Projo Fantasy Sports Blog

By Michael Salfino

On Columbus Day weekend in the NFL that last “s” did not stand for “scoring,” as fantasy points were at a yearly low. But there are winners and losers every week and we learn as much from slow weeks as from ones where the points come fast and furious.

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Larry Johnson, RB, Chiefs: He’s LaDainian Tomlinson this year without the TDs. That was a huge compliment about a month and a half ago. You have to suck it up and hope he dominates the terrible run defenses of Cincinnati and Oakland the next two weeks before the bye, which gives you two weeks to trade him for 80 cents on the dollar instead of the 50 you’d get now.

Jay Cutler, QB, Broncos: Hasn’t scored, but has a solid YPA. The loss of Travis Henry looms. Javon Walker should come back after the bye and the defense is very banged up, especially in the secondary. All the fundamentals are there for Cutler to be a sleeper QB the second half of the fantasy season. But it will get worse before it gets better versus the Steelers in Week 7 after the bye.

Antonio Gates, TE, Chargers: He’s be a Top 5 guy if he was listed among receivers, given his 40 catches (on pace for 128). I’d only take Moss ahead of him right now in non-TE leagues. The Chargers defense is one of the league’s worst versus the pass when measured by YPA against. So, Rivers will keep having to throw a lot more and should keep chucking it to the most uncoverable receiver in the sport – too fast for linebackers, too athletic for safeties, too big for corners.

Kellen Clemens, QB, Jets: The Jets will be 1-5 after the loss to Philly on Sunday. Then they have to stare down the barrel at Washington, Pittsburgh and Dallas around a bye. The season is officially a disaster. Eric Mangini must bench Chad “Pop-Gun” Pennington so that Clemens can build some confidence up against the terrible Bills and Bengals defenses and go from there. The Jets receivers are tremendous.

Jerious Norwood, RB, Falcons: Keeps getting promised more carries and Warrick Dunn (age 32) is officially Done at 3.4 yards per attempt. The offense is terrible and Norwood likely will not get goal-line work. But he’ll be worthy of playing in deep leagues should the Falcons decide to bench or trade (back to Tampa Bay?) Dunn.

Kevin Jones, RB, Lions: Detroit’s offense looked lost last week, but Jones was a semi-bright spot. He’s healthy enough now to get at least 60 or 70 percent of the carries, which is all feature backs get nowadays anyway. And the goal-line stuff he owns already.

Kellen Winslow, TE, Browns: As long as impressive QB Derek Anderson is in there, I love him. Forget the shoulder, he’s playing through the pain. He’s on the field and standing upright on every third down and hurry-up drive. The Browns will need to quicken the pace a lot because their defense is very bad. You rarely see consistent production from a TE five weeks running as we’ve seen with Winslow. With Joe Jurevicius battling a knee injury, he’s now the No. 1 option in the red zone, too.

Plaxico Burress, WR, Giants: Forget the ankle. He’s playing through it. Don’t concern yourself with the missed practices – Sterling Sharpe did that once for almost an entire season and didn’t miss a beat. Bottom line: 7 TDs on just 24 catches and he is saving his biggest plays for late, so it’s not like the ankle is limiting him as Sunday wears on.

Anthony Gonzalez, WR, Colts: I’d stash him in deep leagues as he will be on the field on third downs and an injury to any one of three guys gets him there on first and second downs, too. Peyton Manning looked very comfortable throwing to him on Sunday. Marvin Harrison is rumored to have an Andre Johnson-like knee sprain and Johnson is set to miss his fourth straight week.

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Joseph Addai, RB, Colts: Yes, any competent runner can pile up stats in the Colts offense with defenses placing all eyeballs on Peyton Manning at all times. But Kenton Keith’s performance is unlikely, in my opinion, to cut into Addai’s workload because Addai is a pup, the Colts are cruising and he’s done nothing to deserve a reduction. Addai is also better in pass protection and swinging out of the backfield, as Manning was frustrated at least once by Keith running a wrong route.

Ronnie Brown, RB, Dolphins: He’s the only healthy, starting back averaging over 5.0 per pop. The loss of QB Trent Green (severe concussion) hurts and there are rumors he might not play again. For as long as he’s out, defenses will not respect the pass versus backup Cleo Lemon or 26-year-old rookie John Beck. He’ll remain at least the top 10 back I hoped he’d be in August, but this is a passing year.

Santonio Holmes, WR, Steelers: Tough break for his owners as he pulled his hammy in pre-game warm-ups, but all indications are he’ll be ready to roll after the bye this week.

Edgerrin James, RB, Cardinals: I’m not going to turn the quiet day against the bad Rams defense into a justification for my preseason statement that he was ready for the glue factory. I was wrong. He’s productive and still has tread on the tires, leading the NFC in first downs.

Kurt Warner, QB, Cardinals: He should be a starter in 12-team leagues. He looks to be near Rams form and has two All-World talents at WR. The Cards have also allowed only five sacks this year.

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Willie Parker, RB, Steelers: You can rationalize away Najeh Davenport's two short, Week 5 TDs. “Parker was tired after the long run to the one.” But there was timeout after a booth challenge and Davenport was stuffed on first down. “Parker was tired after three runs to get them down the five.” Okay, but what prime-time back gets winded when he’s on the doorstep? Read the writing on the wall.

Roy Williams, WR, Lions: The Lions can’t protect the passer, 19 sacks allowed and last in protecting the QB even when you adjust for their many attempts. That means shorter routes or a big increase in their league-low 31 percent running plays. Williams owners should root for max protection, but Martz is wedded to flooding the secondary with five receivers.

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