FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 15
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
December 19, 2006
Week 15 has come and gone and we hope you are still alive in your fantay football playoffs. We will continue to do our best
for week 16, but first we need to look back at week 15 and see what went down. As we do every
week, we look back at our bench / start calls to see how we did to hold ourselves to the fire. We want to give
you great advice as much as you like to receive it. Kick back, relax, and enjoy our look
back at the week 15 advice both good and bad.
Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Vernon Davis, TE, SF – Despite the monsoon that engulfed the Thursday night game, Davis managed to have a solid game. Davis hauled in only 3 receptions for 15 yards, but his TD and the fact that he is a TE make him a nice fantasy start for week 15.
Ladell Betts, RB, WAS – Betts has been great in relief of Clinton Portis. He continued his trend this week with 119 yards rushing and an additional 43 yards in the air. Betts has signed an extension with the Redskins, so Clinton Portis owners had better be well aware of Betts’ name in the future. With each passing week, it becomes clearer and clearer that Betts will not be threatened by TJ Duckett.
Tom Brady, QB, NE – Brady’s yardage was terrible, but he didn’t turn the ball over and he managed 2 TDs. One of those TDs was a long one of over 40 yards and that was just enough to get him into the good starts of the week.
Terry Glenn, WR, DAL – As we expected, Glenn gave the Falcons trouble as the #2 WR opposite of Terrell Owens. Glen actually had more yards than Owens, but he didn’t score. Either way, 5 receptions for 96 yards is a solid starting effort from your fantasy WR. (Just ask Andre Johnson owners if they would have liked that type of a game in week 15).
Marques Colston, WR, NO – We told you that Colsotn was going to be back and in charge of the Saints passing attack. Well he was the most impressive Saints’ WR on a very unimpressive day from New Orleans. As we stated in our prediction, Colston was a solid start in non-point per reception leagues with 84 yards. As we also stated, he was a good start in point per reception leagues with a gaudy 7 receptions. Colston is back and you should leave him in your lineup.
Bench:
Reuben Droughns, RB, CLE – Only 31 yards rushing is more than enough of a poor performance to make Droughns a poor start. We predicted that Droughns’ down week 14 was a trend and not an abnormality, and he followed that trend with a very benchworthy performance.
Bruce Gradkowski, QB, TAM – Gradkowski wasn’t just bad, he would have killed any fantasy team that dared to start him. In fact, he was replaced and his backup had a solid effort. The wild ride for Gradkowski is over for now.
Chris Chambers, WR, MIA – We are picking on Chambers and he came through on our bench call once again with only 1 rush for 11 yards. Chambers has flat out fallen off the face of the fantasy planet. Stay far away from this joker for now.
Heath Miller, TE, PIT – 2 catches and only 25 yards is a great bench call. Miller has been terrible this year and he should continue to be avoided despite the fact that many in fantasy football had high hopes for him.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Sammy Morris, RB, MIA – Morris had a solid effort, but it wasn’t enough to break into the great calls of the week. Morris had only 71 yards rushing and 12 yards receiving on 5 catches. Morris might have eeked by a decent fantast start for you in point per reception leagues, but he is just missing the cut this week. We really expected more from him this week.
Matt Hasselbeck, QB, SEA – Hopefully, you checked on this game before kickoff and benched Hasselbeck. The weather was so bad before kickoff that there was talk of postponing the game. They played the game and Hasselbeck’s performance suffered. He actually passed the ball relatively well, but his WRs couldn’t hang onto the ball. Hasselbeck managed a relatively meaningless score late to help pad his fantasy stats, so he ended up being a so-so start call.
Deion Branch, WR, SEA – Branch had a so-so game as well in the rain and wind. Branch and the whole Seahawks offense just couldn’t get things going in the rain. His 54 yards on 4 receptions is enough to keep him out of the busted calls, but he was a real disappointment. This game didn’t look like a good place to have offensive weapons as game time approached, so we hope you were able to make the switch.
Bench:
None this week.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Josh Brown, K, SEA – Brown is yet another Seahawks that was crushed by the wind and the rain. Brown only got 2 PATs under his belt in that mess. We will just have to hope that the Seahawks have better weather next week.
Steve McNair, QB, BAL – A Ravens’ QB did have a great game as we expected, but it wasn’t McNair. He was injured and Boller took over for a great fantasy game. This was a terrible time to have your QB go down early in the game.
Jon Kitna, QB and Mike Furrey, WR, DET – These two yahoos managed to have terrible games. We told you that Furrey was a risky and we told you that Kitna should show some life. The Lions, led by Kitna, managed to fall on their face. In the end, the golden rule of fantasy football held true in 2006. “Lions will let you down.” Despite the fact that several Lions looked like great options early in the season, they all have let you down in this most crucial time of the year.
Bench:
Joey Galloway, WR, TAM – Galloway only had 3 receptions, but he roasted our bench call by hauling in a 64 yard TD reception. That will blow a bench call every time.
Derek Anderson, QB, CLE – Derek Anderson wasn’t out of this world, but he did manage enough to break up our bench call. He had 2 INTs, 2 TDs, and 223 yards passing. This was a very impressive start against a solid defense.
J.P. Losman, QB, BUF – Losman is another matter all together. He is way up then he is way down. He seems to be very much like playing with fire. Well, this week he roasted us. He had a GREAT game and just flat out embarrassed us on our bench call with only 1 turnover, 200 yards passing, and 3 TDs.
Ashley Lelie and Michael Jenkins, WR, ATL – The total yards for these two WRs probably doesn’t warrant a busted call since neither guy broke 40 yards. However, each scored a TD and that is a miracle for the Falcons. In honor of this occasion, we will take the busted bench call hit because it is amazing that both of these guys caught TD passes.
