FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 7
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
October 23, 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. We made some good calls in week 7, but we took
a couple in the pants as well. 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:
Wes Welker, WR, NE – We used the words “Revenge Game” to describe this match-up, but we said it should be called a “Thank You Game” instead. Welker is surely happy to be out of Miami and in New England with one of the most explosive passing attacks the NFL has ever seen. Welker had a monster game with 138 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Welker is the perfect weapon in New England and it is grand theft that the Patriots got him as cheaply as they did.
Donovan McNabb, QB, PHI – McNabb has been WAY UP and WAY DOWN this season. This week he only had 1 TD, but he didn’t turn the ball over. This is a very impressive statistic. McNabb did have 226 yards passing and 18 yards rushing to go along with his TD pass. McNabb could be getting things going and he is starting to look like a must start when Brian Westbrook is playing.
Jeff Garcia, QB, TB – Garcia had 2 fumbles that were ugly and he needs to take care of that issue. That was the only down side to his fantasy week because he threw for 316 yards, rushed for 10 yards, and he passed for 2 TDs. He managed to reach some milestones that can help you out in any league.
Brian Westbrook, RB, PHI – Brian Westbrook had nearly 80 yards on the ground, 6 receptions and 40 yards receiving. We did expect more from Westbrook, but he had a very startable game. Be sure to keep hanging in there with Westbrook because of his big game potential.
Terrell Owens, WR, DAL – We said that this would probably be the last time that Owens was in the weekly bench / start because he has started to get back on track. Sometimes the big names might seem obvious, but it often depends on how that player has been playing. (See the disappointing Shaun Alexander later in this wrap-up). T.O. did have a great game with 103 yards and a TD reception.
Bench:
Julius Jones, RB, DAL – Julius Jones was drafted with the hopes that he would become the primary ball carrier in Dallas. However, Marion Barber continues to do enough to make that not happen. Jones had a pretty lackluster day with only 58 yards in the game.
Byron Leftwich, QB, ATL – Leftwich was actually having a nice start to a game … right before he got hurt like he ALWAYS DOES. He has a long delivery that will prevent him from ever making an impact. We will be surprised if he is every anything more than a career backup in the NFL from here on out.
Nate Burleson, WR, SEA – If you get return yardage and/or return TDs, Burleson wasn’t too bad. However, most leagues aren’t like that and Burleson only had 1 catch for 12 yards.
Tatum Bell, RB, DET – Bell didn’t see any action on Sunday and he was a good person to have on your bench.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Thomas Jones, RB, NYJ – Jones managed 67 yards on Sunday and there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about as far as that performance goes. Jones has to get Chad Pennington out of there because Pennington’s inability to throw the deep ball is killing the ground game.
Bench:
Ahman Green, RB, HOU – Green’s yardage wasn’t all that impressive, but his 5 receptions make him a so-so bench call. He is in that iffy area where he didn’t help your team out all that much, but you probably wanted a little more from him if you started him.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Patrick Crayton, WR, DAL – It is hard to explain this one. Crayton has been a consistent performer, but he laid a stinker in week 7. Crayton had only 19 yards receiving and he had a fumble. Ouch. Crayton should have continued his solid play, but he really sunk some fantasy teams out there.
Jason Campbell, QB, WAS – Campbell had been a top-five QB over the past two weeks and he should have had a nice game on Sunday. Campbell let everyone down who started him. He only had a measly 95 yards passing and an interception. Yikes. It doesn’t get much worse than this. We want to know what happened to the deep attack of the Redskins? We think that Santana Moss still hasn’t recovered from his hamstring injury?
Shaun Alexander, RB, SEA – Good heavens! Alexander has been a nightmare. He had 65 yards and 1 reception on Sunday, but that just won’t cut it. Something is terribly wrong with Alexander and we hope that it is his cast that will be coming off soon.
Sammy Morris, RB, NE – Morris ended up not playing this week, but the surprising thing was that despite the fact that the Patriots could have run the ball all over the Dolphins they didn’t. The Patriots decided to make it an air show. The Dolphins are bad. Very bad.
Bench:
Hines Ward, WR, PIT – Ward was REAL close to being a so-so bench call, but his 7 receptions just can’t be ignored. Ward managed to jump back into the Steelers’ lineup and make an impact.
Any Arizona QB – After completely letting so many owners down last week, Kurt Warner managed to play in this week’s game and he played well. Warner had 1 fumble and 2 INTs. That isn’t much new as far as Warner goes. Warner must have done something special to make the BUSTED BENCH CALL and he did with 282 yards passing and 2 TDs.
Jay Cutler, QB, DEN – The Steelers had two weeks of preparation and a solid defense waiting for the second year passer. Someone forgot to tell Cutler that he was supposed to struggle against the Steelers. Cutler had 2 INTs, but he had 41 yards rushing to make up for those. To top it all off, Cutler had 248 yards passing and 3 TDs. No Javon Walker? No problem! Culter is still learning, but he can flash greatness. He smoked our bench call.
Amani Toomer, WR, NYG – Toomer only had 3 receptions for 36 yards, but one of those 3 was the kind that kills. Toomer had a TD and that was more than enough to bust our bench call.
Santonio Holmes, WR, PIT – This Steelers-Broncos game really ripped us a new one. First Hines Ward and Jay Cutler and now Holmes puts it on us with 54 yards and a TD. When Champ Bailey misses the game, it plays some serious havoc with your opposing passing stats.
