This week I am your host for the Fantasy Football Roundtable. As always, we bring you the sleepers and busts of the week in an effort to help you maximize your points for the week. As always, go and visit their sites to check out all of the goods they have to offer you and your fantasy squad. Feel free to leave comments here, on their sites, and everywhere you can. Good luck in week four.
Sleepers:
Johnny Knox, Chicago Bears: Lots of fantasy owners were on the fence last week about Knox and while he put up a touchdown, that was his only catch of the game and it was for all of seven yards. However, this week the Bears take on the Lions and while Detroit may have gotten in the win column last week (finally) the victory party is going to come to an end this week. Jay Cutler finally looks settled in the offense and Knox will be a prime target on Sunday.
Glen Coffee, San Francisco 49ers: When Frank Gore went down last Sunday, many of you probably cringed. However, after the initial shock I was able to breathe easy because I made sure to invest in Glen Coffee if I had Gore in a league. He may have looked anything but good on Sunday with 25 carries for only 54 yards, but he was also facing Minnesota’s front line. Coffee led the league in rushing yards in the preseason with 230 and being in practice with the first unit all week before facing St. Louis which is ranked 27th in rush defense can only mean good things. Plug him in if you’re a Gore owner.
Mike Sims-Walker, Jacksonville Jaguars: Walker has led the Jaguars in receiving yards the past two weeks which is enough to sell most people, but what’s even more important is that he is facing Tennessee this week. While Cortland Finnegan and Michael Griffin are supposed to be the leaders of a stout Titans’ defense, Tennessee’s pass defense is ranked 29th overall right now which means big things for the 6’2, 214 pound receiver. Expect Sims-Walker to lead the team in receiving again as he becomes David Garrard’s new favorite target.
Busts:
Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans Saints: Shockey has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners so far this year, especially if he was drafted as a backup. He has scored two touchdowns already and has been good for 40-50 yards per game. The times will be a little tougher this week for Shockey though as faces the Jets at home on Sunday. New York has not allowed a tight end to score on them yet this season which doesn’t bode well for Shockey. On top of that, Rex Ryan will be sending all kinds of blitzes to knock Drew Brees out of rhythm (just like he did to Tom Brady) which will make the pickins slim for all Saints receivers.
Marshawn Lynch/Fred Jackson, Buffalo Bills: I know we’re supposed to keep this to one player, but let’s face it, no one knows who will be starting in Buffalo this week. If you have been riding the Jackson train for the first three weeks as he tallied the sixth highest yardage total among all backs, you are in for a let down when he starts to split the carries. If you drafted Marshawn Lynch and have been eagerly awaiting his return, well don’t expect too much because Jackson blew away expectations when given the opportunity. This is going to be one of the messiest RBBC situations in the league for a couple weeks until everything is sorted out so stay away from it, especially this week.
TJ Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks: Houshmandzadeh has been less than adequate during his short time in Seattle and the road won’t get any easier this week. Housh’s season high in receiving yards is 62 and that was with a healthy Matt Hasselbeck slinging him the ball. Enter Seneca Wallace and Houshmandzadeh gained only 35 yards last week and also lost a fumble, basically negating any points he may have put up for your fantasy squad. Hasselbeck could very likely be out again this coming week when Seattle heads to Indianapolis which doesn’t bode well for Houshmandzadeh seeing as the Colts defense is holding opposing quarterbacks to a meager 66.7 rating. Don’t expect Wallace to buck that trend.
Quarterbacks – Bryan Fontaine, RookieBlitz.com
Sleeper: QB Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals
There really isn’t a better way to say it; Cleveland’s defense has been awful. They have been shredded week after week, and even the run-orientated Ravens took them to task for 342 yards passing in Week 3. Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco are licking their chops for this juicy Week 4 matchup against the hapless Browns. Remember the 51-45 barnburner of a game in Week 2 of the 2007 season? The Bengals could do it again but without any chance that the Browns offense could keep pace this time around. I’d consider Palmer a Top 5 option this week at quarterback and you definitely want to get him in your lineup. If not for the Immaculate Deflection game against the Broncos Week 1, the Bengals would be 3-0 and the talk of the league. After putting up a dominating display this week, Carson Palmer and the Bengals will convince everyone that their high flying offense of old is back.
Bust: QB Brett Favre – Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre has been following the Vikings script so far and has looked more like a game manager than the gunslinger of old. Favre got everyone talking with his last second heroics versus San Francisco last week and you might have an inkling to want to stick #4 in your lineup this week for old times sake. Favre’s had this game circled on his calendar all offseason, and he’ll be looking to stick it to Packers General Manager Ted Thompson for not welcoming him back with open arms last summer. Thompson’s Packers will be the ones to laugh last, because the Vikings best chance to win is to ride Adrian Peterson into the ground and not to let Favre freelance for his own selfish reasons. I could easily see Favre with 3 interceptions in this contest trying to do more than he should; for a good example queue up some late season Jets games from 2008. Don’t buy into the hype of Favre finally getting his redemption chance at the Packers, he’s not the Favre of old and should be left on your bench this week.
