Category: Fantasy Football (Page 273 of 324)

ESPN.com is reporting the Carolina Panthers have struck a two-year deal with former Houston Texans’ quarterback David Carr Friday. For now, Carr will be Jake Delhomme’s backup.

Delhomme came under heavy fire last year for the way he couldn’t finish games. Often while late in fourth quarters, Delhomme did his best Jon Kitna impersonation by giving away close games with multiple turnovers. Games against Dallas and Philadelphia come to mind, but there were others. With Carr now on board, Delhomme’s leash just got a bit shorter.

Many believe all Carr needed in Houston was just a little protection, so it’s going to be interesting if he takes over at some point for Delhomme next year. The Panthers are switching to a zone-blocking scheme similar to the one that Denver and Atlanta have run in the past, so run blocking is going to be more of an emphasis than pass protection. Will it actually be better for Carr now that he’ll line up behind this line? Who knows, but anything has to be better than the Texans’ offensive line over the past four years.

Most leagues have already wrapped up their Super Bowl, but there are a few leagues out there that are still going. If you have any roster questions, feel free to ask.

Week 16 has come and gone, and a few fantasy owners got a special present under the tree this Christmas. Bulger and S-Jax went nuts, while Marvin reiterated his grasp on the Colts #1 WR position. On the downside, owners with Vick or Hass as their QB had to fight an uphill battle, and there was a long list of stud WRs that seemed intent to play the Grinch. But enough with the tease, let’s get to Week 16’s Headliners and Flatliners.

HEADLINERS

Marc Bulger (388 yards, 4 TD)
Bulger had a pretty quiet second half of the season but broke out in a big way against the Redskins. Unfortunately for Torry Holt owners, Isaac Bruce had the biggest day of all the Rams receivers, catching nine passes for 148 yards and a score.

Honorable Mention: Vince Young (183 pass yards, 2 pass TD, 61 rush yards, 1 rush TD), Jon Kitna (283 yards, 3 TD), Peyton Manning (205 yards, 3 TD), Steve McNair (256 pass yards, 3 TD, 2 INT)

Steven Jackson (39 touches, 252 yards, 2 TD)
Jackson’s monster game was far and away the best for any running back. He has developed into a terrific receiver and the Rams love to feed him the ball. He’ll be a top 3 pick in most leagues next summer.

Honorable Mention: Maurice Jones-Drew (25 touches, 172 yards, 2 TD), Ladell Betts (31 touches, 164 yards, 2 TD), Ron Dayne (33 touches, 156 yards, 2 TD), Shaun Alexander (33 touches, 142 yards, 2 TD), Reggie Bush (22 touches, 149 yards, 1 TD), Frank Gore (17 touches, 86 yards, 2 TD), Rudi Johnson (32 touches, 140 yards, 1 TD), Larry Johnson (31 touches, 135 yards, 1 TD)

Marvin Harrison (8 rec, 112 yards, 2 TD)
Not so fast, Reggie Wayne, Marvin is still the Colts’ best WR. Harrison had a terrific fantasy playoff, catching 16 passes for 198 yards and five touchdowns.

Honorable Mention: Isaac Bruce (9 rec, 148 yards, 1 TD), Mark Clayton (7 rec, 108 yards, 1 TD), Mike Furrey (10 rec 107 yards, 1 TD), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (9 rec, 94 yards, 1 TD), Larry Fitzgerald (4 rec, 93 yards, 1 TD)

Chris Cooley (7 rec, 77 yards, 1 TD)
Cooley finished the season pretty strong, catching 25 passes for 362 yards and three scores over the last six games. His game stood out in a week with few good TE performances.

Honorable Mention: Randy McMichael (5 rec, 46 yards, 1 TD), Vernon Davis (4 rec, 91 yards), L.J. Smith (2 rec, 77 yards), Tony Gonzalez (5 rec, 67 yards)

FLATLINERS

Michael Vick (109 pass yards, 2 INT, 32 rush yards)
Vick’s brutal game hurt more than a few fantasy owners this week. He was hot and cold all year, and has been bothered by a hamstring injury recently.

Dishonorable Mention: Matt Hasselbeck (189 yards, 2 INT), Derek Anderson (123 yards, 4 INT)

Willie Parker (13 touches, 29 yards)
Parker owners had the bad fortune of having their player face a very tough Baltimore rush defense this week, and he wasn’t even able to meet those diminished expectations.

Dishonorable Mention: Tatum Bell (12 touches, 50 yards), Chester Taylor (18 touches, 67 yards), Ahman Green (22 touches, 69 yards), Thomas Jones (14 touches, 72 yards), Warrick Dunn (10 touches, 38 yards)

Steve Smith (0 rec)
Chris, this is Steve Smith. Steve, this is Chris Weinke. I’ll give you two a minute to get acquainted.

Dishonorable Mention: Chad Johnson (3 rec, 32 yards), Braylon Edwards (2 rec, 7 yards), Reggie Wayne (3 rec, 27 yards), Laveranues Coles (2 rec, 9 yards), Chris Chambers (1 rec, 16 yards), Santana Moss (3 rec, 29 yards), Joey Galloway (2 rec, 34 yards), Andre Johnson (4 rec, 48 yards), Torry Holt (4 rec, 54 yards)

Jeremy Shockey (2 rec, -3 yards)
A few big name tight ends had poor outings this weekend, which just goes to show you how erratic the position is. Looking forward to next season, there should be a number of productive tight ends, so I wouldn’t recommend drafting one in the first four rounds.

Dishonorable Mention: Kellen Winslow (2 rec, 27 yards), Desmond Clark (3 rec, 36 yards), Alge Crumpler (3 rec, 39 yards)

Each week in the Pregame, I’ll provide a few players to start and a few to bench. These recommendations are based on that player’s strength of schedule (SOS) for that particular week or that player’s specific situation.

I’m a strong advocate of always starting your studs, so I won’t be telling you about LaDainian Tomlinson’s tough matchup or how Peyton Manning and company will light it up against a bad defense. Anyone can make those calls. I’ll be discussing marginal fantasy starters – guys that can start for you, but only under certain circumstances.

START

MATT LEINART, TIM RATTAY, JEFF GARCIA and JAY CUTLER are marginal quarterbacks with nice matchups this week…RON DAYNE, TRAVIS HENRY, EDGERRIN JAMES and MARION BARBER face poor rush defenses this week and should find plenty of running room…ANTONIO BRYANT, JOEY GALLOWAY, MARK CLAYTON and BRAYLON EDWARDS all have favorable matchups this week and are worth a start, assuming you’re not benching a stud…Don’t bench a top defense, but if you’re looking for a spot DT starter, KANSAS CITY, TAMPA BAY, CLEVELAND, INDIANAPOLIS, GREEN BAY and SAN FRANCISCO all have good matchups this week, in that order.

BENCH

Stay away from DAVID CARR, TRENT GREEN, CHAD PENNINGTON and JON KITNA this week if at all possible. Given their tough matchups, the odds are against them having a good day…AHMAN GREEN, COREY DILLON and CEDRIC HOUSTON face stout rush defenses this week and should be benched if you have a better option available…EDDIE KENNISON and DREW BENNETT shouldn’t be started this week.