Fantasy Football Studs & Duds

QB Reports: Week 10 - Michael Vick once again showed us flashes of just what it is to be a STUD. He always does this doesn't he? Now those of you that have benched him all year are thinking twice about whether or not he cracks your weekly lineup again. He's got some good matchups coming up so I'd think about it. What a week he had versus the Packers though. One thing to say about Vick's passing numbers. His 209 yards and two scores came largely when the game was out of reach and yet still is one of the worst performances against the Packers secondary this year

Peyton Manning put up 297 yards and 3 td's. He's starting to heat up and has a couple of games coming up where they'll need him to be huge (Pitt, Cincy, SD). If you didn't trade him away, you're about to be rewarded. There was a Chris Simms sighting in Florida this weekend. As he had his best game ever as a PRO and now you might say he "could" develop into a pretty nice QB. Gruden will do whats right for him and bring him along the right way. It's just nice to see he can throw the ball with some nice accuracy, and is turning into a fiery competitor and leader for this Bucs team with playoff asparitions. He put up a huge performance for the Bucs, connecting with both Ike Hilliard (three catches for 37 yards) and Edell Shepherd (three catches for 87 yards) for touchdowns. It should be noted that he has yet to throw for less than 250 yards in his three starts.

Is Joey Harrington playing for his life/job in D-Town right now or what? That was quite the performance on Sunday, as he threw 3 TD's to Roy Williams. Take it eaaassssy Waiver Wire Jumpers, after all it was only the Cardinals. Arizona's defensive effort in Week 10 was poor, to say the least. As for Gus Frerotte, well the poor Dolphins wasted a 360 yard 2 td performance from Gus Frerotte. He won't do that again all year. Trust me. One of those TD's was a total fluke throw anyways. J.P. Losman got in for the "hit in the head" Holcomb and made a case to be the starter next Sunday with an inspired effort against a Chiefs D that is great versus the run but still sucks against the pass. MY take - We all know they're going to start JP next week. We also know JP will return to form, right?

Running Backs Report: Week 10 - Stud of the Week (Alexander....again!) - He's in a great competition with Tomlinson for top fantasy running back this year, not to mention trying to play for a big contract in the offseason, piling up two four-TD games and three more with at least two scores (including this week's three-TD performance against the Rams). Plus, he's got six 100-yard games under his belt.

We might have finally found the most unlikely fantasy star of all. Green Bay RB Samkon Gado rushed for two scores and caught a one-yard TD pass in the Packers' win at Atlanta. He rushed for 103 yards on his 23rd birthday. Gado faced a weak Atlanta run defense, but he is still for real. The Falcons might be the perfect cure for what ails Carnell Williams and Kevin Jones. Both play Atlanta in the next two weeks and I wouldn't hesitate to start each player in those games. Tiki should get first dibbs at punching Eli in the mouth after the monster game he put up for nothing. 206 total yards? Are you kidding me? And they lost?? Wow. Barber ran for 95 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings but also caught a career-high 111 yards on eight receptions. Mike "WHAM" Alstott returned to TD form from a few years ago with a couple goalline carries versus the Skins, further proving the Cadillac is in the garage. Portis ran thru, around, and down the top Bucs D rush defense on Sunday, and should be a weekly starter from here on out. Betts stole some of his TD cartwheel time though and is a nice backup option in Washington and for Portis owners.

James rambled for 122 yards and a score, pretty typical, although in one of my leagues the moron missed my BONUS by 3 measly points. Doh!!! Peterson benefited from Benson going down with a knee injury (ya...its not supposed to bend that way is it?? -- ouch) Reuben Droughns put up decent numbers versus a tough Steelers run D and is a nice #2 RB from here on out. The guy is quietly putting up solid points every week on a crappy team. Greg Jones appeared on good form for the injured Fred "Fragile" Taylor, so keep an eye on his injury status for week 11 and don't hesitate to put in Jones again.

Last night on MNF we saw the return of the Eagles running game, Westbrook popped off for 118 yds and a TD. Wow. I didn't think they had it in them. The Eagles are done.

Wideouts Report: Week 10 - What a crazy list of top wideouts for week 10 eh? Not every given Sunday do we see Matt Jones, Lee Evans, and Chris Chambers on the Top player list. Williams attempted to cram a season’s worth of production into one game against the Cardinals on Sunday by catching three touchdown passes among his seven receptions for 117 yards. He showed no signs of the quadriceps injury that kept him out of action for most of the past month as he turned in his second productive game of 2005 and his first since Week 2. Roy Williams was the clear wide receiver star of the day. Sorry T.O.! Keep in mind that he was facing Arizona, and he could produce much lesser totals against better opponents.

