In my second installment of my preseason top 100, I will breakdown my 11-25 rankings and there may be names on this list that you feel might be either too high or too low. If you disagree with me, let me know about it. I love discussing baseball with my readers and we may be able to help each other out! So sit back and enjoy as I break down my next set of players on my preseason top 100.
In case you missed the top 10, you can find it here.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B (BOS)–Gonzalez posted great fantasy numbers in 2011 setting career-highs in runs (108) and batting average (.338), but surprisingly only hit 10 home runs at Fenway Park. It appears that there is even more growth potential as he learns how to hit at home compared to on the road, but even if he doesn’t increase his home/road splits he is put him down for at least 25 home runs and 100 RBIs with a batting average right around his career average.
Hanley Ramirez, SS (MIA)–Ramirez was a clear-cut top five pick in 2011, but had a terrible start to the season that was topped off by a back injury that forced him to miss a good portion of the season. He will now be forced to play third base in 2012 with the addition of Jose Reyes to the Marlins squad, which actually helps his fantasy value without stepping onto the field. Expect a bounce-back year for Ramirez at a decent value just outside of the top 10.
Carlos Gonzalez, OF (COL)–After a breakout 2010 season, Gonzalez did his best to match his performance only to fall short in every category. He still posted a .295 BA/26 HR/92 RBI/20 SB stat-line, which keeps him in the top 20, but if he could’ve only hit outside of Coors Field he may be in Matt Kemp discussions. He is only 26 and he has plenty of room left to grow, so use last season as a benchmark rather than his breakout 2010 season.
Prince Fielder, 1B (DET)–Now a member of the Detroit Tigers, Fielder will be hitting behind Miguel Cabrera making one of the best combos in all of baseball. Fielder was able to bounce-back from a rather unusual 2010 season to finish with a .299 BA/38 HR/120 RBI stat-line that was good enough to earn him a huge payday. Now playing in the American League, he has the chance to get back to his ’07 or ’09 days making him a clear cut top 15 pick this season.
Roy Halladay, SP (PHI)–Halladay is the first pitcher off the board and there really isn’t any reason why he shouldn’t be. In 2011, Halladay set career-highs ERA and WHIP while crossing the 200-strikeout mark for the fourth season in a row. Expect another CY Yong bid in 2012.
Jose Reyes, SS (MIA)–Reyes has found a new home in South Beach in 2012 and returns to the top 20 after a few injury-plagues seasons. He supported a .337 batting average in 2011 that set a career-high while stealing 39 bases, which was his highest total since 2008. Hitting in a more hitter-friendly ballpark should help out the fantasy categories and help him become a fan favorite in Miami.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF (BOS)–To say Ellsbury’s 2011 season was remarkable is an understatement. He finished the season with a .321 BA/32 HR/105 RBI/39 SB stat-line on his way to setting many career-highs. The reason he is outside of my top 10 is that I want to see his power for two seasons in a row and I don’t think you can blame me. Prior to the 2011 season Ellsbury hit just 17 home runs in the three previous seasons. Keep that in mind before you go crazy on draft day, but if he gets over 20, he will be in my top 10 next season.
Justin Verlander, SP (DET)–If you read my overvalued article, you would know that Verlander was on the top of my list heading into the 2012 season. He is coming off of a Cy Young and MVP season, he is going to be overvalued by many fantasy experts and fantasy players, but I am not going to put him in the top 10 or ahead of Roy Halladay. While I still expect him to have a good season, his 2008-2010 numbers are a more realistic expectation for this season.
Adrian Beltre, 3B (TEX)–I am a little higher on Beltre than other out there, but if you breakdown his last two seasons he is worthy of a top 20 pick. Although he missed the month of August in 2011, Beltre still finished with a .296 BA/32 HR/105 RBI stat-line including hitting .367 in the second half. Despite his age (33), he can still produce at this level since he has now done it two years in a row and it also helps hitting in the middle of arguably the most potent offense in all of baseball.
