Tuesday November 9th, 2004 , Page updated at 5:40pm FantasyFootball Grab Bag For
Week 10 By:David
Bachman Fantasy
Football Editor For WagerOnFootball.com
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INTRO
There you have it. Another whacky NFL Fantasy Football
week in the books and yet another week where everything
that I possibly imagined happening in my leagues
and probably yours happened, and if it could go
wrong for most fantasy experts, it DID go wrong.
Plummer and Brees went off again??. Moss was a no
show, DJACK at gametime decided he was alive and
blew up for 4000 yds recieving and 14 td's while
on my bench, 18 running backs auditioned for the
job in Minnesota, and basically all is normal in
fantasy land. Fantasy defenses are also on the points
rise I'd like to point out. With Seattle leading
the league in takeaways, Chicago coming on, and
of course Baltimore the weekly stud. Anyone have
that fantasy QB machine named Vinatieri? What an
amazing mind Belichek has. Sign him up to coach
my fantasy team next year.
All I can ask for is a little quicker on the starting
- sitting announcements by the NFL coaches. You
almost need to listen to every pre game show to
find out who's gonna be in or not.
I know there are several people like me out there
who were depending on a good game from Payton on
Monday night, well he didn't disapoint. On top of
that I had to suffer through the inane ramblings
of the vaunted Sunday Night crew, who were, from
the coin-flip, at the point of desperation trying
to make that Baltimore v Cleveland game sound interesting.
The only thing that was good for was Ray Ray's inspiration,
Garcias toughness, and Ed Reed's 400 yd interception
return for a TD. Not a very interesting game. Come
on ESPN you can do better. I'm praying for better
next week.
The big Vikings-Colts shootout materialized only
for one of the teams, which is strange. Peyton Manning
owners are certainly pleased, as the guy completed
passes at will and ended up with four touchdowns.
Had the Vikings been able to score more, Manning
could have kept going and going. Really, he can
do this every week. A few thoughts on the Colts,
before I rip Mike Tice: Something changed with the
Colts in their bye week, ever so slightly. It's
Marvin Harrison's show again. He didn't score last
night, but Harrison is again the focus for Manning.
He had two touchdowns in each of the prior two games,
he could be fantasy's top receiver from here on
out. He's already third for the season among WRs,
so his owners cannot complain. As for Brandon Stokley's
owners, it's time to get off the train. See the
trend. Analyze the trend. Act on the trend. Stokley's
got four receptions combined the last two weeks.
As for the Vikings, it seems Tice wouldn't cooperate
and make this a shootout. Was he worried Daunte
Culpepper couldn't compete? Daunte didn't throw
a pass in the first quarter. The Vikes wanted to
establish the run. Onterrio Smith kind of did that.
Why not throw? Isn't that your bread and butter?
I know Randy Moss wasn't there, but give Kelly
Campbell a chance! Throw to Nate Burleson more than
once! Any screen passes in the game plan? Tice does
some strange things. Sure, this team is 5-3. Wonderful.
This team was 6-0 last season and managed to miss
the playoffs. Are the Vikings playoff locks now?
I'd say consider trading Culpepper in fantasy. Three
weeks ago I wouldn't think about it. Now, without
Moss, and with Tice tinkering with the offense like
this, still searching from week to week for his
running back, apparently not having faith in his
receivers not named Randy, you have to reconsider
your Vikings. I own Onterrio on a bunch of teams,
but I'd deal him. Who knows who's going to carry
the ball from week to week.
Waiver Watch - Week 10
RB Derrick Blaylock - It’s
been announced that Priest Holmes has a sprained
MCL and could be out anywhere from a week to a month
which makes Blaylock a pretty hot pickup this week.
He is still trying to recover from a thigh injury
and he remains a question mark for this weekend
so if he joins Holmes on the sideline it would mean
Larry Johnson would get the start. Johnson was anything
but spectacular on Sunday, he’s a horrible
blocker, doesn’t seem to want that endzone,
and complains. But any starter behind that line
is worthy of a roster spot.
WR Johnnie Morton, KC –
I’m going after Morton in one of my leagues
tonight. He’s top 20 WR and noone seems to
think he’s good. He also gets you rushing
yardage pretty regularly. His last four games have
seen either 75 plus yards, a TD, or both. Green
is red hot right now so look for more of the same
from Morton. Plus the Chiefs are always in a shootout.
QB David Gerrard, JAX - For those
of you relying on Leftwich or Pennington in the
upcoming couple of weeks, you could do much worse
than Gerrard. While he obviously isn't as good as
Delhomme or Quincy Carter, he is athletic and will
be playing in a good offensive system. Look for
a couple of rushing TDs and 3-4 passing Td’s
in the next few weeks.
