Week 10 Rankings

One play can have a huge impact.

When Aaron Rodgers went down at the end of Green Bay's first offensive series on Monday night, Packer fans held their breath.  So did a lot of fantasy football team owners.  I'm sure we'll know the extent of the injury fairly soon, but initial reports say the QB may miss 3 or 4 weeks.  I think this development makes that division wide open, as I'm not sure Seneca Wallace (or any other QB the Packers may sign this week...yes, even Matt Flynn) can get the Packers the wins they need.  Lucky for them, their next two games are against the NFC East, not the NFC North.  Great.  The Redskins get a healthy Green Bay team at Lambeau in Week 2, and now the Eagles and Giants get a completely different team that is decimated by injuries!  Like I said, one play can have a big ripple effect.

The injury also has serious fantasy implications for Green Bay's other position players.  If you're an Eddie Lacy owner (like the guy who beat me by 40 points in Week 9), you have to like what you saw after Rodgers exited the game last night.  Heck, I think James Starks even becomes a nice waiver wire add this week...and I didn't think I'd be saying that this season.  If you own a Packer WR, you now know how Randall Cobb owners felt in Week 5 after his injury against Baltimore.  I know because as a Jordy Nelson owner, I feel like I just lost him to injury for a few weeks.  But maybe it won't be that bad.  I mean, if teams watch the tape of last night, I don't see why they wouldn't just stack the box even more and force Green Bay to throw the ball.  The question is whether or not they can actually throw the ball.

Get well soon, Aaron!

On that note, let's get players from those six bye teams back into the rankings and get four more teams off the list.  Unless you own Jamaal Charles or any Patriots, you're probably not hurting too bad this week with these byes: Patriots, Chiefs, Jets, Browns.  But let's see what we have with the Week 10 rankings, shall we?

