Uh oh, could it be? Heading into Monday Night’s game, it’s looking like la familia might take their first loss in Week 9 – Calling Josh to let him know, and in a sneaky way, try to jinx him, I get this message. “I’m probably here, looking at my phone, seeing you’re calling to try and jinx me. But I won’t let it happen you sneaky S.O.B. If the stars align, I’ll be calling you later tonight to gloat. Oh, and if this is someone that has no idea what I’m talking about, sorry, leave a message for Josh and I’ll get back to you.” Awesome. Aside from that, I made some solid fantasy calls this week, hopefully helping you out on your way to Week 9 glory. Here’s how the week went down.

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

1. Maurice Jones Drew –MJD was only 8th amongst backs, 21 fantasy points weren’t bad, but KC did well. B
2. Tom Brady – Brady was 7th overall, not bad, but not Kurt Warner or anything. B-
3. Larry Fitzgerald – Larry finished as the Top Fantasy player in Week 9. That’s good enough for me! A+
4. Reggie Wayne– He was only 19th in the WR race, his interception wounded duck dropped him a notch. C
5. Pierre Thomas– Thomas finished 9th, which was pretty good for a time share back. Good work in Week 9. B+

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

1. Matt Hasselbeck – He was the 8th rated QB of Week 9, not a great week, but solid. I expected more. B
2. Steve Smith (NYG) – 10th WR this week for Smith, a nice go around, back to being solid. B+
3. Ryan Grant – 96 yards and a score for Grant, but the Packers still needed to run the ball more. B+
4. Mike Sims-Walker – Mike shined in the Jaguars win, catching 6 balls and rocking them for 140+ yards. A
5. Ahmad Bradshaw –27th running back overall this week, Bradshaw was shut down. D

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

1. Nate Burleson – Outscored by Housh, but by just a single point. Burleson was Top 20 in Week 9. B+
2. Julius Jones – 7th running back this week, that’s what I’m talking about. A
3. Steve Breaston – Breast was tied for 10th amongst WRs for Week 9, a great play. A
4. Alex Smith – Tied for 8th amongst QBs, a nice play in Week 9. Smith has nice confidence this time around. A-
5. Jamal Charles – 24th running back this week, Charles didn’t get the touches I expected, but decent flex play. C+

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

1. LaDainian Tomlinson– 22 yards rushing for LT, no scores, you’re welcome! A
2. Antonio Bryant– Late scratch, hopefully you took my advice and were sitting him anyway. A
3. Roy Williams – Best yardage game in some times, 5 catches for 75 wasn’t great, but better than I expected. D+
4. Steve Smith (CAR)– 33rd receiver this week, I feel bad for Steve his talent is elite, his QB not so much. B+
5. Matt Forte– Matt had a decent day in a PPR league, like these rankings, he finished 11th amongst fantasy backs in Week 9, but it was his 5 grabs and 75 receiving yards that moved him up the list, not his 33 rushing yards. C-

Week 9 Fantasy Rankings

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Well, that’s that, Josh takes the crown this week and he’d like to dedicate his performance to a couple things. A – The Kyle Orton-Arm Strength Surgery fund (That’s KO-ASS), and B- the Darkness. I finished second, but Josh rocked three #1 spots this week and took the crown easily. We had some close match-ups, he got me by a point a couple times, but he had the right stuff in Week 9 – doing work in the darkness!

Who did we miss this week? For TEs, Greg Olsen busted out a career week with 3 touchdowns, 5 catches and 71 yards taking the top spot. Brandon Petitgrew made his first appearance in the Top 5, as the 4th TE this time around. Nobody thought the Bucs would stick it to the Packers, and even fewer people thought Tampa would rock Aaron Rodgers early and often and put up big time defensive points. But they did, and they took the top D spot. The Titans finished 3rd. People gave up on Mike Sims-Walker after a bad performance last week, but he was 3rd this time around. Hines Ward was 4th. And ready for this, Chris Chambers walked into Kansas City and put up 70 yards and 2 touchdowns on 3 catches for the Chiefs, good for 5th amongst WRs in Week 9. We had everybody in the Top 5 RB rankings besides Joseph Addai, who caught and rushed for a TD in a tight Colts win over Houston. As for QBs, nobody had the balls to go with Josh Freeman, the Tampa rookie that torched the Packers for 3 touchdowns in his first career start. Matt Cassel also did work, finishing 4th amongst QBs. Big Ben also got into the Top 5 with his Monday Night performance.

Big ups to Josh Arsenault, somebody had to steal the crown, his performance did the job admirably!