Posts Tagged ‘larry fitzgerald’

Start ‘Em And Bench ‘Em Week 14

Week 14 of the NFL season is upon us, so here is your Week 14 Start ‘Em and Bench ‘Em!  As always I don’t do Kickers, and check your injury reports before starting anyone.  Also, not every obvious guy will be on here each week.  The Starts are the guys I think will have an especially good day and the Bench is guys you should be warned about, not that you shouldn’t start them if there are no better options.  Always start your stud guys unless there is an especially bad matchup or an injury.

RB Start ‘Em:

Brian Westbrook vs Seahawks, Peyton Hillis vs Bills, Chris Johnson vs Colts, Rashard Mendenhall vs Bengals, LeGarrette Blount vs Redskins.

Sleeper:   Tim Hightower vs Broncos

RB Bench ‘Em:  

Cedric Benson vs Steelers,  Mike Hart vs Titans, Jahvid Best vs Packers, Brandon Jacobs vs Vikings.

QB Start ‘Em:

 Ben Roethlisberger vs Bengals, Aaron Rodgers vs Lions, Eli Manning vs Vikings, Josh Freeman vs Redskins, Michael Vick vs Cowboys.

Sleeper:  Alex Smith vs Seahawks

QB Bench ‘EM:  

Matt Schaub vs Ravens, Carson Pamler vs Steelers, Matt Ryan vs Panthers, Brett Favre vs Giants.

WR Start ‘Em:

Mike Wallace vs Bengals, Roddy White vs Panthers, Steve Johnson vs Browns, Brandon Lloyd vs Cardinals,  Anquan Boldin vs Texans.

Sleeper:  Jacoby Ford vs Jaguars

WR Bench ‘Em:  

Devin Hester vs Patriots, Mike Sims-Walker vs Raiders, Santana Moss vs Buccaneers, Brandon Marshall vs Jets. 

TE Start ‘Em:

Greg Olsen vs Patriots, Jacob Tamme vs Titans, Ben Watson vs Bills, Tony Gonzalez vs Panthers, Antonio Gates vs Chiefs.

Sleeper: David Johnson vs Bengals 

TE Bench ‘Em: 

Bo Scaife vs Colts, Visanthe Shiancoe vs Giants, Andrew Quarless vs Lions, Joel Dreesen vs Ravens.

DEF Start ‘Em:

Steelers vs Bengals, Jets vs Dolphins, Ravens vs Texans, Titans vs Colts, Falcons vs Panthers.

Sleeper: Patriots vs Bears 

DEF Bench ‘Em:

Bengals vs Steelers, Houston vs Ravens, Dolphins vs Jets, Lions vs Packers, Vikings vs Giants.

Mid-week QB changes mean more fantasy lineup changes than just the QB’s

This week, Mike Vick was announced as the new starting QB for the Eagles over Kevin Kolb.  Today, is was announced that Bruce Gradkowski will be the new starter for the Oakland Raiders over Jason Campbell.  Obviously, if you planned to start Kolb or Campbell this week, this will change your plans but there are more fantasy lineup implications to this than just those two. 

Gradkowski loved throwing the ball to Louis Murphy last season.  Gradkowski played 4 full games after getting the nod over Jamarcus Russell and before going down with an injury in week 14.  In those 4 games, Gradkowski threw 6 TD passes.  3 of those 6 were to Murphy.  Murphy without Gradkowski?  1 TD. 

Yardage wasn’t that much for Murphy even with Gradkowski, so I wouldn’t make him a starter at WR if you have better options until you see more yardage production.  But if you are looking for a flex play in a 12 team league or some extra depth at WR, Murphy is a good pickup if you can get him.  Grab him now if you want him.

As for the Eagles; Kolb owners (especially those who took him early in drafts) are not happy today.  I hope you had the sense to draft a quality backup if you drafted Kolb without knowing how good he’d be.  If you didn’t, try to grab Vick if he’s still availabe.  If not, see if you can get Vince Young, Josh Freeman, Alex Smith, or Chad Henne off of the waiver wire.  If not, make a trade.  You might get a guy like Joe Flacco cheap right now and relish in it when he finds his rhythm.

Bump up DeSean Jackson in value, as well as Jeremy Maclin now that Vick is in.  Brent Celek may be valued lower, as Vick doesn’t usually go to the Tight End as much as Kolb or McNabb.  So grab a good backup TE if you don’t have one. 

