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.
Week 5 of the NFL season has come and gone, but fantasy owners have been emailing me all day long asking "Are Curtis Painter and Pierre Garcon the new Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison of the Colts?" The truth of the matter is I'd give Garcon another game before I anoint him the next Harrison. Garcon is second in targets with 37, and has 271 yards and four TDs in the last two games, a pace that he obviously can't keep up. I'd give him a high WR3 ranking for next week, but if this continues, he will be a waiver wire diamond in the rough.
Then there is Jackie Battle. Battle looked like a must-add in any fantasy format on Sunday as he rumbled his way to 140 total yards for the Chiefs. The problem with Battle is that he has no real burst in his speed and he really just wore the Colts defense down by churning his legs and pushing forward. I wouldn't consider Battle as anything more than a flier pickup off the waiver wire at this point.
Ben Roethlisberger: This week just shows how wrong we can be sometimes and how stats sometimes are misleading. I fully expected the Steelers to run the ball down the Titans throat all day long, but a late-week scratch to Rashard Mendenhall changed all that. Isaac Redman isn't the same back Mendenhall is and that allowed Big Ben to throw 5—yes, count 'em—5 touchdowns despite racking up just 228 passing yards. Fantasy football is almost always TD heavy, so his end zone visits allowed him to take home the No. 1 spot in almost all formats.
Matt Cassel: Cassel and the Chiefs finally found their groove on Sunday as they squeaked out a win over the Colts. Cassel threw the ball for 257 yards and 4 TDs, a statline I certainly didn't expect to see from him. I don't think this is a sign of things to come since it was against the Colts defense, but I would be on the lookout in leagues as I am sure some people are going to pick him up and cut someone you just might be able to use.
Adrian Peterson: I normally don't put players like Peterson on the winners list because we expect a top 5 fantasy pick to do well each and every week. But, you have to recognize game when you see it, and I saw it this weekend. AP scurried for 122 yards and 3 TDs against the Cardinals, and his owners have been waiting for something like this since his Week 2 performance against the Bucs (120 yards and 2 TDs).
BenJarvus Green-Ellis: As I predicted, The Law Firm made the Patriots forget all about Stevan Ridley by amassing 136 rushing yards and 2 scores. Green-Ellis is the RB1 for this offense and will produce numbers from time-to-time, but remember that Tom Brady is the centerpiece and the Patriots will throw for more stats than they will run for them.
Doug Baldwin: If you don't even know who Baldwin is, don't be ashamed because nobody else does either. However, Baldwin is averaging 16.5 yards per catch and his 136 yards (and he scored a TD) on Sunday were the most for any Seahawks receiver this season. So, if you are one of the three people that own Baldwin, now is the time to sell high on the kid.
A.J. Green: Green is looking more and more like the stud he was drafted to be as he finished this week with five catches for 90 yards and an end zone visit. Green and Dalton have developed a great rapport with each other and fantasy owners are reaping the rewards of it. Those in dynasty leagues have a future WR1 stud on board.
Joel Dreessen: Dreessen stepped up this week and caught five passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Just a few weeks ago it was James Casey who filled the TE2 spot for the Texans and racked up 126 yards and a score, so you can take this performance with a grain of salt. I wouldn't add Dreessen unless you are in an incredibly deep league.
San Francisco 49ers Defense: The Niners faced a pathetic Buccaneers offense and just shut them down. The Bucs scored just 3 points and gave up 3 sacks, 2 INTs, lost a fumble and Josh Freeman played pitch-n-catch with the defense and gave up a pick-6 to Carlos Rogers in the second quarter.
Matt Ryan: Just when you think the Falcons are for real and you can trust Ryan against the worst defense in the league (Packers), they hit a road block and look like they are running on two flat tires. Matty-Ice was put on ice Sunday as he finished with 167 passing yards, a TD and 2 INTs. Better days will follow, but this bumps him back down to QB2 value until he proves otherwise.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: Yes, the Bills won. But, the Iggles defense has to be one of the most overrated things in all of football this season. That being said, Fitzy only managed to finish with 193 passing yards, a TD and an INT on Sunday. He still has to be owned in all formats, but he obviously isn't an every week fantasy starter after this contest.
Darren McFadden: This is exactly why I don't like McFadden in fantasy terms. Run DMC and the entire Raiders offense failed to move the ball and he finished with just 51 yards on the ground and two catches for 17 yards. McFadden disappears at times and this was certainly one of those times.
Stevan Ridley: Believe or not: Yahoo had Ridley ranked as the No. 22 fantasy player heading into Week 5. What did he do? Well, he racked up an unimpressive 13 yards on the ground is what he did. I warned you not to play Ridley as one week of goodness does not a fantasy starter make. If I could just get the yahoos at Yahoo to make some good fantasy picks, my job would be so much easier!
Stevie Johnson: Jackson was a victim of Fitzpatrick's poor day and finished with just 29 yards on his 4 catches. Johnson and the Bills are overrated in my honest opinion, but they have been putting up good stats to this point. You can't bench Johnson based on one bad game, but this is something to keep an eye on as the Bills are going to hit reality sooner or later.
Vincent Jackson: VJax suffered because Malcolm Floyd remembered that he was actually a player for the Chargers and not a season ticket holder who had an on-field pass for games. Jackson finished the game with just 3 receptions for 34 yards and no scores. He is a top-tier fantasy WR, so chalk this up as a bad game.
Rob Gronkowski: Gronk proved that there is no sure thing when it comes to fantasy TEs. This weekend he managed to find his way to just 31 yards on 4 catches. Tight end is one of the most unpredictable positions in all of fantasy football, and more leagues are opting to use a WR/TE flex spot in place of the old-fashioned TE spot.
Kansas City Chiefs Defense: Can somebody … ANYBODY … explain to me why Yahoo had the Chiefs defense ranked No. 2 heading into Week 5? I understand they had the second lowest fantasy point total heading into Week 5 according to Yahoo scoring (24 points to the Dolphins 20), so it stands a reason why they should go from second worst to second best right? WRONG! The Chiefs gave up 24 points to rookie Curtis Painter and weren't able to record a single sack, INT, fumble, nothing.
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