Fantasy Football Fix July 20th 2010
Chris Johnson lead the NFL with 400+ touches last season and by all accounts the Titans are planning to scale back his workload and give Javon Ringer some touches and the opportunity to spell Chris Johnson. With that said CJ2K has publicly said he wants to rush for 2,500 yards this season, and that should have potential fantasy owners salivating from the mouth. The holdout is also over so do not hesitate if you have Chris Johnson ranked as your #1 overall fantasy running back.
Is Shonn Greene a legitimate feature back i.e. can he be an every-down running back? That is what Jets coaches will try to find out this off-season. LT is on board and ready for a resurgence but this is still Greene’s show and he will get, health permitting, 300+ carries but the Jets are also trying to ensure that he can stay on the field for some passing down and third-down work. Greene was not exactly a vaunted pass catcher in college so temper expectations.
Much like the folks here at WMFL, Eric Karabell agrees that LT still has some upside as a flex play or ‘bench starter’. Draft with confidence he should amass close to 200 total touches for the year.
Once again let us reiterate stay away from the Washington backfield, especially if Portis is your target. Clinton Portis has been named the starter but with a dreaded Mike Shannahan RBBC backfield we are staying as far away as we can. ESPN’s Eric Karabell agrees. The only running back to own in this mess, and this is only because his ADP make him no risk is Larry Johnson who is the most talented running back on this roster and should also emerge as the primary goal-line back.
Brandon LaFell will have to earn the starting job in Carolina according to Panthers beat writer Darin Gantt. Don’t panic, this is usually the case as most teams will give the incumbent veteran lip service at the very least. Carolina has a reputation for bringing their young receivers along slowly but LaFell is a superior talent vis a vis Jarrett and should find his way into the starting lineup by week 1 as the Panthers wide receivers coach is reportedly already a fan.
Rotoworld writer Adam Levitan says that supremely talented running back Steven Jackson may be too much of a risk. He argues that Steven Jackson has not lived up to his ADP based on position or draft slot the last couple of years, and also that running backs on bad teams have the odds…and the box, stacked against them. We respectfully disagree, S-Jax has been banged up for the better part of the last two years and now has a new QB and three legit wide-outs to help relieve some pressure from the box and the running game. Draft with confidence as high as 5th overall, S-Jax is a virtual lock to amass at least 100 yards from scrimmage night in and night out.
KFFL has released its QB Sleepers, Busts, Overvalued and Undervalued lists.
The undervalued list includes McNabb and Hasselbeck, two QB’s going in QB2 territory who are all but assured ot perform like low-end QB1’s. Both are in good situations but are undervalued due to a change in scenery and a poor 09 campaign respectively.
Their Bust list includes Matt Leinart, who we here at WMFL actually see as a decent sleeper in single QB leagues. He still has the offensive firepower to succeed, and with Larry Fitzgerald on your team you will probably look good even if you are decidedly bad.
Their Overvalued list includes Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers is indeed a first round talent, but no QB should be drafted in the 1st round no matter how talented, the only scenario we would approve a Aa-Rod selection in the 1st is if you have the last pick of the first round in a snake draft and will address either RB or WR with you second of consecutive picks.
Their Sleeper list includes Kevin Kolb and Jason Campbell two players with a good crop of wide receivers to throw to and respectable run games that will keep defense honest vertically. Kolb has a chance to be a decent QB1 while Campbell should be your backup until Schilens, DHB and Murphy display chemistry with their new QB.
Charles Scott of the Philadelphia Eagles is getting some deep sleeper love from Rotoworld, especially in dynasty league settings. They aptly point out that Mike Bell is his only competition for the #2 spot and being on a 1-year deal Scott will have every chance to take Bell’s spot and entrench himself in a time-share with lead back LeSean McCoy. Rotoworld also points out that the former LSU running back had 18 TD’s as a junior.
Exuberant Fantasy Analyst Brad Evans and Brando Funston of Yahoo Sports compared Mike Sims-Walker to Michael Crabtree and analyzed who has more fantasy value; Funston argued for Walker citing his red-zone usage and TD’s last season as his argument, while Evans cited Crabtree’s far superior talent coming off of a truncated season where he averaged a healthy 7.8 targets a game. We agree with Evans, while Sims-Walker has a lower floor, Crabtree is a better talent and has WR1 upside.
