MoFo Fantasy Football 2008

I took a chance, and grabbed Antonio Bryant of the Bucs... He is owned in about 2% of leagues, but he just got the starting gig in Tampa, over Ike Hilliard. So, he and Galloway are the WR1 and WR2 on that team. It might be a waste of a slot, but, then again, it might turn out to be a massive Boom play. I will let him incubate on my bench to see how he does during the opening weeks...

I would leave Grant in, if I were you.

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For those of you running Tennessee players, it looks like Vince Young is done. Mental anguish has finally overcome Youngm, and it looks like he will quit the NFL. This is actually good news, as far as I am concerned, as Young nerfs his teams fantasy prospects with his erratic play.

Never a big passer, he has angered fantasy owners over the past two years as his confidence in his passing game has waned. Add the fact that Tennessee seems to have acquired the next Adrian Peterson in the Rookie Chris Johnson, and a ground heavy approach was almost certain this year. Kerry Collins adds some upside value to the receiving core, with WR Jones poised to break out this season. Still, there are better options at wideout, and I tend to stay away from the titans for my air game...

Johnson is going to be incredible, so, whoever has him, I would run him in the swing until he gets hurt. Of all the rookie backs, he certainly seems to have the most upside potential...

OK then....

Some guy in my other league dropped Tony Gonzalez (Elite TE) out to waivers yesterday...

Too bad I am 10th in claims. I put in for him, of course, but I have pretty much no chance of picking him up...

Someone is going to get a sweet deal...

New Orleans Owners!

Elite Wideout Marques Colston is down and out with surgery! They are thinking he will miss 6-8 weeks after the surgery on his thumb. This is bad news for Colston owners, but good news for Shockey and Bush owners...



Go, Bush!

Wow. Yeah, that's great news for you. You're definitely looking like one of the teams to beat, Mike. Well done. I like seeing smart gambles pay off for people, and that certainly describes the Bush pick.

It was certainly a gamble, as he spoiled a few seasons last year. Also, with all the work, he could go down at any time. Here's to hoping he makes it through 16!

What are your thoughts on Holmes for the Steelers? LT has him as her main WR in a league, and he did next to nothing last week. Do you think the Fast Willie monster will open up more chances for a deep threat via Holmes, or is Ward taking over the main role on the team?

Wow, great question.

I think Holmes will probably be fine. As much as I'd love to believe Ward's going to put up these kinds of numbers all year, realistically I think things will end up a bit more the way people expected them to. There wasn't much reason to throw bombs Holmes' way against Houston. That'll change as Pittsburgh takes on tougher opponents where they'll have to throw semi-regularly for four whole quarters, instead of two or three. So, the jury's out on this one, I think.

That said, I do think we can probably gather from this first game that, though Holmes should be a great deep threat and a strong producer, Ben might still incline ever so slightly towards Hines in the red zone. And who can blame him, with his track record and terrific hands? I think Holmes' owners should certainly stay calm, but you can make an argument that this might not be the super-duper-breaktout party for him that so many had predicted (myself included). Doesn't mean he won't be very, very good though. He just might not break into the Moss/Owens/Edwards tier.

But, hey, it's one game. He could catch two bombs on Sunday and all of a sudden I'm looking like a fool and trying to trade Ward for 60 cents on the dollar.

Yeah, too early to tell. I didn't get to see the game, so I wasn't sure if it was just a lack of looks in general, or if he was having an off day, dropping passes while shaking the rust off. Edwards certainly was rusty in the Cleveland game, having one of his worst games ever.

Speaking of Cleveland. They are in trouble this weekend. They just lost one of their corners (the guy slated to cover Holmes, actually), and I expect Ben to punish them for it. This is actually good for me, as my skill positions on Cleveland will put up more pass attempts while behind.... I hope...

Darcy - Brandon Marshall is currently ranked 6th top Wide out for this week, over studs like Braylon Edwards, Plaxico Burress, and Santonio Holmes.

Cutler, Brandon's QB, is coming off a red hot game, in which he completely dominated the secondary with his laser-like passes. Marshall is currently on your bench. You may want to rotate him in!

I don't think you're taking into account the fact that Derek Anderson apparently sucks.

