on the team already, on the practice squad, who can step in? Obviously not.

Why Talking Fantasy Football?

I realized I had a problem when in May of this year, I started thinking about Fantasy Football...

I started thinking about which leagues I would join...Could I get the number 1 pick again...Could LT stay healthy...could Adrian Peterson (from MIN, not CHI) stay healthy...what about Bulger, McNabb, Deuce...can Brady do it again...could Chris Henry stay out of trouble...who's this year's rookie version of Marques Colston...all the questions, no answers.

So this blog is about the questions that run thru my head during the course of an NFL season and the accompanying Fantasy Football season. Questions, I'm sure you have too, maybe no one to talk about them with, certainly not to talk about with someone in your league(s), who might use the info against you.

Read, post, get some ideas and hopefully win your league...unless you're in one of my leagues, in which case, never look here again!