Ask Papa Weimer: Week 10

Week double digits is back – I’m old, I’m white, I’m wealthy – and I still voted Obama – ha! Beat ya…. Alright, alright, in the light of our recent election that had Obama stealing red states, and it being about as lopsided a victory as I’ve seen since Clinton’s second term – I thought I’d print one normal response and a couple of my one liners that I’ve been replying with, some sure thing answers for a sure thing week. gObama!

Darnell Harris from his iPhone writes, “Of these listed wideouts, what three do you recommend starting? Drew Brees is my QB, RB’s are Jacobs, M. Turner, and Chris Johnson. WR’s to choose from are Colston, Jennings, Curtis, Coles, Matt Jones, Mason, and Gage. Big game this week! Any advice is greatly appreciated…”

Thanks for writing in. It looks like you have a solid lineup this week. While Jacobs is going up against a very tough Eagles defense, they seem to have a little trouble against power rushing attacks, and Jacobs is every bit of that. Mike Turner has a nice match-up against the Saints. New Orleans has been better against the run this year, but after Matt Ryan had the best of the Saints last time out, you’d think they try to make life a little tougher for him, Turner is a solid bet. Chicago is solid against the run, no doubt, but Chris and the Titans can run on anyone, and I actually think the Titans run game does alright on Sunday. Drew – great option. Colston and Jennings are sure things to me, both have great secondary match-ups and both are amazing talents that I would start against anyone. I have to believe Colston is back to full health. Your real question here is a 3rd wideout, and I think it’s between Coles (@ St. Louis), Jones (@ Detroit), and Mason (@ Houston) – Gage is alright, but I’m not so sure I’d start him over these three. St. Louis ranks 28th in pass defense but is second worse in yards given up per attempt with 8.7 – so their secondary is BAD. Detroit is 29th, but they give up more yards per pass attempt than anyone in the league, and Houston is actually middle of the pack in the secondary, and I think they’ve been better since Dunta Robinson joined the group. Based on that, I’m eliminating Mason from the wash. Between Jones and Coles, I think Coles is the better player and while Thomas Jones is sure to get lots of action on Sunday, so are the Jaguar running backs agaisnt Detroit’s 31st ranked run defense. The Jags have really struggled late, and you’d have to think they run the ball as much as possible on Sunday. So I guess my final word is Coles. He’s consistent, he seems to be Brett’s favorite target, and on play action pass he should have a couple big plays this weekend. Good luck my man.

Insane Bolt writes, “Have you ever seen a more explosive running back than Chris Johnson?”

Yes – Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Walter Peyton, and Jim Brown – all four were more explosive in different ways – but I love me some Chris Johnson highlights, don’t get me wrong.

Chorizo Bill asks, “In a dynast league who would be your top 10 quarterbacks? I’m thinking the next 4-5 years… I’m not asking who is the best now, or the best value, or anything like that – I’m asking which guys you think will average the most fantasy points over the next 4 to 5…”

Pork Willy; fair enough. Here goes nothing… Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers, Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Jason Campbell – that’s 13 but I do what I want… This year I think this is my list for end of season… Brees, Cutler, Warner, McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Brett Favre, Jake Delhomme, Brett Favre, and Chad Pennington…. 11, I know.

Huey LOUIS from Kuai says, “My favorite player to watch these days is Marion Barber – he may not be the fastest but that guys goes all out – who’s your favorite player of all time?

Mike Singletary, pants down and all. That guy was a perfect player.
Too Tall Tim asks, “My kid is a big tall skinny kid, and I’m trying to get him to play football as well as hoops – he just wants to play pretty hoop ball. He says there’s nobody tall that has ever been good (and we’re talking position players here) – is there anybody in the 6’6 range that isn’t a lineman and is an example I could use?
Jason Campbell, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger – all 6’5 – and Joe Flacco is 6’6 – non lineman, non quarterback tall guys? Brandon Jacobs is 6’4 270, but I hardly believe he’s human… Brandon Marshall is 6’4, Matt Jones is 6’6 and he’s not having a bad year, hard to use a guy with coke habits as an example though – Calvin Johnson is 6’5 but like Jacobs he’s a freak of nature… Antonio Gates and Jason Witten, usually pass catching TE’s like those guys are legit examples. All linemen are tall, naturally.
Torrance asks, “If you could start your NFL football team with 5 players, who would they be?”
Mario Williams, Justin Tuck, Albert Haynesworth, Joe Thomas, DeMarcus Ware… I don’t know how I’d play those 4 linemen (and OLB Ware) together, but those four absolute beasts on defense would get me where I wanted to go, and Joe Thomas is a very young and solid cornerstone and offensive tackle. I’ll get skill players later, I almost took Nnamdi Asomugha over Ware but DeMarcus is basically the only guy offenses worry about when they play Dallas and he still ruins everything.
Jameson from Kentucky writes, “Why doesn’t the spread offense work in the NFL?”
Because offense aren’t faster than defenses in the NFL.

