God Hates Losers

Week 9 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

2011-11-02T15:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday. Time for the rankings.

There are a handful of questionable is the running back section. Some guys that might be playing or might be sitting out. Make sure you pay close attention from now until Sunday to see who will be ruled out. Questionable running backs include Darren McFadden, Peyton Hillis, Mark Ingram, Joseph Addai, Willis McGahee, Mike Tolbert and Daniel Thomas. If any of these starters are unable to play, bump their backups accordingly. (Backups are, respectively, Michael Bush, Chris Ogbonnaya, Sproles and Thomas, Carter and Brown, Moreno and Ball, Jacob Hester, Reggie Bush.)

I left Andre Johnson off of my Wide Receiver rankings. I really doubt that he will play. If he does suit up though, he proved to us last year that he can still be a terror when injured, so I'd throw him somewhere among the top guys and drop Kevin Walter down to the low 30s and Jacoby Jones off the board.

As I added to my last post, I have a few SDS choices. Lots of my top predictions are vastly unowned, so jump on them when you can.

And as always, if you've got questions, now it the time to start asking. Trade advice, ranking questions, start'em sit'em, predictions, anything you've got.

Let's go!

Week 9 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

1. Michael Vick

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Drew Brees

4. Tom Brady

5. Eli Manning

6. Tony Romo

7. Matt Schaub

8. Philip Rivers

9. Matt Ryan

10. Ben Roethlisberger

11. Matt Cassel

12. Tim Tebow

13. Mark Sanchez

14. Josh Freeman

15. Andy Dalton

16. Sam Bradford

17. Kevin Kolb

18. Matt Hasselbeck

19. Jay Cutler

20. Ryan Fitzpatrick

21. Joe Flacco

22. Alex Smith

23. Colt McCoy

24. Carson Palmer

25. Tarvaris Jackson

Week 9 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

1. Matt Forte

2. Arian Foster

3. LeSean McCoy

4. Fred Jackson

5. Frank Gore

6. Beanie Wells

7. Michael Turner

8. Steven Jackson

9. Darren McFadden

10. Ray Rice

11. Mike Tolbert

12. Ahmad Bradshaw

13. LeGarrette Blount

14. Shonn Greene

15. DeMarco Murray

16. Rashard Mendenhall

17. Cedric Benson

18. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

19. Darren Sproles

20. Jackie Battle

21. Willis McGahee

22. Daniel Thomas

23. Chris Johnson

24. James Starks

25. Mark Ingram

26. Ryan Torain

27. Chris Ogbonnaya

28. Pierre Thomas

29. Michael Bush

30. Peyton Hillis

31. Joseph Addai

32. Marshawn Lynch

33. Javon Ringer

34. Reggie Bush

35. Brandon Jacobs

36. Knowshon Moreno

37. Ben Tate

38. Ryan Grant

39. LaDainian Tomlinson

40. Roy Helu

41. Delone Carter

42. Jacob Hester

43. Marion Barber

44. Kregg Lumpkin

45. Kevin Faulk

46. Kendall Hunter

47. Lance Ball

48. Donald Brown

49. Bernard Scott

50. Isaac Redman

Week 9 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

1. Mike Wallace

2. Hakeem Nicks

3. Wes Welker

4. Greg Jennings

5. Roddy White

6. Larry Fitzgerald

7. Dwayne Bowe

8. A.J. Green

9. Brandon Lloyd

10. Dez Bryant

11. Vincent Jackson

12. Marques Colston

13. Jeremy Maclin

14. Miles Austin

15. DeSean Jackson

16. Brandon Marshall

17. Anquan Boldin

18. Julio Jones

19. Santonio Holmes

20. Pierre Garcon

21. Mario Manningham

22. Steve Johnson

23. Sidney Rice

24. Victor Cruz

25. Darrius Heyward-Bey

26. Kevin Walter

27. Jordy Nelson

28. Nate Washington

29. Michael Crabtree

30. Deion Branch

31. Antonio Brown

32. Eric Decker

33. Mike Williams

34. Reggie Wayne

35. Doug Baldwin

36. Jabar Gaffney

37. Plaxico Burress

38. Greg Little

39. Early Doucet

40. Steve Breaston

41. Malcom Floyd

42. Lance Moore

43. Jacoby Jones

44. Johnny Knox

45. Laurent Robinson

46. James Jones

47. David Nelson

48. Dane Sanzenbacher

49. Braylon Edwards

50. Arrelious Benn

Week 9 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

1. Antonio Gates

2. Jimmy Graham

3. Jason Witten

4. Jermichael Finley

5. Fred Davis

6. Owen Daniels

7. Rob Gronkowski

8. Vernon Davis

9. Aaron Hernandez

10. Dustin Keller

11. Brent Celek

12. Tony Gonzalez

13. Kellen Winslow

14. Jake Ballard

15. Dallas Clark

16. Ed Dickson

17. Heath Miller

18. Jermaine Gresham

19. Daniel Fells

20. Scott Chandler

Week 9 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings

1. Neil Rackers

2. Dan Bailey

3. Mason Crosby

4. David Akers

5. John Kasay

6. Billy Cundiff

7. Nick Novak

8. Robbie Gould

9. Stephen Gostkowski

10. Josh Brown

11. Rian Lindell

12. Sebastian Janikowski

13. Rob Bironas

14. Matt Bryant

15. Mike Nugent

16. Alex Henery

17. Nick Folk

18. Dan Carpenter

19. Shaun Suisham

20. Ryan Succop

Week 9 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings (SDS)

1. San Francisco 49ers

2. Houston Texans

3. Dallas Cowboys

4. Oakland Raiders

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. New York Jets

7. Cincinnati Bengals

8. Pittsburgh Steelers

9. Kansas City Chiefs

10. Green Bay Packers

11. Atlanta Falcons

12. Philadelphia Eagles

13. New Orleans Saints

14. Tennessee Titans

15. Chicago Bears

16. Buffalo Bills

17. Denver Broncos

18. St. Louis Rams

19. Washington Redskins

20. San Diego Chargers

Fantasy Football Week 9 Waiver Pick Ups

2011-11-01T18:48:00.000-04:00

Half way through the season and I'm actually rather excited to say that we made it though a whole week with hardly any injuries! Woo!

