Fantasy Football Advice

Running back is the most volatile position and in dynasty leagues that can be scary.  As soon as a back reaches 30 they are sent off in a space ship to Vorgon 7, so you must draft some youngsters and then some youngster back-ups and then some 15 year old prodigy types.  A trade or injury can make an ok running back into a top ten running back in short order and the other into a short order cook.

Tier 1

1. Chris Johnson 25 — You know what he can do.

2. Adrian Peterson 25 — Purple Jesus can still raise the dead (he just has trouble holding onto the ball).

3. Maurice Jones Drew 25 — He’s got a nose for the goal line.

4. Ray Rice 23 — I’m not too worried about McGahee and these are Dynasty rankings we are talking bout.

Tier 2

5. Jamaal Charles 23 — Probably deserves Tier 1 status, but needs to perform for a whole year.

6. Rashard Mendenhall 23 — Young and the #1 on a good team.

7. Shonn Greene 25 — With Jones gone he could rush Rex Ryan’s weight in a single game.

8. Frank Gore 27 — Steady and versatile, but aging and injury prone.

9. Beanie Wells 22 — Hightower will be eating his dust.

10. Steven Jackson 27 — Will put up good numbers, but his team is an albatross around his neck.

Tier 3

11. Jonathan Stewart 23 — His age and ability trump his RBBC lot in life.

12. Michael Turner 28 — He can put up TD’s with the best of them.

13. Knowshon Moreno 23 — Didn’t overwhelm in his rookie season, but his situation is ripe for success.

14. DeAngelo Williams 27 –  He’s too good to knock down far even though he’s older than his RBBC pal.

Tier 4

15. Ryan Grant 27 — On a great offense.  Steady production.

16. Donald Brown 23 — RBBC for now, but youth always wins out.

17. Cedric Benson 27 — Bengals have become run first.

18. Pierre Thomas 25 — Just hope Payton gives him some goal line work.

19. Matt Forte 24 — Chester Taylor hurts him, but thankfully Taylor will be 31 this season.

20. Felix Jones 23 — Worried about his health, but see him getting the most numbers in cow town.

Tier 5

21. LeSean McCoy 22 — He’ll move up the ranks if the Eagles don’t grab a veteran.

22. Joseph Addai 27 — Has some productive committee years left.

23. Ahmad Bradshaw 24 — Jacobs and he were both injured, but he outplayed him.

24. Ronnie Brown 28 — He could slip further depending on how his injury looks, but he is an elite talent.

25. Justin Forsett 24 — Showed he was the best RB on the Seahawks last season.  If they don’t grab anyone else, he’ll be golden.

Tier 6

26. Brandon Jacobs 28 — I’m not a fan, but if he’s healthy he can get in the endzone.

27. Marshawn Lynch 24 — His age and past production make him hard to pass on.

28. Jerome Harrison 27 — I wanted to put him higher, but he’ll probably be in a committee.

29. Fred Jackson 29 — There’s a good chance he’ll get the bulk of the carries this season, but he is old (which makes me ancient).

