http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTIHZ0g70NQ
MVP by Position
QB: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers – 374 yards, PaTD, INT, 35 rushing yards, 2 RuTD – For the third time in four games, Newton put together a phenomenal day of fantasy numbers. He almost had another 400 yard passing game, but a lot of his damage came on the ground. His two rushing scores gave him four total for the year, and he looks tough enough to keep it up without sustaining a serious injury. Runner-Up: The player with the most fantasy points this week was Aaron Rodgers (408 yards, 4 PaTD, INT, 36 rushing yards, 2 RuTD). The only reason he didn’t win the week’s MVP for his six-touchdown performance is because he is a no-brainer, every-week start in fantasy football.
RB: Arian Foster, Houston Texans – 166 yards, TD – Sure, there were guys with better statistical days, but if Foster’s owners had the cajones to start him against Pittsburgh in his first game back from a hamstring injury, then they were rewarded greatly. This is the Foster we came to love last season, and this is also what I expect to see going forward for the rest of this year. Runner-Up: Beanie Wells (138 yards, 3 TD) was a monster for the Cardinals, pushing past his early-week injury concerns.
WR: Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants – 162 yards, TD – The superstar wideout had two consecutive shaky outings while battling a knee injury, but finally came through big against the Cardinals soft secondary in week four. He still has top notch talent and as long as his health concerns are behind him he is in line for a huge season. Runner-Up: Calvin Johnson (96 yards, 2 TD) is the first player to have two receiving touchdowns in each of the first four weeks of a season. He’s a freak of nature, and these outrageous numbers will continue as long as he and Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford stay injury-free.
TE: Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints – 132 yards, TD – He’s quickly developing into Drew Brees’ favorite target, even with star receiver Marques Colston back from injury. Graham had ten catches in a game that the Saints won handily, and Brees looked his way very often (14 targets). In my book, Graham falls behind only Jason Witten as far as fantasy tight ends.
Defense/Special Teams: Baltimore Ravens – 3 TD, 3 Fumbles Recovered, INT, 2 Sacks – They repeatedly made Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez look like a fool on Sunday night, causing turnover after turnover. They have the most fantasy points for any defense this season, so be thankful if they found their way onto your team.
Last Friday’s Predictions
From the “Thumbs Up” section, several players had successful fantasy days. The player I liked the most, Pierre Garcon, made me look like a genius by nabbing two long touchdown receptions on Monday night, one of 87 yards and another of 59 yards.
LaGarrette Blount, Greg Olsen and Santana Moss also had touchdowns, and 49ers backup Kendall Hunter finished with 100 total yards. Even Jason Campbell (344 yards, PaTD, 2 INT, 29 rushing yards) had decent overall numbers at quarterback.
However, I did predict big things for Rex Grossman and the Atlanta Falcons defense, both of which turned out to play very poorly.
For “Thumbs Down,” I was two-thirds right on the Saints running back trio (only Darren Sproles had a respectable day for fantasy, with 131 total yards). I was also correct on Shonn Greene (23 yards) and Joe Flacco (163 yards, INT), both of whom were major busts in the Sunday night game. Dez Bryant (37 yards, 2 TD) managed to turn just five targets into 15 fantasy points. I still don’t think he will be a top 20 receiver for the rest of the year, especially with his injury history.
Waiver Wire Pickups
Matt Hasselbeck (QB, Tennessee Titans) – Bye weeks start in week five, so why not snatch Hasselbeck off of waivers and store him on your bench until you need him? He is consistently putting up good fantasy numbers; he has an 8-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and he has already topped 300 yards passing twice. In week four (220 yards, 3 PaTD, INT) he showed that he doesn’t need Kenny Britt to put up big numbers.
Ryan Torain (RB, Washington Redskins) – ‘Skins coach Mike Shanahan showed that he’s up to his old tricks, this time giving Torain (135 yards, TD) the lion’s share of the backfield carries. It’s too bad for Tim Hightower owners, but you must have known what you were getting into when you picked him. Just as Hightower’s term as the starting running back lasted about three weeks, don’t get too used to Torain on your fantasy squad. Deploy him for the next few weeks and then cut him when Shanny changes his mind again.
Pierre Garcon (WR, Indianapolis Colts) – Curtis Painter looks his way a lot, as he led the Colts in receiver targets with eight. He only made two catches, but 146 yards and two touchdowns is a great fantasy day. I think he continues to have a lot of value as long as Kerry Collins stays on the sideline.
Eric Decker (WR, Denver Broncos) – The ex-Golden Gopher has scored in bunches so far, this time with two receiving touchdowns to go with 57 yards. I’m afraid that the Broncos will make the switch to Tim Tebow at quarterback fairly soon, but until then Decker has a lot of value.
Steve Breaston (WR, Kansas City Chiefs) – Even with Dwayne Bowe (107 yards, TD) taking most of the receiving numbers for the Chiefs, Breaston still managed 91 yards on four catches. I don’t necessarily like Breaston’s skill set (he’s never really put it together in the NFL), but the Chiefs will be losing in a lot of games this year, forcing them to pass very frequently. Bowe is obviously the number one guy, but Breaston could sneak in a few good games here and there.
Buy Low Opportunities
Here’s a list of guys I would look to trade for this week. I would strike now since their value is low, as I expect all of them to have better fantasy seasons than their week four numbers indicate:
Chris Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Roddy White, Mike Wallace, Peyton Hillis, Stevie Johnson, Jeremy Maclin, Ed Dickson, Anquan Boldin, Jermichael Finley, Rob Gronkowski