FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 5
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
October 7, 2003
Join us as we take a look back at our fantasy football week 5 predictions for bench
/ start. We have the good (Drew Brees), the bad (Rod Gardner), and the Ugly
(Emmitt Smith) all bundled up for you in our weekly fantasy wrap up.
Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Drew Brees - 5 for 5!! That is five weeks in a row we have been on the money with our "I did the
QB free fall and hit rock bottom" pick of the week. Brees, by far, had his best game of the year week 5. With 296 yards passing, NO interceptions, 3 TD passes (one for bonus yardage of 46) and 13 rushing yards for good measure, Brees was a super stud this week for those who started him.
Anthony Thomas - A-train had his first big game of the year week 4. We said he would follow that up with another good performance. He did just that posting back to back 100+ yards rushing games. With 123 yards on the ground, the A-train looks like it might be getting back on track.
Patrick Ramsay - Ramsay was a solid start week 5. His 271 yards passing 1 rushing TD and 1 passing TD were a welcome start by most who gave him the nod.
Jeff Garcia - There was a lot of Drama surrounding the 49ers and Garcia coming into this face-off with his old head coach. Week 4 Garcia turned in one of his worst games ever and had many teams running for the hills. Owens was throwing tantrums … It didn't look like a good week for Garcia, but we told you to hang in there with him. If you heeded that advice, you were rewarded with two passing TDs and one rushing TD. Garcia was a good start in almost all scoring systems.
Bench:
Edgerrin James - "The Edge" didn't play, so if you started someone else … you were pretty happy about this move.
Ladell Betts - Just like we said, no end zone for Betts and a pretty sad game to boot.
Emmitt Smith - We called the emotions, we called the Dallas D believing in Parcells, and most importantly we called Smith's poor performance against his old team. Negative six (-6) yards rushing is
really bad.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Charlie Garner - 95 yards of total offense isn't that bad, but it isn't that good either. We really expected a lot more out of the Raider against the Bears. Don't drop all of your Oakland fantasy stock just yet, but the Raiders are a BAD team. Until Jerry Porter returns or this team gets its collective head removed from its butt, we feel bad for any Raiders fan.
Troy Hambrick - Hambrick had a decent game, but he just couldn't get the score that would have given him an excellent game.
Jerry Rice - Rice is another Raider who we expected a good game from. Instead he turned in a serviceable game in reception leagues.
Bench:
Keyshawn Johnson - Keyshawn was so-so in this Monday night battle. McCardell was the real start for the WR corps of Tampa Bay.
Marcus Pollard - In the land of WRs, 44 yards isn't much, but in leagues that require a TE to start--44 isn't too bad.
Troy Edwards - As we expected Jimmy Smith was a big part of the Jags O, but Edwards managed to scrap a TD out of the deal somehow?
Peter Warrick - Warrick was able to turn in a decent game, but not an outstanding one.
Reggie Wayne - As we expected, the Harrison-Wayne-Harrison-… rotation would not come to pass. The show in Indy is run by Harrison. He made that clear Monday night with a huge game against the best D in the land. Wayne had a reasonable game and that makes him end up in the so-so picks of the week.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Rod Gardner - Gardner is a tough cookie to figure out. This week he didn't lose catches to Coles, but he did lose some touches to McCants, who also found the end zone.
Bench:
Antowain Smith - No way around this one. With Faulk out of the line-up Smith actually took over a game.
