Week 4 Rankings: Friday Update

Meat and potatoes...mmm.

On Fridays, I usually have a lot to say about the Thursday night game.  But to be honest, last night I didn't actually watch much of it.  There were several factors involved here, but most important was the fact that it was my wife's 28th birthday.  We went out and had a nice dinner at Viceroy (which I highly recommend), and we actually did flip on the game when we got home.  At that point it was 7-3, so we went back and forth a little with the battle of the Techs college game.  Between the end of the 1st half and start of the 2nd half, I probably saw about a quarter of the Rams/49ers game.  So I'll comment where I can, but I'll focus more on my guys I'm high/low on versus the ESPN rankings.

Let's get into the Friday update, shall we?

QBs

1.Peyton Manning

2.Drew Brees

3.Tony Romo

4.Tom Brady

5.Matt Ryan

6.RGIII

7.Matthew Stafford

8.Michael Vick 9.Ben Roethlisberger 10.Andrew Luck 11.Terrelle Pryor 12.Philip Rivers 13.Jay Cutler

14.Russell Wilson 15.Alex Smith 16.Andy Dalton 17.Joe Flacco 18.Ryan Tannehill 19.Eli Manning 20.EJ Manuel I had Kaepernick at #8 this week, but he didn't quite put up a top-10 performance.  We'll have to wait and see, but I'm starting to get pretty nervous about him.  Luckily I don't own him in either of my leagues, so I don't really have to worry about it.  I had Bradford at #19, and I know he'll finish well outside of the top-20.  That was a bit of a surprise to me because while the 49er defense has been good in recent years, they've had a slow start to the season.  Meanwhile, Bradford had gotten off to a great start.  Oh well.  Added to the bottom of my rankings are Eli Manning and EJ Manuel.  It might've been a little harsh having Eli completely out of my top-20, but I think there are much better options this week looking at how the Giants have been playing.  As for Manuel, he's a bit of a risky start with the way that Baltimore defense has been playing (the Ravens haven't given up a touchdown since Week 1).  Hopefully you're not starting someone who I have ranked that low, but he has been putting up decent numbers so far this season. I'm telling you, I'm a top-5 play this week. I'm high on: Tom Brady (ESPN #8, ME #4) I know, really going out on a limb here.  Well, Brady is currently outside of the top-20 fantasy QBs after 3 games, so having him in my top-5 is a little bold for this week.  I think he finally puts it all together against a struggling Falcons defense.  He's starting to click with his rookies, and he could be getting Gronk back this week.  Either way, I like him to be in true gaudy-fantasy-numbers Tom Brady form in Week 4. I'm down on: Michael Vick (ESPN #4, ME #9) Vick put up huge numbers on the Redskins and Chargers in the first two weeks of the season, but he looked pretty pedestrian against the Chiefs last Thursday night.  The Broncos are currently the top-rated defense against the run, and that's what Chip Kelly likes to get going in his offense.  I think Vick could struggle a little in Denver this week, especially trying to scramble around and get those important fantasy points with his legs.

