Football Fantasyland: Quick Hits

I’m going to be updating this as I go, but watching Fantasy Football Now on ESPN and wanted to put in my 2 cents on the issues. Ask questions in my comments if you have them.

Ben Tate: I like him as a flex if you’re looking for a guy to fill in for an injured spot. I think he gets around 12 touches and may get a shot at the goal line.

Mike Sims-Walker: Monday Night update, Mike Sims Walker seems to have taken over Danny Amendola’s role as the underneath man and Bradford’s been looking his way a lot. He could end up a solid pick-up. (bonus: Danario Alexander has looked good on the outside, and just scored a TD. He’s reliant on deep passes, but he’ll have big games.)

Football Fantasyland: 2011 Who ya got?

I’m still working on a clever title for this, but basically this is the breakdown of who I like and who I don’t for the week. After a crazy and potentially very revealing game one, here’s who I got.

Redskins – Rex Grossman tore up the Giants, albeit they were beat up, but the Cardinals secondary got torched by Cam Newton. Obviously I like the passing game. I’m gonna go Jabar Gaffney as the money ball guy at WR, but Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong should see some targets. I’m not huge on Fred Davis, but only because I don’t think he’ll match last weeks 100+ performance. I also think the D/ST unit could be a solid play this week. They’re feeling confident after a win over the Giants (who have owned them the past decade) and I think if they can get to Kolb he folds.

Greg Olsen, TE, Panthers – This could just be the guilt from dropping him for Todd Heap in my week 1 game (then immediately picked him back up this week) but Green Bay’s secondary is a lot better than Arizona’s and the Rookie QB is going to need to be looking to his big Tight End as a safety valve.

Willis McGahee, RB, Broncos – I know, this is the second guy off my sleeper list I’m talking about, but Knowshon is yet to take the practice field (it’s thursday for those of you not checking the date) which means McGahee is in line for an expanded role against a bad Bengals team.

Jacoby Jones, WR, Texans – I’m ripping this from NFL.com, but Coach Gary Kubiak has named him the starter this week with or without Kevin Walter, so he makes for an interesting pick up. Jones has been named a sleeper for at least the past two seasons and never broke through, but he’d also never gotten significant time as a starter. If this move is permanent this may just be the coming out party we’ve been waiting for from the young receiver.

Davonne Bess, WR, Dolphins – Bess got lost in Brandon Marshall’s shadow in week one, but he did have 5 receptions for 92 yards and I think he gets targeted a bunch out of the slot this week as Henne will be facing what should be a tough Texans pass rush. Bess should also have value in later weeks as Miami will be looking to pass a ton this year (whether that end up being because they’re playing from behind or because Reggie Bush is the feature back, they will throw.)

More to come…

Football Fantasyland: 2011 Sleepers; Why’d Receivers

Just wanted to get this out here before week one, clever titles still to come, but I wanted to go on record before we got started in week 1.

Eric Decker, WR, Broncos. I think he could actually make a good fill in for week 1 if you’re in a spot. Denver is up against a Nnamdi-less Raiders and Brandon Lloyd’s presence means Decker won’t even see the new number 1 guy. He’s big, quick and missed last season due to injury. I think he develops into a really nice target for Orton. Update: B.Lloyd may not go this week and Knowshon is definitely out. Orton will throw and Decker will be there

Roscoe Parrish, WR, Bills. I think this is the year Roscoe really steps up his game. With Lee Evans gone he will at least be getting targets, what he does from there is up to him.

Andre Roberts, WR, Cardinals. if you’ve read my previous post you know I think Arizona is going to be throwing. Roberts seems to still be battling with Doucet for the number 2 spot in the desert, but I like Roberts to take it over late in the season.

Brandon Gibson, WR, Rams. I’m not totally sold on Gibson, but I think he’s a good guy to watch. I think the Rams have a talented group at Wide-out and Amendola won’t be the only to benefit from a pass happy offense. Update: Amendola is week to week, Sims-Walker hasn’t been quite been clicking in the offense yet and Stephen Jackson is hurt. Gibson had 3 catches for 50 yards in week 1 and gets a Giants secondary that doesn’t look great this week(2). If ever there were a week for Gibson to break out, it’s now.

Mohamed Massoquoi, WR, Browns. I know, the Cleveland passing game is hardly an attractive option, but they will be passing more. I don’t think they’re going to stretch the field by any means, but a steady short to intermediate passing game to move the ball down field seems likely and favors big guys like Massoquoi. Just keep an eye on him. Update: Put up 70+ yards in week one. No touchdown, but those will come. I really like him as a pick up. The Browns are having trouble blocking for Hillis, so I expect McCoy to be throwing a lot.

Anthony Armstrong, WR, Redskins. I think he’s a good target, I don’t know how much or in what context he gets used, but he produced a bit last year, keep an eye on him.

Randall Cobb, WR, Packers. This one, I admit I did not see coming. He’s too far down the depth chart to make a huge impact right now, but I don’t think thursday’s game was a fluke. I think he could be an injury away from steady contrbution on a team that uses tons of 4 WR sets.

Bonus QB Sleepers:
There really aren’t “Sleeper QBs” each team only starts one unless there’s an injury, but I wanted to offer thoughts on some guys.

Colt McCoy, QB, Browns. I have been high on McCoy since he was drafted (not fantasy wise, of course) He has amazing drive to win and maybe he can’t make all the throws, but the throws he can make tend to look pretty good. Obviously not an immediate pick up, but definitely some one you should keep an eye on for the future.

