Week Six: Third Bye Week Oct 10, 2008 | More

The fantasy season is off and running and it is hard to believe we are already through five weeks of action. There are five more weeks of byes, so make sure that you start to pick up players who have already had a bye week to cover your lineups. In this edition of The Brew Crew Corner we take a look at the position that has struggled the most, the TE’s.

Is it just me or has the TE position return to its mediocrity that it was a few years ago? Where are the big numbers? Where are the red zone catches? For example, in the past five weeks I have had almost zero production in my money league from the TE position.

Week One: Alge Crumpler – 4 ReYDs, 0TDs
Week Two: LJ Smith – 10 ReYDs, 0TDs
Week Three: LJ Smith – 0 ReYDs, 0TDs
Week Four: Jeremy Stevens – 0 ReYDs, 0TDs
Week Five: John Carlson – 0 ReYDs, 0TDs

Just to give you an example of the dropoff of TE scoring from last year to this year, here are the Top 5 TEs weekly averages.

2007    2008
15.3    17.8
14.9    11.4
13.8    10.8
13.6    10.4
11.9    9.8

The difference is 9.3 FP per game less for the Top 5. Also consider that through five weeks, only five TEs have more than one TD and no TE is averaging more than 59 ReYDs a game.

Let's look at who's off this week – Buffalo, Tennessee, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

QB’s on Week Four Bye:
The list includes: Trent Edwards, Kerry Collins, Brodie Croyle and Ben Roethlisberger.

RB’s on Week Four Bye:
This list includes: Marshawn Lynch, Chris Johnson, LenDale White, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore.

WR’s on Week Four Bye:
This list includes: Lee Evens, James Hardy, Justin Gage, Brandon Jones, Dwayne Bowe, Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward.

TE’s on Week Four Bye:
This list includes: Robert Royal, Alge Crumpler, Tony Gonzalez and Heath Miller.

K’s on Week Four Bye:
This list includes; Rian Lindell, Rob Bironas, Nick Novak and Jeff Reed.

The Golden Mug Award
Awarded to the fantasy player who came through for their team.
DeAngelo Williams – 20 carries for 123 RuYDs, 2TDs and 1 rec. for 25 ReYDs, 1TD. The Carolina Panthers have been relying on their run game as they are getting 123 RuYDs (11th) per game. Williams continues to hold off rookie Jonathan Stewart for the starting job with big performances.

Brandon Jacobs – 15 carries, 136 RuYDs, 2TDs. Key number, nine, as in nine yards per carry. With Plaxico Burress out of the lineup everyone knew that the Giants would lean on the run more but the Giants offense had their way with the Seahawks starting with Jacobs.

Andre Johnson – 9 rec., 131 ReYDs, 1TD. Johnson remains one of those fantasy players that is always overlooked. So far this year he has had two great games and two poor games. The Texans must rely on Johnson if they expect to win a game and look for them to keep throwing him the ball.

The Urinal Cake Award
Awarded to the fantasy player who you would like to, well you know.
Larry Johnson – 7 carries for 2 RuYDs. Wow what an egg. You knew that Johnson was going to have a tougher matchup but going from back-to-back 100+ RuYD games where the last game he rushed for 198 YDs and 2TDs, to having a game like this is disappointing. Granted the Chiefs couldn’t muster anything in the game but you would think Johnson would get more than two yards.

Deuce McAllister – 6 carries for 13 RuYDs. After last week where you saw Deuce jump over the pile, get a good amount of carries and look like he’s back in the mix of things, he goes back to producing next to nothing. The train has left for McAllister to be productive. He should take his seat next to Ahman Green and Rudi Johnson and head to wherever Shaun Alexander has gone.

Jon Kitna – 8 for 16 with 74 PaYDs and 0TDs. With Matt Millen out of the way and an extra week to prepare for a division rival, the Lions stunk it up lead by Kitna. Now I know he’s probably been reduce to QB2 status in most leagues but someone used him in Week 5 as a bye week fill in and got burned.

MATCH-UPS

The matchups I like this week for QB’s:
Drew Brees against the Raiders. Even though Brees threw two INTs last week, he still passed for over 300 yards and tossed a TD. The Saints are leading the league in PaYDs with 325.8 per game. They face a Raider team with more drama then Grey’s Anatomy. Many players were on the side of Lane Kiffin and you have to wonder if they will care about the rest of the season. The defense hasn’t been great as they have allowed 212.8 PaYDs (18th) per game and are near the bottom in points scored against with 25.2 ppg (21st). That’s at least 2-3 TDs for Brees.

Tony Romo against the Cardinals. It’s funny how one loss can change the perception people have about a team. Washington goes into Dallas and wins and then they struggle to beat the Bengals and all of a sudden they are looked at as the third-best team in the NFC East. I think the Cowboys will look at this game to make a statement to the rest of the league that they aren’t losing their swagger and that they are among the NFC elite. The Cardinals played well without Anquan Boldin and beat an undefeated Buffalo team convincingly at home. Arizona has been middle of the pack in their pass defense allowing 204.2 PaYDs (14th) per game. Both teams need this game and this could turn in to a shoot out.

