September 8, 2011

Week One Love/Hate


Love/Hate Week 1
            Football season is back. Food, games, beer (well, pop for me), but that means you have to make the toughest decisions for your fantasy line up. That’s why I’m here; to tell you who I like for this week.
Pretty much, every week I will give you two guys for each position in the love and the hate category. It will start with quarterbacks, then running backs, wide receivers, and then tight ends, and every once in a while I might throw in a defense if I like them a lot.

Quarterbacks
Love
Chad Henne vs New England- Even though I think New England will dominate this game, I think Henne could have a decent game. He is going to be playing from behind (most likely) which means the Dolphins will be airing the ball out. Besides that point, Last year in the one full game that Henne played New England he went 28 for 38 with 305 yards and tossed two touchdowns. The only downside? Three interceptions. Not a great game anymore. If he can eliminate or even cut back on those mistakes, Henne could have a real nice game.
Eli Manning vs Washington- Last year Washington had the 31st ranked pass defense in the NFL. Manning didn’t have great games against the Redskins last year, but I think he may fair better this year. Manning didn’t have Hakeem Nicks in week 13 or week 17 of last year: the two times that the Giants faced the Redskins. I expect Manning to go for 300 yards a couple touchdowns and maybe a pick.
Other Nominees: Kyle Orton, Matthew Stafford, and Kevin Kolb
Hate
Ben Roethlisberger @ Baltimore- Ben has never been a great fantasy option when he plays in Baltimore. Last year he threw for 253 yards as well as tossing a touchdown and a pick. With the extremely low scoring affairs with these two teams it is hard to start anyone. I figure most people have a better option than Big Ben this week though.
Jay Culter vs Atlanta- I know this isn’t a great sit, for most people he is already sitting on your bench. Atlanta doesn’t have a stellar pass defense; they finished 22nd in pass defense last year. He also lost a big target in Greg Olsen to Carolina. I don’t see Cutler having a great game this week.

Running Backs
Love
Beanie Wells vs Carolina- Whisenhunt has given Wells the green light for Sunday, and that may not stick for long. I think you should use Beanie with a favorable matchup before he has to share more of his carries.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis @ Miami- This is another pick that depends on if the Patriots can jump out on top of the Dolphins. But I don’t pick Lawfirm solely on that. He also had two pretty good matchups against the Dolphins last year. I would expect him to put up double digits and he should be a strong flex play this week, maybe even a RB2.
Hate
Felix Jones @ NYJ- Even as a Cowboys fan, I have to admit: the Cowboys’ offense will struggle on Sunday Night Football.  They may shut down the Cowboys pass defense with Revis and Cromartie. With a rush defense like the Jets it doesn’t look like Jones will have much fantasy value this week.
Mark Ingram @ Green Bay- I’m not going to take too much time on this. They did not have a great rush defense last year, but they only allowed six TDs. We all know Ingram will be the goal line back for the Saints, but with so few TDs, it’s unlikely he finds the end zone. Keep Ingram on the pine for Thursday
Shonn Greene vs Dallas- Yes. I’m sitting both running backs in the same game. The Cowboys have a pretty good running back and I’m not buying Greene quite yet. I don’t really expect him to get a ton of carries. I still expect him to be in a split with Ladanian Tomlinson.

Wide Receivers
Love
Kenny Britt @ Jacksonville- We don’t know what Britt and Hasselbeck have together yet, but last year when Britt played he was fairly effective. In ten games he had nine touchdowns with a much less effective quarterback then he has now. With a great matchup like this, you’ve gotta start Britt.
Marques Colston @ Green Bay- Green Bay was the fifth best pass defense in the league last year, so why do I love Colston? He is the only WR that should be on the field for the entire game with Lance Moore missing this game. I think Colston is going to see a lot of targets on Thursday night from Drew Brees.
Santana Moss vs New York Giants- The Giants pass defense is in mayhem with all the injuries right now. I know Grossman is the quarterback, but he hasn’t looked awful in preseason and I think Moss could have a nice game. I think Moss could have around ten targets from Beck this week, and he may even find the end zone.
Hate
Reggie Wayne @ Houston- This is a great matchup for Wayne and the Colt’s receivers, but I don’t think that Collins is going to find Wayne all that often. I think the Cotls will run a lot, and also target Clark and Collie quite a bit. I would play Wayne as a flex at best this week.
Sidney Rice @ San Francisco- With the injury that is going on with him, he may not even play. Even if he does play, it isn’t the greatest matchup and he doesn’t have a great quarterback. It has been said that if Rice sits this game out, then Ben Obomanu.

Tight Ends
Love
Marcedes Lewis vs Tennessee- I’m going to stick with my theory here: when a tight end (and only a tight end) have a bad quarterback starting, it will not affect them. Last year he didn’t score a single touchdown against the Titans last year. He also has the matchup favoring him. The Titans are the 25th fantasy defense against tight ends. Maybe Lewis can find the end zone this week.
Hate
Dustin Keller vs Dallas- Not that this guy is starting for a lot of fantasy teams, but if he is, I don’t like him. He is playing a good defense against TEs and I think that Sanchez will expose the Cowboys’ weakness in the defensive back position, not looking for Keller. Cowboys only allowed five touchdowns all of last year. Keep Keller on the bench this week.

Thanks for reading everyone; I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have any questions about fantasy football, or anything football related really, you can contact me on Twitter @TheFFAddict, and feel free to email me cshardy@att.net.

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