Why you hate fantasy football: Week 7

The most hated player on your team.

Ryan Torain: owners should've known Shanahan would've killed any chances of him producing a worthy line after a disappointing line against the Eagles, however, the zone blocking scheme leads to delusions of grandeur which even yours truly fell victim to.  Don't be surprised if Torain has a few more decent performances though, I'm pretty sure Shanahan just likes to mess with everyone.

Runner up: Darren McFadden

Michael Bush put up 111 yards after run dmc went down, could've been an epic day.

The most hated player on your opponent's team:

Demarco Murray:  here's the situation, your friend gets up Sunday morning, looks at the waiver wire and sees Murray available and Tashard Choice available.  They choose Murray and proceed to not shut up until Fox's animation domination goes off the air.  

Runner up: Arian Foster

Might get some flak for not going with a member of Saints here, but you knew Brees and co. would take the Colts behind the woodshed.  Foster was so good, he made Ben Tate a decent pickup again.

Fantasy owners are breathing a sigh of relief going into week 17

If you are one of the unfortunate ones like me, and are saddled with a fantasy commissioner who puts the championship game in week 17, you have to be resting a little easier going into the weekend. The move made by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to have division matchups in the last week of the season has left us with a slate of interesting and relevant games, which makes the job of fantasy owners a bit more simple. As shocking as it is, the Indianapolis Colts have not wrapped up their AFC south title just yet, meaning Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne are going to be out there putting meaningful points up for their owners this year. Taking a glance at the week 17 slate, there are very few chances I see where owners need to worry. The Patriots may have already clinched the number 1 seed and the bye that comes with it, but do you really see Bill Belichick giving his team two weeks off? The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints are still fighting for the NFC South crown, meaning Roddy White, Michael Turner, Drew Brees and Marques Colston can place them in their lineup with confidence. The Steelers and Ravens are in the same situation as the Falcons and Saints and their defenses could be in line for big days against the Browns with a dinged up Peyton Hillis and the Bengals missing Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. The Kansas City Chiefs likely have little to play for, but can Todd Haley afford to give a week off to such a young team that will get their first playoff taste. The Chicago Bears could dial it in this week, as they will already know where they stand when they take the field against the Packers, however, Jay Cutler has already said he expects to play the entire game. All in all, there are more games this Sunday that will affect the playoff chase than not, making for an interesting finish to the fantasy season if you weren't fortunate enough to already have had your championship game.

Fantasy Football: Illegal Hits edition

Brandon Meriweather can breath a sigh of relief for this week because it seems that San Diego may not have any defenseless receivers for him to hit.

Fantasy owners might want to suspend their pursuit of Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez. He's being counted on to replace the production of Austin Collie, however, it is being reported that he has tweaked his nagging ankle injury.

Falcons defensive back Dunta Robinson is out with a concussion, will it help Ochocinco get back to the endzone?

James Harrison did not retire, Miami receivers beware.

Dallas Clark out... is Vernon Davis next?

This has not been a good week for elite tight ends in fantasy football circles. First Antonio Gates owners got a scare with his ankle/toe injury, then Jermichael Finley’s injury turned out to be far more serious than first reported and his season was ended when the Green Bay Packers put him on injured reserve. Now comes the report that Dallas Clark is out indefinitely, and could be gone for the rest of the season. If I am Vernon Davis or even Tony Gonzalez I am very nervous that this injury epidemic that only seems to be striking tight ends with real value will get me next (don’t see any need for Zach Miller or Mercedes Lewis owners to worry, neither are elite and it should be too hard to find them in Oakland and Jacksonville).

Petition to have Maurice Jones-Drew removed from can’t cut list

Dear Fantasy Sports entities, this is a petition to have Maurice Jones-Drew removed from your can’t cut list in fantasy football. All the suckers out there that drafted Jones-Drew anywhere from #3 to #5 overall have suffered with his production all season. We do not blame Jones-Drew entirely, in fact much can be blamed on the stagnant development of the interception machine known as David Garrard and the take 1 step forward 2 steps back Mike Sims-Walker. With the recent development that Trent Edwards, Todd Bouman or heaven forbid: Patrick Ramsey will move forward as the starting quarterback with the Jacksonville Jaguars, we urge you to do the right thing. We will no longer stand for eight and nine man boxes without recourse. How can we as loyal fantasy players expect any production from MJD with such a lack of talent around him?

FFB Primer: Deion Branch returns to New England... oh and Ben Roethlisberger comes back too.

Deion Branch is not coming to New England to be Randy Moss... his words not mine. Hopefully everyone combing the waiver wire realizes this as well, as Branch has never had a 1,000 yard season, or more than 5 TDs in a season in his career.

Don't know if you heard or not, but Ben Roethlisberger is coming back today. Here is a sample of questions that you might have concerning the Steelers passing game?

Will Mike Wallace finally step into Santonio's deep threat role?
With timing likely to be an issue, who is the security blanket, Heath or Hines?
Who will get more targets Hines or Wallace?
What can we expect from Ben with Tomlin's new love affair with the run game?


Aaron Rodgers is starting today... if he can't beat Jay Cutler on the field, at least he can beat him in concussion recovery time.

FFB Primer: D-Mac back to his old tricks...

Darren McFadden has been ruled out of today's game against the Chargers and this guy sees Michael Bush as a top 20 back on paper, let's see if we can list 20 backs better than Michael Bush off paper:

1. Chris Johnson
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Maurice Jones-Drew
4. Ray Rice
5. Frank Gore
6. Arian Foster
7. Jamaal Charles
8. Ladanian Tomlinson
9. Ronnie Brown
10. Cedric Benson
11. Pierre Thomas
12. Michael Turner
13. DeAngelo Williams
14. Ahmad Bradshaw
15. LeSean McCoy
16. Thomas Jones
17. Rashard Mendenhall
18. Steven Jackson
19. Knowshon Moreno
20. Clinton Portis

(Editor's Note: Players are not listed in order of how I would rank them; I started off listing them by their fantasy ranking coming into the season and then went stream of consciousness from there.)