I’m only making one change for week 3. I’m benching San Diego D/ST and replacing them with Seattle D/ST.
San Diego has looked horrible on defense the past two weeks. Seattle has the easy St. Louis Rams this week.
They had the easy San Francisco 49ers last week, y’know…
So, at QB I have Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. I’m pretty happy with this, but I see Kurt Warner just hanging around as a free agent. I snap him up, with the plan to trade a QB for a WR, as I’m kinda hurting at WR. Which QB should I try to move? I was thinking Big Ben. Of the teams that are weak at QB, here are some WR they have: Dwayne Bowe, Torry Holt, Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, Donald Driver, Lee Evans, Brandon Marshall. Who would be a fair trade? Who should I be shooting for?
As the biggest Cardinals homer on the board, I wouldn’t keep Kurt Warner. He is so injury prone. I’d love for him to have a Cinderella year and lead the Cardinals to the Super Bowl, but I still have the suspicion that one good hit and he’ll be hurt.
Hey, we’ve had two games already! Trends are certainly developing. One is a bit of a reverse in Pittsburgh’s offensive philosophy- they’re going back to Big Ben’s first couple of years, when you knew he wasn’t throwing more than 20 times unless things got really bad. I think this is a reaction to the number of sacks he took last season, and it would worry me if I had any of the Steelers’ receivers, or Ben himself.
Anyway, on to the recommendations!
Start Me!
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan (v. Falcons): He’s facing two rookie corners, and a defensive line that wasn’t particularly good last year and is really not good without Jared Allen. Obviously, you’re not going to start Ryan over a top guy, but if you’re a little desperate- David Garrard owners who don’t have capable backups, I’m looking at you- I think you’ll be rewarded with the rook’s first multi-TD game. 190 yards, 2 scores, 10 rush yards
Mark Bulger (v. Seahawks): They couldn’t stop Trent Edwards, they couldn’t stop J.T. O’Sullivan, so they won’t stop Bulger. I don’t know what the hell has happened to the Seahawks’ D. The offense is understandable, with every wideout and their grandmother injured, but the D is healthy. I know a lot of you drafted Bulger expecting less of last year’s Bulger and a little more of… well, Bulger. It ain’t gonna happen, but he’ll see you alright this week. 325 yards, 1 score
Running Backs
Michael Turner (v. Chiefs): Yeah, he gets to play the Chiefs too, and that makes him a must-start even with his reportedly ouchy ankle. Whoopee! 150 yards, 2 scores, 25 rec yards
LenDale White (v. Texans): You thought Vince Young was bad? Just wait ‘til you see Kerry Collins. The Titans will have abandoned the passing game by the end of the first half, and that means lots of yards for LenWhale and his sleeker timeshare buddy, Chris Johnson. 120 yards, 1 TD
Both Jaguars backs (v. Colts): Bob Sanders is out. That’s really all you need to know to predict an Indianapolis defensive performance. I don’t know what numbers to put here, so just picture something really good.
Wide Receivers
Isaac Bruce (v. Lions): There’s only one way to deal with an angry fat guy. Avoid him until he’s jolly. There’s only one way to deal with a fantasy player on a shitty offense- avoid him until he plays Detroit. 110 yards
Robert Meachem (v. Broncos): David Patten gets Dre’ Bly, Devery Henderson gets Champ Bailey (or vice versa). That means Meachem gets whoever the hell the Broncos’ nickelback is, and he sucked last week. 100 yards and his first score
Tight Ends
Randy McMichael (v. Seahawks): I said Bulger would play well this week, and if you’ve watched the Rams on offense, you know Drew Bennett isn’t going to be helping. That means McMichael gets all the scraps that Holt and Jackson don’t, which should be nice ones. Prediction - 75 yards, TD
D/STs
Chargers (v. Jets): All that talent, so little production… for two weeks. They’ll make up for it this week. Not sold on the Jets, especially when the old greybeard prima donna can’t learn the playbook. Smells like a whoopin’. Prediction - 22 points
*My D/ST point prediction is based on NFL.com scoring- every takeaway is 2 points, every sack gets a point, you get 2 points for every 6 points allowed under 27, and 2 points for every 50 yards allowed under 299. Plus, you get 2 points for a safety and 6 points for a kick, punt, pick or fumble returned for a score. The Chargers were the #1 NFL.com fantasy D last year and averaged 16.4 points/game.
Sit Me!
