Quarterbacks:
- Peyton manning
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Eli Manning
- Matt Schaub
- Kyle Orton
- Ben Roeth
- David Garrard
- Josh Freeman
- Tom Brady
- Shaun Hill
- Troy Smith
- Jay Cutler
- Chad Pennington
- Sam Bradford
- Michael Vick
- Vince Young
- Carson Palmer
- Matt Cassel
- Derek Anderson
- Jon Kitna
Comments:
- Sunday’s Det @ Buff game could develop into a surprisingly good showcasing of QB skills between Shaun Hill and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Both back-ups to start the year, these guys can play. In fact, despite their records, this could be quite a good game to watch.
- Whenever I put Matt Schaub high on the list, I do it hesitantly. Seems this year he either has 400 yards and 4 TDs passing or 90 and 1TD.
- Though I respect the KC D, Orton and co got a much-needed bye-week rest and their passing game could be tough to contain.
- Freeman continues to have the poise of a player who is much older. I thought that last year when he, almost by himself, took down the Packers in a shocking upset. He’s as good as TB thinks he is.
- Troy Smith is ranked pretty high here but his first week performance in London was pretty good fantasy-wise. He can get it done on the ground as well as the air – and never underestimate a former Heisman winner who has a strong personal history of winning big games under pressure. (Sound like I’m a Buckeye fan or something – I’m not at all…but I picked him up as a back-up in my league because I think he’ll create a QB controversy out there after this week.)
- Chad Pennington will start instead of Chad Henne who was benched I think for missing Anthony Fasano on a wide open TD pass last week at Balt. Henne executes that pass and Miami takes the lead, possibly taking down Balt. Would have been a different ballgame.
Running Backs:
- Gore
- Blount
- Maurice Jones-Drew
- Hillis
- Mendenhall
- Chris Johnson
- J Charles
- Jahvid Best
- F Jackson
- A Bradshaw
- A Foster
- A Peterson
- Steven Jackson
- LeSean McCoy
- Chester Taylor
- Knowshon Moreno
- Ricky Williams
- LaRod Stephens-Howling
- Cedric Benson
- LT
- Marshawn Lynch
- Brandon Jacobs
- Tim Hightower
- Danny Woodhead
- Ryan Torain
- Donald Brown
- Mike Goodson
- CJ Spiller
- Matt Forte
- Thomas Jones
Comments:
- Blount could go nuts this week w/respect to total yards – but I think Gore will have more overall fantasy points.
- I think this could be the break-out week for MJD that many have been waiting for. Should be a high scoring game.
- For some reason I think J Best will do some damage on screens in this one. Buff will be fired up to be playing a fellow low-achieving team and probably be blitz happy, but Shaun Hill will be savvy enough to know to dump to Best (and Pettigrew).
- Not as keen on A Foster and A Peterson this week. Great players but I think both opposing defenses will be so squarely focused on stopping the run that the going could be tough.
- I think Ken Whisenhunt has been sort of forced to think about using LaRod Stephens-Howling (odd, odd name) more because the guy gets it done on kickoffs. He’s got quality moves to elude tacklers and I’d imagine he’s going to start getting more touches on offense.
- Danny Woodhead keeps producing. He’s not the kind who will go nuts fantasy-wise, but he is consistent because the Pats love using him. He may start stealing carries from Green-Ellis because of his quality ypc last week.
Wide Receivers:
- Calvin Johnson
- Andre Johnson
- Terrell Owens
- Reggie Wayne
- Larry Fitzgerald
- Hakeem Nicks
- Mike Williams (TB)
- DeSean Jackson
- Steve Johnson
- Davone Bess
- Miles Austin
- Michael Crabtree
- Brandon Marshall
- Mike Sims-Walker
- Wes Welker
- Steve Breaston
- Hines Ward
- Mario Manningham
- Percy Harvin (if he plays)
- Randy Moss
- Dwayne Bowe
- Jabar Gaffney
- Brandon Lloyd
- Danny Amendola
- Lee Evans
- Chad Ochocinco
- Mike Wallace
- Jerry Maclin
- Dez Bryant
- Nate Washington
Comments:
- I was dead wrong last week about Revis not being able to slow down Calvin Johnson. He must have done a good job. Of course, it did seem the Lions game-planned away from that match-up and Burleson delivered.
- Wow has T.O. been good this year. He really doesn’t look like he’s lost a step at all. He may be obnoxious still, but the guy is a really good WR.
- Pretty standard ranking through #6, then we get to Mike Williams. The guy is a monster and Josh Freeman loves throwing to him even when defenses now know that the chances of Freeman going his direction are so high. TB liked the guy so much in the preseason that I decided to draft the guy – nice.
