November 29, 2008
With the help of Mr. Silva's excellent Last Minute Decisions, the stories we're watching for the top of the Fantasy Fix Sunday morning:
1. Plaxico Burress shoots himself: Where do the Giants go from here?
2. Steven Jackson is a game-time decision: Can he hit the ground running?
3. The status of Brandon Jacobs and Clinton Portis in possibly rainy Washington matchup.
4. The expected return of Reggie Bush.
5. Game-time decisions: Eddie Royal, Mark Bradley
6. The return of Derek Anderson with Bob Sanders out for the Colts
7. Sage Rosenfels to start over Matt Schaub Monday night
8. Other injuries to watch: Roddy White, Kellen Winslow, Willie Parker, Zach Miller
Big Questions for Week 13
1. Can Matt Cassel solve the Pittsburgh defense?
2. Is Lance Moore matchup-proof?
3. Are the Broncos too one dimensional?
4. Is Darren McFadden ready to go on a tear?
November 28, 2008
It's probably going to be a quiet day on the blog because of family and scattered work obligations, but I am chatting over on Season Pass for subscribers, so stop on by.
November 26, 2008
Is Bess the new Camarillo?
From the same people who brought you Lance Moore, but didn't expect him to be remotely as good as he is, we humbly submit Dolphins receiver Devone Bess for your roster consideration. Bess is an undrafted rookie, which is rarely profitable in fantasy leagues, but it's clear he's a football player in the Parcellsiest sense of the word.
We've heard a lot about Bess all year in the Miami papers, and he's finally had the chance to produce the last two weeks: 14 targets, 8 targets, and 137 yards. With Greg Camarillo out for the season, Bess is the logical replacement to take over his possession receiver duties. Bess isn't tall or fast, but neither was Camarillo. They are both tough as Lance.
I went back to watch Bess' targets the last two weeks. He caught every one that was catchable. He fights to get high passes in traffic. He takes a hit and holds on to the ball, which comes in handy when Chad Pennington is throwing floaters your way. He catches the ball with his hands, which is another thing Pennington will remember after Ted Ginn dropped two crucial passes late last week. He converts third downs (3-of-4 last week for 61 yards.)
Bess was drawing linebackers and safeties before, so he'll have to beat better coverage now. Luckily he gets the Rams, Bills, and 49ers coming up. This post wouldn't exist if the schedule was harder. You'd have to be desperate to actually use Bess this week, but I know a lot of desperate owners out there. You could do worse if you are in a pinch for a WR3, especially in PPR leagues.
Tiffany and I preview the Thanksgiving Day games below. I'm traveling today, but will be back around tonight and of course we have you covered all day Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And yes, the rankings are up.
November 25, 2008
Fantasy owners know how Eagles fans feel: Donovan McNabb kicked us in the stomach Sunday. In my office league, McNabb scored -4 points for me. I lost by exactly four points. (Josh Scobee's missed field goals, Steve Smith's dropped touchdown, and LaDainian Tomlinson's red zone ills could also be blamed, but let's ignore that.)
The question for all McNabb owners out there: can we possibly go back to him again on Thursday night?
The first instinct is no, but then you look at the matchup. Arizona is the fourth-worst team at giving up fantasy points to quarterbacks. Their secondary is banged up and they must travel across the country on a short week. The Eagles still have no running game, so they will have to throw a lot to keep up with Arizona. McNabb is still the eighth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback on the season.
Continue reading "Time to bury McNabb?" »
November 24, 2008
Quiet day on the blog, but hope you caught the receiver ranks and my column full of lists. Since I clearly can't write without numbering things, here are a few thoughts on Monday night's game.
1. Marques Colston's 70-yard touchdown saved his night, but Drew Brees is looking Lance Moore's way on the key downs. In many ways, Moore is catching a lot of the same passes Colston used to. Sight adjustments, red zone tosses. A lot of timing plays Colston has missed in practice.
Continue reading "Monday night musings" »
November 21, 2008
This post ends my epochal second round rookie receivers series, which will assuredly go down in history ahead of Lord of the Rings as the most influential trilogy in history.
People will say that we should give rookie receivers ample time, and that is true. But there is a difference between a slow start and producing virtually nothing in your rookie season. Chad Jackson, Sinorice Moss, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Darius Watts are among the early recent picks at the position with virtually no rookie contributions. They didn't turn it around. With that in mind, here's how I'd rank these 10 in dynasty leagues. The top three, all mighty mites, could be long-term WR2s rather than top-10 guys. Nothing wrong with that.
1. Eddie Royal
2. DeSean Jackson
3. Donnie Avery
4. Jordy Nelson
5. Devin Thomas
6. Malcolm Kelly
7. James Hardy
8. Limas Sweed
9. Jerome Simpson
10. Dexter Jackson
Continuing our look back at the ten second receivers:
46. Jerome Simpson: Tyler Thigpen's old teammate is even rawer than expected. He wasn't expected to help much as a rookie, but hasn't seen the field despite problems in front of him. Behind fellow rookie Andre Caldwell. One catch.
Outlook: I drafted Simpson in my dynasty league four spots before I took Eddie Royal. Whoops. I knew it would take time, but this is still a discouraging start. Hang on to him in deep leagues to see how the Bengals WR situation shakes out. Caldwell is the safer bet, but the situation is still promising.
49. DeSean Jackson: The Eagles finally drafted a keeper. Team's leading receiver with 652 yards and 80 more rushing. A great playmaker that has some mental breakdowns, but has been very consistent for a rookie.
Outlook: Like Royal, he landed in a perfect pass-first situation. He's a solid WR3 as a rookie, and the upside is there to be a borderline WR1 for a long time.
Continue reading "More Hits and Miss from second round" »
Tiffany and I talk Donovan McNabb, what Bucs you should start, the sneaky plays in the Jets-Titans game, and the decline of Timmy Hightower in a special Week 12 edition of the matchups. Well, it's not very special. We do it every week. But anything with Tiffany Simons is special, so back off!
After ripping on Limas Sweed last night, I thought it would be a good time to quickly check on the other nine receivers taken in the second round to see how they are doing and where I see them going in keeper/dynasty leagues. They are listed in order of where they were drafted overall. I'll look at five in this post, five in the next post, then rank them.
33. Donnie Avery: A huge pleasant surprise, with WR3 stats (543 total yards, 3 TDs). A great deep threat with game-breaking speed.
Outlook: Still somewhat raw, so the ceiling is high. Should be a fantasy contributor for a long time and a potential annual WR2.
34. Devin Thomas: Landed in a great situation, but hasn't done much with it. 11 catches for 77 yards.
Outlook: Was the first drafted rookie wideout in most keeper leagues, but certainly wouldn't be now. He seemed immature in training camp and was behind fellow rook Malcolm Kelly before Kelly got hurt. Maturation will help Thomas, but the jury is out about how much he'll contribute. Don't give up hope yet.
36. Jordy Nelson: Heady, physical threat has done well when given playing time as Green Bay's third receiver. 21 catches, 247 yards, and a lot of impressive blocks.
Outlook: With James Jones always hurt Nelson now looks like the better long term bet to replace Donald Driver. A nice keeper in a pass-first offense.
Continue reading "Second round receiver review" »
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