Fantasy Football Focus: Week 3 NFL Review

Week 3 fantasy wasn’t quite as bad for me as my picks went. I wasn’t completely on top of my game, but I did finish on top of the rest of the guys in the group. If you can’t beat everyone, you might as well make sure to beat your friends. We all had some good picks and some misses as well. Here’s how the week went.

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

1. Maurice Jones Drew – 123 yards, three touchdowns, top running back, you bet. A+
2. Andre Johnson – 4 catches for 85 yards, well, after his 4th catch he got hurt, played but didn’t record another catch. C
3. Drew Brees – I said he had to come back down to earth, but said it wouldn’t be this week. I was right but wrong. F
4. Matt Schaub – #4 quarterback, finding himself high on the charts for the second week in a row. A
5. Brandon Jacobs – #13 running back, 92 yards and a touchdown, I expected more from Brandon than 15 points. C

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

1. Ray Rice– #9 running back overall, not bad when your teammate was tied with you. B
2. Ryan Grant – 99 yards for Ryan on 26 carries, I expected more and at least 1 TD. The Pack hates giving him TDs. C-
3. Larry Johnson– And Larry Johnson might never be a high play for me ever again. 38 yards for Larry. F
4. Dwayne Bowe – Not really fair because he was a last second scratch after no info about that all week. F
5. Braylon Edwards – 3 catches for 35 yards, Braylon must hate his QB situation with a passion. I know I do. F

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

1. Mario Manningham – 4 grabs for 55 yards, just a score away from a big week. I still like Mario. C-
2. David Garrard – A 16th rated QB this week, Garrard’s numbers were just fine. B-
3. Trent Edwards –Trent couldn’t do diddly against the Saints secondary, missing a lot of open plays. F
4.Fred Jackson– His team couldn’t do anything offensively, but Fred still carried the ball 18 times for 71 yards while grabbing 4 passes for 26 yards. Not a bad day for Fred, who has been good through three. B-
5. Jabar Gaffney – 4 grabs for 39 yards, ugh, lots of better sleepers I could have picked; Reed, Jacoby, and Wallace… D+

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

1. Joseph Addai – 13 carries for 63 yards was better than I thought, plus he caught a short TD. Miss. F
2. Cedric Benson – 17 carries for 76 yards and  TD, better than I expected from Cedric. D-
3. Willie Parker – 20 fantasy points for Willie Parker, a very good week for the Steeler RB. F
4. Bernard Berrien – 4 catches for 56 yards, a little higher than I expected, but not starter worthy. B
5. Chris Johnson – 22 carries for 97 yards, not bad, but just 10 fantasy points, right what I expected. Ranked 31st RB. B+

PS – Don’t trust Eagles injury reports….

Week 2 Fantasy Rankings

Josh Arsenault	        Ryan Kauffman		Papa Weimer		Lucky Lester

QBs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Drew Brees 28   	1.Drew Brees 28		1.Peyton Manning 1	1.Drew Brees 28
2.Tom Brady 13    	2.Aaron Rodgers 3	2.Tom Brady 13    	2.Matt Schaub 4
3.Phillip Rivers 17	3.Matt Schaub 4    	3.Drew Brees 28   	3.Peyton Manning 1
4.Aaron Rodgers 3  	4.Peyton Manning 1	4.David Garrard 16	4.Tony Romo 23
5.Carson Palmer 19 	5.Trent Edwards 27	5.Aaron Rodgers	3	5.Tom Brady 13
RBs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Michael Turner 32	1.Maurice Jones-Drew 1	1.Adrian Peterson 28	1.Maurice Jones-Drew 1
2.Maurice Jones-Drew 1	2.Brandon Jacobs 13	2.Steve Slaton 24 	2.Brandon Jacobs 13
3.Adrian Peterson 28	3.Ronnie Brown 18  	3.Maurice Jones-Drew 1	3.Adrian Peterson 28
4.Matt Forte 9		4.Matt Forte 9   	4.Fred Jackson 23 	4.Matt Forte 9
5.Clinton Portis 47	5.Steven Jackson 6	5.Clinton Portis 47 	5.Ryan Grant 29

WRs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Randy Moss 8		1.Andre Johnson 27   	1.Larry Fitzgerald 24	1.Andre Johnson 27
2.Larry Fitzgerald 24	2.Reggie Wayne 3  	2.Reggie Wayne 3	2.Randy Moss 8
3.Reggie Wayne 3   	3.Randy Moss 8		3.Steve Smith (NY) 12   3.Reggie Wayne 3
4.Andre Johnson 27	4.Greg Jennings	27	4.Andre Johnson 27 	4.Steve Smith (C) 55
5.Steve Smith (C) 55  	5.Santonio Holmes 93	5.Calvin Johnson 42	5.Jericho Cotchery 4

