Courtesy of: CBS Sports
Imagine for a moment that you wrote a fantasy football advice column that thousands hundreds dozens of people read every week. In that column, you spoke passionately about the players you believed were in for outstanding performances in their upcoming games as well as those you felt were due to fall flat. You belabored your points about each player, backing them up with statistics and, dare I say, logic in an attempt to guide your readers down the path you believed served them best. Feeling confident about yourself and your ability to find over and undervalued players for the week’s matchups, you sat back on Sunday morning and waited for your predictions to come to fruition.
Then Marlon Brown scored the same amount of fantasy points as me (zero). Then you counted Colin Kaepernick’s point total with one hand (and still had a middle finger left over to point in his direction). Then Antonio Brown nearly tripled his fantasy point total for the season in one night. And finally, on Monday night, Knowshon Moreno reminded you that he is Knowshon Moreno. After the dust cleared on Tuesday morning, you sat back and viewed the carnage. Not only did you miss on 4 out of your 6 picks for the week, you missed in spectacular fashion.
Well folks, the above hypothetical for you was actually reality for me. After a solid start to my Fantasy 6-pack in week 2, I followed it up with an epic fail in week 3. I managed two correct picks (Michael Vick and James Starks), both in my “dislike” section, but swung and missed on the other four. The worst part for me was my level of confidence in all four of those picks. I was sure Kaepernick was in for a bounce back week against a Colts DEF that hadn’t shown me anything special coming into the week. I was sure Moreno would see a ton of work and take advantage of a bad Oakland Raiders team. As a Ravens fan and close follower of the team, Marlon Brown seemed like a shoe-in for another red zone TD and more looks in the passing game. And I couldn’t have been more confident in the ineptness of the Steelers and their chances of getting Antonio Brown into the endzone.
It was a bad week, but looking at some of the box scores and stats around the league, I would guess it was a bad week for a lot of fantasy analysts out there. Whether it was injuries, defenses stepping up, or simply down weeks for some of the top fantasy producers out there, week 3 was (hopefully) and anomaly. But as I said in this column’s debut; I’ll own these picks, right or wrong…so this is me owning them. Now let’s brush them off and move on to week 4. Here is my fantasy 6-pack.
(All projections are based on ESPN standard league scoring)
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3 I Like
RB, Trent Richardson (14 proj. pts)- The Browns…whoops, I mean Colts running back has had an interesting week and a half. He learned he had been traded from a buddy who called him after hearing it himself, arrived in Indy and quickly flew to San Francisco for Sunday’s game, then played sparingly and frankly, not all that well, while Ahmad Bradshaw ran like a man trying to keep his job. Doesn’t sound like a great way to kick off the 6-pack huh? But here’s the thing. Richardson’s had a week to get comfortable in his surroundings and the Colts now get to take on the team giving up the most rushing yards per game in the league (Jacksonville). So with a bigger workload and a terrible run defense in front of him, Richardson will show why Cleveland should never have let him go.
WR, Eric Decker (11 proj. pts)- Coming off a 19 point outing against the Raiders where he caught his first touchdown of the season, I see Decker producing yet again against the Eagles. Philly is currently giving up the 2nd most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers so far this year and with the roulette wheel of Thomas, Welker, and Decker, the Eagles are going to have to pick their poison in this one. I think of the 3 Broncos wideouts, Decker has the biggest game and Welker, the smallest.
TE, Jared Cook (4 proj. pts)- If you don’t own Jimmy Graham, Jordan Cameron, or Jason Witten, you’ve probably spent the past 3 weeks going with a plug and play strategy at TE. It just seems that tight ends are so unreliable, this year more so than ever. Take Cook for example; after a monster week 1, the past two weeks have been disappointing to say the least. But this week, the Rams come home to host the 49ers on Thursday Night Football and Cook may see more action considering the short week and the injury to running back Daryl Richardson. I think Cook sees a return to fantasy relevance after this week.
3 I Don’t
QB, Robert Griffin III (19 proj. pts)- Griffin has been the king of junk time stats through the first 3 games of the season, becoming known for his poor play in the first half and comeback ability in the second. But the first 3 games were against good teams (Detroit notwithstanding) with high powered offenses. What happens when the Redskins go up against a team that has been struggling just as much as them? Could it be possible that the Redskins get up in this game and grind out their first win on the legs of Alfred Morris? That’s what I’m expecting which is why I’d temper your expectations for Griffin in this one.
RB, Reggie Bush (16 proj. pts)- It looks like Bush will start this week against the Bears which is certainly good news for his owners. That being said, 16 points is a lot to ask from a guy fresh off an injury going up against the 2nd stingiest defense in the league against fantasy rushers. I think Bush is eased back into action here with Joique Bell still getting plenty of receptions and some carries as well. Bush may have a solid day from a yardage perspective, but it won’t be enough to reach his expectation. If he finished with less than double digit fantasy points, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.
WR, Rod Streeter (13 proj. pts)- This is a public service announcement. To all those folks with the mantra of “start any wide receiver facing the Redskins”, I simply ask you to not get so cute. Analysts tend to say “start you studs” or “don’t get too cute” when asked about a third string option with a great matchup. Well, this is the definition of getting too cute. If you want to start a Raiders wide receiver this week, it’s Denarius Moore. Streeter is not your guy…don’t get too cute!
Last Week: 2-4
Year To Date: 6-6