QBs 1.Drew Brees 2.Peyton Manning 3.Philip Rivers 4.Matthew Stafford 5.Tony Romo 6.Russell Wilson 7.Andrew Luck 8.Cam Newton 9.RGIII 10.Nick Foles 11.Ben Roethlisberger 12.Eli Manning 13.Colin Kaepernick 14.Andy Dalton 15.QB Bears 16.Jake Locker 17.Terrelle Pryor 18.Christian Ponder 19.Joe Flacco 20.Seneca Wallace Don't worry.  I'll get you into the Friday update, Case. In my Friday update, I added Case Keenum and Jason Campbell to the bottom of my rankings.  I didn't think Campbell would put up top-10 fantasy numbers again, but he sure did.  I did talk up Keenum a bit though, and he looked pretty good in just his second start.  But it was Luck who staged a huge comeback in the second half to give Indy the W.  Both QBs in that game were top-10 plays in Week 9, as were both signal callers in the Steelers/Patriots game.  Tom Brady looked like...well, the old Tom Brady again.  We'll have to wait until Week 11 to see if he keeps it rolling after his team's bye. Last week I was high on Jake Locker (ESPN #15, ME #11), but he didn't put up big numbers against St. Louis.  He only attempted 22 passes, as it appears teams are sticking with the run against the Rams.  I'm keeping him pretty high this week though, as the Titans get a home game against the Jags.  People probably thought I was crazy being "down" on Drew Brees in Week 9 (ESPN #1, ME #4).  But like I said, Brees is putting up huge numbers at home and pretty good numbers on the road.  That held true again, as he posted around 20 fantasy points and finished outside of the top-10 in a good week for QBs around the league.  He's back at home this week against Dallas, so I have him back at the #1 spot.  The #1 fantasy QB in Week 9?  Nick Foles, who threw for SEVEN touchdowns against the Raiders.  He stays in my rankings this week, but I'm not having a knee jerk reaction and putting him in the top-5 or anything just yet.  He does get a nice matchup at Green Bay though, so I squeaked him into the top-10. This "QB Bears" would work too Currently, I'm not even ranking Matt Ryan.  It seems crazy, but he's had single-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games.  His WRs are still banged up, and he's facing one of the best passing defenses in the league this week with Seattle coming to town.  I might add him to the bottom of the list on Friday (along with Case Keenum), but I'd be looking for another option if I was a Ryan owner.  You know it's bad when Seneca Wallace makes the list and Matty Ice doesn't!  Also, you'll notice "QB Bears" at the #15 spot.  I don't care if it's McCown or Cutler.  I like either as a solid top-20 play this week at home against the Lions. RBs 1.Adrian Peterson 2.Eddie Lacy 3.Marshawn Lynch 4.Matt Forte 5.Chris Johnson 6.Alfred Morris 7.Reggie Bush 8.LeSean McCoy    9.Knowshon Moreno 10.Zac Stacy 11.Le'Veon Bell 12.CJ Spiller 13.Frank Gore 14.DeMarco Murray  15.Maurice Jones-Drew 16.Danny Woodhead 17.Mike James 18.Pierre Thomas 19.Giovani Bernard  20.Lamar Miller 21.Steven Jackson   22.Andre Ellington 23.Rashad Jennings 24.Fred Jackson 25.Ray Rice 26.Ben Tate  27.Trent Richardson 28.Ryan Mathews 29.Shonn Greene 30.Andre Brown 31.Donald Brown 32.Joique Bell 33.James Starks 34.Mike Tolbert 35.Montee Ball 36.Benjarvis Green-Ellis 37.Roy Helu, Jr. 38.Rashard Mendenhall 39.Jacquizz Rodgers 40.Daniel Thomas I'll miss you, Zac... Darren McFadden and Arian Foster owners were probably pretty upset on Sunday.  Both were active for their games, but both left early with injuries.  For McFadden, it was his hamstring (no surprise there).  But for Arian, it was a back injury.  So that's new.  The big story in Week 9 though was Zac Stacy.  He continues to run like a beast, and I'm selling high on him in my money league.  I'm made a deal which mostly broke down to Cam Newton and Zac Stacy for Peyton Manning.  I'm hoping that I'm not trading away a winning lottery ticket in Stacy, but I am getting a quarterback with a laser rocket arm in return.  So however it works out for Stacy, I think the trade will probably be OK for both teams involved. I talked up Steven Jackson slightly last week (ESPN #25, ME #21), as he was in line to get 15-20 touches.  It was against a tough Carolina defense, but he did manage to get some decent yardage to land himself right in that range around the top-25.  On the other hand, I was way down on Fred Jackson against the Chiefs (ESPN #8, ME #17).  Kansas City had only given up 2 rushing TDs all season, not to mention the fewest points per game (12.2).  With CJ Spiller back in action, I lowered Jackson even more from Wednesday to Friday.  He finished with around 10 fantasy points (roughly his average over his last 4 games), and he was the #21 fantasy running back in Week 9.  It looks like Spiller is healthy again, and I'm ranking him well above Fred in a good matchup against the Steelers.  We'll see how the experts see it when their rankings come out later today. Time to lower those Panther RBs! Another older running back trending downward is DeAngelo Williams.  Jonathan Stewart returned to action last week, and as usual he looked better than Williams.  Add in the fact that Tolbert is now vulturing TDs on the regular, and DWill's stock is falling fast.  