Somebody Call A Medic!!!!!
Wow!!
Week 11 passes and it looks like New Orleans the day after Katrina hit. Fantasy owners everywhere are scratching their heads and running like crazy for their laptops to rummage through the waiver wire.
This week was a disaster for most. For those of us blessed with LaDanian Tomlinson on their rosters, not so much.
Let's take a look at who went down and what you might be able to do to save your fantasy season from immediate flushing...
Donovan McNabb, QB PHI: Another year, another disastrous ending. It didn't even look like he got touched on that play, but to avoid hate mail from you McNabb fluffers out there, I won't talk about his frail little chicken legs and I'll just say that a torn ACL sucks. Either way, he's done for the year. If you don't have a viable backup, then it's going to be a tough road for you. The waiver wires are probably picked pretty clean at this point and you don't know whether or not to pick up Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley. My guess is that Feeley will end up taking over. Did you see how awful Garcia looked out there? It almost looked like he was afraid to be in there. Hopefully there will be someone available like a Charlie Frye or a Bruce Gradkowski available. I would grab someone like that along with Feeley and keep my bases covered.
As for the rest of the Eagles, it's some good and some bad news. Brian Westbrook owners should be psyched. Traditionally, when you go to the backup, offensive coordinators have a tendency to lean on the RBs to take the pressure off of an inexperienced signal caller. Westbrook should see a few more carries per game as well as a few extra screens thrown his way.
Another beneficiary should be L.J. Smith. The tight end is another who gets those little short passes when the new QB can't get the ball downfield. Smith should see an increase in receptions which hopefully will increase the looks he gets inside the red zone. Once the new QB builds up a trust with his TE, whether it's pass blocking or making a tough catch, it usually translates into bigger fantasy points.
The Eagles' receivers could be the ones who suffer the most. Now you can say that they won't lose too much in value...that teams will key on the run now and leave the wideouts a little more open....but really....that's crap. Sure it could be true, but now it's eithe Feeley or Garcia throwing the ball to them. Overthrows, underthrows, poor decision making...there's a reason these guys are backups and not starters. The values of Donte Stallworth and Reggie Brown take a hit. At best, you should consider Stallworth an average WR2 and Brown an average WR3. I wouldn't rely on them right now and I'm not. I'll more than likely be benching Stallworth for either Terry Glenn or Mike Furrey or some other 5 to 8 point guy. Now I don't say drop them...not at all, but if you have better options, you may need to start using them until you see something better from Philly.
Brett Favre, QB GB: It's never good to see someone as legendary as Favre go down like this, especially in a season that could be/should be his last. He jammed his elbow on Sunday and it went numb on him which led to his exit. Word out of Green Bay, though, is that he will be fine and should be ready to go for week 12. His backup, however, is a different story. Aaron Rogers has been diagnosed with a broken foot and he'll be going on IR and lost for the season. Former Furman QB Ingle Martin now takes over in that department. My advice here is similar to that with McNabb. While technically you should have Favre this coming weekend, you're going to need a viable backup. Check your waiver wire and see if the aforementioned Frye, or Gradkowski, or someone starting regularly is available. If so, grab them. But I would also grab Martin -- just in case. You never know with some of these guys. The concept behind the Wally Pipp story needn't be limited to just baseball.
As for the rest of your Packers, all seems well so far. Nothing changes unless Favre is out. As long as he is playing, then guys like Donald Driver and Greg Jennings maintain their current values.
Kevin Jones, RB DET: Wouldn't you know it. The one year he finally starts to break out, the turf monster reaches up and grabs him by the ankle. Now supposedly he should be playing in week 12, but it's an ankle sprain...no one will say how high of an ankle sprain...and the sight of him being carted off the field doesn't instill much confidence. Throw in the short week -- the Lions play on Thursday -- and you have a recipe for disaster. Grab Arlen Harris immediately!! While he may not have all of the skills that Jones was supposed to have, he is a servicable back and should do OK in Mike Martz' offense.
The lingering effects for the rest of the team are slight, but definitely there. If Harris can't get the job done, the defenses will be able to drop into coverage more, nullifying Roy Williams. That will then obviously hurt the value of Jon Kitna. If he's got no running game to rely on, then he could be in line for quite the number of INTs. Again, all specualtion until we find out the full diagnosis on Jones, but better safe than sorry.
Lamont Jordan, RB OAK: Now this injury may hurt some, but still not as bad as it hurt some people who took Jordan in the first round of their draft. He has been a monumental disappointment this year and has probably done more harm than good for your fantasy squad. To make it a little worse for you, the Raiders will immediately drop into a running back by committee. Justin Fargas and Zack Crockett will get the reps, with the majority going to Fargas and the goal line opps to Crockett. You might as well grab both if you're hurting at the RB spot and see how it plays out. Now the rumor is that he may only be out for like 4 weeks, but it's more likely he goes on IR, ending his season. Either way...it's not like you'd be psyched to see him come back and activate him for your championship game. Consider him done.
