By ZACH COSBY,
sportsnet.ca
Pleased to be joined by avid (not confirmed) fantasy footballer Sir Charles Barkley. Let’s get right to it. Your thoughts on the bye weeks returning for one more week, Sir?
“Turrible.”
My thoughts exactly, Chuck. What about the fact that several viable fantasy options will be sitting out this week with nagging/annoying/season-ending injuries?
“Turrible. That’s just turrible.”
All right, thanks Charles, but I’m going to move on because this bit had so much potential and didn’t end up being funny in the least. Plus, fantasy owners will find what’s coming next to be much more helpful (knocks on wood).
Kendall Hunter (vs. ARZ) vs. Mike Tolbert (@ CHI)
Frank Gore is questionable. I don’t mean his character, I mean he is questionable for Sunday’s game against Arizona. The 49ers lead back is still expected to play amid speculation that he’ll get a lighter workload. I also speculate Gore won’t get as many carries, but only because the 4th quarter should belong to Hunter in a game that San Francisco is just salting away. Arizona ranks 13th in fantasy points allowed to running backs, which bodes well for Hunter as he averages 6.7 yards per carry this season against defences in the Top 15 in that category.
With Ryan Mathews back, those looking for a cheap score from Tolbert might be in tough. The Bears have only given up an average of 1 redzone TD over their last 3 tilts. Plus, one can assume that Phil Rivers will look for Antonio Gates in the redzone as the Bears struggle against the tight end. It’s true Tolbert hasn’t always needed a touchdown to have fantasy value because he usually racks up the receiving yards. Unfortunately, despite facing the likes of LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles, Chicago hasn’t allowed a 50+ yard receiver out of the backfield this season. Unlike the millions of people that flock to The Windy City each year, Tolbert may not enjoy his trip to Chi-town (even if he gets to devour a deep dish pizza). Hunter is the call.
Sam Bradford (vs. SEA) vs. A 1-week Plug-in
The Seahawks are among the best in the league in red zone defence and are among the top 10 with an average of just 1.9 total touchdowns allowed per game this season. However, they’ve allowed multiple passing scores in 2 of their last 3 on the road. In those two games the opponent’s top target hit paydirt. If you couple a Brandon Lloyd score with another TD pass to a tight end (tight ends have been scoring on the ‘Hawks like it’s going out of style) then Bradford should easily notch his first multi-TD effort of the season.
Tarvaris Jackson (@ STL), Vince Young (@ NYG), John Skelton (@ SF), Matt Moore (vs. BUF), Christian Ponder (vs. OAK) or Tyler Palko (@ NE) might be available in your league, and all of them (minus Young) have intriguing matchups. Still, each of these options faces at least one fact that has this blogger thinking they will have trouble posting two scores on Sunday. With those questions in mind, sticking with Bradford (the guy you likely drafted) is the call.
Earl Bennett (vs. SD) vs. Early Doucet (@ SF)
Start Bennett because he’s at home…not convinced? How about this? Earl has been Jay Cutler’s favourite receiver over the past 2 weeks (a team-leading 11 targets) and now his Bears get a visit from a Chargers’ secondary that has been torched by the likes of Matt Cassel, Aaron Rodgers (forgivable) and Carson Palmer the last few weeks. Plus, Earl has sweet orange shoes.
While Doucet caught a touchdown last week, he was fourth on the team in targets with just 4. I see the Cardinals putting up a similar effort to the one they had against the Eagles in Week 10, but with Skelton getting fewer dropbacks (and not having a chance to win it late) in a game dominated by the ‘Niners on the ground. Unless he gets garbage time looks, Doucet may not get a lot of attention in this one as Skelton seems to prefer Andre Roberts. Even though Early has the consonant/vowel advantage over Earl, Bennett is the call.
Accountability Section – Week 10
Andy Dalton vs. Your #1 QB – Cosby’s call: Benching Dalton (flip). Dalton (170 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT) kept the Bengals in it but only outperformed two quarterbacks from this preseason’s Top 14 as Michael Vick and Matthew Stafford both laid eggs in Week 10.
Brandon Jacobs vs. Reggie Bush – Cosby’s call: Reggie (flip). Bush (47 rush yards, 2 TD) exceeded expectations while the 49ers held Jacobs (55 rush yards) in check.
Brandon Lloyd vs. Jordy Nelson – Cosby’s call: Jordy (flip). Maybe Jordy (5 rec, 63 yards, 2 TD) should be dubbed ‘Monday Night Nelson’. His numbers overshadowed a decent day from Lloyd (4 rec, 48 yards, TD).
Depending how I do this week, there may be more celebrity interviews in The Coin Toss’ future, but hopefully (it’s a longshot) the football observations are enough to keep you coming back.
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