- I like Davone Bess this week. I think Marshall will get his and finally get a TD, but I think Bess could have the bigger fantasy game. He is awfully difficult to defend coming off the line because he has the very rare combination of burly strength and quickness. There is a good reason he was just signed to a nice new contract.
- Crabtree will do better with Troy Smith in there – as will the whole 49er offense. I think he will be just what the team needs and the offense will finally open up like it should have considering their talent, going back to last year.
- Not as keen on Dwayne Bowe because he’ll draw Champ Bailey this week. But it’s also hard to sit the guy because he’s become automatic in the TD deparment.
- Similarly not keen on Brandon Lloyd this week as he’ll draw the underrated Brandon Flowers – a rising shutdown CB. My guess is that the #2 and #3 WRs for Denver might end up with quality games.
- I’m going to cautiously jump on the Mike Sims-Walker bandwagon for now – though he burned me in the first few games this year. He’s a good player and Garrard likes him. And with a 98.8 QB rating, David Garrard is proving he can get the ball to the target pretty effectively.
Tight Ends
- Vernon Davis
- Marcedes Lewis
- Brandon Pettigrew
- Visanthe Shiancoe
- Aaron Hernandez
- Jacob Tamme
- Dustin Keller
- Kellen Winslow
- Joel Dreessen
- Bo Scaife
- Heath Miller
- Benjamin Watson
- Tony Moeaki
- Chris Cooley
- Anthony Fasano
Comments:
- He’s had sufficient time to recover from injury and I think Vernon Davis will quickly become a favorite dump off option for new QB Troy Smith.
- Putting Lewis this high is a gamble because he’ll either have 2 catches for 20 yards or 5 for 50 and 2 TDs.
- I think MN has game-planned to get Shiancoe involved more. Let me restate that. MN sure should be game-planning to get Shiancoe more involved because last year he made a huge difference in that offense. And, Favre loves throwing to TEs.
- Dustin Keller is another guy who could be super quiet or huge Sunday – nothing in between.
- I like Joel Dreessen this week. Even though the Jax D is weak, they will spend most of their time Sunday trying to stop Arian Foster. And if they succeed even a little bit, Houston will take to the air and Dreessen would be a good option for Schaub considering he’ll get little attention while Andre Johnson is double or triple teamed.
- Waiting for an explosion game from Kellen Winslow. He’s still a good player and he has a heck of a QB. And, at some point, you’d think defenses would begin rolling over extra coverage to Mike Williams which would open things up presumably down the middle for Winslow. We’ll see. Either way, I think adding Winslow now in your league if he’s available might be a smart move because if Mike Williams has another big game, teams would be foolish not to roll extra coverage his way.
Defense/Special Teams
- TB
- Cleve
- NYG
- Chicago
- SF
- Pitt
- Denver
- Philly
- NYJ
- Ariz
- Redskins
- Miami
- NE
- KC
- Indy
Comments:
- Really like the momentum TB has, even after a tough loss last week. They played a really tough Atlanta team away (an Atlanta team that has won 18 of its last 19 games at home) and almost snatched a victory. On the flip side, Carolina has nothing to offer…nothing.
- Cleve is high here, but they did a heck of a job slowing down a usually dynamic Pats’ offense last week. This defense is better than folks think.
- Others had the Vikes higher than the Bears. This game will be about the Bears D, turnovers and special teams.
- SF comes off the bye week revved and ready to go on a run. StL is decent but this will be an inspiring game for the SF faithful.
- Denver is much higher here than others have ranked them but with Bailey shutting down Bowe and Brian Dawkins healthy, I think Denver comes out on fire and surprises KC.
- I was going to put Ariz much higher after last week’s quality effort for 3 quarters against the Vikes (and their great special teams play). But Seattle is so wildly inconsistent that I worry this could end up a shootout, with the Ariz D just not getting it done.
Kickers
- Dan Carpenter
- Lawrence Tynes
- David Akers
- Robbie Gould
- Matt Prater
- Connor Barth
- Nick Folk
- Phil Dawson
- Josh Scobee
- Joe Nedney
Comments:
- Carpenter has become the obvious #1 guy – Miami needs to convert these FGs to TDs to have a chance for a playoff run.
- Tynes will be busy Sunday.
- Akers will also be busy – but mostly with FGs.
- Matt Prater is due for a big game and I think Denver’s offense will give him a chance to score some points.
- I like both Nick Folk and Phil Dawson as I think the NYJ/Cleve game could be a FG affair.