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Well here was the Monday Night Football game everyone no doubt had circled on their calendars this season.  Truly one of the few games where Gruden’s ‘this guy/that guy’ analysis fits perfectly since we don’t really know who this or that guy is any better than he does.  I had a better joke to lead this paragraph off with but felt starting and ending a paragraph with ‘The Jets’ would leave many wanting.  But outside my sarcastic comments, there was still fantasy relevance to be had…well, there was very little to be had but we write about fantasy football so we feel obliged to dig and find some and what we came up with was Jake Locker.  As I was doing rankings for QBs, I left him out of my top 20 QBs for 2012 but did decide to blurb on him as he was on everyone’s radar in 2011 and was being tabbed as a sleeper in 2012, especially for 2 QB leagues.  Jake was the big armed, big bodied QB of the future for Tennessee and 2012 was going to be his year to showcase his skills.  Well, a shoulder issue derailed him week 4 and he didn’t return until week 10 and then it took a couple of weeks to shake the rust off.  Peering under the hood that is the Monday night spotlight game, what I saw was a very raw athlete and someone who doesn’t deserve a grade for his 2012 season, whether punitive or in his favor.  Against a tough Jets secondary, Locker finished the night with a respectable line, completing 13/22 pass attempts for 149 yards without any touchdowns but, more importantly, no interceptions.  Of course, this is not what made people interested in Jake coming into the year.  Jake also finished the night with 43 rushing yards on 7 attempts with the game winning touchdown.  As we all know, quarterbacks with great legs get fantasy owners hot and bothered.  If you don’t believe me, just ask yourself how many times we’ve talked about Tim Tebow this year…you know, the guy with only 126 total yards on the season coming into the game.  Legs change leagues like Tebow and Cam Newton did last year and Robert Griffin, III is doing this year.  So the fever about Locker for that reason is understandable but some reality needs to get tossed into your fantasy, folks.  Unless Locker can figure out how to cure inaccuracy issues and how to – good GAWD man – slide rather than hurdle himself into a defensive player head first, Locker’s chance at success ROS and beyond is going to be extremely hampered by inconsistency and leaving himself open to pointless injury and incessant ‘Hurt Locker’ puns.  In other Monday Night Football news for 2012 fantasy football…

Jeff Cumberland Am I the only one that wants to call him Cummerbund?  Eh who cares, Sanchez has never seen a Tight End he doesn’t like.  Finished the night as the Jets leading receiver with 4 receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown and would’ve had another if Mark could do that whole ‘accurate passer’ thing.

Chris Johnson– Had 20 carries for 28 yards.  Oh wait, I’m sorry, I missed a carry.  Finished the night with 122 yards on 21 carries as he busted a 94 yard dash for the endzone.  This is the guy that everyone said was washed up and chopped liver by week 3 of the season.  Well I’m the one that suggested you go against the grain and buy him heading into that same week.  He currently has the 11th most fantasy points for running backs in PPR leagues, between Jamaal Charles and Stevan Ridley.  And yet, even at week 15 I keep hearing obscene turns on the CJ2K nickname.  Must be the same guys who traded him away week 3.

Shonn Greene/Bilal Powell– If they were one running back, many owners would’ve been happy.  Bilonn Greenell finished the night with 19 carries for 96 yards to go with 16 yards on 4 receptions.  Game flow dictated the use of the running game for the Jets as the Titans gave up 146 yards rushing on the night on 30 carries, good for a 4.8 ypc average and that includes 4 Sanchez scrambles for 6 yards.  Wait, it was close the whole game…why didn’t they just run it more?  I’m filing a petition that they officially change their name to the New York Jest because this has got to be a joke, right?

Nate Washington – Hrm, I’m really stretching for news here but that’s what happens when there are only 3 touchdowns on the night and a third of them go to some guy named Jeff Cummerbund.  Was the Titans leading receiver on the night with 62 yards on 4 receptions.  Kendall Wright might’ve caught up with him by the end of the night had he not had separate injuries – first his eye then his ribs – pulling him from the game twice.  I know, I know, 5 receptions for 70 yards isn’t exciting either but look at the material, folks!

Mark Sanchez – Urban Dictionary needs a revamp for the term ‘Dirty Sanchez’.  Very little needs to be changed, really, just add at the end of any entry ‘or when Mark Sanchez plays quarterback’.  BTW, there’s a heated debate about that term going on at the UD.  I’m not gonna link to it because then your mom would get mad I showed it to you and her and I are having a wonderful time together right now.  Wouldn’t want to ruin it.  Oh and Mark is terrible, going 13/28 with 4 interceptions and 1 fumble to go with a measly TD.  It’s really hard to have a worse QB rating than your back-up who went 0/1 on the night but if there’s someone out there who could find a way, it was Dirty Sanchez.  To quote Tirico after the fumble that sealed the game and to wrap up my own post, “That’s the way this game should end, that’s the way the Jets season should end. Ugly, and a loss!”.