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, |
1 |
Brady, Tom NEP QB |
146 |
2 |
Palmer, |
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, |
102 |
6 |
McNabb, Donovan PHI QB |
6 |
Hasselbeck, Matt SEA QB |
97 |
7 |
Young, Vince TEN QB |
7 |
Manning, |
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, |
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 |
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 |
99 |
10 |
Johnson, Rudi CIN RB |
10 |
Barber, |
99 |
The RB list is the craziest mix as most 1st 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 , CIN WR |
2 |
Houshmandzadeh, T.J. CIN WR |
138 |
3 |
Harrison, Marvin |
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 |
6 |
Johnson , 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, |
5 |
Clark, |
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 1st 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, |
|
Stover, |
78 |
2 |
Kaeding, |
|
Brown, |
77 |
3 |
Wilkins, |
|
Folk, |
72 |
4 |
Gould, |
|
Rackers, |
63 |
5 |
Graham, |
|
Feely, |
61 |
6 |
Elam , |
|
Gostkowski, |
60 |
7 |
Rackers, |
|
Kasay, |
60 |
8 |
Gostkowski, |
|
Crosby, |
58 |
9 |
Stover, |
|
Vinatieri, |
56 |
10 |
Akers, |
|
Dawson, |
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, |
1 |
Patriots, |
93 |
2 |
Ravens, |
2 |
Steelers, |
84 |
3 |
Patriots, |
3 |
Ravens, |
81 |
4 |
Chargers, |
4 |
Cowboys, |
79 |
5 |
Steelers, |
5 |
Chiefs, |
77 |
6 |
Broncos, |
6 |
Giants, |
77 |
7 |
Dolphins, |
7 |
Vikings, |
77 |
8 |
Cowboys, |
8 |
Bears, |
76 |
9 |
Jaguars, |
9 |
Packers, |
75 |
10 |
Eagles, |
10 |
Chargers, |
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
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:
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
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 31st in points aloud at 31.0 and 30th 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 24th 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
Thomas Jones
against the Bengals. At 1st 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.
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
The match-up
I don’t like this week for RB’s:
Ahman Green
/
Ron Dayne against the Titans.
Vince Young. This could affect this because if
Kerry Collins can’t keep drives going or put up points, then the
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 3rd 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!