I'm actually only ranking Tolbert for now, as Carolina faces a tough defense this week in San Francisco.  We'll see if Stewart starts getting a bigger share of the workload for the Panthers, but until then, I might not be ranking either him or DeAngelo. WRs 1.Calvin Johnson 2.Brandon Marshall 3.AJ Green   4.Dez Bryant 5.Keenan Allen 6.Pierre Garcon  7.Demaryius Thomas  8.TY Hilton 9.Wes Welker  10.DeSean Jackson  11.Antonio Brown 12.Andre Johnson  13.Victor Cruz  14.Eric Decker  15.Larry Fitzgerald 16.Vincent Jackson  17.Torrey Smith  18.Alshon Jeffery 19.Jordy Nelson 20.Denarius Moore 21.Riley Cooper 22.Terrance Williams 23.Cecil Shorts  24.Lance Moore 25.Kendall Wright 26.Marvin Jones 27.Emmanuel Sanders 28.Golden Tate 29.Harry Douglas 30.Hakeem Nicks 31.Mike Wallace 32.Steve Smith 33.Anquan Boldin 34.Michael Floyd 35.Greg Jennings 36.Marlon Brown 37.Reuben Randle  38.Kenny Stills 39.Brian Hartline 40.DeAndre Hopkins Another good day for Allen, but a W for the Skins! Three receivers broke the 30 point mark in Week 9: Andre Johnson, Riley Cooper, and T.Y. Hilton.  Another guy who had a big day was Keenan Allen, who I was high on last week (ESPN #18, ME #8).  I said he would easily get double-digit targets and fantasy points against my Redskins, and I wouldn't be surprised to see over 100 yards and a touchdown.  That's exactly what he did, albeit in a losing effort!  However, I was down on Emmanuel Sanders (ESPN #27, ME #33), who has been very inconsistent this year.  This past week against the Patriots, he actually saw 11 targets, six of which he hauled in for nearly 100 yards.  Needless to say, he cracked the top-25.  I guess we'll see if Big Ben continues to look his way in a nice matchup at home against Buffalo's secondary. Marques Colston was a late scratch from last week's game against the Jets, and as of today, I'm not sure what his status will be for a great matchup against the Cowboys.  I'm ranking Lance Moore as the "#1 WR" for the Saints right now, even though he doesn't really fit that description.  As for the bottom of my list, I also considered guys like Kris Durham, Doug Baldwin, and Mike Brown.  It's totally understandable if you want to try one of them instead of a guy like James Jones or Stevie Johnson, based on their QBs/matchups (I had a hard time leaving those two veterans off the list for now, but their QB situations are not ideal).  We'll see who makes it into Friday's updated rankings. Lance Moore went from off the radar to a top option for a high-powered offense! TEs 1.Jimmy Graham 2.Vernon Davis 3.Jordan Reed 4.Julius Thomas 5.Antonio Gates 6.Jason Witten 7.Tony Gonzalez 8.Tim Wright 9.Garrett Graham 10.Martellus Bennett 11.Coby Fleener 12.Heath Miller Let's make it 3 games in a row with a TD, Tim! Graham and Gronk continued to perform in Week 9, and old guys Witten and Gonzalez actually put up some good numbers too (finally).  Greg Olson got a touchdown too, but he's not in my Wednesday top-12 this week in that matchup against the 49ers.  Jordan Cameron was shut down by the Ravens, and it was the other tight end Gary Barnidge who stole a TD on a goal line play.  Gary who?  Exactly. Coby Fleener was targeted on the first two plays of the game for Indy, and I was getting excited.  But then he barely saw anything else his way until the 2 point conversion late in the game.  I hope Andrew Luck will watch the film and realize that he should just stop throwing to Heyward-Bey and give a few more targets to his old college buddy Fleener!  I like the matchups of Tim Wright and Garrett Graham much better than Fleener's this week anyway, and I've picked up Wright to play for my fantasy team on Monday Night Football. DEF 1.Seahawks 2.Titans 3.49ers 4.Colts 5.Cardinals 6.Steelers 7.Dolphins 8.Texans 9.Giants 10.Ravens 11.Panthers  12.Bengals Seattle had an off day in Week 9, as they appeared to take the Bucs a little lightly (you can hardly blame them, right?).  They still got the win in the end, but their defense didn't look great.  On the other hand, the Chiefs continued to put up points on the defensive end, scoring two touchdowns against Buffalo.  Carolina also scored a defensive touchdown yet again, and I know it all to well since I was playing against them in my money league.  It stung because I had to waive them just a few days prior due to all of the other injuries on my team, and my opponent scooped them up and played them against me!  You can't see me right now, but I'm shaking both of my fists in the air. Anyway, I can't exactly say "I told you so" about the Ravens (ESPN #14, ME #7) , as they let the Browns put up 24 points on them, and they were only able to force the one fumble in Cleveland.  On the other hand, I did warn you against playing the Colts (ESPN #6, ME #12) against the Texans on Sunday night.  I thought Case Keenum might actually lead the Texans to victory, and it almost happened too.  Either way, they also put up 24 points, and Indy was only able to manage one sack on the night.  Not a good day for the Colts D, but they should bounce back this week. You weren't great last week, but you get the Rams at home in Week 10! That's it for today, folks.  Check back on Friday for the updates! Cheers, Bart

