QBs
1.DeShaun Watson
2.Russell Wilson
3.Drew Brees
4.Dak Prescott
5.Carson Wentz
6.Alex Smith
7.Matthew Stafford
8.Derek Carr
9.Kirk Cousins
10.Tyrod Taylor
11.Cam Newton
12.Josh McCown
13.Matt Ryan
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14.Jameis Winston
15.Jared Goff
Last week I nailed both of my QB picks versus the ESPN experts. I was high on Andy Dalton (ESPN #13, ME #9) whose splits against good/bad defenses have been pretty obvious. He struggled against Buffalo and Pittsburgh, but he torched Cleveland and had a pair of TDs in Green Bay. Last week he faced the Colts at home, and he finished as the #3 fantasy QB behind only Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson. This week, the Bengals travel to Jacksonville to face the best pass defense in the league (coming off their bye week to boot). Dalton is NOT in my top-15, but I'm facing him in my Yahoo! league, which makes me a little nervous.
I was down on Philip Rivers (ESPN #9, ME #14), and it was the second week in a row I was down versus the experts on the QB facing the Patriots. I pointed out that New England's defense has been completely different of late, holding their previous 3 opponents to 17 points or less. I said Rivers would have a hard time finding the end zone in New England, and I was right. He had 1 TD, 1 INT, and barely over 200 passing yards. He also nearly finished outside of the top-20 fantasy QBs in Week 8.
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 I'm high on: Josh McCown (ESPN #17, ME #12)
Buffalo isn't a secondary that gets taken advantage of too often, but McCown has multiple TD passes in each of his last 4 games. I say ride the hot hand tomorrow night and roll with him if you need a bye week fill in for, well...Tom Brady I suppose.
I'm down on: Cam Newton (ESPN #6, ME #11)
Speaking of multiple touchdown passes, Cam hasn't done that since Week 5 in Detroit. He's been pretty mediocre the last three weeks, and he just lost his best WR in a trade to the Bills. He has mostly a group of nobodies left at the receiver position, at least until Greg Olsen returns from injury. It's possible that Funchess and McCaffery make some plays to help Cam out, but I'd have a hard time trusting him based on his recent performances.
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RBs |
1.Leonard Fournette
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2.LeSean McCoy
3.Todd Gurley
4.Kareem Hunt
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5.Lamar Miller
6.Mark Ingram
7.Adrian Peterson
8.Doug Martin
9.Devonta Freeman
10.DeMarco Murray
11.Aaron Jones
12.Alvin Kamara
13.Carlos Hyde
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14.Alex Collins
15.Joe Mixon
16.Chris Thompson
17.C.J. Anderson
18.Christian McCaffery
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19.Alfred Morris
20.Marshawn Lynch
21.Ameer Adbullah
22.Bilal Powell
23.Frank Gore
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24.Kenyan Drake
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25.Tevin Coleman
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26.Orleans Darkwa
27.Javorius Allen
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28.Jay Ajayi
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29.Derrick Henry
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30.LeGarrette Blount
31.Darren McFadden
32.Theo Riddick
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33.Ty Montgomery
34.Rob Kelley
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35.Marlon Mack
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While my QB picks versus the experts were spot on last week, I whiffed on my RB picks. The ESPN experts continued to rank Jonathan Stewart highly (ESPN #28, ME NOT RANKED), but I couldn't do it. He had finished with fewer than 5 fantasy points four games in a row, but he broke that streak with a short touchdown run on Sunday. He still only had 34 yards on 11 carries, but his first rushing TD of the year made him a top-20 RB in Week 8. I'm not going to chase that lone TD and put him back in my rankings this week, so he remains outside of my top-35.
I was high on Jalen Richard (ESPN #36, ME #24), who I expected to be in an even timeshare last week with DeAndre Washington while Lynch served his 1 game suspension. As it turns out, that was true. I also thought the Raiders would likely be trailing in this game and the play calling could dictate more passing downs (hence, more Richard). That was also true. So based on all of that logic, I liked Richard more than the ESPN experts (and more than Washington for that matter). But it was Washington who found the end zone and actually had more touches than Richard, which was surprising to me based on the game flow. Ah well. At least my thought process and justification was right I guess...
I'm high on: Kenyan Drake (ESPN #36, ME #24)
 This is a bit of a risky pick because we don't know what the timeshare in Miami will be like with Ajayi gone, and the Dolphins have had a hard time moving the ball on offense as it is. But I think Drake will get the majority of the RB touches against an Oakland defense giving up the 7th most fantasy points to the position. In fact, the Raiders have allowed an opposing running back to score double-digit fantasy points every week since Matt Forte failed to do so in Week 2.
I'm down on: Matt Forte (ESPN #25, ME NOT RANKED)
Speaking of Forte and his Week 2 performance, that was the most fantasy points he's scored in a game all year (9.1). I'm not really sure what he's done this season to warrant RB2 consideration by the experts, but he only had 10 touches last week and hasn't had 10 carries or more in any game this season. The Bills are a solid defense, and I think Forte will end up with less than 50 yards from scrimmage and find himself outside of the top-35 RBs this week.
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WRs
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1.DeAndre Hopkins
2.Mike Evans
3.Julio Jones
4.Michael Thomas
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5.Michael Crabtree
6.Dez Bryant
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7.A.J. Green
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8.Tyreek Hill
9.Amari Cooper
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10.Will Fuller V
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11.Doug Baldwin
12.Golden Tate
13.Larry Fitzgerald
14.Jarvis Landry
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15.Demaryius Thomas
16.Jordy Nelson
17.Devin Funchess
18.Alshon Jeffery
19.Marvin Jones, Jr.
20.Sterling Shepard
21.Kelvin Benjamin
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22.Ted Ginn, Jr.
