Week 6 in the NFL…each year by this point you’ve developed a finely choreographed weekly routine for tweaking your fantasy football team. Bye weeks are in style, the injury bug has begun to feast on your roster, and the Detroit Lions have abandoned any glimmer of playoff hopes. Whether this is your first fantasy season or your fifteenth, you’re into a groove, you know what to expect, and you’re in midseason form. Unfortunately, so is every other manager in your league. How do you separate yourself from the pack?
My name is Mike Colligan and I will be bringing you a fresh edition of “In Between the Tackles” each and every Wednesday morning for the rest of the season. I’ll try to identify and expand on some of the finer points in Fantasy Football that will help your team make that extra push.
Roy Williams Joins Dallas Circus
The big news mid-week was the Dallas Cowboys acquiring wide receiver Roy Williams at the trade deadline from the Detroit Lions. What does the chaos in Dallas mean for your fantasy team?
First of all, QB Tony Romo (broken pinkie) is reportedly out four weeks and will be replaced by grizzled veteran Brad Johnson. While Johnson is more than capable (especially with the arsenal of weapons at his disposal), I find it very hard to believe that Romo will be out for any extended period of time. Look for him to only miss this week’s matchup against the lowly St. Louis Rams before returning to his normal starting position. See if you can snag Romo at a discount from an impatient owner. Media darling Terrell Owens was reportedly “thrilled” with the arrival of another Roy Williams. While he can no longer use the “double-coverage” excuse anymore, I see this as the beginning of the end for Owens in Big D. Owens and TE Jason Witten must be downgraded fro the remainder of the season and WRs Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin can probably be dropped in all leagues. Williams, on the other hand, promptly signed a 5-year $45 million extension with Dallas following the trade and will become Romo’s go-to guy for the next half decade. He no longer has to deal with Jon Kitna slinging the ball to him and will enjoy a short-term upgrade and exceptional long-term value for anyone in Keeper Leagues. RB Marion Barber should see an uptick in production for as long as Brad Johnson is at QB, but his punishing running style makes owners wonder how long he can last. Backup RB Felix Jones will miss two weeks with a hamstring injury but when he’s received the ball the past few weeks he’s shown talent very reminiscent of Michael Turner in his San Diego days. Dallas would be crazy not to get him more involved in the offense once he returns to full-strength.
While on the surface this trade seems a bit odd considering Williams joins what was probably the strongest position on the Cowboys, I will attempt to take a frightening plunge into the mind of owner Jerry Jones. With a billion-dollar stadium on the way, Jones (like most NFL owners) is in the business of attracting the fan’s fickle entertainment dollar. While Dallas’ lack of defense and current state of chaos might keep them from that elusive Super Bowl championship, consider how much media attention the Cowboys have garnered over the first two months of the season. From Jessica Simpson to Pacman Jones to the HBO reality series ‘Hard Knocks’, it becomes obvious why the Cowboys are the most popular, exciting, and controversial team in the NFL.
Popular + Exciting + Controversial = $$$$$
Breezy in the Big Easy
I took quite a bit of criticism in my league for having Drew Brees ranked as my #1 quarterback heading into the season, but his MVP-caliber season continues and he’s even exceeded my own lofty expectations. Playing most of the season without his top two wideout threats in Marques Colston (thumb) and Jeremy Shockey (groin), Brees is still on pace for 32 TDs and over 5,300 yards. I’m prepared to step out on a limb once again and say now might be a time to “buy-low” on Brees. With an amazingly soft schedule that includes a juicy Week 16 matchup with Detroit (when most fantasy championships are decided), Brees best weeks might still be ahead of him. Lance Moore has stepped in nicely in place of Colston as the possession receiver, and Devery Henderson has the speed, ability, and now enough big-play respect to stretch defenses week in and week out. Speaking of Shockey, if you’re in the market for a TE, check your waiver-wire just to be sure a frustrated owner didn’t cast off Shockey in disgust last month. He looks to return to the field this week or next and is a top 5 TE when healthy.
Extra Points
- With Chris Perry’s lack of success running the ball and Cedric Benson’s failure to seize the opportunity, one player worth adding to you watch-list is Kenny Watson. Cincinnati has a tough matchup with the Steelers coming up, but Watson could be starting as soon as this week.
