There are pacts. Unwritten rules amongst friends that must be followed. Pending flatulence, roll down the window. If you drink your buddy’s last beer, you replace them on your next visit. Always choose the end urinal, and conversation is frowned upon. Don’t double dip. And so on and so forth... but the most important, unbreakable, unimpeachable, vital and absolutely unquestionable rule: don’t offer ridiculous trades in fantasy football. No, I do not want to deal Greg Jennings for Marshawn Lynch, Chad Ochocinco, and Percy Harvin. Thank you. No, Cam Newton is not available for the outstanding package of David Nelson and Thomas Jones. Sorry. People: value your own players appropriately. Please. For all our benefits. Simply because they are on your own team does not indicate that they have suddenly obtained super-human powers of on-the-field production. If I was smart enough to draft the guy you want, ahead of where you wanted him, assume I value him accordingly. I have owned a team in a certain league for nearly ten years- all the owners are high school buddies- and it has now reached the point where pulling a trade is impossible. Each owner knows the other and assumes, perhaps due to years of abuse, that he is trying to rip one another off. Essentially, after a decade of bullying, we have now created some sort of “modified-cried-wolf” situation where no player believes or trust their fellow league mates. This is but a taste of what Sauron will unlea... I mean, this is but a taste of what will happen to you and your mates should you proceed down the path of darkness. BE fair, be just, and have a realistic view of your player’s potential and worth. With that in mind, I will do my best, as per usual, to help you recognize what that value and worth may be. And so, to the rankings!
MY MISSION STATEMENT
(or, to read more about how I detest mission statements, click here)
What frustrates me above all else are so-called fantasy advice columns that fit into one of two categories:
1) They refuse to stray from conventional wisdom, often until it’s weeks too late to save or help your season or
2) They only offer rankings commentary on the “big-name” guys that everyone knows to play anyway. Gee, Adrian Peterson will have a bounce back week and I shouldn’t bench him for Danny Woodhead? Thanks!
Each week I will examine what I consider to be the most pressing issues facing fantasy owners. I will try to focus only on issues that you may actually be concerned with, namely: marginal flex players, tough matchup decisions, and above all else, how to assimilate new information from the previous week. This is a column of the people, by the people, for the people (thanks, Abe). And as long as I’m offering oaths, I promise to always tackle the difficult questions as I see them, not be chained by conventional wisdom, and not allow traditional or draft-position bias to affect my weekly rankings.
1. Ray Rice
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Darren McFadden
4. Adrian Peterson
5. Arian Foster
6. Matt Forte
7. Fred Jackson
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Wes Welker
10. Greg Jennings
11. Maurice Jones-Drew
12. Michael Turner
13. Mike Wallace
14. Frank Gore
15. Ahmad Bradshaw
The Big Boys
This week’s top-15 should show, fairly clearly, the separation of 2011 running backs into fairly clear tiers, or at least one fairly clear tier: the top one. I think backs 1-7, above, are definitely a level above all others. I was very tempted to rank Calvin Johnson as no. 1 overall in my flex rankings this week, but I can’t help feeling that sooner or later someone will get to Matthew Stafford or at least figure out to triple-team Megatron. Maybe not. And probably not this week. Mike Wallace has been consistent, and looking at those directly below him, I feel fairly confident ranking him as highly as I have. I am low(ish) on Gore this week simply because of the matchup. I think this game could be ugly. How interesting that just a year or two ago we’d be playing any fantasy back against the Lions, and ranking them highly. I just have a sensation that this might get out of hand, and while Gore could stay involved in the passing game, keep in mind he still has Alex Smith throwing to him, even if it is on a short dump-off.
