Fantasy Football

26.) Greg Jennings (WR) — You have a flury of wide receivers to debate about.  You could go with Greg Jennings, Terrell Owens, or Steve Smith.  All should post very similar numbers.  All should have around 1,200 yards, and 8-10 TDs.  I’m going with Greg Jennings who had 1292 yards and 9 TDs last season.

27.) Steve Smith (WR) — Missed the first 2 games last season and still had over 1,400 yards.  Lacks high TD numbers, but you can always count on solid yardage.

28.) Ronnie Brown (RB) — Due for over 1,300 combined yards and 8-10 TDs in an offense that likes to run the ball.  Has some injury concerns, but those are in the past.  The TD numbers aren’t high enough for higher pick.  Should be given more carries this year since he’s distanced himself from the ACL injury and Ricky Williams wasn’t getting it done last season.  Last year he averaged 13.3 carries per game and put up 1,170 combined yards.  With 20-25 touches a game, he could have monster stats this year.

29.) Ryan Grant (RB) — Failed to live up the first-round status last season, but he should rebound this year.  Only 4 TDs last season, but a return to his 2007 form could yield a potential of over 1,500 yards and 10 TDs.

30.) Phillip Rivers (QB) — If you missed out on Brees/Brady/Manning, it’s time to take a QB and Rivers is your guy.  He posted “Peyton-like” numbers last season with over 4,000 yards and over 30 TDs and he’s only getting better.  With the addition of Chris Chambers, he finally has the receivers to work with.

31.) Kurt Warner (QB) — With Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Breaston, it’s impossible for Warner to …

51.) Willie Parker (RB) — Started off 2009 with a bang, but quickly went down with an injury. With Rashad Mendenhall likely to see an increased role and durability concerns, he’s fallen down by board, but he is a potential steal if other teams avoid him and you’re able to pick him up late.

52.) Larry Johnson (RB) — I’m assuming a lot of teams will be avoiding him, but he may be worth a 6th round pick if he can get his act together.

53.) Leon Washington (RB) — I’m pretty high on Leon Washington this season.  The Jets are committed to the run and Washington should see an increased role for the Jets.  Had 800 combined yards and 8 TDs last season with only 76 rushing attempts.  Look for 150 attempts this season.  Thomas Jones mileage is getting high and Leon Washington is due to step up big.  He’s also in a contract year and has expressed his unhappiness with not getting a new deal, so there’s an issue on whether that will affect his playing time this eason.

54.) Ray Rice (RB) — Is #1 on the Raven’s depth chart ahead of Willis McGahee due to McGahee’s knee injury.  A lot of people are high on him this year and he may be a real steal in this year’s draft.  If he’s still around in the 6th round, he’s a good grab.

55.) LenDale White (RB) — After he’s slimmed down, he’s looking to have a very good year, but Chris Johnson is taking the majority of the workload.  He still should be the Titans goalline back and that could mean 12-15 TDs.

56.) Braylon Edwards (WR) — Huge fantasy bust last season after an exceptional 2007 …

START ‘EM:

1.) Adrian Peterson – Adrian Peterson owners are probably furious after the Saints shut him down completely. You think that with the Saints shoddy run defense, AP would run wild, but they stuffed the box and made Gus Frerotte beat him with his arm. AP has been held under 80 yards in 3 straight games now. Look for AP to finally break the century mark since week 2 this week against the Lions awful run defense that’s allowing 180 YPG on the ground.

2.) Le’Ron McClain – The Colts have overtaken the Lions for worst run defense. McClain has had 4 TDs in his last 3 games and is averaging 66.5 YPG despite sharing the load with Willis McGahee.

3.) Clinton Portis – Portis, my #1 back, is up against a team that’s allowing 166 YPG rushing. He’s been a top 5 fantasy back so far this year and recently manhandled Philadelphia’s tough run defense. I’m looking to extend my winning streak to 3 with a big game from Portis.

4.) Julius Jones – The Packers are surprisingly struggling against the run (allowing 161 YPG), but they’ve been hit with the injury bug. The Seahawks need to come out running with the injury issues at WR.

5.) Thomas Jones – Fresh off the bye week, the Jets have the Bengals, who are 29th against the run. Sure, the Jets have abandoned the run game and let Brett sling the ball around, but it’s tough not to get back to the run when you’re playing a team this bad against the run.

6.) Gus Frerotte – I know one person whose strategy is play any player that he can get that happens to play the Lions. I wouldn’t be …

1.) Devin Hester (WR-CHI) – Hester is developing well into a WR. He’s scored twice in his last two games and had a season high 5 receptions for 63 yards against the Lions. Pretty much anyone who plays against the Lions will do well, but TDs against the Eagles don’t come too easy. With Brandon Lloyd sidelined with a bum knee, that only mean more looks to Hester.

