Buy, Watch or Pass - Week 6
QB’s Kyle Boller, Baltimore Ravens – 226 pass yds, 3 TD’s, 1 INT Kyle Boller had the starting job for 3 years before the Ravens had seen enough. They brought in the injury plagued Steve McNair and thought they had solved all their quarterback woes. Unfortunately, McNair has not lived up to expectations and got hurt (again) in the loss to the Panthers last week. Boller came in and played well, however 2 of his 3 TD passes were the product of luck more than skill. They came off of tipped passes in the air that found their way into Mark Clayton’s hands. Boller has shown flashes of talent in the past, but is way too inconsistent. The Ravens have a BYE next week and expect McNair to return the following week. Don't buy into this performance. PASS Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers – 344 pass yds, 2 TD’s Before people get on my back about my "PASS" from last week, please note that he just went up and shredded a very mediocre 49ers defense. Do I think Rivers is a good QB? Absolutely. Is he a starting FANTASY QB? I'm still going to say no. If you look at the rest of his schedule, he goes up against some tough pass defenses, while the run defenses he will be playing during that time are pretty weak. The run game will rule supreme during that stretch. Certainly you can't look past his last 2 performances, but I can't recommend him at this point as described above. However, do keep your eye on him. WATCH Chad Pennington, New York Jets – 175 pass yds, 2 TD’s Pennington has been a mixed bag so far this year. Against the Dolphins, Pennington showed the good side of him, throwing for 175 yards, 2 TD's & no INT's. While it was nothing to write home about, it was still a solid performance none the less, coming after the 71 yard, 0 TD, 3 INT performance against the Jaguars the previous week. Looking at the rest of his schedule, he has some really good matchups blended in with some really bad ones. It's hard to recommend Pennington as a front line starter, but he is definatley worthy of a roster spot. BUY, but pick and choose your matchups. Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals – 232 pass yds, 2 TD’s While Arizona has no excuse for losing that game on Monday, you can’t blame Matt Leinart, who had another solid outing by throwing for 232 yards & 2 TD’s. While I think highly of Leinart, there are some things to be concerned about. First off is that his offensive line is horrible. That’ll lead to lots of sacks, which in turn could lead to more turnovers (e.g. Look at what happened Monday). Secondly, he has thrown all his touchdowns in the first quarter, leading me to believe he is having a hard time making changes after the defense adjusts to him. Could it be a personnel issue? Well, Dennis Green fired his offensive coordinator after the game and replaced him with Mike Kruczek, the quarterback coach, who says he has a close personal relationship with Leinart. We’ll see if things change, but Leinart has some killer matchups down the road along with some great weapons. Despite the concerns, this guy has great talent. Don’t miss out! BUY Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers – 214 pass yds, 2 TD’s, 1 INT I noted last week that if you threw out the game against Kansas City, Alex Smith had been very consistently productive. He has a tough stretch coming up, starting with this last week against San Diego. Much to my surprise, Smith played very smart, turning the ball over once while throwing 2 TD's. As a matter of fact, the whole offense actually did well in the first half. If it wasn't for a very poor defensive effort, they could've won this game. In any case, Smith is growing up. He has 8 TD's compared to 4 INT's, and played well against a tough San Diego D. I can't recommend him the next 2 games (Chicago & Minnesota), but after that, he may reach top Fantasy QB levels with all the weak secondaries he'll be facing. He has the weapons to do so. BUY RB’s Travis Henry, Tennessee Titans – 178 rush yds, 1 TD I'll be the first to admit I didn't this one coming. 32 carries for 178 yards and a TD? Wow! I think it's safe to say Henry has a firm handle on the starting job, as Chris Brown only got 3 carries & LenDale White didn't even get one. I can't really say it's time to jump on the bandwagon & depend on him as a Fantasy starter, because that defense still isn't very good, they have a rookie QB starting & they are a young team that are going to make mistakes, all resulting in Tennessee to force to pass the ball more than run it. Plus, Henry is very fragile & they probably will want to get White more carries down the road. While Tennessee has a couple of good matchups (Indianapolis, Buffalo & 2 against Houston), the rest are hit or miss. With no crystal ball to look at, you still have to be wary about his production & playing time as the season wears on. I want to say watch, but because running backs are a rare commodity, this will probably be your last chance to grab him. BUY, but watch very carefully. Najeh Davenport, Pittsburgh Steelers – 78 rush yds, 1 TD The Steelers have been searching for that big bruiser since Bettis retired to begin the season. Najeh Davenport was supposed to be that guy, but he began the season with a nagging calf injury, keeping him out early in the season. It looks as if that is finally starting to heal, based on the playing time he had on Sunday. Most of his time came after Pittsburgh was slaughtering the Chiefs, but looked good and was productive. Davenport was a great backup in Green Bay before going on the IR in his final season with them, so lingering injuries are a concern. He’s definitely a talented back, but the opportunity hasn’t arrived yet. Willie Parker has actually looked great in goal line situations, so there is no reason to believe Davenport will be stealing those carries away anytime soon. Until then, he doesn’t hold any fantasy value. If you are a Parker owner, WATCH. Everyone else, PASS Marion Barber III, Dallas Cowboys – 57 rush yds, 1 TD You may look at Marion Barber’s stat line and think, “Big Deal!” But did you know that this is his fourth consecutive game with a TD? Barber is constantly being featured in short yardage situations, meaning more goal line carries, giving him HUGE fantasy value. While he isn’t the featured back, Julius Jones is known to be injury prone & the Cowboys don’t have any very tough run defenses the rest of the way. The guy is averaging 5 yards a carry & getting quite a few touches each game. What are you waiting for!? BUY WR’s Mark Clayton, Baltimore Ravens – 101 rec yds, 2 TD’s If you read about Kyle Boller above, then you know not to read much into Mark Clayton. The two touchdowns were off of tipped passes that luckily fell into Clayton’s hands for touchdowns. If you take those away, he would have had 3 catches for 25 yards. McNair doesn’t look particularly impressive right now & Boller still hasn’t proven much. The Ravens just recently fired their offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, leaving Brian Billick to call the plays. We’ll see if that has any effect. For now, until we see more out of the QB position, you’ve got to look else where. PASS Drew Carter, Carolina Panthers – 65 rec yds, 1 TD & Nate Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers – 68 rec yds, 1 TD I decided to bunch Drew Carter & Nate Washington together because they both are nearly in identical situations. Both players are good #3 wide receivers on their respectable teams, but they don’t have much to offer in terms of fantasy value. While Steve Smith (Carolina) & Hines Ward (Pittsburgh) have injury concerns which could make them look like a good pickup, there should be other options out there. Until their roles increase… PASS Do you have questions regarding your Fantasy Team? Send them to Alex The Great at http://sports.enterto.com/ask_alex.html. Every week I will answer a couple questions and post them directly at http://sports.enterto.com This article is dedicated to the most charismatic and heroic king of all times! Alex Martinez is a fantasy sports writer for Enterto.com. He has been following sports & playing fantasy sports since he was a kid. |
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