TEs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Chris Cooley 17 	1.Jeremy Shockey 11	1.Dallas Clark 3 	1.Antonio Gates 10
2.Tony Gonzalez	33	2.Tony Gonzalez	33	2.John Carlson 19 	2.Dallas Clark 3
3.John Carlson 19	3.Dustin Keller 22	3.Tony Gonzalez 33	3.Jason Witten 5
4.Antonio Gates 10	4.Dallas Clark 3 	4.Owen Daniels 7	4.Chris Cooley 17
5.Jason Witten 5  	5.Owen Daniels 7   	5.Jason Witten 5	5.Tony Gonzalez 33

DSTs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Ravens 2		1.Ravens 2		1.Bears 13		1.Ravens 2
2.Redskins 17		2.Broncos 3       	2.Steelers 25		2.Packers 10
3.Packers 10		3.Giants 7		3.Eagles 8		3.Broncos 3
4.Broncos 3		4.Bears 13		4.Packers 10		4.Redskins 17
5.Vikings 16		5.Redskins 17		5.Redskins 17		5.Eagles 8

Kickers-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Top 5 Kickers for Week 3: Olindo Mare, Stephen Gostkowski, Mason Crosby, Ryan Longwell,
Matt Prater
Keeping score for week 3! This is the positional breakdown based on Week 3's rankings:
Josh Arsenault		Ryan Kauffman		Papa Weimer		Lucky Lester

1.QBs 4         	1.QBs 2		        1.QBs 1  		1.QBs 3
2.RBs 3		        2.RBs 1	   	        2.RBs 4                 2.RBs 2
3.WRs 3		        3.WRs 4		        3.WRs 2         	3.WRs 1
4.TEs 4  		4.TEs 3          	4.TEs 1         	4.TEs 2
5.DST 3         	5.DST 2         	5.DST 4         	5.DST 1

Well, Josh came in last for this week’s rankings. Papa and Kauffman came in tied for second (as they like to say) or tied for 3rd (as I like to say). The winner, for the 3rd straight week is me. I’m telling you, I had a tough week in picks, and my fantasy predictions didn’t end up being too great as far as sleepers, elite guys, starters, and sits, but as always it’s nice to beat your friends at stuff. I’ll go for 4 straight weeks as the top fantasy genius in Week 4. As for this week, we got a few things right. Our number one ranked RB, between the four of us, was Maurice Jones Drew – he came through in fine fashion. Three of us had Peyton ranked in the Top 5, and he was the top QB this week. Reggie Wayne was our top rated receiver, and he was ranked 3rd overall this week. Kauffman swung and really missed on Santonio Holmes, as the man crush comes back to haunt him again. As the 93rd rated receiver this week, he pretty much had no chance at anything but 4th in receivers. Drew Brees let everyone down, as only Papa Weimer didn’t rank him 1st for Week 3. Sticking Jericho Cotchery in my top five made up for keeping Steve Smith there, and despite Steve’s low output I still snuck away with the top receiver spot this week. Who’d we miss? Lets go backwards, the Dallas Cowboys were the #1 ranked defense for the week, they didn’t make any top 5 list. New Orleans, San Diego, and Indy rounded out 4, 5 and 6 this week, not a one made our lists. Vernon Davis was the beast that everyone thought he’d be when he first came out of Maryland, taking the top TE spot for Week 3 while Brent Celek finished a close second in helping the Eagles win big. A cat named Daniel Fells caught a couple touchdowns for the Rams, making the most of his two grabs – he finished 4th. And Greg Olsen was 6th overall, finally showing what many expected. Either it was crazy that nobody listed Santana Moss in their top 5 lists, because he ended up with 7 more points than any other receiver in the league, or his huge performance was a stunner. I’ll go for stunner. DeSean Jackson wasn’t supposed to suit up, or so the Eagles made fantasy owners believe all week long, only to finish 2nd overall in fantasy points while also performing a front flip splits move celebration in the end zone… I think his groin is fine. Jerks. Kevin Walter had a big week and Derrick Mason had his first lofty performance of the season. Andre Caldwell burst onto the scene to finish in the Top 10, one wonders what to expect of him going forward? As for running backs? How about lots of misses, we only picked one out of the Top 5, as Pierre Thomas, Tashard Choice, Julius Jones, and Willie Parker rounded out the Top 5. Who knew? Fred Taylor and Ricky Williams also made Top 10 performances of the week, bringing us back to the year 2000. As for QBs, Kevin Kolb was huge again for the Eagles, and maybe they knew what they were doing drafting the gun slinger a couple years ago, huh? Also in the top 10 and off of our lists, how about Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, Big Ben, Mark Sanchez, and a little guy name Kyle freaking Boller. How about that one? Check back later to see our picks for Week 4, and wait and see if somebody can’t dethrone me as the token fantasy genius!