Tier 7

30. Reggie Bush 25 — Reggie Bush type.

31. Darren Sproles 27 — Reggie Bush type, but older.

32. Darren McFadden 23 — Lots of talent, but is on a bad team and might be a Reggie Bush type.

33. Kevin Smith 23 — His injuries and inability to run well are worrisome, but he has time for redemption.

34. Marion Barber 27 — Most Barbarians have short life spans.

Tier 8

35. Michael Bush 26 — Could end up being the starter on a bad team.

36. Thomas Jones 32 — Doesn’t get hurt so should have a year or two left.  Depends on the team he winds up on.

37. Laurence Maroney 25 — Had a great stretch last season.  Still young.

38. Tashard Choice 25 — Barber is declining.  Jones is injury prone.

39. Chester Taylor 31 — Role is undefined now in Chicago, but he could do some things in a Martz offense.

40. Steve Slaton 24 — Had a great rookie season.  Has skills.  Benched. Is hurt. Flier.

Tier 9

41. Leon Washington 28 — Looks like he’ll be ready to go all season in a run first offense.

42. Tim Hightower 24 — Still young, but will be a Beanie back-up.

43. LenDale White 25 — A bit risky, but anywhere other than behind CJ will help him.

44. Willis McGahee 28 — Staying in Baltimore will hurt his value.

45. Ricky Williams 33 — Should get you one more productive year.

46. Carnell Williams 28 — Lasted all last season.  Probably won’t this season.

47. Arian Foster 24 — He showed some awesomeness, but the Texans are looking at RB’s in the draft.

Tier 10

48. James Davis 24 — Young and will compete with Jerome Harrison for the starting job.

49. Bernard Scott 26 — If Benson goes down he would easily take up the slack.

50. Lex Hilliard 26 — Ricky is old. Ronnie is oldish/injuryish.

51. Jerious Norwood 27 — Turner has had a lot of carries.  Norwood should be healthy.

52. Larry Johnson 30 — I don’t like him, but he could start for the Native Americans.

53. LaDainian Tomlinson 31 — Should hook up with a new team.  A lot depends on that team.

54. Glen Coffee 23 — Gore is injury prone.

55. Rashad Jennings 25 — Just has MJD blocking him.

56. Derrick Ward 30 — Will be in the mix, but the recipe is bland.

57. Maurice Morris 30 — Might, might, be a starter if the Lions are dumb.

58. Correl Buckhalter 31 — Should still be the #2 in the mountains, but old.

Tier 11

59. Tyrell Sutton 23 — A good change of pace back that could flourish with an opportunity.

60. Mike Goodson 23 — See above.

61. Mike Bell 27 — Should find a team and his value will depend on that team

62. Chris Jennings 24 — Slim chance to get into the mix after Harrison and Davis.

63. Jason Snelling 26 — Norwood was hurt much of last season so Snelly got the work.

64. Larod Stephens-Howling 23 — Has the ability to be a Reggie Bush type.

65. Javon Ringer 23 — Would probably pick up the reps if CJ goes down as long as White is gone.

66. Brian Westbrook 31 — If he hooks up with the right team and looks healthy I could see moving him up a little, but I’m not taking him.

updated 3/13/10

There is no off season here at Razzball (except for that 48 hour bender right after the Super Bowl). We’ve already got ourselves a slow mock draft happening to kick off the beginning of the 2010-2011 season.  Yes, there will be a lot of changes as the so-called off season moves players around and brings in new, younger ones, but doing mocks is a great way to see how others value players and helps solidify where you value players.  Here are my co-conspirator mockaletes.

1. Matt Schauf – RapidDraft.com

2. Melissa Jacobs - TheFootballGirl.com

3. Melissa Greenhawt – GoGameFace.com

4. Chet Gresham – This Guy

5. Jim Day - FFWhiz.com

6. Charlie Tourtillotte — Tourinct

7. Mike Clay – FantasyDC.com

8. Steve Adler - FantasyDaddy.com

9. Paul M. Bourdett – BaseHeads.com

10. Drew Silva – Rotoworld.com

11. Bryan Fontaine – RookieBlitz.com

12. Knox Bardeen – Fanhouse.com

We’re still mocking each other so I’ll keep you updated on our progress.  My picks are in bold.  Here are the first three rounds for your amusement:

Round One

1. Maurice Jones Drew

2. Chris Johnson

3. Adrian Peterson

4. Ray Rice

5. Michael Turner

6. Andre Johnson

7. Frank Gore

8. Steven Jackson

9. Jamaal Charles

10. Matt Forte

11. Aaron Rodgers

12. Ryan Grant

– The first round had most of the usual suspects in it, but MJD at #1 was a little surprising. He’s in my 1st tier and I can see him being a #1 pick, but I’m a little worried about Garrard getting him to the goal line as much as he needs. Matt defends his pick here.

– I felt good about getting Ray Rice 4th.  If I had to choose a draft position it would be one of the top 4 or at the turn at 11/12.  I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the top 4 picks and if you get 4th you don’t have to decide!

