Week 5 Rankings: Friday Update

Who would've thought the Browns/Bills Thursday night game would be so damn good?  I watched pretty much every snap, and that was with the Caps/Flames on one channel and the Braves/Dodgers on another.

I know!  I can't believe it myself...

As for the game, there are a few takeaways that I'll go ahead and get right into.  First of all, if you started a QB in that game...well, that just sucks.  Of course no one could have predicted that both guys would get injured and be on the sidelines at some point during the game.  But I didn't recommend EJ Manuel anyway, and Hoyer was all the way down at #16.  Hopefully you had some other options.  A couple of other guys were pretty much nowhere to be found on the stat sheet.  One of them was due to injury (Stevie Johnson), but the other I can't really explain.  Jordan Cameron definitely got some extra attention from Buffalo's secondary (including pass interference calls in the endzone), but he's been getting his numbers no matter what.  Luckily for me, that wasn't the case in this game (I'm playing against him this week in my money league).

With Stevie out of the game, rookie Robert Woods continued to show his talent.  Buffalo QBs targeted him 13 times on the night, though he only had 5 catches for 64 yards.  As I recall, some of those "targets" were well over his head or out of bounds, and I don't really remember him dropping any passes.  Still, I'm not sure he's a guy I want to count on, even as a WR3.  On the other hand, Josh Gordon looks the part of a #1 WR.  He had a good night, but he could've had a great night if he hadn't dropped what could've been like an 80 yard catch and run for a TD early in the game.  He's a guy who is finding his way into WR1 territory.

But the stars of this contest were the running backs.  For the Bills, Fred Jackson got the bulk of the carries, including all of the goal line work.  He racked up 93 total yards, and he found the endzone twice.  As for CJ Spiller, a lot of people were worried about starting him with both the ankle injury and the fact that he's just been struggling in general.  He only got 8 carries (and no catches out of the backfield), but he did break off a 54 yard TD run.  So if you started him, you're happy.  If you sat him, you can't be too upset.  It wasn't a terrible call.

The guy I'm excited about is Willis McGahee.  OK.  Maybe "excited" isn't the right word.  But he's definitely trending upward right now.  The first week he was a Brown, he split carries with the two other RBs.  Last week, he got about half of the carries.  Now in Week 5, he gets 26 carries!  The only other running back to even attempt a rush was Bobby Rainey, and he got 2 carries.  Yes, Ogbonnaya did get hurt in this game, but Willis made the most of his opportunity.  And the Browns traded away TRich and brought in McGahee for a reason.  It looks like that reason is to ground and pound.

The other thing to note here is that the Browns straight fed him the rock on the goal line.  On one drive, when it was 1st and goal on the 1 yard line, they gave it to McGahee 3 times in a row.  As a Ryan Mathews owner, this is something that I don't even comprehend.  You see, Danny Woodhead and Ronnie Brown have more goal line carries than Mathews.  Yep.  If you need to read that sentence again, go ahead.  I have time.  It looks like the Browns are committed to giving McGahee the ball, and next week he gets a Lions defense that's giving up over 5 yards/carry.  I currently have him involved in some trade talks in my league, but if those don't go through, he might be in my lineup in Week 6.

But let's not get into Week 6 just yet.  How about some updated rankings for this week?  Just a reminder, the teams on their bye week are: Vikings, Steelers, Bucs, and my Redskins.  If you're playing against someone who has AP, congratulations.  If you have AP and are thin at running back, the list isn't pretty.  I already talked about the Thursday night game, so I'm going to get right into the guys I'm high and low on versus the ESPN rankings below each position.  Here we go!

QBs

1.Peyton Manning

2.Aaron Rodgers

3.Drew Brees

4.Matthew Stafford

5.Tom Brady

6.Matt Ryan

7.Philip Rivers

8.Tony Romo 9.Cam Newton 10.Michael Vick 11.Sam Bradford 12.Colin Kaepernick 13.Eli Manning

14.Terrelle Pryor 15.Jay Cutler 16.Russell Wilson  17.Andrew Luck 18.Andy Dalton 19.Joe Flacco 20.Matt Schaub I think we'll see a pretty happy Sam Bradford on Sunday. I'm high on: Sam Bradford (ESPN #16, ME #11) So he had a rough day against the 49ers...who hasn't?  Unless your name is Aaron Rodgers, you haven't had a great day against that defense this season.  In his first 3 games, Bradford averaged 22 fantasy points.  Now he gets Jacksonville, who has given up the 7th most fantasy points to QBs this season.  Not to mention, it sounds like St. Louis is still trying to figure out who their starting RB will be in Week 5.  All of these things point to Bradford throwing the ball a lot.  He's a good candidate for a top-10 performance against the Jags. I'm down on: Andrew Luck (ESPN #11, ME #18) I was wrong about Luck last week, but who was his opponent?  You guessed it: Jacksonville.  This week the Colts will be hosting Seattle, who has arguably the best defense in the league.  This may sound familiar, as I wrote about Luck here as a guy I was down on in Week 3.  His opponent then was San Fran, and he had a pretty average fantasy day against them (which was saved by a late rushing TD).  I think he'll struggle even more to put up double-digit fantasy points against the Seahawks, and I don't see him anywhere near a top-10 QB in Week 5.   RBs

