-The Rams' Jeff Wilkins continues his bid as fantasy's top kicker, booting three straight in Sunday's win over Green Bay. He's got competition from Chicago's Robbie Gould, who's hit a remarkable 17 straight to begin the season.
-Larry Johnson put together another big day (36 rushing yards, 106 receiving yards and a TD), but there was a scare when he was pulled down by the facemask at the end of a 78-yard run. Word is he suffered a neck strain and eventually looked OK, but keep an eye on him.
-Matt Leinart showed what he can do in his first pro start, hitting two early TD passes before making some rookie mistakes. Again, don't even think about starting him next week against Chicago, but he could be worth plugging in Weeks 7 and 8 (Oakland, Green Bay).
-Good to see Reggie Bush get his first pro touchdown. Too bad it was on a punt return - unless you've got the Saints defense, that is.
-Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald went down with what appears to be a serious hamstring injury. You'd be adviced to grab teammate Bryant Johnson, who led Arizona with 82 receiving yards Sunday.
-The Redskins' offense really came up lame against what had been a questionable Giants defense. Mark Brunell barely managed 100 passing yards, which meant Santana Moss' three-TD game of a week ago became a distant memory. The G-Men held Clinton Portis (a.k.a. Dolemite Jenkins) to just 78 yards on the ground, and the Skins managed only a field goal. They'll have better days - like Week 6 against Tennessee, perhaps.
-Michael Robinson got the goal-line carries for San Francisco as expected, but he couldn't hit paydirt three straight times. Starter Frank Gore had a career-high 134 yards on the ground against Oakland and didn't fumble for the first time this season. It's unclear if M-Rob blew his chance, so I can't recommend putting him in your lineup next week against San Diego, but he's worth hanging on to if you can spare the roster spot.
-Andrew Walter hit Randy Moss for a TD for the second straight game, but Walter ended up getting pulled for Marques Tuiasosopo in Oakland's loss to San Fran. Moss also dropped a Walter pass in the end zone and was seen laughing on the sidelines a few plays later. LaMont Jordan managed only 71 yards on the ground, dropped a lateral and didn't even attempt to recover it as the Niners' Melvin Oliver ran it in for a score. If these guys don't even care, why should you? Look elsewhere.
-Bruce Gradkowski wasn't half bad against the Saints (two TDs, no INTs) in his starting debut, and he actually made the Bucs offense produce. Gradkowski might be an OK spot starter from here on out, and Jon Gruden is enamored with him, but we don't have much of a sample size to go on. I'd be more excited about Joey Galloway, Cadillac Williams and even talented TE Alex Smith finally showing some signs of life under Gradkowski's guidance.
-The Chargers finally took the shackles off Philip Rivers (two TDs), who looked pretty good against a supposedly tough Steelers defense. Unfortunately, LaDainian Tomlinson didn't have one of his patented monster games (70 total yards). Don't drop him, though.
-The early front-runner for Fantasy MVP: Donovan McNabb. He's been a touchdown machine this year (one rushing, two passing in Week 5) and surprisingly getting it done with guys like Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett catching passes ... with most of the so-called "stud" RBs not being so studly this season and the QB ranks constantly in flux, McNabb is separating himself from the pack.
-Brian Westbrook is driving owners batty this year. We knew he was an injury risk entering the season, but this inflammation business in his knee is really getting old. It seems like it's going to be a constant problem this season, which means a lot of the dreaded "game-time decision" tags attached to his name for the foreseeable future. There are even rumors he could need surgery at the end of the year - or sooner. The guy could easily be a top-10 back if he were a little more reliable, but you might want to have a backup plan in place if you don't already.
-Speaking of injured RBs, Ahman Green was a late scratch for the second straight week with sore hammies. And if you started backup Vernand Morency in a pinch, you got burned when Morency fumbled twice in the first quarter against St. Louis. Third-stringer Noah Herron of Northwestern capitalized, gaining 106 yards and a TD.
-Daunte Culpepper was a surprise scratch as the Dolphins went with Joey Harrington at QB. Joey Ballgame didn't fare much better (no TDs, two INTs), and the stocks of Ronnie Brown (a TD but only 39 rushing yards) and Chris Chambers (47 total yards) continue to plummet. Cut Culpepper if you haven't already, and steer clear of Harrington.
