FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 16
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
December 25, 2007
It was complete feast or famine for the Docs
in a very unsual week 16 of the NFL. Fortunately, the Docs had more
feasts than famines thanks to some great start recommendations of Fred Taylor,
Kurt Warner, Kolby Smith, Donovan McNabb, Maurice Jones-Drew, and LenDale
White tossed in with some solid bench recommendations of Arnaz Battle and
Maurice Morris. Some players like Roddy White and Shuan Hill did leave
some serious egg on our face, but overall it was a decent effort in a crazy
week of NFL and fantasy football action.
Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAX – MJD is the type
of player that makes you hold your breath every time he touches the ball.
With 140 yards of offense and a TD, you would be hard-pressed to hold your
breath from all the screaming. With a late-season performance like
that in your playoffs, MJD makes you feel a lot better for spending the early
pick on him back in August.
Fred Taylor, RB, JAX – We bought all the Jaguars
rushing stock we could buy in week 16. Taylor didn’t disappoint, ripping
the Raiders for 111 rushing yards and a TD. If you started Taylor this
week, you are still smiling.
Kurt Warner, QB, ARI – In a week where fantasy scores
as a whole were low, you probably won yourself a fantasy championship if
you started Warner. He posted the monster game with 361 passing yards,
3 TDs, and zero INTs. Enjoy the title!
LenDale White, RB, TEN – White delivered a
solid effort nailing over 100 rushing yards. We would have liked to
see a TD tacked on top, but sometimes you can get too greedy. White’s
fifth 100 yard rushing effort of 2007 came at a good time during your fantasy
playoffs.
Kolby Smith, RB, KC – Smith had a good game
and just missed out on a great game. With 110 combined yards of offense
and a whopping seven receptions, most folks will take that to the bank.
Donovan McNabb, QB, PHI – McNabb has been
a disappointment this year, but he did not disappoint in week 16. There
isn’t a fantasy manager out there that wouldn’t take 261 passing yards, count
‘em 3 TDs, and 0 INTs to the bank. This was one of McNabb’s best performances
of the year.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR, CIN – After a great
start to the season, Housh had been crushing his owners for the past few
weeks and had not found the endzone since week 11. We said that would
change in week 16, and Housh did us right by finding the endzone for us.
While it wasn’t a great start, a TD can make a start call just as good as
a TD can ruin a bench call (see below).
Bench:
Maurice Morris, RB, SEA – Shaun Alexander
stole the show and left nothing for Morris, who didn’t help his cause very
much by just averaging a paltry 2.7 yards per carry on a very healthy 15
attempts. Toss in one reception for negative one yard, and 39 yards
of total offense is not getting the job done. You were well served
to leave Morris on your pine.
Arnaz Battle, WR, SF – Enter new QB Shaun
Hill and exit Arnaz Battle’s brief run as a somewhat viable fantasy WR in deeper leagues. On Sunday,
Battle landed a grand total of 0 catches for 0 yards with 5 targets.
Folks, it just doesn’t get much worse than that, so you were letting out
a big sigh of relief if you left Battle on your pine.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
None this week
Bench:
Chad Pennington, QB, NYJ – Pennington’s 264
yards was nice, but he only tossed 1 TD and got tagged with 2 INTs.
Pennington was not the best of fantasy QB starts, but he was also not the
worst start either.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Brodie Croyle, QB, KC – Croyle was recommended
for those teams out there in a real QB pinch with nothing even remotely decent
on the roster. Well… no thanks to an injury that caused Croyle to leave
the game very early in the contest, Croyle did nothing to help your cause.
It should be noted back-up QB Damon Huard had a great game after replacing
Croyle (305 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs). Oh what could have been…
Earnest Graham, RB, TB – Graham had been ripping
apart defenses, but he fell flat on his face when you needed him most.
Thirty-one total yards of offense and zero TDs is just plain awful.
Willis McGahee, RB, BAL –No thanks to a very
early exit from a rib injury, McGahee crushed more than a few teams out there.
Before leaving the game, he had only amassed a grand total of 10 rushing
yards. Yuck.
Bench:
Ron Dayne, RB, HOU – TDs will kill our bench
call every time, and that is exactly what Dayne did to us in week 16.
His 71 total yards of offense and a TD warranted a start.
Adrian Peterson, RB, CHI – Dear Lord!
We are still feeling the burns from Peterson. 118 total yards and a
TD means a very, very bad call by us.
Shaun Hill, QB, SF – We are at a loss for
words. As Lombardi would say, “What the %*$& is going on out there?!!”
Roddy White, WR, ATL – Our stomach’s are sick.
We were certain White would have an awful week, but all he did was show we
made an awful call.