– Drew went with Forte at #10 which is within the realm of where his ADP will be, but I will probably pass on him unless it’s a ppr league.  Martz likes to use his running backs in the passing game, a lot.

– Aaron Rodgers will be in the running for the #1 quarterback off the board, but after last year’s ten 4,ooo yard passers, I’ll be waiting on a quarterback.

– Since I’m pro Chris Johnson, getting him at #2 is good value, but no picks really stood out to me as steals.  I have Jamaal Charles ranked higher than he went, but that second tier is pretty fluid with Gore, A.J., SJax and Charles.

Round Two

13. Drew Brees

14. Larry Fitzgerald

15. Peyton Manning

16. Rashard Mendenhall

17. Calvin Johnson

18. Reggie Wayne

19. Pierre Thomas

20. DeAngelo Williams

21. Chris Wells

22. Philip Rivers

23. Tom Brady

24. Miles Austin

– The second round saw a big run on quarterbacks.  Once again I just can’t grab a QB with the first 2 picks.  It’s against my code of fake football ethics.  Running backs or wide receivers for me please.  My options at RB were dwindling fast, but I had a difficult time choosing between Beanie, Moreno and Benson.  But for my money, Beanie has the highest upside of the 3.  Whisenhunt won’t put as much of the game in Leinart’s hands, especially with a back as talented as Wells showing his worth toward the end of last season.

– I am a little worried about DeAngelo Williams after Jon Stewart went crazy after D. Willy went down toward the end of the season.  I could even see Stewart out playing him this year, but any way you look at it he isn’t guaranteed the bulk of the carries.

– The same could be true for Pierre Thomas, but I am a little more concerned about him staying healthy than being the primary back.

– I think one of the best picks of round 2 was by Matt who grabbed Miles Austin with the last pick.  I thought about snagging him, but just liked Wells too much.  Austin could easily be a top 3 wide receiver with a full season as the #1 WR in Dallas. Witten will be his only real rival for looks unless Jones gets an itchy finger and tries for a Boldin/Marshall trade.

Round Three

25. Randy Moss

26. Brandon Marshall

27. Ronnie Brown

28. Vincent Jackson

29. Greg Jennings

30. Roddy White

31. Matt Schaub

32. Tony Romo

33. DeSean Jackson

34. Steve Slaton

35. Knowshon Moreno

36. Marion Barber

– It’s interesting to see how far Randy Moss fell.  Even in a not great season he was a fantasy stud with his ability to get into the endzone, but he is also starting to show his age whileWelker could be gone for a big chunk of time which will get Moss a lot of attention if Edelman doesn’t go nuts.  I like Moss here, but I’m still trying to decide if I like him earlier as well.

– I felt good about Vincent Jackson in the third.  The Chargers will once again have to rely on the passing game and VJax should continue to improve.

– Brandon Marshall’s value is still up in the air since we aren’t sure where he’ll end up, but if he can have a big year with Orton, he has a shot of having a big year anywhere.

– I think both Slaton and Barber went too early as they don’t have the starting job wrapped up for next season.  I won’t own a Texan’s running back this season unless they trade for Purple Jesus or his like.  I also won’t own a Cowboy running back unless Felix Jones really slips.  Jones could get the most touches next season, but his injury history is worrisome.  I’ll pass.

– My favorite pick of round 3 is probably Knowshon Moreno.  The Broncos are a bit of a question mark with Josh McDaniels taking multiple power trips, but Moreno is their back and Buckhalter, though awesome last year, isn’t getting any younger and should continue to pop up on the injury report.  And Moreno will have a full off season and preseason compared to his holdout last year.

It’s the first annual Razzball Fantasy Football awards!!! This is your last chance to reminisce and pretend that football season’s not over with and that, after the playoffs, you won’t be stuck watching the NBA.

When the fantasy season ends, or when all their teams are out of contention, most people just shut it down until late August. I think it’s worth it to reflect on the year a little bit; it helps you to recognize trends and patterns that develop and sharpens your decision-making the following season. So if nothing else, this is an opportunity to do that.

