Quarterbacks:
- Rivers
- P Manning
- Orton
- Rodgers
- Brees
- K Collins
- Brady
- Cassel
- Cutler
- Bradford
- Hasselbeck
- E Manning
- Henne
- Favre
- Fitzpatrick
- Ryan
- Roethlisberger
- Flacco
- Freeman
- Sanchez
- Kitna
- Garrard
- McNabb
Comments:
- Rivers will bounce back after a relatively poor fantasy performance last week. RB Mike Tolbert has an iffy hand injury that might encourage Norv Turner to attack more through the air.
- Can’t see Peyton Manning duplicating his horrendous effort from last week. He will redeem himself.
- While I expect Orton to throw for plenty of yards (especially if Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers can’t play), I’m not so sure about TDs for Orton. I can’t imagine KC will give up more than 2-3 TDs.
- Rodgers could be busy Sunday. While I expect Mike McCarthy to counter all of the criticism about his horrible running game by trying to run a fair amount to prove folks wrong – in the end, he’ll do what he usually does: lose confidence in his run game early and start chucking it everywhere. That’s fine, Rodgers has been playing well lately.
- A good many will object to my putting Kerry Collins this high but Tenn desperately needs a QB in there who knows what’s going on. Rusty Smith just isn’t going to cut it. Collins can still throw the ball well. And while Jax has been playing better lately, their defense isn’t too scary (#28 pass D). I expect some serious stats for Collins throwing it primarily to CJ, Nate Washington and Scaife.
- There are several lesser fantasy QBs that could go nuts this weekend: Hasselbeck, Henne, Fitzpatrick, Favre, Freeman. All will likely be fairly safe choices for moderate stats, but a few of them might go off.
Running Backs:
- Jamaal Charles
- Chris Johnson
- Steven Jackson
- Peyton Hillis
- Matt Forte
- Adrian Peterson (if he plays)
- Michael Turner
- Mike Tolbert
- MJD
- Knowshon Moreno
- LeGarrette Blount
- Cedric Benson
- LT
- Brandon Jacobs
- Marshawn Lynch
- Fred Jackson
- Rashard Mendenhall
- Mike Goodson
- Ray Rice
- Tashard Choice
- Chris Ivory
- Maurice Morris
- Ahmad Bradshaw
- Danny Woodhead
- Darren McFadden
- Ricky Williams
- Ronnie Brown
- Felix Jones
- Beanie Wells
- Jonathan Stewart
Comments:
- Why is Peyton Hillis not #1? Because last week Miami went into Oak and shut down Darren McFadden mostly (though McFadden did have 63 receiving yards). While Hillis has been outstanding this year, I just don’t think he’ll have quite the same game as the guys in front of him.
- I expect Charles and CJ to go nuts.
- Steven Jackson gets to face one of the most lifeless defenses out there. AZ brought zero energy to their game last week.
- I’d put Tolbert higher if he weren’t battling a hand injury that may affect his ability to hang onto the ball.
- People will look at what Atlanta did to GB’s RB Brandon Jackson last week and assume that they are good against the run. They are not a bad run D but the Pack’s poor running game is the main reason Jackson didn’t do anything. At home in a huge division game, I expect Blount to run tough and get some good stats.
- This could finally be the week that Marshawn Lynch doesn’t stink. Carolina is not very good and they got lit up by a bruising RB last week. Pathetically, at 5-6, Seattle has a very realistic shot at making the playoffs and if they do, I would imagine Pete Carroll would want his running game to get going before then.
- Wanted to put Tashard Choice up higher. He’ll finally get some action as Barber likely will sit due to injury. Choice could be quite effective against a poor Colts’ D.
- #20-25 could all be ranked higher. All 6 of these guys should do OK, but each has a chance to put up some big time stats (especially garbage time stats).
