Fitz, Colston, Smith.
I’ve got Calvin Johnson as my flex. Stafford is out, Culpepper is… Culpepper, so that means Drew Stanton is starting. HMM! I think I’ll avoid that!
My only real replacement choices are Jamaal Charles (@Cin… ouch), or Beanie Wells (vs. StL, hmm!). I’m in the championship game in the All-Pro SDMB league, so I’m sweating about this a bit more than I normally would. Wells isn’t even the official starter, but he’s gotten a majority of the carries in the last two games. But, again, I’m in the title game. There;s nothing worse than getting cute and losing the title because I started Beanie Wells over Megatron or Jamaal Charles (don’t scoff, he’s the #10 overall RB in our league). Scary! What would you do?
Okay, I’m in my league championship game, and need help choosing my RBs (lots of good options) and DEF (only terrible options).
For running backs, I need to start two of:
Ray Rice (at PIT)
Steven Jackson (at ARI, questionable)
Jamaal Charles (at CIN)
Jerome Harrison (vs. OAK)
I’m leaning towards Rice, but keep flipping on the others. If there wasn’t doubt surrounding Jackson’s status, I’d go with him for sure, but as it is I can see arguments for any of them. Which two would you choose?
As for defenses, my go-to has been the Broncos, but they’re at Philadelphia this week and are gonna get shredded. My other pathetic options (this is a deep league, and most defenses are spoken for) include the Browns (home against Oakland) and the Texans (at Miami). None of the others (Titans, Redskins, Raiders, Lions) seem any better. What’s the least bad play?
I don’t see Fitz doing anything against St. Louis. The talk on the Cardinals fan boards is that he’ll be a decoy at best. I agree. The Cards will use Boldin and let him run up a few numbers. If the Cards can get off to an early lead, then they’ll pull Warner and Fitz after halftime.
That’s harsh. Gun to my head, I’ll start the Texans. The Dolphins are a good team but struggle to put a lot of points on the board.
Analyze my chances in my championship game (it’s a PPR league):
Opponent:
McNabb
Chris Johnson
Steven Jackson
Miles Austin
Vincent Jackson
Hines Ward - Flex
Greg Olsen
Matt Prater - K
Dallas - D
Me:
Warner
Gore
Jamaal Charles
L. Tomlinson - Flex
Colston
Boldin
D. Clark
Kaeding - K
Arizona - D
In one of my money leagues, I lost in the semi-finals by .84 this past weekend as the #1 seed. Today the stat corrections posted, and Kurt Warner had points taken away so I won
Merry Christmas to me.
I have almost this exact situation (sans Megatron) and am curious too as to what you all decide. FWIW, my info states that Stafford is suppose to be a game-time decision and not automatically out. That said, I can’t see even the Lions being stupid enough to play Stafford with that injury. Did Stafford play against the Cards? The reason I ask is, according to footballoutsiders, #1 WRs usually have a ton of success against the Cards and Megatron only had 3/35/0.
In any event, I’d still go with Wells or Charles over Megatron. Wells’s touches are trending up over the last four weeks, the Rams are absolutely horrible against the run, and he should give you at least ~18/100/1, judging by the Detroit and SF games. I see this as a game where they pull Warner early, or at least make him hand off over and over. Hightower may poach touches and TDs, but Wells should perform better than Megatron.
Similarly with Charles. Despite Yahoo’s writers thinking that Larry Johnson is going to get a lot of carries because it’s a “revenge game” or something like that, it’s pretty clear that Charles is the guy. My concern with Charles is that KC’s passing attack is likely to be strangled by Cincy’s very good CBs and so they’ll key on stopping Charles. Even so, Charles went for 17/58/0 with a receiving TD against Pitt.
Who are your RBs, Jules Andre, because it seems that either Charles or Wells are playing well enough to be considered for at least a RB2 slot? If I had to pick one, I’d choose Charles, but Wells isn’t a bad alternative. As I wrote, I’d like to hear what you all think on the subject.
Stafford was put on IR this morning, so he’s definitely out.
Yahoo’s writers are saying Larry Johnson is going to get a lot of touches, and that would affect Jamaal Charles? That makes no sense. Pittsburgh hasn’t exactly been a good defense this season, so that doesn’t sway me any. In games where Polamalu was out they had noticeable difficulty stopping the RB.
Adrian Peterson is my starter, and my other choices are Charles, Wells, Ryan Moats, and Chester Taylor. Moats and Taylor aren’t viable options, and I’m thinking that Charles against Cincy isn’t viable either. FWIW I have Wells as my starter right now, and I can’t imagine I’ll be changing it.
I’d stick with Wells also.
Bump for any thoughts on my running back situation (#883 above). Which two of Rice, Jackson, Charles, and Harrison?
Rice for sure, he is too good to sit.
Since the Rams are playing the late game, you can’t start SJ unless he is upgraded to probable in the morning. Otherwise, I’d probably play the matchups and go with Harrison.
From a fantasy site regarding the Cleveland/Oakland rushing matchup:
You’re in big trouble, sorry. 
Edit: Unless SJ doesn’t play and his backup sucks AND Gore goes off big time.
I’m guessing he doesn’t know Johnson is no longer playing for the Chefs.
But the “revenge” thing indicates he does. I can only guess he thinks that by LJ getting the ball a bunch, that means lots of runs, and lots of clock being eaten. Less time for Charles to get the ball?
Except that the more LJ gets the ball, the more Charles gets the ball because getting 2 yards a carry from LJ just means a bunch of 3 and outs. I’ve thought about this too much.
From FFToday’s projections:
Steve Smith CAR @NYG 6 80 1
Steve Smith NYG CAR 6 80 1
It’s like some weird evil twin mirror battle.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I plead a brainfart. I have Benson as one of my RB’s and this was a minor point of concern as to how much work he’d get. And with KC playing Cincy, LJ being an ex KC player, and also trying to decide whether to start Charles or not, I got confused trying to dash off a quick answer before a 6 hour drive. Sorry.
Snow showers and wind predicted for Cincy on Sunday. Not sure if that will allow Cincy to focus even more on the run. From the points you all have made, I’m starting Wells over Charles. I think Charles’ll still be my flex though (over J. Stewart or Maroney.)
Good luck in your championship Jules.
If I thought those projections would come true I might consider playing the Giants’ Smith instead of Colston, or even possibly instead of LDT as my flex. In my league, 6 80 1 would get me 17 points, which is pretty good for a flex guy.
Thanks! I’m gonna need it! I decided to start Wells for sure, and I don’t feel like I’m settling for that. I can see him having a really good game. I decided to sit Peyton Manning too, and that one was a real tough call. He’s basically the reason I’m in the championship game. But even if he plays more than a quarter, I don’t imagine he’ll have a great game against the Jets with his other offensive guys taking a seat throughout the game. So I started Peyton Manning for every single week this season (other than his bye), and now, in the championship game, I’m rolling with a waiver wire pickup. I’m actually starting…
…Vince Young! :eek:
I kinda feel ill, and I don’t think it’s the cookies. Good luck everyone! Happy Holidays!
I’m still completely lost about my running back choices.