RBs

1.Jamaal Charles

2.Adrian Peterson 3.Matt Forte 4.LeSean McCoy

5.Alfred Morris 6.Trent Richardson  7.Darren McFadden 8.Marshawn Lynch 9.Arian Foster 10.Doug Martin 11.Ray Rice 12.CJ Spiller 13.Reggie Bush 14.DeMarco Murray 15.Bilal Powell 16.Maurice Jones-Drew 17.Chris Johnson 18.Darren Sproles 19.Knowshon Moreno 20.Lamar Miller 21.Joique Bell 22.Giovanni Bernard 23.David Wilson 24.Ahmad Bradshaw 25.Stevan Ridley 26.Jason Snelling 27.La'Veon Bell 28.Ryan Mathews 29.Benjarvis Green-Ellis 30.Jacquizz Rodgers 31.Bernard Pierce 32.Brandon Bolden 33.Rashard Mendenhall 34.Fred Jackson 35.Willis McGahee 36.Pierre Thomas 37.Danny Woodhead 38.Daniel Thomas 39.Marcel Reece 40.Michael Bush All of San Fran's running backs got in on the action last night, but Frank Gore did his damage early.  I had him ranked pretty highly (again) at #9, and it looks like he'll be a top-5 RB this week.  Isaiah Pead was inactive last night, but Daryl Richardson didn't do anything with his opportunities.  I had him ranked at #30, but I'm not so sure what I'll do next week as the Rams host Jacksonville.  It's a good matchup from a fantasy perspective, but I don't know which Rams RB to go with at this point!  I added a couple of boring guys to the bottom of my RB list.  Marcel Reece got more touches last week, and I could see him catching a TD pass this week against Washington.  And sorry Matt Forte owners, but the new coach has basically declared Michael Bush the "goal line back" moving forward.  We'll see if he sticks to that, but I might be shuffling my Bears RBs next week quite a bit if he's serious about it. This will happen again this week.  Put it on the boooooooooard! I'm high on: Jason Snelling (ESPN #35, ME #27) It's probably not surprising that I'm also NOT high on Jacquizz Rodgers this week (ESPN has him ranked nearly 10 spots higher than I do).  I realize that Rodgers might be in on the majority of snaps, but Snelling is still a big part of this offense.  And once the Falcons are inside the 10 yard line, they'll bring in the big boy to sniff out the endzone.  I think while he might not rack up a ton of yardage, he'll definitely hit paydirt at least once in this game. I'm down on: Rashard Mendenhall (ESPN #27, ME #35) Weird...ESPN and I have Mendenhall and Snelling completely switched in our rankings.  Anyway, I've already mentioned how this committee in Arizona is quickly becoming a threesome.  While this may sound great to some in reality, it's never good for a fantasy running back.  Added to that is the fact that Mendy is playing at Tampa Bay, who has a solid run defense that has yet to give up a rushing TD this season.   WRs

1.Dez Bryant 2.Calvin Johnson 3.Julio Jones 4.AJ Green 5.Brandon Marshall 6.Demaryius Thomas 7.DeSean Jackson 8.Wes Welker 9.Pierre Garcon 10.Eric Decker 11.Antonio Brown 12.Reggie Wayne 13.Torrey Smith 14.Victor Cruz 15.Vincent Jackson 16.Larry Fitzgerald 17.Josh Gordon 18.Marques Colston 19.Julian Edelman 20.Andre Johnson 21.Dwayne Bowe 22.Mike Wallace 23.Cecil Shorts 24.Hakeem Nicks 25.Steve Johnson 26.T.Y. Hilton 27.Brian Hartline 28.Eddie Royal 29.Emmanuel Sanders 30.DeAndre Hopkins 31.Kenbrell Thompkins 32.Denarius Moore  33.Miles Austin  34.Golden Tate 35.Mike Williams 36.Stephen Hill 37.Ryan Broyles 38.Roddy White 39.Marlon Brown 40.Aaron Dobson I basically doubled down on all of my 49ers this week against St. Louis, and it paid off for Boldin too.  I had him ranked at #15, and he'll probably finish right around there (possibly even top-10).  On the other side of the ball, it was pretty ugly for Rams WRs.  I had Austin and Givens both ranked (28 & 37, respectively), and while they didn't do much last night, I'm sure both will bounce back next week against the Jags.  I might even rank Austin Pettis in Week 5, as he's starting to get a lot more looks in that offense. With those guys off the list for this week, I've added usual suspects Roddy White, Marlon Brown, and Aaron Dobson.  Maybe this is the week Roddy starts shaking off that injury.  Again, I have him ranked pretty low, so you're probably not starting him until next week.  Marlon Brown gets a nice matchup with Buffalo, and with Ray Rice still a little banged up, maybe Baltimore goes to the air a little more.  As for Dobson, this is more of a gut call (and also somewhat contingent on Gronk remaining on the sidelines).  If Brady still only has essentially Edelman, Thompkins, and Dobson to throw to (in addition to his RBs), I have to like Dobson a little bit.  I mean, I have Brady as a top-5 play this week.  So yeah, I guess Dobson should put up some decent numbers... We won't see this on Sunday.  What'll that mean for VJax? I'm high on: Emmanuel Sanders (ESPN #37, ME #31) Minnesota has given up a ton of yards to Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, and...yes, Brian Hoyer.  This home game for the Vikings is being played in England, where I'm sure there will be plenty of terrible towels.  I think Roethlisberger will have a good game, and his receivers will benefit from Minnesota's weak secondary. I'm down on: Vincent Jackson (ESPN #9, ME #16) Jackson hurt his ribs in the game against New England in Week 3.  And now Josh Freeman is getting benched for Mike Glennon.  I'm not so sure that'll be an upgrade for anyone's fantasy value in Tampa, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.  For now, I'm moving Jackson outside of the WR1 level. TEs

