Fantasy Football Fix August 3rd 2010
Beanie Wells will see his work increased on passing downs…this is not to say that Tim Hightower is being phased out of the offense, but Wells will have more receptions this year. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt went as far as to remark that Beanie Wells receiving ability is a very underrated part of his game. Wells is picking up pass protection better and increased snaps will only increase his fantasy value as does an extra touch or two in the passing game. Wells can now be counted on for high-end RB2 value despite being in a time-share. Draft with confidence knowing that this special running back has RB1 potential.
Hakeem Nicks is emerging as the Giants #1 option. He is the player Manning invited to his passing camp and is clearly the most talented receiver on this roster. We were saying this all off-season but now that ESPN New York agrees I am sure a lot of you will be jumping on the bandwagon. Utilize Nicks as a mid-value WR2, he has big time potential and depending on your draft strategy you may be able to employ him as your WR3.
Projections are much more useful than rankings but major providers such as Yahoo and ESPN just cant seem to get them right. CBS Fantasy Football does a great job at their wide receiver projections all throughout the season and is the source we use even though we do not play the CBS game. You want as many perspectives as possible when making your lineup and draft decisions and CBS fantasy football projections for wide receivers are second to none.
Training camp injury update: Hakeem Nicks went down with a hyper-extended knee; Jeremy Maclin was also injured
Ramses Barden has won over Eli Manning, and with the recent injury to Nicks one has to believe that Barden is only inches away from fantasy relevance. Barden is not ‘rosterable’ yet but if he can secure the 3rd wide receiver job behind Nicks, or in the event Nicks is out for an extended period, Manningham than Barden has the potential to become relevant as a bye-week filler or flex play. He will be a top red-zone target for the Giants and that is where he will accrue his fantasy value.
Rumors have it that Brett Favre has told the Vikings he plans to retire, Vincent Shiancoe said that he has heard the same thing in the Vikings locker room, whole other reports deny these claims. Even if Favre does come out and say he will retire again many are still likely to be skeptical. If Favre does retire you can downgrade Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Vincent Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian and you can upgrade Adrian Peterson as he will get a ton of touches. The Vikings have been reported to have increased their salary offer to Favre if he comes back.
Will Adrian Peterson top 400 touches if Brett Favre actually does retire? NFL networks Mike Mayock believes that this just may be the case. If this is true we can expect AP to threaten at least 1800 yards from scrimmage. Adrian Peterson is still the safest fantasy running back on the planet and if you are lucky enough to land him you can ride him to your leagues playoffs.
Chester Taylor will have fantasy value in Chicago, While Forte has looked like the better back as expected what is noteworthy is that there is currently a pretty even split of first-team snaps between Forte and Taylor. At worst Taylor will provide bye-week filler value and should be good for 60+ total yards a game and about 5 all-purpose touchdowns for the year.
As discussed earlier this week, Johnny Knox is emerging as the Chicago Bears #1 receiver, this is all the more reason to bump him up your cheat sheets. Knox is Cutler’s favorite target and that alone can make you a WR2, the fact he is is a pass happy offense also helps his fantasy value. He is a ideal fit for Mike Martz’ system and is poised to build on a strong second half of the season filled with glimpses of Knox’s potential.
