Author: John Paulsen (Page 749 of 937)

Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC) can be an effective approach in fantasy football. While other teams spend middle round draft picks on the Ravens or Bears, an owner going DTBC will wait until the final rounds to grab a mediocre defense with a good matchup in week 1. As the season wears on, they’ll pickup defenses week to week depending on the matchup, because a mediocre defense with a great matchup is as good of a play as a great defense with a mediocre matchup.

Last week, my top three plays were CIN, DEN and TB. The Bengals played pretty well, the Broncos played great and the Bucs were mediocre. Overall, it was a solid week.

Here are a few defenses that have nice matchups this week and are available in at least 40% of ESPN leagues (in order of strength of play):

TB (vs. ATL), CIN (@ SF) and MIA (vs. BAL)

Good luck!

Last week’s sleeper, Chris Redman, posted 298 yards, two TD and one INT in his Monday night game against the Saints. Not bad.

This week’s sleeper is…

Darius Walker, Texans (vs. DEN)
Ron Dayne is looking very iffy for tonight’s game, and if he’s unable to go, it would thrust Walker into the starting role. Walker turned 22 touches into 81 yards against the Bucs, but the Broncos have struggled this season to stop the run (though they have been better of late). Expect 60-100 total yards, a few receptions and maybe a score, which makes Walker a decent option for those owners looking for a spot starter at RB.

Every week, I highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Carson Palmer or LaDainian Tomlinson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and start them. I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Ben Roethlisberger, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.

START ‘EM

QB: The Saints haven’t been quite as bad of late against the pass, but Kurt Warner is still worth a start. New Orleans is putting up points, so this should be a high-scoring affair, which means Warner should be forced to throw a ton…For those desperate at QB, give Trent Edwards a look. He threw four TD last week and has the Browns this week…Jay Cutler (@ HOU), Sage Rosenfels (vs. DEN), Kyle Orton (@ MIN), and Billy Volek/Phillip Rivers (vs. DET) are also decent spot starters at QB.

RB: Jamal Lewis is playing well, and the good times should continue against the Bills, who have yielded an average of 112 yards and 0.9 TD on the ground this season…Ryan Grant is a must-start against the Rams, who have struggled against the run all season…Feel like rolling the dice? Give Laurence Maroney a go. He’s an afterthought in the Pats’ offense, but he has a great matchup against the Jets. In the first game between these two teams, he rushed a season-high 20 times for 72 yards.

WR: Lee Evans is definitely worth a start against the Browns if more reliable options aren’t available…If Anquan Boldin is out, Bryant Johnson is startable against the Saints. He didn’t do much last week, but Warner did target him nine times, so he should have a better game against New Orleans…Brandon Marshall is a must-start against a banged up Houston defense. Marshall has been on fire of late, so work him into your lineup if you can.

SIT ‘EM

QB: Chris Redman had a good game against the Saints, but he’s likely to have a tougher time against the Bucs, who are fourth in the league against the pass…Be sure to avoid Kyle Boller (@ MIA), Vinny Testaverde (vs. SEA) and whoever is QB’ing for Oakland (vs. IND).

RB: On the heels of a bad game, life doesn’t get any easier for the Bears’ Adrian Peterson, who has a tough matchup with a Vikings defense that boasts the league’s best rush defense…Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew figure to have a tough day against a stingy Pittsburgh rush defense…Samkon Gado scored twice last week, but don’t expect the same production this week against the Ravens.

WR: Reggie Williams has played pretty well of late, but this week he runs into the league’s second-best pass defense (PIT)…Same goes for Jerry Porter. He has been solid, but he has some QB issues and the Colts are coming to town…Derrick Mason should ride the pine this week since he faces the league’s third-best pass defense (MIA). The Dolphins can’t stop the run, so teams don’t have to throw the ball.

Need a stopgap RB this week? If you play in a PPR league, Darius Walker just might be your guy. He stepped in for the injured Dayne against the Bucs and rushed 16 times for 46 yards. He also caught six passes for 35 yards, giving him around 14 points in most PPR performance leagues.

In week 15, he faces the Broncos, who have been suspect against the run for most of the season. They allowed just 16 yards on the ground against the Chiefs last week, but yielded 165 rushing yards against the Raiders the week before.