Silver and Black Pride Fantasy Football Advice of the Week

Undeniable Advice of the Week!

There are some big name players out there giving small name production. Do you sit them? Of course not! Unless you feel like giving your opponent a good chuckle you should always keep players such as Chris Johnson, Julio Jones, and Larry Fitzgerald in your fantasy line up unless you have other established stars on your bench to replace them with.

It would be better for your star player to have a lack luster performance than for you to sit them and then they go crazy. A good example of that would be Roddy White this past week against Carolina. Roddy went from having a sub par game with only 5 receptions for 55 yards in week 3 to breaking out lunatic style with 8 receptions for 169 yards and 2 TDs in week 4. An even better example is Jamaal Charles who had only 3 yards rushing in week 2, only to come back week 3 and have a 233 yard rushing performance with 58 yards receiving.

If you were one of the people that sat White last week (98% start rate Yahoo! so you probably were not one of the people who sat him) or Charles in week 3 (73% Yahoo! start percentage so you might have missed starting him) thinking they were not going to perform well the following week then you missed out on monster performances. This week Calvin Johnson owners are coming off a very similar line to Roddy's week 3, however you should already know not to ever bench somebody whose nickname is Megatron. Considering that Calvin Johnson had a 100% Yahoo! start ratio last week he is not in danger of being benched by anyone but he is a name everybody knows that I am using as an example.

For another excellent example of this take a look at the owners of Chris Johnson of the Titans. Last week only 53% Yahoo! league owners started him and he had a 141 yard rushing performance despite having done approximately nothing previously. Big name players are stars for a reason, and that makes them must starts even if they are slumping. They can break out at any time and you do not want to be the person who did not have the patience to stick with them. Other names that this situation has bit owners in the behind for are Wes Welker, Dwayne Bowe, Deshawn Jackson, and Torrey Smith. These are all must start players. Keep this advice in mind next week owners of Atlanta's Julio Jones who only had one reception for 30 yards this past week. He is still a must start!

ZzZzZz Sleepers!

1.) My number one player on my sleeper list that I am shocked has not gotten more interest is Washington Redskins RB Alfred Morris. I know its hard to trust Mike Shanahan running backs but if The Rat gets THE GUY for his offense then that player should be started. At an owned rate of 87% in Yahoo! Leagues Morris's name is spreading, but despite accumulating 263 yards and 3 touchdowns through week 3 Morris was still started on only 57% of Yahoo! teams that he was on. He is fast becoming a must start after 113 yards rushing last week with a TD against Tampa Bay. If you have him on your team I suggest you start him this week against Atlanta. Defenses have to concentrate on RG3 and that opens things up for the running back.

2.) Next on the sleeper list is Danny Amendola. He is owned in 85% of Yahoo! leagues but was started by only 52% of Yahoo! owners. The value of Amendola depends heavily on the type of league you are in. If you are in a PPR (Points Per Reception) league then this Wes Welker clone is an absolute must start. He has an undeniable connection with Sam Bradford and has yet to have less than 5 receptions and had 15 receptions in week 2. In non PPR leagues he is a little less valuable because of the short passes he catches but he is still getting at least 55 yards per game and has 2 TDs. He is not quite a must start in non PPR leagues but he definitely is a must watch.

3.) The 3rd sleeper that I am going to mention is somebody who is owned in only 8% of leagues. It is rookie RB Brandon Bolden of New England who had 148 total yards from scrimmage with a TD last week against Buffalo. The reason he isn't flying off the board is because of his back field running mate Stevan Ridley also getting over 100 yards rushing with 2 TDs against that same Buffalo defense. Bolden's performance is going to demand more carries now though and his tough running style is unmistakable.

It is still too early to start Bolden based off of that one performance but he is so widely available that it would be a good idea to add him to your stable of back ups. If he continues to perform like he did versus Buffalo you got a steal and if not you can cut him. Do not cut an established player for him but if you have a guy that is expendable then go ahead and make this move in case Bolden becomes a starting worthy player.

Bench That Guy!!

Darren McFadden! Just because he is on bye though! No, the real guy I want to mention this week as a guy I have zero faith in to repeat his week 4 performance is Willis McGahee of Denver. I know he looked like the McGahee of many moons ago versus our Raiders and he had a good week 2 as well but I really believe New England will not be a good match up for him.

I would expect the Broncos to come out against New England and try to take advantage of some secondary deficiencies exposed by the Bills. The middle of the field was open the entire game vs Buffalo and I expect that to be utilized by Peyton Manning and the Broncos this week. If there is something that obvious on film then Manning will exploit it and I would consider the likelihood of much running against Vince Wilfork and the New England defensive line to be minimal.

I would be shocked to see McGahee get more than 10 points this upcoming week and I would expect his contribution to be more like his week 1 and 3 totals of 64 and 36 yards rushing rather than his week 2 and 4 totals of 113 and 112 yards rushing. I certainly could be wrong since I am no RaiderDamus but I just do not see him getting a ton of action in this game versus New England.