-The Bears looked damn impressive on both sides of the ball in destroying the Bills. Too bad Thomas Jones was the workhorse again (22 carries, 109 yards) but Cedric Benson got two cheap TDs from the 1-yard line. You've gotta think about starting Rex Grossman and/or Bernard Berrian in matchups against Arizona, San Francisco and Miami in three of the next four weeks.
-The Jaguars' offense absolutely went off on the Jets, with Byron Leftwich (two TDs), Fred Taylor (111 yards, TD), Maurice Jones-Drew (two TDs) and Reggie Williams (TD) all getting in on the action. You'll want your Jags skill players in the lineup with two games against Houston and one against Tennessee coming up over the next four weeks.
-The only small positive for the J-E-T-S was rookie Leon Washington, who ran for 101 yards on 23 carries and further mucked up New York's RB situation. Kevin Barlow, previously the main guy, managed -1 yard on four carries. Who knows what next week will bring, but it's become clear Derrick Blaylock (zero carries) and Cedric Houston (shoulder injury) are out of the mix.
-The Titans' Chris Brown was healthy but inactive in Week 5, which means you can safely dump him (if you haven't already) in all but the deepest of leagues. Travis Henry busted out a 123-yard game against the Colts, while rookie LenDale White had eight carries for 48 yards.
-As for the Colts' RB platoon of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai: Rhodes got the edge in touches (25 to 15) and total yards (110 to 77) this week. Obviously both are productive, but neither are consistent options, especially against a tough stretch of opponents (Washington, Denver, New England, Dallas, Philly) after a Week 6 bye.
-DeAngelo Williams lost out on a big day when he suffered a sprained ankle on his first carry of the game against Cleveland. DeShaun Foster owners everywhere rejoiced ... but then realized Carolina faces Baltimore next week.
-Rough game for Lions skill players: Roy Williams left with a shoulder stinger after making just one catch, Kevin Jones left with a concussion after 10 carries for eight yards, and Jon Kitna had three INTs and a costly fumble that was returned for a Minnesota touchdown. And if you thought Mike Williams might finally have an opportunity to do something, he dropped the only pass thrown to him and was promptly benched. I wouldn't touch any of these guys next week, even if they're healthy, against a Buffalo defense that just got embarrassed by the Bears.
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6 comments:
question for you jason?..what do i do with lamont jordan, he's not producing at all, but do you think i could maybe trade him for a decent reciever or something..chester taylor and rudi johnson are my two starting backs.
I feel for you, I was counting on LaMont too in one of my leagues. It would have been ideal to trade him after his 100-yard effort against the Browns in Week 4 when he actually had a little value, but who knew he'd crap out again this week against San Fran?
Right now Jordan's stock is at an all-time low, so unless you can fool someone into giving you an underachieving WR (Hines Ward?), I'd keep him on your bench. You should be OK with Taylor and Rudi ... although Taylor and the Vikings do have a bye this week.
Here's one small positive. Although Jordan and the Raiders have some extremely tough matchups coming up, if you're lucky enough to make the fantasy playoffs (and LaMont doesn't get benched or go AWOL) he faces St. Louis, Kansas City and the Jets the last three weeks of the regular season - not exactly the toughest run defenses out there.
Good luck.
Jason, thanks for the shout-out to my boy Reggie Bush. That punt return may have catapulted him to all-star status and likely put him on track for an exciting Hall of Fame career. Holla at ya boy!
How bad would you say that it is that I have Leftwich and Carr as my QB's on my team. Moss, Moss, and Smith as my WR's though. Got to have an upgrade at QB, you think?
Reggie will be a great NFL player. He was a little too overrated as a fantasy player this year though. If you drafted him as your first RB, you overpaid ... but if you were able to scoop him up with a late pick you got a steal. He's a great flex player, especially in leauges that reward you for yardage, or those rare leagues that give you points for return TDs.
As for you Diablo, you're not as bad off as you think. Carr is really coming into his own this year, and even though he's on an awful team he's going to keep putting up yards and TDs (as long as Andre Johnson is healthy).
Also, check out Leftwich's upcoming schedule. He's not gonna put up typical Peyton Manning numbers, but he's got Houston twice, plus Tennessee in the next four weeks, and you'll want him in your lineup those Sundays.
I agree Jason.
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