Razzball Football is a 365 day a year operation. In this, our first season, we have built and expanded upon our fan base more than we thought possible. You can count on fresh content every single day of the year so if you’ve got a football itch, you know where to go to get it scratched.

Some of our readers may not have checked out the Razzball Baseball site yet. This is actually where Razzball began. Grey does an incredible job with baseball and he’s year-round as well. So if you play Fantasy Baseball, be sure to check out our baseball site and stay tuned all season long. It’ll pay huge dividends in the way of you winning your league this year.

Greatest Player in the History of the Universe (for 2009)

Chris Johnson: his preseason ADP was 12^th despite the huge numbers last year because people feared the newer, thinner version of LenDale White would steal touches. That turned out not to be the case. We have entered an age of the NFL where splitting touches between two or three running backs is the norm. In addition teams game plan to contain the biggest threat on the other team. Regardless of all of this Chris Johnson had a ridiculous season. Look at the numbers: 2,006 yards rushing, 50 catches for 503 yards.16  total touchdowns (14 rushing, 2 receiving). In .5 PPR Johnson put up 368 points for the season! The second best position player was Adrian Peterson with 304 points, a difference of over 4 fewer per game. On the surface I know people will say “It’s not that big a deal, one player always has a good season.” The distance from his competition, though, is shocking.  It’s akin to having owned Albert Pujols in Fantasy baseball last year. In 2010 Johnson will clearly be the consensus #1 player in every format. This year the big debate was “AP or MJD?” Some people threw Turner in the mix, which I thought was stupid. In 2010 we shouldn’t have to listen to any of that mind-numbing conversation.

MVP’s by Position

The end of the season brought a lot of surprises to the NFL. After clinching bye weeks in the playoffs several teams elected to sit their starters or bench them mid-game. This was disastrous for fantasy owners because these teams (Colts and Saints in particular) were high powered offenses and contained some of the best quarterbacks in the league. It’s uncertain what the long term ramifications will be; the NFL wants teams to go full strength the entire regular season. If that doesn’t happen we might have to occasionally re-think owning certain players. Personally, I’m hoping that Peyton Manning and Drew Brees’ value take a slight hit so I can own them next season on the cheap.

The reason I bring up the fact that a lot of teams rested their starters is that it mixed up this section of the awards, particularly at quarterback. Peyton Manning had a great statistical season and Drew Brees broke the record for completion percentage. But none of that mattered because they killed your team in weeks 16 and 17. Statistically speaking, Rodgers and Rivers hung with Peyton and Brees anyway. But the fact that the young guns carried you in the playoffs while the veterans hung you out to dry tips the scales in their favor. I put the runners up in parenthesis.

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers (Phillip Rivers)

Running Back: Chris Johnson (Maurice Jones-Drew)

Wide Receiver: Andre Johnson (Larry Fitzgerald)

Tight End: Vernon Davis (Jason Witten)

Return League MVP

Josh Cribbs was a beast this season. Let’s just look at the numbers: 1,994 return yards, 4 return touchdowns. MONSTER season on that alone but then wait, there’s more: 20 receptions for 135 and a TD, 381 yards rushing with one TD, and he threw for 18 yards but no touchdown and there was an interception. So in other words if you were cagey enough to grab Josh Cribbs in the draft you ended up with 2,500 all purpose yards and 6 total touchdowns. In a year when there weren’t a lot of good return men that’s HUGE differential.

IDP MVP

Patrick Willis is a man-child. His hobbies include stomping kittens and single-handedly conquering small countries. His numbers this year were ridiculous: 152 tackles (114 of them solo), 4 sacks, 8 passes defended, 3 interceptions, and one touchdown. Basically, Lawrence Taylor but with less sacks and without the rampant cocaine use.