WR Lee Evans, BUF - The Bills
have an offensive life again, putting up some good
numbers against the Jets on Sunday. Bledsoe has
got more of a reason than ever to throw to two good
wideouts. Evans is a big threat that could see a
bunch more balls thrown his way by the end of the
season. He'll be hit or miss but I guarentee at
least four more big weeks as he moves in to the
number two slot.
WR Jabar Gaffney, HOU - He loves
to come across the middle while AJ roams the sidelines.
Teams continue to key on Andre and with Bradford's
injury, Gaffney should see a rise in looks. Plus
I think Houston has a pretty tough schedule coming
up. Quite a few garbage time yards in store for
this offense.
TE Boo Williams, NO – What
the hell was that Boo?? I play Stallworth in one
league expecting huge numbers in an offensive game
with San Diego, and Boo steps up to the plate for
a huge game and gives Stallworth the goose egg.
Right after we all write him off he goes and gets
eight looks from Brooks and has a nice game. The
injury to Ernie Conwell certainly doesn't hurt.
If you are weak at TE, it's worth finding out. Brooks
likes to air it out, and Boo was an early season
sleeper at TE.
TE Ken Dilger, TB - Two TDs the
last three games and getting a good amount of looks.
Griese can flat out throw the ball around right
now and is playing with a lot of confidence. Dilger
has always been a red zone threat. With Pittman
and Galloway igniting this offense, look for Dilfer
to get his.
WR Donte Stallworth, NO –
He’s probably available in most leagues, so
go grab him and put him on your bench. He’s
disappointed any owner that drafted him, but you
never know come playoff time how important it is
to have a guy like this dud sitting on your bench.
This is getting old but since you probably spent
a middle round draft pick on him you may want to
give him one more chance.
QB Quincy Carter, NYJ –
Pennington is gone 2-4 weeks. Quincy Carter will
start for the Jets and he's surrounded by enough
offensive weapons to be a fantasy factor but I would
hold off on picking him up until we see what he
does in a full game. He’ll get you rushing
yardage as well, and the occasional QB sneak at
the goalline which equals rushing TD’s.
Dump em Like Yesterday’s
Garbage
RB Justin Fargas, OAK –
One word Tyrone Freakin Wheatley. Ok that’s
three. But you get my drift. Had a chance to start
this year, but injuries have kept him off the field
and Oakland should use Wheatley exclusively from
here on out.
WR Marty Booker, MIA – Injured,
banged up, done. Chambers becomes the MAN in Miami
now. Oh upgrade McMichaels if you got him. Booker
started to make some noise but any injury will sideline
him for the next few weeks. Miami’s offense
is a waste anyways. Thanks Ricki.
WR Jerry Rice, SEA – 1 catch
5 yards. Ya…he’s contributing. Only
a shell of what he was last year.
RB Kevin Jones, DET – I
really don’t know what to say about this guy.
He’s tough to figure out. But 20 yds rushing
last weekend isn’t getting it done.
WR Amani Toomer, NYG - I’m
officially done waiting for Toomer to amount to
anything this year. Trade him now, and be sure to
tell the sucker that Toomer has had 5 consecutive
1,000 yard seasons. Because that nice little string
will be snapped this year. He sucks.
QB Vinny Testaverde, DAL –
The Cowboys are going backwards FAST. Right about
now is when you should drop every Cowboy like a
toilet seat. No consistent running game equals Vinny
getting killed. See if you can trade him for Favre.
Tell the guy he’s always losing so he’s
always throwing.
Final Word
The Dolphins fired their coach today. Oh wait,
it will go in the books as Dave Wannstedt stepping
down. Whatever. What fantasy owners want to know
is, what does it mean for them. The Dolphins have
one win this year. Chances are if you're relying
on any Dolphins for fantasy success, you're having
a bad season. Jay Fiedler is owned in 1.3 percent
of FFL leagues. That seems about right. Sammy Morris
(59.1 percent owned) and Travis Minor (2.8) are
available. In fact, Ricky Williams is owned on more
teams than Minor, which proves how many people are
either not paying attention, or are holding out
hope in keeper leagues. Chris Chambers is at 95.3
percent, Marty Booker 14.2. Both seem about right.
And Randy McMichael is at 100 percent, since he's
ranked third at tight end. So does it matter who
the coach is? I don't think so. Wannstedt took the
fall for what Ricky Williams did, basically. Shame.
Fantasy owners shouldn't expect a change in their
players' fortunes.
