The Hangover: What are you looking at?
BY JEFF THITOFF
I’ve long argued the point that by this time, only about half of the world’s fantasy football players still care about their seasons. Just a couple of weeks remain in your regular season and I believe more than the bottom third in your standings would rather wait for the start of baseball season.
You are obviously still involved. Thanks for reading, and congratulations…unless you are an owner of the “Mob” or the “Maynard Marauders” in my leagues.
We all have our hits and misses each week - I was way too optimistic about Matt Leinart this week, but I have continued to predict stellarness (new word) for Vince Young. I am loving this Vince Young story. I don’t know if he is destined for fantasy greatness (or stellarness), but he’s a guy I am rooting for. Did someone say Man Crush 2010?
My 2009 man crush Ryan Grant didn’t fare as well as I had hoped against Detroit, but I am still confident he will finish as a top-eight back when the season is over. He’s 12th in ESPN standard scoring leagues, but I think he could pass three of the guys in front of him: Gore, Addai and Turner (if he misses another game or two). If Steven Jackson’s back injury limits him, that’s another guy Grant could pass. That would put him 8th, and put me first in guru-ness.
What on earth were the Falcons thinking? Conn, Helbling and I all agreed that Atlanta should have sat Michael Turner instead of risking further injury. Now the Falcons will likely be without both Turner and Matt Ryan when they face the Eagles. In Week 14, Atlanta plays the Saints. Suddenly, I don’t like their playoff chances.
What on earth was I thinking? Although I did get great value in return, in my two most important leagues I have traded Drew Brees, Justin Forsett and Laurence Maroney at different times. I was smart enough to trade for Ray Rice (I overpaid for him in a keeper league), Wes Welker and Sidney Rice.
We’ll see how it all plays out, but in my four leagues I am in my combined record is 30-17-1. I clinched playoff berths in two leagues, I control my destiny in one and I need a little help in the other.
I love this stuff.
In this week’s hangover, I am going to pimp some of our upcoming materials and I’m going to provide you some links to the stories I found to be the most informative over the last couple of days.
Our own Adam Helbling knows his stuff. He was the only expert I know of that predicted Vince Young would be the starter coming out of the Titans’ bye week. He also had Josh Freeman starting this year for Tampa. What would that perfecta bet pay? His Waiver Wire story is here, and it’s a must-read.
I always read Peter King. His MMQB column is full of info, including news about the Colts resting their starters down the stretch.
The leader in our Experts Contest, CBS’ Dave Richard, offers his weekly “Fantasy and Reality” column. In it, he discusses some of his frustration with the whole Turner/Snelling/Falcons brass situation this week.
RotoExpert Mike Gilbert is calling this an important week for Carson Palmer and the Bengals receivers in his “Furious Five.”
According to ESPN’s Week 13 projections, Palmer bounces back against Oakland. The worldwide leader in sports has Thomas Jones going off this week.
CBS’ Jamey Eisenberg wonders why Brett Favre isn’t being started in more than 57 percent of leagues. I think part of this is due to teams out of the playoff race aren’t making lineup changes. Favre was off in Week Nine, so teams that benched him during the bye week (and fell out of contention) never put him back in the starting lineup.
Helbling’s “Risk Management” is going to be up shortly and make sure you check out the Thursday night show on Blog Talk radio at 9 PM ET. You won’t be disappointed…probably. No promises. It could suck. But you’ll be entertained. I think.
