3.Carson Palmer
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15.Matthew Stafford
| Last week Tom Brady and, yes, Andy Dalton continued to be top-5 fantasy QBs. But along with Eli Manning, it was Josh McCown and Blake Bortles who led the way in Week 5 (I know, right?). I wanted to rank Bortles again this week as he has a nice matchup at home, but I'm a little worried about his banged up shoulder. And while McCown has been great lately, I look for him to have a rough afternoon as Denver comes to town with their top-ranked defense. You may also notice I didn't rank Andrew Luck this week. I'm not hearing anything super positive coming from the Colts that makes me all warm and fuzzy about him coming back this week. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. I have him in one league and I'm making other plans... |
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I wasn't really high/down on any QBs versus the ESPN experts in Week 5 (at least not by more than 2 or 3 spots), so I skipped that part of the exercise. Let's see who I have for this week though, shall we?
 I'm high on: Sam Bradford (ESPN #14, ME #7)
I continue to be higher than the experts on Andy Dalton, but let me talk about this Eagles/Giants game for a minute. I'm actually five spots higher than the experts on Eli in this game too, but I'll just stick with talking about Bradford. While he's not getting me many fantasy points for Jordan Matthews, he has looked good in his last two games. He only had 3 passing TDs in his first three games, but he has 5 in his last two. The Giants aren't getting much of a pass rush going, and I think Bradford will be a top-10 fantasy QB this week.
I'm down on: Joe Flacco (ESPN #15, ME NOT RANKED)
I've gone from ranking 20 QBs to only 15, but I actually started this week by ranking 20 and then narrowing it down to the 15 you see. Joe Flacco didn't even make my initial top-20. I had him below guys like Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, and even The Amish Rifle (Ryan Fitzpatrick)! Look, if he didn't have two RUSHING touchdowns last week against Cleveland, he would've had a horrible fantasy day. He hasn't done much in the passing game without Steve Smith this year, and I'm not expecting the old man back against the 49ers. It seems like a nice matchup on paper, but with Forsett also nursing an ankle injury, Joe doesn't have any weapons right now. And he's only scored more than 2 rushing TDs once in his career, so he's already hit his quota there for 2015. I think he'll throw for about 200 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT...not even close to top-15 for me this week!
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RBs |
1.Le'Veon Bell
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2.Adrian Peterson
3.Devonta Freeman
4.Matt Forte
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5.Arian Foster
6.Dion Lewis
7.Eddie Lacy
8.Mark Ingram
9.Chris Ivory
10.Justin Forsett
11.Marshawn Lynch
12.DeMarco Murray
13.Giovani Bernard
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14.Frank Gore
15.Carlos Hyde
16.TJ Yeldon
17.Chris Johnson
18.Charcandrick West
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19.LeGarrette Blount
20.CJ Anderson
21.Danny Woodhead
22.Lamar Miller
23.Jeremy Hill
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24.Isaiah Crowell
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25.Melvin Gordon
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26.Duke Johnson
27.Jonathan Stewart
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28.Ameer Abdullah
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29.Ronnie Hillman
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30.Rashad Jennings
31.Boobie Dixon
32.Andre Ellington
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33.Alfred Morris
34.Antonio Andrews
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35.Shane Vereen
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Well, Devonta Freeman kept it rolling against my Redskins in Week 5, and Justin Forsett destroyed the Browns (and me in my money league). Both were top-3 RBs last week. But like me, the Ravens and Redskins both had heartbreaking losses. And speaking of heartbreaking losses, the Chiefs (and many fantasy football managers) suffered one when Jamaal Charles tore his ACL in Week 5. I've ranked Charcandrick West in my top-20, but he's a risky play as I'm sure Knile Davis will get some work in Minnesota too. As for other injuries, these guys sure do make it tough at 10pm on a Wednesday to rank them. I'm guessing Marshawn Lynch comes back this week, but if not then I'd still rank Rawls as an RB1. I'm guessing Karlos Williams and LeSean McCoy don't return against the Bengals, but either would be an RB1 too. I doubt Forsett's ankle injury is serious, but if so then look at Javorius Allen to lead the Ravens backfield (he'd be a top-25 play at San Fran).
Last week I was high on Joseph Randle (ESPN #15, ME #10) and down on DeMarco Murray (ESPN #14, ME #22). Wrong and wrong. Randle continued to get the majority of the touches for Dallas, but they were playing from behind the entire second half and basically abandoned the run. Meanwhile, DeMarco was having a pretty mediocre game himself until a garbage time touchdown helped his day in a big way. Murray finished as a top-10 RB and Randle outside of the top-30
I'm high on: Isaiah Crowell (ESPN #33, ME #24)
He and Duke Johnson are starting to have a pretty even timeshare, but Crowell is doing more of the heavy lifting and Duke is catching more passes out of the backfield. I don't think the Browns will be able to throw the ball much in this one, but I do think they'll be able to run the ball fairly well. Denver gives up some fantasy points to RBs, but not so much to QBs and WRs. I like Crowell much more than the ESPN experts do this week.
