I usually don’t talk about Fantasy Football here for several
reasons, one being no one really cares if it doesn’t relate to their own team
and two being that my team sucks. Today I was talking to my friend Brandon and
was we were talking about how both of our teams have a 2-7 record and I said my
team is finally coming together and if I win out for the rest of the season I can
make the playoffs. He then said “explain to me why your team is any better than
mine is”. So Brandon, this is why my team is exponentially better than your
rag-tag group of underachieving players.
Quarterbacks:
Kyle’s Team: Matthew Stafford (Starting), Philip Rivers
(Backup)
Brandon’s Team: Drew Brees (Starting), No Backup
First off, not having a backup QB is idiotic in itself. If
Brees goes down with an injury, comes down with sickness Sunday morning or any
other reason why he could possibly not start he’s screwed. Sure you can go and
pick up Blaine Gabbert or Matt Cassel but in terms of depth, my team is better
and I’m prepared for any type of curveball that’s thrown at me.
In terms of starting QB I will give him the slight edge.
Brees has amassed 240 points while Stafford has 190 thus far. But, Stafford
struggled mightily the first half of the season and in the last 2 weeks has
started to turn it around. Looking ahead Stafford has 2 games remaining with
Green Bay and has Minnesota, and Indianapolis on the schedule, all teams that
allow huge fantasy numbers to QBs. Brees on the other hand has games against
San Francisco, New York Giants and Atlanta, all of whom have defenses in the
top half of the NFL in passing yards against. So looking ahead for the rest of
the year Stafford has a much easier schedule and is projected to have a lot
more fantasy points than Brees.
Advantage: Draw (Brees may be better but Stafford will have
better 2nd half stats)
Running Backs:
Kyle’s Team: Frank
Gore, Mikel LeShoure, Issac Redman, Marcus Thigpen, Ben Tate, Jonathan Dwyer
Brandon’s Team: Matt Forte, Fred Jackson, Chris Rainey,
David Wilson, Danny Woodhead
So our league has some ridiculous rules when it comes to
return yards for special teams so keep that in mind as you analyze these
rosters. To put it simply, you’re better off having a special teams guy on your
roster than a running back or wide receiver in many cases because if a guy has
150 return yards he gets you 30+ points while a RB with 100 yards and a TD will
get you 20-25 points.
When you compare Gore and Forte they are pretty much even.
Both the 49ers and the Bears are good teams with tough defenses and they both
rely on the run. Gore has amassed 99 points this year while Forte has gotten 93
points. Looking ahead though the 49ers, who are known primarily for running the
ball, should continue to give Gore the majority of the carries as the season
progresses. Also Gore is known as a back who gets stronger as the season progresses.
The Bears on the other hand with Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall have started
throwing the ball more this season than in the past and that in turn has cut
down on the amount of touches Forte gets during the game.
Mikel LeShoure has become the go-to back in Detroit and even
after missing the first 2 games of 2012, still has amassed 68 points. Fred
Jackson is no doubt a good back but he is also very injury prone and is also
splitting the carries in Buffalo with CJ Spiller. Thus far this season Jackson
has amassed only 43 points. On the basis of secondary running back there is no
doubt I have the decided advantage.
On the bench Redmen and Dwyer both add depth for me as
Pittsburgh has always been known as a team who plays smash-mouth run first
football. Last week Redman got me 21 points against the G-men. My superior
knowledge of the game enabled me to pick him up off the free agent wire only
days before his impactful game. Thigpen is one of those guys you probably have
never heard of because he’s a 3rd string RB but he also returns
kicks for the Dolphins and he inexplicitly has amassed 85 points in 2012. (I
told you our league has crazy rules for special teams players.) My last RB on
the bench is Ben Tate, a guy who is currently injured but when healthy, he
could start at RB for the majority of NFL teams.
Brandon’s backs on the bench consist of Rainey, Wilson and
Woodhead. Woodhead (51 points) is a guy I would love to have on my bench as he
can get you points on rushing yards, receiving yards and return yards. He
definitely adds depth to his bench. Wilson is a guy who has had an impact on
the Giants and has amassed 100 points in 2012 but he has gained the majority of
these points in 3 games early on in the season and now that Ahmad Bradshaw is
back from injury, Wilson doesn’t figure to get many touches in the coming
weeks. Rainey (90 points) is another one of those return specialists. Comparing
all the running backs on the bench I think it’s very apparent that my team has
much more depth and the fact that my players (minus Tate) all see the field and
make an impact every week, it’s easy to see my RBs on the bench are better.