Some moves have been made however and we all know that every week brings new talent. Lets take a look at some of the best waiver wire pickups going into Week 9.

Chris Ogbonnaya, RB, Cleveland Browns

Peyton Hillis is still dealing with a hamstring injury and his backup Hardesty left the game Sunday after just two carries. I would not be shocked to see Ogbonnaya get the start and majority of carries this week as the Browns go up against the team that cut Ogbonnaya earlier this year, the Houston Texans.

The Texans are giving up less than 100 on the ground per week, but that number has gone up with Houston defensive injuries. The Browns have been having little success in any form of offense this year, but you have to believe that Ogbonnaya will be wanted to get back at his former team.

I don't expect huge stats out of him, but if you have bye week problems or have been playing a subpar player in past weeks, Ogbonnaya might be worth the pickup. He is my favorite waiver wire pickup this week.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Oakland Raiders

Alright, we know that Carson Palmer had a bad first impression against the Chiefs in his first week in a Raiders jersey, but hear me out. Palmer had been in the offense for less than a week, he was up against a tough defense, and he was cold after not playing for nearly a year.

I'm not saying that Palmer is going to break out any time soon, but we can expect for him to get the ball in the air a little better coming off his bye week as he has had time to study the offense and throw to his receivers. Oakland will be playing at home against Denver, a team that has been giving up some big plays this season.

Heyward-Bey is leading the team with 27 receptions, 13 more than their second best receiver. He is their big play threat and gets the targets each week. He is already owned in over half the leagues, but if he has been riding your bench or is still on the wire, you might want to snatch him up. This game has some big play potential if you are hurting for it.

Sam Bradford, QB, St. Louis Rams

Bradford is also owned in over half of all fantasy football leagues, but at a pretty surprisingly low percentage of 53. Now is the time to snatch him up.

After Steven Jackson's Week 8 performance, opposing defenses know that they need to watch this run game. This will open up the pass more for Bradford. The Rams have also been bitten by the injury bug, which hurt Bradford early in the season. Expect that to change.

Bradford is coming off injury and able to play with one of the top WRs of 2010 in Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd is by far the best receiver that Bradford has even thrown to in the NFL and should open up a lot of options for last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year.

I expect Bradford to be a climber from here to the end of the season. Bradford will be against Arizona in Week 9, the third worst passing defense in the league.

Brent Celek, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

I'll bite on his performance in Week 8. It has a lot to do with the defensive coverage from the Cowboys, but Celek made the most of it, pulling in 7 receptions for 94 yards and a score.

This is Celek's first trip to the top of the TE heap, but it could hangover in to Week 9 when the Eagles stay at home to face the Bears on Monday night. Chicago is giving up the most points in the league to tight ends.

If the Bears provide the same pressure to the outside of the field like the Cowboys did, expect another big night for Celek. He doesn't have year-long potential, but he is a good bet in Week 9.

Oakland Raiders Defense

A handful of delicately owned Defenses are facing good matchups this week. My favorite would have to be the Oakland Raiders (13% owned). The Raiders will be playing at home against the Denver Broncos who gave up 28 (depending on the league you're in) points to the Detroit Lions defense last week.

While Tim Tebow might be putting up decent numbers in fantasy football, he is embarrassing when it comes to actually playing NFL games. His yardage comes when the team is already down in the fourth quarter. He has been sacked a staggering 14 times in just two weeks. He is failing at getting the ball down the field. The entire Denver offense is in trouble and owning the Raiders this week will allow you to capitalize.

Other Defenses that I like in Week 9: Cardinals, Bills, Chiefs and Rams.

2011 Fantasy Football Week 8 IDP Rankings

2011-10-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

Got a lot of requests for some Individual Defensive Player (IDP) rankings. So I played my hand at it.

There is a lot of discrepancy in how points are awarded for IDP slots. I am in an IDP league that rewards points heavily to the players with a high volume of tackles. Some of the research that went into these rankings gave only fractional points for tackles and more for turnovers. While some of them were evenly split.

If you see that your IDP league is more tackle heavy, you might have to adjust. I have provided some statistics to help you mix and match how your league is played.

This is my first IDP article, so please tell me in the comments what you think.

Defensive Linemen Rankings	Asst Tackles	Solo Tackles	Sacks	Total Turnovers
1) Jared Allen	8	21	11.5	5
2) Terrell Suggs	3	17	5	3
3) Jason Pierre-Paul	6	24	7.5	1
4) Trent Cole	2	12	3	0
5) Ndamukong Suh	7	16	3	0
6) Charles Johnson	4	18	6	1
7) Robert Mathis	3	9	3.5	2
8) Haloti Ngata	8	16	3	5
9) Osi Umenyiora	3	7	5	2
10) Andre Carter	7	16	2.5	0
11) Brian Robinson	3	14	4.5	1
12) Jason Babin	4	15	7	1
13) Justin Smith	5	17	4.5	2
14) Greg Hardy	6	20	3	1
15) Dwight Freeney	3	7	4.5	2
16) Calais Campbell	10	21	2.5	1
17) Jeremy Mincey	6	18	2	1
18) Chris Long	2	9	3	0
19) Kyle Vanden Bosch	5	12	4	4
20) Chris Clemons	6	14	5	1