I'm down on: Matt Jones (ESPN #33, ME NOT RANKED)
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| I hope I'm wrong about this one, but I don't like Jones this week. |
I had a hard time finding a guy I was down on versus experts this week, but I settled on the impressive Redskins rookie. So why don't I like him this week? He's facing a stout Jets run defense (who is coming off their bye week by the way), and he left Sunday's game in Atlanta with a toe injury and was unable to return. He's been limited in practice this week, and I'm not sure he'll even suit up. I think Alfred Morris will get more touches, but I don't really like either of them with the tough matchup.
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WRs
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1.DeAndre Hopkins
2.AJ Green
3.Odell Beckham, Jr.
4.Julian Edelman
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5.Larry Fitzgerald
6.Julio Jones
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7.DeMaryius Thomas
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8.Randall Cobb
9.Brandon Marshall
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10.Calvin Johnson
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11.Emmanuel Sanders
12.Keenan Allen
13.James Jones
14.Allen Robinson
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15.Jeremy Maclin
16.Antonio Brown
17.TY Hilton
18.Allen Hurns
19.Jarvis Landry
20.Brandin Cooks
21.Eric Decker
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22.Donte Moncrief
23.Willie Snead
24.John Brown
25.Kendall Wright
26.Jordan Matthews
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27.Leonard Hankerson
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28.Kamar Aiken
29.Golden Tate
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30.Mike Wallace
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31.Anquan Boldin
34.Sammy Watkins
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Last week I was high on Allen Hurns (ESPN #37, ME #26), and I was down on Michael Crabtree (ESPN #29, ME NOT RANKED). Well, Hurns continued to impress as he went for over 100 yards and a TD on his way to a top-5 performance in Week 5. Meanwhile, Crabtree caught 4 balls for 54 yards and finished outside of the top-40. Nailed it!
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| I'm starting to miss the former Redskin |
I'm high on: Leonard Hankerson (ESPN #36, ME #27)
As a Julio Jones owner, I'm starting to get a little worried about this lingering hamstring issue. If I was a Leonard Hankerson owner, I'd be thrilled. I guess the ESPN experts don't see it this way, but I fully expect Julio to play tomorrow night. The thing is, I'm not sure he'll be 100%. That means he should draw coverage but it could be Hankerson getting open and catching balls all night. We'll see how it goes, but I think both could be viable options against the Saints.
I'm down on: Jordan Matthews (ESPN #20, ME #26)
And as a Jordan Matthews owner, I'm starting to get a little frustrated with his production. Like I said above, I like Bradford a lot this week. I'm just not confident that he'll get Jordan more than the 5 fantasy points he's been maxing out at in each of the last three weeks. I'm also highlighting this one because all of the ESPN experts ranked this guy between 18th and 23rd. So he was a consensus pick for this spot, and I think people need to start considering him a bit lower until he produces. If I find out Steve Smith is healthy this week, I might just plug him into my lineup for Jordan and play a RB at flex. Time will tell...
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TEs
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1.Rob Gronkowski
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2.Greg Olsen
3.Tyler Eifert
4.Antonio Gates
5.Travis Kelce
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6.Martellus Bennett
7.Gary Barnidge
8.Jimmy Graham
9.Delanie Walker
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10.Julius Thomas
Most weeks, my top-10 or so tight ends are exactly the same as ESPN's consensus rankings. But last week I was actually high on Charles Clay (ESPN #9, ME #3) and down on Jason Witten (ESPN #5, ME #10). While Clay disappointed and finished with only 1 catch for 7 yards, Jason Witten also had a horrible game. He only hauled in 5 catches for 33 yards (and he also lost a fumble). Both finished well outside of the top-10 TEs in Week 5, so I was 1 for 2 with my tight end picks.
I'm high on: Gary Barnidge (ESPN #11, ME #7)
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| Everything is going right for this guy lately! |
I had to highlight this guy because I ranked Gary Freaking Barnidge ahead of Jimmy Graham this week. I think you have to roll with him while he's hot, and he's currently the #3 TE in all of fantasy football.
I'm down on: Jordan Cameron (ESPN #10, ME #NOT RANKED)
Here's a guy who I didn't even consider for my top-10. He has 170 receiving yards and no TDs through 4 games. Give me the upside of virtually anyone else over those numbers. |
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DEF
1.Broncos
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2.Jets
3.Cardinals
4.Bengals
5.Packers
6.Seahawks
7.Vikings
8.Panthers
9.Patriots
10.Bills
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Last week I was high on the Giants (ESPN #14, ME #8) and down on the Ravens (ESPN #6, ME #NOT RANKED). Again, 1 for 2 because neither was a good fantasy defense in Week 5. Both finished near the bottom, and Baltimore got even more depleted due to injuries to Webb and Dumervil. The Ravens can't catch a break with the injury bug, and I'm definitely not ranking them again any time soon.
My defensive rankings aren't much different from ESPN's this week, so I don't have anyone to say I like/dislike versus their experts. But I will leave you with one thought about the Houston Texans. It's time to give up on their defense. They were terrible on Thursday night against Matthew Hasselbeck and the Colts. If they can't get it done against the Jags (and I don't think they will), you need to stop thinking of them as a top defense. Their QB situation is a joke and their defense just flat out stinks right now. I didn't consider them in my top-10 this week, and ESPN ranked them 11th...
Good luck to everyone in Week 6!
(Except you, Andrew...)
Cheers,
Bart
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