Dustin Pedroia, 2B (BOS)–Pedroia got right back to his normal ways in 2011 after an injury-plagued 2010 campaign. He set a career-high in home runs (21), RBIs (91) and stolen bases (26) showing why he is one of the best second basemen in all of baseball. I don’t think the home run surge was a fluke, but last season was definitely his ceiling. With that said, he should still get at least 15 home runs and help out in every counting stat in fantasy this season.
Andrew McCutchen, OF (PIT)–In his second full season with the Pirates McCutchen improved his power stats, but did see a decrease in his speed and batting average. At the age of 25, the sky is the limit for this rising star as he has the potential to become a 30-30 type of player. Until then there may be some areas that need to come together, but it is hard to come across the power/speed combination that McCutchen possesses.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF (MIA)–in his first full season with the Marlins in 2011 Stanton finished with 34 home runs to go along with 87 RBIs. He is arguably the best young pure power hitter in baseball with the potential of becoming a 50 home run-type of player in the upcoming years. That is worthy of a top 25 position for me despite the lack of experience.
Ian Kinsler, 2B (TEX)–Kinsler, who is known for his injuries throughout the season, was able to stay healthy for the entire season in 2011 and was able to be a fantasy stud. He finished the season with 121 runs, 32 home runs, 77 RBI and 30 stolen bases which ranked him near the top of the leader board for second basemen. If he can stay healthy again in 2012 there is no reason why he can’t repeat. But that is a big “if”.
David Wright, 3B (NYM)–Injuries limited Wright is 2011 to just 14 home runs and 61 RBIs and a career-low .254 batting average. He came into Spring Training healthy and with the change of dimensions in Citi Field a rebound is likely although ’07 and ’08 are probably a thing of the past.
Cliff Lee, SP (PHI)–Lee had a spectacular season in 2011 in which he finished the season with 238 strikeouts in 233 innings to go along with setting a career-high in earned run average(2.40 ERA). Although he will be 33 on opening day he hasn’t appeared to lose a step. An ERA around three and 200-plus strikeouts are a good baseline for Lee this season.
Be sure to check back in the upcoming days as I add to my overall top 100 player rankings for the 2012 season!
Matthew Beck is a Fantasy Sports Columnist for Rotoinfo.com. If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail him at matthewbeck@rotoinfo.com. Also follow him on Twitter @MatthewRBeck for up-to-date Q&A and fantasy information.Â
Roy Oswalt made a shocking announcement. Jake Peavy is trying to recapture his past glory. Kendrys Morales is trying to prove that he is healthy enough to be a run producer in 2012.
ROY OSWALT IN LIMBO
Red Sox. Rangers. Cardinals. A couch?
It looks like Roy Oswalt is going to pull a Roger Clemens, and by that I don’t mean he is going to inject something into his rear nor do I mean he will pick up a broken bat and fire it at a batter (see Clemens Throws Bat at Piazza), no I mean that he appears willing to wait for the perfect situation to come along. It sounds like Roy Oswalt will go into semi-retirement waiting for the right offer to come along so that he can return to game action at some point after the start of the season. In fact, he might even wait until mid-season before signing with a team. Is this a prudent move for the 34 year old? Some perspective.
(1) Oswalt’s decision buys him more time to heal his body (i.e. his back). That has to be a good thing if he remains diligent with his workouts.
(2) If Oswalt didn’t like the offers he received, why not wait? It’s not like he needs the money having made over $91 million in salary the past 11 years.
(3) Someone on the hill will suffer a catastrophic injury, it happens every year (think Josh Johnson, Adam Wainwright or Stephen Strasburg). If a team in contention has such an injury crop up all of a sudden a guy like Oswalt would become a huge target. If two or more teams suffer an injury or simply weren’t getting the level of production that they were looking for from their hurlers there could even be an in-season bidding war for Oswalt’s services.
Whether or not this move pays off for Oswalt remains to be seen, but this much is clear: his fantasy value for 2012 is completely up in the air. If you’re in a deep league he could still be worth a reserve round add, but at this point his outlook is so cloudy that your best bet might be to wait until he signs with someone and then get ready to spend your FAAB liberally cause the man can still pitch.
