Fantasy Football Notes 10/07/2009

- The big news of the day that broke early this morning, the Browns have traded WR Braylon Edwards to the Jets in exchange for WR Chansi Stuckey, LB Jason Trusnick, and two draft picks.  Great trade for the Jets and for Edwards in the long term, but for this year, it really hurts his fantasy value for the time being.  This means he'll have to learn a whole new playbook and midseason trades rarely workout well in the same season.

(Photo by AP)

- Hold out Michael Crabtree has finally come to his senses and signed with the San Francisco 49ers.  Its already Week 5 in the NFL, so I don't expect much out of Crabtree until Week 12 at the earliest.

- The Broncos backfield will be a little more clear over the next couple weeks as Correll Buckhalter could miss the next couple weeks with a high ankle sprain.  This is the opening Knowshon Moreno was looking for.

- With Issac Redman being sent back to the practice squad, this can only mean that Willie Parker is suiting up this Sunday.  How much he'll play is the question though.  Parker may cut into Rashard Mendenhall's numbers a bit, but Mendenhall should still see the majority of the carries on Sunday against Detroit.

- Marion Barber missed almost the entire second half after his quad tightened up on him against the Broncos, however he is expected to play Sunday against the Chiefs.  Have Tashard Choice ready just in case as you'll want whomever carries the ball for Dallas this week.

- The Seahawks are hoping to have Matt Hasselbeck back this week although head coach Jim Mora is making "no promises".  Seattle needs Hasselbeck back as Seneca Wallace is playing like he doesn't even belong in the NFL.  On a somewhat related not, the Seahawks take on the Jaguars this Sunday and they have the worst pass defense in the league.

- I know that rookie receivers don't traditionally do well in their rookie season, however Hakeem Nicks may be one of the few exceptions.  The Giants want Nicks to have a bigger role in the offense and with Mario Manningham coming off a sub par performance, this could be his opportunity.

- Giants QB Eli Manning is getting a second opinion on his injured foot.  The G-Men are playing at home against the Raiders this week, so Eli shouldn't try to force anything, but his owners would love to see him in the lineup against Oakland.

- The Browns were impressed with Derek Anderson's performance against the Bengals last week and will once again get the nod as the Browns head to Buffalo.  If you're desperate for a fill-in QB this week, Anderson isn't a bad option although if anyone is capable of producing a clunker against the Bills, its him.

- Lions TE Brandon Pettigrew was targeted 10 times against the Bears on Sunday.  The Steelers haven't exactly been tough on TE's either this season since Troy Polamalu went down so he could quietly have a solid game this Sunday although there is a possibility that Troy could be back this week.


Posted Oct 07 2009, 09:00 AM by Nick Fruscello

Comments

Buc Fever wrote re: Fantasy Football Notes 10/07/2009
on Wed, Oct 7 2009 4:31 PM

Nick, quick hockey question. (Sorry, didn't want to bury it in the hockey post from a week ago!)

Ville Leino is on waivers and I'm thinking about picking him up if he makes it to FA in my 12 team rotisserie. I had him lined up as my 20th round pick...but I found Brian Rolston was still available (HOW IN THE WORLD IS HE RANKED SO LOW?!?! He had ONE down year!) so I had to go with Rolston since he shoots a ton and is back on the top PP in NJ. Anyway...Leino got picked right after me, so I didn't get a chance to draft him in the final round and took Alex Goligoski instead.

So...do you think I should drop Goligoski for Leino? We have 4 D spots and my other D are Zdeno Chara, Niklas Kronwall, Kimo Timmonen, and Ryan Whitney. We have 6 Wing spots and 2 Util, and my current wings are: Corey Perry, Daniel Alfredsson, Alexander Frolov, Teemu Selanne, Nathan Horton, Ryan Clowe, Petr Sykora, Vinny Prospal, and Rolston.

Your thoughts on Leino's value and if he's worth more than Goligoski or any of my wingers?

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Fantasy Football Notes 10/07/2009
on Thu, Oct 8 2009 9:01 AM

Hey BucFever,

Wow, you're asking me if you should drop a Penguin for a Red Wing?  There's an easy one for me.  Putting my Wings fandom aside for a moment, I said before the season started that Leino would be a Calder candidate this year.  The Wings are counting on him to make up for some of their lost production and he'll be given every chance to succeed, which includes time on the PP.  Gogo is a pretty decent defenseman and will get better over time, but he's still a d-man and in fantasy hockey forwards are almost always more valuable.  As long as you have enough defensemen to fill out a roster that's all you need and the guys you have a pretty solid.

As for Rolston, I think last year may have been more than just a down season.  He's 36, his numbers have been steadily declining over the past couple years and now he under Jacques Lemaire again and will be forced to play a tight defensive system.  I'm not too optimistic about him bouncing back into 30 goal form.