Author: John Paulsen (Page 801 of 937)

Now that Week 12 is complete, it’s time to hand out awards for the third quarter of the fantasy football season. These awards are based on performance scoring, such as this one from Antsports.com. For those players that missed games due to injury, I included those games in their per game averages. Keep in mind, I’m only looking at performances during Weeks 9-12.

QUARTERBACKS

MVP: Drew Brees (27.5 ppg)
So much for that iffy shoulder. All Drew Brees has done in the last four weeks is throw for an average of 393 yards and two scores per game. I wonder how dumb the Dolphins feel right now. During the offseason, they felt that Brees’ shoulder was a bigger risk than Daunte Culpepper’s knee. I wouldn’t want to put “Dolphins’ team doctor” on my resume right now.

Honorable Mention: Carson Palmer (24.0), Tony Romo (23.1)

Biggest Surprise: Tony Romo (23.1)
Many thought that Romo would be better than Drew Bledsoe, but who thought that he’d be this much better? In the last four games, he has averaged 281 pass yards and 2.3 TDs per game. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Honorable Mention: Matt Leinart (20.2), Ben Roethlisberger (19.5), Vince Young (19.3)

Biggest Disappointment: Eli Manning (9.9)
After a pretty nice start, the “other” Manning has fizzled of late, throwing for an average of 168 yards and 0.8 TD against 1.8 INT over the last four games. While arguments could be made for handing this award to Matt Hasselbeck or Donovan McNabb, Manning hasn’t missed any time with injury.

Dishonorable Mention: Matt Hasselbeck (4.8), Donovan McNabb (8.3)

RUNNING BACKS

MVP: LaDainian Tomlinson (40.1)
Zzzzzzzz. What? You want me to tell you what LT has done over the last four weeks. Okay, well, he averaged 161 yards from scrimmage. Not enough? Let’s see, he averaged 3.3 TDs per game. That’s enough? Good, I’m going back to sleep now.

Honorable Mention: Steven Jackson (34.2), Brian Westbrook (24.9), Willie Parker (24.3)

Biggest Surprise: Joseph Addai (22.3)
Granted, Addai won this award on Sunday night when he gained 208 yards from scrimmage while rushing for four scores against the Eagles. I definitely thought Addai would have a good second half, but I wasn’t expecting that.

Honorable Mention: Jamal Lewis (17.4), Maurice Drew (16.2), Marion Barber (15.4)

Biggest Disappointment: Edgerrin James (9.2)
Arguments can be made for several players, but no back was more disappointing in the third quarter than James, who just can’t seem to get anything going behind the Cardinals’ sketchy offensive line. Arizona had a bye in Week 9, but since then, James has gained an average of 72 yards from scrimmage with no scores. Ugh.

Dishonorable Mention: Shaun Alexander (6.3), Julius Jones (7.3), LaMont Jordan (5.6), Willis McGahee (5.4), Clinton Portis (5.1)

WIDE RECEIVERS

MVP: Chad Johnson (29.9)
Who else? Over the past four games, CJ has averaged seven catches for 151 yards and 1.3 TD and that includes a 4-catch/32-yard game against the Ravens. He had a slow start, but over the last three weeks, he’s been phenomenal.

Honorable Mention: Lee Evans (21.5), Steve Smith (20.9), Javon Walker (20.3)

Biggest Surprise: Devery Henderson (19.5)
Is this even fair? The Saints already have Marques Colston, who is the frontrunner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and when he goes down with an ankle sprain, they plug in Henderson, who averaged four catches for 110 yards and 0.8 TD over the last four games. And those numbers include a goose egg against Pittsburgh in Week 10. Wowsers.

Honorable Mention: Lee Evans (21.5), Mark Clayton (15.0), Marty Booker (14.7)

Biggest Disappointment: Torry Holt (10.8)
What’s wrong with Torry Holt? After averaging 6-82-1 through the first eight weeks, Holt’s numbers took a nosedive in the third quarter, where he averaged just 5.3 catches for 55 yards and zero scores. This probably has more to do with Marc Bulger’s ribs than anything Torry is doing, but he’s still a disappointment.

