Risers and Fallers - Week 7 fantasysharks.com Fri 10/19/12 6:00 AM1 Comment

Tennessee Titans vs Buffalo Bills -Kenny Britt- There are currently no suspensions pending or injuries hampering the potentially elite Titans' receiver. This is the first time in 2012 that Britt should be viewed as a 100% must-start. Playing him at this juncture of the season is the exact reason why owners took Britt in the draft a few months back. With Britt at full throttle for the first time in a long time he needs to be in all lineups but he also needs to reward owners' faith and patience with a good showing here. Britt could turn out to be a second half gem or a draft day waste. The fantasy season is just beyond the halfway point so there is no time to dillydally. Dallas Cowboys vs Carolina Panthers -Felix Jones- Could Jones do to Murray in 2012, what Murray did to Jones in 2011? With Murray out week seven and perhaps longer, Jones has the chance to earn back some of his lost value. If Jones proves to be a reliable runner and the homerun threat he once was, he could earn additional work when Murray returns. He absolutely cannot afford to come off the field with yet another injury as Phillip Tanner is waiting in the same manner as Murray was. Jones has to remain on the field and productive in order to earn back some long-term value. His short-term value is at a season high but he could end up being like the Giants' Andre Brown, with a one and done type of effect if things don't fully work out. Baltimore Ravens vs Houston Texans -Joe Flacco-The Ravens' ball chucker has been rapidly ascending the QB rankings since week one. He has proven to be a borderline must-start and has provided amazing value for those who decided to wait on the position on draft day. Flacco has the chance to earn a little more "street cred" here as he gets matched up against the aggressive Houston Texans. This time around though, the Texans will be without one of their main contributors in linebacker Brian Cushing. The Wade Phillips driven defense still has top end contributors, some extremely elite, such as J.J. Watt, but it's simply not as effective. If Flacco can take advantage of the same defense that Aaron Rodgers just took to the butcher then his stock would be climbing, yet again. Flacco could find himself in the top ten rankings at quarterback for the rest of the year depending on his production here. There may not be a stronger test in the NFL today than the Texans. Cleveland Browns vs Indianapolis Colts -Reggie Wayne- The Colts' grey beard is the 2012 Steve Smith. All it took was an injection of youth at the quarterback spot to completely rocket the receiver back into the elite, much like Smith in 2011 with Cam Newton. How high can the Colt fly, though? If Wayne can keep up his current pace he'd be in for a career best season. Wayne still hasn't seemed to earn back some of the diminished value caused by a Peyton Manning-less Indy team last season. Wayne very well could end up being a Randy Moss or a Torry Holt type of receiver that gets drafted extremely early in 2013 even though the age factor plays against him. If Wayne keeps up the pace he could earn further recognition and rightfully join Victor Cruz, AJ Green, and Calvin Johnson as the top consistent players at his position, and further his case of déjà vu. Arizona Cardinals vs Minnesota Vikings -John Skelton- Surprise, surprise, Kevin Kolb is out again. This is becoming a very annoying situation. Skelton appears to be the more talented option but Kolb did help the Cardinals earn more wins in the first six games of the season than most had expected they'd tally all year long. The backup QB for the Cardinals needs to take the starter's role and never look back. It would give Arizona the opportunity to dump Kolb and his salary without too much backlash from Cards' fans. Skelton will have "several" chances to earn the QB spot permanently as Kolb is set to miss a decent stretch of time. There is a lot of long-term value up for grabs here and let us hope that the "Sports Science" specimen, Skelton, is up the task. And please, pardon the alliteration. Washington Redskins vs New York Giants -Eli Manning- Last week we saw Matt Ryan get a bump in rankings and sadly he did not impress. Being labeled as potentially the best performer in fantasy, and to not produce, takes an awful lot of wind of the sails. Let us hope that doesn't happen to the younger Manning here in week seven as he is getting his highest weekly ranking of the 2012 season. You'll find in most places that Eli is ranked as a top five passer at worst. In some cases he's being dubbed the best option of the week. Last game against the 49ers, Manning didn't need to do a lot in order for the Giants to dominate. With that in mind, Manning provided his worst fantasy game of the season. This week, against a Redskins offense that features the electric RGIII, Manning will be asked to deliver. Eli said in 2011 that he was truly elite and he completely backed it up. This season he needs to prove that he's fantasy elite and this is a great chance to help his cause. Green Bay Packers vs St. Louis Rams -Randall Cobb- There's a lot of immediate value on the line as