Linebacker Rankings	Asst Tackles	Solo Tackles	Sacks	Total Turnovers
1) Patrick Willis	10	37	0	3
2) Sean Lee	17	34	0	5
3) Paul Posluszny	23	36	1	0
4) D'Qwell Jackson	15	40	2.5	3
5) Derrick Johnson	9	35	0	0
6) Nick Barnett	20	28	0	3
7) James Anderson	16	43	1	1
8) Ray Lewis	10	40	2	3
9) Demarcus Ware	3	17	8	1
10) David Hawthorne	17	23	1	1
11) Pat Angerer	39	41	0	2
12) D.J. Williams	5	17	2	2
13) James Laurninaitis	15	32	0	2
14) Daryl Washington	4	26	2	1
15) Chad Greenway	13	39	0	0
16) Daryl Smith	12	38	2	2
17) Brian Cushing	15	32	1	0
18) Navarro Bowman	13	43	0	1
19) Jerod Mayo	5	20	0	1
20) Stephen Tullock	12	32	2	2

Defensive Backs Rankings	Asst Tackles	Solo Tackles	Sacks	Total Turnovers
1) LaRon Landry	4	28	.5	1
2) George Wilson	14	43	0	4
3) Quintin Mikell	5	33	1	4
4) Jarius Byrd	10	36	0	2
5) Troy Polamalu	15	28	1	1
6) Kam Chancellor	8	30	1	4
7) Patrick Chung	15	22	1	1
8) Yeremiah Bell	13	39	1	1
9) Eric Weddle	8	26	0	3
10) Roman Harper	11	31	3.5	1
11) Antoine Bethea	24	34	0	1
12) Jason McCourty	6	32	0	0
13) Ryan Clark	12	30	0	1
14) Antrel Rolle	7	38	0	2
15) Ladarious Webb	7	29	.5	3
16) Kyle Arrington	10	24	0	4
17) Craig Dahl	3	23	0	1
18) Dawan Landry	11	31	0	1
19) T.J. Ward	8	23	1	1
20) Terence Newman	2	9	0	1

Week 8: Pick'em Predictions

2011-10-29T13:20:00.001-04:00

A pretty damn straightforward week here.

Looking at pick'em sites you will see that 9 of the 13 games are picked by 90% of the voters. So lots of pretty easy guarantees this week. Titans, Saints, Giants, Panthers, Ravens, Texans, Bills, Lions, 49ers.

Some upsets are possible here. Part of me is looking at the Vikings to make a run at the Panthers on the legs of Peterson. And I've got a funny feeling that the Chargers/Chiefs game could be a lot closer than San Diego fans want it to be.

I've only got one upset picked here and that is the Steelers over the Patriots. Definitely a high score possible here, but I think Big Ben will get it done through the air. Potential big game for all Steelers receivers here.

If you've got an upset in store, let me hear about it.

	Jordan	Andrew	MGLS
Record (LW) (Total):	(8-5)(63-40)	(8-5)(60-43)	(7-6)(53-50)
Colts @ Titans	Titans	Titans	Titans
Saints @ Rams	Saints	Saints	Rams
Dolphins @ Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
Vikings @ Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Panthers
Cardinals @ Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens
Jaguars @ Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans
Redskins @ Bills	Bills	Bills	Bills
Lions @ Broncos	Lions	Lions	Broncos
Bengals @ Seahawks	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
Browns @ 49ers	49ers	49ers	49ers
Patriots @ Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Patriots
Cowboys @ Eagles	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Chargers @ Chiefs	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers

Survival Pick	Eliminated	Eliminated	Eliminated

2011 Week 8 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

2011-10-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

Another week and another round of position rankings. A bunch of new faces are gracing the top spots at a number of positions after the Week 7 injury bus rolled in.

The running back rankings took the biggest hit as we see some surprise names stepping up from their RB2 and RB3 positions into the fantasy football spotlight. It is going to be a fun week to watch for sure as sleepers are everywhere on the board.

While we are getting primed to look at what some rookies and backups are able to do in Week 8, let’s first take a glance at the fantasy football position rankings..

As per usual, now is the time to start asking your questions. And let me know if there are any repeats or gross errors, or if you have a sleeper you think should be on the list.

