Remember, hit me up with football questions at papaweimer50@hotmail.com…
Alright folks, I don’t have any crazy into this week, just some fantasy questions and answers. Well I do have one thing, injuries suck and they can derail fantasy seasons. And in the NFL it can certainly be tough, but nothing is more ridiculous than NBA Fantasy Basketball and the injuries that go down in that crap. I finally told Lucky I’d play fantasy hoops with him, and I swear I have more “day-to-day” “questionable” “probable” “out” “out indefinitely” stupid reports about my players than I even have roster spots. What a joke. If football players didn’t play with things like sprained thumbs and strained calves, NFL games would stop after Week 4. Here’s my Q and A for Week 11!
Miguel writes, “Thank you so much for your detailed response last time; it really was good help! This week, I am in a spot trying to determine who to start at RB. This is a PPR league that counts return yards. I can pick two between – Brandon Jacobs, Justin Forsett and LeSean McCoy. Thanks for the help!”
Miguel, Glad I could help, and hope you enjoy the site. I would go with Brandon Jacobs and McCoy – both McCoy and Forsett have their downsides in their match-up. 1 – the Hawks play the Vikings 2 – the Eagles love to pass the ball, hate running it. But without Westy in there, I think McCoy gets some targets in the passing game. 5-8 catches wouldn’t surprise me at all. I LOVE Justin Forsett’s ability, I’ve been begging Jim Mora to play that guy since about Week 3, and he finally got touches and put up big numbers against a dominate run defense in Arizona last week. But I still think Jim Mora is too stupid to give Forsett 20 touches this week against the Vikings. There’s very little room to run in Minnesota, and I think Hasselbeck will be looking for his receivers out wide against a Vikes secondary playing without Antoine Winfield. I think your best bets are McCoy and Jacobs.
Stanleigh in Cali says, ” I am getting hammered the last two weeks and have slipped to 4th place with two consecutive losses. Need a “W” this week and always appreciate your words of wisdom. Would you start Thomas Jones and Betts this week over Matt Forte or Justin Forsett? How about Marshall, Hester and Jennings over Hakeem Nicks?”
I might start Forte over Betts, Betts has a so/so to tough match-up, but I think Forte could catch a lot of balls against the Eagles – and Philly doesn’t have the greatest rush defense either. The Bears suck, but you might as well go down with your top pick and if he’s every going to do anything, this week in a huge Sunday Night game against Philadelphia is the right time. Other than that, yeah, I like your chances this week. Marshall could blow up against the Chargers, despite their solid pass D rating, Jennings has pretty easy match-ups going forward, it sure would help me out if he started catching touch down passes – and as for Hester, I don’t know, he’s probably your best bet for looks, because Jay loves to throw the ball, but Hakeem Nicks against the Falcons might be a nice chance for big points – Nicks is a stud, and while he shares starter minutes with Manningham, Nicks has proven to have the better hands – and while he’s more of a risk than Hester, he could capitalize on that solid match-up. Tough call, I think I’d stick with Hester based on his higher number of targets and the Eagles give up some big plays just about every week. Fantasy can get you down, no doubt, I’ve had a tough couple weeks in 2 of my leagues, keep losing by a couple every week. Tough deal.
And here’s one from last week that went well for Tami, she wrote, “SO I think I need some advice this week. So far, I’m 9-0 in a point per yard league. This week though, I’m torn with my RB and QB. Do I start Aaron Rodgers or Joe Flacco?? Flacco had a great game against Cle in week 3 but Rodgers has done great things for me this year.”
Tami, Joe Flacco or Aaron Rodgers huh, I think I would go with Rodgers. Flacco’s match-up is solid, no doubt, and he did throw for 300 million yards last time he faced the Browns, but Rodgers has 6 consecutive multiple touchdown games. The Packers throw way too often, which isn’t good for winning actual football games, but come fantasy football, that’s exactly what you want. He’s thrown for 260+ yards 6 times in 8 games. That’s pretty impressive, plus, against a pass rush even better than the Cowboys’ and a very similar secondary (maybe Bid D’s is a little better than Minnesota’s, but it’s close) Rodgers threw for 380+ yards and 2 touchdowns, then 286 yards and 3 touchdowns – so he’s had success against the big aggressive defenses. Flacco’s a solid option, I just think they run the ball more this time out.
And here’s the other piece of advice I gave Tami that didn’t go so well, “Also, do I start Brown or Mendenhall? Brown has been in a small slump and Mendenhall got my win last week. My other backs are Adrian Peterson and Ricky Williams. Any advice is appreciated!”
So you need to start three, and you’re already starting Ricky Williams and Adrian Peterson? I think I would add Ronnie Brown to that mix if I had the choice between him and Mendenhall – however, Mendenhall and Ricky Williams would be the two guys I’m debating. On one hand you have Mendenhall, a big tough runner that has had some big games so far this year, including putting up 155 yards against a very tough Denver run defense, (I think he had 120 in the 2nd half alone, and it’s not like he had any long touchdown runs to pad his per carry stats). On the other hand, you have Ricky, a guy that’s played awesome this year, and has become a huge part of that rushing attack, and he’s playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense of all defenses – his stock is shooting up. It’s hard to start two running backs from the same team, but if there’s any situation where that would be a solid option, it would be Miami at home against Tampa Bay.
However, after considering everything, I think I’d pick AP, Ronnie Brown, and Mendenhall. I just want to buy into the Steelers committing to the run. Since he became the starter in Week 4, Rashard has not rushed for less than 62 yards, (165, 77, 62, 69, 155) and has rushed for fewer than 5.1 yards per carry just once. He’s had good numbers per carry against good defenses, (6.9 against Minnesota, 7.0 against Denver) so you wouldn’t think he’d be eliminated by the Bengals D. It’s a tough choice, definitely, but his consistency, and the fact that Ricky has rushed for fewer than 60 yards on 4 different occasions, plus just 27 and 33 yards the last two weeks, I’d have to go with Rashard. If you’re picking two guys, I would probably stick with AP and Ronnie Brown.
How’s a guy supposed to know that Ronnie Brown is getting hurt and Ricky will carry more than he’s carried all season. I hope you got the win anyway, Tami! Sorry!