16. Cedric Benson
17. Hakeem Nicks
18. Steve Smith
19. Peyton Hillis
20. Jahvid Best
21. Jimmy Graham
22. Miles Austin
23. Steven Jackson
24. Darren Sproles
25. DeSean Jackson
26. Steve Johnson
27. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
28. Roddy White
29. Jeremy Maclin
30. Dez Bryant
Early Trends
Apart from the “Ocean” game with Jacksonville, Steve Smith has scored in double digits every week. With Newton at the helm, we have to recognize his production will continue. Same with Jimmy Graham: he is arguably the number one threat in the Saints offense, one of the best offenses in football. A quick check of what Jackie Battle did to the Colts last week should explain my ranking of Cedric Benson. While I don’t think he’s a stud, comparing him to similar backs of the same tier, I don’t like anyone else’s chances enough to rank them ahead of Benson. I’m not convinced I have the Eagles receivers in the correct order. Maclin is receiving plenty of targets and will likely cash them in for a big day sooner rather than later. While my ranking of Peyton Hillis really feels like a “name” rank, I also recognize Oakland can be run on, and what else does Cleveland have to do with the ball?
31. Jason Witten
32. Felix Jones
33. A.J. Green
34. Marques Colston
35. Jermichael Finley
36. Santana Moss
37. James Starks
38. Daniel Thomas
39. Pierre Garcon
40. Anquan Boldin
41. Aaron Hernandez
42. Reggie Wayne
43. Owen Daniels
44. Shonn Greene
45. Tony Gonzalez
46. Rashard Mendenhall
47. Santonio Holmes
48. Jordy Nelson
49. Victor Cruz
50. Rob Gronkowski
The Year of the Tight End
Go ahead, make it the thirteenth symbol of the Zodiac. 2011: the year of the tight end. If only Antonio Gates was healthy. Tony Gonzalez was held out of the endzone last week but still had six catches for 60 yards. Owen Daniels should continue to pick up the slack for Andre Johnson. Aaron Hernandez didn’t have a monster week, but if you watched the game tape you would see Tom Brady looking for him numerous times on long, down-the-field routes. If he converted one of those passes (several were simply overthrown by Brady, who will be more accurate as the two get back on track), Hernandez would have had a huge day. Also, Dallas-New England has the potential to be a shootout. I think Cruz has officially surpassed Manningham in terms of fantasy relevance. While I would rather not rank Mendenhall this low, he has too many questions. More importantly, he has not been very productive this year to-date. With Curtis Painter starting, Pierre Garcon has 7 catches for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Uhhh... wow.
51. DeAngelo Williams
52. Percy Harvin
53. Plaxico Burress
54. Earnest Graham
55. Ryan Torain
56. Tim Hightower
57. Brandon Marshall
58. James Jones
59. Deion Branch
60. Mike Thomas
61. David Nelson
62. Greg Olsen
63. LaDanian Tomlinson
64. Johnathan Stewart
65. Mark Ingram
66. Delonte Carter
67. Robert Meachem
68. Vernon Davis
69. Ryan Grant
70. Mike Williams
71. Julio Jones - officially ruled OUT for week 6
72. Jacoby Jones
73. Darrius Heyward-Bey
74. Brandon Pettigrew
75. Lance Moore
Question Marks
What will Ryan Grant’s role be in Green Bay? I think sadly he is moving into fantasy obscurity. Julio Jones would and should be much higher- I think last week was a blip- if not for questions about his hamstring. Even if he plays, he could be limited or tweak it and be done. Usually I stay away from such scenarios if I have reasonable alternatives. Delone Carter might be ranked far too low, especially if Joseph Addai is indeed out, which I expect to be the case. In a similar case, Earnest Graham may deserve moved up a few notches, especially since he is on the field in passing situations anyway. Meanwhile, where has Mike Williams gone? I’m not sure, but if this trend continues he may also soon be gone from these ranks. I don’t know what to make of the Redskins backfield, and perhaps neither does Mike Shannahan. They have three usable backs, all with talent, all who could help your fantasy roster if they were guaranteed the most of the carries. Since none of them are, we can’t trust any of them. Best of luck if you have to play them.
As always, you can tweet lineup questions to @petethegreekff. Enjoy week 6!
_PDK