Week Five: Second Week of Byes Oct 2, 2008 | More

So much can happen in just one week. Starters get benched, coaches get fired and players break out. Throw in injuries and bye weeks, and you’ll find your hands full trying to find available players to pick up and field a full lineup.

Breaking News: Brett Favre threw another TD during his bye week.

We’ve reached the first quarter of the football season, and if you’ve got a winning record then congratulations, because many other fantasy owners are either treading water or climbing out of a deep hole. Just remember, though, it is not how you start the season but how you finish. Start cutting bait with the players who you drafted as “sleepers” that seem like they won’t see the field or produce. Start looking for the owners in your league that have good depth at the positions you need to fill or use your depth to solidify your team.

Bailout! The banks aren’t the only ones needing help. In the last week we’ve seen one general manager and two head coaches fired. Will it save their season? Probably not, players on these teams will do one of two things. They will either mail in the season or play hard to showcase their talents for other teams for free agency. We might see more coaches get axed as the season goes on. Rod Marinelli in Detroit might find himself on the way out as well as Marvin Lewis.

I told everyone during the preseason to avoid Joey Galloway like the plague. So far I’m glad I did.

Here are the Top 5 players in Fantasy using Shark League scoring.

Top 5 QB’s:
Jay Cutler – 88 FPTs
Drew Brees – 86 FPTs
Aaron Rodgers – 81 FPTs
Philip Rivers – 80 FPTs
Kurt Warner – 80 FPTs

Top 5 RB’s:
Reggie Bush – 99 FPTs
Frank Gore – 98 FPTs
Marion Barber – 93 FPTs
Matt Forte – 92 FPTs
Adrian Peterson – 87 FPTs

Top 5 WR’s:
Anquan Boldin - 92 FPTs
Brandon Marshall - 87 FPTs
Santana Moss – 87 FPTs
Greg Jennings – 83 FPTs
Larry Fitzgerald – 76 FPTs

Top 5 TE’s:
Jason Witten – 68 FPTs
Antonio Gates – 52 FPTs
Tony Gonzalez – 45 FPTs
Tony Scheffler – 42 FPTs
Kellen Winslow, Jr. – 40 FPTs

QB’s on Week Five Bye:
The list includes: Derek Anderson, Brett Favre, JaMarcus Russell and Marc Bulger.

RB’s on Week Five Bye:
This list includes: Jamal Lewis, Thomas Jones, Darren McFadden, Justin Fargas and Steven Jackson.

WR’s on Week Five Bye:
This list includes: Braylon Edwards, Donte’ Stallworth, Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, Javon Walker, Ronald Curry, Tory Holt and Donnie Avery.

TE’s on Week Five Bye:
This list includes: Kellen Winslow, Jr., Dustin Keller, Zach Miller and John Klopftenstein.

K’s on Week Five Bye:
This list includes: Phil Dawson, Josh Brown, Sebastian Janikowski and Jay Feely.

The Golden Mug Award
Awarded to the fantasy player who came through for their team.
Brett Favre – 289 PaYDs, 6 TDs and 1 INT. Favre slung the rock all over the field. Even though Kurt Warner put up a ton of yards, Favre stuck the ball in the endzone. Hope you didn’t have him on the bench.

Larry Johnson – 28 carries for 198 RuYds and two TDs. Johnson was a beast in this game and he came through for the owners who have stuck by him. You were brave to draft him and for one week, he paid off.

Laveranues Coles – 8 Rec, 105 ReYds and 3 TDs. Many hoped that the signing of Favre would boost Coles, but injuries have limited Coles early. Coles broke out in a big way and now has the bye week to get healthier.

The Urinal Cake Award
Awarded to the fantasy player who you would like to, well you know.
Thomas Jones – 18 carries for 46 RuYds and 0 TDs. Fifty six points on the board, and Jones didn’t get a sniff of the action. You would think with the team up by so many points they would run it during the 4th quarter and Jones could have garbage points. I’m starting to get concerned about Jones as a flex option.

Donald Driver – 1 Rec for 8 ReYDs. Driver hasn't been the focus of the offense and with Aaron Rodgers banged up, he may not have a decent game for awhile.

