What we are talking about:
First-round draft picks
Pretty much all of them are busts
Larry Fitzgerald
It's a good idea to avoid him if you can
Jarvis Landry
I sense a big game coming
I'm not sure if you're allowed to pass on all of your picks in fantasy football, but I would be tempted to give that a shot next year. The top 10 draft picks by ADP according to Fantasy Pros (going for a wide swath) this year: Adrian Peterson, Le'Veon Bell, Eddie Lacy, Jamaal Charles, Marshawn Lynch, Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant, Andrew Luck, Matt Forte and C.J. Anderson.
Let's run through this.
AD has been fine.
Bell is out for the year. You hung through a two-game suspension and then, yeah.
Lacy doesn't know what is wrong with himself this year. (Here's a hint, it rhymes with donut.)
Charles is out.
Lynch has been shaky.
Brown is great, but not the same when Ben Roethlisberger is out. And here's good news, Ben is hurt again!
Bryant missed Week 2 through Week 8.
Luck is out.
Forte is out. (Though his backup is dope.)
And C.J. Anderson.
Not a lot of fantasy success. Somebody could have literally left the draft with a team started with Lacy, Jeremy Hill, T.Y. Hilton and Peyton Manning and walked away feeling pretty damn good about themselves.
Which is why next season I might go kicker, D/ST in my first two rounds and try to build out my fantasy roster from there.
All right, that might be a little bit of a stretch, but damn, it's not that far off, right? Of those names mentioned above, the only guy I feel really good about is AB. Maybe Peterson, too. But you could have drafted Brown and Hopkins, 1-2 and then gone with Devonta Freeman and Todd Gurley.
I think the one thing we could take away from this is that drafting a running back in the first-round is dead. Drafting a quarterback in the first round is dead. It's time to go for a receiver in the first-round in the future.
Sorry, I just wanted to bellyache for a little bit because Big Ben is out and AB is on nearly every one of my rosters. Let's jump into the players I like or dislike for the coming week.
A big hand to stats maven Careen Falcone for dropping the knowledge.
And without further ado ...
Blake Bortles has scored at least 20 fantasy points in three of his last four starts with 11 touchdowns in those games. The Ravens don't care for defense, either.
Andy Dalton set a club record with 18 touchdowns through his first eight games. The Texans have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers is 40-3 in his last 43 home games, and the Packers haven't lost to the Lions at home since 1991. The same year Matthew Stafford turned three-years-old.
Cam Newton has the highest passer rating in the NFL when trailing this season (110.7). But that point is moot because he's playing against the Titans.
Joe Flacco has played much better at home this year. So he's a decent desperation play against the Jaguars who just don't take the ball away enough on D.
Philip Rivers. Never stop being you. That is many different levels of amazing.
ImageCongratulations to Corona High football who made the CIF Pac 5 playoffs. Its first opponent this week is St. John Bosco. This is the end of a playoff drought for the Panthers so it's nice to see them get back into the mix. I'm pulling for the upset. And make no mistake, this would be a Patriots over St. Louis in the Super Bowl-like upset.
Image Huge fan of the color-blocking uniform scheme for Thursday Night Football. A lot of the NFL's tinkering with rules (like the PAT) and the catch scream of George Lucas rewrites. But I kind of like these uniform matchups. Coincidentally, Corona and Norco High Schools do this in their red vs. blue rivalry.
Image The best (and I mean the very best) throwbacks in all of professional sports are the Los Angeles Kings throwbacks. The only thing, though. Could you have possibly won the game while you were wearing them? And losing to Arizona just isn't good, man.
The Cowboys have allowed the second-most points to fantasy running backs this season. So feel free to take advantage of this matchup, Doug Martin.
Lamar Miller has led all running backs with 88.9 fantasy points over the last four games. He also has a nice schedule looming.
DeMarco Murray is back, too. He's had at least 18 fantasy points in in three of his last four games that he's played in.
Darren McFadden's last three games seem more like vintage Murray with the Cowboys. McFadden has averaged 111 rushing yards per game in his last three.
James Starks stole the starting running back spot from Eddie Lacy. I bet Lacy isn't too bummed, though. It's not like he stole his lunch or something.
I'm not sure if Odell Beckham took Alterraun Vernerto Suplex City here, or if it was the unincorporated land adjacent to Suplex City.
Image How does OBJ not get into the WWE's tournament for a new champion? Seems like he would be logical fit. And really, is there a Good Ol' JR mashup of this play? Not that it really deserved it. The suplex wasn't that great. But still.
Image My head says Roman Reigns wins the tournament. My heart kind of wants Cesaro. But why can't we get some Dean Ambrose? This backstage segment with Dean Ambrose is the best. Renee Young is also fantastic here. Brandon Stroud pointed out in his column this week that this kind of stuff should appear on RAW more. I completely agree. It sucks when you try to script out too much of your stuff.
Image BTW, a true mark moment for me. My man Christian with the shout-out!
Antonio Brown clearly isn't the same receiver without Ben Roethlisberger. I still start him in traditional leagues no matter the quarterback.
A.J. Green had 12 receptions for 121 yards the last time he faced the Texans. Back when the Texans mattered and actually played defense.
Demaryius Thomas has been a disappointment this year. It's between him or Manny Sanders for points. I'm going to lean DT on this one because the Chiefs struggle on D.
The Allen brothers, Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns have great matchups against the Ravens this week. Both are must-starts from here on out.
Davante Adams is back after a disappointing start. The Lions have allowed at least two touchdowns in three of their last four games.
The Eagles have allowed the third-most points to receivers this year. So Jarvis Landry is a pretty solid start.
If you're stuck without options and forgot Julio Jones was on a bye this week, you can probably get Kenny Stills off your waiver wire for sure.
I'm a little chagrined I got rid of Brandin Cooks too hastily. But I did grab Alshon Jeffery in exchange, so I'm not too bummed about it.
Image "Star Wars" conjecture. I won't put "spoiler" in there because we aren't quite sure what is going to happen. But this is a fan theory. That, I've got to be honest, I think we all kind of figured was going to happen just from looking at the trailer. Give this a read and let me know what you think. MORE THEORY. My only thing that I believe they omit here is Kylo Ren is the brother of Rey. And both are the descents of Han/Leia. Then Ren is more than a fan-boy of Darth Vader, and is instead a grandson who wants to avenge the former chosen one. I almost hate to put too much in these theories because I'll be bummed if it doesn't come true.
Tyler Eifert is the truth. Maybe it should have been him, and not Rob Gronkowski, who I picked to score 20 touchdowns this year. Nah, Gronk gets back on track this week.
Dalton has a 19-5 record with a 50-20 TD-to-INT ratio when Eifert is on the field. Maybe Eifert should garner some MVP looks. Kidding (barely).
Right. It's hacky to say play the tight end against the Raiders. So you should play Kyle Rudolph. But dude, you know it's going to be MyCole Pruitt, right?
Jordan Reed has a touchdown reception in three of his last four games and the Saints are very generous to, well, everybody. They are handing out touchdowns like Mardi Gras beads.
I don't like the matchup for the Bears this week. But Martellus Bennett will still be a big part of the Bears plan against the Rams.
I'm not sure if the Panthers will tip the ball to Delanie Walker that much this week, but he's still a nice option against the them.
Image The Guns N' Roses rumors are flying right now! It seems like we are closer than ever. Which is great. The last time I saw Guns, it was the Buckethead and Robin Finck lineup. Not as great as the original, but probably the most musically proficient. I was three feet from Robin as he did the solo for "Paradise City" at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. So I'm stoked. Enjoy "November Rain."
Jay Cutler is my guy. He's Clutchler, if you will. But the matchup against the St. Louis Football Club will move him back to the bench this week. Nothing personal.
Russell Wilson has thrown one or fewer touchdown passes in eight of his last nine games. He's had more than two touchdown passes once in his last six against the Birds.
The Birds D isn't a joke. It has allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. It also leads the league with 13 picks.
Honestly, if Peyton Manning can't get more than 300 yards in a game against the Colts, in a dome, I'm not sure if it's going to happen again this year.
Though, you could reason that it was a big game for the Broncos, hence the game-crippling interception from Manning. That actually makes a lot of sense.
Image Mike Tranier of Bleacher Report gives a nice effort here but I'm not buying it. I will always recognize Peyton's greatness as a fantasy quarterback. But his skills are akin to the guy who wins all the time on Madden playing against the computer. When you want to compare Manning to the greatest of the greats, he falls short. It's sad but true. He'll always rank ahead of guys like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson. But he's not in the conversation with Tom Brady, Joe Montana and Otto Graham. I don't know why this is considered being a "hater" or taking away from him.
Image Sorry to keep harping on this. But Jeremy Piven is one of my favorite actors. Always has been, going back to his "PCU" days. But you can still enjoy Piven's work, but realize he's not the same kind of actor as Robert Downey Jr. And that's not to say Piven isn't great. But he's not going to be considered the best of his era.
I was going to list Chris Johnson in this space, but that's disingenuous. I would start him in most leagues. I'd just stay away from him in DFS.
I'm having a real crisis of consciousness with Andre Ellington. I risked a fifth-round pick on the guy, but I can't find a way to cut him yet.
Ameer Abdullah is another guy who I want to move on from. But I'm going to give him this post-bye week matchup against the Packers to see what he's got.
Shane Vereen revenge game! Nobody wants to buy into that one? I'd just be happy if they'd got rid of the Rashad Jennings experiment. It's not happening.
Jonathan Stewart is way too touchdown dependent, so I would leave him on the bench. Besides, Cam snakes his touchdowns all the time, too.
Image And really, I loved what Cam did with that Packers sign last week. The Packers fans get a little too comfortable in opposing team's stadiums. So Cam had a little fun with the guy's sign. What was he expecting? But turns out, it was Peanut Tillman's fault. And as you could predict, the guy had his sign replaced. So let it go, folks.
Image Seriously, I'll happily read stories about a harmless prank, like Cam taking a guy's sign over stories about fans fighting each other in the stands and parking lot. Perspective, folks.
The Broncos D is about to get busy this week. So I keep Jeremy Maclin on the bench in both daily and traditional leagues.
Larry Fitzgerald has struggled with the Seahawks in the past. Seattle matches up with big receivers like Fitz. It's the smallish guys like John Brown who flourish.
I know some people have had some fun with Michael Floyd, too. But like Fitz, I would keep this guy on the bench this week.
I'm curious whom the Panthers see as the biggest threat. My instinct tells me Dorial Green-Beckham will get a trip to Lake Norman with Kendall Wright out.
Haven't seen much of Travis Benjamin recently. Time to turn him loose to the waiver wire. Maybe pick up a running back handcuff instead.
I have rostered Dorial Green-Beckham. But it's going to take a rather extreme circumstance for me to play him this week (see above, Norman, Josh). Especially when the Panthers get busy.
Image I don't know how we are going through a WWE title tournament without John Cena. But it's been rather amazing. I've kind of resigned myself to the notion Roman Reigns turns heel and wins the title with Cena winning No. 16 at WrestleMania. Or Cena defeats reigns at the Royal Rumble. Brock is the guy who wins the Rumble from the No. 1 spot. And there you go. Cena vs. Brock for the title at WrestleMania 32. I can dig that.
Image Would it be too much of a request to just move the entire Divas division down to NXT? Not because I don't like women's wrestling. It's actually the opposite. NXT gave us real compelling characters with actual matches that included logic, other than the hasty alliances RAW came up with. It's not a matter of hoping the WWE can do better with the Divas division. It's that the WWE has proven it can do better, as it did in NXT. It's like watching college players you enjoyed struggle at the NFL level.
Image I like the Angels trade for Andrelton Simmons. Yes, the team gave up two of its top pitching prospects, but so what? Pitching prospects are the most precarious because the injury risk involved. Plus, I remember when the Angels failed to make a bid for Miguel Cabrera because they didn't want to part with Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis. Dallas McPherson might have also been in the mix for that, too. At some point you need guys who play Major League Baseball.
Image Take that in for a moment. The Angels could have had Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout in the same lineup. Stop falling in love with prospects, baseball fans.
I wouldn't straight-up drop Julius Thomas. But there are many other guys I would rather go with at the tight end position. You know how I feel about the Jags, so this is tough.
Is it so wrong that I want Crockett Gillmore to become a thing again? I miss those heady days. Mostly for the "Happy Gilmore" jokes. But still.
Image Doesn't Crockett Gillmore seem like the kind of name a little kid would pick if you gave him the chance? (I know it's the plot for "Big Daddy.") I'm trying to imagine what my name would have been if you gave me the chance to do that as a youngster. I would imagine my name would have been Macho Man Rose.
For the record, you can submit your fantasy questions to NFL Fantasy Live or me on Twitter. But realize, NFL Fantasy Live has 300K followers. Me? Just 14. See, the odds are better I will answer your question, so hit me up both via Twitter or via Facebook (if you're RG3). And if you follow me on Sundays, I'll quote "The Wolf" from "Pulp Fiction" and then it's game on! Although, it's tough to catch me on Facebook. Twitter is your go-to." Plus seriously people, I'm not taking your tweets after Midnight. I'm into the #HashtagWars via @Midnight. I've started to mute people who ask me questions at that time.