Week 8 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

1. Drew Brees

2. Tom Brady

3. Ben Roethlisberger

4. Cam Newton

5. Matthew Stafford

6. Michael Vick

7. Eli Manning

8. Tony Romo

9. Philip Rivers

10. Matt Hasselbeck

11. Matt Schaub

12. Tim Tebow

13. Andy Dalton

14. Matt Cassel

15. Ryan Fitzpatrick

16. Joe Flacco

17. John Beck

18. Christian Ponder

19. Alex Smith

20. Kevin Kolb

21. Colt McCoy

22. Curtis Painter

23. Matt Moore

24. Blaine Gabbert

25. Tarvaris Jackson

Week 8 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

1. Adrian Peterson

2. Arian Foster

3. Ray Rice

4. Fred Jackson

5. Frank Gore

6. Maurice Jones-Drew

7. Ryan Mathews

8. LeSean McCoy

9. Ahmad Bradshaw

10. Stephen Jackson

11. Darren Sproles

12. Rashard Mendenhall

13. Ryan Torain

14. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

15. DeMarco Murray

16. Daniel Thomas

17. Chris Johnson

18. Mark Ingram

19. Jackie Battle

20. Bernard Scott

21. Delone Carter

22. Peyton HIllis

23. Roy Helu

24. Knowshon Moreno

25. Jonathan Stewart

26. Mike Tolbert

27. Pierre Thomas

28. Alfonso Smith

29. Maurice Morris

30. Montario Hardesty

31. DeAngelo Williams

32. Ben Tate

33. Reggie Bush

34. Leon Washington

35. Brandon Jacobs

36. Keiland Williams

37. Donald Brown

38. Stevan Ridley

39. Justin Forsett

40. Brian Leonard

41. Danny Woodhead

42. LaRod Stephens-Howling

43. Thomas Jones

44. Tashard Choice

45. Lance Ball

46. Ronnie Brown

47. Ricky Williams

48. Philip Tanner

49. Isaac Redman

50. Javon Ringer

Week 8 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

1. Calvin Johnson

2. Wes Welker

3. Mike Wallace

4. Hakeem Nicks

5. Steve Smith

6. Andre Johnson

7. Marques Colston

8. Dez Bryant

9. DeSean Jackson

10. Vincent Jackson

11. Dwayne Bowe

12. Larry Fitzgerald

13. Brandon Marshall

14. Miles Austin

15. A.J. Green

16. Steve Johnson

17. Pierre Garcon

18. Anquan Boldin

19. Jeremy Maclin

20. Mario Manningham

21. Jabar Gaffney

22. Brandon Lloyd

23. Deion Branch

24. Nate Washington

25. Sidney Rice

26. Michael Jenkins

27. Greg Little

28. Reggie Wayne

29. Victor Cruz

30. Eric Decker

31. Percy Harvin

32. Michael Crabtree

33. Antonio Brown

34. Steve Breaston

35. Lance Moore

36. David Nelson

37. Torrey Smith

38. Demaryius Thomas

39. Doug Baldwin

40. Mike Thomas

41. Davone Bess

42. Robert Meachem

43. Jerome Simpson

44. Anthony Armstrong

45. Braylon Edwards

46. Kevin Walter

47. Early Doucet

48. Malcom Floyd

49. Niles Paul

50. Devery Henderson

Week 8 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

1. Jimmy Graham

2. Antonio Gates

3. Jason Witten

4. Fred Davis

5. Aaron Hernandez

6. Vernon Davis

7. Owen Daniels

8. Rob Gronkowski

9. Heath Miller

10. Brandon Pettigrew

11. Greg Olsen

12. Jermaine Gresham

13. Brent Celek

14. Visanthe Shiancoe

15. Ed Dickson

16. Dallas Clark

17. Jake Ballard

18. Daniel Fells

19. Evan Moore

20. Jared Cook

Week 8 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings

1. John Kasay

2. Jason Hanson

3. Dan Bailey

4. Nick Novak

5. David Akers

6. Dan Carpenter

7. Billy Cundiff

8. Alex Henery

9. Stephen Gostkowski

10. Olindo Mare

11. Neil Rackers

12. Shaun Suisham

13. Rob Bironas

14. Mike Nugent

15. Josh Scobee

16. Graham Gano

17. Ryan Longwell

18. Phil Dawson

19. Rian Lindell

20. Ryan Succop

Week 8 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings (SDS)

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. New Orleans Saints

3. San Francisco 49ers

4. New York Giants

5. Detroit Lions

6. Cincinnati Bengals

7. Houston Texans

8. Dallas Cowboys

9. Tennessee Titans

10. Seattle Seahawks

11. Cleveland Browns

12. San Diego Chargers

13. Pittsburgh Steelers

14. Buffalo Bills

15. Philadelphia Eagles

16. Washington Redskins

17. Minnesota Vikings

18. Arizona Cardinals

19. Indianapolis Colts

20. New England Patriots

2011 Week 8: Waiver Wire Pick-Ups

2011-10-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

Just like every other week, we have all been hit hard by injuries. If you were fortunate enough to escape them before, you are most certainly reeling now.

I'm sure that you all have read about the injuries and replacements from other major fantasy football sites, but lets break it down a little bit more. GHL will do some research for you. Here's a list of your top pick-ups for Week 8.

Bernard Scott, Cincinnati Bengals

Not an injury to start with, but a suspension. Cedric Benson will serve his one-gamer. Scott could be the best of the backups here and is among the least owned, currently just 4% in ESPN leagues. Seattle is giving up 105 per game, which isn't too shabby considering that they are always playing from behind.

Scott has averaged roughly 4 yards per carry in his career. He only has 700 yards and two scores since starting his career in 2009, but he does have upside this week if you are in a pinch.

Alfonso Smith, Arizona Cardinals (0.1% owned)

Beanie Wells with a knee injury that will likely cost him a game or two. Really, it was just a matter of time. Arizona has been able to run the ball well this year, making his backup a pretty interesting grab. Alfonso Smith will be in front of Larod Stephens-Howling in the depth chart when the Cardinals go up against the Ravens.

Ravens are definitely a tough team to run on, and LSH had a great reception after Wells went down, so Smith, again is definitely on an "only if you desperately need him" status.

Roy Helu, Washington Redskins (15.3% owned)

We all know that Hightower is gone for the year, making the Mike Shanahan-induced running back roller coaster a bit more bearable. It is easy to imagine that most of the work will go to Ryan Torain, but if we can learn anything from the Redskins' past, we know that Helu has a chance for a couple big games this season.

So far this year, Helu is averaging nearly 5 yards per carry, the same as Torain. Making it even more interesting knowing that one of these guys is going to have a big statistical week every time the Skins touch the field. I like him as a pickup. Washington is a running team, and while he is still a risk, he has a great deal of upside.

Lance Ball, Denver Broncos (0.1% owned)

Willis McGahee suffered an injury as well this weekend. And Moreno will be getting the start. But, lets not forget that Moreno is pretty terrible. It is not too big a stretch to imagine that backup Lance Ball will get some work as well, and perhaps even take over most of the carries, much like McGahee did at the beginning of the year.

