The first week of the playoffs saw me win playoff match-ups in all 3 of the leagues in which I went to the post season. It didn’t see me get the top spot in the fantasy rankings, though, as Josh Arsenault grabbed the top spot while predicting each of the Top 4 RBs in his Top 5 list. We misses a lot of guys this week, and blew it on some players for sure. This is how Week 14’s Fantasy Focus went down.
Elite Starters: Guys picked early that I love this week…
1. Drew Brees – A point out of 1st placed amongst QBs, 29 big ones… A+
2. Ray Rice – Just like I figured, the Ray Rice and the Ravens did work – #3 RB this week. A+
3. Sidney Rice – 19th WR in Week 14, not too shabby, not the awesomeness I was hoping for. B-
4. Ben Roethlisberger – UGH…. F
5. Chris Johnson – You can’t leave this guy off your Top 5, the best RB again in Week 14 – A+
Solid Starters: Guys picked in middle rounds that should outplay their ranking/draft position this week…
1. Terrell Owens – Owens got a touchdown, but still just 9 fantasy points. D+
2. Mike Sims-Walker – A calf injury the day after I wrote this had him out on game day. F
3. Thomas Jones – 22 fantasy points for TJ, doing work, Top 10 RB in Week 14. A
4. Ricky Williams –Ricky kept his stellar play going with 16 points, ranking him 14th. A-
5. Percy Harvin –A migraine had Harvin out for Week 14, tough on fantasy owners. F
Sleeper Starters: Guys ranked low, drafted low or not at all, but I still like them this week…
1. Justin Forsett –Despite a terrible day for Hawks, Forsett was the 21st RB, not a bad play. B-
2. Michael Crabtree – Could be a big week for Crabtree, he’s been getting the targets, he’ll cash in soon.
3. Vince Young– “He’s rated as the 25th QB in ESPN this week, I think he cuts that in half. At least.” Come on, the guy was ranked 11th – perfect. A
4. Jamal Charles– #2 RB in Week 14, and officially escaping sleeper status. A+
5. Daunte Culpepper– Tough day for Pep, Stafford didn’t play and still had 2 fewer points than Daunte… Whoops… F-
Sit ‘Em Son: I don’t care where they were drafted, I don’t like these guys starting this week…
1. Matt Forte– 25 carries for 55 yards earlier this year, only 12 carries for 51 yards this time around, but that’s it, four catches for 17 yards gave him 10 and ranked him 29th. A-
2. Steve Smith– 16th overall this week, he caught a couple deep balls, whoops. F
3. Frank Gore – 7th rated rusher and he straight dominated one of the better run defenses in the league, whoops… F
4. Eli Manning – Eli didn’t struggle in score-fest 2009, he put up the #1 points this week. F
5. T.J. Houshmandzadeh– 29th overall this week, not the worst ever, but not good either. C-
***It turns out I was right about DeSean Jackson, Michael Turner, and DeAngelo Williams, and the first was definitely a chance worth taking. ***
Week 14 Fantasy Rankings
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Who did we miss? Good question, this week we missed a lot of guys. Here’s the position by position breakdown:
Quarterbacks: Eli Manning (#1), Donovan McNabb (#4) and Jason Campbell (#5) made it three guys in the Top 5 nobody ranked. Kyle Orton, Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, and Chris Redman finished 6,7,8, and 9. Whoops.
Running backs: Ryan Grant, Reggie Bush, Frank Gore, Quinton Ganther finished 5-8 and Willis McGahee was 10th amongst running backs to round off the Top 10. Amazingly, Josh Arsenault grabbed 1-4 in this week’s rankings. Doing work.
Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson had a huge week, 42 fantasy points, but that’s right, he finished 2nd. 2nd to Brandon Marshall whom nobody had in their top 5. Marshall would have finished tied for 4th with just his catches alone. The kid grabbed 21 balls. His 53 fantasy points were legit. DeSean Jackson played, and finished 3rd amongst receivers. Devin Aromashodu tied for 4th with Hakeem Nicks and Wes Welker. Derrick Mason, Austin Miles, Vincent Jackson, and Johnny Knox rounded out the Top 10 receivers. Only 2 of the Top 10 were represented in our rankings.
Tight Ends: Kevin Boss and Fred Davis, both tied for 2nd with 20 fantasy points. Brent Celek was 5th and Algae Crumpler went old school on us and finished 5th tied with Antonio Gates. Ben Watson and John Carlson were 8th and 9th.
DSTs: The 49ers and Texans finished 2 and 3. The Browns shut down the Steelers in dominant defensive fashion and garnered a tie for 5th with the Eagles.