Week Seven: The Midway Point

Week Seven: The Midway Point

 

After week seven you will have reached the midway point of the fantasy season. Most leagues play a 14 game schedule where weeks 15-17 are reserved for the playoffs. Now that week 6 is over you should have a better understanding of how the 2007 football season is going. The infinite amount of injuries has shaken up everyone’s rosters. It has helped some owners who were able to grab more productive players off the waiver wire or have a back up step into the starting roll but more so, it has hurt teams who thought they drafted a dominant team.

 

I’ve been trying to wheel and deal all this week to make improvements. I am happy with my two 5-1 teams in my money leagues but you can’t settle in the middle of the season. I have to keep improving every aspect of my team as much as I can. 5-1 can easily turn into 6-6 if you stop working at preparing.

 

These bye weeks have been brutal on people and the fantasy season as been very up and down. For example one of the worse teams in one of my leagues set a record for points in two consecutive weeks. 54 points in week 5 and then he posted 198 points in week 6. It’s a strange world sometimes.

 

Since we’re almost at the midway point, we should look at the top 10 players drafted at every position and the top 10 players at each position after 6 weeks. These draft positions are based on Shark League drafts and the rankings are based on Shark League scoring.

 

	Top 10 QB’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Manning, Peyton IND QB	1	Brady, Tom NEP QB	146
2	Palmer, Carson CIN QB	2	Romo, Tony DAL QB	136
3	Brady, Tom NEP QB	3	Anderson, Derek CLE QB	122
4	Brees, Drew NOS QB	4	Favre, Brett GBP QB	105
5	Bulger, Marc STL QB	5	Palmer, Carson CIN QB	102
6	McNabb, Donovan PHI QB	6	Hasselbeck, Matt SEA QB	97
7	Young, Vince TEN QB	7	Manning, Peyton IND QB	97
8	Romo, Tony DAL QB	8	Manning, Eli NYG QB	92
9	Rivers, Philip SDC QB	9	Kitna, Jon DET QB	86
10	Kitna, Jon DET QB	10	Schaub, Matt HOU QB	86

 

The list of QB’s has 4 players in the top then that were all drafted as back ups. The biggest surprise is

Derek Anderson at #3 and

Eli Manning only 5 points less then

Payton Manning, who isn’t in the top five.

 

	Top 10 RB’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Tomlinson, Ladainian SDC RB	1	Brown, Ronnie MIA RB	167
2	Jackson, Steven STL RB	2	Tomlinson, Ladainian SDC RB	161
3	Johnson, Larry KCC RB	3	Peterson, Adrian MIN RB	132
4	Gore, Frank SFO RB	4	Westbrook, Brian PHI RB	120
5	Alexander, Shaun SEA RB	5	McGahee, Willis BAL RB	118
6	Addai, Joseph IND RB	6	James, Edgerrin ARI RB	109
7	Westbrook, Brian PHI RB	7	Jordan, Lamont OAK RB	109
8	Parker, Willie PIT RB	8	Ward, Derrick NYG RB	106
9	Bush, Reggie NOS RB	9	Addai, Joseph IND RB	99
10	Johnson, Rudi CIN RB	10	Barber, Marion DAL RB	99

 

The RB list is the craziest mix as most 1^st round studs have been duds. Most of these guys are RB2 or RB3 with

Derrick Ward being the only one in the group that was a waiver pick up.

Adrian Peterson was outside the top 10 last week before his monster week 6 performance.

 

	Top 10 WR’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Smith, Steve CAR WR	1	Moss, Randy NEP WR	146
2	Johnson , Chad CIN WR	2	Houshmandzadeh, T.J. CIN WR	138
3	Harrison, Marvin IND WR	3	Burress, Plaxico NYG WR	126
4	Owens, Terrell DAL WR	4	Edwards, Braylon CLE WR	123
5	Holt, Torry STL WR	5	Smith, Steve CAR WR	119
6	Wayne, Reggie IND WR	6	Johnson , Chad CIN WR	109
7	Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR	7	Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR	99
8	Williams, Roy DET WR	8	Mason, Derrick BAL WR	96
9	Houshmandzadeh, T.J. CIN WR	9	Welker, Wes NEP WR	94
10	Colston, Marques NOS WR	10	Owens, Terrell DAL WR	93

 

There have been plenty of doubters on

Randy Moss but those who were able to draft him late as a WR2 or WR3 is reaping the benefits.

Plaxico Burress is always underrated on draft day and

Wes Welker is in a great system to rack up points.

Derek Mason however is a player whose numbers are misleading. He is only averaging 75 yds a game and has only 1 TD in 6 games.

