Well there were rumors of it and inklings and rumors of said inklings but it finally happened. On Wednesday, Reggie Bush signed with the Detroit Lions on a 4 year deal which sets in motion some fantasy commotion of major implications. Firstly, getting the former Kim Kardashian ass caddy is going to make waves in Detroit which is funny because he just moved from South Beach to do it. At least I think that’s funny. *Checking* no, it’s decidedly not but what is funny is Bush’s new teammate Mikel LeShoure eating a bag of weed before the officers could find his stash. Maybe they should trade him to Denver or Seattle now…well anywho, I’m not here to talk about Mikel. At least not yet. In getting Reggie, the Lions grabbed a great Jahvid Best replacement. You know, the running back who was probably the starter had concussions not taken his career from him. Why do we like this and by this I mean the Bush signing and not the concussion? Because in 22 games as a Lion, Best caught 85 passes which is a 62 catch pace for a 16 game season. When you consider Detroit has attempted the most passes of any team the last two years, the passing volume for great things is going to be there for Bush to be fairly Sprolesy. Overall, he probably will cede some touches to both Mikel and Joique Bell, there’s enough to go around for him to stay a solid RB2 in PPR leagues. And of course, Reggie’s exit from Miami along with the Mike Wallace signing should increase the stock of Lamar Miller dramatically. Sounds like I have some game film to watch and a post to write, yes? Yup and yup but we’re not here for that right now so let’s take a look at more moves from day two of the NFL free agent market for 2013 fantasy football…

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Well, if it wasn’t clear last year to you that Mike Wallace would no longer be a Steeler this off-season it should definitely be now. Yesterday, Mike signed a 5 year $65 million dollar deal with a Dolphins squad that went on an FA shopping spree this off-season. What, you wanted a funnier intro? Well, I would’ve gone with Mike Wallace retires to South Beach but the 60 Minute man is dead, both the the guy from the show and the man who wrote the song so you’re gonna have to make due with whatcha get. But more back to the point, this is a very expensive move by the Dolphins but – in all honesty – the right one for the team. Yadda to the 3rd power, Sky, what does this have to do with fantasy? Yes, yes my friend, we’re getting there. You see, the Dolphins had already signed Brian Hartline to a 5 year 30 mil deal last week but if you know anything about last year’s Miami team, you know that Hartline is not a #1 wide receiver. Alright, technically I don’t consider Wallace one either but he does stretch the field and gives young QB Tannehill the downfield threat he was missing in 2012 and makes Hartline a clear WR2 which he should fill the role of quite nicely. In all, much like the Percy Harvin trade I talked about yesterday, I don’t see this affecting Wallace for the better or the worse but I do see it as a boon for the value of Tannehill and Hartline and maybe to a lesser extent even Davone Bess in deeper leagues. Miami hasn’t had this big of a threat since Brandon Marshall…who went to the Bears…for 5 years…and only 44 million…eh, well again I’m no analyst on how that worked out but I can assure you this bodes well for many wearing Dolphins uniforms for fantasy purposes. But of course, Wallace wasn’t the only major roster move yesterday so without further fooferah, let’s see what other signings and releases will have an affect on our world for 2013 fantasy football…

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Now this is the section of wide receivers that’s interesting to review for 2013 reasons. Many of these guys were hurt by their QB’s poor play or hurt themselves. However, this section is also full of second half bloomers that just might be cheap options come draft day. So strap on whatever you like to strap on to read this type of stuff because we’re going to review these wide receivers based off of my 2012 fantasy football rankings and compare my projections with their end of season rankings care of yahoo’s PPR system. Now that we have that established, let’s take a look at the top 40 wide receivers that were for the 2012 fantasy football season…

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The first couple of games we saw Nick Foles, he truly did play like  a rookie.  The game seemed too fast for him.  He was throwing passes way too late and had to deal with the same struggles Vick dealt with concerning a porous offensive line.  It really wasn’t the best set up for Nick to step into after Michael went down with a concussion and blurred vision a few weeks ago.  But last week was encouraging as he was able to stay in the pocket a little bit and gain some confidence.  Though I’m sure Bryce Brown and his antics were a huge part of it, that shouldn’t deter from a solid 251 yard 1 TD performance against a Dallas secondary that really isn’t that bad.  Well this week was against a Buccaneers team that hasn’t been able to stop a passing attack all year.  The set up could not have been better and Foles took full advantage to the tune of 381 passing yards to go with 24 rushing and 3 total touchdowns, one of which came on the ground, turning not one but two WRs – Jason Avant and Jeremy Maclin - into fantasy relevant players on the day and barely missed doing the same for Riley Cooper on the game-winning drive.  Keep in mind this is a team that’s in shambles from the top down.  Plenty of firings, plenty of injuries and plenty of angry Eagles fans to boot but with Michael Vick all but gone after the 2012 season from Philidelphia, I think it’s a good time to think about what Foles could do for 2013 and beyond.  Hey, not all of us are in the fantasy playoffs people.  Some of us have to look forward while we cry into our winter beards.  If you wanna skip the next paragraph because you’re in the playoffs and don’t care, I won’t stop you but I warn you there might be a pop quiz later.  So before we get on with Sunday highlights, let’s highlight Foles for 2013 fantasy football…

