Fantasy Football Fix August 4th 2010
Charles Scott is impressing Philadelphia Eagles coaches and we here at WMFL are starting to think he might make an impact this year as Mike Bell has fallen to injury. Bell was expected to be the goal-line, power back but due to injury Scott is getting a chance at the role and is impressing Eagles brass. Scott has the build of a power back and is expected to work his way into a 60/40 timeshare by next year. Draft in dynasty leagues and put on your radar in redraft leagues.
Mike Martz says that Jay Culter is a perfect fit for his offense, noting that “he has that Kurt Warner awareness”, lofty praise but it is a statement fantasy owners must pay attention to. It is not long ago that Cutler was considered a to-5 keeper option at QB coming off highly productive seasons and with two emerging wide receivers to throw the ball to. Than came the McDaniels feud and Cutler was ousted to Chicago where he failed to live up to expectations but still tossed 27 touchdowns, good for a tie for 8th in the league and was the 10th ranked fantasy QB. We can expect him to get at least 3 more touchdown passes this year which would put him at 30 and tie him with Aaron Rodgers’ last year TD numbers.
Ryan Mathews is working on his pass catching skills after practice and this news is enough to give credence to Norv Turner’s projection of 40+ catches for Ryan Mathews; to put that in perspective Adrian Peterson had 43 last year despite playing with passing down back Chester Taylor. Mathews is an RB1 waiting to happen but see if you can land him as your RB2 or add another potential RB1 to even things out.
Brett Favre will play if healthy. I will not spend anymore time on Favre.
Jordy Nelson continues to impress, is a Cris Carter favorite and may indeed be the wide receiver who ascends to the #2 role if Driver’s knees will not hold up for him. James Jones and Jordy Nelson both stand to see a major uptick in value if the aging Drivers health stops him from playing all 16 games this season. For dynasty league purposes it sounds like Nelson may have the better long-term prospects, with the news that Nelson is outplaying James Jones being a little concerning.
Maurice Jones-Drew is starting his own fantasy football show on Sirius radio and said that Arian Foster is one of his top sleepers. MJD is an avid fantasy football player that loves to draft himself (which is good news for his owners) and has quite a bit of fantasy knowledge. He calls Arian a perfect fit for Houston, says he comes from a similar system and that his physical tools and skills put him in a position to succeed.
Lendale White signs with the Denver Broncos, this is devastating news for KnowShon Moreno’s fantasy owners but is an understandable move from the Broncos standpoint as they just traded away Arrington the day before both Moreno and Buckhalter fell to injury. Moreno is still and RB2 with RB1 upside, but Moreno was heavily used in red-zone situations and may see his % of touches decreased because of the presence of White, which in turn limits Moreno’s stellar fantasy upside. There is talk he may not make the final roster and that he is just a camp body, so lets hope that is the case, and there is reason to believe it is as White is suspended for the first 4 games of the season.
Jamaal Charles may not be the feature back after all. This is a major concern for fantasy owners as Coach Todd Haley stated he intends to ride the hot-hand and for all intents and purposes make this backfield a true RBBC. With Dexter McCluster also in the picture for some carries this backfield just became more unattractive than before. They will be behind a ton and wont get opportunity to run as much as one would hope. Thomas Jones is a goal-line vulture that is now in a RBBC with unproven Jamaal Charles who many feel wont be able to hold up for an entire season. Thomas Jones has been one of the most effective running backs in the league in recent years and the Chiefs brought him in as a trusted veteran when and if Charles falters.