 

	Top 10 TE’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Gates, Antonio SDC TE	1	Gates, Antonio SDC TE	112
2	Gonzalez, Tony KCC TE	2	Witten , Jason DAL TE	99
3	Heap, Todd BAL TE	3	Gonzalez, Tony KCC TE	98
4	Shockey, Jeremy NYG TE	4	Winslow, Kellen CLE TE	89
5	Davis, Vernon SFO TE	5	Clark, Dallas IND TE	83
6	Winslow, Kellen CLE TE	6	Watson, Ben NEP TE	67
7	Cooley, Chris WAS TE	7	Daniels, Owen HOU TE	62
8	Crumpler, Alge ATL TE	8	Cooley, Chris WAS TE	61
9	Witten , Jason DAL TE	9	Clark, Desmond CHI TE	58
10	Watson, Ben NEP TE	10	Shockey, Jeremy NYG TE	56

 

The TE group has been the most consistent where players have performed as expected.

Dallas Clark has been a nice surprise before his injury and

Desmond Clark has been holding off the rookie

Greg Olson during the 1^st few weeks but Olson has had two good weeks in a row.

 

	Top 10 KR’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Vinatieri, Adam IND PK	1	Stover, Matt BAL PK	78
2	Kaeding, Nate SDC PK	2	Brown, Kris HOU PK	77
3	Wilkins, Jeff STL PK	3	Folk, Nick DAL PK	72
4	Gould, Robbie CHI PK	4	Rackers, Neil ARI PK	63
5	Graham, Shayne CIN PK	5	Feely, Jay MIA PK	61
6	Elam , Jason DEN PK	6	Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK	60
7	Rackers, Neil ARI PK	7	Kasay, John CAR PK	60
8	Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK	8	Crosby, Mason GBP PK	58
9	Stover, Matt BAL PK	9	Vinatieri, Adam IND PK	56
10	Akers, David PHI PK	10	Dawson, Phil CLE PK	55

 

Everyone’s favorite position, the kicker. Personally, I wish this position was wiped out or combined with defenses. I don’t ever draft a back up kicker and when it is my KR’s bye week, I take the zero. So far, I’ve done pretty well with that strategy. As you can see, only 4 of the top 10 KR’s drafted are currently in the top ten. This shows that KR’s are unpredictable and that you can always get a good one with your last pick or off the waiver wire.

 

	Top 10 D/ST’s Drafted by Position		Current Top 10 by Position
1	Bears, Chicago CHI Def	1	Patriots, New England NEP Def	93
2	Ravens, Baltimore BAL Def	2	Steelers, Pittsburgh PIT Def	84
3	Patriots, New England NEP Def	3	Ravens, Baltimore BAL Def	81
4	Chargers, San Diego SDC Def	4	Cowboys, Dallas DAL Def	79
5	Steelers, Pittsburgh PIT Def	5	Chiefs, Kansas City KCC Def	77
6	Broncos, Denver DEN Def	6	Giants, New York NYG Def	77
7	Dolphins, Miami MIA Def	7	Vikings, Minnesota MIN Def	77
8	Cowboys, Dallas DAL Def	8	Bears, Chicago CHI Def	76
9	Jaguars, Jacksonville JAC Def	9	Packers, Green Bay GBP Def	75
10	Eagles, Philadelphia PHI Def	10	Chargers, San Diego SDC Def	73

 

Team defenses are also unpredictable but good defenses are still good. The Bears went very early in most drafts and if it wasn’t for

Devin Hester’s return TD’s, this defensive unit would seriously be hurting their owners. The Chiefs and Giants have been waiver surprises after slow starts.

 

Let’s look at the players not available for this week and what players you can use to fill the void.

 

QB’s on Week Seven Bye:

The list for this week includes,

Philip Rivers

,

Brett Favre,

Derek Anderson and Vinny

Testaverde/

David Carr. Here are five names to look at to fill the void.

Jeff Garcia,

Damon Huard,

Matt Hasselbeck,

Ben Roethlisberger and

Kyle Boller (if he starts).

 

RB’s on Week Seven Bye:

This list includes

LaDainian Tomlinson

/

Michael Turner,

DeShawn Wynn/

Vernand Morency/

Brandon Jackson, Jamal Lewis/

Jason Wright/

Jerome Harrison and DeShaun Foster/

DeAngelo Williams. Take at look at

Earnest Graham (Bennett won’t pick up offense in a week, may hurt himself in practice)

Thomas Jones,

Kevin Jones,

Brandon Jacobs/

Reuben Droughns and

Kevin Faulk.

 

WR’s on Week Seven Bye:

This list includes newly acquired Charger 

Chris Chambers/

Vincent Jackson,

Donald Driver/

Greg Jennings/

James Jones,

Braylon Edwards/

Joe Jurevicius

,

and Steve Smith/Keary Colbert. Some good fill ins are

Roddy White/

Michael Jenkins (hopefully they can hold on to a pass).

Laveranues Coles/

Jerricho Cotchery/

Brad Smith,

Patrick Crayton,

Troy

Williamson/

Bobby Wade/

Sidney Rice.

 

TE’s on Week Seven Bye:

This list includes

Antonio Gates,

Donald Lee,

Kellen Winslow and

Jeff King. Look to

Heath Miller,

George Wrighster,

Vernon Davis (if he’s active) and

Randy McMichael (7 targets in week 5).