Sleeper(s) of the Year

You know all those Chuck Norris one-liners that make him out to be a deity? Basically you can cross his name out of all those and replace it with Jamaal Charles. Here at Razzball we’re not afraid to pat ourselves on the back. We were touting Charles from the beginning of the season as a player with huge breakout potential. He didn’t get much playing time until mid-season but once he did Charles became a top producer on a weekly basis. Through 9 weeks in .5 PPR he’d only accumulated 36.9 points. Consider that he finished with 207.7 points while only starting from week 10 on. Once he took over he averaged 24 Fantasy points per game! There were some nice sleepers this year in fantasy but in my mind there’s only one top Sleeper of the year- Jamaal Charles

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers, Phillip Rivers

Running Back: Cedric Benson, Jamaal Charles, Jerome Harrison

Wide Receiver: Miles Austin, Mike Sims-Walker, Steve Smith (NYG), Sidney Rice

Tight End: Vernon Davis, Brent Celek

Team Defense: San Francisco 49’ers, NY Jets

Hyped Players that were Busts

What’s the secret to successful fantasy football? The first thing that comes to mind is “picking the best sleepers.” That is certainly a huge part of it, and probably the most fun thing about fantasy football. More important than that, however, is avoiding the biggest busts.

Each season certain players are touted by the fantasy universe as breakout candidates. We all target these players in our drafts and feel uber-smart when we get them, even if we reached. They are like sticks of dynamite on our roster, waiting to explode and carry our team to greatness.

Some of these players end up exploding like dynamite and having a huge impact on our team, but in a negative fashion. If you had several of these players on your team you probably didn’t fare too well.

Quarterback: Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan

Running Back: Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, Pierre Thomas

Wide Receiver: Eddie Royal, Calvin Johnson, Dwayne Bowe, Antonio Bryant, Roy Williams

Tight End: Zach Miller

Team Defense: NY Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers

Veteran Players that Busted

Quarterback: Matt Hasselbeck, Carson Palmer

Running Back: Marshawn Lynch, Derrick Ward, Brian Westbrook

Wide Receiver: Terrell Owens, Greg Jennings, T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Tight End: Surprisingly, there weren’t any players that fit in this category. Jason Witten was extremely disappointing early in the season but he finished really strong.

Rookie of the Year

Doing the awards for this season has makes you realize how very sub-par this draft class was. There are some nice players out there, I loves me some Jeremy Maclin for shizzle; but think about who would have been up for these awards last season and the type of numbers they put up. There’s a lot more talent overall in this year’s NFL draft class (which we’ll be covering extensively) and that’s exciting for Fantasy next year. I didn’t end up with hardly any of the rookies from this year’s class on my teams because they were being drafted too high for my blood- the monster 2008 rookie campaigns that Steve Slaton, Chris Johnson, etc. had boosted the price too high. Anyway, back to the awards:

Quarterback: Do we really have to give an award out for this one? Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco both played well and led their teams to the playoffs last season, making it difficult to pick who was better. This year we get to choose between Stafford and Sanchez, both of whom had flashes of brilliance but no consistency. As an aside if I were to choose between these two for next season I’d probably go with Stafford; but for this season, the award has to go to Mark Sanchez. Congratulations, Mark; don’t go all “Matt Leinart” on us (a.k.a. Poor Man’s Joe Namath) in the offseason now.

Running Back: It’s really surprising that none of these players took the bull by the horns and ran away with this award. Here’s a stat that’s hard to believe: number of rookie running backs with 1,000 yards rushing this season- 0. Clearly this is a race between Moreno, McCoy, and Beanie Wells. Knowshon you’re not a bad guy, I think you will be undervalued next season and I will probably own you, but you just didn’t do enough this season. Beanie Wells closed out the year solidly but Tim Hightower stealing the goal line work really killed his production. Congratulations LeSean McCoy, but don’t get too big of an ego. You wouldn’t have even been in the conversation for this award last year.

Wide Receiver: This was clearly the best position for Fantasy this year in terms of rookies. It’s a difficult position to come in to the NFL and be productive at. Jeremy Maclin put up huge numbers but wasn’t really integrated in to the game plan until mid season. Michael Crabtree was very productive but the holdout stymied him having a breakout season. The player who wins this award didn’t close out the season that strong, due to injuries and other factors. Even so, Percy Harvin compiled 60 receptions for 790 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also had 1,156 return yards and two touchdowns.