Week 9 Rankings: Friday Update

Well last night didn't quite go as expected, did it?

Oh I'm not talking about the Halloween stuff.  That went according to script.
There were cute little kids trick or treating with parents standing at a safe distance in the background.  Then there were the older kids with little to no costume and pillowcases.  At least say "trick or treat", dammit!  (That's what I should have said to them.)  There's always at least one kid who acts disappointed when you give him FREE CANDY.  "I wanted a Snickers..."  Dude!  I know you wanted a Snickers because it's the greatest Halloween candy ever.  But it's also MY favorite, so you will take your 3 Musketeers and you'll like it.  Again, FREE candy...

Sorry, Rod.  I'll catch you next time you're in RVA.

I probably sound like some sort of Halloween grinch, but of course I'm kidding.  I love Halloween.  I think the kids are hilarious and I always enjoy giving out candy.  I felt a little old last night though because I actually skipped out on going to a J Roddy show in order to not be out until 1am on a "school night".  Pretty sure my wife and I were in bed by 10:30.  Yep, old.

But it did mean that I got to watch all of the Dolphins/Bengals game, as I fought sleep at the end to see the game-winning safety in overtime.  I'll get into how things shook out in the game from a fantasy perspective, followed by some injury updates, and of course...the updated rankings!

QBs: Like the experts, I ranked Andy Dalton in my top-10 this week.  And much like his hair, the dude had  been on fire!  But last night the turnovers killed him.  That, and his receivers dropped a ton of easy ones.  He fumbled in his own red zone in the first quarter, and he threw 3 picks (one of which went 94 yards the other way for a touchdown).  He ended up with a ton of yards but no TDs (and all of those turnovers).  A poor fantasy day for him and a loss to boot.  Ryan Tannehill performed about as expected, getting his standard 13 fantasy points or so.  He hasn't broken the 20 point barrier yet this season, and he remains a solid fill-in for some guaranteed, if not average points.

RBs: The entire time I was watching the game last night, all I could think was "why aren't these teams giving the ball to Giovani and Lamar more often"?  And I don't mean just for that game, but rather more often in respect to the other running backs on their teams.  Daniel Thomas and The Law Firm just don't have the same burst that Bernard and Miller do.  Every time I watch these teams, that's all I see.  It's frustrating if you own either of these guys in fantasy because you know they can get the points if they just get the rock!  Last night was a perfect example, as Gio looked like Barry Sanders on one of his two TD runs (see below) and Miller got over 100 yards on just 16 carries.  Maybe their coaches will start getting them more touches after those performances, but we'll have to wait and see.

WRs: Andy Dalton didn't have a good game, but like I said, he still racked up the yards in the air.  A.J. Green saw a season-high 19 targets, and he had well over 100 yards receiving.  Week 9 waiver wire darling Marvin Jones had 4 catches on 7 targets for 66 yards, but that doesn't include the 50-yard touchdown that was called back due to a very questionable hold on Jermaine Gresham.  Aside from a 1-yard Tannehill rushing touchdown, the Dolphins didn't have any other offensive TDs.  So no end zone celebrations for any receivers last night, but Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline did manage a few fantasy points on yardage alone.

TEs: With Tyler Eifert getting about the same amount of targets as Gresham, I don't think either is a serviceable fantasy tight end right now.  For the Dolphins, Charles Clay continues to get some touches in that offense, but he was mostly a non-factor in last night's game too.

DEF: Surprisingly it was Miami who had the big fantasy night on the defensive end, not Cincy.  I already mentioned the turnovers from Dalton, one of which was the INT that went to "da" house.  They might actually end up as the #1 fantasy defense this week, but we'll see after all of the other games.  The bad news for the Bengals is that Geno Atkins may have torn his ACL in the first half of last night's game.  The injuries are piling up for Cincinnati's D, and they might be getting waived from the Pig Newtons.

Speaking of all of the injuries on my money league team, let's update that list and see what's going on with those guys...

Week 1, Shane Vereen: Practicing this week and should be healthy for Week 11!
Week 2, Reggie Bush: Only missed his Week 3 matchup with the knee injury
Week 3, Chris Ivory: Thought he'd break out against the Bills. Instead he injured his hamstring.  It was thought he'd miss a month, but he only missed his Week 4 game.  Either way, I had to waive him due to byes.
Week 6, Cecil Shorts: Injured on the first series against Denver, but only missed that game (in which I played him).
Week 7, Jermichael Finley: Still has no timetable for a return to football (waived).
Week 8, Michael Vick: I picked him up for what I thought would be a decent insurance option at QB down the stretch, but he re-injured his hamstring and now will probably miss a few games.  It was back to the waiver wire for him.
Also in Week 8, Zac Stacy: Since finally getting his chance at the starting job in Week 5, Stacy has been averaging 11 fantasy points/game.  Then at the end of the game last week against Seattle, he injures his ankle.  It sounds like he'll be good to go against Tennessee, but we'll have to wait and see how it affects him.
Week 9, Geno Atkins: Whatever, I'm counting it.  He's literally a huge part of that defense!

