Fantasy Football

FOX Sports Exclusive

Week 10 takeaways: Key RBs pick up injuries

Share This Story

John Juhasz

John is an Editor for the FOXSports.com Fantasy group.MORE>>
 
Updated Nov 16, 2009 1:41 PM ET
     
 
Not a happy week for some of you big name RB owners out there. Let's get right to the review.

49ers 10, Bears 6

• Jay Cutler was about as good and bad as a quarterback can be in the same game. The 307 passing yards were nice, but the five interceptions were incredibly costly. It's a minor miracle that the Bears had a chance to win that game, but it ended with (what else?) a Cutler pick. • Matt Forte's fantasy value is pretty simple to figure out. He excels against terrible run defenses while struggling mightily against those which are simply ordinary, never mind elite. • Frank Gore's beastly games like this (104 yards, one touchdown) come every so often, but then he kind of disappears and leaves you disappointed on other weeks. If he was a tad more consistent, he'd he a consensus top-five pick for most leagues.

Vikings 27, Lions 10

• You had to figure Brett Favre would either throw for 300 yards or multiple touchdowns in this matchup. He got the first part (344), but only managed one touchdown pass, and it was to seldom-used tight end Jeff Dugan. That almost doesn't even seem fair to those who own Vikings receivers or tight ends. • Sidney Rice has emerged as Favre's top target in a big way. Rice had seven catches for a whopping 201 yards, but left most of the touchdown scoring duties to Adrian Peterson (18 carries, 133 yards, two touchdowns). Rice isn't a big touchdown guy, but he is a receiving yardage league beast. • At least Megatron seems to have picked up his connection with Matt Stafford where they left it off. Calvin Johnson had eight catches for 84 yards and could be a really, really good WR1 next season after Stafford has a year of experience under his belt. Not that Megatron isn't already a solid fantasy receiver, but he could really post some obscene numbers in 2010 if his development curve continues at the same rate.

Dolphins 25, Buccaneers 23

• Not quite as prolific as last week, but Josh Freeman still looks very much like a keeper. His poise and confidence in these first two games are showing there is some potential for him to do great things. Maybe as soon as next year. Translation: early 2010 deeper sleeper alert. • Cadillac Williams saved what would have been an otherwise lousy fantasy day (52 rushing yards) with a touchdown. I suspect we'll be saying that about him the rest of this season. The Bucs are reportedly enamored with Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh, but wouldn't Oklahoma State's mammoth left tackle Russell Okung be an ideal draft addition for this squad if he's still available whenever they pick? • Twenty carries for 102 yards for Ricky Williams. Ronnie Brown didn't reach 100 (82), but he did manage to score a touchdown. Just about everyone on our fantasy site advised you to start both of them during the week. Hopefully, you listened. Too bad Brown limped off the field with an injury, or he probably could have topped the century mark.

Jaguars 24, Jets 22

• MJD's 123-yard, one-TD day on the ground wasn't that bad. But a big part of that production came on a very early 33-yard touchdown run. Not many running backs rush for that many yards against New York, though. Where do you think MJD would go if your draft was re-done today? • Shonn Greene has been nothing but a huge disappointment since his big week in Oakland. I really didn't see this one coming — I thought he'd have every chance at producing like an RB1 in this backfield. His workload has been reduced in recent weeks since he just wasn't making the most of his chances. Thomas Jones is taking over as the featured back. • Mark Sanchez is starting to not force the ball to Braylon Edwards as much as he was earlier. Jerricho Cotchery had six catches for 68 yards and a score. Even Dustin Keller was involved to the tune of six catches for 58 yards. The progression is there for Sanchez, and the strong fantasy production isn't too far behind (maybe a year or two).

