James Morris hails from Rio Rancho, NM and has been playing fantasy sports for just over 15 years. Not only does he write the Bengals fantasy section, but he also does the Jacksonville Jaguars fantasy section. Crossing over, Morris writes the fantasy sections for the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. Just send him an email and he will reply back the same day with your answer.
People keep asking me about Carson Palmer and the main question is "What do we do with him now?" Look, I cut him in the one league I owned him in because there is no way on God's green Earth that anyone is going to trade for him after he went out on the field with a lit match and started throwing fireballs at the defensive players last weekend. Just let it go.
Does anyone know who the No. 1 fantasy RB is this season? If you said Matt Forte, then you would be right. Weather it is being in a contract year, or the Bears having nothing else on offense to lean on, Forte has been fantasy gold this season and I am humbling myself to admit that Forte is a beast and top 5 RB in the NFL this season. Christopher Aloysius Molina, take your bow because you were finally right about a Chicago Bears offensive player being worthy of a first-round pick.
Finally, allow me to address the Tim Tebow hype right now. The guy was absolutely terrible for 55 minutes and pulled out some last-minute heroics. From a fantasy standpoint, Tebow isn't going to be someone you can play unless you are in a two QB league. Just let someone else deal with the lack of points he will produce in fantasy leagues.
Byes: Falcons, Bears, Packers, Jets, Raiders, Buccaneers
Eli Manning: The Dolphins are possibly one of the worst teams we have seen in the NFL in quite a while, so you can basically look at who they are playing from week-to-week and start the opposing QB. Manning started the season ranked around 75th in fantasy football, but he has exceeded those expectations thus far with a ranking closer to 27-30, depending on the format. With the Dolphins in the bottom three for fantasy points allowed to QBs this season, Manning is a strong QB1 play this week.
Joe Flacco: After the debacle that was Monday Night Football for the Ravens, many owners are going to be gun-shy about playing Flacco this week. Let me say this: he isn't a star QB by any definition of the word. But, he is a quality starting NFL QB that should do well against a Cardinals defense that is giving up just over 23 PPG in fantasy leagues. He is a risky play, but the upside is there this week.
DeMarco Murray: I called it last week and am pointing my finger towards the end zone once again this week with Murray. Let's be straight. Murray had his career-high game last week, so don't expect anything like that ever again. That being said, this week he draws an Iggles defense that has some serious issues stopping the run and are currently sitting at No. 4 in fantasy points allowed to RBs.
Darren Sproles: Sproles is more of a PPR pick than a standard points league pick, but he can have value in a standard league in the flex. To this point, the Rams have allowed 24 receptions and six TDs to RBs this season, slotting them in the fourth-lowest spot for points allowed to RBs in a PPR format. I'd play Sproles as a solid RB2 in PPR leagues and a flex in standard formats with Mark Ingram likely out this week.
A.J. Green: Green is showing the skills that you would hope to see from a WR1, and he has a QB in Andy Dalton that trusts him with the tough catches. Over the past four weeks, Green is averaging 4.7 receptions and 86.3 YPG, which amounts to roughly 16 fantasy PPG and that puts him in the top 30 for all fantasy players during that span.
Victor Cruz: Cruz is one of those fantasy football headaches that I normally try to avoid because his stats are up and down, and he is on the downswing. However, the Dolphins are terribly bad and Cruz should find himself in the low-end WR2/high-end WR3 range this week.
Vernon Davis: Davis isn't someone I own in any league I am in, but it is due to the QB he has throwing to him more than his skills at the position. There are very few athletes in the NFL more gifted than Davis, but his QB keeps him down the fantasy charts just about every single week. This week however I am going against the grain and starting Davis since he plays the woefully bad Browns defense. They give up about 10 PPG to TEs, and we all know that TE is an all or nothing position in fantasy football.