Ball has done very little in his career, but hasn't had much time to show what he can do. Definitely a reach here. I really just wanted to put him here to impress some people with my depth of knowledge of the Broncos rush offense. You like it, I know.

I'm going to avoid Leon Washington here. Marshawn Lynch has not been able to get the job done this year due to the lack of passing game and the terrible blocking on the Seahawks front. Chances of a breakout here are slim to none.

Also saying no to Kregg Lumpkin of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earnest Graham was having a great run with Blount out of the picture, but don't expect the same from Lumpkin. Bucs have a bye this week, and Blount could very well be returning by the time they hit the field again.

Michael Bush is a great play with McFadden's injury. His backup Taiwan Jones is a hell of a stretch as well. He has had little to no work so far. He will likely see a handful of carries as long as McFadden is missing, but Bush should be the star for the time being.

If you have not put a claim in for Jabar Gaffney, then now is the time to do so. I expect Fred Davis to be the big winner in Santana Moss's injury, but Gaffney has been playing well this season and his targets should be going way up as the number one receiver.

Second wide receiver pickup would be Michael Jenkins of the Minnesota Vikings. Percy Harvin reinjured his ribs and has not been putting up the numbers we have been expecting. Jenkins is coming off a great week and Ponder is performing very well.

Week 7 Advice Time, Injury Updates, and Bye Week Fillers

2011-10-22T19:50:00.001-04:00

I will be answering questions up until kickoff on GHL and on Twitter @godhateslosers. If youve got any questions leading up to game time, now is your chance.

Click "read more" for injury updates and some great bye week fillers.

Couple housekeeping issues. For those who have not heard the news yet, this the the injury status of some fantasy starters...

Sam Bradford, out
Jahvid Best, out
Sebastian Jankowski, out
LaGarette Blount, out
Zach Miller, out
Felix Jones, out
Andre Johnson, out
Peyton Hillis, questionable, has not practiced
Joseph Addai, questionable, but practiced fully on Friday

Now onto a few starters and sleepers before the games on Sunday.

Antonio Gates is expected to play, but he is likely going to get far fewer snaps than his normal numbers. I'd wait til right before his game to make any decisions on playing him or not. Likely not.

Filling in for Sam Bradford is A.J. Feely. Not exactly a fantasy football golden boy. Everyone that you had low on the St. Louis Rams against the Cowboys... drop them a few spots lower to make up for a second stringer. I'd wait another week before starting Brandon Lloyd as a Ram.

Maurice Morris should get most of the carries for the Lions when they go against the Falcons on Sunday. Falcons have given up 90 plus in five games this season to running backs, and if Detroit can get in a lead behind the passing game, Morris could see some fantasy stats this week. I like him.

Earnest Graham has shown that he is not done with the NFL yet. Chicago has been run on this year and I expect Graham to get a lot of chances. He has also been a major factor in the Buccaneers passing game. He has the second highest number of receptions of any Buccaneer.

The Dallas Cowboys backfield is full of question marks. Even with starter Felix Jones in the game, they have not been able to get any sort of run game started. Lots of eyes are on DeMarco Murray, but I would expect him to split carries with veteran Tashard Choice. Neither would be a confident fantasy football starter, but the Rams are 27th in the league against the rush. Last week, after Jones went down, Murray was the one picking up most of the work. With the split though, neither guys is a sure think fantasy starter.

Kansas City has named Jackie Battle as their feature back this week. He will lead the Chiefs in carries. Oakland is giving up about 115 on the ground per game. I have Battle as a top runner this week. After going off against the Colts, this man has a lot to prove for himself and his team. I start him.

And pretty much anyone who has asked a question to me this week knows that I have a bit of a Week 7 fantasy crush on San Diego WR Malcolm Floyd. New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis will be facing off with Vincent Jackson, who could very easily be forgotten in this game, lost on the island. Meaning that, with Gates either out or limited, Floyd is going to have to step up his game and be the favorite target for Philip Rivers. Jets' second CB, Antonio Cromartie has been scored on pretty easily this season, so it is definitely possible for Floyd to go off. If you have him, I'd highly consider throwing him in at WR3 or Flex.

There you have it. Consider this to be this week's Advice Time post. I will be here up until the first kickoff answering any and all questions you throw at me. Hit it.

NFL Week 7 Pick'em Predictions

2011-10-21T13:38:00.001-04:00

Alright, I've been doling out some pretty solid fantasy football advice, I have to say. So I'm going to take that as a consolation for having another pretty crap week in Week 6 at pick'em. 52-38 is not sexy.

Jordan and I disagree on a couple of games this week, so lets check them out:

Bears vs Bucs. Game is in London, should be windy, probably rainy. Bucs still without Blount, Bears still without an offensive line. I think the Bears are going to win this one, but all I can pretty much guarantee is that this one will be pretty sloppy.

Broncos vs Dolphins. I'm not sold on Tebow as an elite fantasy quarterback like nearly everyone else is. But I am definitely not sold on him as a starting NFL quarterback. Sure he could run for a score, but we can see in games past that Miami is losing games because they struggle against the pass. And Denver is rocking a quarterback who can't exactly do that very well. Dolphins win their first at home.

Titans vs Texans. Take your pick really. I like the Texans this week. Not sure why, just a hometeam advantage I'm sure. Hoping Schaub finally makes a mark with a receiver with Andre Johnson gone for a while.

Chargers vs Jets. Sanchez had something like 20 yards passing in the first half of the last game against Miami. Chargers > Dolphins. I really like Malcolm Floyd as a fantasy option in this game.

I went Cowboys with my guarantee pick. Ravens, Saints, Steelers also good options.

