Category: Fantasy Football (Page 312 of 324)

QUARTERBACKS

Mike McMahon, PHI – Donovan McNabb is out for the rest of the season and McMahon looked pretty good in the second half of the game against the Giants. He should be reasonably productive in the Eagles offense the rest of the way.

Jamie Martin, STL – Marc Bulger is out again with a shoulder injury so that means Martin will be the starter for the Rams. Martin was solid in relief on Sunday and should be an adequate fantasy backup for the remainder of the season.

RUNNING BACKS

Tony Fisher, GB – Sam Gado lost his job with a fumble in the beginning of the second half of Monday night’s game and, just like that, has gone from hero to goat. Fisher is first in line to get carries, but the Green Bay running game isn’t very impressive. Fisher will do some damage in leagues that reward one point per reception.

Maurice Hicks, SF – If Kevan Barlow and Frank Gore continue to miss time with injuries, Hicks would get the start. He played great on Sunday, carrying the ball 11 times for 83 yards and a score after Barlow left the game.

Every week, I highlight a few marginal fantasy players, three to start and three to sit. Let’s see how I did last week:

START

Kelly Holcomb – 25 yards passing (PUSH)
Holcomb left with an injury and J.P. Losman the game finished game.

Cedric Benson – 12 carries, 50 yards (PUSH)
Benson was off to a great start before leaving with a knee injury. Adrian Peterson filled in and ran for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Bobby Engram / Joe Jurevicius – (HIT) / (MISS)
Engram had a nice day, catching six passes for 70 yards. Jurevicius only caught three balls for 27 yards.

BENCH

Mark Brunell – 226 yards passing, 2 TDs, 2 INTs (MISS)
Brunell had a better day than expected and completed a pass to nine different receivers in the game.

Kevan Barlow – 25 carries, 63 yards (HIT)
Barlow got a ton of carries in the Windy City, but not a ton of yards.

Jimmy Smith – 3 carries, 43 yards (HIT)
Smith continues to suffer with the Jaguars’ youth movement at WR.

Onto this week’s picks:

START

QB – Matt Hasselbeck, SEA
Hasselbeck has a fantastic matchup against the 49ers and should have a strong stretch run with a pretty easy schedule.

RB – Patrick Pass / Heath Evans, NE
If Pass doesn’t have any setbacks this week, he should have a big game against a poor New Orleans rush defense. If Pass can’t go, Evans will carry the load for the Patriots.

WR – Andre Johnson, HOU
The Texans offense has shown improvement and they should have some opportunities against a questionable Kansas City defense.

BENCH

QB – Mike Vick, ATL
Unless you are out of options, it is a good idea to bench Vick against a very good Tampa Bay defense.

RB – Kevin Jones, DET
It doesn’t look like Jones is going to have a second half of the season like he did last year and Mariucci has said that he’s not going to take carries away from Bryson and Pinner just to feed KJ the ball. This week, he faces a tough Dallas rush defense.

WR – Ashley Lelie, DEN
Lelie is coming off an injury and faces a stout Jets pass defense this week.

NFL INJURY REPORT

I just lost one of my fantasy football leagues by a half point because Donovan McNabb and Mike McMahon couldn’t complete a pass to Brian Westbrook or L.J. Smith during the Eagles’ final two drives. Making matters worse, in the same game, I chose to bench one of my waiver wire recommendations from last week, Sam Gado (who had 108 yards and 3 TDs on Sunday), in favor of my first round pick in the league, Kevin Jones. I also started Smith over McMichael, and would have won with Randy in the game. How’s that for a double-kick to the nuts?

Let’s see who hot on the wire this week:

RUNNING BACKS

J.J. Arrington, ARI – Arrington got twice as many carries as Marcel Shipp against the Lions and also scored, so this may indicate that he’s Denny Green’s choice for the starting job. The Cardinals can’t run, so he’s not all that valuable, but he is a starting RB that will get some opportunities, so if you are desperate at RB, he might be worth a look.