First off, let’s make some comparisons.  Coming into the year, Foles had been compared to Chad Henne and even John Skelton.  Personally, I think he looks more like Jon Heder and Ron Perlman’s lovechild…hrm, these comparisons aren’t off to a very good start.  The Henne comparison is reasonable: a strong-armed pocket quarterback who, though not extremely mobile, isn’t Philip Rivers either.  The two biggest knocks against Foles coming into the draft were the injury issues and that his big stats came from a ‘gimmicky’ offense with the Wildcats.  In reality, all this is moot as even in training camp there were rumors that Foles should’ve received the starting job and given how stubborn Andy Reid has been in making the right moves over ‘sticking with his guys’, I think we’re seeing why now.  Moving forward, my main concerns with Nick would be two things.  One, how quickly will he make adjustments.  It took him about 2 1/2 games to get his footing to perform over these last two games.  These last three games – one against a stingy Cincinnati secondary and another against a Redskins secondary that is easy to beat but man-handled him the first time the two teams played – will tell a story of how we can view Foles looking forward.  The second concern is the uncertainty of the Eagles themselves.  Will Reid be back?  If he isn’t, who takes over and how does that change the offense next year?  Change isn’t always the best thing when you’re talking about a QB and playing within a system, even if the system has failed the last two years.  Though it’s ridiculously early to make these calls, I’m gonna say I see a QB who gets to throw it often given how terrible the Eagles defense has been the last two years.  As Tony Romo owners can confess to, it’s nice to own a QB who plays from behind most of the time.  Foles can give his owners about 3700 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, 15 INT with plenty of room for upside/downside in the TD:INT ratio for the 2013 season.  In re-draft leagues, I’d target him as a backup QB as long as the hype vultures don’t start circling in the off-season.  In dynasty and keeper leagues, I’d be interested but not jumping out of my seat.  I can tell I just got you all crazy excited for next year.  You’re welcome.  And now on with the news from the 2012 fantasy football season as it’s still rolling for some of us…

Alfred MorrisI said he’d end the day with 120 rushing yards and a touchdown.  I didn’t realize he’d fumble it.  Sorry about that, my Spidey senses went on the fritz, obviously.  I guess this is as good a place as any to talk about it: Robert Griffin, III got hurt and it did not look good at all.  Knees aren’t supposed to turn that way.  I’m no doctor, but I once reattached a limb to a man’s body.  Granted, I used superglue and it was a doll’s leg and said man was passed out at a party, but I was wearing a stethoscope while I did it.  Oh and I’d be extremely surprised if RG3 is playing next week.  It’s tough, but I did say to sell him way earlier this season for the very reason of health.  I’m sure he carried many people into the playoffs this year but now might be taking those same teams out on a stretcher with him.  And while we’re on the subject of Redskins, let’s just get this out of the way: Pierre Garcon cares not who throws to him, he shall catch a touchdown as he went for 5/87 with his final one coming from Kirk Cousins who is everyone’s distant relative, apparently.

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So with this being the last buy column for the season, I felt the best way to approach the final go would be to state some generalities.  Though I’ll still list some buys and sells below, I wanted to state the simple and obvious: make a trade that helps you over the last 6 weeks, not what helped the other owner for the last 10.  By that I mean, sometimes selling high means selling low.  You’re looking at the best a guy can offer you over the last 6 fantasy football games of the season.  You should be looking at playoff matchups and not the next week at hand, unless of course you’re still scrambling for a playoff spot at this time like I am seemingly everywhere.  Name value doesn’t hold as much weight as what a guy can do for you over this six week adventure.  So go ahead and flip your star in name for the guy who’s been quietly outproducing him most of the season.  It’s also the time of year to take risks if you need to.  Look, you know by the records and points scored for the season whether or not your team is a contender or a pretender right now.  One man’s 6-4 record should really be 4-6 and vice versa.  We’re aware of it so we have to act before the last chance to make a move passes us by.  Like I said, the time is nigh…buy, buy, buy.  And with that, let’s look at some possible buys and sells for our final swing-thru for 2012 fantasy football:

Buy

Mark Ingram – The length of a season can do strange things to an otherwise unwaivering man.  I said at the beginning of the year I wanted no part of Mark and for about 9 weeks I was right.  Well, now I see a running back whose received 25 touches over the last two weeks with 16 of them coming last week vs the Falcons and doing good work with them.  He has looked nothing like the RB that we’ve seen for a season and a half and more like what the Saints thought they drafted.  He’s been aggressive when given the ball and running with a purpose.  Can’t ask for much more than that.  As much as I’d love to tell you to pick up Chris Ivory instead, he’s clearly not getting the touches Ingram is getting.  After his 56 yard run last week, Ivory only got 6 more touches the rest of the way.  Ingram as a flex is looking like a good call for ROS if you’re in need.

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