Buy, Sell, Hold - Week 8 Oct 25, 2012 | More
More articles from Jake Hower

Seven weeks down. Halftime!

Unless your team is 7-0 right now, the first half of the season probably hasn’t gone exactly like you had hoped. And even if it has gone swimmingly so far, that doesn’t mean the second half will go just as well. And why is swimmingly an adverb that means it’s going well? I guess it’s better than “drowningly,” but why not “joggingly” or “jazzercisingly” or some other form of exercise that I refuse to do? Just kidding, I lover jazzercise!

But as we all know, even the best laid plans of mice and men often go down the crapper. If you had drafted the “perfect team” back in August, it would’ve looked something like (non-flex leagues):

• QB: Aaron Rodgers (GB)
• RB: Arian Foster (HOU)
• RB: Ray Rice (BAL)
• WR: Calvin Johnson (DET)
• WR: Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)
• WR: Julio Jones (ATL)
• TE: Jimmy Graham (NO)
• DST: San Francisco 49ers
• K: David Akers (SF)

But that roster wouldn’t even be the top scoring roster to date. Here’s what the “perfect team” would be if we based it on performance to this point:

• QB: Drew Brees (NO)
• RB: Arian Foster (HOU)
• RB: Ray Rice (BAL)
• WR: A.J. Green (CIN)
• WR: Victor Cruz (NYG)
• WR: Vincent Jackson (TB)
• TE: Tony Gonzalez (ATL)
• DST: Chicago Bears
• K: Lawrence Tynes (NYG)

The running backs are the same, not a huge surprise since people keep telling me that they’re pretty good, but every other name is different. Which lineup would you prefer moving forward? Or would you throw a different name into the mix?

Time to start thinking about how you want your team to look the rest of the way. You should know your strengths and weaknesses by now. And if you don’t…well, then we’ve definitely identified one of your weaknesses. Get to it boys and girls, we just turned the corner.

Onto the good, the bad, and the not sure if they’re worth the headache…

Week 8 BUYS:

The matchup between Peyton Manning and Drew Brees should be a great one on Sunday night. I’m putting the floor for combined scoring between these two elite level passers at 50 points. I should probably put it at 60. Brees is averaging an insane 30 points per game in standard scoring, with at least 35 points in his last three showdowns. Peyton is averaging about a touchdown less at 24 points per game, but I’d actually give him the edge if I had to pick who finished better on the night. Both quarterbacks are dialed in, but the defense Peyton is facing is far more giving than his own.

I’m glad I’m playing the team with Arian Foster this week in my longest standing league. I doubt I’m the only one celebrating that small victory this week. Ditto for you guys going up against a team with Ray Rice.

I’m buying that Miles Austin is the wide receiver you want to own in Dallas. In Week 6, Miles put up a rather craptastic three fantasy points, but every other week has been between 10-13 points. It’s nice when your wide receiver puts up 21 points like Dez Bryant did in Week 6, but the rest of his weeks have been a rollercoaster, including a pair of 1-point outings. Not sexy, but all of a sudden that two point weekly average that Miles is boasting over Dez looks even better.

Matchups I like this week:

• QB: Andrew Luck vs. Tennessee. It’s always nice when your quarterback dials up his own number at the goal line. It’s even nicer when he does it twice, which Luck did last week against Cleveland. Those two scores on the ground basically rescued a sub 200-yard, zero passing touchdown outing. Now, will he do that every week? Of course he will. At least he better if he ever finagles his way into my starting lineup. Luck hasn’t necessarily lit the fantasy world ablaze these past two weeks with five and 18 points, respectively. But he stands a good chance to eclipse those numbers this week (possibly combined) against the Titans who have given up at least 20 points to every quarterback they’ve faced but one.
• RB: Chris Johnson vs. Indianapolis. Whether or not you liked his moves in the end zone, you had to have liked his moves to get him there… unless he was starting against you. Johnson went off for just under 200 yards and two touchdowns, one of them from 83 yards out. Now he gets to follow up that performance with another inviting opponent in the Indianapolis Colts. If he doesn’t spend too much time dancing in the backfield, he should be making moves in the end zone again this week. Provided he doesn’t get stopped at the one yard line, because then it’s Jamie Harper’s time to shine.
• WR: Mike Wallace vs. Washington. Mike Wallace turned an awesome Week 7 into a rather crappy one. Wallace was targeted 15 times in the game, but only caught eight of them for 52 yards. That’s what we in the “biz” call a case of the “dropsies.” Yes, that is the technical term! Wanna fight? You started it. Whether it’s extra pine tar or maybe another 15 extra targets this week, I think Big Ben and O.C. Todd Haley will make sure Wallace gets on track against one of the league’s worst secondaries.

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