the Rams will have a hard time stopping Aaron Rodgers and company from lighting up the scoreboard. No one in their right mind could make an argument supporting that the Rams defense is anywhere near the level of the Houston Texans. Yet, Rodgers was able to torch the Texans for six passing scores just last week. With Rodgers on fire and Greg Jennings possibly missing another game, Cobb could pick up a lot of the slack. Cobb appears to be the Packers' version of Percy Harvin, in which they are just looking to get the ball in his hands as frequently as possible as he can score any time, in any aspect of the game. Greg Jennings will be looking for a big pay day at season's end, but his injury history may cause a big snag in negotiations. If Cobb can make Jennings look expendable, he would earn an incredible amount of dynasty value. Randall Cobb is a sneaky good WR3 plug-in this week and could earn a WR2 role opposite of Jordy Nelson in the near future. New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers -Vincent Jackson- There were a lot more knocks than positive comments against Jackson heading into the season. The former Charger finally got his pay day and many feared that he would slack off and disappear into obscurity now that his big check had been cashed. Many also feared that Josh Freeman would be a massive step back from Philip Rivers. Given Jackson's current stats and Philip Rivers' level of play thus far in 2012, it appears all doubters were wrong. V-Jax gets perhaps his best matchup of the year against the Saints in week seven. Freeman and the Buccaneers will be forced to throw to stay up with the high-powered Saints offense. New Orleans has been complete trash against the pass and that doesn't figure to change here. Look for Jackson to continue to receive a high amount of targets, catches, and touchdowns. Jackson could be in for the biggest bump in rankings from 2012 to 2013 and games like these certainly help in accomplishing that. He and Torrey Smith could end up being the best WR2 selections by season's end. New York Jets vs New England Patriots -Brandon Lloyd- The Patriots' key free agent acquisition hasn't performed up to most of the preseason projections. At this point in the year there isn't a lot of time left to hold hope for improvement. Lloyd needs to breakout now in a huge way in order to salvage the value he once represented. The Jets are down their best player, cornerback Darrelle Revis, who likely would have been matched against Lloyd. If Antonio Cromartie ends up playing Wes Welker then Lloyd could finally blow-up the stat sheet. The Patriots are completely healthy on offense and yet seemingly missing important pieces on defense. If Mark Sanchez can provide any sort of production that would remotely resemble an NFL player, the Patriots could be forced to keep on scoring. We are beyond the half-way point of the fantasy regular season and owners can't continue to bank on big games from Lloyd if he can't do it here. The new '85' needs to do it here or his ranking will be at a season low by a considerable margin. Jacksonville Jaguars vs Oakland Raiders -Justin Blackmon- The Jaguars said one of the main points of practice over the bye week was to attempt to incorporate Blackmon more into the offense. Blaine Gabbert resembles nothing of a first round pick and will likely be replaced in the 2013 season. With Gabbert unlikely to improve in his talents, the Jags' coaches could be looking to use Blackmon similar to Minnesota with Percy Harvin. It'll be interesting to see if there are designed screens, timing routes, and even running plays for Blackmon. His stock certainly has nowhere to go but up as his season stat line resembles what Wes Welker does in a single game. We're going to get a solid picture of just how talented Blackmon really is as an athlete and how he responds to the additional work. As mentioned before, there is certainly a quarterback change to come, but seeing Blackmon showcase his athleticism would certainly help his long term outlook. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals -Mike Wallace- "Short and Sweet"- It's as though no matter what he does he remains the Rodney Dangerfield of fantasy football in that, "he gets no respect." His numbers are elite and his big play ability has been on display quite a bit early here in 2012. Wallace could use an even bigger day to open the 'eyes' of the masses to exactly how good he is. If Wallace goes off here he deserves to be listed right up there with AJ Green and the rest of the unquestioned, household names. Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears -Brandon Pettigrew- Outside of Calvin Johnson, no one for the Lions has rewarded their owners so far. Matthew Stafford has fallen hard from his 2011 season and the majority of the receivers have suffered. The biggest disappointment on the...

Comments

WookieOfTheYear Fri 10/19/12 2:50 PM

Steve Smith or Torrey Smith this week? A weakened defense might mean a loss for Torrey Smith and the Ravens, but that might mean more offensive time on the field. A defensive threat such as the Cowboys have, may be enough to keep Steve Smith from scoring fantasy points effectively.