	Jordan	Andrew	MGLS
Record (LW) (Total):	(10-3)(55-35)	(7-6)(52-38)	(6-7)(46-44)
Falcons @ Lions	Lions	Lions	Falcons
Bears @ Bucs	Bucs	Bears	Bears
Seahawks @ Browns	Browns	Browns	Seahawks
Broncos @ Dolphins	Broncos	Dolphins	Dolphins
Texans @ Titans	Titans	Texans	Titans
Chargers @ Jets	Jets	Chargers	Chargers
Redskins @ Panthers	Panthers	Panthers	Redskins
Chiefs @ Raiders	Raiders	Raiders	Chiefs
Steelers @ Cardinals	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Rams @ Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys
Packers @ Vikings	Packers	Packers	Packers
Colts @ Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints
Ravens @ Jaguars	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens

Survival Pick	Eliminated	Eliminated	Eliminated

Fantasy Football Strategy: How to Pick A Smart Trade

2011-10-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

**Before we start the post. As you all probably know, the Ronnie Brown trade did not go through. If you need a RB. Get Morris. I have a funny feeling that Best isn't coming back any time soon.**

With all the noise made this week in the NFL about trades, I thought it was time to address the art of the fantasy football trade.

I get a lot of questions on the site about trade advice and while a lot of it has to do with predictions, there is a bit of a science to it that entails looking at the past. With a little bit of time, and a little bit of math, you can figure out if a trade is right for you in just a few simple minutes without getting stuck in overthinking things.

Let’s look at one of my Yahoo! leagues. The scoring is PPR and some ridiculous changes to QB that make their total astronomical. The lineup looks like this: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE

My team looks like this (the number in parentheses are their average points per game):

QB- Matt Ryan (40), Matt Schaub (41)
RB- LeSean McCoy (16), DeAngelo Williams (5), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (8)
WR- DeSean Jackson (9), Mike Wallace (14), Greg Little (6), Michael Jenkins (7), Sidney Rice (9)
TE- Jason Witten (12), Jermaine Gresham (9)
K- John Kasay
DEF- Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers

Since Jamaal Charles went down, I’m definitely short at running back.

So, let’s say that I was offered Darren McFadden for Mike Wallace. Time to do some math.

Since this trade is only affecting running backs and receivers, those are all the positions I need to look at. I’ll start, by adding up the total average points of the starters that I have. (Do this with your best players, not the ones that you are starting any particular week, so don’t mind the bye weeks too much.) By starting McCoy, BJGE, Jackson, Wallace and Rice…my average points total from RB and WR is 56.

Now, do the math with your new starting lineup. This would be McCoy, McFadden (13), Jackson, Jenkins and Rice. This comes out to be 54 points per game. You can simply see that my new lineup is making fewer points per week than my previous team.

Say no to the trade.

Now in comes a counter-offer, where I give up DeSean Jackson and get Frank Gore (12)

My old lineup was 56 points. My new lineup of McCoy, Gore, Wallace, Jenkins and Rice is 58 points per week.

Take the trade.

The more parts of the trade (RB/WR for RB/WR or QB for RB/WR, etc.) the more important doing this math is.

It is a simple way of just crunching the numbers that these players have accumulated this season and using it to your advantage.

Week 7 Fantasy Football Position Rankings

2011-10-19T15:53:00.000-04:00

Another week of rankings is all set. Got a handful of players that are surprises this week, so I'll be looking to make a sleeper post in the near future to explain them all. A few updates on trades and their impact on fantasy can be found here.

As always, feel free to ask any questions that you have. For your convenience, this post will be tagged as "Position Rankings" so later in the week instead of scrolling forever, you can simply click the category on the right. I know, I'm pretty great.

This week has been all about improvement and expansion for GHL. You all have probably noticed the new layout, so please take a minute to answer the poll on the left hand side. There will be a new one up each day, so make sure you come back and help out your fellow GHL-reading fantasy owner. I'm picking the poll questions based on comments left in the blog or questioned ask to GHL through Twitter (@godhateslosers).

As far as expansion goes, I ask each of you who finds this helpful to either hit the tweet or facebook button, or even something as simple as telling a friend outside of your league about us. The more people know about GHL, the better.

If you're looking for some light GHL reading, check out a post I did for ffblife. Its about my starts and sits for the Tampa Bay/Chicago game taking place at Wembley Stadium in London. You can find that here: http://ffblife.com/index.php/michaeliggy/210-omoavoid7

And away we go...

Week 7 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

1. Aaron Rodgers

2. Tony Romo

3. Drew Brees

4. Cam Newton

5. Matthew Stafford

6. Philip Rivers

7. Matt Schaub

8. Ben Roethlisberger

9. Joe Flacco

10. Matt Ryan

11. Tim Tebow

12. Matt Hasselbeck

13. Matt Cassel

14. Jay Cutler

15. Colt McCoy

16. Josh Freeman

17. Carson Palmer

18. Curtis Painter

19. Mark Sanchez

20. John Beck

21. Matt Moore

22. Christian Ponder

23. Kevin Kolb

24. Charile Whitehurst

25. A.J. Feely (If Bradford plays, move him to number 17)

Week 7 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

1. Darren McFadden

2. Matt Forte

3. Adrian Peterson

4. Ray Rice

5. Arian Foster

6. Michael Turner

7. Rashard Mendenhall

8. Beanie Wells

9. Chris Johnson

10. Maurice Jones-Drew

11. Ryan Mathews

12. Willis McGahee

13. Daniel Thomas

14. Steven Jackson

15. Darren Sproles

16. Ryan Torain

17. Earnest Graham

18. Jackie Battle

19. DeMarco Murray

20. Montario Hardesty

21. Shonn Greene

22. Mark Ingram

23. Maurice Morris

24. DeAngelo Williams

25. James Starks

26. Mike Tolbert

27. Marshawn Lynch

28. Jonathan Stewart

29. Delone Carter

30. Ryan Grant

31. Tashard Choice

32. Pierre Thomas

33. Michael Bush

34. Reggie Bush

35. Ben Tate

36. Ronnie Brown

37. LaDainian Tomlinson

38. Donald Brown

39. Knowshon Moreno

40. Thomas Jones

41. Tim Hightower

42. Roy Helu

43. Ricky Williams

44. Isaac Redman

45. Justin Forsett

46. Marion Barber

47. Chris Ogbonnaya

48. Dexter McCluster

49. ** If Jahvid Best plays, throw him at number 22. Morris to 30, Brown to 45.