Tight End: There were no real impact rookies at Tight End this season. Brandon Pettigrew was the best with 30 receptions for 346 and two touchdowns. He went on IR but if he’s healthy coming in to next season I will definitely be touting him as a sleeper at TE.

Surprise Season from a Veteran Player

Quarterback: Brett Favre

Running Back: Thomas Jones (Ryan Grant)

Wide Receiver: Chad Ochocinco

Tight End: Visanthe Shiancoe

Best Kicker

David Akers, Nate Kaeding

1 pm Games

San Francisco @ St. Louis

He should have a field day against the lowly Rams. Look for him to continue his productive season  and help you bring home the hardware.

SF: Gore +4

Steven Jackson has been missing practice again this week. This is not good news considering he was inactive for last Sunday’s game. SJax has a herniated disk and the Rams have nothing to play for. If he’s active on Sunday play him unless you have better options. Neither Darby nor Gado is worth playing if Jackson’s inactive unless you’re in an uber deep league.

STL: Jackson -2

New England @ Houston

This game pits two of the most hated coaches in fantasy football against one another. Bill Belichick pulled Maroney after he fumbled and I think some other coach did that a few times this year as well. One would assume that Sammy Morris will carry the load against the Texans defense but it’s hard to tell since they could possibly rest starters. I definitely wouldn’t start Maroney and you’d have to trick me into playing Morris.

NE: Morris -1, Maroney -3

Arian Foster got a lot of work last Sunday and had a really productive outing. He’s worth a flex play but keep in mind there’s inherit risk involved when it comes to predicting what Gary Kubiak will do.

HOU: Foster -1

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Don’t expect Michael Turner to play. Jason Snelling becomes a decent option. He split the work with Jerious Norwood last Sunday against the Bills horrible rush defense. His line was 15 carries for 68 yards which is respectable but given the competition should’ve been better. You have to love the matchup here but I’d be willing to start another running back with a solitary grasp on the touches. Don’t even consider starting Jerious Norwood.

ATL: Snelling +3

Ward left Sunday’s game and he might miss this week’s. Cadillac has been the main man in Tampa all season anyway but if Ward turns out to be inactive he becomes a more enthusiastic start.

TB: Williams +2

New Orleans @ Carolina

Pierre Thomas won’t play on Sunday against Carolina and Drew Brees is now the third string QB which means he won’t play either. I would stay far away from Bush or Bell and maybe play Hamilton if you’re feeling sneaky and are ready for anything.

NO: Bush -5,  Bell -5, Hamilton 0

Friday made it three straight practices that DeAngelo Williams had missed. I will be very surprised if he plays this week. If you own Jonathan Stewart that’s great news for you; he is a very, very solid RB #2, possibly a #1 for a lot of owners.

CAR: Stewart +2

Pittsburgh @ Miami

Rashard Mendenhall’s just your basic stud running back without any competition. Put him in your lineup and enjoy.

PIT: Mendenhall +1

Ricky Williams is questionable but should play with a limited role. Lex Hilliard will see an increase in touches. So Ricky Williams isn’t guaranteed to get enough touches for us to be happy, but he’ll get just enough for Lex Hilliard to be useless. Add to that they’re facing the top ranked Pittsburgh defense and that should be enough.

MIA: Williams -3, Hilliard +2

Jacksonville @ Cleveland

Play Maurice Jones-Drew. I can’t make it any more complicated than that.

JAC: Jones-Drew +3

It’s Razzball’s favorite family darling (well, other than Jamaal Charles). You’ve come this far, haven’t you? May as well roll with this stud. The Jaguars passing defense is atrocious so even if Harrison isn’t very successful on the ground he should be a threat in the passing game.

CLE: Harrison +2

New York Giants @ Minnesota

Brandon Jacobs was placed on IR which makes Ahmad Bradshaw the featured back for the final game of the season. Unfortunately he’s going up against a fairly tough defense. I can see putting him in your lineup, but just keep in mind that there’s not a ton of upside on the yardage.