Advantage: Kyle
Wide Receivers
Kyle’s Team: Demaryius Thomas, Danny Amendola, Josh Cribbs,
Dexter McCluster, Brandon Banks
Brandon’s Team: Dez Bryant, Hakeem Nicks, Torrey Smith,
Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter
This is probably the one category I absolutely dominate
Brandon in the most. Demaryius Thomas (115 points) has been one of the best wide
outs in the NFL this season and he has only gotten better as the season has progressed.
The Denver schedule the rest of the year is one of the easiest in the NFL and
as the offense continues to learn the Peyton Manning offense, who knows how
much better Thomas will get. Danny Amendola (71 points) was leading the NFL in
receptions and yards before his injury in week 5, but he now returns to the
Rams fully healthy and there is no reason to think he won’t continue his
dominance against NFC defenses the rest of the year. Josh Cribbs is the
ultimate return specialist and has amassed 165 points in 2012. Even though he
has only 54 receiving yards, his 1090 return yards makes him one of the top
players in the whole NFL to own in our fantasy league. Only Doug Martin and
Randall Cobb rank ahead of him in fantasy points for non-QB players. My WRs on the bench (McCluster and Banks) are
both return specialists and have amassed 77 points combined, but the thing
about return guys is that one week they could have 2 points and the next they
could have 42, it all depends on how many return opportunities they have.
Brandon’s main wideouts are Dez Bryant and Hakeem Knicks, 2
guys who you always think will have huge seasons when you draft them in
September, only to disappoint you during the season. Yes they are both talented
and should get you 15+ points consistently, yet for some reason they don’t.
Bryant (65 points) has 2 games where he has had double digit points and Nicks
(63 points) has done nothing so far this season besides his week 2 performance
against Tampa Bay when he had 44 points. That leaves him 19 points in the other
8 games. Real dependable. Torrey Smith has
amassed 82 points so far in 2012, but the majority of his production occurred
in the first several weeks of the season before the Ravens lost all their
players on defense. They have struggled mightily ever since then and so has
Smith’s production. . For some reason
Brandon continues to keep Jacoby Jones on the bench even though he has gotten
him 114 points and is a threat with both receiving and return yards. He should
be starting in place of Nicks no question about it. Kevin Walter is a nice
bench wide out and has gotten 47 points this year. Brandon has decent but
unpredictable core of wide receivers and when compared to my starting wideouts
and my bench guys, there is no question my WR core is better.
Advantage: Kyle (No question)
Tight Ends
Kyle’s Team: Tony Gonzalez
Brandon’s Team: Scott Chandler, Dallas Clark
Gonzalez (74 points) has continued his unreal production
into this season and with Atlanta’s (8-0) powerful offensive attack he has
become one of Matt Ryan’s go-to targets. Even though Gonzalez is 36 years old,
he still ranks 5th in the NFL in fantasy points for tight ends.
For some reason Brandon decided to go with 2 tight ends and
only 1 quarterback, but that’s his idiotic problem. Scott Chandler (51 points)
is a nice player but he, I and everyone else knows that you cannot count on him
to get you significant points every week like Gonzalez can get you. Dallas
Clark (25 points) was a great player and was almost unstoppable…in 2009. Wake
up Brandon, its 2012 and 19 catches for 194 yards doesn’t really get it done. I
don’t even need to go on any more, once again my tight end is much better than
his.
Advantage: Kyle
Kicker
Kyle’s Team: Jason Hanson
Brandon’s Team: Sebastian Janikowski, Shayne Graham
Yes you are reading this correctly, he has 2 kickers on his
team. As well as 2 tight ends. And only 1 quarterback. His 2 kickers have 76 and 71 points
respectively, mine has 81 points. The Lions score more often than both of those
teams so he’s almost guaranteed to have more points every week. Yet again I
have the advantage.
Advantage: Kyle
Defense
Kyle’s Team: Tampa Bay, St. Louis
Brandon’s Team: Indianapolis, Green Bay
Tampa ranks 29th in overall yards against, St.
Louis ranks 13th. Indianapolis is 19th, Green Bay is 12th.
Tampa ranks 3rd in total turnovers forced, St.
Louis 15th. Green Bay is 8th, Indianapolis is 19th.
I’m just going to say my defense is better because they
cause more turnovers and more sacks which gets you more points.
Advantage: Kyle
On the main page of my blog please vote in the survey on the
right hand side to choose who you think has the better team and help us solve this discussion.
