Shimmering T: Week 11 Start/Sit
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I began my career as a fantasy sports blogger by attending a Raiders Anonymous meeting and admitting my love for the moribund franchise. Now, I belong to an even more desperate and disconsolate group—owners of both Adrian “All Day” Peterson and Ronnie “Run, Run” Brown. While I do have Joseph Addai to fall back on as well as the news that All Day should be back on the field for the playoffs, losing both my two favorite fantasy players and football players has been difficult to say the least. That said, they call me Shimmering T. for a reason, and that is why I have regrouped, applied some buff to the shimmies, and made moves in the past two weeks to solidify my team for the playoffs, giving up draft picks (it’s a keeper league) to add Marques Colston and Jason Witten. Now is the time, ladies and gentlemen, to make the plunge and fine tune the squad for the playoffs. With that little motivational speech, let’s move on to this week’s picks…
Here are the details that decide wins or losses: 17 points for a QB, 10 points for a RB or WR, 6 points for a TE, 8 for kickers, and 8 for defenses, all based on the following standard fantasy scoring (QB 20y = 1, TD = 4, INT = -2, FUM = -1; QB, RB, WR, TE 10y = 1, TD = 6, FUM = -1; K 0-39 = 3, 40-49 = 4, 50+ = 5, XP = 1; DEF Sack = 1, INT = 2, FUMRec = 2, TD = 6, Safety = 4).
Last Week: 15-13 Season Record: 151-132-5 or 53% QB: 22-24-2 RB: 32-21-2 WR: 28-25-1 TE: 17-24 K: 28-15 DEF: 25-21
Start:
QB:
Matt Schaub, NO @ HOU Schaub is back in time for the soft and fluffy pass defense of the Saints and he gets his favorite target back in Andre Johnson.
Marc Bulger, STL @ SF Bulger is a great QB to have down the stretch, with a fairly soft schedule and an offense that is finally getting healthy.
Kurt Warner, ARI @ CIN A schedule like Warner’s is the exact reason that I was a big fan of his on the waiver wire a couple weeks ago. Should be a nice game for Kurt and Co.
RB:
LenDale White, TEN @ DEN White is going home to Denver for the first time and he gets the second-worst rush D as an early Christmas present.
Chester Taylor, MIN @ OAK All Day went down at the worst time for fantasy owners—the stretch run and the week before the matchup from heaven. Taylor should reap the Thanksgiving feast of a rush defense that is the Raiders.
Ryan Grant, CAR @ GB Grant should have another nice day against a weak Panthers rush D and pad the stats running out the clock in a 48-0 game in the second quarter.
Steven Jackson, STL @ SF I am only putting him here because I got a lot of questions in my mailbag about starting Jackson. He is a definite start this week regardless of who your other backs are.
WR:
Santonio Holmes, PIT @ NYJ All fantasy owners should love the Jets. J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!
Larry Fitzgerald, ARI @ CIN I said it last week, but Fitzgerald will be a top 5 WR the rest of the way. Soft schedule for the new touchdown machine.
Andre Johnson, HOU @ NO Johnson was the top WR prior to his injury and should return to form quickly thanks to the Saints secondary.
TE:
Owen Daniels, HOU @ NO Daniels will be another beneficiary of Schaub and the Saints.
Jeremy Shockey, NYG @ DET Shockey seems to be the only player that Eli can hit these days, which is good for his owners against a terrible Lions pass defense.
K:
Neil Rackers, ARI @ CIN This should be a fun game to watch with a lot of balls flying through the uprights.
Jeff Reed, PIT @ NYJ Pittsburgh should score a lot of points and Reed owners should hope that a few of these drives end before the end zone. Odds are one or two will.
Jeff Wilkins, STL @ SF The 49ers may be the best defense to face these days, having lost all confidence and motivation over the last couple weeks.
DEF:
Packers vs. CAR The Packers D is another beneficiary of a soft stretch run schedule that pits them against some incompetent offenses. The Panthers are #2 in line after the Vikings.
Vikings @ OAK Hello, my name is Shimmering T. and I’m a Raiders fan…The Raiders are the Raiders of last year. Enough said. JaMarcus Me!
Colts vs. KC Even after losing Freeney for the season, the Colts should be able to get to the QB and force Croyle into some bad decisions.
Sit:
QB:
Jon Kitna, NYG @ DET Kitna has been out of practice a few days this week and his terrible offensive line is going up against a formidable pass rush. The Giants will be extra motivated after last week’s loss.
RB:
Clinton Portis, WAS @ DAL Portis will have a tough time getting anything going against the #5 rush D, especially after the Redskins go down early and are forced to the air.
Thomas Jones, PIT @ NYJ Any matchup is a tough one for Jones, but the Steelers are a bad matchup for anyone. I’d rather start an inconsistent WR this week.
WR:
Steve Smith, CAR @ GB Speaking of inconsistent WRs…I predicted his downfall in my busts column at the beginning of the year.
Lee Evans, NE @ BUF Speaking of inconsistent WRs Part II.
TE:
Tony Gonzalez, KC @ IND This is one of the few times I would consider sitting Gonzalez for a mediocre TE with a good matchup (read Daniels).
K:
Josh Brown, CHI @ SEA I think this will be an ugly, low-scoring affair with both teams struggling to get anything going.
DEF:
Chargers @ JAX A lot of defenses have good matchups this week and the Jaguars with Garrard take care of the ball very well.
Good luck on Sunday and Monday,
--Shimmering T. at www.fleafanatics.com