50. If Peyton Hillis Plays, throw him at 25, Montario Hardesty to 35

Week 7 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

1. Calvin Johnson

2. Greg Jennings

3. Mike Wallace

4. Steve Smith

5. Dwayne Bowe

6. Miles Austin

7. Roddy White

8. Dez Bryant

9. Brandon Marshall

10. Vincent Jackson

11. Marques Colston

12. Larry Fitzgerald

13. Santonio Holmes

14. Anquan Boldin

15. Santana Moss

16. Pierre Garcon

17. Jordy Nelson

18. Eric Decker

19. Brandon Lloyd

20. Julio Jones

21. Reggie Wayne

22. Malcolm Floyd

23. Darrius Heyward-Bey

24. Percy Harvin

25. Sidney Rice

26. Lance Moore

27. Mike Williams

28. Nate Washington

29. Greg Little

30. Jacoby Jones

31. Robert Meachem

32. Kevin Walter

33. Mike Thomas

34. Jacoby Ford

35. Johnny Knox

36. Doug Baldwin

37. Torrey Smith

38. Plaxico Burress

39. Hines Ward

40. Danario Alexander

41. James Jones

42. Jabar Gaffney

43. Nate Burleson

44. Devin Hester

45. Arrelious Benn

46. Laurent Robinson

47. Steve Breaston

48. Denarius Moore

49. Dane Sanzenbacher

50. Davone Bess

Week 7 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

1. Jimmy Graham

2. Jason Witten

3. Owen Daniels

4. Jermichael Finley

5. Fred Davis

6. Tony Gonzalez

7. Brandon Pettigrew

8. Dustin Keller

9. Benjamin Watson

10. Kellen Winslow

11. Greg Olsen

12. Ed Dickson

13. Heath Miller

14. Dallas Clark

15. Jeremy Shockey

16. Daniel Fells

17. Randy McMichael

18. Jared Cook

19. Kevin Boss

20. Lance Kendricks

21. Todd Heap

22. Visanthe Shiancoe

23. Evan Moore

24. Marcedes Lewis

25. Zach Miller

Week 7 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings

1. Jason Hanson

2. Sebastian Jankowski

3. Dan Bailey

4. Mason Crosby

5. Neil Rackers

6. John Kasay

7. Nick Novak

8. Billy Cundiff

9. Connor Barth

10. Matt Bryant

11. Robbie Gould

12. Nick Folk

13. Adam Vinatieri

14. Graham Gano

15. Ryan Longwell

16. Josh Brown

17. Phil Dawson

18. Rob Bironas

19. Olindo Mare

20. Ryan Succop

Week 7 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. Green Bay Packers

3. Dallas Cowboys

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

5. New York Jets

6. Detroit Lions

7. New Orleans Saints

8. Chicago Bears

9. Cleveland Browns

10. San Diego Chargers

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

12. Oakland Raiders

13. Washington Redskins

14. Houston Texans

15. Denver Broncos

16. Atlanta Falcons

17. Tennessee Titans

18. Jacksonville Jaguars

19. Carolina Panthers

20. Arizona Cardinals

Trades, Injuries and Changes Shake Up Fantasy Football Rosters **updated

2011-10-18T12:42:00.005-04:00

**updated: Detroit Lions acquire running back Ronnie Brown

For the past five weeks it seems that we have had to shake up our fantasy football rosters and rankings based on the weekly injuries constantly hitting NFL teams. Well, we seem to be alleviated from that this week, but faced with a delightful set of new problems. Rather than a host of unwanted injuries, we now get to modify our rosters based on a delightful combination of injuries, trades and replacements.

Let’s start from West to East.

Oakland Raiders
The biggest fantasy football injury this week seems to come from the Bay area as Jason Campbell is out for the season. Kyle Boller came in and completed 8 passes for 100 yards and no scores, with the team leading, though, we didn’t really get a feel for how he will react as a starter.

Oakland has just completed a trade for Carson Palmer from the Cincinnati Bengals. Palmer is coming out of a very ugly relationship. He hasn’t played a game this season, but did see his stats bump in 2010, when he threw for just under 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Expect it to take some time for him to get used to the system at all. I honestly don’t know what kind of playing shape Palmer is in, but he will definitely be the starter going forward. You can predict slow play from the receivers for a few weeks as Palmer gets settled, but in the end I think the receivers put up better numbers in the second half of the season than they did with Jason Campbell.

A focus will be put on the run game, so McFadden and Bush will be the least affected. Campbell was making ground it gaining respect for the passing game, but that all seems to be out the window. Kevin Boss is an intriguing tight end to watch though with Palmer coming in.

Denver Broncos
Tim Tebow steps in at quarterback. You have already heard what I have to say about that. But he will be starting his first game without the team’s best receiver Brandon Lloyd, who was traded to the St. Louis Rams.

