It was another crazy week in the world of fantasy. Perhaps the biggest fantasy headline was domination at the WR position. Two players soaring over 200 yards and then a third getting 4 TDs and outscoring the previous two. Lets recap it all and see what to make of it.
QBs:
I am pretty sure it was the first week that Peyton Manning (32) wasn't ranked in the top two, and he showed us why you can never rank him outside of the top 5. Looking mortal of late, he came right back with his best performance in weeks. Nick Foles (23) is officially the man. I don't know if its the system, or his talent, but he has been fantastic. This is a tough defense with a great secondary and he handled it without problem. If you own him and you don't have a great first QB, he is in borderline must-start territory. Josh McCown (22) was the other guy a lot of people were high on considering he is a backup, but it was proved rightly so. Alex Smith (21) with another impressive performance. Thats three straight games with 20+ points and 4 of his last 5. I thought he looked really good here besides the dreadful interception. He has the Redskins and Raiders next. You have to imagine that they won't make him struggle either. I see at least 15 points against the Redskins, which makes him a nice #2 option. Ryan Tannehill (21) also had another good game. Thats the second straight week he has set his high total for the year. Next week he faces the Steelers in Pittsburgh, so you can't be too optimistic about that, but it should be another solid game if not great. EJ Manuel (18) got a bit banged up in this game but played fairly well and had a rushing touchdown making him a solid start. Going forward he has two favorable matchups in warm weather, I think he will be a top 15 QB for both. Philip Rivers (12) was back to his mediocre self of late. 12 or 13 fantasy points in 3 of the last 4, at least he has the Giants next week. Andrew Luck (10) is another who has struggled a lot lately. Just 10 points against Tennessee's tough secondary. He gets Cincinnati next, and they certainly haven't been an easy opponent either. I would be worried. One performance that did surprise me, especially after Tannehill last week, was Mike Glennon (3). Carolina tore him apart. He had been a model of consistency before this game. Carolina is extremely tough so its not a major worry going forward.
RBs:
I'm still waiting for an explanation on how Ben Tate (28) can get 1 yard on 7 carries vs the Jags and then have 100+ and three touchdowns vs anyone else. That is frustrating. Of course he faces the Jags next week again and who knows what to expect? I think I will be on the optimistic side, but its far from guaranteed. DeMarco Murray (27) also ended with three TDs, but really didn't impress me that much with his running. Still, he has a very favorable schedule going forward. Reggie Bush (21) continued his big home/road splits as he got 25 carries here and did very well. Next week he is at Philly where it will be cold and the Philly defense has played somewhat decently lately. Don't be surprised to see Bush outside my top 10. Steven Jackson (20) was a true workhorse this week, recording 20+ touches for the first time this season as well as his 2nd & 3rd TDs of the year. It was an impressive performance within a Falcons offense that really performed well all around. Its hard to decipher exactly what to make of this, but it's promising. In the same game C.J. Spiller (20) broke out very quickly with a 77 yard run and continued to pile on the yardage throughout. It was promising, and he looked very good for most of the game. He did get banged up and looked slow for a bit in the middle but he came back and ended up with a 30+ yard TD later on. Its easy to be optimistic, but he still can't be counted on every game. Fred Jackson (19) still had two TDs himself. Joique Bell (18) also piled on the points in addition to Bush and went over 20 touches for the second time this year. Unfortunately, unless your situation is pretty bad, I can't really imagine starting him because he could just as easily get 5 carries next week and thats it. One guy who didn't actually do too much but impressed me was Lamar Miller (8). Since the O-line fallout, the Dolphins run game had been basically a zero. There was no reason to expect change this week, but Miller delivered. Its still hard to trust him going forward, but you could certainly do worse. Eddie Lacy (3) might have been the most disappointing performance of the day. I really didn't expect a terrible performance from Flynn and that completely derailed the whole offense. Not worried long term.
WRs:
The top three WRs dominated. They are all very good players and all must starts every week. Decker is the one that you have to worry about a bit, but because of the offense, he is worth starting as shown here. The 4th highest scoring receiver of the day was Brian Hartline (17) who had 9 catches and 15 targets. He's not good enough to be an every week starter, but if you aren't great at WR, he is startable. Don't expect these numbers though. Michael Floyd (15) continued his torrid pace. I don't think he is better than Fitz, but with the attention that Fitz commands, Floyd has become a very good option every single week. Welcome back, Roddy White (14). I'm not ready to say he is full back, but this game was very promising. And yet I wouldn't be surprised if he returns to worthlessness next week. Andre Holmes (13) was a big emerging target this week. Its hard to say just how real this is because Denarius Moore sat out again. Worth an add in deeper leagues, but thats about it at this point. It bums me out that 8 points is a good day for Victor Cruz but that is what it is. After last week its still disappointing, but hopefully a step in the right direction for the remainder of the season. Ace Sanders (6) has quietly become a consistent deeper league option. 6 points in each of the last three games with 8 receptions in two separate games. As a PPR flex, he might not be a bad option now that he is clearly above the injured Mike Brown. Dwayne Bowe (5) very nearly had a big game, but a touchdown called back and a few other plays that didn't quite fall and 5 points is the result. Frustrating but I am looking forward to next week as well. Hakeem Nicks (3) is droppable. Only two targets this week. LaVon Brazill (4) actually had more targets than T.Y. Hilton (5) but only caught 3 passes. Worth a flier deep, but not much else. Another disappointing game for Wes Welker (3) but I still consider him a must start. Just like Decker, he's bound to score sooner than later. Don't let it be when you have him benched.
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