DA threw for 29 TDs and about 3800 yards last season. That isn't someone that sucks. All the Browns seemed rusty, and, Anderson threw a couple of GREAT passes, deep, which were then dropped by his receivers. Not his fault, and I could see him getting frustrated when a talent like Braylon Edwards was dropping well thrown balls.

Cleveland will come alive. There are too many weapons on the team to be terrible, and Anderson is pretty good.

That said, I am playing Cutler this week in that league.

Okay, it's official: I have no clue who to start in the W/R slot this week. I've got Hines Ward and Fred Taylor. Taylor makes more sense in general, I think, and is projected a bit higher this week.

To make matters worse, I've for Justin Fargas, who put up some decent numbers last week and figures to do a lot of running with JaMarcus Russell likely to continue struggling.

I've more or less ruled out Fargus (reluctantly), but can't decide between Ward and Taylor. Ward put up huge numbers last week, but I can't imagine that's going to be the norm. Meanwhile, Taylor is still splitting plenty of carries with Maurice Jones-Drew. I'm leaning towards Ward. What do you guys think?

If I was juggling those three...

In PPR, those receptions always make the difference. Taylor and Jones Drew will struggle with O-line problems, I think, making Ward or Fargas the choice. Since backs are typically more consistent, and Fargas usually gets some balls tossed his way, I think I would opt for Fargas.

If he gets that hammy in shape, Grant is going to have a huge night against the terrible Detroit D, who relinquished over 400 yards of offense last week to Atlanta.

Fargus over Ward even? Hmm, you might be right. I might have to pore over some numbers with regards to the respective defenses they're facing.

Good point on Grant. If he racks up enough, I'll forgive him for his TD-less performance on Monday.

Poked around a bit, and the Fargus/Ward choice is as tough as ever. On one hand, Oakland ran a ton last year, and KC's run defense in 2007 was very poor. +1 for Fargus. On the other hand, Cleveland's pass defense was positively torched last week, and was in the bottom-third all of last year, too. +1 for Ward.

Fargus had a pretty good game last week; Ward had a great one. Meh. I'll have to do a bit more research and hope I find something that lands me firmly in one camp or another.

I have a feeling your stae as a fan of Pitt will win out here, and ward will get the go. Are they ranked similarly? If so, I guess consensus is, in PPR, to go with the receiver. A guy like Fargas makes it tough though, as he rolls out for catches frequently.

I had a similar choice last week, and went with the WR (Galloway) in our game. He had an OK day, netting me 8-9 points.

I really should have played Forte, but, it worked out OK, anyway.

That lil mistake on my part last week helped me recommend Fargas, especially after McFadden got hurt with a minor neck stinger...I am just wondering how durable mcFadden is. Also, Fargas is on the Flames list this week, and is supposed to overproduce...

If you think Ward will get over 10 looks, play him, for sure, as he seems to stand around catching balls in the endzone a lot!

Yeah, the fact that I'm a Steeler fan is actually causing me to overreact in the other direction, I think, to try to compensate. So I'm all tied up in knots over here.

I might as well flip a coin. Can't one of them just get hurt or something?

I would actually wait until Sunday morning to make the call. See what news floats by...

Just checked news, none for either player at this point. LT might be out though, so I had to cuff him with Sproles in my other league. That league isn't going so well for me

And NOW, not only is my TE out in this league, but my back-up might not play, either

HELP!

Looks like both my TEs will be game time decisions. Clark is the go-to-guy in the endzone, and I would really like to play him. Rosario is a rookie, but he is clearly the real deal. Manning to Clark gives Clark the edge for me, but if he is having knee issues, I am super nervous about his durability.

I will have to make the decision on Sunday, at about noon, I guess...

EDIT - Wow. I just need to vent a bit about my other league. I just picked up Chris Johnson in a trade, in which I had to give up Chris Cooley, the Redskins TE. It's a 10 team league, and with the great depth at TE this year, we have people like Owen Daniels floating around on the wire (!!!)

Meanwhile, people are stating that C Johnson will be the next Adrian Peterson. He ran all over the Jags solid run defense in week one, and showed "unmatched bursts of speed, vision, and power."

Needless to say, I accepted...