Bengals 18, Steelers 12

• If you're looking for fantasy production, this wasn't the game to watch. Neither quarterback broke 200 passing yards. No running back on either team reached 40 yards on the ground. And this game was almost entirely about the kickers. Big yawn. • Same old story with Santonio Holmes — good amount of catches (7), good yardage (88), and no scores. He caught a TD pass in Week 1, and his game log shows goose eggs in every game since. Until he corrects that, he's more of a WR2 than he is a WR1. • Nice to see Laveranues Coles continue to play a role in this offense (five catches, 67 yards). Carson Palmer seems to be throwing his way more now that Chris Henry is done for the season. Coles is a good yardage and IDP guy, but he's not going to overwhelm you with his touchdown scoring ... or lack thereof.

Saints 28, Rams 23

• Closer than we expected, wasn't it? And had you wagered on Marc Bulger having a better fantasy day than Drew Brees before the game began, you'd be living on your own island by now. Each quarterback had two completions, but Bulger had more yards, more completions and fewer interceptions. I'm frantically searching through the Book of Revelation and trying to find out whether this is one of the signs of the apocalypse. • Reggie Bush had a massive fantasy day. He led the Saints in rushing with 83 yards (and a touchdown) on just six carries. He also caught two passes for 15 yards and a score. Of course, that meant Pierre Thomas (11 carries, 37 yards) and Mike Bell (eight carries, 30 yards) both had hugely disappointing outings. You'd expect those kinds of rushing numbers against the Steelers, not the Rams. • Steven Jackson looks like he's really finding his groove at the right time. He racked up 131 yards and a score on the ground against a defense which has had major problems stopping the run. Nonetheless, he reached must-start status a long time ago. Play him every week from here on out.

Titans 41, Bills 17

• Vince Young did what he does best — manage the Titans to a win by playing somewhat conservatively, sitting back and enjoying the Chris Johnson show. That's about the best you can expect from him on most weeks. • Speaking of Chris Johnson, really — what can possibly be said about him that hasn't already been? The luckiest guy in the world is his agent since he's going to be in position to command an insane deal whenever his rookie contract expires. But Johnson rushed for 132 yards and two scores, then also caught nine passes for 100 yards. The defense knows he's coming, but can't do anything at all to stop him. • Trent Edwards was benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Something tells me the Bills are going to give serious consideration to drafting a quarterback next spring since they'll probably be in a decent position to land one. Lee Evans may really be the only guy on this Buffalo offense who you can start on a week-to-week basis. Well, unless you can put Fred Jackson at your QB slot.

Redskins 27, Broncos 17

• Kyle Orton left the game at halftime with an injured left ankle, but he put in a good day's worth of production in the first 30 minutes — 193 passing yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Brandon Marshall. Check his status for next week and play him if he can go. • Knowshon Moreno didn't score, but at least he had a mini-breakout in rushing yards (97). Baby steps if you own him, especially in a keeper league. He's going to be a lot better next season. • Ladell Betts really should be owned and started everywhere for as long as Clinton Portis is injured. Betts tore it up when Portis was out a couple seasons ago. He seems to excel as a featured back, almost as if some kind of switch gets flipped. If he's still on your waiver wire, he shouldn't be.

Panthers 28, Falcons 19

• Are Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith ready to kiss and make up after two touchdown connections today? Delhomme was allowed to use a no-huddle offense, and it completely confused the Falcons defense. The Panthers tried to run the ball more in the second half, but Delhomme may not be a bad pickup going forward if your regular is banged up. • Jonathan Stewart ran for 82 yards and two scores while DeAngelo Williams galloped for 92 yards. Doesn't it seem like the slow start from these two happened about five seasons ago as opposed to two months ago? • Michael Turner came into Week 10 as the leading rusher in the and was absolutely obliterating Carolina's run defense before he left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. We'll find out how serious the injury is this week. This would obviously be a crushing blow to his owners if he is out for any extended amount of time.