2.) Kyle Orton (QB-CHI) – It looks like Chicago has found their QB with Kyle Orton. In my league, Orton is averaging mroe fantasy points a game than Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. If you need a backup, go with Orton. He’s the 12th ranked fantasy QB so far this year. He has an 86.7 passer ratings and has thrown 7 TDs in his last 3 games.

3.) Kevin Faulk (RB-NE) – Forget Mahroney, LaMont Jordan, or Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk seems to be the Pats runningback that will produce fantasy points. He should get the share of goalline carries. He had 2 touchdowns last game with 32 yards on the ground and another 29 through the air.

4.) Correll Buckhalter (RB-PHI) – Not only does Westbrook have a sprained ankle, he’s now dealing with fractured ribs. If Westbrook has to miss some time, Buckhalter will be a solid fantasy back.…

I decided to start a new feature here at THE PASS RUSH: Fantasy Mailbag. Before we get to that, I wanted to introduce you to our new guest writer, Brandon Phillips, whose specialty is college football. He’s already 70% against the spread (17-7) this year on his college picks, which he’ll be posting weekly. You can read his week 6 college football picks by following the link or reading below. And don’t forget to check out my week 5 NFL picks.

Now onto the Fantasy Mailbag. I urge you all to submit your questions by using the comments link at the bottom of this article. Write your question there and we’ll get back to you. Basically, anything in the “who do I start” category should go under this post.  Wondering whether to start Eli Manning or Brett Favre, do you have 5 receivers and don’t know which 3 to start, or are you debating whether to go with Clinton Portis against the 3rd-ranked run defense or Chris Johnson, post your question in this thread.…

1.) Deuce McAllister (RB-NO) – I drafted Deuce in the 15th round and then dropped him after 3 games because he wasn’t getting on the field. Well, it looks like he’s finally healthy again and will be the feature back of the Saints for the remainder of the season. In his first full game back for the Saints, Deuce had 73 yards off 20 carries and 1 TD. Sean Peyton said that Deuce will remain “heavily involved” in the offense from now on.

2.) Lance Moore (WR-NO) – If you picked up Robert Meachem last week and started him this week, you were in good shape since Meachem had 2 receptions for 99 yards and 1 TD. While Colston is out, Moore appears to be Brees’ go to guy. I still like Meachem, but unless he converts on the deep ball he won’t give you much. He’ll either get you a huge gain and a TD or nothing, which makes him a risky player to start. This week, Moore had 7 receptions for 101 yards and 2 TDs. Against Denver, Moore had 7 receptions for 78 yards.

3.) Donnie Avery (WR-STL) – The Rams decided to finally get their 2nd-round pick involved in the offense. In the Bills game, Avery has already had 3 receptions for 22 yards, and a 37 yard run for a touchdown, which I’ll assume came off an end-around. I still wouldn’t start him just yet, but he’s a player to keep your eye on. It was just one nice trick play that got him into the endzone.

4.) Matt Jones (WR-JAC) – Matt Jones has emerged as the Jaguars #1 WR. Matt had his best game of the season against the Texans by getting 71 …

We get it by now. You drafted Randy Moss and in the last two weeks (in the post-Brady era), your hopes of winning the season have gone down the tubes and you’re hoping that you could trade him for any WR that is in the “WR2 category.” In my league, I’d be lucky if I could trade Randy Moss for Roddy White or DeSean Jackson. I had the #7 pick and naturally, after the top 5 backs are off the board, you have to go Randy Moss, right? Well, I was stuck in that position and now I’m pissed I passed on Marion Barber. So, I try to package Kurt Warner to go to the guy who needs QB help (he has Derek Anderson and Matt Cassel) with Randy Moss and I throw in Edgerrin for Marshawn and Cotchery and it was immediately denied. People are avoiding Randy Moss like the plague. His 1,500+ 20+ TD plus season last year means nothing. This year, people think he would be lucky if he ended up with 600 yards and 4 TDs. Right now, Randy Moss’s value is about as high as Brandon Lloyd’s or Robert Meachem’s.

I’ve been scrambling to trade Randy Moss and and I’ve been offered Jericho Cotchery, but I still don’t want to make the move. Cotchery will get you a consistent 6-8 points a week, but I still haven’t given up on Randy just yet, and I’ll tell you why.

There’s no need to push the panic button just yet. Go out and grab Brandon Lloyd or Antonio Bryant off your waiver wire as a 3rd receiver and just wait until weeks 5-7 for Randy Moss. The Pats upcoming schedule is against teams are playing extremely poor …