Chris Chambers was large with 6 catches for 69 yards and 2 td's. The Dolphins should have won this one but apparently they have forgotten how to win. Patriots shouldn't be too proud...when you need a last minute comeback to pull out the win on the Dolphins you're on hard times. Chambers could become a viable #2 WR the rest of the year so keep him in your sights.

J.P. Losman came in and provided a spark for Buffalo, connecting for two touchdowns with second-year wideout Lee Evans. Yes folks, we had a Lee Evans sighting in Buffalo this week. Not sure when we'll see or hear from him again, but it was merely a chance for him to say, "Hey, draft me in round 16 again next year ok?". Larry Fitzgerald is just a STUD. Start him every week or your just STUPID.

Hines Ward caught a TD on what for me was the Play of the Day. Randle El going right on a reverse pulls up and throws it 40 yds downfield to a wide open Ward who stumbles into the endzone. Sweet play. Why isn't Randle El the 3rd QB in Pittsburgh? Maddox sucks. Joey Galloway, with seven catches for 131 yards and a TD, now has TDs in four straight games, remains the biggest surprise for me this year. He has seven TDs in his past seven games. He's returned to his form from 7 or 8 years ago and is going to the Pro Bowl.

Matt Jones was considered one of the most exciting rookies to enter the NFL this year. The former college QB is a unique package of size (6-6, 242 pounds), hands, quickness and good moves. Jones had scored twice in his past three games entering Week 10. Those were the first two scoring catches of Jones' NFL career. Lastly good ole Marvin does what he does best, torch opposing DB's. He dialed up Houston's secondary for 108 yds and a TD. Peyton Manning had a nice day with his wideouts, sending 21 of his 26 completions to the trio of Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley.

Tight Ends Report - Week 10 - The Patriots pass defense was horrible and yet Brady at the end of the game was able to snatch a win from the jaws of disaster by finding this week's waiver wire star Ben Watson for two scores in the game (you'll pick him up this week, and you will probably release him next week). Dallas Clark got in on the Kick the Snot out of Houston action this week. That was nice of him to show up, doubt he's on many rosters anymore though. Tony Gonzalez turned in a pretty good outing (eight catches for 81 yards), His veteran passer didn't throw any TDs and was intercepted three times. Green has performed well in the past with a similar supporting cast, so it's startling to see him become so statistically ineffective. This and the fact that Willie Roaf was out kept Tony's numbers under 100 yds, but, he is getting better. Trust me!

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Fantasy Dud News: Dud Of the Week: Eli Manning, QB - Giants. Eli - brother of Payton.....delivered a surprisingly sloppy performance against the usually vulnerable Minnesota defense. Peyton's younger brother suffered through what was maybe the worst performance of his young career, as he threw four interceptions and had two other possible picks dropped by Vikings defenders. Manning has sometimes been a very good fantasy QB up until now, but this outing was not a good sign as his schedule only gets tougher in the near future.

Other duds
QB
Kyle Boller, Ravens: 19-33, 142 yards, 3 INTs; 2 carries, 9 yards
Brooks Bollinger, Jets: 11-21, 98 yards, 4 INTs; 2 carries, 5 yards
Jake Delhomme, Panthers: 10-20, 119 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs; 2 carries, -2 yards
Trent Green, Chiefs: 23-40, 220 yards, 3 INTs; 1 carry, 4 yards, 1 lost fumble
Kyle Orton, Bears: 8-13, 67 yards, 1 INT; 3 carries, -3 yards (Tornado)
Cody Pickett, 49ers: 1-13, 28 yards, 1 INT; 6 carries, 15 yards (Tornado)

WR/TE
Laveranues Coles, Jets: 3 catches, 30 yards
Eric Moulds, Bills: 5 catches, 26 yards
Muhsin Muhammad, Bears: 1 catch, 3 yards
Steve Smith, Panthers: 3 catches, 34 yards
Ernest Wilford, Jaguars: 1 catch, 10 yards

Conclusion:

Finally, coaches are not immune to injuries, either. Mike Tice got hammered along the sideline by a Giants receiver who was blocked into the bench. He may have ripped his MCL on the play. Don't worry, the pencil will be behind his ear for Week 11, as Minnesota looks for its third straight win. We'll keep tabs on these and all other injury reports as the week progresses and teams return to the field in preparation of Week 11. Here's hoping you escaped the week with your squad intact. In other news --- I read on another fantasy football website today (thehuddle.com) that number crunchers have come up with a tally on wasted productivity at work due to fantasy football. Companies in the United States are allegedly projected to lose $196,000,000 in revenue this year from workers spending company time on fantasy football. That's impressive. Way 2 Go America!!!