theRUNDOWN: Week 10

For those of you new to theRUNDOWN this is what I do. I pick my best team of the week, some nice plays with a few reasons to back up my picks. After that I list a couple sleepers, either decent guys that I expect to have good weeks, or relatively unused guys I like to do well. Then, at the end I list a few usually solid guys that I would leave on the bench. Last week was one of my worst RUNDOWN’s of all time, so I’m definitely feeling anxious at the chance to do something great this time around. This is my RUNDOWN for Week 10…

QB: Aaron Rodgers vs. Minnesota: Aaron has been the real deal since taking over for Brett, and people are starting to realize what the Packers were up to when the traded the golden arm in the NFL. Rodgers should have his way with the Vikings secondary, and he doesn’t have a long history of playing poorly in Minnesota (like old man Favre). 

RB: Adrian Peterson vs. Green Bay: The Packers don’t have a good run defense and you know Aaron Rodgers and company will be putting up points. Adrian Peterson should be a work horse on Sunday, and I’m hoping for one of those “that guy is amazing” weeks from AP. 

RB: Jamal Lewis vs. Denver: With Brady Quinn under center, the Browns will be feeding Jamal Lewis to take some pressure off their beacon of hope – that being said, this is the Denver Broncos and Jamal is looking to break 150 yards in the first half. 

FLEX: LaDainian Tomlinson vs. KC: Alright, there’s just something about an LT/AP lineup that gets me all hoogily boogily – I’ll take LT2 against the KC Chiefs. 

WR: Anquan Boldin vs. San Francisco: Anquan Boldin is a beast, a touchdown beast. I like him to carve up the 49ers secondary this week. 

WR: Greg Jennings vs. Minnesota: I like Greg’s match-up against the Vikings. Jennings is the read deal and he should torment Minnesota with his ability to run after the catch. 

TE: Kellen Winslow vs. Denver: The Broncos secondary is brutal and Kellen will be a mismatch that a young Brady Quinn will take advantage of. There it is. 

K: Stephen Gostkowski vs. Buffalo: Yeah, I’m back to Gostkowski. I think the Pats move the ball enough to get their young kicker into a nice field goal groove, so I’ll roll with the only kicker to ever get me good points.  

D: Carolina Panthers vs. Oakland: The Raiders are brutal and you can bet they’ll be throwing more this week after the team tallied up less than 100 yards of offense against the Atlanta juggernaut last week. More passing means more mistakes and the Panthers reap the benefits. 

PAPA’S Week 1 SLEEPERS

Tyler Thigpen: It’s no secret, I’m on the Thigpen bandwagon… 

Daunte Culpepper: Make sure he’s starting, but why not, right? The guy hasn’t been in the league for about a year, and I still like him against the Jags defense. If anyone knows how to throw it up for talented wide receivers, it’s the guy that made a pro bowl career out of doing so in Minnesota. 

Maurice Jones Drew: The Lions are in town again, if i had the guy I would be starting him.  

Timothy Hightower: San Francisco doesn’t really scare me all that much, and Timmy is getting the carries on the goalline and in the middle of the field. He should have a solid day this week. 

Mushin Muhammad: This guy should be a PPR genius this week, catching at least 8 balls against the Raiders defense that should be intrigued as to who is getting cut tomorrow… What a joke Oakland is. 

Mark Bradley: He’s been good since cracking the starting lineup in KC, and now he has a pretty solid match-up against the Chargers secondary. I like this kid a lot. 

Billy Miller: This guy is still available in a lot of leagues, and while Jeremy Shockey is back, Miller’s useful weeks in a row make him a nice sleeper candidate here. 

New York Jets: The Rams offense makes me sick, and I think Marc Bulger is part of the problem. His offensive line is brutal, sure, but he plays scared and throws the ball way off target even when he’s not getting rushed. 

Papa’S Week 6 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Big Ben Roethlisberger: Too many question marks, and if the Steelers are up, they are likely to go with Byron just to protect Big Ben. 

Bernard Berrian: BB keeps having tough games against the physical Packer corners – based on that I wouldn’t play him. Unless your me and your only other option is Marvin Harrison. Ugh. 

Steve Slaton: I really like Steve, but he’s braving the Ravens this week and they never give up anything to running backs – he should still be a threat in a PPR league, and I might play him if I didn’t have great options, but Sage likes to throw the ball down field, and that doesn’t help Slaton’s cause.  

Marvin Harrison: I like him less than BB this week- I know that because I have that option and I’m starting Berrian. That beings said, Berrian is also on my sit him list, so that makes Marvin a super sit him.