Donavan McNabb against the 49ers. The Eagles without Brian Westbrook are not a great team as the offense struggles without him. They will have to put together a better game plan this week to keep pace with the rest of the NFC East as the other three teams have good matchups in Week 6. If they don’t take advantage of the matchup with the 49ers, it could be a long season ahead. The San Fran offense has been playing better but the defense is still giving up a ton of points. The 49ers have given up 25.4 ppg (22nd) and are allowing 215.6 (19th) PaYds per game. They are also tied for 13th with six PaTDs allowed.

The matchups I like this week for RB’s:
Clinton Portis against the Rams. Portis is currently the sixth RB in shark leagues through Week 5 putting up first round numbers, but slipped in some leagues to the second round. Portis is averaging 21 FP per game and has gone over 100 RuYDs the past two games. He faces a Rams team that is now transitioning to a new head coach and has been blown out in each of its game by an average of 26 points. To make matters worse they are giving up 166 RuYDs (28th) on average. The Redskins have been playing well since Week 2 and should wrap up this game easily.

Matt Forte against the Falcons. Forte has been a draft steal so far and has outperformed the RB’s selected in the Top 3 overall. Forte is averaging 23.2 FP per game and is tied with Reggie Bush for second overall among RB’s and is only one FP behind Frank Gore. He faces the Falcons who have played well, winning three of its first five games this season. The Falcons, however, still give up a ton of yards on the ground as they have allowed 125.8 RuYDs (21st) per game. The Falcons have also given up five RuTDs so far this season.

Ronnie Brown against the Texans. All aboard! The Ronnie express bandwagon is officially moving and picking up steam. Most people didn’t know how healthy Brown would be and he came at great value as a medium-risk, high-reward player. After a slow start, he is now on a roll thanks to the wing formation and some trick plays. Brown has another great matchup to continue his comeback player of the year campaign and Houston will give up a ton of yards to him. Houston had allowed 139.8 RuYDs (26th) per game and leads the league with eight RuTDs allowed. That’s two per game!

The matchups I don’t like this week for QB’s:
Derek Anderson against the Giants. How the wheels have fallen off of this bandwagon. The gas is almost empty for Anderson’s fantasy stardom. Coming through last year with great numbers, Anderson finished as the fifth best QB in Shark Leagues. This season he is 30th among QB’s and is averaging just 7.75 FP per game. He faces a very tough Giants team on Monday night which will magnify the spotlight and fire under his seat. If they start the game slow or Anderson plays poorly, we could see Brady Quinn take over. The Giants defense has allowed just 154 PaYDs (2nd) per game and given up just 12.2 (2nd) ppg. while giving up just three PaTDs all year. Not to mention the Giants are first in the league in points scored with 31.8 ppg.

Matt Hasselbeck against the Packers. Did the Seahawks look as bad as the Rams last week? Had they not had beaten the Rams before their bye, I would have thought they were just as bad. Hasselbeck did have his security blanket in Bobby Engram return but Deion Branch showed up for three catches before retuning to the injury list. Thanks for coming. The Packers have problems of their own, but Seattle has more questions on both sides of the ball than Green Bay. The Green bay defense is still holding teams to 201.8 PaYDs (13th) per game but Seattle is only getting 156 PaYDs (28th) per game and Hasselbeck has only two PaTDs on the year.

Jake Delhomme against the Buccaneers. Something tells me this game will be a low-scoring FG-winning type game where everyone’s stats will look crappy. These are two division rivals and the Panthers would love to be in first alone while the Bucs are looking to share the lead. The Bucs defense does give up yards as they have given up 218.6 PaYDs (21st) per game but are allowing just 18.8 (8th) ppg. Like I said look for a defensive battle in this one.

The matchup I don't like this week for RB's:
Rudi Johnson/Kevin Smith against the Vikings. The Lions came off the bye last week and looked horrible. The Lions run game is almost non-existent. Smith and Johnson combined for 54 RuYDs and 1TD. The team is averaging just 72.2 RuYDs (31st) per game. They face a Viking team that was handed a win last week in New Orleans and will look to salvage their season with a win at home against Detroit. The run defense has been solid as expected for Minnesota as they have allowed 68.4 RuYDs (3rd) per game which is what you can expect the Lions to rush for.

Edgerrin James against the Cowboys. The Cardinals running game hasn’t produced a lot of yards as they average 94.2 RuYDs (24th) per game. They do however have eight RuTDs between Edge and Tim Hightower. It should be noted that Hightower has five of those RuTDs with 1/3 of the carries. They face a Dallas team that will be looking to make a statement in this game as they have taken a back seat since losing to the Redskins in the division. They are still playing the run well as they have given up just 95 RuYDs (10th) per game. I think the Cowboys will look to dominate this game to quiet the doubters and keep pace with the Giants and the Redskins who have favorable matchups this week.

Earnest Graham against the Panthers. Like Jake Delhomme, Graham will have a tough day as I see this one played close. He may punch it in but might be held to under 100 RuYDs and Warrick Dunn has been stealing some touches. The Panthers defense has allowed just 98.4 RuYDs (13th) per game and have surrendered just one RuTD all year.

Week Six, start making those trade deals and ridding yourself of the dead wood that doesn’t give you production. If you’re tops in your league, start looking down the road to potential playoff matchups.

Good Luck to everyone in week six.

Cheers!