1.LeSean McCoy

2.Jamaal Charles 3.Arian Foster 4.Marshawn Lynch

5.Matt Forte 6.Reggie Bush 7.Ray Rice 8.DeMarco Murray 9.Frank Gore 10.Chris Johnson 11.Trent Richardson  12.Bilal Powell 13.Giovani Bernard 14.Darren Sproles 15.Eddie Lacy 16.Maurice Jones-Drew 17.DeAngelo Williams 18.Lamar Miller 19.Knowshon Moreno 20.David Wilson 21.Rashad Jennings 22.Ryan Mathews 23.Jacquizz Rodgers 24.Danny Woodhead 25.Joique Bell 26.LaGarrette Blount 27.Benjarvis Green-Ellis 28.Rashard Mendenhall 29.Jason Snelling 30.Brandon Bolden 31.Bernard Pierce 32.Ronnie Hillman 33.Andre Ellington 34.Pierre Thomas 35.Johnathan Franklin 36.Ben Tate 37.Bryce Brown 38.Mike Tolbert 39.Jackie Battle 40.(Rams starting RB) The Browns may have slowed him down, but the Patriots won't! I'm high on: Giovani Bernard (ESPN 18, ME #13) I'm also high on Bilal Powell this week versus the ESPN rankings, but Mike Goodson is returning from suspension, and I'm not sure I factored that in enough when I initially put my list together.  Either way, I'd rather talk about Gio.  Last week, a Bengals fan at work was giving me a hard time for not ranking the rookie highly enough against the Browns.  As it turned out, I had him ranked about right for that game.  However, it seems like he's getting more and more touches every week.  In Week 4, he saw 50 snaps to The Law Firm's 18.  And when Bernard gets the ball, he makes something happen.  Also, don't underestimate the loss of Wilfork for the Patriots.  That is literally going to leave a big hole in their defensive line.  I look for the Bengals to give the little guy some room to run, and I think he'll put up over 100 total yards and he'll find the endzone one way or another. I'm down on: Knowshon Moreno (ESPN #11, ME #20) You know who hasn't given up a rushing touchdown all season?  Dem Cowboys.  And who's to say that Moreno will get the goal line work?  What if he picks rock instead of paper this time?!?  He's been getting about 15 touches per game, but even in that high-powered offense, I don't think that qualifies him as an RB1 (top-12).  One week he's getting 20 fantasy points, the next week it's 5.  I think this will be one of the single-digit weeks, and I barely have him in my top-20 against Big D. Some other notes.... On Wednesday, I mentioned just how thin these RB rankings look with four teams on byes.  Well now I've removed four RBs from last night's game, and it sounds like Ahmad Bradshaw is doubtful to play against Seattle (not that he was a strong play in that game anyway).  Steven Ridley is also iffy to suit up Sunday, so I've removed him and adjusted my Patriot RBs accordingly.  It's time to dig deep with guys like Johnathan Franklin and...Jackie Battle?!?   Also, with news that Daryl Richardson might not start for the Rams against Jacksonville, who knows who will put up the fantasy points from that backfield (hint: someone probably will, but good luck guessing who that will be).  Coach Jeff Fisher said they'll "probably play most if not all of the running backs that are active."  So you'll notice that at #40 in my rankings is "(Rams starting RB)", quite similar to "WR Eagles" in my preseason rankings.  If you're desperate at the RB position, it might be a good idea to pick up a guy like Isaiah Pead or Zac Stacy if they're available in your league.  Who knows?  You might hit the jackpot if one of them blows up against that Jag defense and gets the starting gig moving forward.  I'm banking on Zac Stacy to get the chance to do just that, as I picked him up in my money league. WRs