Chiefs 16, Raiders 10

• Jamaal Charles did a very solid job (18 carries, 103 yards, one TD) in his audition to replace Larry Johnson as the team's featured back. He did so well that Kolby Smith was pretty much held at bay (nine carries, 12 yards). Hey, go with what works, right? But don't get terribly excited — next up for the Chiefs is a date with the Steelers, and they don't exactly have the type of defense to allow a running back to keep his momentum rolling. Put Charles on the shelf for Week 11. • Justin Fargas was an early factor with a short touchdown run, but Michael Bush was the man in Oakland's backfield for Week 10. Bush didn't score, but did amass 119 yards on 14 carries. Darren McFadden only got 11 yards on four carries. Yeah, exactly the type of return his owners were hoping for, I'm sure. I'm telling you, starting any of these guys is a huge crapshoot. They're just as likely (if not more) to do nothing for you as they are to put out another performance like today. • Chris Chambers had three catches for 60 yards, which was pretty lukewarm considering what he did in Jacksonville last week. Chances are he's not going to have too many outstanding fantasy afternoons if you've claimed him, so you're left basically hoping for the best.

Packers 17, Cowboys 7

• With these two offenses clicking like they had been, is anyone else stunned that each quarterback only threw one touchdown pass? Wow. Talk about disappointing. • Much like the quarterbacks, Ryan Grant and Marion Barber are both borderline RB2s nowadays, and each one played like it. Grant had a boring 79 yards and no scores on 19 carries while Barber posted 26 yards on five. • Roy Williams finished with 105 yards and a touchdown and has really looked like a totally different player since his temper tantrum. Is that all it takes for Dallas receivers to kick it into high gear? Jason Witten owners are wondering why he hasn't had one yet this year.

Chargers 31, Eagles 23

• Donovan McNabb basically played a flawless game and finished with 450 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Sure, the late interception hurt some of you out there, but you really couldn't have asked for much more from him today, and he was overdue for a game like this. • Brian Westbrook can't help but to put his name into consideration for one of the biggest RB flops of the season. After declaring that he's ready to go this week, he registered just 28 yards on six carries (and added only two catches for 26). How will Andy Reid divvy up the carries from here on out? Westbrook looks to be on the down slope of his career, and LeSean McCoy hasn't been much of a factor when he's been the featured back. • What's this? Two touchdowns and 96 yards on the ground from LaDainian Tomlinson? Don't throw the last shovel of dirt onto his fantasy value just yet. If this is a sign of things to come for the rest of the way, his owners couldn't have asked for much better timing since playoffs are around the corner.

Cardinals 31, Seahawks 20

• One overlooked fantasy angle is the quarterback who plays for a team with a terrible defense. That's precisely what makes Matt Hasselbeck a pretty good fantasy asset. He finished with 315 yards and a touchdown pass to offset the damage from the two picks he threw. Come on, like you wouldn't take that from your starting quarterback every week? Hasselbeck's fantasy value isn't symmetrical with his "real-world" value. Not by a longshot. • Justin Forsett may have taken over Julius Jones' job as Seattle's featured RB. Jones blew too many chances to make a good impression against bad defenses, and Forsett rushed for a mighty impressive 123 yards and a touchdown. Forsett should be owned and started the rest of the way this season, and his value for 2010 is increasing steadily. • Beanie Wells is turning into a pretty solid RB1 in most fantasy formats. It took a little while for him to get going, but is that really a big shock from a rookie? Tim Hightower is getting smaller and smaller in Wells' rear-view mirror.

More Stories From John Juhasz

Play FOX Fantasy Football

Trending Now

Stories | Photos | Lists | Videos

NFL Videos

WhatifSports: Wild Card picks Posted: Jan 06, 2012
WhatifSports.com's Ryan Fowler offers his Wild Card Weekend picks.

WhatIfSports: Fantasy Picks - Week 17 Posted: Dec 30, 2011
Who should you start on your fantasy team this week? Ryan Fowler has the answers...

Fantasy Fix: Top 5 MVP's Posted: Dec 29, 2011
Mike Harmon lists the top five fantasy football MVPs this season.

MORE FOXSPORTS VIDEO »

Microsoft© 2012 Microsoft