There’s something about slow starts that unnerves fantasy owners, especially when it comes from a fantasy asset with a bad year under their belt. Obviously we all want our players to get off to starts like Robert Griffin, III or Matt Ryan. You know, those guys you picked up late you just knew were going to be amazing for your team. Well, there are still some guys that will be amazing for you and you might even have them on your team right now One of their names is Philip Rivers. Philip is putting together a so-so year to date, on pace for just under 3600 passing yards, 24 TD passes and 16 INT. Under the hood, though, we can see he’s really only had 1 bad game and that was versus an underrated Atlanta Falcons team. Now that we’re out from under the hood, let’s look into the future and see who Rivers gets to face: @NO, DEN, @CLE, KC, and @TB. Three of those five teams are in the bottom ten in passing yards allowed and one of them, Kansas City, Rivers just went for 209 and two TDs against along with an INT. Looking even further down the road, his playoff slate – @PIT, CAR, @NYJ – isn’t looking overly intimidating either. When you put it all together, he should be well on his way to another 30+ TD season but is currently ranked behind Matt Cassel in terms of QB rankings. So go ask one of your league mates if they’ve been driven to tears by Philip. In other buy low, sell high fantasy football news for 2012…
Buy
Steve Smith – No, not the one in STL. Do we even need to discuss him anymore? Touchdowns are fickle. They also jade people into thinking such and such player is worthless while another one is a superstar. There’s no better example of this than little old Smith. Did you know he’s 8th in receiving yards this year? I know, it’s hard to care about that when he’s given you the goose egg in the 6 point category but he’s still present and still the with a capital T-H-E target for Cam Newton. Don’t let the TDs scare you away. If he repeats his 7 from 2011 in 12 games after not getting them in the first 4, just think how happy you are that you traded for him.
Ryan Mathews – This is a tentative buy. I originally had him in my top 10 but he was the start of the slippery slope tier. See how much I can contradict myself in one sentence? Mathews has the talent to be a top 5 back. He also must moonlight as an ‘Oil Applicant Specialist’ on adult film sets because he just can’t hang onto the ball. Couple that with a career laced with injury issues and a current one with his clavicle and I’m questioning why I even have him here. Oh wait, I know why. I’m sure the guy who drafted Ryan expected more than he’s gotten so far and he could go for cheaper than he should. Check in with them, ask how their mother is doing and tell them she has nice hair to start the conversation off right.
Darren McFadden – So he’s been healthy and yet has been outscored so far this season by Andre Brown. Yes the Andre Brown who hasn’t even played in 2 full games as the main back. Buy calls are made on players where we fear to tread like my Chris Johnson call. McFadden – health permitting – is a top 10 back. His health permit could be revoked at any time, though, so keep that in mind when Mackin on McFadden.
Tony Romo – Talked about him a bit yesterday. Bad game wasn’t all his fault. Lot of owners probably had this face after the game with regards to Tony. If you are in need of a solid QB and can deal with a bye week, you’re probably not getting Romo any cheaper than you can right now.
Sell
Willis McGehee – This isn’t about whether or not McGehee is good or not. He’s a decent, low-end RB2 option. However, he’s currently ranked in the top 20 and as the 11th best RB in yahoo leagues. I know Peyton Manning is a boon to his value but you have to question whether or not he keeps performing at a 300 touch, 1450 total yard pace, not to mention the 12 TDs. If you are a believer, I have the right to ask w’hatchoo talkin ’bout, Willis owners’? He is not a key enough part of his offense to keep those numbers up, in my opinion. As the Cheesy Skillets guy would say, strike while the iron is hot. Then forge it with liquid gooooooooooooooooooooold!
Matt Forte – Your Forte’s back and they’re gonna be in trouble. Hey now, hey now, your Forte’s back! He’s also not fully healthy and may not ever get that way this season. When you couple that with a lack of touchdowns likely to come his way, you could be sorry you held on. Try talking up his first game back with the other owner. He did pretty good with limited carries. See if the other owner thinks Matt learned the Nintendo code for unlimited carries from here on out. Bonus points for reading that and telling me in the comments what code that would be.
Ryan Fitzpatrick – Yes, obvious sell is obvious. You drafted him as your backup QB. He’s now ranked 16th according to yahoo. That’s nuts with a side of Planters and Paydays. Some stats to note here: he’s on pace to set two career highs. One of them is his touchdown total of 24 from last year as he’s currently on pace for doubling that number. The second one is his interception high from last year of 23 as he’ll hit 28 by season’s end at this clip. I really think only one of those numbers is within reach. I’ll leave it up to you to guess which one. To put things full circle, let’s just say the Romo owner needs a QB for this week and you’re already set and ‘ole Fitzy was riding the pine anyway…well there ya go.
