Steve Slaton has had troubles fumbling all season. Wait, he hasn’t had any trouble fumbling; he has perfected the craft which led to him being benched early on in yesterday’s win over Buffalo. Instead of Kubiak giving Slaton a second chance and a vote of confidence, he gave him directions to the bench and a whatever the opposite of confidence is, apprehension, distrust, doubt, fear, uncertainty? He was replaced by Ryan Moats who went on to have a huge game gaining 151 total yards and 3 touchdowns. This was Buffalo. This was the worst defense against the run in the league. You are a Slaton owner and this was your day! Kubiak, we want our day back!
Ryan Moats: Here is the guy who stole all your points. Here is the guy that got to face the Bills. And now you have to waste your high waiver priority on him, after what he did to you! If only you could see the indignation on my face! So yeah, Moats will probably see more carries from here on out. How many completely depends on how Slaton responds to being benched. He really doesn’t have many chances left. Pick Moats up if you own Slaton, pick him up if you don’t, but be prepared for Slaton to win the job back.
Owen Daniels: Well, another tight end bites the dust. He’s done for the season. Dressen and Casey won’t pick up the slack so look for Kevin Walter to get more looks. Daniels could have ended the season as the best fantasy tight end of the year. Single tear.
Jonathan Stewart: If you sat him because he is the backup and he was going against the #1 rushing defense in the league, well, I wouldn’t blame you. We learned a few things from this game. The Cardinals rushing defense is not the best in the league, Carolina must run the ball to win and keep the game out of Jake’s hands, and Stewart has reestablished himself as the goalline back. DeAngelo Williams was getting a lot of work around the goalline early in the season, but Stewart was in there on Sunday. DDubyah is going to have to get his touchdowns the old fashioned way, by making 87 yard TD runs.
Maurice Jones-Drew: 8 carries, 177 yards, and 2 touch downs! 8 carries! That’s 22 yards a carry. There’s not much to say. Be glad you own him.
Chris Johnson: It looks like Vince Young might be the perfect quarterback for CJ. He’s not going to throw for 300 yards so CJ must get the ball, and why wouldn’t he? He is by far their best player and the offense should always go through him. 239 total yards and 2 touchdowns will go a long way to win your weekly matchup and it went a long way to getting the Titans their first win of the season.
Malcolm Floyd: He has replaced Chris Chambers and has a good shot at getting you a touchdown week in and week out with his ability to elevate. I’d feel comfortable dropping a whole slew of borderline #3 wideouts for him.
Alex Smith: He didn’t embarrass himself against the Colts tough pass defense and has Davis and Crabtree and Gore, oh my. I like him at home against the Titans next week, but most of the stud QB’s will be ready to go. Here are the QB’s on byes for week 9: Favre, Bulger, Fitzpatrick/Edwards, Anderson, Sanchez, and Russell! Favre is the only one who is really startable in a 10-12 team 1 QB league, so there is very good chance you won’t be scrounging for QB’s in week 9.
Devin Hester: He’s had back to back decent games. I really expected Knox to take over that #1 wide receiver slot, but Hester is clutching onto it like David Spade onto his last shred of dignity. If you could sell high, I would say do it, but I doubt you’ll get enough to let him go. I think he’ll continue to give you solid #3 WR numbers.
Miles Austin: He had a ton of targets and hauled in another touchdown. He will continue to benefit from Romo and what seems to be a dearth of production from Williams and Witten. He does have a rough schedule coming up and I could see selling high if there is a Cowboys fan willing to overpay, but all in all he should continue to produce.
Lee Evans: He is dead to me.
Matt Forte: 116 total yards and 2 touchdowns is a very good fantasy day, but when you can only have good fantasy days against the Lions and the Browns, you might want to worry. I like Forte and the role he plays, but after watching the Bears offensive line continue to struggle, I think you have to toss him into the trade winds and see where he floats.
Steven Jackson: I got a lot of grief for having SJax so high in the rankings this year and I can’t say I wasn’t worried about his injury history and horrible, horrible team, but he continues to play well. The TD’s are going to be tough for him to get, but he should get into the endzone more often in the second half of the season.
Aaron Rodgers: He was seen walking with a noticeable limp after the Favreageddon game. That’s what apocalypses will do to you. And that was his second. Favre has beat him twice now. It happens. But Rodgers still is an awesome QB, I just hope his line can keep him from being decapitated.
