Shaun Hill faces the dreadful Rams in week 11.  Photo Credit:  Icon SMI

Quarterback to start
Shaun Hill (SF) – In case your regular QB is hurt or not playing well, Hill makes an intriguing start,  hosting the St Louis Rams.  Hill was quietly effective Monday night, throwing for 217 yards and two touchdowns against a competent Arizona pass defense.  Now he faces one of the worst defenses in the NFL.  The Rams are dead last in points allowed and only 70 yards off the ‘"lead" for most total yards allowed.  Hill won’t wow you with his numbers, but he should be able to post a minimum of at least 240 passing yards and two or three touchdowns.

Quarterback to sit
David Garrard (JAC) – Last week Garrard posted numbers similar to what I am projecting Hill to put up this week, but he will come nowhere near those numbers this time.  Garrard posted those numbers against the Detroit Lions, who are much easier to pass against than the Tennessee Titans.  Second, expect the Titans to dominate time of possession.  Garrard will offer you no hope for your playoff ambitions.

Running backs to start
Steve Slaton (HOU) – Forget about last week against the Baltimore Ravens.  Did you know the Indianapolis Colts, whom Slaton faces, have allowed twice as many rushing yards as the Ravens?  Start Slaton without fear.
 
Jerious Norwood (ATL) – Similar to obvious start Michael Turner, Norwood has been eating up poor defenses and has been close to useless against quality defenses.   Norwood should have an opportunity to show off his big-play potential against a Denver Broncos defense that not only is near the bottom of the league in rushing yards allowed, but also has let up the second-most running plays over both 20 and 40 yards.  The Denver defense has been getting tied up with blockers and failing to tackle when they finally get free.  Don’t be afraid to plug Norwood in as a flex player in standard size leagues, or as a second or third running back in deep leagues.

Chris Johnson (TEN) – The Bears showed the rest of the NFL how to stop the potent Tennessee running  game – stack the box with eight or nine players on every down and continually use a safety blitz to wreak havoc in the backfield.  Of course, Jacksonville has neither the linebacking corps nor the hard-hitting safeties of the Bears and won’t have a prayer in trying to pull off the same strategy.  Instead, expect Chris Johnson to show off his incredible speed as he tears through a defense that allowed over 100 rushing yards to the Detroit Lions.  LenDale White can also be used as a deep league flex back on the off chance he thinks he sees a hamburger in the end zone and plows in for a score.

Running backs to sit
LaDainian Tomlinson (SD) – Always start your studs, right?  Right.  Just be sure to know who your studs are.  Drafting somebody in the first round does not make him a stud by this point.  LDT is currently around the 10th-best running back in fantasy football, thereby relieving him of any label of "stud.’" LDT also managed only 78 rushing yards on 22 carries against an improving, but still horrible, Kansas City run defense.   If he could not take advantage of playing the Chiefs, one can only wonder what he will do against a furious Pittsburgh team.   Proponents of LDT will say that he just missed breaking off several big plays, but the point is the LDT of the past seven seasons would have made those plays.  Tomlinson has clearly lost a step, which should be expected with over 11,000 career rushing yards on his legs, and his offensive line is not providing the holes it used to.  Sure, he may punch one in from short yardage, but Tomlinson should not be counted on to have a strong day.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis (NE) – Against the Bills, Green-Ellis not only rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his career, he also scored a touchdown for the fourth consecutive game.  After four weeks of cupcake matchups, however, expect a very different result against the stingy run defense of the Jets.  The Jets are allowing under 80 rushing yards per game and the Patriots offensive line will not be able to stop a defensive line has been repeatedly been stuffing opposing running backs.  Stay away from Green-Ellis and his sidekick Kevin Faulk, as the yardage totals will not be pretty.

Wide receivers to start
Mark Bradley (KC) – Bradley started the season with the Chicago Bears, who drafted him in 2005, but waived him before September was over.  Now, a little over a month after he was signed by the Chiefs, he has notched 18 receptions for 196 yards and two touchdowns over the past three weeks, out-performing Dwayne Bowe over this same stretch of time.  This week he matches up with a New Orleans defense that ranks among the worst in the NFL in stopping the pass.  Expect the surprisingly effective Tyler Thigpen to keep feeding the ball to Bradley, who will continue to get single coverage while Bowe and Tony Gonzalez demand the attention of the opposing secondary.

Marques Colston and Lance Moore (NO) – Both of the big receivers for the Saints should be active for their sojourn to Kansas City.  The secondary of the Chiefs will simply have no answer for the explosive offense of the Saints, especially with the possibility of cornerback Brandon Flowers (hamstring), nickel back Patrick Surtain (quadricep) and Derrick Johnson (hamstring) missing the game.  

DeSean Jackson (PHI) – The star receiver of this year’s rookie class, Jackson is a playmaker in the true sense of the word.  Any time Jackson touches the ball he is a threat to break through the defense and bring it all the way to the house.  The Eagles showed their commitment to getting him the ball with a nine-yard touchdown run to go with his four receptions for 61 yards.  Jackson makes a strong flex or third wide receiver play against the vulnerable Cincinnati Bengals.

Greg Camarillo (MIA) – Chad Pennington has shown a refusal to focus on a single receiver, instead he has spread the ball nicely among his wide receivers and tight ends, looking for mismatches that he can exploit.  This week against the Raiders, expect Camarillo to be the focus of the passing attack.  Since cornerback DeAngelo Hall was released, former special teamer Chris Johnson will be starting at cornerback, and will most likely be covering Camarillo.  Expect a productive day from Camarillo in standard leagues and a huge game in PPR leagues.

Wide receiver to sit
Ted Ginn Jr. (MIA) – Working with Chad Pennington, Ginn has already matched his total receptions and exceeded his yardage totals of last season.  This week, however, Ginn will most likely be matched up with Nnamdi Asmougha, who completely took Carolina’s Steve Smith out of their game last week.  Asmougha, in fact, caught as many Jake Delhomme passes (one) in that game as Smith did.  Asmougha has taken much better and more experienced receivers than Ginn out of games with his blanket coverage, and it would be shocking if Pennington threw more than two passes to Ginn.

Tight end to start
Billy Miller (NO) – Taking advantage of the inability of Jeremy Shockey to stay healthy, Billy Miller has at least three receptions and 53 receiving yards in each of his last five games.  Though he has yet to reach the end zone, he has clearly emerged as a reliable safety valve for Drew Brees and is worth a start in all leagues as he faces the Chiefs.

Tight end to sit
Kevin Boss (NYG) – Kevin Boss is showing why the Giants moved on from Jeremy Shockey, Boss led the Giants last week in receptions and receiving yards in addition to catching his third touchdown in as many games.  This weekend against the Ravens, however, is not a good time to be plugging him into your lineup.  The “Boss-Man” will spend most of his time helping to keep the Ravens pass rush away from Eli Manning or trying to create holes for Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward.  To further discourage you from using him, just remember that when Eli passes to him, Boss will most likely have to deal with linebacker Ray Lewis (and his “crazy eyes”) in the middle of the field. 

Bangs will spend the next ten days or so pouring over NFL matchups, until “Chinese Democracy” by Guns N Roses is released.  At that point Bangs plans on locking himself in his office at home and listening to it until he decides whether it was worth a 15-year wait or not.  In the meantime e-mail him NFL, NBA and MLB questions as Bangs@Rotoexperts.com

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed