Beginning 2011 Fantasy Football Notes

So, once again I was a little too busy with my work to finish any of the Fantasy Football lists on my website this year. Sorry about the ones of you who actually are reading this and are bummed that I didn't finish the pre-draft rankings.

I've been so busy recently that I only had time to sign up for 2 leagues this year. I may get back into posting my pickup specials on a weekly basis.

Would you like a couple of freebies? I know you do. You are going to want to pick up both of the RBs if you get the chance: Bernard Scott (Cincinnati Bengals) and DeMarco Murray (Dallas Cowboys).

I have a feeling that Murray is going to have a break out game against the Redskins this weekend. As for Bernard Scott, word from the league is that the starting RB Cedric Benson will be suspended for 3 games because of the off-season incident with the police.

Early 2011 FFL Notes

From now on, I'm going to make it a point to draft the Houston Texans backup running back. Don't waste the pick until the late rounds, but the Texans are slowly becoming the new Denver Broncos with the running game. Ben Tate is poised to take over the starting spot from Arian Foster, which Foster had previously done to Steve Slaton. I wouldn't be surprised if any marginal RB can be a productive starter in the Texans offense.

The new Brandon Lloyd for the Denver Broncos this year is Eric Decker. He is averaging over 20 yards a reception while Lloyd himself is banged up and most likely will not put up numbers close to last year.

Peyton Hillis is for real. I don't know how this is the case but he should have been one of the top 5 draft picks taken this year. I saw him fall to the 3rd round in one of my drafts and I'm kicking myself for not taking him.

Even though Kansas City was awful in their first two games and lost their star RB for the year, this should be a good year for WR Dwayne Bowe because Matt Cassel is still a good QB. The same can not be said for the receivers playing for the Colts. Be prepared for Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon to have seasons much like Steve Smith had last year in Carolina.

Finally, I would like to select my can't miss kicker of the weekend. I have two of them that I like. First, any New Orleans Saints kicker and this week it is John Kasay. My second pick is Rob Bironas from the Tennessee Titans. Denver has a bend but don't break defense that has been giving up a lot of field goals. Even though Bironas has missed two field goals, one of them was from 67 yards and he is essentially 4 out of 5 this year.

Injuries

Obviously injuries can hurt a Fantasy Football team for a week or longer. Last week, my team lost Michael Vick, Malcolm Floyd and Jamal Charles during the game. There wasn't a whole lot of chance for me to win.

This makes picking up backups and replacements a huge part of competing in any league. Do you want a good source to find out the latest FF news?

I always make it a point to visit NFL Blogs every day to see if there is a free agent that you should pop on.

I hope to update my website and keep posting more often on this blog, but life sometimes dictates otherwise and doing something I don't get paid for means it often has to be put on the back burner.

Week 6 Free Agent Pickups

There is very little to report on as far as free agents pickups are concerned.

I guess the obvious pickup is Deion Branch, who took over the starting position that was vacated by Randy Moss. Deion got 9 receptions for 98 yards and a TD. If he is available in your league, pick him up.

Another player that you should pick up is tight end Heath Miller from Pittsburgh. He has always been one of Big Ben's favorite targets and he had 50 yards receiving and a TD. Definitively a decent second TE for your team.

I told you last week to watch out for Nate Burleson. He got a TD and 50 yards but also had a costly fumble. This shouldn't hurt his rising value, though, because Detroit is going to need him to produce as their 2nd receiver.

If you are in need of a free agent start for either the Sunday or Monday night games, consider picking up Tennessee WR Kenny Britt. He had a decent game against Dallas last week; although his TD catch looked like it was thrown to another receiver.

If anyone got rid of Brandon Jacobs, make sure you pick him up. The Giants have a formidable running game and Jacobs is likely to get most of the goal line carries.

I didn't really have any really good matchup to report as far as kickers or defenses last week, mostly because I did not see any good matchups for free agent kickers and defenses.