Impact on the rest of the team? Hey...they're the Raiders. They all suck and if any of them -- including Randy Moss -- is active for you, then you got some serious fantasy problems.
DeShaun Foster, RB CAR: Who would have thought it would take until week 11 to see this guy's name on an injury list. I can't believe he's lasted this long. Still, an elbow injury took him out of Sunday's game against the Rams and paved the way for DeAngelo Williams to start his NFL highlight reel. While the team fully expects Foster to be active for week 12, it certainly has opened the door for more committee work by the two. If Williams is still available, well then obviously grab him. That would also mean that you're in a league of idiots, including you who drafted Foster without grabbing your insurance policy.
All other Panthers' fantasy values remain the same. If Williams shines through, they might even increase as teams will have to account for a speedster in the backfield now.
Marques Colston, WR NO: This must have been a kick in the groin to a lot of you out there. He left in the 1st quarter with a high ankle sprain and did not return. It's rumored to not be serious -- that he will play next week -- but Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper should be added as insurance. When your QB is capable of tossing for 500+ yards and his top guy is out, you know others will find a way to benefit. It looks like Joe Horn should be reaping the benefits most if Colston misses any length of time. He could return to his top form once again.
On a side note, this injury here is just karma for all of you losers out there in Yahoo! leagues that are using Colston as a tight end. Now go pick up Bubba Franks or Anthony Becht. Jackasses. I don't care what Yahoo! allows. You and your commish should have made the appropriate changes.
Hines Ward, WR PIT: From bad to worse for the defending champs. A hyperextended knee looks like it will keep Ward out for atleast week 12 -- possibly longer. If that's the case, then Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington should see a boost in value. Without Ward getting most of the looks from Big Ben, these guys could turn it on for the next few games. Washington is more of a possession guy, but Holmes has the speed and ability to be a deep threat. He's already had a few nice TD grabs.
One guy who really should see an improvement in value is TE Heath Miller. With Ward out, he could once again be a serious red zone target. I expect his production to increase over the next game or two.
Good luck filling the holes and plugging the gaps. Use your waiver picks wisely. Now is a time more crucial than any other.
Week 11 passes and it looks like New Orleans the day after Katrina hit. Fantasy owners everywhere are scratching their heads and running like crazy for their laptops to rummage through the waiver wire.
This week was a disaster for most. For those of us blessed with LaDanian Tomlinson on their rosters, not so much.
Let's take a look at who went down and what you might be able to do to save your fantasy season from immediate flushing...
Donovan McNabb, QB PHI: Another year, another disastrous ending. It didn't even look like he got touched on that play, but to avoid hate mail from you McNabb fluffers out there, I won't talk about his frail little chicken legs and I'll just say that a torn ACL sucks. Either way, he's done for the year. If you don't have a viable backup, then it's going to be a tough road for you. The waiver wires are probably picked pretty clean at this point and you don't know whether or not to pick up Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley. My guess is that Feeley will end up taking over. Did you see how awful Garcia looked out there? It almost looked like he was afraid to be in there. Hopefully there will be someone available like a Charlie Frye or a Bruce Gradkowski available. I would grab someone like that along with Feeley and keep my bases covered.
As for the rest of the Eagles, it's some good and some bad news. Brian Westbrook owners should be psyched. Traditionally, when you go to the backup, offensive coordinators have a tendency to lean on the RBs to take the pressure off of an inexperienced signal caller. Westbrook should see a few more carries per game as well as a few extra screens thrown his way.
Another beneficiary should be L.J. Smith. The tight end is another who gets those little short passes when the new QB can't get the ball downfield. Smith should see an increase in receptions which hopefully will increase the looks he gets inside the red zone. Once the new QB builds up a trust with his TE, whether it's pass blocking or making a tough catch, it usually translates into bigger fantasy points.
The Eagles' receivers could be the ones who suffer the most. Now you can say that they won't lose too much in value...that teams will key on the run now and leave the wideouts a little more open....but really....that's crap. Sure it could be true, but now it's eithe Feeley or Garcia throwing the ball to them. Overthrows, underthrows, poor decision making...there's a reason these guys are backups and not starters. The values of Donte Stallworth and Reggie Brown take a hit. At best, you should consider Stallworth an average WR2 and Brown an average WR3. I wouldn't rely on them right now and I'm not. I'll more than likely be benching Stallworth for either Terry Glenn or Mike Furrey or some other 5 to 8 point guy. Now I don't say drop them...not at all, but if you have better options, you may need to start using them until you see something better from Philly.
