Fantasy Forum Week 11: Studs/Duds with a little Sleeper action

Last week: 5-1

Season totals: 8-4

Week 11 has arrived folks and its time for this week’s Studs/Duds here at the Fantasy Forum brought to you by Views from the Couch. Last week was a strong week for yours truly nailing 5 out of 6 picks, thanks for not showing up for your meeting DeSean Jackson making me look like a genius appreciate it. This week we’re going to be bringing you a special edition with 4 studs, 3 duds, and 2 sleepers.

STUDS

Carson Palmer QB Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings inadequate pass defense

Since being acquired from the Bungals and Mike Brown for 2 future 1^st round picks (nice trade Oakland) Palmer hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire. He’s thrown 5 TD passes as opposed to 7 interceptions and fumbled twice for good measure. Expect all of that to change this week however. Palmer has managed to sling the rock for 332 and 299 yards the past two weeks respectively and he’s now facing the 31^st ranked pass defense. Denarious Moore also appears poised to continue his ascent up the Raiders WR depth chart and Palmer loves lobbying it up deep to him. Expect big things this week in Minnesota for Carson.

Stats: 30-44, 325 yards 3 TD 1 INT

Brandon Marshall WR Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills pass defense

Buffalo is 25^th against the pass this year and is 31^st against opposing teams #1 wide receivers, which is exactly what Marshall is for the Dolphins. Since coming out of the gate on fire in the first 2 weeks and then slowing down for a few games Marshall has picked it up the past 2 games going for 8 rec, 106 yards and a score and 7 rec for 98 yards. He gets targeted on more than 50% of the Dolphins pass plays so opportunities are aplenty on a weekly basis for the man with the notorious case of the dropsies. He’ll get his yards every week the question as always is can he find the end zone and grab those 6 extra fantasy points. This week I’m going to go with yes.

Stats: 7 rec, 112 yards 1 TD

Brandon Jacobs RB New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles atrocious run defense

With Ahmad Bradshaw already having been ruled out for the 3^rd consecutive week Jacobs is in line to get the lion’s share of the carries against the Eagles this week. The Eagles can’t stop anyone on the ground and Jacobs used to be a good back. I see the possibility of him regaining some of that old form this week against a run defense that is surrendering over 20 fantasy points a game to opposing backfields. He’s received 18 carries in each of the last two games I think he’ll get around 20 this game and make the most of them while finding the end zone to boot.

Stats: 20 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD, 2 Rec, 12 yards

New England Patriots D/ST vs. Kansas City Chiefs and starting QB Tyler Palko

The Patriots defense has struggled all year to stop anyone, which you already know if you live in the New England area and read the paper, watch TV, or listen to the radio. It’s well documented how the Patriots lack elite personnel on defense to create turnovers at the same clip they did last year when they finished a league best +28 in takeaways/giveaways. Insert the Kansas City Chiefs sans QB Matt Cassel and RB Jamaal Charles and viola all your defensive ills are cured. Last week against the Sanchize and the Jets the Pats D/ST racked up 17 points I think they can approach that number again this week. Palko was cut from NFL Europe a few years back, enough said. The Patriots defense will have a strong day for the second straight week.

Stats: 275 yards against, 7 points, 2 INT, 1 FumRec, 3 Sacks

DUDS

Andy Dalton QB Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens

Last week Dalton somewhat came back to earth against a strong Steelers defense in an AFC North showdown. This week is another AFC North battle against a Baltimore Ravens defense that always brings the pressure and heat on opposing QB’s. In none of the past 3 weeks has Dalton thrown for more than 217 yards twice finishing under 200 I see that continuing this week especially with star rookie and favorite target WR AJ Green banged up and approaching the rookie wall. UPDATE: Green has been ruled doubtful for this weeks tilt against the Ravens making Dalton’s task even taller against the league’s number one pass defense.

Stats: 15-33, 167 yards 1 TD 2 INT

Beanie Wells RB Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers stout run defense

The 49ers have the top ranked run defense in the league and Wells is an enigma. After a few big weeks early in the year and a solid game against the Ravens 3 weeks ago (83 yards, 1 TD) juicy matchups against the Rams and Eagles seemed like great opportunities to rack up major points. Wrong. Bells ran for 20 yards and 62 yards putting 3 and 6 points, respectively, on the board fantasy wise. If he couldn’t run all that well against the weakest run defenses on the league I don’t see much reason why he’ll torch the best run defense. UPDATE: Wells has been ruled Questionable for this weeks matchup so if you have him I wouldn’t run the risk of starting him.

