Week five was so bad for me, I had to take some time and regroup. I knew I could still pick fantasy starters, I just didn’t know that I wanted to. But now, after several days of soul searching, I make my Favrian return to fantasy football. And since the bosses were good enough to give me my job back (with only a small amount of begging on my end), I have a renewed sense of purpose and am ready to pick up right where I left off (well, not right where I left off – I left off sucking). Let’s look at the debacle that was week five:
Time to Shine:
QB Trent Edwards, Buffalo: The good news is Edwards completed 100% of his passes in week 5. The bad news is he only attempted three passes. Injury or not, this one is a miss.
RB Jerious Norwood, Atlanta: Michael Turner was so good that there was no reason to hand the ball to anyone else. Miss.
RB Steve Slaton, Houston: 96 total yards and two scores get us back on track – thank God for Indy’s rush defense. Hit.
WR Robert Meachem, New Orleans: Had Meachem kept up his 40 yard per catch average, we would have been just fine with this pick, but he only managed 15 yards a grab and failed to reach the end zone. Miss.
RB Rudi Johnson, Detroit: Maybe Rudi is too small to play football after all. 32 combined yards won’t get you a scholarship to Notre Dame. Miss.
Ride the Pine:
QB Jay Cutler, Denver: While 227 yards and one touchdown was less than most Cutler owners were hoping for, it’s still too good to count this one as a hit.
RB Chris Johnson, Tennessee: Just 2.4 yards per carry on 18 attempts left Johnson owners a little less confident in this rookie rusher. Hit.
RB Frank Gore, San Francisco: Only 64 yards rushing, but 24 through the air and a touchdown catch to boot makes this one a miss.
WR Greg Jennings, Green Bay: Another one of those “one catch makes all the difference” games. A 36 yard scoring strike from Aaron Rodgers turns Jennings worst game of the year into a pretty solid effort. Miss.
WR Ocho Cinco, Cincinnati: Only 43 receiving yards. Sometimes Mr. Cinco makes it too easy. Hit.
Week Five Totals: 3-7
Overall totals: 23-25-3
On to this week’s picks:
Time to Shine:
QB Matt Schaub, Houston: Schaub has been wildly inconsistent this year frustrating anyone who’s trying to pick the right time to put him in the lineup. I’ve always found that starting a player who goes against the Lions is always a safe bet. If Schaub is sitting on your bench as a second option, it’s time to move him up a spot this week. Look for 220 yards and a couple of scores.
RB Mewelde Moore, Pittsburgh: If Mewelde Moore is still available in your league, pick him up. He’s probably good for only one or two starts this year and this is definitely one of them. Parker is officially out for Sunday and the Bengals are usually a very gracious host. I would be shocked if Moore didn’t have 80 yards and a touchdown this week.
RB Dominic Rhodes, Indianapolis: Here’s another one of those backs who won’t give you many quality starts so you better get them while you can. Rhodes goes against a shaky Packer D that will spend most of the week figuring out how to stop an Indy passing attack that looks like it did back in ‘04. Rhodes is the only back Dungy will trust to help protect Manning and all that playing time will mean plenty of touches. 100 yards and a score for Rhodes this week.
WR Wes Welker, New England: When was the last time you saw the Patriots as home field underdogs? I can’t remember either. The Pats were blown out again last week and will need to make a strong showing to keep pace in the AFC East. While most of the New England offense has been underachieving (I’m looking at you, Randy Moss), Welker has been surprisingly consistent. He’s also been consistently kept out of the end zone. All that changes this week as the best blocking receiver in football goes for 90 yards and a score.
WR Bernard Berrian, Minnesota: This one is a bit of a gamble, but I feel it’s one worth taking. Listed as questionable as of Friday, Barrian still expects to play. He has shown a lot of chemistry with Gus Frerotte as of late and playing against a Bears defense with a beat up secondary, Berrian could continue his streak of 100 yard days. Throw in a touchdown, and Bernard looks like he might be worth that big free agent deal he signed this offseason.
Ride the Pine:
QB Drew Brees, New Orleans: It would be tough to sit the league leader in passing yards this week unless you had a quality backup. If you do, it might be wise to give Drew the week off. Brees has been a different quarterback on the road this year. Only two of his twelve touchdowns have come away from home, as has his only sub 300 yard passing game. Top that off with a stingy Carolina defense, and Drew may be no better than average this week.
RB Darren McFadden, Oakland: McFadden’s 5.1 yards per carry is a very deceptive stat. In the last three weeks, he’s averaged a shade under 10 carries and 30 yards a game. Playing a Jets team that is one of the toughest in the league to run against, don’t expect Run DMC to do much running.
RB Ronnie Brown, Miami: Ronnie Brown has been on fire since Miami has incorporated the Wildcat offense. Baltimore has been a stone wall on defense shutting down every running back they’ve faced. This week, the unstoppable force gets stopped by the immovable object. Brown just won’t be on the field enough to put up big numbers.
WR Roy Williams, Dallas: Here’s what’s supposed to happen: Defenses, who once turned all of their attention to T.O. will now have to honor the other side of the field as Williams provides a legitimate threat as a number two receiver. Here’s what will happen: After not catching a pass in the first two series, T.O. has a sit down with Romo/Brad Johnson and reminds them just how he likes to get his touches. Williams gets buried behind T.O., Jason Witten, Marion Barber, and Preston Pearson as the fifth option in Dallas’ offense. Besides, how am I supposed to believe that the Cowboy quarterbacks, who for every practice this season have been trying not to throw the ball to Roy Williams, are now going to suddenly start intentionally throwing the ball to Roy Williams. I’m not buying it.
WR Brandon Marshall, Denver: After putting up crazy numbers the first four weeks of the season, Denver’s offense is slowing down a bit. New England won’t get into a track meet with the Broncos. They’ll look to control the ball and keep Denver’s soft defense on the field as long as they can. Marshall and the Denver offense will suffer because of it.
On bye this week: Falcons, Eagles, Cardinals, Jaguars
I picked up Rhodes Sat. after reading this article and he got me 19.6 points. Hit!