FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 6
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
October 16, 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. Week
6 was either a boom or bust for most teams and there wasn't much in the middle. 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:
New York Giants Defense –The Giants turned out a solid effort as predicted. They only allowed 10 points and they recorded 4 sacks and an interception. We hope this was enough for some of you to eek out a win on Monday Night.
Terrell Owens, WR, DAL – Owens was coming off two bad weeks, but we suggested that you hang in there with him even against a good defense. For those of you out there that think the Cowboys have made a deal with the devil by having T.O. on their team, you will love his stat line. In addition to having a TD, Owens’ receptions and yards read like this: 6 for 66 … 6/66 … Oooooh weee ooooh. Creepy!
Starting Browns RB, CLE – Jason Wright was announced as the man long before game time and he didn’t disappoint. Wright had 98 yards of total offense and a TD. We hate that he had a fumble, but he still delivered a good start. We just hope some of you out there in a pinch were able to start this waiver wire prospect.
Donovan McNabb, QB, PHI – McNabb has been way up and way down this season, but he did put together a good game week 6 as predicted. McNabb only had 1 turnover, but his 278 yards passing and long (75 yards) TD pass helped him have a very good week.
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAX – Ka-Boom! 184 yards, 4 receptions, and 2 TDs. One of those TDs was 57 yards and it was a big help in big play-bonus leagues. Jones-Drew was flat out terrible weeks 1 through 4, but the lights are green and the Jones-Drew train has left the station.
Ronald Curry, WR, OAK – Curry had a huge game in point per reception leagues with a whopping 6 receptions. Curry is looking more like the top fantasy WR in Oakland every week.
Willis McGahee, RB, BAL – We told you that McGahee has landed yards each week, but we hoped for a TD this week. McGahee delivered with a nice looking TD. The bad news is that he had another TD run called back on holding. McGahee is turning into one of the most reliable RBs in the league.
Derek Anderson, QB, CLE – This is what a starting QB is supposed to look like; No turnovers, 245 yards passing and 3 TDs in the air with one more rushing TD for good measure. At this point Anderson is turning into a must start. He might pull the rug out from under you at some point, but hopefully he can win more for you than he loses.
Ronnie Brown, RB, MIA – 9 receptions for 69 yards and another 101 yards on the ground make Brown a beast in point per reception leagues. He is playing like Steven Jackson was supposed to play. Brown has been a great start most of the season.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI – Fitzgerald was hurt by the loss of Warner, but not that badly. He still managed 97 yards and 6 receptions. Those 6 receptions more than made up for his fumble in point per reception leagues.
Larry Johnson, RB, KC – Johnson has been terrible in recent weeks and we told you to stick with him. Johnson did fumble, but the rest of his stats were a dream. He had 119 yards rushing, 24 yards receiving, and a TD. That is a great game no matter how you slice it.
Brian Westbrook, RB, PHI – Westbrook missed his last game, but we suggested that you make him a must start this week. He had 6 receptions and 156 yards. This was a great game by any measure.
Bench:
Warrick Dunn, RB, ATL – Dunn only managed 28 total yards. That is a sad, sad performance. If you watched the game, that is about how bad it looked for Dunn. On the other hand, Jerious Norwood had a big game. Dunn was a great bench call.
Greg Jennings, WR, GB – 3 catches for 20 yards killed fantasy teams that started the hot streaking Jennings. Jennings had one of the hottest hands coming into week 6, but that came to an end week 6 as we predicted, so you better have had him on your pine.
Antwaan Randle El, WR, WAS – 2 catches for 30 yards makes Randle El a great bench call.
Brian Leonard, RB, STL – 41 yards is a slam dunk for a bench call. Leonard and the Rams were so banged up by the end of the game we think they pulled a fan from the stands to take a knee so they could end the madness. Leonard could be in for some rough times unless he can get some production from his QB. This said, the Rams’ offensive line might run through a few QBs before that happens.
Vincent Jackson, WR, SD – Jackson can be summed up with 1 catch for 5 yards. GREAT bench call!
Andre Davis, WR, HOU – Davis had been hot with Andre Johnson out of the mix, but we told you to bench him for week 6. Davis almost sent things in a positive direction when he caught the ball near the goal line. It looked like he was going to score, but he fumbled the ball out of the end zone. This was a big point swing for Davis and the Texans. 30 yards and a fumble is a terrible week and that makes Davis a great bench.
Ernest Graham, RB, TB – Graham has a hot pickup with Carnell Williams out of the picture, but we told you that we wanted nothing to do with Graham in week 6. Graham’s 46 yards made this a great bench call for the week.
Ron Dayne, RB, HOU – Dayne was coming off a great week 5, but we told you to bench him. Dayne was a late scratch and that burned a few teams this past week. Hopefully, you benched him and avoided the zero.
Brandon Jones, WR, TEN – Jones ended up being a late scratch. We hope he wasn’t your best option.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Daunte Culpepper, QB, OAK – Culpepper had 230 yards passing and a TD pass, but he also had 3 turnovers. He is going to have to get those turnovers under control or he will find himself on the bench again. Culpepper still ended up with a so-so game, but at least he smashed “Hurt” Warner’s performance.
Bench:
Cedric Benson, RB, CHI – 85 yards isn’t terrible, but it isn’t great either. However, Benson did do much better than we expected against the Vikings. Perhaps this is a sign that Benson is turning the corner a little. Since he only had 2 receptions, he just misses the busted calls and he ends up as a so-so bench call.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Philip Rivers, QB, SD – It looked like vintage early Martyball with no Marty in sight. Rivers only had 156 yards while he sat back and watched LT soak up all the fantasy points. Rivers won the game, but had a pretty sad fantasy effort thanks to an INT and no TDs (but he was still WAY better than “Hurt” Warner).
Kurt Warner, QB, ARI – Disgusting, nauseating, horrible, filthy, sickening, repulsive, revolting and any other synonyms you can find on your word processor are appropriate. Just like many of you out there, we personally felt this one and we may feel that uncomfortable burning feeling left by Warner for a long, long time. Yes, he was that bad and he recorded a negative score in most formats.
Bench:
Kevin Walter, WR, HOU – Walter fed us a nice helping of Crow Pie. He had a silly/ridiculous number of receptions and a huge yardage game. The only thing he didn’t do was score a TD.
Joey Galloway, WR, TB – Question: What will a 69 yard TD pass do for you? Bust the heck out of your bench call. Galloway got off the big play and he got into the bad bench calls for week 6.