Hopefully no one else goes down for me this week, but after all of the others, I won't be surprised.  Here are some other guys who have been banged up recently and their status as of right now.

For realsies this week, right DeMarco...???

1. DeMarco Murray: He's practicing this week, and he should be good to go for a nice matchup at home against the Vikings.

2. Arian Foster and Ben Tate: Head coach Gary Kubiak said both of these guys would be "end of the week" decisions, but both were at practice on Thursday.  Foster took full reps, but Tate took it easy with his cracked ribs.  Both will probably be game time decisions on Sunday night, so if you have the bench space you might want to have a backup plan like Donald Brown or James Starks just in case.

3. Zac Stacy: He was back to practice on Thursday as a full participant, so I don't see why the ankle would keep him from playing on Sunday.  This is a tough choice for me as I'm debating between him and Torrey Smith at my Flex position (not a bad problem to have, I know).

4. CJ Spiller: Head coach Marrone says he "feels good" about Spiller's chances to play this week.  I've added him to the rankings, and I've lowered Fred Jackson a bit more.

5. Jonathan Stewart: Barring a setback, it sounds like Stewart will suit up this Sunday for the first time in 11 months.  I've added him to the bottom of my RB rankings, but this has me moving DeAngelo and Tolbert down slightly as well.

6. Roddy White: He wasn't at practice on Wednesday, and he watched from the sidelines on Thursday.  He did finally return to practice today, but we'll see if he plays against Carolina on Sunday.  I'm not ranking him because I think he either doesn't play or is limited.  I was planning to add Drew Davis to the bottom of my WR rankings, but this development now has me leaving him off due to Roddy's unknown status.

I think Harvin will be a non-factor until Week 13.

7. James Jones: He also was not at his team's practice on Wednesday, and he was officially listed as limited in Thursday's practice.  This game is on Monday night, so it's extremely risky to count on Jones.  I'm ranking Boykin as though Jones sits out one more week.

8. Percy Harvin: He's officially been ruled out for this week, and as of right now he's still on Seattle's PUP list.  A team is given 21 calendar days from the time a player starts practicing with the team to activate him from that list, so Harvin needs to be moved to the active roster by Week 11 based on when he got back to the practice field.  I'm sure Seattle will make that move, but I'd be surprised to see them rush Harvin into a game before that Week 11 matchup (which just so happens to be against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings).  I doubt I'll be ranking Harvin until after his team's Week 12 bye, but I'm sure the experts will continue to jump the gun and rank him the same way they did with Gronk earlier this season...

That's all of the major injury news I can think of, so let's do the rankings!

