Everything you need to know (and a lot that you don’t) about the fantasy implications of Sunday’s action.
QUARTERBACKS
Trent Edwards threw two picks and fumbled, but he threw for more than 197+ yards and a TD for the sixth time in eight games…Kyle Orton suffered an ugly ankle injury and it looks like he could be out for a month. Rex Grossman will fill in for him…Gus Frerotte (182 yards, 3 TD, INT) continues to play solid ball for Minnesota. Since he took over six games ago, he is averaging 245 yards and 1.3 pass TD per game.
RUNNING BACKS
Kevin Smith got 16 touches to Rudi Johnson’s 10, and Smith also scored a TD, so it looks like he is the lead back in Detroit…Cedric Benson (25 touches, 109 yards, TD) seems to be settling into the RB1 role in Cincy…All that pregame talk about Michael Bennett getting most of the work for Tampa Bay turned out to be erroneous. Earnest Graham is a solid start as long as Warrick Dunn is out. He fumbled twice, but threw a TD to Alex Smith to make up for it…There were rumors that the Cardinals were going to cut Edgerrin James’ touches and give Tim Hightower more of the workload, but I wasn’t expecting Hightower to register 23 touches (108 yards, TD) and James to register zero. It looks like Hiightower is officially RB1 in Arizona…Ryan Grant (20 carries, 86 yards) ran pretty well against a good Titans defense, which is encouraging for his owners. He failed to score a TD, however…The Denver running game was awful against the Dolphins. Three RBs (Michael Pittman, Andre Hall and Ryan Torain) combined for 12 yards on 11 carries…Michael Turner (31 carries, 139 yards) once again tore up a bad rush defense. He has four 104+ yard games (OAK, GB, KC, DET) against mediocre-to-bad defenses and four sub 58-yard games (PHI, CHI, CAR, TB) against four good defenses. He doesn’t get any action in the passing game (3 receptions all year), so he can’t make up for a bad rushing day in PPR leagues…Maurice Morris (8 touches, 43 yards) and Julius Jones (11 touches, 45 yards) split the RB work almost evenly…BenJarvus Green-Ellis (16 touches, 65 yards, TD) and Kevin Faulk (15 touches, 98 yards) split the work with Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan out. Faulk has more value in PPR leagues while Green-Ellis is the better play in standard and TD-heavy leagues.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Shaun McDonald has gone for 11-133-1 over the last two weeks and is the clear WR2 in Detroit. He’s worth a pickup, especially in PPR leagues…Rashied Davis (5-64-1) led the Bears in receiving this week, but Devin Hester (4-42) was a factor as well. Brandon Lloyd wasn’t active despite partially participating in practice this week…Both T.J. Houshmandzadeh (7-65) and Chad Johnson (5-37-2) have played pretty well the last couple of games, even with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center…After a dreadful week against the Raiders (1-3), Derrick Mason exploded with a 9-136-1 day. He has caught at least four passes in seven of eight games this season and is a solid start in PPR leagues…Antonio Bryant (8-115-1) continues to thrive even with Joey Galloway (1-22) back. We might be seeing a changing of the guard in Tampa…Torry Holt (6-58-1) showed some life after complaining about his role in the St. Louis offense…Donald Driver (7-136-1) has caught 17 passes over the last three games, and is still a good WR2 in most PPR leagues…Greg Camarillo (11-111) continues to post solid numbers in PPR leagues. He has caught at least four passes in the last seven games…DeSean Jackson (2-20) had an unusually quiet game, and it might have something to do with the return of Kevin Curtis (6-83).
TIGHT ENDS
Owen Daniels had a huge (11-133) game for the Texans, outgaining Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter combined…Visanthe Shiancoe (1-25-1) found the endzone for the fourth time in six games…Jason Witten (0-0) was active, but failed to catch a pass. He was targeted four times and two resulted in interceptions. Hopefully, he can heal with the week off…Kevin Boss (3-30-1) continues his up and down play. Until he can show more consistency, he’s nothing but a spot starter.
FREE AGENTS
Now here are my thoughts on a few guys that might be on your league’s waiver wire…
Willis McGahee owners are cursing the Ravens right now. He was active for the game, but didn’t register a touch as Ray Rice (24 touches, 176 yards) and LeRon McClain (15 touches, 37 yards, TD) handled the rushing duties. It looks like Rice has passed McClain on the depth chart and is the guy to own in PPR leagues… Joe Flacco has put up pretty decent numbers over the last three weeks. Against the Browns, he posted 248 yards and two TD…Kolby Smith got off to a good start, but left the game with an injury. Now it looks like Jamaal Charles (18 rushes, 106 yards) is the Chiefs’ RB1…Tyler Thigpen (164 yards passing, TD, 22 yards rushing) put up decent QB numbers for the second straight week. Last week, it was against the Jets, but this week it was against a good Bucs’ defense…Mark Bradley’s 4-65 day followed up last week’s 5-42-1 day against the Jets. With defenses focused on Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez, Bradley is a sleeper at WR, especially if Tyler Thigpen continues to play good ball…Sage Rosenfels (224 yards, 2 TD, INT) was back under center in the second half against the Vikings after a shot to the knee knocked Matt Schaub out of the game…Michael Jenkins (2-64-2) scored on two long pass plays. This came on the heels of four straight games with 3+ catches. He should see his value rise as Matt Ryan gains experience…JaMarcus Russell (6/19, 31 yards, INT) was absolutely brutal against a shaky Falcons pass defense…Brent Celek (6-131) started in place of the concussed L.J. Smith and had a great game…Koren Robinson (4-105-1) has caught four passes in each of the last two weeks and right now it looks like he is the Seahawks’ WR1. Bobby Engram (3-20) was pretty quiet. Don’t look for Engram to really get it going until (or is it if?) Matt Hasselbeck comes back.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Kyle Orton will likely miss one month with a high ankle sprain after he was carted off the field during the Bears’ 27-23 win over the Lions on Sunday.