Wide Receivers
- Reggie Wayne
- Dwayne Bowe
- Brandon Lloyd
- Greg Jennings
- Calvin Johnson
- Mike Williams (TB)
- Percy Harvin
- Ben Obomanu
- Terrell Owens
- Marques Colston
- Mario Manningham
- Roddy White
- Nate Washington
- Johnny Knox
- Santonio Holmes
- Miles Austin
- Steve Johnson
- Larry Fitzgerald
- Sidney Rice
- Wes Welker
- Davone Bess
- Dez Bryant
- James Jones
- Hines Ward
- Anquan Boldin
- Blair White
- Braylon Edwards
- Derrick Mason
- Legedu Naanee
- Mike Wallace
Comments:
- Generally, lots of good WR match-ups this week. I expect many of the top 20 WRs to have big stats.
- Wayne will be a big part of Manning’s redemption.
- Bowe has been unreal, but as a Bowe owner for some reason I get the feeling his production may start to come back to normal levels soon. I can’t rank him according to this hunch, however, because he’s just been too good recently.
- Calvin Johnson would be ranked #1 this week if Drew Stanton weren’t throwing to him. Still, I expect for Johnson to be extra hungry to go against the team that stole a win from Detroit Week 1 – a loss that may well have cost Detroit its season. He’s still worked up about that call.
- I like the Vikings WRs this week. I haven’t felt this way for a long time, but with AP a bit iffy, I can see Favre getting into a groove and chucking it often to Rice and Harvin.
- I like Austin and Bryant more than most FF rankers. While Kitna will be sacked often by Freeney and Mathis, Dallas will have to throw a bunch when playing catch-up. And generally, outside of the pass rush, they will be playing an otherwise questionable D, so I like the Dallas offense Sunday.
- One guy I left off but feel badly about leaving off is Danario Alexander from St. Louis. Bradford has been passing really well lately (threw for 308 yards last week) and these two should have room to work against a soft Cardinals D.
Tight Ends
- Antonio Gates
- Jacob Tamme
- Jason Witten
- Brandon Pettigrew
- Kellen Winslow
- Visanthe Shiancoe
- Marcedes Lewis
- Vernon Davis
- Kevin Boss
- Tony Gonzalez
- Rob Gronkowski
- Dustin Keller
- Chris Cooley
- Benjamin Watson
- Anthony Fasano
Comments:
- If Gates can make it through the game with his injury, he’ll be busy. Risky to put at #1 because of the injury, but he made it through the last game OK and Rivers will be throwing it a bunch in this one.
- Like Wayne, Tamme will benefit as well from Manning’s redemption game.
- I see Witten, Pettigrew, Winslow and Shiancoe getting more targets than usual considering their match-ups.
- Hard to leave Zach Miller (Oak) off the list but he could have his hands full against a quality SD defense.
Defense/Special Teams
- Packers
- Chargers
- Tenn
- Giants
- Ravens
- Chiefs
- Vikings
- Steelers
- Bears
- Seahawks
- Dolphins
- Saints
- Redskins
- Rams
- Bucs
Comments:
- Few others have Tenn this high. It’s a risk. Jax has been moving the ball nicely between MJD and Garrard, but something tells me that with Kerry Collins back, Tenn will really come out and attack both offensively and defensively. This is a huge game in the AFC South.
- I see both the Giants/Redskins and Ravens/Steelers locked in defensive battles.
- Felt the same way about the Vikes and the Chiefs – both could be really good overall despite giving up a fair number of passing yards.
- Dolphins and Saints were tough ones as I see no middle ground here – they either both shut down their opponents almost totally or they give up huge yards, points etc and totally stink. Not sure why I ranked them then where I did but…
Kickers
- Dan Carpenter
- Matt Bryant
- Olindo Mare
- Nate Kaeding
- Ryan Longwell
- Mason Crosby
- Phil Dawson
- Garrett Hartley
- Robbie Gould
- Shayne Graham
Comments:
- Hard to pick anyone but Carpenter #1 – Miami loves FGs.
- Bryant could be busy as I expect the TB defense to give up some yards but hold down by the red zone.
- Mare, Kaeding, Longwell, Crosby should all be active because their offenses will score a bunch of points.
- Graham could very well determine the outcome of the game Monday night.