Giants: Bradshaw -1

The Vikings could still be the #2 seed in the NFC if they win on Sunday. That’s good news for Peterson owners because you know they’ll use him until and unless they build up a huge lead late in the game.

Vikings: Peterson 0

Indianapolis @ Buffalo

The Colts whole team is pretty useless. Joseph Addai will play very little, if at all. One would assume that Donald Brown will get more work than usual but I would stay away from this situation entirely.

Colts: Addai -5

Fred Jackson should be in for a great day. The Colts will likely rest many of their starters on the D line. I would confidently play him as a #2 RB in your lineup. Marshawn Lynch has to stay on the bench.

Bills: Jackson +2

Chicago @ Detroit

Matt Forte may not be that mediocre in this game. In fact he should be downright studly. The Lions defense is completely useless. The Bears offense has been extremely inconsistent (yet explosive, at times). You have to think they’ll put up big digits in this matchup.

Bears: Forte +4

Maurice Morris has reaped rewards for anyone cagey enough to stash him earlier in the year. There are a lot of really nice starts for RB’s in the NFL this week. The big advantage Morris has is that he will get most all the touches in Detroit. On top of that the Bears defense is nothing special.

Lions: Morris +1

4 pm Games

Washington @ San Diego

Quinton Ganther’s touches haven’t gotten cut into since he’s taken over as the feature back. Last Sunday he disappointed after two great games in a row for fantasy owners. The Chargers defense isn’t particularly stout against the run so I don’t see them shutting him down. Ganther should be a solid flex play in most leagues.

Redskins: Ganther +1

LaDanian Tomlinson is a must sit this week. The Chargers don’t really have anything to play for so he might start but don’t expect him to stay in for the whole game. Darren Sproles might see a lot more work but they could diminish his role and rest him as well. It would be wise to avoid this situation entirely in fantasy for week 17.

Chargers: Tomlinson (don’t play him), Sproles -2

Tennessee @ Seattle

The Titans have openly admitted that they’re all about helping Chris Johnson reach his milestones in rushing and all purpose yardage. This will be an interesting side note to pay attention to on Sunday. Expect him to end his season with a monster outing.

Titans: Johnson +4

Here is another situation that I would avoid completely in Fantasy this week. Jones didn’t look like he would go, but he practiced fully and will go and make Forsett useless.  Hopefully something happens in the offseason and he gets the chance to be the #1 option in Seattle as he clearly deserves to be.

Seahawks: Jones -3, Forsett -2

Baltimore @ Oakland

The Ravens are fighting for a spot in the playoffs so expect them to come out firing in this contest. The Raiders defense is nothing special so this should be another week for Ray rice to go off. Willis McGahee has no value at this point.

Ravens: Rice +3

Justin Fargas is doubtful for Sunday’s game. That’s good news for McFadden and Bush owners. Well, maybe they’re not that relevant after all. I can definitely see sneaking McFadden in there in deep PPR leagues and the same for Bush in non-PPR but I wouldn’t be that excited about it.

Raiders: McFadden +1, Bush +1

Philadelphia @ Dallas

Brian Westbrook returned and played well in limited work last Sunday. Considering the magnitude of this game I expect him to have a similar, if not increased, role in the offense. LeSean McCoy will certainly still get 15+ touches but he’s no longer an enthusiastic start for you. I wouldn’t play Westbrook and I would play McCoy if I didn’t have players with more assured roles in their offenses.

Eagles: McCoy -3, Westbrook -2

Speaking of situations I’d rather avoid…. Marion Barber is very tempting because when the Cowboys get around the goal line (which they often do) Barber gets most all the rushing opportunities. Unfortunately Roy Williams complaining has gotten him a lot of looks there also, cutting in to Barber’s TD production. I can see playing Barber this week but I wouldn’t do it unless I had to. Jones and Choice don’t deserve to be in your lineup.

