Week 8 Rankings

I feel like it has been waaaay too long, and I’m a changed man in more ways than one.  Most noteably I guess would be the fact that I now have a ring on my left hand.  But second to that has to be my fantasy team going from 1-4 to 3-4!  I said during my Week 6 Rankings that I just needed a couple of wins and I'm right back in this thing.  Although I didn’t move after week 6, I jumped from 12^th to 10^th place after last week, and I’m now a win away from jumping a couple more spots.  So yeah, I’m back in it.  A lot of names have changed on these lists with injuries and bye weeks, but let’s get right to it.

QBs

1.Peyton Manning

2.Aaron Rodgers

3.Drew Brees

4.RGIII

5.Ben Roethlisberger

6.Tom Brady

7.Matt Ryan

8.Andrew Luck 9.Michael Vick 10.Philip Rivers 11.Tony Romo 12.Eli Manning 13.Matthew Stafford

14.Carson Palmer 15.Christian Ponder 16.Jay Cutler 17.Cam Newton 18.Sam Bradford 19.Brandon Weeden 20.Mark Sanchez 21.Russell Wilson 22.Ryan Tannehill 23.Josh Freeman 24.Matt Hasselbeck Peyton Manning is coming off a bye week and gets the Saints secondary…at HOME?…in PRIME TIME?!?  Everyone else can go ahead and play it safe with Rodgers or Brees, but I think Peyton will go off on Sunday night.  I’ll take him at the top spot, thank you very much.  Another QB of note this week is Cam Newton, but for the opposite reason.  The Bears D doesn’t give up many fantasy points to anyone, much less to quarterbacks.  I’d sit him if I had a better option this week.  I’m taking the under on 300 total yards and 1.5 total TDs this week for Cam.  Also, Alex Smith didn't make the cut this week.  Oh well.

RBs

1.Jamaal Charles

2.LeSean McCoy 3.Matt Forte 4.Chris Johnson

5.Ryan Mathews 6.Darren McFadden 7.Adrian Peterson 8.Marshawn Lynch 9.Frank Gore 10.Reggie Bush 11.Willis McGahee 12.Alfred Morris 13.Ahmad Bradshaw 14.Trent Richardson 15.Darren Sproles 16.Rashad Jennings 17.Michael Turner 18.Doug Martin 19.Stevan Ridley 20.Steven Jackson 21.Alex Green 22.Vick Ballard 23.Mikel LeShoure 24.Shonn Greene 25.Michael Bush 26.Felix Jones 27.Jonathan Dwyer 28.LaRod Stephens-Howling 29.Kendall Hunter 30.Daryl Richardson 31.Pierre Thomas 32.Philip Tanner 33.Jonathan Stewart 34.Daniel Thomas 35.LaGarrette Blount 36.Andre Brown 37.Jacquizz Rodgers 38.Danny Woodhead 39.Montario Hardesty 40.Jamie Harper Jamaal Charles is going to stay at the top spot for me, at least until it looks like Peyton Hillis is healthy and vulturing some TDs from him.  Until then, I’m keeping him at the top against any defense he goes up against.  Once again, I have the 3 RBs on my team ranked in my top 10 overall RBs for the week (AP, Mathews, Forte).  If that’s right, I shouldn’t have a problem winning for a third straight week.  Then again, anything can happen.  I do have AP a lot lower than most of the experts.  Tampa Bay has a solid run defense, and even though it is Peterson, I have a feeling that with the shortened week against a tough D, he's not going to be a top-5 RB this week.  Rashad Jennings jumps from obscurity into the #16 spot, and Chris Johnson bounces way back up after an amazing performance in Week 7.  Speaking of amazing, I can't believe just how much I had to edit this list from Week 6 toWeek 8.  It just goes to show you how much volatility there is at this position, even in a small amount of time. WRs

1.Percy Harvin 2.Demaryius Thomas 3.Victor Cruz 4.Brandon Marshall 5.Calvin Johnson 6.Jordy Nelson 7.Reggie Wayne 8.Roddie White 9.Marques Colston 10.Mike Wallace 11.Wes Welker 12.Julio Jones 13.Eric Decker 14.Vincent Jackson 15.Larry Fitzgerald 16.Antonio Brown 17.Miles Austin 18.Hakeem Nicks 19.Randall Cobb 20.Dez Bryant 21.DeShaun Jackson 22.Dwayne Bowe 23.Lance Moore 24.Jeremy Maclin 25.Denarius Moore 26.Brandon Lloyd 27.Malcom Floyd 28.Steve Smith 29.James Jones 30.Josh Gordon 31.Kenny Britt 32.Jeremy Kerley 33.Brian Hartline 34.Mike Williams 35.Titus Young 36.Michael Crabtree 37.Sidney Rice 38.Brandon Gibson 39.Donnie Avery 40.Andre Roberts 41.Nate Washington 42.Darius Heyward-Bey Dwayne Bowe continues to drop because, again, he has Brady Quinn throwing him the ball now (*double sigh*).  I’ll give him another week to see if those two can connect a little more frequently, but he might be on the trading block for me in the near future.  Right behind him I have ranked Lance Moore (also on my squad), and that's going to be a tough start/sit call for me come Sunday.  I have Peyton and Big Ben high on my QB rankings, so I have Thomas/Decker and Wallace/Brown very high as well.  It’s weird seeing Calvin Johnson in the middle of the top-10, but that’s about where he belongs right now (especially going up against a tough Seattle defense).  I think he’ll probably pull in about 80 yards and  TD, but I don’t expect much more than that from him this week. TEs

1.Rob Gronkowski

2.Jimmy Graham 3.Tony Gonzalez 4.Antonio Gates 5.Aaron Hernandez 6.Jason Witten 7.Vernon Davis 8.Heath Miller 9.Dustin Keller 10.Brent Celek 11.Kyle Rudolph 12.Greg Olsen 13.Brandon Pettigrew 14.Martellus Bennett 15.Jared Cook 16.Brandon Myers 17.Jermichael Finley 18.Jacob Tamme Gates finally had a good week, and right before the bye.  Hopefully he and Rivers worked more on those TDs over the break, because I need that connection to continue through the second half of my fantasy season.  Aaron Hernandez is back and once again a big part of the Patriot offense.  He’s instantly a top-5 fantasy tight end.  Dustin Keller is also back from injury, and with the Jets struggling to find some consistancy at wide receiver, I look for Sanchez to keep throwing to his althetic tight end.

DEF 1.Bears

2.49ers 3.Packers 4.Vikings 5.Cardinals 6.Lions 7.Seahawks 8.Patriots 9.Chargers 10.Falcons 11.Dolphins

12.Jets 13.Giants 14.Raiders The Bears continue to dominate on defense, and I think that will happen again at home against the Panthers.  The Niners should also put up some good fantasy points on D, no matter who the QB in Arizona will be.  I like the Packers a lot against a banged up Jags team, and I like both the Lions and Seahawks in the same way I liked both the Rams and Dolphins in Week 6 (side note: I predicted a 13-10 score in that game, but it ended up 17-14…pretty close).  I think the Detroit/Seattle game will also go under whatever Vegas says the total points will be for that game, and both defenses will get some points.  Speaking of not a lot of points, did I mention Brady Quinn was the QB for the Chiefs now?  If you need a bye week fill-in on defense, I suggest the Raiders.  I know Arrowhead can be a tough place to play, but I still think Quinn will have at least three turnovers (one of which will go to the house). The honeymoon may be over, but the vacation never ends… Cheers, Bart