Stats: 14 carries, 34 yards, 0 TD

Darrius Heyward-Bey WR Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings

Even though his QB, Carson Palmer, is in the studs category I’m going to put Heyward-Bey in the duds section. Since Palmer took over the starting job in Oakland Heyward-Bey has disappeared. He doesn’t appear to have any chemistry with Palmer causing him to put up back to back goose eggs. What’s so frustrating about that for fantasy owners is that the previous 4 weeks with Jason Campbell under center Heyward-Bey actually seemed like a guy worthy of being drafted 7^th overall in the NFL Draft, news flash he wasn’t. He had put up 11, 15, 8, and 8 points making it look like he was trending upwards but alas he is back to the Darrius Heyward-Bey who recorded to goose eggs thru the first 3 weeks.

Stats: 1 Rec, 7 yards, 0 TD

SLEEPERS

I’m not going to put up any stats predictions for the following two players but I am going to put a brief blurb on why the Couch thinks that it might be wise to grab the following two players for the stretch run.

Kendall Hunter RB San Francisco 49ers

If you own Frank Gore in any of your fantasy leagues I’d suggest picking up Hunter quickly before someone else scoops him up. With Gore ailing and the 49ers already having seemingly wrapped up the NFC West, they own a 5 game lead on the 2^nd place team with 7 to play I like their odds, Hunter is going to get some carries going forward. He managed to rack up 40 yards and a TD on 6 carries last week. He’s been getting 8 or 9 carries pretty consistently all year and I think that number will actually trend upwards in the coming weeks. Hunter’s going to see carries while the 49ers attempt to keep the ever-fragile Gore healthy for a playoff run.

Damian Williams WR Tennessee Titans

When Kenny Britt went down in week 3 with a torn ACL the Titans #1 WR spot was vacant waiting to be taken. At first it appeared that Nate Washington would step in and fill that role but he’s been somewhat of a disappointment and Williams is slowly catching up to him. QB Matt Hasselbeck is targeting and gaining more and more confidence in Williams each and every week. Williams has found paydirt in each of the last two weeks while also racking up 107 yards last week. He has 4 scores on the year and I don’t see Hasselbeck decreasing his targets moving forward. If he’s available in your league, he probably is considering he’s only at 7.2% ownership, scoop him up and reap the benefits.

There you have it folks another week here at the Fantasy Forum. We’ll see you next week for week 12’s Studs/Duds.

Geoff Jablonski

Fantasy Forum Week 10: Studs and Duds

Another week of football, another list of those who may (or may not) excel in their upcoming fantasy matchups. I’m also going to start keeping a running tally of hits and misses by the fantasy forum staff here at Views from the Couch. A win if the pick proved correct a loss if the pick was a misfire and a ‘tie’ if the pick had a decent week but didn’t really blow anyone out of the water.

Last week: 2-2-2

Without further adieu (how over used is that saying? But anyway) here are the Views from the Couch week 10 studs and duds.

STUDS

Greg Olsen TE Carolina Panthers vs. Tennessee Titans

Olsen has been a bit of a feast or famine type of player this year, 3 double digit performances and 3 sub-4 point performances, but he has reeled in 4 TD passes from rookie phenom Cam Newton. Newton appears to be leaning slightly towards Olsen in recent weeks though Jeremy Shockey has snaked some of Olsen’s targets from the other TE spot. The stats don’t lie however and Olsen is still the 7^th ranked TE according to ESPN scoring and is projected to post 10 points this week against a Titans defense that yields 8.9 PPG to opposing TE’s and has been burned for 5 scores already this year by those TE’s. Start Olsen without fear and expect some big things out of him. I see him in the feast category for this week.

Stats: 5 rec, 73 yards, 1 TD

Maurice Jones-Drew RB Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts run defense

The Colts run defense can’t stop anyone even though CJ0K couldn’t crack the 40-yard mark against them 2 weeks ago but I digress. This isn’t about CJ0K and how he sucks this year but rather about how MJD has been a horse for the Jaguars. If you’ve seen Blaine Gabbert play then you’ll understand why MoJo is tied for the league lead in totes at 166. MoJo is also averaging 92.5 YPG which is good for 9 fantasy points guaranteed one a weekly basis without factoring in TD or reception points. The Jaguars give him the rock and often and against a soft Colts defense that’s yielding 21.3 PPG to opposing running games I love this matchup. Expect the Jaguars to take the ball out of Gabbert’s hands and put it into MJD’s to ensure that the Colts continue to ‘Suck for Luck’.

