*New to our web site this season is James Morris, the owner and CEO of No Limit Fantasy Sports. James will provide you with insights on the coming week's game, advice on who to sit and start, as well as answer your questions via email. *
Week 16 is here, the Fantasy Football Championships! Well, for most of you. Some leagues are still trying to run their title game into Week 17, when most, if not all, playoff teams sit their stars for a playoff run and the teams not in it play the kids to see what they have. This will be the final real projection week, with next week featuring a small projection list and a look back at the fantasy bust and sleepers for the 2008 NFL season.
| ! Texans quarterback Matt Schaub should have his way against a porous Raiders defense. (Getty Images) |
Shaun Hill: Hill just keeps rolling along with his fantasy play, but his main problem is lack of TDs thrown. However, playing indoors against the Rams makes him a low-end QB1. I'd play him over Rivers or McNabb, but not over Rodgers or Cassel.
Pierre Thomas: Thomas is the man with Bush on IR now. He has scored 5 TDs over the past three games and amassed 223 yards on the ground and 86 yards via the air. If you were smart enough to grab him when he was available, you now have a viable top 10 RB just in time for the fantasy finals.
Sammy Morris: Last week he ran 14 times for 117 yards and a TD, good enough for most teams. He isn't worth sitting your regular RB, but he makes a nice RB2.
Antonio Bryant: I was sure Bryant would fall off the radar once Joey Galloway returned. How wrong I was. With 1,044 receiving yards and 6 TDs this season, he has been good enough to be ranked in the fantasy top 50.
Lance Moore: With him taking the last three weeks off from fantasy helpfulness, his matchup against the Lions this week means you need to play him and hope for a rebound. I have faith in him to do it for my team.
John Carlson: The Seahawks are a terrible passing team with Seneca Wallace at the helm, but he looks for Carlson early and often. Fantasy TE isn't an exact position for points, so all you can do is play him and hope for the best once again.
San Francisco 49ers Defense: When you play the Rams, just play your defense. The Rams are just not very good and I don't want to keep telling you to pick Texans players this week.
Ben Roethlisberger: The Titans defense lost some power when Albert Haynesworth went down with a sprained MCL. But, they are still a top-tier defense and Big Ben hasn't exactly been lighting it up recently. I bet you have better options at QB.
Tarvaris Jackson: I see WAY too many people picking up Jackson and inserting him into their starting lineups. Those 4 TDs he threw last week got people going crazy over him. Don't forget that prior to this season he had an 11-16 TD-INT ratio. Jackson is not going to do it again.
Larry Johnson: LJ hasn't been able to break 100 yards since Week 4 and I don't see him doing it this week either. The Chiefs are not going anywhere and Johnson isn't going to get you much further either.
Clinton Portis: Against the Eagles, no RB is a safe play. Portis hasn't scored since Week 7 and hasn't reached the century mark for rushing yards in three weeks. Portis isn't even a RB2 options in most leagues.
Braylon Edwards: One name: Ken Dorsey.
Torry Holt: What a fine way to end a terrible fantasy season, on the Sit 'Em list. Holt has 651 yards receiving and 3 TDs to his credit this season, ranking him in the lower end of the 130's for fantasy rankings.
David Martin: His 66 yards and TD from last week will have people wanting to start him this week. Just don't be one of them. He has been all or nothing this season and since he was all last week, I'd bet on nothing this week.
New England Patriots Defense: Going against the Cardinals and their juggernaut passing offense, you almost have to sit the Patriots defense this week. You know the Arizona running game with a grand total of seven carries last week, it is amazing people just don't drop every single defender off the line 15 yards.
Q: I need help for my championship game. Pick 3 WRs: Lee Evans, Lance Moore, Hines Ward, Antonio Bryant, Dwayne Bowe, Kevin Walter. Pick 1 TE: Jason Witten, Owen Daniels.
--Zach Whitchurch
A: Bryant, Evans and Bowe at WR. Bryant has defied odds and torn up the fantasy season; Evans doesn't have J.P. Losman to mess him up, so Edwards can only help; I fully expect Bowe to push for the ball so that he can get his 1,000 yards this season (891 right now). Controversy or not, Witten is still a top-tier TE and I would play him over Daniels.
You win the title, let us know fantasy faithful!
Here we go fantasy fans, Championship week for most leagues. Since there are only a handful of leagues that actually run into Week 17, I'll do a season recap next week with a few projections for those still playing. This week is the most important week for most fantasy football players, so paying attention to subtleties is more important than ever. The good news for you is that I have ways of doing it so that you don't have to.
Indianapolis Colts: The Colts head into Jacksonville without Marvin Harrison, who is out due to hamstring problems. Jacksonville has given up 22 passing touchdowns this year, tying them for fourth most in the NFL. Since they also recently lost top CB Rashean Mathis for the season, Tony Gonzalez becomes a solid WR3. Reggie Wayne is a WR1 as always, but you have to think the Colts will be up early, thus forcing the running game out to protect the Colts stars.
Joseph Addai is still a maybe for the game with Coach Tony Dungy saying his "sense is" Joseph Addai will play in Week 16 against the Jaguars. I'd find another option at RB if you can because you probably won't know if he is a go or not until game time. And, even if he does play, you know the Colts will be limiting his carries heavily. The Colts defense has to focus on shutting down Maurice Jones-Drew. If they can do that, the Colts defense will be an option to play this week.
Jacksonville Jaguars: David Garrard now has to get it done without wideout Jerry Porter, who was placed on IR this week. Wait, Porter only had 11 catches for 181 yards this season. I guess Garrard has been getting it done without him all season anyway, so this week won't be much different. He is an iffy QB2 play.
MJD is now the lone running back with Fred Taylor also on the IR, making him a solid RB1 play this week. The best thing for fantasy owners this week is that MJD is looking for a big contract extension from the Jags this offseason, so his play in these final two games will only add more zeros to his future checks.
I can't see a single Jags receiver or tight end that I would play this week. Sure, Garrard has to throw to somebody, but I couldn't guess who it would be. Given the ability of Indy's offense to score, I wouldn't play the Jags defense this week unless my other defense was someone like Washington, St. Louis, Oakland or Detroit. But hey, if you have one of those defenses, you are not playing this week anyway.