Kerry Collins, QB, Colts. Will the Colts throw less without Manning? Yes. And yes, you should see what Collins can do before you buy in, but this is not Curtis Painter. If the line holds (admittedly, a big if) Collins will excel.

Donovan McNabb, QB, Vikings. I know the question, was Washington a fluke? Or is McNabb done? I lean towards the first option.

Blaine Gabbert, QB, Jags.I give Luke McCown 3 weeks. if he excels, great, there’s your sleeper. If not I think Gabbert steps in and puts up some decent numbers. Then again I can’t tell you who’s at WR under Mike Thomas so we’ll see.

Back-ups, QB, Any team who’s starter gets injured. This is where real sleepers come from, I haven’t seen enough from anyone to even venture a guess, but I the young guys.

Stay tuned: Next week…or shortly thereafter…I start writing about who I think is worth a pick up

Football Fantasyland: 2011 Sleepers; Deep in the Tight End

Part two of what is apparently my postion by position breakdown of Fantasy Sleepers for the 2011 season.

Again I have the disclaimer that these are guys to watch moreso than pick-up right away, but I actually feel a little better about these tight ends chance to make an impact if you missed out on a top tier guy (Gates, Clark, Witten, Daniels, Davis) As the title suggests I think the TE position could be very deep this year. Almost all teams have a pass catching tight end and in a more and more pass friendly league it’s only a matter of time before we see more guys stepping up. Here’s who I like:

Lance Kendricks, TE, Rams. I keep seeing things crop up about this guy, and they’re all good. Apparently McDaniels loves the guy, so he’ll be on the field. And Bradford is still young and will be likely looking to the big tight end if he gets into trouble…or you know if he’s smoked a linebacker and is wide open 40 yards down field. Kendricks is a rookie and that makes him a little risky since hasn’t played a full game at the professional level yet, but just keep an eye out for him.

(source: http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2011/8/9/2354000/fantasy-football-sleepers-lance-kendricks)

Todd Heap, TE, Cardinals. Heap is not known for his blocking, which traditionally has been the role of the Cardinals TE, but what you have to remember is this is not the Superbowl contender Cardinals. This is not a team lead by a quarterback trained in Mike Martz system. Boldin and Breaston are gone, no #2 WR really stepped up. Beanie wells fell back into the starting job at running back. The Cardinals will be throwing and Todd Heap will be Kolb’s safety valve when Fitzgerald is double teamed downfield.

Greg Olsen, TE, Panthers. I’m still not completely sold on this one myself. Like Heap, Olsen was not brought in to be a blocker. Olsen has all the tools to be a top TE in the NFL. Unfortunately, that’s not why I’m skeptical. The Panthers have a rookie QB who likes to scramble and two talented RBs, so even without John Fox this is not a pass first team. When they do pass though Olsen makes a nice big target for Cam Newton, which is important since the loss of David Gettis to the IR likely means Steve Smith will once again be seeing a lot of double teams. Jeremy Shockey’s presence also makes me nervous, but I have to believe you don’t trade for Olsen if you’re happy with what you’ve got.

 

 

Football Fantasyland: 2011 Sleepers; Half-Back Ups

It’s that time of year again. The time for busting out the laptops and scouring stats to build the ultimate football team for you to call your very own. With the new season now less than a week away I’m sure everyone is wrapping up there drafts, so I’ve decided to put out a post highlighting some sleepers for this year.

I’ll put in a disclaimer here that one of my league’s is 14 teams, so some of these guys are pretty deep sleepers, but at the very least are worth keeping an eye on.

These guys all come with the disclaimer that if the guy in front of them performs, they don’t get the ball, but they’re also guys playing behind well known disappointments.

Chester Taylor, HB, Cardinals. Meet the new Tim Hightower. Seriously, they let Hightower go to bring in Ryan Williams, he goes down and they’re back stuck with Beanie Wells. Then the Bears drop Taylor and suddenly they have a guy who can catch the ball out of the backfield. It’s also worth noting that Kolb is coming from an Eagles team who’s only run play is the screen pass. Obviously it’s a new playbook, but Kolb will still look for his HB on checkdowns.

Willis Mcgahee, HB, Broncos. I’m still not a believer in Knowshon Moreno, (health or talent wise) and John Fox has never let a players age stop him (remember Stephen Davis?) In any case, the preseason has shown Mcgahee is going to be the guy at the goal line, so he’ll hav value there at least.

Jerome Harrison, HB, Lions. Jahvid Best is the guy, but he wasn’t supposed to be. The Lions Drafted Mikel LeShoure early in this years draft to be the work horse. They also signed Harrison and Recently claimed Keiland Williams. They aren’t sold on Best and if he gets hurt or underperforms Harrison is the only other back I trust between the tackles.

Cadillac Williams, HB, Rams. High quality handcuff. That’s really the best I can say for Caddie. Stephen Jackson is a beast who probably won’t be sitting out many plays, especially in a pass happy offense, but if Jackson goes down Williams steps up. Simple as that.

Anthony Dixon, HB, 49ers. This is a less traditional sort of handcuff. Kendall Hunter showed that he’s number one back up, but Dixon is a big bull rusher and I think he’s going to get a few looks at the goal line with or without Frank Gore. Without Gore is really where he’d have value though as Hunter is a rookie and not only does that make him historically susceptible to an injury himself, but he’d likely split time with Dixon to keep his legs fresh.