23.Emmanuel Sanders
24.T.Y. Hilton
25.Davante Adams
26.Nelson Agholor
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27.DeVante Parker
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28.DeSean Jackson
29.Mohamed Sanu
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30.Paul Richardson
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Last week I was high on Ted Ginn, Jr. (ESPN #33, ME #24), and he finished right at #24 where I ranked him. Willie Snead was active, but I mentioned he's still working his way back from a hamstring injury. The fact is, Ginn is always a big play away from having a solid-to-huge fantasy day. In Week 8, a 53 yard play landed him on the solid end of that spectrum. This week, I have a feeling he could be in for a huge game. More on that later...
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I was down on Brandin Cooks (ESPN #10, ME #20), which went against virtually every expert out there (not just ESPN). I was concerned about Casey Hayward covering Cooks all day, and Hayward pretty much shut him down. Cooks finished outside of the top-50 fantasy WRs, and he'll have a tough matchup Week 10 in Denver after New England's bye.
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I'm high on: Ted Ginn, Jr...AGAIN! (ESPN #36, ME #22)
It takes some guts to start a guy like Ginn, but it's been paying off more often than not so far this year. He has double-digit fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games, and he's been averaging over 11 fantasy points per game in his last three contests. He also has just one clunker of a game against Tampa Bay going all the way back to 2013 when he started playing against them regularly (and playing the WR position). I think he's a solid play in this offense, and I won't be surprised if one of Brees's 3 or 4 TD passes goes to him.
I'm down on: Pierre Garcon (ESPN #21, ME NOT RANKED)
The sad thing is, Garcon will probably be playing on my fantasy team because I don't have many options with all of the byes. Hell, I'm probably going to start Corey Davis too and didn't rank him in my top-30 either! That's just how this week is for me, but we'll see how it goes. Speaking of my top-30, I realize it's a small list. I clearly don't like my WR options very much this week and may hit the waiver wire last minute. I didn't want to give away my hand too much, as I know some of you guys are reading this right now. ;)
As for Garcon, if he's healthy enough to play, his reward will be Patrick Peterson. This didn't exactly work out well for him in Week 4 when he had 4 catches for just 36 yards. As I mentioned above, I'll be tempted to replace him with someone who I've also left off my rankings and is on my waiver wire... |
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TEs
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1.Zach Ertz
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2.Travis Kelce
3.Jimmy Graham
4.Evan Engram
5.Cameron Brate
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6.Jack Doyle
7.Austin Sefarian-Jenkins
8.Jason Witten
9.Jared Cook
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10.Vernon Davis
I didn't rank Jordan Reed or Delanie Walker, as I'm expecting both to miss their games due to injury. I suppose Walker is a little more likely to play than Reed, but neither feels like a top-10 option right now. Oh yeah. I only ranked 10 TEs because it gets pretty thin after that this week. It's now 3 weeks in a row that my tight end rankings are virtually the same as ESPN's consensus NPPR rankings, so no comparisons here yet again. On to the defenses!
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DEF
1.Jaguars
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2.Eagles
3.Texans
4.Seahawks
5.Cardinals
6.Lions
7.Rams
8.Bills
9.Titans
10.Panthers
11.Bengals
12.Saints
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Last week I was high on the Saints (ESPN #8, ME #2), who haven't been giving up a ton of points as of late. While they did hold the Bears to 12 points, they had just 2 sacks and 1 INT and didn't finish as highly as I ranked them. However, they did finish as a top-12 fantasy defense in Week 8, so you probably weren't too disappointed if you picked them up and started them.
You know who didn't finish as a top-12 fantasy defense last week?...the Houston Texans (ESPN #10, ME NOT RANKED). I pointed out that they were facing a Seahawks team averaging over 28 points per game in their last four, and I said Houston would finish in the bottom 10 fantasy defenses in Week 8. In fact, their defense gave up 35 points to Seattle and finished as the WORST fantasy defense for the week. I don't have a defense I'm really down on versus the ESPN experts this week, but there is a squad I like a lot more than they do...
I'm high on: Tennessee Titans (ESPN #14, ME #9)
 If you throw out the blowout loss in Houston, the Titans are giving up just over 17 PPG in their other 6 games. In fact, they haven't given up more than 16 points in any game since that loss to the Texans in Week 4, and only the Rams have given up fewer points during that time span. Sure, Tennessee has played some weak offenses, but Baltimore isn't exactly moving the ball down the field at will on teams. I like the Titans D as a top-10 play regardless of the QB for Baltimore, but if it's somehow Ryan Mallett, then I'd say they may even crack the top-5! |
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Good luck to everyone in Week 9!
(Except you, Ruffo...)
Cheers,
Bart
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With Jameis lighting up the Bills in Week 7, I was back to my dilemma of Watson versus Winston in Week 8. I had them ranked right next to each other around the edge of my top-10, and I struggled a little with this decision. Since neither QB had a great matchup, ultimately I couldn't sit the hot rookie. It turns out that was the right call (by a LONG shot), as Watson had a big day against the Seahawks, and Winston struggled against the Panthers. However, it didn't matter for my matchup because I still lost a close one. I'm now sitting at 4th place in my league but with a 4-4 record...and the most points scored!!! I've had a weird schedule this year, and this week the weirdness continues as the bye is really hurting my squad but I get to face the second lowest scoring team in the league. I'll need to squeak out a "W" without Le'Veon Bell, Jordan Howard, Keenan Allen, Kyle Rudolph...I even had to waive Pittsburgh D! If any of my guys can't play this weekend, I might have to hit the waiver wire to try to get back above .500. Some of those waiver wire targets just might be in the rankings below, along with some familiar faces in new places after the trade deadline came and went.
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