Selling High- Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby returns to action Monday night against the Islanders after a ten month layoff.

Analysis: The window to sell high in Sidney Crosby’s case may be rather short. We do not know how his body will react nor do we know if any opposing teams will head hunt the overrated center. What we do know is that with all the hype surrounding Crosby at the moment, the intelligent play here is to sell him. Yes, when he suits up he is a top five fantasy player but how often will he suit up this year? The Pens have sixty-two games remaining on their schedule and if Crosby cannot play in at least fifty games then his top five to ten value will go out the window.

It is unpredictable how Crosby will acclimate back into a rigorous NHL schedule and with the nature of concussions I do not expect Crosby to play in more than forty games. Now is the time to capitalize on the hype of his return and land an elite, reliable player. After all, Crosby is only scheduled for twelve minutes of ice time Monday night and with four games this week it is likely that he will miss a game or two.

Ales Hemsky Is Available

After missing significant time earlier in the year with a shoulder injury, Ales Hemsky is back in form and playing well.

Analysis: The knock on Ales Hemsky is and will always be his health. He has not played in more than fifty games over the last two years but when he’s healthy he always produces. He’s a career .80 point per game player and with the Oilers much improved his plus/minus is no longer a fantasy issue. His injured shoulder appears to be healthy and while it remains that way… you just have to play him.

Hemsky is available in a little less than half of fantasy leagues which is a big plus for those looking for a boost on their right wing. His ice time in his last four games has been in the sixteen minute range but his biggest asset will be in assists. With guys like Steve Downie struggling, you have to consider making the switch to Hemsky. Hemsky will most likely miss more time down the road but as a right wing option in the present… he’s more than solid.

Week Eleven- Streaming Defenses- Seattle

With a week eleven matchup against an anemic Rams offense, the Seattle Seahawks look to be a solid defense to stream in week eleven.

Analysis: The Rams are averaging a league low 12.6 points per game while the Seahawks are coming off of a dominating performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Sam Bradford has not looked good all year as he sports a 72.6 passer rating. The only bright spot on the Rams’ offense is Steven Jackson. Jackson has carried the rock 81 times over the last three games and it is time to expect him to slow a bit due to the heavy workload recently.

On the other side of the ball you have a streaky Seattle defense that finds itself playing the worst offense in the league from a points per game and sacks allowed perspective. Seattle may be just a middle of the road defense but they are very similar to Jacksonville who last week put up great fantasy numbers playing Indy while being owned in less than ten percent of leagues. With Seattle you have a defense that is widely available, playing well and playing against a weak offense… it’s time to stream.

November 14th Weekly Release Notes

The good/bad news is that I no longer have a day job and can dedicate all of my time to FantasySP for the next few months. I plan to take it easy this week so my brain can recharge. (It’s tough working a full-time job and a side project 7 days a week for nearly a year)  What I will say is that there is nothing quite like working on your own project and making all the decisions.   I just got done planning the next few weeks of development for the site.    I am incredibly excited to get to work on them and show you guys ideas that I have been cooking up.

I will leave you to this weeks release notes:

  • Player Alert emails now show proper threshold of low, medium, or high
  • Major NFL.com syncing fix
  • Forum has been killed due to lack of usage and spam
  • jquery has been updated to 1.7
  • New Relic server monitoring just went live and has been installed
  • backend stat tracking has been updated

PPR Help- Dexter McCluster

With an impressive eight carry and six reception game against Denver Sunday, Dexter McCluster will be attracting even more fantasy attention this week.

Analysis: Dexter McCluster carried the rock eight times Sunday, four more times than Thomas Jones who could only manage just four yards on the day. McCluster’s eight targets were three more than rookie Jon Baldwin and one more than Dwayne Bowe. McCluster is now averaging nearly eight carries per game over his last four contests and his twenty-nine receptions on the year is top ten among all fantasy qualified backs this season. McCluster isn’t going to win any PPR fantasy leagues by himself but his touches should remain solid as Thomas Jones continues to fall out of favor in Kansas City.

It appears that McCluster is finding a niche in the KC offense since Jamaal Charles went down and considering Jackie Battle doesn’t have the best of hands, McCluster is becoming a huge asset in their offense. Even though it is unlikely that the Chiefs will make the playoffs coming off of homes losses to Miami and Denver, they remain just one game back of Oakland. If they are to make a playoff push, Dexter McCluster will have to be on the end of more touches.