I wonder if Peyton Manning was going against himself in fantasy football last week? Less than 5 points from Peyton during the fantasy playoffs sounds like a fantasy football player’s worst nightmare. How many teams did the prince of Papa Johns let down? And why does he wear a helmet that’s 3 sizes too small? Speaking of 5 fantasy points, that’s the total number of combined points scored by LeSean McCoy and Alfred Morris. And while we’re putting together an all-star squad of undroppable players that scored less than 5 points, let’s add Demaryius Thomas, Josh Gordon and Jimmy Graham, who combined for 8.6 points. You’re sh*tting me, right? Those six studs put up a grand total of 18.52 points!
The following list of players looks like the fantasy football version of the Bad News Bears. Or if you prefer ice hockey we can go with Emilio Estevez’s Mighty Ducks. But as you’ve likely learned from my previous 14 editions of “Who Are These Guys” these guys aren’t as shitty as they might appear. At least not last week. Except for Charles Johnson, they all scored more points by themselves than the aforementioned superstars combined. And at that, Johnson fell only a few fractions of a point short. Combined, this motley crew put up 195.46 points and would have won just about any head to head match-ups in Yahoo! half point leagues.
QB: Derek Carr (22.36)
RB: Andre Williams (22.20)
RB: Jonathan Stewart (21.50)
WR: Jarius Wright (22.60)
WR: Charles Johnson (18.30)
TE: Mychal Rivera (20.40)
FL: Jared Cook (20.10)
K: Josh Brown (21.00)
DST: New York Giants (27.00)
With the playoffs upon us can we rely on any of these players to help us take that final step? Well let me start by saying this. If you need to rely on any of these players you are likely in a bit of trouble. At this point in the season I just don’t like the odds of someone that’s still on the waiver wire being trustworthy enough to start when it matters the most. This isn’t bye week fill-in time, it’s the fantasy football funking playoffs! Even if you lost Brandon Marshall or Andre Ellington I really hope you have a better backup on your bench than the list above.
With that said, let me say a few kind words about these fantastic players of the week.
Andre Williams had a career day carrying the ball 24 times for 131 yards and a touchdown. So how is he not a “must add”? The problem is Rashad Jennings. Jennings is the starter for the Giants. He came into last week’s game with a bum ankle that gave Williams the chance to be the guy. Despite the outstanding performance, with Jennings in the mix, Williams will not have the opportunity to put up those kind of numbers. Is Jennings going to play? I’d think so. He only had 2 carries last week. He was expected to have a light load against the Titans, but two carries is practically shooting blanks. My guess at this point is that they will split carries, rendering Williams (and Jennings) unstartable. But if for some reason Rashad doesn’t play and your other option is Giovani Bernard, I’d certainly consider giving Williams a look.
Last week on The Daily Show Jon Stewart rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown against New Orleans. It was political mayhem. This week he gets Tampa Bay who has given up 12 rushing touchdowns in 13 games. With DeAngelo Williams out with a broken hand, Stewart will get another chance to guest host (to be aired on BET). As I said about Andre Williams, if my choices are between him and Giovani Bernard, I’m going with Jonathan Stewart. Damn you Giovani Bernard. And damn you too Jeremy Hill.
Mychal Rivera has quietly been one of the top fantasy tight ends since about week 8. Since then he has scored 60.7 points in standard leagues. During that same time Jimmy Graham has scored 67.9 points. While I’d obviously choose Graham over Rivera 10 out of 10 times, I’m just pointing out that Rivera has been no slouch. Last week he caught all 7 passes thrown to him for 109 yards and a touchdown. This week he faces the Chiefs against whom he had one catch for 8 yards in week 12. And then in week 16 he has to deal with the stingy Bills defense. I’m not touching Rivera with a 10 foot pole and you pushing.
The New York Football Giants DST plays the terrible Washington Redskins offense this week. While defenses are racking up points when they play Washington, I would be a little nervous about starting the Giants DST during the playofffs. The Giants DST is as bad as Eli Manning. But sometimes you have to play the hot hand. Or in this case, play against the cold hand.
It’s crunch time fellas. Good luck. Get ‘er done!