Stats: 26 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD, 1 rec, 7 yards

Dallas Cowboys D/ST vs. Buffalo Bills offense

Since lighting the world on fire in their first three games the Bills offense has slowed down considerably. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick did enough in those games to earn a 5-year extension but in the world of fantasy football, which is all we care about for this posts sake, he has been a dud the past 5 games. In his first three games he racked up totals of 24, 22, and 18 points but since then he hasn’t scored more than 14 points in a single game and has thrown 3 single digit performances out there. As far as the Cowboys defense is concerned these are all things working in their favor as is their phenomenal pass rusher DeMarcus Ware. Ware has already recorded 12.5 sacks through 8 games including 4 in a matchup two weeks ago against Vick and the Eagles. He’s going to be good for a sack or three against a weak Bills O-line. As a whole the Cowboys defense has scored double digits in all of their games against 2 duds: one against the Eagles and one against the Lions. Those two offenses are full of explosive playmakers that the Bills don’t possess. Start the Cowboys defense with confidence.

Stats: 4 sacks, 1 INT, 1 FumRec, 0 TD, 13 fantasy points

DUDS

DeSean Jackson WR Philadelphia Eagles vs. Arizona Cardinals

The past two years Jackson has been Michael Vick’s go to target but this year he seems to have fallen to the number 2 option behind Missouri product Jeremy Maclin. Jackson hasn’t posted higher than 4 fantasy points in his past 3 games, including 0 against the Bears last week, since torching the Bills and 49ers secondaries for 14 and 17 points respectively. Out of the Eagles 8 games this year Jackson has posted three stud performances, week 1 vs. the Rams and the two I just mentioned, with the other five games falling in the dud category racking up 2, 3, 4, 3, and 0 points in those games. For a guy drafted to be a WR1 he has been a major disappointment and become increasingly riskier to start. I know the Cardinals secondary is dicey at best but Patrick Peterson is a prime time player, that ones for you Dick Vitale, and he is going to be covering Jackson. Vick has also struggled to connect with Jackson on their patented fly routes, which has hurt Jackson’s value. Until they get on the same page avoid Jackson.

Stats: 3 rec, 32 yards, 0 TD

Matt Forte RB Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions

Forte is going to get his yards against the Lion. Their run defense is nothing special and has been torched recently but the Bears are going to be forced into passing early and often once the Lions jump out to an early lead. This game is a perfect storm for Forte to not be able to take advantage of a Lions run defense that is asking to be sliced and diced for 150 yards and 2 scores. QB Jay Cutler is going to bothered all game since the Lions pass rush is ferocious and pays little to no attention to the running game instead pinning their ears back and heading up field on every play. I wouldn’t call Forte a dud this week as much as I’d say that he’s just not going to get the opportunities to post the big time number we’ve come to expect from the 5^th ranked RB. He hasn’t been as big a factor in the passing game the past two weeks and he fumbled on a reception last week. Forte won’t get fully utilized this week though I do expect him to go over a 100 yards but he won’t find the end zone.

Stats: 18 carries, 105 yards, 0 TD, 2 rec, 13 yards, 0 TD

Tiquan Underwood’s high top fade WR New England Patriots vs. New York Jets

With Taylor Price’s hamstring injury and Chad Ochocinco doing a great disappearing act the Patriots this week resigned preseason casualty Tiquan Underwood and his high top fade. Underwood is a former 7^th round draft pick of the Jaguars in 2009 and he’s seen the field sparingly since then but really all anyone cares about is whether or not he’ll be rocking the high top fade he sported during this preseason. I’m guessing if he wants to stay relevant he’ll stick with the flat top since that’s probably the only way he’s going to get Tom Terrific to notice him on or off the field. He’s not going to catch a pass and I pray you didn’t add him thinking he’s going to do something in the Patriots high octane offense but look for the guy with the high top fade on the sideline on Sunday night and you’ve found Underwood.

Stats: 0 rec, 0 yards, 0 TD, 1 all-hair team award

There you have it folks this weeks studs and duds list let me know what you think and we’ll see how accurate the prognostications where in a week. Good luck to all in their matchups this week.

Geoff Jablonski