Saturday, November 13, 2010

Fantasy football: Last minute pickups-hot starts

Week 10 is the last week for byes and injuries are still hurting teams. With that said, there are still some solid producing players still available on many waiver wires from what I can see.

If you need a quarterback and tight end with a shot for double-digit production, Detroit is one team to focus on. Shaun Hill returns as the starter and he was fantasy-hot filling in for Matthew Stafford from Week 2-6. And one of the guys he threw to a lot was tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Expect 15-20 points from both players in Week 10.

If you need a receiver, Tennessee's Nate Washington is a guy to go after if he's available. With injured Kenny Britt out for several more games, Washington will reap some of the benefits. Sure, new addition Randy Moss will likely be "the guy" with the Titans. But the double teams that would have been on Washington will now move over to Moss.

Another guy people seem to be shying away from is kicker Shayne Graham who is taking over for injured Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Graham is pumped to finally land a full time job after bouncing around this season and that Pats offense will give him plenty of field goal opportunities.

Fantasy football: BREAKING NEWS-Vikings' Rice WILL NOT PLAY in Week 10

On Saturday afternoon there were several reports claiming that Minnesota receiver Sidney Rice would be activated and would play in his first game this season. But according to the Vikings' official web site, Rice has NOT been activated and WILL NOT play this week.
Rice has been out all season recovering from hip surgery. He is being targeted for a 2010 debut in Week 11 against Green Bay.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Fantasy football: Roddy White Breaking News-weekly injury update

All week there has been concern whether Atlanta Falcons receiving phenom Roddy White would start tonight against the Baltimore Ravens in a rare mid-season Thursday night start.
White injured his knee last week and had to play the second half with a brace. He missed practice Monday and Tuesday, was limited on Wednesday and enters tonight's game as questionable on the injury report.

But the Atlanta Falcons' web site is reporting that White WILL START tonight. While the Ravens' defense is ranked 9th in the league and safety Ed Reed has three interceptions in his last two games since returning from injury, the Falcons are nearly unbeatable at home.
Quarterback Matt Ryan is 17-1 at the Georgia Dome and is one of the most accurate QBs the Ravens will face this season.
Start Roddy White with confidence along with Matt Ryan and tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Another injury to monitor for this weekend (Week 10) is Giants receiver Steve Smith who injured his pectoral muscle in practice today (Thursday) and was unable to stay on the field. The fear is the muscle could be torn forcing extended loss of playing time. It is unlikely he will play Sunday but monitor his status the next 24 hours.

Also, (and this is killing me since I traded for the guy) Arizona back Beanie Wells (knee injury) missed practice on Thursday and is questionable for Sunday. Wells said on the Cardinals' web site he is still a go for Sunday but he said that last week and ended up carrying the ball once in Week 9. Ouch.

Migraine headaches continue to plague Minnesota receiver Percy Harvin who sat out practice today (Thursday) and could sit out this Sunday. If that's the case, watch for the Vikings to activate Sidney Rice and put him on the field this week. Rice has been recovering from hip surgery and if you patiently have kept him on your bench, get ready to tap that activate button in Week 10.

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Fantasy football: Week 9 recap

Fantasy football production ran off the charts in just about every category in Week 9 led by the emergence of cagey old veteran Brett Favre.
Favre used a late fourth quarter comeback to lead Minnesota to victory and in the process threw for 446 yards and two touchdowns. Not to be outdone by the old man, young whippersnapper Mark Sanchez led the Jets to a late fourth quarter comeback and eventual win and in the process threw for 336 yards and a touchdown.

Other quarterbacks who had a solid Week 9 were Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buffalo) 299 yards, 1 touchdown; Philip Rivers (San Diego) 295 yards, 4 touchdowns; and Peyton Manning (Indianapolis) 294 yards, 1 touchdown.

When it came to running backs Cleveland's Peyton Hillis was the hot man with 184 yards and two touchdowns. Houston's Arian Foster had another impressive if not busy day with 127 yards rushing, two rushing TDs, four receptions and 70 receiving yards. Other backs who had stud performances were Michael Turner (Atlanta) 107 yards, 2 touchdowns; Rashard Mendenhall (Pittsburgh) 99 yards, 1 touchdown and LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia) 95 yards.

Receivers weren't about to be outdone by the backs as three had over 140 yards receiving - Jacoby Ford (Oakland) 6 receptions, 148 yards; Steve Johnson (Buffalo) 11 receptions, 145 yards; and Terrell Owens (Cincinnati) 10 receptions, 141 yards, 2 touchdowns. Others with solid receiving performances were Hakeem Nicks (Giants) 6 receptions, 128 yards, 1 touchdown and Percy Harvin (Minnesota) 9 receptions, 126 yards.
Dallas Clark? Who needs Dallas Clark when you have Jacob Tamme (and Peyton Manning throwing the ball). Tamme (Indianapolis) had another solid performance as Clark's replacement with 11 receptions, 108 yards and 1 touchdown. Other top tight ends were Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta) 8 receptions, 72 yards; Joel Dreessen (Houston) 5 receptions, 66 yards; Visanthe Shiancoe (Minnesota) 4 receptions, 66 yards, 1 touchdown; and Tony Moeaki (Kansas City) 6 receptions, 63 yards.


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