- A quick glance at the box score and one would think Warrick Dunn has supplanted Earnest Graham as Tampa’s #1 back. Due to injuries, Graham played much of the game as emergency fullback, which opened the door for Dunn’s impressive performance. While a shared backfield is likely in the cards, don’t get scared away from starting Graham against Seattle’s soft defense next week.
- Jay Cutler’s impressive season has overshadowed the fact that Denver’s defense is one of the weakest in the league, especially against the run.
- If you have a free spot on your roster or you’re looking to reel in that missing piece for your championship run, see if Denver RB Ryan Torain is available. The rookie out of Arizona State looked to be a draft day sleeper until a dislocated elbow knocked him out of the lineup. He looks on track to debut in Week 9 against Miami and with a great mix of speed and power, he might be the next Terrell Davis, Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell, Mike Anderson, [insert 1000-yard rusher here]….
Hail Mary
Just gonna throw this up and see what happens...
Look for the Pittsburgh Steelers to win by three touchdowns this weekend over the winless Bengals. The Steelers are coming off a bye and might have 2-time Pro Bowl RB Willie Parker fresh and back in the lineup. If mammoth NT Casey Hampton and DE Brett Keisel find their way into the lineup as well, Bengals pseudo-QB Ryan Fitzpatrick could have a long day trying to decipher the Steelers elaborate blitz schemes.
Make sure to join me next Wednesday for another edition of "In Between the Tackles." Feel free to leave any Fantasy Football questions or comments below and I will be sure to respond promptly.
Posts
6 comments:
What happens to Calvin Johnson's value following the Williams trade? He is sure to get 15 targets a game, but he should be constantly facing double and triple coverage. Is it safe to expect more consistent numbers but not as much explosiveness? What do you think?
Joe,
Great question. I think Calvin Johnson will now give Brandon Marshall a run for his money as "Most Targeted Receiver." Unfortunately he missed most of the 2nd half last week with a concussion and that could limit him for the next week or two. Jon Kitna was also placed on Injured Reserve this week, effectively ending his season (and likely his career with the Lions) and this takes Johnson down a notch. Dan Orlovsky is the starter for the time being with Drew Stanton also waiting in the wings and you would assume the winless Lions will use the rest of the season to see what they have in the two QB's. Regardless...the Williams trade more than outweighs any concussion, QB, or double-coverage issues. Joe, I'll also recommend you keep an eye on Mike Furrey. He's officially listed behind Shaun McDonald on the Lions depth chart but I think he could carve out a nice #2 role in the Lions offense going forward.
You mentioned Devery Henderson. He has no doubt been grabbing some long balls, but with their "soft schedule" coming up, do you see this as a chance for him to become a more consistent option and repeat his week 5 performance(104 yds, 1 TD), or should I expect more of the same (2 catches and done)? Also, do you see the trade rumors affecting Gonzalez's performance in upcoming weeks, either positive or negative?
Arturo,
I see Henderson as a very risky WR to own this season. He will be hit-or-miss all year and with only 12 catches through 6 weeks without Colston, I think that makes it hard to hang onto him with Colston & Shockey coming back into the picture in the near future. On the other hand, if bye weeks have you in a bind and the opponent is weak (KC, Atl x2, GB, Det) and you're willing to take the risk, then give him a shot.
The Gonzalez issue is really a shame for him and fantasy owners alike. Gonzalez is truly one of the league's class-acts and just two weeks ago broke the record for most receiving yards ever by a TE. The sky would have been the limit had he landed with a playoff contender like Philadelphia or the Giants. Unfortunately, as is often the case with NFL trade rumors, nothing happened. Gonzalez would never let his frustrations show in his play, but his current situation is another story. The Chiefs are obviously in rebuild mode and that leaves Gonzalez with more blocking responsibilities than he would have on any half-decent team. He won't come close to the nearly 1200 yards he had last season, but will still put up solid TE numbers given the Chiefs weak schedule.
Order Cialis, Viagra, Levitra, Tamiflu. Get Cheap Drugs online. Buy Pills Central.
[url=http://buypillscentral.com/buy-generic-brand-levitra-online.html]Buy Cheap Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, Tamiflu[/url]. canadian generic drugs. Cheapest pills pharmacy
Additionally to, we purvey deduct Viagra apothecary, which is measure noticeable in use than other popular Cheap Discount Cialis Pharmacy Online Erectile dysfunction Cialis apothecary online drugs.
Post a Comment