Fantasy Football: Play 'em or Bench 'em Discussion!

[Akiyama]

One of the reasons I like Chambers this week is because of the whole "Facing your old team" thing.

[Deejay]

The Dolphins did him a favor by trading him off to an actual contender. Don't think he really has much against them considering they're the reason why he's making a cool 8 million this year.

[Akiyama]

Oh, no I know that, but still.. it seems that players have extra initiative to do better against an old team. That and I'm grasping at straws.

[Quixon]

Rushing
TD Rush 6
2pt Rushing Conversion 2
Every 10 rushing yards 1
40+ yard TD rush bonus 5
50+ yard TD rush bonus 7
100-199 yard rushing game 4
200+ yard rushing game 5

Receiving
TD Reception 6
2pt Receiving Conversion 2
40+ yard TD rec bonus 2
50+ yard TD rec bonus 4
Every 10 receiving yards 1
100-199 yard receiving game 3
200+ yard receiving game 5



I'm not exactly what I would consider the league since you get the bonus points for long yardage touchdowns. I guess this would be a negative to Hightower though since he is only going to be seeing Short Yardage carries basically.

[Tyr]

3/4: Megatron, Roy Williams, Chambers, Hightower

You have to start Calvin Johnson & Chris Chambers. Chambers has been playing just as he had in Miami, which is both good and bad -- the big difference being, he's got someone who can actually throw him the ball. If you look at how many targets Chambers gets, compared to his receptions, he's worse than Braylon Edwards (last year, Edwards had something around a 37% reception rate, which is terrible).

At least, he makes them count. Prior to last week's games, Chambers had 6 receptions and 4 touchdowns, to give you an idea of what I mean. Still, when he does catch the ball, 6 points usually go on the board. From what I've seen of Chambers, there are very few receivers better 10 yards past the pylon.

Calvin Johnson is consistently putting up solid numbers for Detroit. It's taken a year and an injury, but he and Kitna are on the same page, and he is great after the catch.

The only remaining question is Roy Williams or Tim Hightower. Normally, I would choose Roy Williams without question, however, Roy has never eclipsed the century mark in yardage against the Bears in his career. The Bears have a vulnerable pass defense, and history hints that the Lions will be down 3 scores before halftime (to any team...), but even in the past three weeks of Lions football, Roy hasn't gotten more than 7 targets, and no more than 5 receptions. If the Lions pull the upset, I would assume Williams plays a big role, but I'm hard pressed to say Detroit will win, albeit at home in a big divisional matchup coming off rest. Traditionally, when Roy is touchdown-less for a stretch, he will start harvesting his three-2 touchdown games he gets every season. While it would suck for him to pull that bunny out of his hat this week, Hightower has a touchdown in all but one game. The Cardinals are likely to be without the services of Boldin, so one would assume they'll give Edgerrin 20+ touches, and Hightower would figure in for 8-12. Given his status as Arizona's goalline back, and the fact that Warner will be missing his favorite endzone target, I would say Hightower is likely to get a touchdown.

I project Hightower at:
9 Rushes, 31 Yards, 1 Touchdown - 2 Receptions, 11 Yards

Roy:
5 Catches, 66 Yards, 0 Touchdown

Just my opinion, hope it helps.

[Tyr]

This week's top 5 fantasy performers, aka the Fantasy Five, sorted by position:
Note: If at any point, the rankings are a slight bit off based on how I'm projecting players, that's simply because I might see room for a better performance. You don't project a 5-touchdown game, but you have to give room to teams that have explosiveness.

- QB -

1. Peyton Manning: 19/24 - 255 Yards - 3 TDs
--In the past 5 seasons, Manning has scored 13 touchdowns coming off the bye week. There is no better team at regrouping, whether it be at the half or after a bye , than the Indianapolis Colts, and it will show this week when Manning throws for three scores against a lackluster Houston defense. To boot, Manning has scored 3 touchdowns in all but one of the past five contests against the Texans. The Texans have only accumulated three sacks the entire season, and do not have a strong enough backfield to account for the weapons at Manning's disposal. The only thing holding Manning's yardage totals down is the fact that the abysmal Indianapolis rush defense will likely have its hands full with Steve Slaton, who plays keep-a-way from the Colts offense.

2. Tony Romo: 20/26 - 280 Yards - 2 TDs
--What happens when you matchup the worst pass rush in football against the league's biggest and best offensive line? Domination. Had the Bengals a more potent offense, and maybe toss a 5th quarter of play in there, I could see Romo breaking some record out there (however obscure...like "Most Touchdowns By A Man Whose Name Rhymes With Homo -- my condolences to Benyamin Schlomo, the Hebrew Hammer, as he was known). The fact of the matter is, this game will be over before Janet Jackson's nipple slip. Romo will have earned his paycheck within the first fifteen minutes of play.

3. Drew Brees: 27/35 - 310 Yards - 2 TDs, 2 TO
--The Saints are rightfully the best passing offense in the league and will continue to roll with the mastermind Brees behind center. The line has been steady, and Brees has made names of some of the role players in the New Orleans WR-corps. A strong front-7 and veteran defensive backs will force Brees into two errors, but he will still find ways to get his 4th 300 yard effort of the season. Against Minnesota, running is not an option, which doesn't bode well when you face off against Brees & Co.