PEAVY LOOKING TO MAKE 30 STARTS
Jake Peavy was, at one time, one of the most dominating starters in baseball. Come on, you remember right? However, the last time he made 30 starts or lasted 175 innings in a season was 2007, and the last three years he’s failed to make 20 starts or to throw 120 innings. Why? Shoulder woes have knocked down the once proud arm. In fact, Peavy has admitted he may never be the pitcher he once was. “I’m as 100 percent as I can be. I don’t know if I’m 100 percent as to what I was four years ago. I know I’m as 100 percent as 100 percent is going to get after what I had done (surgically).”
So we have a player admitting that he’s not 100 percent and that he isn’t likely to get to 100 percent at any point moving forward. Is that the end of the world? Hardly. How many of us are 100 percent? I might still be as good looking as I always was, but years of playing sports have my knees a bit wonky and I can’t say that when I wake up every morning that my back always feels great. That’s life. We get old and have to learn to adapt. Can Peavy do that? He has no choice but to if he wants to succeed. Once a K per inning arm, Peavy has failed to post even 8.0 K/9 the past two years. That’s not a positive sign (you can at least partly blame the fact that his fastball velocity has dipped four straight years as he has lost two mph off his heat). However, the following bit of information is positive. Peavy has decreased his walk rate the past two years, a good sign for a guy struggling with all the health issues that Peavy has. It’s just one year, an only 111.2 innings, but there should be a fair amount of excitement over his 1.93 BB/9 mark from last season that is a batter below his career rate. As a result, Peavy posted a six year high in his K/BB ratio, and the mark of 3.96 is an almost elite total (amongst pitchers who tossed at least 100-innings last year his 3.96 mark was the 12th best mark in the game). Again we’re talking about a relatively small sample size, but the results were still pretty encouraging.
Another point that should be brought up with Peavy is this; he really didn’t pitch as badly as you think last year, certainly nowhere near the level of his 4.92 ERA. (1) His K/BB ratio was near elite. (2) His GB/FB ratio matched his career level. (3) His HR/9 rate was at his career level. (4) His WHIP was 1.26, just slightly above his career 1.19 mark. You had no idea that he had the same WHIP as Jon Lester an a better mark than Gio Gonzalez (1.32) last year, did you? It’s OK to admit it. (5) Peavy has a career left on base percentage of 75.6 but that number dipped to 64 percent last year. It had never been below 69 percent before, so a rebound should help his ERA fall. (6) Peavy had an xFIP last year of 3.52, right on his career rate of 3.61. What that basically says, without getting too technical, is that his ERA should have been a heck of a lot lower than it was last year.
Peavy is worthy of taking a late round chance on in mixed leagues. If he stays healthy enough to reach his goal and make 30 starts there is a very reasonable expectation that he will provide a strong return on your draft day investment.
MORALES IMPROVING
Kendrys Morales has everyone excited with his progress. Of course, we’re talking about a guy who is running sprints on the outfield grass people. Think of that… sprints in the outfield and running on the treadmill. Are you really excited about that? If you are, it just goes to show you how bad things have been for Morales that running a few 100 foot sprints is getting you excited.
Assuming he is healthy, an I’m still nowhere near believing that is a 100 percent certainty, what type of hitter is Kendrys likely to be? Per 162 games for his career he has hit .284 with 28 homers, 94 RBI and 76 runs scored. Those are strong numbers no doubt – but notice that I wrote “per 162 games.’ Morales has only appeared in more than 60 games in one of his five big league seasons. Once. You can’t possibly be thinking that he has a shot at playing even 150 games this season, can you? Look at his ball card. He hasn’t played in a big league game since 2010 meaning he’s missed a year an a half. Even if we hypothesize that his body is sound, how will his return to baseball go? It’s not as simple as saying ‘Morales is 95 percent healthy so he’s going to hit in the middle of our order and knock in 100 runs.’ Will his timing be there at the start? How will he adapt after not playing for so long? How will his body respond to the wear and tear of an entire season of games, etc.
Draft Morales as a backup option at first base if you want, such a move could pay off, but I’m not a huge fan until he proves it to me on the field.
Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87. Ray’s baseball analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.
With multiple key players injured during this upcoming week, we break down who to pick up and start in their place. These waiver wire pick ups should be a decent stop-gap until the injured players return.
Randy Foye (G, LAC)- In two games without Chris Paul on the court, Randy Foye has dropped one double-double and an 11 point game performance. He’s averaging 1.5 BPG and 1.0 SPG in that span. As long as Paul is out (hamstring injury) Foye should continue to see consistent playing time, which will result in solid fantasy production.
C.J. Watson (PG, CHI)- With Derrick Rose sidelined, Watson stepped up to the plate and performed exceptionally well, scoring a season-high 23 points, along with four rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 33 minutes of action. Similar to Foye, Watson should keep seeing starters minutes as long as Rose is out. If he is available in your league, he should be picked up and started immediately.
Nate Robinson (PG, GSW)- Robinson has scored at least 10 points in each of his last six games. With starting point-guard Stephen Curry trying to heal an ankle injury, Robinson continues to benefit with increased playing time. In his most recent game, Robinson dropped a double-double, scoring 17 points along with 10 assists. This trend should continue as long as Curry stays on the bench.
J.J. Redick (SG, ORL)- Redick has stepped into the starting shooting-guard role for the Magic with Jason Richardson injured. During his last four games, Redick is averaging 14 PPG, including a 21-point performance against the New York Knicks. There’s no doubt that Redick can score the ball at will, so if he’s available in your league, he should be added until J-Rich returns.
Brandon Ribak, CEO/Co-Founder of www.FanSkills.com, provides you with weekly advice, strategy and tips on how to win your fantasy basketball league. If you have any fantasy questions or would like to contact Brandon, please reach him at brandonribak@gmail.com.
Every week I’ll review the Weeks heroes, the weeks zeroes, and make sure your up to date on the performances that you need to know about.
QB: Fantasy Hero – Drew Brees, Saints
32-for-40, 412 yards, 5 TDs
Don’t look now, but Brees may have passed Aaron Rodgers as the top QB in the fantasy game. With Sunday’s effort he’s only 304 yards from the NFL single season passing record with two games left, and he’s also set a career-high with 37 passing scores. How good was he Sunday? He’s the only quarterback to ever throw for 400 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions and an 80 percent completion percentage in a game.
QB: Fantasy Zero – Dan Orlovsky, Colts
11-for-17, 82 yards, 1 TD
I hesitated to list Orlovsky as the flop of the week, after all the Colts did win their first game of the season, but look at those numbers. They’re just dreadful. Not much more needs to be said.
Numbers to Know Eli Manning threw for 257 yards against the Redskin, but he also failed to throw a touchdown pass for the firs time since Week 6 (he had thrown at least two in 3-straight games), and he also threw a season worst tying three interceptions.
Tony Romo carved up the Bucs last Thursday as he completed 23 of 30 passes for 249 yards and three touchdown passes. Romo also rand the ball three times for (-1) yard, yippee, but he did have another score on the ground giving him four on the week for a second straight outing.
Matthew Stafford led a furious comeback against the Raiders as the Lions emerged with the “W” thanks to 14 fourth quarter points. Stafford lit up the Raiders for 391 yards and four scores as he chucked a massive 52 passes in the victory.
Tim Tebow went nuts against the Patriots carrying the ball 12 times for 93 yards and two scores, and he also threw the ball for 194 other yards. Over an over, Tebow continues to be an elite option each week.
Michael Vick threw the pigskin for 274 yards an a touchdown, and he also rushed the ball five times for 32 yards and a second touchdown. He got beat up pretty good by the Jets, and appeared to be in pain throughout, but he should be good to go for Week 16 barring something unforeseen.
RB: Fantasy Hero – LeSean McCoy, Eagles
18 carries, 102 yards, 3 TDs / 2 catches, (-5) yards
McCoy has scored 20 times this season, the most in the history of the Eagles’ franchise. While other top picks have disappointed – guys like Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson – McCoy continues to function as the best running back in the fantasy game.
RB: Fantasy Zero – LeGarrette Blount
9 carries, 21 yards
As we’ve seen all season long, when the Bucs fall behind the simply abandon the run completely. Blount certainly didn’t give the Bucs a reason to keep feeding him the ball against the Cowboys, but this was still his second outing in the last three weeks that he failed to run for 25 yards.
Numbers to Know Reggie Bush had the game of his professional career. Bush ran wild all over the Bills in the snow on Sunday as he carried the ball 25 times for 203 yards and a touchdown. Bush has run for 100-yards in 3-straight games, and he’s just 27 yards short of 1,000 on the year. Bush also has a shot to run for half as many yards this season as he did in his first five seasons (2,090 yards).
Arian Foster ran the ball 16 times for 109 yards an a touchdown against the Panthers. Like so many other backs in Week 15, he also contributed in the passing game with five receptions for 58 yards.
Steven Jackson didn’t score in Week 15, but he still had a whopper of a fantasy day. Jackson carried the ball 18 times for 71 yards and he racked up another 72 yards in the receiving game on a season best nine catches. He’s 33 yards short of 1,000 for his the year on the ground.
C.J. Spiller went nuts all over the Dolphins in the snow on Sunday. Spiller carried the ball 12 times for 91 yards and a score doing his best Fred Jackson impersonation. He then went on to also be Stevie Johnson as he caught 10 balls for 73 yards and another score. What a dynamic outing.
WR: Fantasy Hero – Calvin Johnson, Lions
9 catches, 214 yards, 2 TDs
You didn’t really think that teams were going to be able to shut down Johnson week after week did you? I know there were some of you out there who were worried, and this outing showed why you should never doubt Johnson. CJ is one of the most gifted receivers in the history of the game. There, I said it.
WR: Fantasy Zero – Jordy Nelson, Packers
3 catches, 29 yards
Nelson, Donald Driver, James Jones and Randall Cobb all received only four targets from Aaron Rodgers. With the Packers struggling to move the ball through the air for a good deal of the game with the Chiefs, Nelson simply laid an egg that likely cost many a chance to play for their league championship. Nelson has only five receptions the last two weeks, and just once score in four games. A terribly disappointing effort from a guy who most thought would step up with Greg Jennings on the shelf.
Numbers to Know Malcom Floyd had five catches for 96 yards an a score on Sunday Night Football. That is the third time in four weeks that Floyd has gone for at least 95 yards, an it’s also the second time in three weeks that he’s gotten into the end zone.
Percy Harvin can thank Jordy Nelson for the assist because Harvin deserved to have his name in lights for his pathetic effort in Week 15. Harvin was a non entity having a shockingly pathetic outing as he caught three balls for eight yards an one run for (-1) yards.
Darrius Heyward-Bay had a huge outing for the Raiders as he caught eight balls for 155 yards an a score. Week 15 was his first outing since Week 7 with more than 80-yards receiving and the score was just his third of the season.
Lance Moore rewarded those that had faith in him in Week 15 with five receptions for 91 yards and two scores. Often relegated to the 4th or 5th option on many plays, and frequently playing only 20-25 snaps a week (he failed to record 25 yards in each of the past two games), Moore torched the Vikings in Week 15.
TE: Fantasy Hero – Aaron Hernandez, Patriots
9 catches, 129 yards, 1 TD
Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski completely changed roles this week, much to the chagrin of many Gronkowski owners (Rob didn’t have a bad day with four catches for 53 yards, but it was a disappointing effort). Tom Brady has two elite tight ends to throw the ball to, truly amazing given that there are only about 10 elite ends in all of football.
TE: Fantasy Zero – Tony Gonzalez, Falcon
1 catch, 14 yards
A top-5 tight end this season, Gonzo posted his worst game of the year in Week 15 in a dismal performance against the Jaguars. Gonzalez had caught at least seven passes for 69 yards in 3-straight games coming in before he fell flat on his face and into a big puddle. Week 15 was only the second time this season that he didn’t catch four passes or score a touchdown.
