Week 14 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Dec 8, 2013 | Fantasy Football

In my Week 13 radio show on 1500 ESPN, I devoted a segment to handcuffs—who they were for each team and why you should own them. Sure enough, Week 1 of the fantasy playoffs showed exactly why they were important.

First, Reggie Bush was declared active in the Great Philly Snowstorm of 2013, then tweaked his calf in warm-ups and didn’t play. Joique Bell then went out and led the team in rushing AND receiving, combining for 127 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson tweaked an ankle a few miles south in the Great Baltimore Blizzard of 2013, adding it to an already sore groin and giving way to Toby Gerhart, who plowed his way to 89 yards and a score on 15 carries. Both Bell and Gerhart could be fantasy semifinal starters, leaving Bush and Peterson owners out in the cold.

If ever there was a game I DIDN’T have a good read on, it was today’s Dolphins/Steelers matchup. I expect Ben Roethlisberger to struggle against Miami’s impressive secondary, the Dolphins to run the ball just OK, and Miami’s receivers to do most of the damage through the air with only a few yards from Charles Clay and not much else. Instead, Roethlisberger became just the third quarterback to throw multiple touchdowns this season and the second to top two, spreading his scores around to Jerricho Cotchery, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. This would’ve been impressive anyway, but the fact that Miami had allowed just one WR touchdown ALL SEASON coming into the contest made it all the more impressive. The game also included Lamar Miller leaving with a concussion, allowing Daniel Thomas – yes, the guy who was potentially out for the year a few weeks ago – to run for 105 yards and a score on 16 carries. Oh yeah, and Clay turned his team-high 10 targets into seven grabs for 98 yards and two scores.

I also completely discounted Andrew Luck this week after a month of struggles from the second-year signal caller. Indy still lost, but Luck took his show on the road to the tune of 326 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. What’s more, the little damage done by the Colts from the backfield came from the recently formally benched Trent Richardson, whose five catches and 68 receiving yards were both second on the team, while Donald Brown quietly combined for 29 yards.

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Week 14 Fantasy Football Position Ranks

by Anthony Maggio | Dec 3, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Matt Stafford at Philadelphia
2. Drew Brees vs. Carolina
3. Peyton Manning vs. Tennessee
4. Nick Foles vs. Detroit
5. Cam Newton at New Orleans
6. Josh McCown vs. Dallas
7. Tom Brady vs. Cleveland
8. Joe Flacco vs. Minnesota
9. Philip Rivers vs. NY Giants
10. Matt Ryan at Green Bay
11. Andy Dalton vs. Indianapolis
12. Mike Glennon vs. Buffalo
13. Tony Romo at Chicago
14. Alex Smith at Washington
15. Russell Wilson at San Francisco
16. Ryan Fitzpatrick at Denver
17. Colin Kaepernick vs. Seattle
18. Robert Griffin III vs. Kansas City
19. Matt Flynn vs. Atlanta
20. EJ Manuel at Tampa Bay
21. Carson Palmer vs. St. Louis
22. Andrew Luck at Cincinnati
23. Jason Campbell at New England
24. Matt McGloin at NY Jets
25. Eli Manning at San Diego
26. Ben Roethlisberger vs. Miami
27. Matt Cassel at Baltimore
28. Ryan Tannehill at Pittsburgh
29. Matt Simms vs. Oakland
30. Kellen Clemens at Arizona

Jay Cutler and/or Aaron Rodgers could return in Week 14, which would shake up the QB rankings a bit.
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Week 13 Fantasy Football Position Ranks

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 26, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees at Seattle
2. Peyton Manning at Kansas City
3. Cam Newton vs. Tampa Bay
4. Andy Dalton at San Diego
5. Josh McCown at Minnesota
6. Matt Ryan at Buffalo
7. Tom Brady at Houston
8. Russell Wilson vs. New Orleans
9. Colin Kaepernick vs. St. Louis
10. Philip Rivers vs. Cincinnati
11. Robert Griffin III vs. NY Giants
12. Nick Foles vs. Arizona
13. Carson Palmer at Philadelphia
14. EJ Manuel vs. Atlanta
15. Case Keenum vs. New England
16. Andrew Luck vs. Tennessee
17. Brandon Weeden vs. Jacksonville
18. Ryan Tannehill at NY Jets
19. Eli Manning at Washington
20. Alex Smith vs. Denver
21. Mike Glennon at Carolina
22. Christian Ponder vs. Chicago
23. Ryan Fitzpatrick at Indianapolis
24. Chad Henne at Cleveland
25. Kellen Clemens at San Francisco

I’m going out on a bit of limb here with Matt Ryan, but they face Buffalo indoors (in Toronto) and I’m hoping that Roddy White is enough of his former self that Ryan has enough options to be successful. (more…)

Week 12 Whiparound

by Anthony Maggio | Nov 24, 2013 | Fantasy Football

The good news is, you probably weren’t planning on starting the Kansas City Chiefs defense next week against the Denver Broncos, anyway. The bad news is, there’s no guarantee that Justin Houston and Tamba Hali will be back for the fantasy playoffs. And we saw just how much the two mean to the Chiefs when they went out, as Philip Rivers woke from his five-week slumber to post his best numbers since Week 4. So if you own the Chiefs, start making different fantasy playoff plans now, just in case.

Rivers’ numbers were buoyed in part by San Diego’s tight end of the future, who posted 80 yards on three catches, including a 60-yarder for a touchdown. Dynasty leaguers, go get him now, if its not too late. Keenan Allen owners, his knee is apparently just fine.

Zac Stacy might’ve had a record-setting day if not for a concussion that led to Benny Cunningham’s first career touchdown and 100-yard game. Both backs scored, as did Tavon Austin on a long run, leaving Adrian Peterson owners licking their chops for next Sunday’s matchup with the hapless Bears. Stacy owners need to make Cunningham their top waiver priority this week. (more…)

Maggio on 1500ESPN for fantasy insights

by Andy | Nov 24, 2013 | Fantasy Football

At 9 a.m. central time, Anthony Maggio will be on 1500 ESPN talking fantasy football for an hour. You can stream that audio here. He’ll then stick around and conduct a chat at the website 1500espn.com.

You can tweet him questions at #1500blitz or @mplsmaggio. He gets to a lot of them on the show and hits the chat hard.

And of course you can find his player rankings here on Zoneblitz.com.