BYES: Broncos, Lions, 49ers, Giants, Cardinals, Jaguars

QBs 1.Aaron Rodgers 2.Cam Newton 3.Tony Romo 4.Drew Brees 5.Philip Rivers 6.RGIII 7.Russell Wilson 8.Terrelle Pryor 9.Andrew Luck 10.Jake Locker 11.Matt Ryan 12.Alex Smith 13.Tom Brady 14.Nick Foles 15.Joe Flacco 16.Josh McCown 17.Ben Roethlisberger 18.Geno Smith 19.Case Keenum 20.Jason Campbell I'd like to put Ponder or Freeman at the bottom of my rankings, but I don't know who's starting in that mouth-watering matchup against Dallas.  Jason Campbell it is.  Hey, someone has to be #20.  The new man at #19 is actually interesting though.  Case Keenum is playing in a primetime matchup Sunday night against Andrew Luck and the Colts.  I already mentioned how Foster and Tate are game time decisions, but his receivers are all healthy!  He'll have to throw a bit if this game ends up being high-scoring (like I think it will), and he looked decent two weeks ago in his first start at Kansas City. I'm high on: Jake Locker (ESPN #15, ME #11) Don't look now, but in his last 3 starts, Locker is averaging about 25 fantasy points/game.  Granted, two of those starts came in Weeks 2 & 3, as Jake missed some time due to injury.  But in his first game back in Week 7, he posted good numbers against a tough 49ers defense.  This week, he's coming off a bye and playing a much more middle-of-the-road defense in St. Louis.  I like Locker to get the Titans to a 4-4 record this week, and I think he could up top-10 numbers doing it. I'm down on: Drew Brees (ESPN #1, ME #4) I'm also down on Matt Ryan again, and I always seem to be a little down versus the experts on Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson, but I've talked about all of those guys before.  Let's get crazy with this one!  I actually had Brees at #3 on Wednesday, but I've changed my mind and put Romo and his point-friendly matchup against Minnesota ahead of him.  Only Peyton Manning has put up bigger numbers than Brees this year, but let's take a look at the numbers based on my league's scoring.  His fantasy points per game at the Superdome is 34.1, while his average on the road is just 17.7.  I'm no mathematician, but it looks to me like he's putting up nearly twice as many fantasy points at home.  This week he's playing at the (New) Meadowlands, and while it is  Drew Brees, he's just not the #1 fantasy QB for me this week.   RBs 1.Jamaal Charles 2.Adrian Peterson 3.Marshawn Lynch 4.Eddie Lacy 5.LeSean McCoy 6.Matt Forte 7.Arian Foster 8.DeMarco Murray 9.Darren McFadden 10.Alfred Morris 11.Le'Veon Bell 12.Ray Rice 13.Stevan Ridley 14.Chris Johnson 15.Ryan Mathews 16.Zac Stacy 17.Fred Jackson 18.Danny Woodhead 19.Trent Richardson 20.Steven Jackson 21.CJ Spiller 22.Mike James  23.Darren Sproles 24.DeAngelo Williams 25.Pierre Thomas 26.Chris Ivory 27.Bilal Powell 28.Brandon Bolden 29.Shonn Greene 30.Willis McGahee 31.Mike Tolbert 32.Roy Helu, Jr. 33.Donald Brown 34.James Starks 35.Daryl Richardson 36.Jacquizz Rodgers 37.Ben Tate 38.Marcel Reece 39.Chris Ogbonnaya 40.Jonathan Stewart I'm high on: Steven Jackson (ESPN #25, ME #21) Look, I realize the Panthers are only giving up 79 rushing yards/game.  I understand they've only allowed 2 rushing TDs all season.  I also saw that Steven Jackson had 14 touches for a grand total of 13 yards last week against Arizona.  I realize all of these things.  But with 6 teams on bye this week, there aren't a lot of workhorse running backs after the top-20 or so.  The Falcons are desperately in need of a win, and I think they'll at least be in this game.  Maybe you like the upside of a guy like CJ Spiller or perhaps you trust one of the Saints RBs more, but I'm taking the guy who I'm confident will get 20 touches and any goal line work (if they can get that close against Carolina's D). I know you've been good, Fred.  But top-10 good this week...??? I'm down on: Fred Jackson  (ESPN #8, ME #15...now 17) Speaking of teams who have only given up 2 rushing TDs all season, the Kansas City Chiefs fit that description.  They've also given up the fewest points per game (12.2), and that's who old Fred Jackson will be facing this Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  But I'm sure Buffalo's high-powered offense should have no problem with the Chiefs.  Ha!  Jackson is still dealing with that sprained MCL of his, and now it sounds like Thad Lewis is doubtful to play this week.  That doesn't bode well for the explosiveness of their offense.  Fred Jackson is averaging just over 10 fantasy points per game in his last 3 contests, and I see him as more of a potential flop this week rather than having top-10 numbers.  If you have him, you're probably starting him.  