Hello and welcome to Market Fantasy!
It’s getting to be crunch time in most fantasy leagues as
the playoff races start to heat up. With only four games remaining in most
leagues, each win is becoming more and more critical. With that in mind, it’s a
good time to look at the rosters of managers who are fighting for a spot and
see what you can get from their roster. Jordy Nelson’s owner freaking out over
the Rodgers injury? Send him a lowball offer. Gronk or Cameron’s owner needing
a win badly? See if you can get a bye week discount on those players. Every
owner’s level of panic is different, but this is the time you want to firm up
your team as best as you can. This can also be the best time to gamble. Won the
Andre Ellington lottery in your league and think he can be a RB2 the rest of
the way? Trade a better known RB for a position you are week at. You should be
taking every opportunity to improve your team each week, but that especially
holds true now. Plan ahead because there are still two more weeks with byes and
the playoffs will be here before you know it. Like I said earlier, put yourself
in the best position to get a win each week. Don’t get complacent and keep your
eyes on the title.
With that being said, week 10 isn’t as
brutal with the bye weeks as the last two have been, but there are still a few
big name players sitting out this week. Below you will find my take on who I
think could surprise with good weeks and who I think it would be best to avoid.
Read through and let me know what you think. Thanks for
reading!
QB:
Go For it!
RGIII – After last week’s down performance, and
arguably down year, it could be tempting to look elsewhere for your quarterback
this week. Don’t. It’s tempting to worry about the Thursday night passing
curse, but I still think talent will win out in this one, and quite simply,
Minnesota doesn’t have a very good pass defense. The Vikings have given up the
fourth most passing yards this year and get very little pressure on the
quarterback with only 17 sacks year to date. I think this is going to be a good
week for RGIII
Ben Roethlisberger - Big Ben had a huge game last
week, mostly the result of trying to dig out of a huge hole most of the game. I
like him to have another good game against a very porous Bills defense this
week. I expect the Steelers to exploit the Bills pass defense early to gain a
lead and would have no problem using Ben, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and
Heath Miller this week as all should have a good game against the seventh worst
passing defense in the league. My only worry would be sacks and interceptions
as the Bills have been able to cause both, but I still like Roethlisberger to
have a good game.
Punt!
Matt Ryan – After starting out the year near the top
of my consistency
ranks on a weekly basis, Matty Ice has stumbled the last two weeks,
cratering out last week with only 9 fantasy points. This week isn’t the week he
reverses course unfortunately as he is facing the second toughest passing
defense in Seattle. Surprisingly porous against the run of late, the Seahawks
still bring it in pass defense. Ryan has been an interception machine of late
and the Seahawks are tied for the league lead with 13 picks on the year. With
Roddy White still hobbled, this could get ugly for Ryan.
Colin Kaepernick – Word is that Kaepernick might get
an additional weapon in Mario Manningham this week, but I still would look
elsewhere if I could for a quarterback. The Panthers are simply nasty on
defense having generated 12 picks to date. Kaep had his second best game of the
season the week before the bye, but still only has 9 passing TDs on the season
and I expect him to come back to Earth this week. The fact that the Panthers
are also the toughest team to run against will most likely keep his rushing
totals in check as well.
RB:
Go For it!
Le’Veon Bell – The Bills are very generous against
the rush, and as I noted in Ben’s note, I expect the Steelers to open up a big
lead and then run out the clock. Bell has double digit points the last three
games (ok, 9.9 in week 7, but still) and I like him to put up RB2 numbers here.
Donald Brown – Trent Richardson was a surprise on the
Indianapolis injury report yesterday, but even still, he’s been outplayed by
Brown. Richardson has only 110 more rushing yards than Brown on 75 (!) more
carries. That’s terrible. Brown faces a Rams defense that made Shonn Green
useful. I expect at least flex numbers from Brown and if Richardson is limited,
he’s a RB2 easily.
Chris Johnson – Things are starting to look up for
Chris Johnson lately. Double digit points in his last two games, including last
week’s 150 yard annihilation of the Rams. This week he gets to feast on the
hapless Jaguars. Remember what he did in the second half last year? It’s
starting to look like a repeat for Johnson this year with the schedule
lightening significantly.