For week 7, I see two defensive matchups that I like and these teams should be available in your league. The Seattle Seahawks are at home against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals offense has shown little on the road and Seattle is very good at home.

My second pick would have to be the Washington Redskins playing on the road against the Chicago Bears. The Bears are proving that they are who we thought they were. Their offense is looking just as terrible as they were at any point last season. Worse yet, their defense did not show up (fantasy points wise) and only got points from a return TD.

As far as place kickers go for week 7, Garrett Hartley seems to have New Orleans starting job back and he has a great matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Other than that, you might want to take a look at Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson (although he is on a bye this week). The Lions have not been shy about having him kick 50+ yarders and he has been very accurate this year.

Week 5 Free Agent Pickups

Assuming that your fantasy football leagues are as picked over as all three of mine are, you're probably not going to find much of value available.

Felix Jones is starting to make noise for the Cowboys. Watch for him to take over the starting job from Marion Barber (again). Dallas is going to primarily be a passing team, but Felix might be worth starting in the near future.

One wide receiver to take a chance on is Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson. He gives the Lions a legitimate 2nd wide receiver and Calvin Johnson got banged up (shoulder) late in the game against the Rams.

In that same game, St Louis Rams WR Mark Clayton looks to have suffered a serious knee injury. You may want to pick up the next best option for the Rams, Danny Amendola.

Another WR to pick up is James Jones of the Green Bay Packers. He is their slot receiver, but is getting as much action as Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. This is especially true now that both of the Packers top two tight ends went out of today's game with injuries.

Keep RB Earnest Graham of Tampa Bay on your radar. He had the best day running for the Bucs and has been the starting running back in the past. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take over.

Fantasy Football Stats after Week 4

Top Fantasy Quarterbacks

Name	Pass Yrds	Rush Yrds	Pass TDs	Rush TDs	Int
Peyton Manning	1365	-5	11	0	1
Phillip Rivers	1328	7	9	0	4
Aaron Rodgers	940	69	8	2	5
Michael Vick	799	187	6	1	0
Kyle Orton	1419	29	6	0	3
Tom Brady	911	12	9	0	2
Drew Brees	1131	-7	7	0	2
Mark Sanchez	711	6	8	0	0
Matt Schaub	978	0	7	0	4
Matt Ryan	978	51	6	0	3

Top Fantasy Running Backs

Name	Rush Yrd	Rec Yrd	Rush TD	Rec TD	Fum
Arian Foster	537	152	4	1	1
Rashard Mendenhall	411	27	4	0	0
Jahvid Best	174	217	4	1	1
Adrian Peterson	392	85	3	0	0
Darren McFadden	392	162	1	1	0
LeSean McCoy	273	172	4	0	1
Frank Gore	270	263	1	1	0
Peyton Hillis	322	94	4	0	1
LaDainian Tomlinson	341	82	3	0	0
Chris Johnson	354	38	4	0	2
Ahmad Bradshaw	382	61	3	0	3
Matt Forte	134	209	0	3	1
Mike Tolbert	281	33	3	0	1
Jason Snelling	226	74	2	1	0
Steven Jackson	284	116	1	0	0
Maurice Jones-Drew	322	49	1	1	1
Cedric Benson	262	20	2	1	1
Joseph Addai	228	79	2	0	0
Michael Turner	281	46	1	0	0
Jamaal Charles	238	92	1	0	0

Top Fantasy Wide Receivers

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumble
Austin Collie	398	5	1
Reggie Wayne	456	2	1
Anquan Boldin	355	3	0
Hakeem Nicks	279	4	0
Brandon Lloyd	454	1	0
Roddy White	362	2	0
DeSean Jackson	337	2	0
Terrell Owens	374	1	0
Calvin Johnson	237	3	0
Eddie Royal	299	2	0
Kevin Walter	242	3	0
Braylon Edwards	227	3	0
Mark Clayton	300	2	0
Brandon Marshall	340	1	0
Jeremy Maclin	162	4	0
Malcolm Floyd	285	2	0
Donald Driver	218	3	0
Wes Welker	217	3	0
Miles Austin	308	1	0
Lance Moore	209	3	1
Chad Ochocinco	296	1	0
Greg Jennings	161	3	0
Mike Wallace	211	2	0
Larry Fitzgerald	208	2	0
Santana Moss	290	1	1