Brett Favre (QB)- again!, Matt Forte (RB), Calvin Johnson (WR), L.J. Smith (TE), Cowboys AND Packers (D/ST)
If Warner is a free agent then the other owners in your league really need to start paying attention, especially the guy who had Tom Brady.
Warner is a risk/reward prospect, though; he’s going to put up monster numbers most weeks, but he’s bound to have a game here and there where he throws two picks and fumbles three or four times. Also, he’s a definite injury risk. Still, you could do worse than starting Eli for the last six weeks, and (see above) I’d be worried if I owned Roethlisberger.
You don’t want to trade for Brandon Marshall now. His value is sky-high, but he’s bound to come back down to earth- and he may get suspended again. I just offered Warner, the Skins D and Roddy White for David Garrard, Larry Fitzgerald and the Pats D. Obviously, it’s more or less a Warner-for-Fitzgerald deal, but I have Eli (and I’m happy with him) and I’ve done quite well in the past filling my quarterback position with waiver fodder.
Alright…I need some help.
QB - Warner, Favre, Garrard
RB - McFadden, Bush, Barber, Lynch
WR - Colston, Galloway, Cotchery, Houshmanzadeh
TE - Scheffler, Clark
K - Reed
DEF - Buffalo
I only have 2 healthy WRs and Isaac Bruce is a FA and I would really like to start him. Who do I drop? Garrard? I really bought into the Jags at the beginning of the year but with the injuries on the offensive line, do I jump off the bandwagon this early?
I am desperately trying to trade one of my 2 TEs but I haven’t found a buyer yet.
Garrard. You shouldn’t be carrying 3 QBs, especially with two really solid ones to platoon in Favre and Warner. Plus, Garrard is a #2 even if the Jags’ offense does gel at some point.
RNATB is right here. Even if Garrard does turn it around, he’s likely someone you can pick up later if you really have to.
You probably won’t be able to trade a TE, unless you make another position the highlight of a deal and include a TE as a bonus. If you make the TE a primary part of a deal, no one gets excited. If you include one as an upgrade as part of a larger deal, you’ll get something done. Always trade QBs, RBs, and WRs, and use them to upgrade/dump TEs, Ks, and Defs.
Start Me!
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan (v. Falcons): A TD, no picks, and solid yardage, and if you were desperate enough to go with him that should have been all you hoped for. 8/10
Mark Bulger (v. Seahawks): Meh. Not what I expected. Steer clear of Bulger unless 200 yards/1 TD is the best you can hope for from others. 4
Running Backs
Michael Turner (v. Chiefs): I had him at 125/2/25; he got 103/3. Go me. 10
LenDale White (v. Texans): I was wrongish about Collins. but right on with White @ 49/2. 8
Both Jaguars backs (v. Colts): 100+ yards each. I’m on fire! 10
Wide Receivers
Isaac Bruce (v. Lions): Way off on the yardage, but he scored. 7.9 points is as good as you could have hoped for from your #5 WR. 7
Robert Meachem (v. Broncos): Well, I said he’d score, and I was so nearly right… but 86 yards is great from another WR5. 9
Tight Ends
Randy McMichael (v. Seahawks): As Bulger goes, McMichael goes… and Bulger didn’t go. Oops. 1
D/STs
Chargers (v. Jets): All that talent, so little production… for two weeks. They’ll make up for it this week. Not sold on the Jets, especially when the old greybeard prima donna can’t learn the playbook. Smells like a whoopin’. Prediction - 22 points - Yet to play
*My D/ST point prediction is based on NFL.com scoring- every takeaway is 2 points, every sack gets a point, you get 2 points for every 6 points allowed under 27, and 2 points for every 50 yards allowed under 299. Plus, you get 2 points for a safety and 6 points for a kick, punt, pick or fumble returned for a score. The Chargers were the #1 NFL.com fantasy D last year and averaged 16.4 points/game.
Sit Me!
Brett Favre (QB)- again!, Matt Forte (RB), Calvin Johnson (WR), L.J. Smith (TE), Cowboys AND Packers (D/ST)
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Dunno, oops, good call, good call, and two kind of oopses.
I’ll score myself for the week after tonight’s game. Looking pretty good so far, though.
Ironically, my predictions vis-a-vis the Chargers’ D and Favre were undone by… well, the Chargers’ D and Favre. The Chargers played so well in the first half (and Favre so badly) that he spent the entire second half throwing easy dink-and-dunks and padding his stats, and thus ruining things.
They still had 17 points, but he ended up with 24. Hmph.
Oh well. I get an 8.5 for the week.