But I like him much less than the ESPN experts appear to. WRs 1.Dez Bryant 2.Jordy Nelson 3.Josh Gordon 4.Brandon Marshall 5.Antonio Brown 6.DeSean Jackson 7.Andre Johnson 8.Keenan Allen 9.Pierre Garcon 10.Harry Douglas 11.Denarius Moore 12.Terrance Williams 13.TY Hilton 14.Steve Smith 15.Jarrett Boykin 16.Vincent Jackson 17.Torrey Smith 18.Kendall Wright 19.Alshon Jeffery 20.Golden Tate 21.Stevie Johnson 22.Marques Colston 23.Danny Amendola 24.Dwayne Bowe 25.Nate Washington 26.Darrius Heyward-Bey 27.Lance Moore 28.Emmanuel Sanders 29.DeAndre Hopkins 30.Marlon Brown 31.Kenny Stills 32.Jeremy Kerley 33.Vincent Brown 34.Dexter McCluster 35.Brandon LaFell 36.Greg Jennings 37.Doug Baldwin 38.Rod Streater 39.Riley Cooper 40.Aaron Dobson I'm high on: Keenan Allen (ESPN #18, ME #8)  You already know I'm high on Jake Locker, so I'm also high on his receivers this week: Kendall Wright (ESPN #31, ME #19) & Nate Washington (ESPN #32, ME #27).  But I want to talk about Keenan Allen again because apparently I didn't talk him up enough back in Week 7 before the Chargers had their bye.  Now they're coming off a week of rest and face my Redskins right out of the gates.  Washington is giving up the 3rd most fantasy points to WRs this season, and we're in the bottom-5 for most defensive categories that exist...period.  Keenan Allen is averaging over 12 fantasy points per game in his last four, and he's averaging over 8 targets/game in those matchups.  I look for him to easily get double-digit targets and fantasy points against the Skins, and I wouldn't be surprised to see over 100 yards and a touchdown. I'm not head over heels for Sanders like ESPN seems to be. I'm down on: Emmanuel Sanders  (ESPN #27, ME #33) I'm also down on Vincent Jackson again (ESPN #10, ME #17), but that's obvious with a matchup at Seattle.  I've been down on him before though, and I've also been wrong.  He's going to get his targets, and it may even come in garbage time, but I think the Seahawks will keep him to a modest day.  As for Sanders, I just like several other WRs more to keep him out of my top-30 this week (note: with all of the Thursday night guys off the list, it's now ESPN #22, ME #28).  Anyway, I'd much rather have a guy like Kendall Wright, who has quietly been a pillar of consistency for the Titans (ESPN has Wright 4 spots below Sanders).  I just feel like Emmanuel belongs in the mid-30s with his inconsistency.  He's only had 11 catches in his last 3 games, and 7 of those came last week!  Bottom line: there are several guys I like more than him who I consider to be more of a "sure thing". TEs 1.Jimmy Graham 2.Rob Gronkowski 3.Jordan Cameron 4.Antonio Gates 5.Jordan Reed 6.Tony Gonzalez 7.Greg Olsen 8.Jason Witten 9.Martellus Bennett 10.Coby Fleener 11.Heath Miller 12.Kyle Rudolph Once again, my tight end rankings are virtually identical to ESPN's.  I will say that without knowing whether or not Ponder gets the start again for Minnesota, it's tough for me to put Kyle Rudolph in my top-12.  If Freeman starts, gets put in at halftime, or whatever...I definitely like Rudolph less.  But he's the easy pick, especially against a Dallas defense that is giving up the 5th most fantasy points to tight ends this season, so I'm putting him at #12.  I also considered Tim Wright and Garrett Graham, who are just on the outside looking in on my list. Personally, I'm hoping for more of this on Sunday night! DEF 1.Seahawks 2.Chiefs 3.Saints 4.Patriots 5.Panthers 6.Ravens 7.Titans 8.Raiders 9.Cowboys 10.Packers  11.Colts 12.Browns T Sizzle, scariest gums in the league. I'm high on: Ravens (ESPN #14, ME #7)  In their last 4 games, opponents have been averaging over 20 points per game against Baltimore (but that's about average).  Meanwhile, the Ravens have consistently put up double-digit fantasy points on the defensive end since their Week 1 debacle against Denver (at least based on my money league scoring system).  This week they travel to Cleveland to face Jason Campbell and company.  Campbell was solid last week, but I think he'll struggle to put up points in what should be a low scoring affair (notice I also added the Browns defense at #12 with Cincy off after last night).  I think the former Redskin signal-caller has huge potential for a crucial fumble or pick-6 this week, and Baltimore will be there to jump all over it. I'm down on: Colts (ESPN #6, ME #12) Another team who has put up double-digits every week but one is Indy, and surprisingly the only single-digit game wasn't  against Denver.  Also fresh off a bye, the Colts travel to Houston to play the Sunday night game against the Texans.  You're probably thinking this is a tasty matchup with a rookie QB, but as I mentioned above, I actually like Case Keenum to do OK in this one.  I think there could be a lot of scoring in this game, and I just have a feeling that Houston might turn the page after their bye week and pull off the upset.  Obviously I like Indy as a top-12 play, but I just think they'll be near the bottom of the list this week. That's it, folks.  Good luck to everyone in Week 9! Cheers, Bart