Hello and it's Week 14 as we head down the homestretch for the final quarter of the 2015 NFL season.For many standard leagues the playoffs will start this week. If you missed your league playoffs, you can head over to FanDuel and search through various contests to keep the Sundays along with Monday Nights alive to get your fantasy football buzz.
Outside of the Denver-New England snow bowl a couple weeks ago, weather has not been much of a factor especially with El Nino flowing across the US. Although on Sunday Chargers-Chiefs and Cowboys-Packers have a prediction of rain and some wind. If you have any questions you can always pick a game in a dome like the Lions-Rams game although that might not be as appealing.
As I'm writing this it was announce that Texans JJ Watt broke his hand. For a lineman that might not be as big of an impact as a skilled position especially quarterback, but that could impact picking up some New England Patriots.
Per usual little info coming out about whether Pats TE Rob Gronkowski will be coming back. With Gronkowski back, picking up Pats QB Tom Brady even at $9,300 (tied with Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown for the highest priced players in FanDuel) might be considered a solid pick even against an improving Houston defense.
Both Rob Gronkowski and his backup Scott Chandler ($5,800) are both listed as questionable as of Friday. It's hard to plunk $8,400 for Gronkowski and take a chance on Chandler so you might look somewhere else at tight end.
I had a bad week in the RotoWire Staff competition and tumbled on the edge of the Top 10 at 10th place with a pitiful 112.04 as Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill only rang up 8.54 against one of the worst defensive backfields, the Ravens and the poor defensive backfield of the Chargers kept Broncos WR Emmanuel Sandersin check with only 3.9 points.
In the Top 10 of the RotoWire Staff competition, Shannon McKeown (rotoshannon) jumped over Tate McIntyre (tamc10) to take the lead with 1,652.02 points to 1,649.12. There still is plenty of weeks remaining and the top five is separated by only by 46 points.
For Week 13 Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) took the top prize for the week with 176.60 points and moved three spots from seventh to fourth place in the Top Ten. Joel rode the wave of the Steelers especially the duo of Big Ben Roethlisbergerand WR Antonio Brown who accounted for almost 33 percent of his total. Roethlisberger scored 33.86 points and Brown showed that his numbers go way up when Big Ben is under center and scored 33.8 points.
On top of that Joel grabbed 19.4 points from another Steelers player, WR Martavis Bryant. You can see the rankings for the RotoWire Staff competition here.
1. Shannon McKeown (rotoshannon) 1,652.02
2. Tate McIntyre (tamc10) 1,649.12
3. Peter Schoenke (rotopeter) 1,635.64
4. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) 1,616.80
5. Peter Merrill (black26) 1,606.52
6. Josh Collacchi (JCollacchi) 1,603.68
7. Josh Fathollahi (jashfath) 1,577.76
8. Adam Wolf (rotosomething) 1,570.04
9. Jake Letarski (rotojakeski) 1,570.02
10. Ed Kensik (chicagoed) 1,558.18
For the Steelers it will be an interesting week against a more formidable defense in the Bengals as opposed to the limp Colts defense. It could be another big week through the air since both the Steelers and the Bengals are the stingiest against the runs. Both teams defenses are tied for the second least touchdowns allowed on the ground, four, with only the Jets have allowed fewer rushing touchdowns, two, this season. And both defenses have allowed less than 100 rushing yards per game so both Roethlisberger and Bengals QB Andy Dalton.
Value Picks
QB Blake Bortles: Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis
Price: $7,700
Bortles has another tasty matchup with an Indianapolis squad that has allowed the third most passing yards (280.4) per game in the league. In addition the Colts defense has allowed the fifth most passing touchdowns (24) in the NFL this season. Bortles has averaged 21.5 points per game in the last five weeks and Indianapolis has allowed the most 20-plus yards per pass play in the NFL.
RB Shaun Draughn: San Francisco @ Cleveland
Price: $6,500
Draughn had only 36 rushing yards on 13 carries last week against the Bears, but he had a rushing touchdown as well as catching five passes for 50 receiving yards. The 49ers no doubt will hand the ball off to Draughn since they are going against a Browns defense that has allowed the second most rushing yards in the league, 136.3 yards per game. Cleveland has allowed 11 rushing touchdowns this season, the fifth most in the NFL.