Numbers to Know Brent Celek was about two feet from being the Fantasy Hero this week. Celek went for 73 yards on a reception only to be tackled at the goaline. As a result, he had to settle for merely going for 156 yards on five catches. He did get into the end zone on one of those five receptions, so don’t feel too bad for him.
Jared Cook had nine receptions for 108 yards against the Colts. Coming into the outing he had caught nine balls for 107 yards the past three weeks. Yeah, it was a career best effort in Week 15.
Anthony Fasano had only two receptions for 28 yards in Week 15, but as he has been doing a lot lately, he was able to get into the end zone. Sunday’s score was his 5th in eight games, and Fasano now has a touchdown, four receptions or 55 yards in 3-straight games.
Jimmy Graham was back to his old tricks as his back was back to being, well, normal. Graham caught seven passes from Drew Brees for 70 yards an a touchdown against the Vikings.
Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87. Ray’s baseball analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.
Every week I’ll review the weeks heroes, the weeks zeroes, and make sure your up to date on the performances that you need to know about.
QB: Fantasy Hero – Matt Ryan, Falcons
22-for-38, 320 yards, 4 TDs
Ryan started slowly, but as has become a veritable tradition, once the Falcons opened things up a big an allowed Ryan to work out of the no huddle, his performance took off. Nearly every one of his passes seemingly went to Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, but no matter who he threw to the results were impressive.
QB: Fantasy Zero – Matt Moore, Dolphins
11-for-19, 95 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Moore came into the day on Sunday playing the best football of his NFL career. Over the last four games his QB Rating was 98.0, and he had thrown only one interception. He was terrible on Sunday (he got his bell rung and had to be replaced by J.P. Losman or Moore’s numbers would have been better)? He was so disappointing that even the four interceptions by Carson Palmer weren’t enough to knock Moore off his worst of the week perch.
Numbers to Know Jake Locker and John Skelton aren’t exactly fantasy stalwarts, but in Week 14 they each threw the pigskin for 282 yards in relief of an injured starter. Locker almost led a late game comeback against the Saints whereas Skeleton and his mates defeated the 49ers thanks in no small part to Skelton’s three touchdown passes.
Mark Sanchez only completed 13 passes for 181 yards in Week 14 as the Jets killed the Chiefs 37-10. However, Sanchez threw for two touchdowns. Again, not impressive at all. However, he also managed to run for two scores, and that makes his outing an elite fantasy performance. Kudos to you, for one week, Mr. Sanchez.
Tony Romo and Eli Manning both had huge outings on Sunday Night Football. Eli Manning threw for 400 yards and tied the NFL record with his 14th touchdown in the fourth quarter. Across the way, Tony Romo threw for 319 yards and four touchdown for the ‘Boys.
T.J. Yates threw a whopping 44 passes Sunday completing 26 of them for 300 passing yards. Yates also managed to throw two touchdowns including a touchdown pass on the last offensive play of the game to Kevin Walter. Have a week kid.
RB: Fantasy Hero – Maurice Jones-Drew
27 carries, 85 yards, 2 TDs
6 catches, 51 yards, 2 TDs
MJD is a monster, period. Until today most were extremely pleased with his efforts, though some pointed to the fact that he had only six total touchdowns as slightly disappointing. Consider that reservation answered with his four score effort. MJD has also morphed into a pass receiving fiend once again with at least four catches each of the past four weeks.
RB: Fantasy Zero – Arian Foster, Texans
15 carries, 41 yards / 4 catches, 33 yards Arian Foster ran for a mere 41 yards while his backup, Ben Tate, ran for 67 yards including 44 yards on one run. Foster caught four balls to slightly help out the cause, but this was his worst game since his first back out on the field in Week 2 (10 carries, 33 yards). This was a heartbreaking effort from one of the games top-10 performers and one that likely sunk many of Foster’s owners chances to move on in the playoffs.
Numbers to Know Reggie Bush continues to be a beast for the Dolphins. Averaging 7.4 yards a carry in Week 14, Bush ran the balls 14 times for 103 yards while also adding five receptions for 27 yards. All in a day’s work for Bush who has been an elite PPR option the past month.
Roy Helu ran for 100-yards for the third straight game as he carried the rock 27 times for 126 yards. After being completely underutilized for more than half the year, Helu is shaping up as a low level RB1 for the fantasy playoffs.
Chris Johnson caught five balls for 43 yards to somewhat salvage his Week 14 effort from a fantasy perspective because he simply didn’t get it done on the ground as he ran the ball only 11 times for 23 yards. Still, after looking like an elite option once again, this outing deserves a lump of coal for his stocking.
LeSean McCoy was pathetic on the ground rushing for 38 yards… on a whopping 27 carries in one of the worst rushing performances in the history of football for a player with 25+ carries. Fantasy owners aren’t too upset about the effort though as he also caught three passes in addition to scoring two times on the ground (one and two yard runs).
WR: Fantasy Hero – Marques Colston, Saints
7 catches, 105 yards, 2 TDs
Colston had a big day with Jimmy Graham at less than 100 percent because of some back woes. The two scores were his first since a two score outing in Week 7, but this is the third time in four games that he has caught at least six passes as Drew Brees continues his record setting pace chucking the pigskin all over the gridiron.
WR: Fantasy Zero – Calvin Johnson, Lions
3 catches, 29 yards
This effort was disastrous in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. I told you that a regression was coming with Johnson, but his downturn has become alarming. That’s 3-straight weeks with Johnson being held to less than 70 yards, but even more concerning is the fact that he’s recorded just one touchdown in his last five games. He’s got a strong match up in Week 15 against the Raiders — if he didn’t kill your teams chances of playing in Week 15 that is.
Numbers to Know Plaxico Burress had only two targets on Sunday and he was unable to catch either pass. Burress has an impressive seven scores on the year, but he’s also caught more than four balls just one time (five in Week 9), and he doesn’t have a single 80-yard game this season.
Percy Harvin is an unbelievable football player, a fact I’ve been relaying for about five months now. It’s not always been an even keeled ride on the Harvin train, but he is exploding at the perfect time in the fantasy game. Harvin ran the ball four times for 40 yards and he also caught 10 balls for 69 yards a touchdown against the Lions.
Julio Jones had a big game on Sunday as Matt Ryan relentlessly targeted his athletic rookie. Jones caught only three balls in the game, multiple passes were in an out of his hands as he was defended closely, but on those three receptions he went for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
With Eli Manning going off for 400 yards, the Giants had three strong wide receiver efforts in Week 14: Hakeem Nicks (7-154), Victor Cruz (7-3) and Mario Manningham (2-62-1).
TE: Fantasy Hero – Rob Gronkowski, Patriots
6 catches, 160 yards, 2 TDs
Simply put, the guy is unstoppable. All Tom Brady has to do is to throw the ball close, and Gronkowski goes and gets it like Larry Fitzgerald. Gronkowski also ran through tackles like Earl Campbell on Sunday. Superlatives are starting to fail as Gronkowski continues his march to the greatest season by a tight end in the history of the game (he already has the all-time single season TD reception record for a tight end with 15).
TE: Fantasy Zero – Jermichael Finley, Packers
zero catches
Finley has been a disappointment virtually all season long, and today was the epitome of his 2011 failures. What can you say? When a team scores 46 points an a supposed elite option at his position has no catches, you have every right to curse the heavens.
Numbers to Know Owen Daniels had a nice day working with Tyler Yates. He was targeted 10 times and hauled in seven of the balls for 100 yards. Too bad Joel Dreessen vultured a TD in the red zone or it would have been a huge day for Daniels.
Tony Gonzalez is just like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going and going and going… Gonzo caught seven of his 11 targets for 82 yards against the Panthers.
Aaron Hernandez had a 5th straight game without a score for the Patriots, but his owners should still be pleased with his effort that included five receptions for 84 yards.
Brandon Pettigrew caught six balls for 57 yards an a score against the Vikings. That outing was Pettigrew’s first with more than five catches since Week 6, and it was his first game with more than 55 yards since Week 4.
Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87. Ray’s baseball analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.
