FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 11
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
November 20, 2007
Welcome to our weekly look back at our Bench / Start calls. Each week
we hold ourselves accountable for our good and bad recommendations. It
is easy to make predictions, but it is tough to stand behind them. Let's
not beat around the bush. Week 11 was a pretty solid week for Start and Sit recommendations. We hope
some of these calls helped you win a game or two this weekend. Without
further ado, let’s get to the weekly fantasy football Bench / Start Wrap-up.
Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Chester Taylor, RB, MIN – Taylor dropped a large game on Oakland to help start this week’s bench / start off with a huge success. Taylor ran for 164 yards, caught passes for another 38 yards, and he dropped 3 TDs on the Raiders to help make this start call a great one. Don’t expect this every week (it was the Raiders after all), but you should feel free to enjoy this great start all week long.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI – Fitzgerald was a beast in point per reception leagues with 8 receptions for 93 yards and a TD. Even if you aren’t in point per reception leagues, you probably still enjoyed this solid outing. All Fitzgerald owners have to say is, “Thank goodness for Kurt Warner.”
Jeff Garcia, QB, TB – Garcia turned in a solid game to help his Bucs blow past the hapless Falcons. The good news for the Falcons is that this season is drawing closer and closer to its close. Garcia had no INTs, 159 yards passing, 5 yards rushing, and 2 TDs. The added extra appeal of Garcia in week 11 is that his TD pass was over 40 yards for those of you in big play leagues.
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAX – Jones-Drew had minimal rushing and receiving yards, but he did get a 1 yard TD plunge that helps make him a solid week 11 starter. We expected a little more, but TDs are ALWAYS nice.
Kurt Warner, QB, ARI – For those of you in big play leagues, Warner’s 44 yard TD pass was a welcome sight. Add to that Warner’s additional stats and you end up with 211 yards passing, 0 INTs, and 2 TD passes. It was another good game from Warner. It looks like Warner should continue to provide solid games. This is despite the fact that he abandoned many of you out there in week 6 when you called on him to replace starters on bye weeks … like Peyton Manning. (read: Still bitter about a negative fantasy effort.)
Joey Galloway, WR, TB – Galloway had a 43 yard TD bomb and a few additional yards receiving that made him a decent start in week 11.
Houston Starting QB – Schaub was back and he delivered on our Houston love. Schaub dropped 293 yards passing, 0 INTs, and 2 TDs passes. Schaub was another one of our start calls to deliver on a big TD strike. Shaub’s was good from 73 yards out. If you saw this TD pass to Andre Johnson, you had to love your Schaub investment for the near future.
Bench:
Lee Evans, WR, BUF – Evans had been hot, but the Patriots were not going to let him beat them. Despite the fact that this game got out of hand in a hurry, Evans couldn’t amass more than 40 yards receiving. It was an ugly game for Evans and he was best left on your bench this week.
Selvin Young, RB, DEN – Young had been a pretty solid back when given the chance to start. However, Young didn’t fair too well against the Titans on Monday Night Football. Young only managed 63 total yards, so he was best left on your bench.
DeAngelo Williams, RB, CAR – Williams did see some action, but it was only 40 yards of total offense. Williams continues to be an option best left on the bench while Deshaun Foster is in the lineup.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Heath Miller, TE, PIT – Miller was only an OK start thanks to his 36 yards. You have to remember we are grading on the TE scale here, but we really did expect more from Miller. The Jets really stuck it to the Steelers’ fantasy stats (and our Bench / Start calls) as a whole.
Bench:
Joey Harrington, QB, ATL – If Harrington would have been sent in earlier for Byron Leftwich, he would have probably have been a busted bench call. As it stands, he was only able to collect 139 yards passing and a TD. This isn’t a great game, but it was a lot better than some other options out there … we are talking to you Peyton Manning.
Justin Fargas, RB, OAK – Fargas was only a so-so bench call as he managed 89 total yards. There have been a couple of sub-stud RBs in a row that have had some success running on the Vikings. Maybe the NFL is starting to figure out the Vikings run D?
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Willie Parker, RB, PIT – Parker looks like he was a victim of “too good to be true.” His matchup against the Jets should have netted him a huge game. However, he only ended up with 52 yards of offense. That might have gotten him into the so-so category on a different week, but we really expected much more out of this back against the Jets defense.
Bench:
Jamal Lewis, RB, CLE – Lewis continues to be very hard to predict. He had nearly 100 yards of offense and a TD. That is a busted call any way you look at it.
Deshaun Foster, RB, CAR – Over 100 total yards of offense makes Foster a busted call by us in week 11. This effort was not only out of the blue, but it was Foster’s best effort in about a month and a half.
J.P. Losman, QB, BUF – Losman’s 47 yard TD early in game is just about all this uninspiring QB needed to have a busted bench call. Losman finished with 173 yards passing and 31 yards rushing. His long TD strike more than made up for his 1 interception.
Thomas Jones, RB, NYJ – Like we said above, the Jets wrecked havoc on the Steelers and our fantasy bench start calls. Jones was one of the key factors in the Jets’ victory. 124 total yards is more than enough to make us eat crow.
Philip Rivers, QB, SD – The Chargers are a dual personality team. They play poorly and beat a good Colts team and then they play pretty well and lose to a bad Panthers’ team. Rivers had a good game with over 300 yards passing. His TD pass was sort of nullified in most leagues thanks to his 2 INTs, but overall he was good enough to start in many leagues.
