Fantasy Focus Review: Week 12 Fantasy Football

It happened again… I came in last. Not back to back or anything, I mean last week I pulled out another win – but this week Ryan got his first taste of 1st place, but fresh in the spirit of Thanksgiving, both Josh and Ryan shared top honors. The fat old man finished just ahead of me, winning the family battle for one of the few times this year. It was close, and we all had some pretty poor picks, but Ryan had some great QB selections to go with his solid RBs while Josh consistently stayed in the middle and got a nice TE win to push him over the top. With Thanksgiving over and done with, I’m getting back down to business in Week 13 – here’s Week 12’s review!

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Elite Starters: Guys picked early that I love this week…

1. Adrian Peterson– Peterson was okay, 15th RB this week, 15 fantasy points – Vikes aren’t over-using him. In fact, Chester Taylor outscored AP by 5 fantasy points this week. B-
2. Ricky Williams – Ricky was in AP’s boat, and while that’s not too bad at all, it’s not great this week. B
3. Larry Fitzgerald – Leinart didn’t look Larry’s way all that often, and no big chances – Larry had a bad week. F
4. Randy Moss – Tom missed Randy a few times, and a lot of yards and fantasy points were left on the table. F
5. Aaron Rodgers– #3 QB this week, a great thanksgiving for Mr. Rodgers neighborhood… A

Solid Starters: Guys picked in middle rounds that should outplay their ranking/draft position this week…

1. Wes Welker – Wes had a down day, 6 catches, sure, but just 32 yards, finished 32nd amongst WRs. D+
2. Joe Flacco – 16th QB this week with 15 fantasy points, not bad, but not a great solid start really. B-
3. Kellen Winslow – Winslow finished 6th, he’s still one of the most talented TEs in the league. A-
4. Donald Driver –Tied with Miles Austin as the top receiver in Week 12. A+
5. Sidney Rice –Tied with a bunch at #18 WR this week, not a bad day for the consistent standout. B

Sleeper Starters: Guys ranked low, drafted low or not at all, but I still like them this week…

1. Justin Forsett –#3 running back this week as Julius stayed out another week. Can’t wait for Mora to sit him. A
2. Michael Crabtree – 45th ranked receiver this week, not good enough, not terrible though. C-
3. Donnie Avery – 18th WR this week, a pretty good day for Mr. Avery tallying 14 fantasy points. B+
4. LeSean McCoy– Right there with AP and Ricky Williams and MJD – a pretty solid week for the rookie. A-
5. Chris Chambers– 6th WR this week, where did this guy disappear to over the last few years? A+

Sit ‘Em Son: I don’t care where they were drafted, I don’t like these guys starting this week…

1. Matt Forte– 34th running back this week with 9 fantasy points, his 4 receptions were almost half his points. A
2. Steve Smith– 1 catch for 5 yards, I ended up starting him in a league, my options were bad. Not this bad. A+
3. Rashard Mendenhall – Mendenhall actually ran really tough, he was the 24th ranked RB, not too bad. B-
4. Roy Williams – 45th rated receiver, not a # I would have wanted in my starting line-up. B+
5. Chad Henne– Only 4 starting QBs were worse than Henne, but hey, one was Tom Brady. A

***Hope you didn’t start Turner or Big Ben, but I know I took one on the chin starting Kurt Warner – they tricked me!***

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Week 12 Fantasy Rankings

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Who did we miss this week? Quite a few guys… Here are the guys we missed from the Top 5 in each positional breakdown….

QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Romo both tied with Philip Rivers for 4th place amongst quarterbacks. Phil got picked, Fitzy and Romo didn’t.

RB: Fred Jackson finished 1st amongst RBs, Jamal Charles 4th, and Laurence Maroney tied Steven Jackson for 5th. Red Red Ryan made one hell of a pick taking Forsett.

WR: Donald Driver (by Kauffman again) was the only guy in the Top 5 that saw a spot in any of our Top 5s. Miles Austin (1), Percy Harvin (3), Kenny Britt (4), and Marques Colston (5) filled out the Top 5.

TE: Together, we didn’t miss a single TE in the Top 5. The next highest guys we didn’t select was Fred Davis (8th overall).

DST: Here’s a list of the Top 5 defenses: Jets, Packers, Chargers, 49ers, Broncos. I can’t remember right off hand who got picked, and who didn’t, but I imagine nobody picked the 49ers and Broncos, and I think the Jets were left off everyone’s list as well.

