Montario Hardesty Is A Must Add

Peyton Hillis suffered a hamstring injury Sunday against the Raiders and it is unknown if he will play in week seven against Seattle.

Analysis: Montario Hardesty is available in over eighty percent of fantasy leagues nationwide and it’s time to pick the youngster up. Hardesty has averaged over ten carries per game over his last three contests and expect that number to rise this coming week. Hardesty has also caught ten balls in that span which is somewhat surprising.

Peyton Hillis has dealt with contract issues, strep throat and now a hamstring injury this year. Hillis is not a RB1 or a RB2, his play down the stretch last year was awful and it’s time to accept these facts. Hardesty needs to be owned in 100% of fantasy leagues, 100% of Peyton Hillis owners need to pick Hardesty up. Wherever there are carries, there are fantasy points to be had. As it appears now, Montario Hardesty is in line for a solid amount of carries regardless of the Hillis injury.

Add a hamstring injury to a “feature” back only averaging 3.5 yards per carry this year and you’ll have an active backup in Montario Hardesty going forward.

Last Call On Michael Crabtree

Michael Crabtree amassed 77 receiving yards on nine receptions Sunday against Detroit.

Analysis: Michael Crabtree is only owned in 62% of ESPN leagues and 57% of CBS fantasy leagues. With a staggering fifteen targets Sunday, Crabtree is now a must own in all leagues. He may not have a touchdown on the year but depth wide outs don’t need to, they just need to be targeted enough to put up some points while your big guns are either out with a bye or injury.

The Niners are headed into their bye this week and that actually may work to your benefit if you are looking to pick up an available Michael Crabtree. After the bye the Niners do not play a good defense until week twelve in Baltimore and even with the Ravens they do not have great cornerbacks. The Niners will get Braylon Edwards back sometime soon but Michael Crabtree is now the man in San Fran.

Key Stat: Keep in mind that stud tight end Vernon Davis has only eleven targets over the last three weeks to Crabtree’s twenty-nine.

Buying Low- Lubomir Visnovsky

With a minus three on the year and zero points in two games, Lubomir Visnovsky’s season has not been productive.

Analysis: Impatient fantasy owners love to hype early season success and this year is no different. Just a few games in and Kris Letang is either the number one or two D-Man in fantasy hockey all of the sudden. I’m sorry, but can we wait until the end of the month before we start “crowning” people.

With Visnovsky we have a defenseman that will be playing 24-25 minutes per game on a team with some serious firepower. Visnovsky may not reach 68 points again this year but he contributes extremely well in six categories like few D-Men can. His ice time, goals, assists, plus/minus, power play points and shots will all be there for you by season’s end. Visnovsky remains a top seven defenseman and it’s worth a shot to go after this guy in a trade. With everyone on the Kris Letang and Dustin Byfuglien bandwagon, going after Visnovsky is a solid under the radar play.

Week Six- Defenses To Pass On

A popular pick up this week has been the Houston defense but I just can’t see it. Houston loses Mario Williams and they are on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are coming off of a bye week and have thrown the fifth fewest interceptions in the NFL this year with three. Baltimore has also allowed the eighth fewest sacks in the league with eight allowed on the year. Some “expert” sites have the Houston defense in or around the top ten this week but the smart play here is to sit/pass on the Texan defense. All this is just a recipe for disaster with Baltimore coming off of a bye this week.

The San Francisco 49ers are in Detroit in week six and I just cannot see them putting up top ten to twelve numbers. The Lions are averaging nearly thirty-two points per game and have allowed the third fewest sacks in the NFL this year. The Niners D has put up solid numbers but against the two decent offenses they have faced in Philly and Dallas- they have not performed.

Why risk playing these two defenses on the road this week when better match ups are to be had?

October 10th Weekly Release Notes

This week mostly involved bug fixes and design tweaks.  I expect a beta version of a major feature sometime this week.  I also still have to write the blog post about why fantasy transactions are so kickass.  The reason I haven’t is because I haven’t had a whole lot of free time.  Though I suppose this happens to companies that only have one employee.

Anyways, here are this weeks release notes….

  • Major fix for depth charts accuracy, yet again
  • Major User Panel redesign.  It is cleaner and more organized. The left side is now based around “my” teams, transactions, players, news. I love it, do you?
  • Fix for Howie Kendrick and Steven Kampfer (thanks wtapppp)
  • MLB data collection has been disabled
  • NHL boxscore data collection has been enabled & stats reflect 2011-12 season