Cowboys: Barber -1

Kansas City @ Denver

After Jamaal Charles gets done saving children from a burning building and curing cancer you should be able to lock him in for 150 total yards and a touchdown with upside. Start him!!!!!

Chiefs: Charles +2

Knowshon Moreno might finally be a stud for fantasy owners (it’s about time). Regardless of his struggles as of late I enthusiastically endorse him for week 17 against the lowly Chiefs defense. Yes, I know they have Mike Vrabel but it’s the 2010 version. You can call me all sorts of bad names if I’m wrong.

Broncos: Moreno +4, Buckhalter +2

Green Bay @ Arizona

Ryan Grant should see a reduced role this week.  Brandon Jackson has a good chance for a lot of work, but a lot depends on if the Cardinals are going all out.  I’d be wary.

Packers: Grant -4, Jackson 0

This game comes down to what happens in the Vikings/Giants game.  If you know the Giants are going to win before the Cardinals game starts then throw Beanie in there, but make sure you have another RB going at 4 pm that you can substitute in.

Cardinals: Wells -1, Hightower -3

8 pm Game

Cincinnati @ NY Jets

It doesn’t look good for the Bengals to go all out this game.  I wouldn’t start any, especially against a good defense with something to play for.

Bengals: Benson -3, Johnson -3

Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene get the best matchup in the world for week 17 but thankfully the Bengals will probably be resting their starters.  Jones is going to see Greene take a chunk out of his carries from here on out, but you still have to start him.

Jets: Jones +1, Green 0

Predicting how long players will go in week 17 is starting to give me a twitch.  Listening to coaches and players talk about playing time is about as productive as watching Jersey Shore for moral guidance.

Here are some noteworthy happenings in the NFL:

Tom Brady: He says he will play the whole game, but Peyton Manning hinted at similar things last week and was yanked and not in the way he would prefer. The Vegas line still favors the Texans by 8 so I don’t think everybody is buying that they’ll play the whole game.  I believe they’ll play most of the game, but I just don’t feel 100% confident in that. If your backups are scrubtastic I’d go with Brady, Moss, and Welker without too many qualms.

DeAngelo Williams: He didn’t practice on Thursday and is looking less likely to go on Sunday.  The Daily Show should go prime time again, well, not prime time, but whatever you call Sunday afternoon time.

Brandon Marshall: All reports point to Marshall playing against the Chiefs, but you have to worry about the hammy acting up on him during the game. If he doesn’t practice today I would take some Xanax before starting him.

Hines Ward: He has a problem that can best be described by a Denny’s special called Moons Over My Hammy. Well, maybe not best described, but he has a hamstring problem and the Steelers are playing in Miami, so there’s that. I’m starting to feel better and better about throwing Mike Wallace out there.  I did notice that CBS took my 60 Minutes Mike Wallace comparison and ran with it.  I am the only one who ever noticed they had the same name!!!

Julius Jones: He didn’t practice once again on Thursday and there really is no need to throw him out there for the last game of the season. Right now it looks like Justin Forsett will get the start and should be a good flex play against the Titans and will be auditioning for 2010 and possibly Cats, meow.

Correll Buckhalter: He was injured early last week and left the game, but has practiced this week and gets a favorable matchup with the Chiefs who he and Knowshon Moreno ran over earlier in the season, oh and Jerome Harrison and some others as well.

Ricky Williams: He has been limited in practice and split work with Lex Hilliard. He will probably get the start against the Steelers, but Hilliard could see an increased role. This makes Ricky a bit risky and you don’t want any of that business.

Tony Gonzalez: He didn’t practice on Thursday and doesn’t look like he’ll go on Sunday. I like Matt Ryan this week, but without Gonzo you have to downgrade him a little.

Ahmad Bradshaw: He will sit out most of this week’s practice as usual and he gets a tough matchup with Minnesota, but he will also be the main back and worth a flex play.

Donald Brown: His heavy workload in relief of Joe Addai last week, coupled with his lack of yardage, should get him a goodly amount of carries so he can get back into a rhythm of sorts.  And as long as he gets starlight, sweet dreams and music, who could ask for anything more?