Ten for Tuesday

Here’s a little review of some amazing things that happened this weekend, things that I would like to bring to everyone’s attention. 

1. The Oakland freaking Raiders absolutely lambasted the Denver Broncos. Yes folks, everyone’s favorite young quarterback, Jay Cutler, couldn’t do anything right, throwing into double coverage early and often, and paying the price. Even more amazingly, the Raiders only forced JaMarcus Russell into one incomplete pass – one. How pathetic is that? Ever more so, I think that was an intentional throw away. If Denver’s defense was any worse I would get them confused with a combination of the WSU Cougars and UW Huskies. Gross. 

2. Don’t look now but the Falcons don’t seem all that interested in getting carried away with their redemption song and losing their way out of the playoffs down the stretch. They won again at home, and took out a pretty good Panther team that has dominated in games where they have run the ball well. They ran well on Sunday, and they passed alright too, but Michael Turner did dirty work and erupted for 4 touchdowns. Is anybody still questioning this guy? And who thinks Atlanta made the right move by taking Matt Ryan over Glenn Dorsey? Yes, I must admit, I didn’t think that was a very good decision and I was DEAD Wrong about that one. That’s the 3rd time I’ve been wrong in the last 9 years. 

3. Donovan McNabb got benched. We’ll see how that works out. He’s back in action for Week 13, but a guy that has never done all that well with his teammates not believing in him should have trouble, even against the Cardinals secondary. We’ll see – I hope not, but that offense is a joke these days, and Donovan is getting throw right under the bus for Andy Reid’s shortcomings. 

4. Braylon Edwards dropped three more passes. Ahem, when is this trend going to stop?

5. After coming up just short on 3rd down Sunday Night, the Chargers inserted their collective head right in their own tail pipe and called an immediate timeout to think about their next move. Nice work fellas. Whoever was responsible for that timeout should immediately get in-game clock management decisions taken away from him. Instead of leaving the Colts a minute left with the game tied, Peyton and company get 1:30. As it turned out the Colts drive down and get a 51 yard field goal to win the game. How much do you think 30 extra seconds helped them? Well, it was 4th and 1 for the Colts with 26 seconds left, so… Well, I know you can’t assume the Colts wouldn’t have gotten further – but in those precious 30 seconds, the Colts went from the 48 to the 33 and spiked the ball with 2 seconds left. Nobody said anything – well I”M SAYING SOMETHING NOW – What a dumb call Norv, or whoever did it. 

6. The Lions were up 17-0. I was never worried about covering, and even less worried about Warrick Dunn having a big day. Oh the Lions are bad folks, B – A – D. I really think they don’t win a game this year – I know that doesn’t happen, but who are they going to beat?

7. Drew Brees just toys with opposing defenses. Watching him throw perfect bull’s eye darts to his guys running delayed crossing patterns is really a treat. And he’s having an amazing year and on pace to break Dan Marino’s yardage records. However, please recognize Kurt Old Man Wife Look Alike Warner – that guy has been just as amazing. He’s only 68 yards behind Drew, and I think he’s been more consistent. He’s also doing it in Arizona. Do work Kurt! 

8. Matt Cassel made last week look a lot less like a fluke. He threw for over 400 yards again, leading the Patriots past the Dolphins. Is this guy getting paid next year or what? And does he become a nice sleeper keeper in dynasty leagues? I think there’s a good chance of that. Crazy how a year can change a player’s value – just like that he went from everyone saying he should get cut, to everyone’s new favorite QB free agent. Philly, Seattle, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Detroit, St. Louis, Tennessee?, San Francisco, seems like there might be some suiters. 

9. Clinton Portis is a beast – and he’s been pretty damn good all season long, but this Adrian Peterson guy looks destined for the league lead in rushing yards. Portis is up right around 25 yards right now, but the Vikings main man seems to be getting stronger as the season goes forward, and that’s bad news for teams going into Minnesota for the rest of the season.  

10. Those experts that thought Mike Turner was the real deal – you guys are smart. The kid can really run with power, vision, and patience. He’s a bowling ball with lots of speed, and he’ll only get better as the team continues to build around their young talent. And by the way, he’s basically locked up a fantasy lead over the guy he backed up for the last 4 years. (Pat on my own back, basically)