1.Calvin Johnson 2.Dez Bryant 3.Demaryius Thomas 4.Julio Jones 5.Brandon Marshall 6.AJ Green 7.Jordy Nelson 8.Wes Welker 9.Victor Cruz 10.Randall Cobb 11.DeSean Jackson 12.Andre Johnson 13.Larry Fitzgerald 14.Torrey Smith 15.Eric Decker 16.Anquan Boldin 17.James Jones 18.Marques Colston 19.Kenbrell Thompkins 20.Hakeem Nicks 21.Julian Edelman 22.Steve Smith 23.Reggie Wayne 24.Dwayne Bowe 25.Cecil Shorts 26.Mike Wallace 27.Denarius Moore 28.Nate Washington 29.Brian Hartline  30.Tavon Austin 31.Alshon Jeffery 32.Eddie Royal 33.Chris Givens 34.Jeremy Kerley 35.Justin Blackmon 36.T.Y. Hilton 37.Roddy White 38.Vincent Brown 39.Michael Floyd 40.DeAndre Hopkins I'm high on: Tavon Austin (ESPN #40, ME #32) I have Sam Bradford near my top-10 this week, so I'm high on Tavon too.  Most people have Chris Givens ahead of him in their WR rankings, but aside from last week against the 49ers, Austin has been getting 6 catches/game.  Granted, he hasn't done much with those grabs, but he did have a pair of TDs against Atlanta.  I just like his big play potential more than Givens, and I think he'll make a play or two against Jacksonville this Sunday. I'm down on: Danny Amendola (ESPN #19, ME not ranked) Do we know if he's playing at this point?  No.  Will we know anything until 30 minutes before kickoff?  Probably not.  Another week where the experts rank a Patriot based on...what exactly?  I don't get it.  Even if we find out today that Amendola is playing in Week 5, I don't know that he immediately jumps back into the top-20 for me, especially coming off an injury in which he completely tore a tendon in his groin.  If he does suit up against the Bengals, I don't think he'll finish with the most fantasy points among the New England WRs. Hey.  It looks like me and Brandon! You may or may not have noticed that I removed Marlon Brown from my rankings.  He's been sitting out practice all week with a hamstring injury, and I'm concerned he'll play at all this Sunday.  I'm not sure if Jacoby Jones or Brandon Stokley are healthy enough to get back in there for the Ravens, so I don't know who will line up opposite Torrey Smith against the Dolphins.  You might want to have some other options, like the guys I added to the bottom of the list... TEs

1.Jimmy Graham

2.Antonio Gates 3.Jason Witten 4.Tony Gonzalez  5.Julius Thomas 6.Jared Cook 7.Vernon Davis 8.Martellus Bennett 9.Greg Olsen 10.Jermichael Finley 11.Owen Daniels 12.Coby Fleener Again, not much to talk about with the tight ends.  My rankings are pretty consistent with ESPN's.  I'm a little higher on Jared Cook (ESPN #10, ME #7) than Greg Olsen (ESPN #7, ME #10).  The thing is, I realize the Cardinals have given up nearly the most points to fantasy tight ends so far this season.  So I don't want to say I'm "down" on Olsen this week because I could easily see him with 70 yards and a TD.  When I only rank 12 guys at this position, there tends to not be a lot of differences in my rankings to the expert rankings, so we're splitting hairs in discussing these two here.  By now you must know that I like Bradford a lot this week, and it just seems like a great time for Jared Cook to have another big game.  I guess this is more of a gut call than anything. After that hit, I might wait a week... Also, I said on Wednesday that I probably wouldn't rank Jermichael Finley this week.  Well, I lied.  He's in my top-10 for Sunday against the Lions.  I'm a little concerned that he'll be limited (or at least a little hesitant in how he plays).  So I'm not putting him above my other tight end, Martellus Bennett, who will most likely be in the starting lineup for the Pig Newtons this week.

DEF 1.Seahawks

2.Chiefs 3.Rams 4.Panthers 5.49ers 6.Ravens 7.Titans 8.Falcons 9.Broncos 10.Bears 11.Texans

12.Bengals I'm high on: Panthers (ESPN #11, ME #4) On Wednesday, ESPN had Carolina outside of their top-10.  Now all of a sudden they are 8th?  I realize we removed the Browns from the list (who had a solid showing last night against the Bills), but how did they jump two more spots in two days?  Weird.  Anyway, I had (and STILL have) the Panthers as a top-5 defense this week.  In their first two games, they didn't get a ton of fantasy points against the Seahawks or Bills, but respectable numbers.  In Week 3, they feasted on the G-Men.  Now they're coming off an early bye week, in which they've had ample time to prepare for Carson Palmer and company, who have given up average top-10 numbers to opposing fantasy defenses this season. I'm down on: Ravens (ESPN #3, ME #7) I've had the Titans D in my top-12 since Week 3! The wife is not going to be happy with this one, but I don't see the Ravens as a top-3 defense this week.  Since getting blown out at Denver in Week 1, Baltimore has been getting double-digit defensive fantasy points on the regular.  In fact, in Weeks 2 & 3, they didn't even give up a touchdown!  But they struggled a bit against a Buffalo team that I just don't think is very good.  Now they travel to Miami, who is coming off a bit of an embarrassing loss on Monday Night Football to the Saints.  I think the Dolphins will bounce back, and they might even be able to pick on the Ravens' secondary if Lardarius Webb isn't healthy enough to give it a go on Sunday.  It's tough to count out this defense altogether, and I still have them as a top-10 play.  But I'm a little surprised that 4 ESPN experts have them at a nearly consensus rank at #3! Speaking of those experts, it looks like they are finally sold on that Titans defense, as they have them ranked even slightly higher than I do this week.  Like I said on Wednesday, I like them to beat the Chiefs at home this weekend, and I'm glad other people now have their defense ranked in the top-10 (even if it is a week or so too late...BURN!). Good luck to everyone in Week 5! Cheers, Bart