As always, ask questions if you like, and I will answer them as I see them.  Look for Start ‘Em and Bench ‘Em for week 3 in the next couple of days.

Top 10 Fantasy D/ST’s

My top 10 D/ST’s’s for fantasy football.  In my opinion, this is how the season’s D/ST’s should shake out in terms of fantasy scoring.

1. New York Jets

2. Baltimore Ravens

3. Minnesota Vikings 

4. Philadelphia Eagles

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

6. New Orleans Saints

7. Cincinatti Bengals

8. Dallas Cowboys

9. New York Giants

10. San Francisco 49ers.

Top 10 Fantasy TE’s

My top 10 TE’s for fantasy football.  In my opinion, this is how the season’s TE’s should shake out in terms of fantasy scoring.

1. Antonio Gates – SD

2. Dallas Clark – IND

3. Brent Celek – PHI

4. Jason Witten – DAL

5.Vernon Davis - SF

6. Owen Daniels - HOU

7. Jermichael Findley - GB

8. Tony Gonzalez - ATL

9. Visanthe Shiancoe -MIN

10. Zach Miller – OAK

Top 10 Fantasy WR’s

My top 10 WR’s for fantasy football.  In my opinion, this is how the season’s WR’s should shake out in terms of fantasy scoring.

1. Andre Johnson – HOU

2. Miles Austin - DAL

3. Roddy White – ATL

4. Greg Jennings – GB

5. Randy Moss – NE

6. Steve Smith – CAR

7. Marques Colston – NO

8. Brandon Marshall – MIA

9. Reggie Wayne – IND

10. DeSean Jackson – PHI

Top 10 Fantasy RB’s

My top 10 RB’s for fantasy football.  In my opinion, this is how the season’s RB’s should shake out in terms of fantasy scoring.

1. Chris Johnson – TEN

2. Adrian Peterson – MIN

3. Ray Rice – BAL

4. Michael Turner – ATL

5. Maurice Jones-Drew – JAC

6. Frank Gore – SF

7. Steven Jackson – STL

8. DeAngelo Williams – CAR

9. Cedric Benson – CIN

10. Ryan Grant – GB

Favre has surgery and plays with kids. His annual signal that he’ll be back.

As if we didn’t know this already, Brett Favre is coming back. No, he hasn’t announced it yet. But he has announced it if you speak Favre-glish.  It’s the language that only Favre knows how to speak since – after all- it is his language.  And he doesn’t need to say a word. 

If you do listen to what he speaks, you’d believe that this is a man in limbo pondering his future.  All he will say is that he is considering it and talking it over with his family.  That’s Favre-glish for “I’m pretending to be undecided until maybe the last 2 weeks of training camp, maybe later to avoid going through ‘two a days’.”

Favre has given his sign for the year (as if we needed one) that he will indeed be back for a 20th NFL season.  He first had surgery on his left ankle to clean up some scar tissue and bone spurs.  Now, he’s back to practicing football with high school kids at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Favre will continue to ‘decide’ for at least the next 2 weeks.  After that, he will officially announce to all people who do not understand Favre-glish that he will be returning.

Brad Childress and the Minnesota Vikings, myself, and every other NFL writer out there have known this for months.

ESPN: Jackson suspended for 3 games

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Chargers WR Vincent Jackson will be suspended for 3 games in 2010 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Jackson pleaded guilty in February to driving while intoxicated. This is Jackson’s second conviction for the same charge.

No word on whether or not he will appeal.

Panthers WR Steve Smith breaks arm; will miss start of training camp

By Bob Metz

WR Steve Smith, Carolina branch (Panthers) has a broken arm he suffered in a flag football game according to Mike Cranston, AP sports writer.

Smith had surgery Sunday night on the same arm he broke against the New York Giants last season, though not in the same place. The team does not have a timetable for his return.

However, all may not be lost, fantasy owners because though Smith will miss the start of training camp for certain, the reports at this early stage sound optimistic about Smith possibly being able to play by week 1 of the regular season.

Either way, I wouldn’t count on Smith being a top notch WR this season.

The 5 Deadly Sins Of Fantasy Drafting

By Bob Metz

As your fantasy football expert, I am here with a warning.  Do not commit these common fantsy draft mistakes.  If you do, you’ll likely miss your playoffs and wish you had heeded these 5 deadly sins of fantasy drafting:

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