Dishonorable Mention: Santana Moss (2.2), Antonio Bryant (5.5), Joe Horn (6.9), Chris Chambers (10.3)

TIGHT ENDS

MVP: Chris Cooley (14.3)
After a slow start, Cooley was cut in many fantasy leagues. Sharp owners jumped on him and over the past four weeks, he’s paid dividends, averaging 3.5 catches for 63 yards and 0.8 TD.

Honorable Mention: Todd Heap (13.1), Ben Watson (13.1), Kellen Winslow (12.9)

Biggest Surprise: Bo Scaife (10.1)
Over the past four weeks, Scaife has benefited from the absence of Ben Troupe, averaging three catches for 38 yards while scoring twice. He should be a good spot starter the rest of the way.

Biggest Disappointment: Desmond Clark (4.7)
Clark teased fantasy owners with a strong first half, but over the last four weeks he’s caught an average of 1.8 passes for 14 yards and 0.3 TD. Ugh.

Dishonorable Mention: Alge Crumpler (7.8), Antonio Gates (11.5)

It’s crunch time and you might need a sanity check. Post all of your fantasy questions here.

QUARTERBACKS

Here is a list of players that may be available on your league’s waiver wire, in order of relative value:

Tony Romo, Steve McNair, Phillip Rivers, Vince Young, Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, David Carr, David Garrard, Aaron Brooks, Trent Green, Joey Harrington, Chad Pennington, Jeff Garcia, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, Charlie Frye, J.P. Losman, Brad Johnson, Bruce Gradkowski

Jake Plummer is out. Jay Cutler is in. I’m not sure what to expect from Cutler, who has been pretty hyped since he entered the league this summer. But he’s got a nice schedule ahead of him (Sea, @SD, @ARI, CIN) and ten days to prepare for his first game, so he isn’t being thrown to the wolves…Don’t look now, but Vince Young is turning into a pretty good fantasy QB. Over the last three weeks he has thrown for 569 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 157 and two more TDs. His schedule is favorable over the next two weeks, but games against Jacksonville and at Buffalo loom in Weeks 15 and 16…Jason Campbell is another good option for fantasy owners still reeling from the loss of Donovan McNabb. In two starts, he hasn’t thrown for a ton of yards (314), but he has thrown two scores in each game. Plus, his schedule down the stretch looks pretty good.

RUNNING BACKS

DeAngelo Williams, Travis Henry, Wali Lundy, Ladell Betts, Sammy Morris, Cedric Benson, Arlen Harris, Maurice Jones-Drew, Leon Washington, Mike Bell, Justin Fargas, Sam Gado, Jerious Norwood, Michael Turner, Brandon Jacobs, Zack Crockett, Anthony Thomas, Jason Wright, T.J. Duckett

The Panthers elected not to update the status of DeShaun Foster on Monday, so his status is still up in the air. DeAngelo Williams didn’t perform very well (20 touches, 86 yards), but he wasn’t bad either. We all know he’ll eventually be the starter in Carolina, it’s just a matter of time. Keep an eye on Foster’s status this week…Sammy Morris took over for the injured Ronnie Brown and rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries. Brown had surgery on his hand so don’t expect him to be back for Week 13. Morris is in for spot-starter duty, but he’s got a tough matchup against a stout Jacksonville defense.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Mark Clayton, Marty Booker, Reche Caldwell, Chris Henry, Devery Henderson, Santonio Holmes, Mike Furrey, Wes Welker, Arnaz Battle, Terrance Copper, Ernest Wilford, Eric Parker, Patrick Crayton, Doug Gabriel

Thursday seems like a long time ago, but Marty Booker went nuts on the Lions, catching seven balls for 115 yards and two scores. No one knows for sure what’s wrong with Chris Chambers, but Booker is picking up the slack…It looks like Hines Ward may be out a while after knee surgery, so Santonio Holmes will be first in line for his targets.

TIGHT ENDS

Bo Scaife, Jerramy Stevens, Owen Daniels, Randal Williams, David Martin, Vernon Davis, Alex Smith, Eric Johnson

With Ben Troupe out for the year, Bo Scaife is getting even more playing time. He appears to be a favorite target of Vince Young which makes him a good backup TE at this point in the season…Jerramy Stevens keeps dropping the ball, but Matt Hasselbeck keeps throwing it to him, resulting in a 3-yard TE catch late Monday night. If you’re in a pinch, he’s still a good option despite the butterfingers.