Punt!
Ryan Mathews – Already having been outscored by Danny
Woodhead this year, I expect that to continue this week against Denver. Mathews
gave us a glimmer of hope with two strong games before his bye, but had a complete
dud last week. I expect the Denver Mannings to run up the score leading to a
lot of passing for San Diego, and thus more Woodhead and simply not much
Mathews.
Ben Tate – Give credit to Tate for filling in nicely
after Arian Foster went down in the first series last week, putting in a gritty
effort on four broken ribs. Even if Foster is out again, Tate will be greeted
by the tenacious Cardinals run defense that is allowing only 88 rushing yards
per game so far. Combine that with the fact that Tate is still dinged up and
that leaves for a flex play at best.
DeAngelo Williams – After starting off hot and
actually leading the league in rushing for a bit, Williams has cooled off with
only two double digit efforts in his last five games. This week, he has to face
a tough Niners defense. The only Carolina running back I would feel comfortable
with this week is Tolbert and there, you’re really hoping for a touchdown.
WR:
Go For it!
Emmanuel Sanders – Basically what I said about Ben
applies here. Antonio Brown was benched late last week for his conduct, and
while that’s over now, it’s hard to ignore Sanders’ increased targets as of
late. I like him to have a very solid WR2 week this week against a generous
Bills pass defense.
Jordy Nelson – I just wanted to put Jordy in here for
those who might be worrying about the loss of Aaron Rodgers. After the Rodgers
injury, Nelson continued to receive the most targets from Seneca Wallace and led
the team in receptions. A very nice matchup with the Eagles looms. The number
two receiver in fantasy should remain as a solid WR1 play this week.
Denarius Moore – Denarius Moore should have a good matchup
against the Giants this week and he gets Terelle Pryor back more than likely.
Moore has been a pretty consistent contributor this year and is clearly Pryor’s
favorite target. I like him to have a good week against the Giants.
Punt!
Stevie Johnson – I might be willing to take Johnson
off the list if Manuel was going to be quarterbacking the Bills, but as it
stands, we don’t know. Johnson had a dud last week with Tuel throwing to him,
and things aren’t looking good against a Steelers team that has allowed the
third fewest passing yards year to date. Maybe Johnson can put up some garbage
time stats, but if his QB is Tuel again, he could just put up garbage.
Larry Fitzgerald – This one simply comes down to the
tough matchup with Houston. In his favor, Fitz was not listed on the Cardinals’
injury report for the first time all year, so maybe the bye did him a world of
good. If you have him, you most likely are playing him, but he’s probably going
to need a touchdown to be really useful against a Texans team that is the
hardest to pass on. Also working against Fitz is the fact that Houston is more
generous against the run, so we could see more of Andre Ellington or (please
no) Rashard Mendenhall.
Cecil Shorts – Shorts enters this week averaging 8.2
points per game, making him a decent WR2 in most leagues. Unfortunately, he
faces a pretty tough Titans defense this week that is giving up the fifth
fewest passing yards allowed so far. The thought is that with Blackmon out,
Shorts will benefit. The reality is that Shorts really only had one great game
in the first four weeks with Blackmon suspended. There are plenty better
options this week for a WR2.
TE:
Go For it!
Coby Fleener – Fleener has been up and down a lot
this year and mostly hard to trust, but since Reggie Wayne was lost for the
season, he’s really seen an uptick in production. Fleener has posted at least 8
points in those games and has a nice matchup this week against the Rams. I
expect the trend to continue this week and he’s a great replacement for Gronk
or Cameron Owners.
Garrett Graham – While Arizona is tough on opposing
offenses, they’re actually pretty generous to tight ends. Arizona is actually
the best matchup for tight ends. Looking back on Graham’s last couple weeks,
it’s hard to trust him, but this is a game he could shine in.
Punt!
Brent Celek – Celek had a nice week last week with
Foles going all world, but don’t expect that trend to continue. This week, he
gets a Green Bay defense that held Martellus Bennett to only 36 yards. Celek
was unusable the three weeks prior to last week, and I expect him to revert to
that again this week.
Jared Cook – Last week was a fluke, don’t buy into
it. Simple as that.
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