1.Jimmy Graham

2.Jason Witten 3.Julius Thomas 4.Jordan Cameron 5.Antonio Gates 6.Martellus Bennett 7.Tony Gonzalez  8.Owen Daniels 9.Heath Miller 10.Brandon Myers 11.Coby Fleener 12.Charles Clay Vernon Davis suited up and had a modest game last night, but he did haul in a touchdown.  Meanwhile, Jared Cook remained a big part of the Rams offense, though that was fairly reduced by the Niners defense in this contest.  It was actually Lance Kendricks who got a meaningless 4th quarter TD for the Rams, which helped absolutely no one in fantasyland.  With those two TEs off the list, I've added Coby Fleener and Charles Clay to my rankings.  Dwayne Allen is out for the year, and now Fleener (Luck's Stanford buddy) becomes his main TE target.  It also doesn't hurt that they're playing Jacksonville this week.  As for Clay, he's been getting plenty of touches early on for Miami.  If anything, he could be a good guy to have just in case you have someone like Gronk who might not suit up (status will be a game time decision I'm sure). No, not booing.  They're saying....Heeeeeath? Someone explain this to me.. My TE rankings are almost identical to ESPN's, so I'm just going to mention Heath Miller (ESPN #13, ME #11).  With Cook and Davis now off the list, Miller becomes a top-10 tight end play for me in Week 4.  He is still recovering from an ACL injury, so he could be on a snap count.  But even if he only plays half of the offensive plays, I still like him to find the endzone this week.  Minnesota has given up 6 TDs to tight ends in their first 3 games...carry the 1...divide by pi...yeah, that's 2 TDs/game.  Put Heath down for one.

DEF 1.Chiefs

2.Bengals 3.Bears 4.Broncos 5.Seahawks 6.Ravens 7.Steelers 8.Colts 9.Texans 10.Bucs 11.Titans

12.Saints I had the 49ers as a top-10 defense, and they definitely played like it last night.  The Rams?  Not so much.  Of course, they weren't even close to being in my rankings this week, but I did pick them up as a stash for Week 5.  (If you don't know by now that they're playing the Jags next week, then you've really been skimming through this article.)  I'm surprising myself a little bit here, but I'm actually adding the Saints to my...defensive rankings?  Rob Ryan has these guys flying around the ball, and they're a top-10 fantasy defense through 3 games.  I realize Miami is also 3-0, but this game is in New Orleans on Monday Night Football.  That crowd is going to be full of booze and gumbo, and I think the defense will feed off that energy. I'm high on: Titans (ESPN #18, ME #12) Tennessee has scored double digit fantasy points in each of their first 3 games, and like New Orleans they're a top-10 defense so far.  This week they get a home game against a rookie quarterback, so I don't see why they wouldn't be a solid start once again. I'm down on: Patriots (ESPN #12, ME not ranked) Not only did I not rank New England this week, but if I ranked 20 defenses, I don't think they'd be on my list.  Granted, the Patriots are also a top-10 fantasy defense as of right now, but I don't quite believe in them like I do the other two I've mentioned.  They've played the Bills, Jets, and Bucs.  Two of those teams have rookie QBs, and the other one is now benching their starter for a rookie.  This week they play in Atlanta, who is going to be looking to get a big win after a slow 1-2 start.  I think this game will be a shootout with well over 50 total points scored.  I wouldn't count on a defense in this one. Good luck to everyone in Week 4! Cheers, Bart