Running Backs – Jason Sarney, FantasyPhenoms.com
Sleeper: Ladell Betts, Washington Redskins
With Clinton Portis suffering form a number of injuries, Betts and the Redskins face a soft Tampa Bay rush defense this Sunday. The Bucs have given up 187.3 yards per game on the ground, which is the second-worst in the NFL behind Houston. Since Portis is dealing with calf issues and ankle spurs, expect Betts to be more active in the running game. It seems everyone is beating up on the Bucs and despite their own troubles; Washington should not have a problem against this unit. Betts makes a good emergency play should you have bye week runners, hurt runners, or both.
Bust: Steven Jackson, St. Louis Rams
Last Sunday, the Niners held Adrian Peterson to a mortal 85 rushing yards, and if they do that to AP, expect the same containment on Steven Jackson. The Niners should annihilate this lousy team, which is now forced to play Kyle Boller in place of an injured Marc Bulger. Can you say eight in the box? Boller even losses Laurent Robinson, who is out for the year with a fractured leg, so this could be another goose-egg game for the Rams’ “O.” Jackson has complied some good yardage this season, but hasn’t scored yet, and I doubt he will against the leagues 4th stingiest rush defense.
Wide Receivers – Matt Schauf, RapidDraft.com
Sleeper: Devin Hester, Chicago Bears
Sure, I might not be stepping out on too shaky a limb by talking up a receiver to start against the Lions, but would you look at Hester as a top 10 fantasy wideout? That’s the kind of potential he has this week against Detroit. Check out what other speedy, big-play receivers have done to the Lions: Week 1 – Devery Henderson led the Saints with five catches and 103 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown (and the Saints hit on another scoring pass of 39 yards); Week 3 – Santana Moss led Washington with 10 receptions for 178 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown and two other catches of more than 20 yards. Neither Bernard Berrian nor Percy Harvin blew up in Week 2, but they did each catch at least five passes. Add to that the fact that Hester has gotten three more looks than any other Bear over the past two weeks and you have a high-upside receiver who’s also relatively safe to start. Sign me up.
Bust: Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints
It’s quickly becoming a theme that the starting X receiver (left side of the formation) against the Jets faces fantasy devaluation because of a matchup with corner Darrelle Revis. There are two good reasons for that: Randy Moss, who had four catches for 24 yards against the Jets in Week 2, and Andre Johnson, with the same number of grabs for 35 yards in the opener. Moss, of course, hauled in 22 passes in his two other outings this season. Johnson may have matched his lowly four receptions against Jacksonville last Sunday, but he also gained 51 more yards against the Jaguars. Colston has already posted a couple of meager (in relation to his ability and situation) catch totals, with three and four in weeks 1 and 3, respectively. A third appears likely this week.
Tight Ends – Jim Day, FantasyFootballWhiz.com
Sleeper: Zach Miller, Oakland Raiders
Yes I know, some teams have RBs that throw better than Oakland QB JaMarcus Russell, but Houston’s defense can be beat by a decent TE, as shown in week 1 when Dustin Keller torched them for 94 yards. I think Oakland starts the game rushing against the worst rushing defense in the league, and then play action passes will come into play. I look for Miller to perform more like he did in week 1, then in weeks 2 and 3. I’m looking for 5-6 receptions for about 80 yards and maybe, just maybe, Russell remembers how to throw a touchdown pass.
Bust: Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers
It was very hard to find a dud TE for this week, at least not one who has done anything this year. So I went digging through the prospects and came up with Miller as one I don’t think will have a very good week. Even though he is going against a San Diego defense that is not usually known for their ability to stop Tight Ends, I think they step it up this week and try to take Miller out of the Pittsburgh game plan. Plus I’m looking for Pittsburgh to try to build on the rushing momentum they had in week 3 and feed Willie Parker and even to try and get Santonio Holmes involved early to overcome his poor performance in week 3.
Defenses – Chet Gresham, Razzball
Sleeper: Cincinnati Bengals
They lead the league with 10 sacks and face Derek Anderson. Yes the same Derek Anderson who threw 3 interceptions in the second half last weekend and who barely completed 50 percent of his passes last year with only 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. If they can pressure him like they have other teams this year they should have some opportunities for turnovers.
Bust: Baltimore Ravens
There have been a lot of bust defenses this year that we thought would be solid. This is why you DO NOT draft defenses until the bitter end. But I digress. The Ravens travel to New England on Sunday. The Patriots haven’t been in synch this season, but they are slowly coming around and it looks like both Welker and Moss will be on the field at the same time again. The Ravens swarmed a bad Cleveland team at home, but they won’t have as easy a time this week in Foxboro.
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