Brett Favre, QB GB: It's never good to see someone as legendary as Favre go down like this, especially in a season that could be/should be his last. He jammed his elbow on Sunday and it went numb on him which led to his exit. Word out of Green Bay, though, is that he will be fine and should be ready to go for week 12. His backup, however, is a different story. Aaron Rogers has been diagnosed with a broken foot and he'll be going on IR and lost for the season. Former Furman QB Ingle Martin now takes over in that department. My advice here is similar to that with McNabb. While technically you should have Favre this coming weekend, you're going to need a viable backup. Check your waiver wire and see if the aforementioned Frye, or Gradkowski, or someone starting regularly is available. If so, grab them. But I would also grab Martin -- just in case. You never know with some of these guys. The concept behind the Wally Pipp story needn't be limited to just baseball.
As for the rest of your Packers, all seems well so far. Nothing changes unless Favre is out. As long as he is playing, then guys like Donald Driver and Greg Jennings maintain their current values.
Kevin Jones, RB DET: Wouldn't you know it. The one year he finally starts to break out, the turf monster reaches up and grabs him by the ankle. Now supposedly he should be playing in week 12, but it's an ankle sprain...no one will say how high of an ankle sprain...and the sight of him being carted off the field doesn't instill much confidence. Throw in the short week -- the Lions play on Thursday -- and you have a recipe for disaster. Grab Arlen Harris immediately!! While he may not have all of the skills that Jones was supposed to have, he is a servicable back and should do OK in Mike Martz' offense.
The lingering effects for the rest of the team are slight, but definitely there. If Harris can't get the job done, the defenses will be able to drop into coverage more, nullifying Roy Williams. That will then obviously hurt the value of Jon Kitna. If he's got no running game to rely on, then he could be in line for quite the number of INTs. Again, all specualtion until we find out the full diagnosis on Jones, but better safe than sorry.
Lamont Jordan, RB OAK: Now this injury may hurt some, but still not as bad as it hurt some people who took Jordan in the first round of their draft. He has been a monumental disappointment this year and has probably done more harm than good for your fantasy squad. To make it a little worse for you, the Raiders will immediately drop into a running back by committee. Justin Fargas and Zack Crockett will get the reps, with the majority going to Fargas and the goal line opps to Crockett. You might as well grab both if you're hurting at the RB spot and see how it plays out. Now the rumor is that he may only be out for like 4 weeks, but it's more likely he goes on IR, ending his season. Either way...it's not like you'd be psyched to see him come back and activate him for your championship game. Consider him done.
Impact on the rest of the team? Hey...they're the Raiders. They all suck and if any of them -- including Randy Moss -- is active for you, then you got some serious fantasy problems.
DeShaun Foster, RB CAR: Who would have thought it would take until week 11 to see this guy's name on an injury list. I can't believe he's lasted this long. Still, an elbow injury took him out of Sunday's game against the Rams and paved the way for DeAngelo Williams to start his NFL highlight reel. While the team fully expects Foster to be active for week 12, it certainly has opened the door for more committee work by the two. If Williams is still available, well then obviously grab him. That would also mean that you're in a league of idiots, including you who drafted Foster without grabbing your insurance policy.
All other Panthers' fantasy values remain the same. If Williams shines through, they might even increase as teams will have to account for a speedster in the backfield now.
Marques Colston, WR NO: This must have been a kick in the groin to a lot of you out there. He left in the 1st quarter with a high ankle sprain and did not return. It's rumored to not be serious -- that he will play next week -- but Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper should be added as insurance. When your QB is capable of tossing for 500+ yards and his top guy is out, you know others will find a way to benefit. It looks like Joe Horn should be reaping the benefits most if Colston misses any length of time. He could return to his top form once again.
On a side note, this injury here is just karma for all of you losers out there in Yahoo! leagues that are using Colston as a tight end. Now go pick up Bubba Franks or Anthony Becht. Jackasses. I don't care what Yahoo! allows. You and your commish should have made the appropriate changes.
Hines Ward, WR PIT: From bad to worse for the defending champs. A hyperextended knee looks like it will keep Ward out for atleast week 12 -- possibly longer. If that's the case, then Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington should see a boost in value. Without Ward getting most of the looks from Big Ben, these guys could turn it on for the next few games. Washington is more of a possession guy, but Holmes has the speed and ability to be a deep threat. He's already had a few nice TD grabs.
One guy who really should see an improvement in value is TE Heath Miller. With Ward out, he could once again be a serious red zone target. I expect his production to increase over the next game or two.
Good luck filling the holes and plugging the gaps. Use your waiver picks wisely. Now is a time more crucial than any other.
posted by Howard Bender at
5:38 PM
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