Fantasy Football Fix August 17th 2010

Fantasy Football Fix August 17th 2010

Zach Miller has proven to be Jason Campbell’s top target as expected and he should eclipse 1000 yards receiving and 5 TD’s; a breakout season seems all but inevitable. Campbell and Miller already have a great feel for eachother and this on-field chemistry will only strengthen as their time together progresses. Draft with confidence in the later rounds of your draft as an TE1.

Draft season is upon us and our friends at Fantasy Knuckleheads have provided a very solid list of fantasy football keepers. One name that popped out to me was Darrius Heyward-Bey a very promising wide receiver prospect whose rookie campaigns was mired by drops and an inaccurate QB. Now with a new QB n the fold and a summer dedicated to improving his hands DHB has something to prove…especially after being controversially being drafted in front of Michael Crabtree. We like DHB as a bye week filler with flex upside so take Fantasy Knuckleheads comments into consideration on draft day.

Victor Cruz was the star of week 1 of preseason and may have earned himself a roster spot with his breakout 3 touchdown performance. He is a name to watch in dynasty leagues but is not a name that should make it to your cheat sheets just yet. Add him to your watch list post-draft.

Fantasy Knuckleheads has provided us fantasy diehards with a Defensive/Special teams ranking where they have the Philadelphia Eagles as their top ranked D/ST. You can see their fantasy football team defense rankings here.

Promising rookie Demaryius Thomas is back catching passes at practice one week after aggravating his foot injury and this bodes well for his prospects of beginning the season in the starting lineup. The Broncos did not draft Thomas so high for him to sit, and as soon as health permits he will likely see a healthy complement of snaps. Demaryius qualifies as a deep sleeper and is someone that should be targeted at the tail-end of drafts as a mid-season and on flex option with WR2 upside……believe it.

Sammie Storugther to be the Buccaneers 2nd WR starter? Indications from the St. Petersburg Times suggest that this may be the case and this is does not deviate from the whispers we have been coming across. Arrelious Benn has been a disappointment and will have to push Strougther into the slot where he will likely enjoy his most success. Suggestions that they plan to put him in motion and use him ‘similar to Wes Welker’ highlight Strougter’s potential upside especially in PPR leagues. It is time to add Sammie Stroughter…..Josh Freeman’s roommate….to your cheat sheets.

Ben Tate should remain on the fantasy radar for all dynasty league managers and if your league has an IR…there is no better use of it than a promising young running back who coach Gary Kubiak admits “…I was hard on him because I knew was going to help this team a great deal. And he will again.”. This sounds like a coach in love with a young, highly promising player…what more do we need to know? Regardless of how well Arian Foster or Steve Slaton does this year, Tate remains the superior talent and Kubiak and the rest of the staff know this and will give Tate every opportunity to secure the feature back job he was drafted for.

Ryan Grant has returned to practice ending any potential for Brandon Jackson to obtain sleeper status. Grant is still a solid RB2.