RBFrank Gore: Indianapolis @ Jacksonville
Price: $6,100
Colts QB Matt Hasselback is banged up and QB Andrew Luck will not be back at the earliest next week so look for a dose of Gore against a Jacksonville defense that has given up a lot of running yards the last few weeks. Despite the blowout loss last week to the Steelers, Gore picked up 16.9 points. Even when the score is lopsided which should not be the case against the Jaguars, Gore's work in the passing game is a big plus in scoring.
WR Marvin Jones: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
Price: $6,200
The Steelers defensive strength is on the running game. While A.J. Green gets the targets, Pittsburgh's paper thin pass defense will concentrate its game on Green and leaving Jones open for most of the game. Jones caught five passes for 55 yards for 14 points last week against a Browns defense that is friendlier to the running game.
WRDeVante Parker: Miami vs. Giants
Price: $5,900
All you had to do was look at last week's numbers. Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill only threw for 86 yards but 63 of those yards went to Park including a touchdown. The hype started up about Parker in the preseason and injuries and other distractions kept him off the field. Hopefully this is wake up call for the Dolphins because the Ravens defense against the passing game is poor. The Giants have possibly the worst pass defense allowing the most yards in the air, 321.3 per game and 22 receiving touchdowns this season.
TEJulius Thomas: Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis
Price: $5,900
While both Jaguars WR Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns have been banged up, Thomas has been getting the targets, but hasn't clicked with QB Blake Bortles yet. The matchup with the Colts who have allowed the fifth most receiving touchdowns in the NFL this season and almost 290 receiving yards per game with give Thomas an opportunity to get into the end zone and targets.
TE Austin Sefarian-Jenkins: Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans
Price: $5,500
This will be the second full game since Sefarian-Jenkins suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the season and he should do much better than the three receptions and 31 receiving yards last week against the Falcons. There is no doubt going to be opportunities against a Saints defense that is the worst in the NFL against the passing game, allowing 35 receiving touchdowns, seven more than the second worst, the Eagles.
High Risk/High Reward
RBLeSean McCoy: Buffalo @ Philadelphia
Price: $7,900
There is no doubt that McCoy circled this game on his tablet, Ipad, smart phone or an old school paper calendar, whatever your item of choice to keep future dates. The veteran running back has downplayed his animosity to Chip Kelly and the Eagles recently; but when the trade happened, the Pennsylvania native was not too pleased. Revenge though is not the only reason to pick him up. McCoy has been pretty consistent lately averaging 17 points each week for the last five weeks and the Bills love to run the ball. In addition Bills QB Tyrod Taylor has played well in recent weeks so the Philly defense cannot stack the box against McCoy and the run. The Eagles have allowed the sixth most rushing yards per game (124.7 yards).
WROdell Beckham: Giants @ Dolphins
Price: $9,300
The New York Giants running game has been pretty much non-existent and QB Eli Manning has been forced to throw. The lack of production from most of the Giants receivers has forced Manning to throw to Beckham. And it doesn't seem to matter that the other team knows it's going to be thrown to Beckham, he has been able to snatch the ball out of the air. In addition Miami is fifth in the NFL in allowing receiving touchdowns with 24.
Steer Clear
QB Aaron Rodgers: Green Bay vs. Dallas
Price: $8,900
Hail Mary, Schmail Mary. If you take away the Hail Mary touchdown to Richard
Rodgers against the Lions last week, it would have been a slightly below average week for Aaron Rodgers. The passing game might be invigorated by the Hail Mary touchdown, but there definitely is something that is not there between Aaron Rodgers and his receivers. In addition the Cowboys have allowed the fifth fewest passing yards (216.5) per game in the NFL. You can do better and spend money on other quarterbacks like Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger ($8,300), Bengals' Andy Dalton ($8,200) and a Seahawks' Russell Wilson ($8,500) going up against a weak Ravens' defensive backfield.
RB Devonta Freeman: Atlanta at Carolina
Price: $8,700
Freeman is the highest price tag for a running back, but you don't want to chance it against the stiff Carolina defense that is tied with Denver for the fewest rushing yards allowed a game. Last week Freeman returned after a week off from a concussion to get most of his production in catching the ball rather than rushing. Freeman ran 14 times for only 47 against Tampa Bay, but chipped in 10 catches for 56 receiving yards.