Week 15 Player Rankings - UPDATED 12/10/08
QB
1. Peyton Manning vs Detroit
2. Aaron Rodgers @ Jacksonville
3. Kurt Warner vs Minnesota
4. Tony Romo vs Giants
5. Drew Brees @ Chicago
6. Philip Rivers @ Kansas City
7. Tyler Thigpen vs San Diego
8. Donovan McNabb vs Cleveland
9. Jay Cutler @ Carolina
10. Matt Ryan vs Tampa Bay
11. Jeff Garcia @ Atlanta
12. Eli Mannings @ Dallas
13. Matt Cassel @ Oakland
14. Brett Favre vs Buffalo
15. Jake Delhomme vs Denver
16. Jason Campbell @ Cincinnati
17. Shaun Hill @ Miami
18. Matt Schaub vs Tennessee
19. David Gerrard vs Green Bay
20. Kyle Orton vs New Orleans
Matt Cassel can lick my balls: That is just what I felt like titling this week’s QB notes column. I wish he would have returned to the Cassel of old last week and thrown for 400 yards. He probably will this week now that I am not playing him. Lots of things to consider this week such as weather. I still like Drew Brees at Chicago. He played Chicago last year around this time in similar conditions and still threw 2 TD’s. They have so many weapons I don’t think the weather will affect him as much. Keep an eye on weather in Philadelphia to see if you want to play McNabb. I am actually traveling there tomorrow and it said rainy/snowy/windy all weekend. I don’t really like Jay Cutler this week vs Carolina. Too inconsistent.
RUNNING BACKS
1. Brian Westbrook vs Cleveland
2. DeAngelo Williams vs Denver
3. Matt Forte vs New Orleans
4. Adrian Peterson vs Arizona
5. Thomas Jones vs Buffalo
6. LaDainian Tomlinson @ Kansas City
7. Michael Turner vs Tampa Bay
8. Steven Jackson vs Seattle
9. Chris Johnson @ Houston
10. Steve Slaton vs Tennessee
11. Ronnie Brown vs San Francisco
12. Clinton Portis @ Cincinnati
13. Maurice Jones-Drew vs Green Bay
14. Ryan Grant @ Jacksonville
15. Joseph Addai vs Detroit
16. Pierre Thomas @ Chicago
17. Marion Barber vs Giants
18. Larry Johnson vs San Diego
19. Reggie Bush @ Chicago
20. Marshawn Lynch @ Jets
21. Jamal Lewis @ Philadelphia
22. Jonathan Stewart vs Denver
23. Dominic Rhodes vs Detroit
24. LenDale White @ Houston
25. Derrick Ward @ Dallas
The Packers and the Jaguars suck this year: That makes me sad. A lot of good matchups for runningbacks this week leads me to believe there are going to be some very high scores in your leagues this week. A few uncertainties at RB this week as well. Brandon Jacobs is banged up and might not play against Dallas. If he doesn’t I really like Derrick Ward. I like Derrick Ward anyways. I did not include Jacobs on the list because he might not play. Frank Gore is also not on the list because he is banged up. Even if he does play I do not like him because Miami has a tough run defense and he would not be playing at 100%. Deshaun Foster will see a lot of action but….he is not good. Dominic Rhodes makes an appearance because he is stealing time from the big disappointment that is Joeseph Addai. Marion Barber is in the middle of the pack because I am not sure if he will play….but I think he will.
WIDE RECEIVERS
1. Anquan Boldin vs Minnesota
2. Larry Fitzgerald vs Minnesota
3. Steve Smith vs Denver
4. Terrell Owens vs Giants
5. Greg Jennings @ Jacksonville
6. Roddy White vs Tampa Bay
7. Reggie Wayne vs Detroit
8. Andre Johnson vs Tennessee
9. Calvin Johnson @ Indianapolis
10. Brandon Marshall @ Carolina
11. Antonio Bryant @ Atlants
12. Dwayne Bowe vs San Diego
13. T.J Houshmanzadeh vs Washington
14. Lee Evans @ Jets
15. Amani Toomer @ Dallas
16. Wes Welker @ Oakland
17. Eddie Royal @ Carolina
18. Randy Moss @ Oakland
19. Marques Colston @ Chicago
20.Vincent Jackson @ Kansas City
21.Donald Driver @ Jacksonville
22. Santana Moss @ Cincinnati
The Week of the Running Back: Some tougher matchups for the WR’s this week than for the RB’s. Plus the poor weather benefits the RB’s and hurts the WR’s value. I like Dwayne Bowe a lot this week. I think it has a lot to do with Thigpen being on fire (except for last week, sort of). Can Vincent Jackson repeat his performance last week? Probably not but he should still have a nice game. Be sure that the Falcons will be conentrating on Antonio Bryant this week but he will still get his yards. I hope the Jets lose and Cotchery and Coles do nothing.
TIGHT ENDS
1. Tony Gonzalez vs San Diego
2. Dallas Clark vs Detroit
3. Jason Witten vs Giants
4. Antonio Gates @ Kansas City
5. John Carlson @ St Louis
6. Chris Cooley @ Cincinnati
7. Kevin Boss @ Dallas
8. Zach Miller vs New England
9. Dustin Keller vs Buffalo
10. Owen Daniels vs Tennessee
11. Bo Scaife @ Houston
12. Visanthe Shiancoe @ Arizona
Awesome: Visanthe Shiancoe makes the list only because he forgot (or didnt forget) to cover himself up on a live fox broacast in the locker room. That’s all I really have to say about this category.
DEFENSE
1. Baltimore vs Pitt
2. Philadelphia vs Cleveland
3. Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
4. Indianapolis vs Detroit
5. Tennessee @ Houston
6. New England @ Oakland
7. Giants @ Dallas
8. Washington @ Cincinnati
9. Miami vs San Francisco
10. Carolina vs Denver
11. Oakland vs New England
12. Jets vs Buffalo
13. San Diego @ Kansas City
14. Seattle @ St Louis
Believe me: Don’t think about playing your Seattle Defense over your Giants Defense this week. Dallas may score points but the Giants have a play-making defense that gets sacks and is capable of scoring touchdowns. If Seattle holds the Rams to 7 points you dont get nearly as many fantasy points if the Cowboys were to put up 28 on the Giants but force 3 turnovers and get 3 sacks. A soft opponent is always good, unless its a mediocre/bad defense going up against them.
Keep asking Mike those kicker questions, he loves them.
Questions/Comments on the rankings? Disagree? Did I knock you out of the playoffs? jon@rotodorks.com and I will tell you how wrong you are.