The Scoop

By Dalton Del Don

Vincent Jackson rewarded fantasy owners who gambled on him in Week 15, when he recorded five catches for 112 yards and three touchdowns. He was inches away from a fourth score, and his numbers were also subdued thanks to San Diego getting conservative after grabbing a 31-0 lead. Jackson’s performance reminded everyone why he wants a huge contract – he’s highly talented. Malcom Floyd returning to action would cut into Jackson’s targets, but that’s hardly a guarantee for Week 16, and Antonio Gates remains highly questionable as well. Fantasy owners should start Jackson with confidence this week…Michael Crabtree has totaled a paltry 10 receptions for 126 receiving yards over the past five games, as he’s been one of the bigger fantasy busts of 2010. He’s hauled in more than five catches and reached 65 receiving yards during just one game all season long. Crabtree has a lot of work to do with his route-running, and it’s surprising to see a pedestrian receiver like Josh Morgan out produce him. Crabtree has scored five times this year, and there remains plenty of untapped upside for the sophomore wideout, but the 49ers badly need to upgrade the QB situation if he’s ever going to reach his potential…Only Joe Theismann would call it a “gutsy decision” for the 49ers to accept a penalty giving them a first down after kicking a field goal…Matt Millen: “I think the loss of Justin Smith has hurt San Francisco’s defensive front.” Really? As opposed to what, helping it?…Philip Rivers is now 20-1 during December throughout his career.

I’m not having an especially good year against the spread, so please don’t take this as bragging, but I somehow was 11-0 ATS after the early games Sunday and finished 14-2 overall. I knew I should have put in that 11-team parlay! Seriously, I doubt I’ll accomplish something so meaningful in life ever again. It’s all downhill from here.

Impressive performance by Matt Cassel toughing it out Sunday…Seeing Jamaal Charles get caught from behind during his 80-yard run was one of the more surprising plays of Week 15…Assuming the Seahawks lose in Tampa Bay, the 49ers/Rams matchup is essentially a playoff game. Surprising to see St. Louis favored by fewer than three points at home.

John Skelton has been awful, but at least he’s made Larry Fitzgerald relevant again…Although he lost yet another fumble (his fourth of the season in fewer than 150 carries), Jonathan Stewart topped 130 rushing yards for the second consecutive game last week, and he’s averaged 5.9 YPC over the past four contests. Unfortunately, in Week 16 he faces a Steelers’ front seven that has allowed 3.0 YPC and five rushing scores on the year – both league-lows. In fact, Pittsburgh has ceded just one carry for 20-plus yards all season long, and the second stingiest run defense in football (the 49ers) has allowed a full half-yard more per carry. Stewart owners should look elsewhere during the fantasy super bowl…I’d make the over/under for offensive touchdowns scored for Carolina this week 0.5, and I’d take the under.

After throwing for 242 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 130 yards and another score, most of Michael Vick’s fantasy owners are likely still playing in Week 16. Put differently, that’s equivalent to throwing for 240 yards and eight touchdowns in a single game. If you prorate Vick’s numbers from the 10 games he’s finished this year, he produces a season’s pace of 4,330 passing yards, 32 passing TDs, 954 rushing yards and 13 rushing scores. That’s essentially the same as a non-running QB throwing for 6,238 yards and 52 touchdowns. I’m never one to take a quarterback within the first five rounds, and Vick offers plenty of risk with his style of play, but I really couldn’t fault anyone for making him the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 drafts…Like clockwork, Andy Reid once again botched a challenge Sunday in spectacular fashion…That was easily one of the craziest games I’ve ever seen in my life. Twenty-eight points scored in the final 7:30 minutes?! Unbelievable. As a result, the odds are now against the Giants making the playoffs…DeSean Jackson’s punt return was the first in NFL history to win a game as time expired.

It was a fun ride while it lasted, Buccaneers…Apparently, the Lions have the deepest QB group in all of football…Despite getting just 285 snaps (44th in the league among running backs), LeGarrette Blount leads the NFL with 45 missed tackles. That’s impressive stuff.

