Selling High- Jackie Battle

Nineteen carries for 119 rushing yards will grab the attention of all fantasy owners, especially since Jackie Battle is available in ninety-nine percent of fantasy leagues.

Analysis: The 119 rushing yards is a nice little stat but when you consider that Jackie Battle did this against the Indianapolis Colts, well then… it’s a different story all together. The Colts rank 31st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game at 145.2, so don’t expect Jackie Battle to put up RB3 numbers the rest of the year. Take a look at some of his remaining match ups- Oakland(twice), San Diego, New England, Pittsburgh, Chicago, the New York Jets and Green Bay. Either he won’t be getting enough carries due to the log jam in the KC backfield or the Chiefs will be playing catch up a lot going forward this year. That’s not good news for a back who isn’t much of a receiving threat.

If you do decide to pick Battle up, the smart play is to sell him high and sell him now. You cannot rely on any KC back at the moment and Jackie Battle is not an exception.

Selling High- Darrius Heyward-Bey

Darrius Heyward-Bey will be a hot commodity in fantasy leagues this week but intelligent owners will capitalize on his inflated value.

Analysis: Heyward-Bey has caught eleven passes for 214 yards the last two weeks but he is as inconsistent of a wide out as you will find in fantasy football. He has all the physical tools to succeed, however, he just isn’t in a position to right now. The Raiders have four other wide outs that are nearly as serviceable as DHB. Also, Jason Campbell isn’t exactly Mr. Consistent either.

Picking DHB up off the wire is a decent move but the smart move here is to flip him while his value is still high. DHB is one “two receptions for twenty yards” game away from being useless in the fantasy world again. DHB may still have a bright career ahead of him but the depth at wide out in Oakland coupled with Jason Campbell’s ability to become invisible every third week prevents DHB from truly making an impact this year. Look at Campbell’s stats on Sunday if you are still not convinced- 15 for 35 and 190 passing yards. Do you trust DHB to keep putting up numbers with Campbell at quarterback?

When DHB does get a quarterback he has WR2 potential but until then keep selling high.

Right Wing Depth- Joffrey Lupul

Joffrey Lupul recorded an assist, four shots and over nineteen minutes of ice time Thursday against Montreal.

Analysis: If you are a Toronto fan then you have to love what Joffrey Lupul is capable of. Although he has not had a twenty goal season in three years, Lupul has been productive despite missing some significant time. Lupul has only played in 77 games over the last two years but in that span he has scored twenty-four goals while playing just fifteen minutes per game. Expect to see at least seventeen minutes of ice time if not more from Lupul this year in Toronto and with it some solid time on the power play. Keep in mind that Lupul spent over four minutes on the power play with Phil Kessel Thursday night.

With Lupul available in about ninety percent of leagues you have some time to decide team need and see who is injured. With right wingers like Ales Hemsky and Martin Havlat who always seem to miss time and with Havlat already set to miss the opener, Lupul should get a look from some serious fantasy owners during the course of the season.

Streaming Defenses- Week Five- Vikings

The Vikes have played relatively well on defense this year despite their 0-4 record. They have yet to lose by more than a touchdown and the most points they have given up in a game this year is 26 against Detroit in overtime. This stream is not a stretch even though they are still available in about ninety percent of leagues.

Analysis: Minnesota is home against the struggling Arizona Cardinals in a must win game this week. Kevin Kolb has fumbled the ball four times and has thrown four interceptions this year, so the possibility for turnovers is there. Kolb also hasn’t topped a quarterback rating over 70.0 in his last two starts. Arizona’s offense is a middle of the road team in rushing yards, passing yards and points per game but their downfall this year has and will be turnovers. They have fumbled the rock ten times, third most in the league but they have only lost three of them. The Cards have also allowed twelve sacks on the year, eighth most in the NFL. On the other side you have the Vikings who have twelve sacks, tied for fifth most in the NFL. Give me the Vikes to stream this week and you can have the Bengals, who are “projected” to do very well this week against Jacksonville. I say Andy Dalton turns the ball over twice on the road and a very game Jacksonville squad plays some Jack Del Rio football.

October 3rd Weekly Release Notes

This is the fourth edition of my weekly release notes and it is a big one.  I am going to make a separate blog post detailing Fantasy League Transactions and why its such a kick ass feature.  I highly suggest you check it out, and tell your friends.  I do not know of ANY other fantasy site that offers this feature.  It should help you guys organize the chaos, especially if you are in multiple fantasy leagues.

Here is the complete list of updates to FantasySP:

  • Profile icons have been added to the site. This feature will be improved upon down the road.
  • Fantasy League Transactions COMPLETE! Yahoo & NFL.com fantasy league transactions have been added.
  • Stevie Johnson / Steve Johnson fix
  • Enabled commenting on synced fantasy league or team pages
  • Fixed fantasy league ratings update bug
  • Prevented old team names from showing up on fantasy league pages
  • Fix to prevent header from loading wacky due to bad advertisements
  • Changed “Most Viewed Players” to look at a much shorter time window to improve accuracy (based on feedback from wtapppp)
  • User Panel now uses “My” wording for many areas. “Transactions” now renamed to “My Trans” to save space.  More tweaks coming.
  • Big ESPN fantasy league syncing fix for players with three names (thanks wtapppp)