Selvin Young – 11 carries for 49 RuYDs. The Broncos have the league’s top total yards per game at 435.5. Young, however, hasn’t seen much of that action. He hasn’t scored since week one. With Michael Pittman vulturing the TDs around the goal line and Ryan Torain returning soon, Young looks like a bust in 2008.

MATCHUPS

The matchups I like this week for QB’s:
Trent Edwards against the Cardinals. Favre comes in for a series to throw another TD and resumes his bye week. Just kidding, but Edwards and Buffalo must like their chances to extend their record to 5-0. Although Arizona had only allowed two passing TDs prior to Week 4 and give up just 204.5 PaYDs (16th) per game, it will be hard for them to bounce back after that shelling they just got.

Brian Griese against the Broncos. Griese has had one bad game followed by one good game and then another bad game. Maybe this week he has another good week. Denver has given up a ton of yards with 276 PaYDs (31st) per game. We may see Jeff Garcia soon if Griese can’t perform in this game.

Jon Kitna against the Bears. Kitna should be feeling the heat as Matt Millen has been fired and every game lost means Drew Stanton will take over for the season. He faces a Chicago team giving up 246.5 PaYDs (28th) per game. Look for Kitna to look for his two big receivers all game.

The matchups I like this week for RB’s:
Matt Forte against the Lions. The pieces are starting to fall for the Lions, and soon they will write off the season. Forte, as stated earlier, is the #4 RB and has a great matchup to keep himself in the Top 5. The Lions return from their bye week and have given up 207.7 RuYDs (32nd) and six RuTDs.

Steve Slaton against the Colts. Perhaps one of the reasons the Colts passing game has kept QB’s in check is because they have allowed a ton of yards on the ground. The Colts have given up 199.3 RuYDs (31st) and will miss Bob Sanders on the field. Slaton has showed he is versatile and will be used a lot in the offense.

Marion Barber against the Bengals. Eight carries for Barber will lead to an increase in touches this week. The Bengals are winless and that will not change this week. Barber faces a Cincinnati team that has allowed 164.2 RuYds (28th) and five RuTDs. We’ll see if Terrell Owens complains this week if Barber spends all game running up and down the field.

The matchups I don’t like this week for QB’s:
Kerry Collins against the Ravens. The Ravens lost a good game against the Steelers and will look to keep the Titans from going 5-0. The Ravens are allowing just 117 PaYDs (1st) per game and have allowed just two PaTDs.

Matt Hasselbeck against the Giants. Hasselbeck has been a good QB thorughout the years, but he just doesn’t have the receivers to throw to. Deion Branch has been practicing but he’s not going to be a factor this year. The Giants have come off the bye week having to sit Plaxico Burruss for a game. This will make the Giants focus on running the ball for most of the game which will eat up the clock. The Giants are also giving up just 167.7 PaYDs (5th) per game and have surrended just three PaTDs so far.

Matt Schaub against the Colts. Schaub’s job is in jeopardy and facing the Colts doesn’t help. The Colts are giving up just 141 PaYDs (2nd) per game and have yet to give up a PaTD. I think we will see Sage Rosenfels sometime in this game.

The match-up I don't like this week for RB's:
Clinton Portis against the Eagles. The Redskins are flying high after their win at Dallas while the Eagles were stuffed on the goal line and lost. Philly, however, has locked down RBs this season giving up just 53.8 RuYDs (1st) and only one RuTD. This will be a hard-fought division game that may become a shoot out.

Reggie Bush/Deuce McAllister against the Vikings. Even though the Vikings are 1-3, they still have a pretty good run defense. They are allowing 71.8 RuYDs (3rd) and Drew Brees will look to continue playing well.

Rudi Johnson against the Bears. Johnson finds himself a starter again, but it may not matter as the Lions will have to rely on their passing game and the Bears run defense has played well. They are giving up just 79.2 RuYDs (6th) per game. 

Week 5. I don’t think any coaches will get fired, but if your team falls to 0-5, fire your draft consultant.

Good Luck to everyone in week five.

Cheers!