Top Fantasy Tight Ends

Name	Receiving Yards	Rec TDs	Fumbles
Antonio Gates	386	6	0
Dustin Keller	254	5	0
Dallas Clark	275	3	0
Zach Miller	278	2	0
Chris Cooley	234	2	0
Jermichael Finley	301	1	0
Marcedes Lewis	138	3	0
Vernon Davis	209	1	0
Tony Gonzalez	205	1	0
Greg Olsen	179	2	1

Top Fantasy Team Defenses

Name	Pts Allow	Sacks	Safe	Int	Fum	TD	Blk	Ret TD
Pittsburgh Steelers	50	11	0	6	6	1	0	1
San Diego Chargers	65	15	1	7	4	1	0	0
New England Patroits	96	7	0	7	1	3	2	2
Seattle Seahawks	75	11	0	5	3	1	0	2
Tennessee Titans	68	16	1	4	3	0	0	1
Green Bay Packers	73	16	0	5	2	1	0	0
Saint Louis Rams	52	9	0	4	6	0	1	0
New York Giants	78	16	0	5	4	0	0	0
Chicago Bears	68	4	0	4	7	0	1	1
New York Jets	61	8	0	4	5	0	1	0

Top Fantasy Place Kickers

Name	Less 40	40-49	50+	PAT	Missed
Matt Bryant - ATL	7	3	0	9	1
Mike Nugent - CIN	7	1	2	7	1
Neil Rackers - HOU	5	3	0	12	2
Sebastian Janikowski - OAK	7	1	1	7	4
Matt Prater - DEN	7	0	1	9	0
Nick Folk - NYJ	5	2	0	11	2
Jeff Reed - PIT	7	0	1	8	4
Rob Bironas - TEN	2	3	1	10	1
Graham Gano - WAS	6	2	0	7	2
Mason Crosby - GB	2	2	1	13	1

Fantasy Football Trade Update

It looks like Randy Moss is going to be headed back to the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have had problems at wide receiver since the start of the season with nagging problems to Percy Harvin and the hip injury to Sidney Rice. The trade with the New England Patroits has still not been anounced yet, but a source said that Randy Moss is being traded for a third round draft pick.

This shouldn't come as a big surprise as this is the last year of his contract with the Patroits. Randy Moss owners have been a little disappointed with his efforts so far. He does have 3 TDs but has not gotten over 60 yards receiving in any game yet this year. On Monday night, he did not have any receptions and was not the focus of the offense at all.

This move should increase the value of both Randy and Brett Farve, who has not had a deep threat receiver so far this year. If you have a chance to trade for Randy Moss or if anyone has dropped Brett Farve, you would do well to pick them up on the cheap before Minnesota puts the peddle to the metal.

You may also want to pick up New England wide receiver Brandon Tate, because he is most likely going to be the starting WR opposite to Wes Welker.

Also, Marshawn Lynch was recently traded to the Seattle Seahawks. This may increase the fantasy value of both him and fellow running back Fred Jackson, who will probably take the starting RB position for the Bills. If either is available in your fantasy football free agent list, pick them up now.

Early Week 5 Pickup

If you are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, your going to need another defense this week. There are two really good matchups this upcoming weekend. The Chicago Bears are playing the Carolina Panthers and the Bears defense may have to take the game over if the offense plays like it did on Sunday night. Also, the Chargers are playing against the Oakland Raiders. Either matchup should be an ideal fantasy matchup.