4. Donovan McNabb: 24/28 - 260 Yards - 2 TDs
--Given that Westbrook has been practicing, I am assuming he will be a go for a big divisional matchup against the rolling Redskins. The NFL's Game of the Week will bitchslap inductive logic (seeing as how the Redskins beat the Cowboys, who beat the Eagles) with an Eagles win at home. Add to whatever score you fathom if Shawn Springs and Jason Taylor are no-gos. McNabb has been in rhythm and has put up solid numbers against Washington in his career, averaging 2.5 touchdowns per game. Without Springs, the Redskins secondary becomes a much weaker unit, and could have its hands full with Andy Reid's style of playcalling.

5. Jay Cutler: 28/38 - 285 Yards - 2 TDs, 2 TOs
--Only Cutler and Brees have amassed 300+ yards in three of four contests this year. While it's very possible Cutler can stretch that to four, the lack of production from the Broncos backfield will catch up to them sooner or later. In my opinion, as explosive as the Broncos passing offense is and has been, it is too much to ask for from a third year quarterback to carry every game on his shoulders. Nonetheless, Tampa Bay's pass defense, albeit a decent outing against Rodgers last week, is not what it used to be. Ronde Barber's age is catching up to him, which bodes well for the Broncos WRs. Cutler's numbers can rise if he gets some help from his running backs, or if the game becomes a shootout.


-I'll add WRs & RBs later, I have to head to class for now.

[Plow]

5. Jay Cutler: 28/38 - 285 Yards - 2 TDs, 2 TOs

For a minute there I was going "wtf you're scoring time outs?"

[Bebopaloo]

So this week I started DeAngello Williams on a hunch that KC would have a rough time against the run. Right now Im up 91/24 with 31 points coming off of Williams alone. MY QB hasnt played(O' Sullivan) as well as my kicker(Gostowski NE), Lance Moore, and Laurence Maroney. Im hoping DeSean gets some more hits before this game is over, he may have run back the punt return for a TD but it doesn't go towards his points as a wide in NFL.com's league

[Anyway]

Honestly, can Westbrook play 1 game healthy? Now fractured ribs, what the fuck dude

[Akiyama]

so glad I didn't take him. Steven Jackson isn't nearly the bust compared to him.

[recuperi]

I've got 2 different leagues depending on Brees to have a big game tonight One needs him to score 40 and the other needs just the whole Saints offense to be clicking basically. Got a feeling he isn't going for another day like he had last week though ;x

[tyven]

I've got 2 different leagues depending on Brees to have a big game tonight One needs him to score 40 and the other needs just the whole Saints offense to be clicking basically. Got a feeling he isn't going for another day like he had last week though ;x

this week was probably my only chance for a win in IDP league, however it appears your use of the entire saints offense is going to pay off and beat me.

[Headspace]

Carson Palmer @ NYJ
or
Brett Favre vs CIN

San Diego vs NE
or
Green Bay @ SEA

Also out of
Andre Johnson
Antwaan Randle El
Wes Welker
and Marvin Harrison

Who should sit?

[Tyr]

Carson Palmer @ NYJ
or
Brett Favre vs CIN

San Diego vs NE
or
Green Bay @ SEA

Also out of
Andre Johnson
Antwaan Randle El
Wes Welker
and Marvin Harrison

Who should sit?

I have the same questions at quarterback (exact same QBs)

QB: Brett Favre. CIN's pass defense has been overachieving, but Favre is coming off a week of more preparation and should continue his ageless path of destruction. 9 TDs in his past 2 games is delicious. Yards need to go up, but who cares as long as he gets multiple TDs.

DEF: That's a tough call, I'd play San Diego though. If Washington DEF is FA, get them (v. STL), but San Diego has a stronger return game and slightly better overall defense than the banged up Packers. Plus the Packers will be playing to a team that just got embarressed, and they'll be playing in Seattle which is a huge homefield advantage for the Hawks.

WR: You play Andre Johnson. Play Wes Welker. I personally would play Marvin, but he really has lost a step. He's actually coverable now, and when the game is on the line, Manning throws it Waynes way. If Anthony Gonzalez is not playing, I'd play Marvin because that would mean 3-4 more looks. In what should be an easy victory for the Redskins, I don't think ARE will get enough targets to put respectable fantasy numbers.

[Anyway]

Favre vs CIN or McNabb @ SF

[recuperi]

I'd probably start McNabb over Favre for this week at least. The 49ers haven't been too great at stopping the pass, and half their INTs have come from the LB crew. The Bengals have actually had some success against the pass, even though they haven't really gotten to the QB much. As long as the OL can keep the 49ers' LBs away from McNabb he should have a fairly decent game

edit: actually, I think it depends a lot on whether or not Westbrook plays. With him in, they're more likely to be throwing it short more often, which would basically mean they'd be throwing to the strength of the Niners' defense. If he doesn't then they'd be going down the field more. I'd probably rest my decision on his condition late in the week


Also

Brees vs. Raiders, or Cutler vs. Jaguars? Both are home games, and more than likely the deep passes are going to be sealed off for Brees. The Jags' secondary is pretty beat up, but so is the Broncos' passing attack (Royal and Scheffler both out for the week). Neither looks better or worse than the other really

[Anyway]

Cutler. Big Ben just passed for 3 TDs on them with the worst O-Line in football.

[Boyiee]

In the 2QB league I won this week with only 1 QB lol.

I have Favre and Rodgers. Such a high scoring combo for me lol, it's going to fail sooner or later, I thought without Favre this week and Aaron hurt that this would be the week, but he still did pretty well.

[Daahan]

All Cutler needs is Brandon Marshall to have a good game.

Stokeley and Jackson aren't too shabby for backup receivers either.

[Akiyama]

All Cutler needs is Brandon Marshall to have a good game.

Stokeley and Jackson aren't too shabby for backup receivers either.

Jackson? I assume you mean Royal?