 

DEF’s on Week Seven Bye:

This list includes

San Diego,

Green Bay,

Cleveland and

Carolina. Two good units and one decent unit will be off this week. If you play in smaller leagues, there should be plenty of defenses to pick up if you haven’t drafted two or if you dropped one to fill an injury. Look at these defenses with good match-ups this week in the Giants, Chiefs, Eagles, Buccaneers and Seahawks.

 

The Golden Mug Award

Awarded to the fantasy player who came through for their team.

LaDainian Tomlinson

– What, no passing TD? Ok, you can’t have everything but LT owners are singing in the streets again as it seems Mr. MVP is back at it with a big 194 yds performance and 4 TD’s to make everyone happy.

Honorable Mention:

Adrian Peterson 224 yds rushing and 3 TD’s.

 

The Urinal Cake Award

Awarded to the fantasy player who you would like to, well you know.

Dominic Rhodes

– This guy has been riding pine since the start of the season. He may have been picked up last week or the week before off waivers to fill a bye week need but in deeper leagues, he’s been riding the pine waiting for his chance to start since draft day. So you probably started him expecting he will try to make a case to be a starter with

Jordan banged up. The problem is he didn’t do a thing. A big fat zero. Not a sniff of a carry. Look at his profile picture –> 

That’s the face his owners made after checking his stats.

I’d keep him reserved until he is given carries.

 

MATCH-UPS

The match-ups

I like this week for QB’s:

Jeff Garcia

against the Lions. Everyones favorite team to start a QB against is back from a bye week. The Lions still rank 31^st in points aloud at 31.0 and 30^th in passing yds at 263.6 per game. With

Jon Kitna getting

Calvin Johnson Back and a healthier

Kevin Jones this could be a big shoot out baby!!

 

Damon Huard

against the Raiders. Normally I wouldn’t start Huard but as a bye week fill in you could do worse. The Raiders 24^th in the league in points aloud and give up 212 yds a game. Having the game at home doesn’t hurt either and

Larry Johnson is back on track to keep defenses from dropping back to defend the pass.

 

The match-ups

I like this week for RB’s:

Earnest Graham

against the Lions. If you have him on your team, this might be the best time to use him. Bennett’s trade to

Tampa will not effect Graham’s playing time this week as Bennett has to learn the offense some.

Detroit is giving up 117 yds a game on the ground. Add in the 31 points a game I’ve mentioned and it’s a golden opportunity. If Graham doesn’t come through, then drop him as soon as you can.

 

Thomas Jones

against the Bengals. At 1^st glance it looks as if the Bengals have a tasty match-up for Carson & Co to feast on. However, their defense is the worst in the league. They give up 31.2 points a game and allow 145 rushing yds a game. The Jets need a break from getting pounded and this could be a game they can put up decent numbers.

 

The match-up

I don’t like this week for QB’s:

Tim Rattay

against the Redskins. What’s not to like about this match-up? I rather start my QB on a bye then to waste a waiver move picking Rattay up and starting him this week. Let’s look at this game.

Washington is 3^rd in the league in points aloud giving up only 13.8 points a game. They are also 5^th in the league in passing yards allowed only surrendering 179.4 yds a game. He threw 3 INTS last week so he may get yanked in the game if

Kurt Warner is healthy enough to replace him. P.S. you might want to start the Redskins D this week also.

 

Cleo Lemon

against the Patriots. Lemon stepped in and posted good numbers in week 6, bailing out some owners who were desperate to fill a bye week need. He passed for 256 yards and 2 TD’s. Now he has to face

New England without Chris Chambers to throw to. Have fun!

 

The match-up

I don’t like this week for RB’s:

Ahman Green

/

Ron Dayne against the Titans.

Houston has struggled on the ground this year and is averaging 81.7 yds a game. I have mixed feelings on how this game goes. Statistically, the Titans are #1 in the league with only 63.8 yds a game. They also have been playing great defense giving up 14.4 points a game and is 4^th best in the league. The thing that may change is the status of

Vince Young. This could affect this because if

Kerry Collins can’t keep drives going or put up points, then the

Texas will have more opportunities to run the ball. In the end though, I still think it will be hard for

Houston to be effective on the ground.

 

Marshawn Lynch

against the Ravens. Over the last three games Lynch is averaging 73 yrds a game rushing and has 2 TD’s in those 3 games. The Ravens over the last 3 games have been playing lights out defense with the leading rushers in those games having poor outings. The Ravens held

Jamal Lewis to 64 yds and 1TD,

Frank Gore to 52 yds and

Travis Minor 40 yds. If the Ravens would have challenged the Lewis TD, it would have been overturned and it would be 3 games without giving up a rushing TD. Still the Ravens are only giving up 16.7 points a game and allowing just 66.7 yds a game which is 3^rd in the league.

     

 

Week Six’s brew of choice was Michelob Ultra Amber, if you have to drink a light beer this is a pretty good one to drink. As always drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive.

Good Luck in the second half of the fantasy season!