I am the luckiest librarian today: I have yet another stellar post from a guest writer. Two in one day?! Whaaaaat? This rounds out the group of guest writers that I'm going to use on the blog for now: Jen, Michael, Bob, and now Steve. They all have different opinions and are full of thought-provoking advice. As you can see below, Steve makes me proud with his tremendous quantity of links and the consensus start/sit for the week. So get after it, give me feedback on these great writers, and most of all, good luck in Week 8.
Just kidding… I’ll buy myself several drinks for being so bad at predicting the future. Besides, you admitted you don’t care about me anyway.
Full disclosure: I’m new to the fantasy advice game. I’ve
been playing fantasy since 2005 (not quite as long as Michael),
and am currently in 4 leagues, which is a record for me; I usually have 3, but
my family wanted to start up one this season for fun… so far be it from me to
opt out of that. Why I thought I could handle juggling 4 leagues AND
contributing to the fantasy blog that has helped win me 3 championships (and a
lot of $$) is beyond me, but I’m more excited about this opportunity than at
least 2 of my leagues anyway. Thank you to Sara, hello Jen, Michael, and Bob,
and greetings to anyone else reading.
You probably already know this, but the teams on bye weeks
this week are the Giants and 49ers. So you will be missing out on all of their
underperforming offensive players for at least one more week (Eli, Andre
Williams, Larry Donnell, Reuben Randle, Gore, Crabtree, Boldin, Davis,
Kaepernick; hat tip to Odell Beckham Jr.). I was high on Cruz this year, and in
my main league have Gore and Crabtree, so you can imagine how my season is
going. But you don’t care about me… you care about winning week 8.
Despite a slew of injuries to start and only 2 teams on
byes, you may have some questions on who to play; especially if you’re outside
a playoff spot looking in. You need a W and you need it now. Hopefully these
will help:
Bruno
Boys Start & Sit (they’ve broken it up not only by position, but also
start and sit; presumably to boost pageviews)
Bleacher
Report Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em (also posted yesterday)
NFL.com
Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em (okay Jen no more poaching links… promise)
Also, I really like the Fantasy Pros Start tool here, in which you compare
players to start based on different scoring. I use it a lot.
For those too lazy to click through 14 different links and
look up your guys, here are some consensus guys that made multiple lists for
starts and sits (Fantasy tip – don’t be lazy!). In no particular order:
QB STARTS:
Ryan Tannehill, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson,
Kyle Orton, Carson Palmer
QB SITS:
Andy Dalton, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Jay Cutler
RB STARTS:
Joique Bell, Lamar Miller, Jerrick McKinnon, Shane Vereen,
Andre Ellington, Ahmad Bradshaw
RB SITS:
Alfred Morris, Chris Ivory, Chris Johnson, Steven Jackson,
LeSean McCoy
WR STARTS:
Jeremy Maclin, Sammy Watkins, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin,
Terrence Williams
WR SITS:
Roddy White, Torrey Smith, Desean Jackson, Mohammad Sanu
Now just some thoughts on the recent waiver wire surge of
running backs. Obviously the big 3 this week were Bryce Brown (Bills), Denard
Robinson (Jags), and Tre Mason (Rams). I’m sure there was a feeding frenzy in
every league to get one or all 3 of these guys, but unless you’re stockpiling
touches or hoarding points for the playoffs, I’m not really sure I see the
hype. First of all, if you need a win ASAP to stay in contention, I know the
temptation is there to make a move and start someone new and fresh (as your
team is probably not living up to its potential). But take a closer look and
you might not find what you want to see.
Tre Mason – I know Michael posted a bit about seeing ahead
and acting on opportunities such as his, but I’m really hesitant. Yes, he put
up 14.5 on Seattle’s defense and Stacy didn’t touch the ball once, but that
backfield situation is a MESS right now, and with Jeff Fisher saying things like
“it’ll be a week-to-week thing” and “Zac could get 25 carries this week”, I’m
not really confident starting Mason. And when you look at his schedule down the
stretch, it makes it look even more bleak: KC this week, then SF, ARI, DEN, SD,
OAK, WAS, ARI, NYG. With the exception of the Raiders, that’s somewhat of a
murderer’s row for running backs. I understand starting him if you’re desperate
and have no other options, but temper expectations.
The same could be said for Denard Robinson. Gerhart is returning
and will get some snaps, but even as the starter, this week is not the best time
to deploy the flavor of the week in Jacksonville’s backfield. Miami’s run D is
SOLID. Plain and simple. Since week 3, no RB has had more than 50 rushing yards
against them, and only 1 TD. A lot of people (including Bob)
are high on streaming them as a DST this week, which makes it counter-intuitive
to be pro-Miami Defense and pro-Jaguars running back. Robinson also has a bye
in week 11, which is another lost week right before playoff time. And also…
he’s on the Jaguars. I’m staying away.
Easily the best back of the three I listed is Bryce Brown,
who was a monster 2 seasons ago in LeSean McCoy’s absence in Philly. He has
fumbling issues, yes, but is an athletic freak that definitely has huge upside.
However, I think it will be more of an RBBC than people think between him and
Anthony Dixon, and since Kyle Orton took over, the Bills have been pass happy
(never thought I’d say that in my lifetime). He plays the Jets this week who
are also pretty decent against the run, and has a bye next week… effectively
making two useless weeks in a row. Three if you count playing the Chiefs after
the bye. Four if you count going to Miami after that in week 11. Five if you
count playing the Jets AGAIN week 12. The Bills are winning games, but it’s not
really because of their running backs. Jackson was good in PPR, so maybe Brown
has some upside there, but otherwise stick him in your flex spot and hope for
the best.
I know you’re desperate, and unfortunately I don’t have any
suggestions on who you could plug ‘n play instead of the 3 I just listed, but
again, just try to temper expectations and say some prayers to the fantasy gods
Saturday night. If you’re deploying any of these guys, I hope I’m wrong for
your sake. If all 3 go off, I’ll buy you a drink.
Just kidding… I’ll buy myself several drinks for being so bad at predicting the future. Besides, you admitted you don’t care about me anyway.
*Okay, the last one
was a joke.
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