Kevin Kolb: A lot of you that own Aaron Rodgers or Matt Ryan might own Kolb as your bye week filler. Problem is that the Kolb trade has been a complete mess for the Cardinals and he is currently going tit-for-tat with his TDs and INTs (7-7). The Cardinals lock up with the Ravens and their stout pass defense this week, which means I'd start Christian Ponder or even John Beck over Kolb if I had the choice.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick got off to a blazing start this NFL season, which meant his owners thought they had found fantasy gold in them thar hills. Problem is that over the last four week Fitzy has regressed and is averaging just 212 yards passing and a 1-1 TD to INT ratio. In fantasy terms, that ranks him right in the No. 25-26 range for QBs. Not players, QBs! Fitzpatrick is a huge sell-high candidate for me.
Jackie Battle: Too many people felt the Battle-cry when the Chiefs RB hit up the Colts defense for 119 yards back in Week 5. Battle showed owners more realistic numbers last week when he finished with 76 yards rushing. LeRon McClain is the goal-line back, Thomas Jones is in the mix for carries, and Battle is just one of the heads on this monster. Let him be someone else's problem.
Beanie Wells: Wells's status for this weekend is in serious doubt, and the simple truth here is that you don't want to take a chance on a RB maybe playing in Week 8. If you look at his stats, there was a positive incline from Week 1 to Week 4, but he has been on the decline in Weeks 5 and 7. Even if he was healthy, I'm not sure I would rank him as anything more than a flex play.
Percy Harvin: Harvin is someone that I have walked away from in all my leagues except the PPR leagues. The simple fact is that he is off the field more than he is on it. Yahoo.com has Harvin as the No. 18 projected WR this week, and I just don't see it happening if he can't be on the field for more than half of the team's total snaps.
Pierre Garcon: Garcon saw his fantasy star shoot up with back-to-back 100-plus yard games (146 and 125 in Weeks 4 & 5) with four TDs. However, in the two games since he has totaled 83 yards receiving and no TDs. The Titans are in the middle of the pack when it comes to fantasy points allowed to WRs, but I just don't trust the Colts offense to rebound him to his glory days earlier in the season.
Visanthe Shiancoe: Any time I see another major website pump a player that is completely and totally unworthy, I let you know. This time it was ESPN that is projecting Shiancoe as the No. 3 TE this week. Do they not know that he is averaging 3.3 catches and 34.0 YPG this season? Do they not know that Shiancoe is the 14th-most targeted TE (39) and is 64th with his 51 percent catch percentage? I don't even know why you would own him, let alone start him as a top 3 play.
Q: I have Tim Tebow starting this week, but also have Freeman who is really frustrating me and Colt McCoy, a throw-in in a trade. I'm finding out that you live and die by the draft and injuries. RB J. Charles was my first pick and is out for the season. I drafted Felix Jones too early and I knew he would lose time to injury. I'm 1-5 and my season is pretty much over. WR Dez Bryant and Roddy White have been hurt and off to slow starts. Do I throw in the towel and wait for next year or try making some trades that it will probably be too late this year to do anything? No keepers. *
--Travis Rupert, New Bremen, Ohio*
A: I'll never be one to say throw in the towel. I hate when I am in leagues and the bottom half of the league is dead and the only ones playing still are the guys winning. The problem with fantasy sports is that most of the time people won't do a trade unless they 1) are CLEARLY getting the better of the trade. Or 2) have a man-crush on the player and will pay almost anything to get him.
I too had Charles in a lot of leagues, but that is where the waiver wire comes in and there were a few golden nuggets out there a few weeks back in Blount, Graham, Torain, Decker, Jordy Nelson, etc. At this point, the waiver wire is picked as clean as a Thanksgiving turkey, so you might be S.O.L. and will just have to roll with what you have. I'd say throw some trade offers out there and see who bites, but almost nobody ever trades for a QB since they think their QB is the best available. Hell, even if they have McCoy as their QB1, they won't trade for Matt Ryan.
I will say that I think you are basically ice-skating uphill with this team, but funny things can happen if you set the right lineups.
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