Heath Evans, NE – Dillon left the game after a single play and Evans, a FB, took over at RB and carried the ball 18 times for 84 yards. It’s tough to know when Dillon will be back, but if he and Patrick Pass continue to miss time, Evans could be a good fill in.

Adrian Peterson, CHI – Cedric Benson is out three to six weeks with a knee injury and Thomas Jones is recovering from bruised ribs, so Peterson will have value until TJ can play (which might be as soon as this week).

WIDE RECEIVERS

Matt Jones, JAX – Jones finally had a breakout game, catching five passes for 117 yards and a TD, giving him three TDs in the last four games. If Ernest Wilford misses any more time due to injury, Jones’ value would increase.

Brian Finneran, ATL – Over the past two weeks, Finneran has caught 12 passes for 142 yards. He hasn’t been dependable though, putting up goose eggs in the prevous two games. His numbers fluctuate with Michael Vick’s questionable accuracy.

LeRon McCoy, ARI – It appears that McCoy is the second option in the passing game with Anquan Boldin and Bryant Johnson out with injuries. He may have some short-term value, depending on the status of these two guys.

Ike Hilliard / Edell Shepherd, TB – With Michael Clayton missing the game with a knee injury, Hilliard saw eight targets to Shepherd’s four. Shepherd did more with his opportunities, catching three passes for 87 yards and a score. If I had to guess who would do more over the next few weeks, I’d say Hilliard.

Every week, I highlight a few marginal fantasy players, three to start and three to sit. Let’s see how I did last week:

START

Eli Manning – 251 passing yards, 1 TD (HIT)
As expected, Manning put up good numbers against a bad team.

Fred Taylor – 63 total yards, 0 TD, left with injury (MISS)
Taylor did pretty well until he left the game with an ankle injury. Fragile Fred is back.

Braylon Edwards – 1 catch, 2 yards (MISS)
You would think after all the talk last week of Edwards getting more opportunities in the Browns offense, that he’d get more than one catch. Ugh.

BENCH

Aaron Brooks – 170 passing yards, 1 TD, 2 INT (HIT)
Brooks faced a tough Bears defense and his stats suffered.

Curtis Martin – 72 rushing yards, 1 TD (MISS)
Martin’s ypc wasn’t impressive (3.4), but he scored a TD.

Keenan McCardell – 2 catches, 25 yards (HIT)
The Jets pass defense did a pretty good job against McCardell. Too bad they let Antonio Gates catch eight passes.

On to this week’s picks:

START

QB – Kelly Holcomb, BUF
Holcomb has been pretty solid of late, throwing for an average of 191 yards and 1.5 TDs over the past four games. This week, he faces a Chiefs defense that is giving up 261 yards and 2 TDs a game through the air. Don’t bench a stud for him, but Holcomb should put up good numbers for owners without a great QB.

RB – Thomas Jones / Cedric Benson, CHI
If Thomas Jones (ribs) doesn’t play, Benson should have a big game against a 49er defense that has allowed an average of 110 yards and 1.5 TDs on the ground. If Jones does play, he may be the one with the big day.

WR – Bobby Engram / Joe Jurevicius, SEA
Both guys should be good starts against a Rams defense that is allowing an average of 241 yards and 2 TDs through the air.

BENCH

QB – Mark Brunell, WAS
You should start Brunell if you don’t have another good option. He still may put up good stats, but he may have a tough time against a stout Bucs defense that is only allowing 161 yards and 0.4 TDs a game through the air.

RB – Kevan Barlow, SF
The 49ers play the Bears, which likely means a tough day for Barlow and Frank Gore. Chicago is yielding only 91 yards and 0.3 TD per game on the ground. Ouch.

WR – Jimmy Smith, JAX
Don’t look now, but Jimmy Smith appears to be aging. Smith hasn’t had a good game since week 4, and has averaged just three catches for 39 yards in the four games since. This week he faces a Ravens defense that is allowing just 164 yards through the air.

NFL Injury Report