It’s a small sample to be sure, but Colt McCoy’s rookie season can’t be overlooked. He’s gotten 8.0 YPA with a 65.8 completion percentage despite having possibly the worst receiving corps in the NFL. Durability remains a concern, but McCoy absolutely looks like a potential franchise quarterback…Before injuring his knee a few weeks back, Terrell Owens clearly proved he has plenty left in the tank, even at age 37, but he also already wore out his welcome in Cincinnati, despite being so productive. Should be interesting to see which (if any) team takes a chance on him in 2011.

For Buffalo fans who were furious when the team passed on line help during the draft to take a running back, I can only imagine their frustrations now after the season C.J. Spiller has had…It’s pretty incredible Miami is 1-6 at home and 6-1 on the road this season. Also, they have somehow alternated wins and losses in every game since Week 4. But something’s got to give Sunday, as they are playing at home coming off a loss.

Making his first start since 2008, Rex Grossman threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns against the Cowboys. Dallas has allowed the second most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, and Grossman also committed three turnovers and produced most of his stats while coming back from a 20-point deficit, so it all needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Still, he produced 30 points, which is a season-high for Washington and more points than the team has scored against the Cowboys during their last four meetings combined. Donovan McNabb is done in Washington, and while the team is certain to select a QB in the upcoming draft, Grossman is going to get a trial run, and he’s always had a backer in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. With Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, Ryan Torain and an emerging Anthony Armstrong combined with an awful defense, Grossman is actually in a pretty good situation to put up stats. He’s a sneaky fantasy option in Week 16 against a Jacksonville secondary that has allowed an NFL-high 8.4 YPA this season…Miles Austin has averaged 6.6 catches and 97.2 receiving yards with Tony Romo at QB and just 3.1 catches and 42.0 receiving yards with Jon Kitna under center. Austin deserves some blame being among the league-leaders in drops this season, and his lack of production has been especially discouraging considering the team has averaged 32.2 points over six games since Jason Garrett took over as head coach. Austin will be a buy-low target at drafts next season coming off a disappointing campaign and with Romo back, but realize it’s possible he takes a backseat to the ultra talented Dez Bryant in the passing game.

Making his first appearance since Week 11, Austin Collie had already racked up eight catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the first half Sunday before leaving with yet another concussion. This is turning into a scary and sad situation, as it’s the third time since November he has departed a game with concussion symptoms. His season is almost certainly over, and at this point, it’s safe to question his career as well. It’s a shame, as Collie had scored eight touchdowns over the seven games he was able to finish this year, which is a season’s pace of 18 scores…Who would have thought Donald Brown would have 83 more rushing yards than Maurice Jones-Drew in their matchup last week…It sure looked like Mike Thomas called for a fair catch before he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown.

While hardly a bust, Ray Rice has failed to live up to his preseason ADP, but he made it up to owners who were still alive in Week 15, when he totaled 233 yards and two touchdowns. It marked just the second game he’s reached 90 rushing yards this season, as his YPC has dropped from 5.3 last year to 4.0 in 2010. He’s racked up 417 receiving yards over the past seven games – a season’s pace of 953 yards. Rice doesn’t possess the scoring upside of other backs in the league, but like Brian Westbrook before him, he’s certainly capable of reaching the end zone 8-12 times in a given year. He’ll be someone to target late in the first round at 2011 draft tables…Drew Brees is having another strong year, on pace to finish with a career-high 35 touchdown passes, but he’s also been picked off in 10 consecutive games…Over the last seven games, Anquan Boldin has averaged just 3.1 receptions and 42.1 yards with only two touchdowns over that span. He’s been held to 50 yards or fewer in six of those seven contests despite Joe Flacco emerging as one of the better quarterbacks in the league. Boldin is now 30 years old and has taken a lot of physical punishment throughout his career, and his days as an elite fantasy option appear to be finished.

Not an ideal time for Arian Foster to rush for a season-low 15 yards in Week 15. Any fantasy owner who survived it should be rewarded in the fantasy championship, when Foster faces a Denver defense that has allowed the most points to running backs this season, assuming he’s healthy of course. Just in case, Derrick Ward is a must-add in all leagues…Seriously, what’s the deal with Randy Moss? Can he really be this bad at this stage of his career?

Matt Hasselbeck somehow managed just 71 passing yards with three turnovers and zero touchdowns at home against an Atlanta secondary that ranks in the bottom half of the league, posting an anemic 28.9 QB rating despite getting his full receiving corps back. He’s committed a whopping 13 turnovers over the past four games, and since Hasselbeck has posted a 6.8 YPA mark or lower in four of the past five seasons, the 35-year-old’s days as a starter appear to be coming to an end…Matt Ryan continues to defy the odds, somehow throwing 25 touchdowns despite a 6.5 YPA mark. That said, he actually leads the NFL in win probability added (4.43 WPA), so he’s been clutch. Atlanta is doing an excellent job of revealing just how important winning the turnover battle is.

A great bounce back victory for the Jets, but the Steelers are still in the driver’s seat for the AFC North, needing only to beat the Panthers and Browns over the final two games to win the division…Mark Sanchez didn’t play great, but he did well protecting the football, and that naked bootleg TD run on fourth down legitimately faked me out. One of the best I’ve ever seen.

Tim Tebow’s first NFL start was mixed, as his 40-yard touchdown run and 33-yard TD pass to Brandon Lloyd were both impressive, but he also completed just 50.0 percent of his passes while implementing one of the most scaled back game plans you’ll ever see. Of course, the conservative attack should come as no surprise for a rookie QB making his first career start, especially for a passer as raw as Tebow. He’s clearly got a long ways to go, but any quarterback with his rushing potential is noteworthy in fantasy leagues. With Tebow’s dominance at the goal line, 15 rushing scores isn’t out of the question if he became a full-time starter down the road…With a win in Week 17, Oakland could become the first team in NFL history to go undefeated in its division and not make the playoffs…The Raiders scored 98 points against the Broncos this year, which is the most ever against a single opponent since the merger…Knowshon Moreno left Sunday’s game after gaining just five rushing yards with a rib injury, which is too bad since he had totaled 682 yards with four touchdowns over the previous five games. As one of the few backs in football who dominates his team’s carries, including at the goal line, and is also plenty active as a receiver, he offers a ton of fantasy potential, even if he’s not a special running back, but it’s safe to say Moreno is an injury risk at this point.

Matt Flynn proved what a difference a week’s worth of starter snaps in practice can be. Also, Green Bay’s system is pretty good…Week 16’s matchup between the Giants and Packers should be one of the best of the regular season. Either team is absolutely capable of winning the NFC, yet the loser likely won’t even make the playoffs…Surprisingly, Wes Welker has the third most drops in the NFL this season (only Steve Johnson and Mike Williams have more)…Yes, Dan Connolly’s 71-yard kick return was absolutely one of the coolest plays of the year.

Adrian Peterson has produced a fine season and has been worthy of a top fantasy selection despite his team crumbling around him, but his surprise inactive was crushing, considering it came on a Monday night and during a crucial Week 15. He also managed just 26 total yards the week before, so Peterson’s collapse couldn’t have come at a worse time…With those weather conditions and defenses in battle, it was quite surprising to see the Bears and Vikings combine for 54 points. That’s 21 more than the over/under…What a crazy turn of events for fantasy owners who started Peterson or Joe Webb on Monday night. And while I would use Webb as a WR3 in Week 16, you better have a backup plan, because it’s bad news the team once again plays a night game. We’ve been here before with Brett Favre, so don’t be surprised if he plays no matter how bleak his outlook appears.

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4 responses to “The Scoop”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    Standard scoring non-PPR pick 3:
    Colston, Megatron, Bowe, Garcon, Britt or V. Jax…

  2. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    I’d go with Calvin, V. Jax and Colston. But man that’s close. Go with your gut. If Floyd also plays this week, I could see subbing in Bowe for VJax. And Britt is a really good start too. You’re loaded.

  3. Donald Trump Avatar
    Donald Trump

    So my fantasy championship is on the line, along with just under 2k. My opponent has Drew Brees as his only viable weapon. Would you consider playing Robert Meacham as Brees insurance over Brandon Lloyd (whose TD this past week was totally lucky (and amazing) and whose new QB is both raw and doesn’t throw often)? Or do I dance with the ladies who got me here?

  4. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    I would consider it. I really expect N.O. to be in a shootout (and Atl defends the run well too). Howevah, Houston is horrible against the pass too, and Meachem is SO hit and miss. Def. go with your instinct here, and it’s a coin flip, but I’d prob stick with Lloyd.

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