John Fox should get the running game that he has likely wanted all along. With Tebow picking up an unpredictable amount of yardage each game and McGahee and Moreno getting the carries, the run game should be the only bright spot on the offense. I expect most of Tebow’s passes to be underneath as he does not have the arm or accuracy to make any downfield impact.

Lots of buzz going around about Demaryius Thomas stepping in as the number one receiver, but I for one will not be biting on him. Expect Eric Decker to be the Broncos’ top performing receiver this year. And like the situation in Oakland, tight end Daniel Fells might be one to watch.

Dallas Cowboys
Oh my sweet, sweet Cowboys. Injury to starting guard Bill Nagy and starting running back Felix Jones will make a couple waves. Mostly in the backfield.

Tashard Choice is a fumble away from getting tarred and feathered by Cowboy faithfuls, DeMarco Murray could see some extended playing time and definitely has the most upside going forward of any other Dallas back. Trade talks have come in about getting rid of Choice, but they will not go through because of the injury to Jones.

I expect the next 2-4 weeks with Felix’s injury to be proving time for DeMarco Murray. If you are short at running back, he could be a risky pickup for you, but the upside is definitely there.

Minnesota Vikings
Last night’s game made it pretty evident that it is time for Christian Ponder to step into the spotlight. He didn’t get much playing time, but what he showed was promising. Not sure what exactly we can make of it since the Vikings were trailing heavily and his yardage can all be filed under Garbage Time.

That said, he was impressive against the Bears defense in the passing game. He was under a good amount of pressure, made some errant throws and scrambled a lot, but was able to escape and get some positives.

Short of a horrific fire at a Starting NFL Quarterbacks Convention leaving all fantasy football starters hospitalized, I will not be starting Ponder this year. I expect the next few weeks to be a hell of a Welcome to the NFL for him. He does improve the passing game though as he is not, by any means, Donovan McNabb. I actually have the stock rising on Percy Harvin and maybe even Michael Jenkins and Greg Camarillo. Harvin, of course, the only real fantasy football starter of the bunch. Adrian Peterson is a beast and shouldn’t be too affected unless Ponder fails epically.

St. Louis Rams
Rams finally made a splash and added a wide receiver that might actually get some work done. Sam Bradford has been doing the best with what he has in Greg Salas and Danario Alexander, but these are not the elite receivers that he needs to help the team.

The acquisition of Brandon Lloyd from the Denver Broncos likely means that Mike Sims-Walker is cut. I expect Lloyd to get a handle on the offense pretty early and have the best impact of any Rams’ receiver going forward. This greatly increases the value of Sam Bradford and, in time, might open up some holes for Steven Jackson.

It does look like Bradford will be out this week against Dallas, and A.J. Feely could get the start. If this is the case, proceed with caution for every Rams player, including Jackson, as the Cowboys have the best run defense in the NFL.

Detroit Lions
Jahvid Best left the game with his second concussion of the year. I have heard everything from he might miss a week or two to he is being put on IR and his season is over. Maurice Morris had all of the carries in his absence this week, gaining 20 yards on five carries. Keiland Williams is second on the team in total rushing yards behind Best with a grand total of 49.

I originally had Moore getting most of the work, and he could get most in the next few weeks if Best doesn't return. However, Ronnie Brown has just been traded to the Detriot Lions. He should see some carries pretty soon and if Best doesn't come back in the next few weeks, it should be at least a solid split between Brown and Morris.

Overall, Brown is a nice fit for this offense. They need a power runner to offset Best and Brown can get that done. Will also like lining up in shotgun beside Stafford. But it is definitely a gamble to get either of these guys until we see a Lions game or at least learn a little more about Best's status.

More news to come on all of these. Any other teams you want to learn more about, all you have to do is ask. Got any questions about lineup changes, sleepers, trades, etc., you know what to do.

GHL Feedback and Changes

2011-10-18T08:51:00.001-04:00

Published an article at ffblife.com: "One Man's Opinion: Avoid Fantasy Football Across the Pond"
Check it out!

In the last article I posted some question for you and got some great feedback about how I can improve the site.

In the coming weeks, I will be doing all that I can to add some of these features to the site. As you can see now, in the right column, there are a handful of tags where you will be quickly redirected to the topic of your choice (pick'em, strategy, position rankings). Hopefully this will keep you from having to scroll forever to get to the information you are looking for.

Also, I'm working on creating a poll to get some further perspective on some of the tougher questions asked on this site and Twitter (@godhateslosers). Tuesday through Saturday there will be a new poll question posted allowing you to help out a fellow GHL reader. I will select the questions for the polls based on difficulty.

In the meantime, expect GHL to be running as always. And if you have any other ideas to improve upon the site, just let me know! And don't forget to tell a friend or two about us, add us on Twitter, and keep sharing the posts you love the most!

How's My Advising? - Week 6 Fantasy Wrapup

2011-10-17T13:59:00.000-04:00

Hey GHL fans.

I've seen a lot of people on the site and answered a lot of questions. I am quite close to 300 followers on Twitter (I honestly don't know if that is good or bad). I've been writing a few articles for other sites to try to draw more traffic to this one, all so I can better serve you.

So, I would greatly appreciate it if you all could take a little time out of your day to help out GHL.

How are we doing? You like the site, don't like the site? Anything you want to see more of or less of? What can we do to make this the go-to place on the web for fantasy football advice?
There are a lot of little things on the blog and each article. Lots of you have been commenting on our posts and asking your questions and we appreciate the hell out of it. But if you like a particular update, or if our advice works for you.. we'd really appreciate a little love in return. Hit a Google +1 button, Share it on Twitter or Facebook. Maybe itll act as a little Karma.
Tell a friend. I know it would be crazy for me to ask you to post this site's URL to your fantasy football competitor, but I'm sure you've got a friend or two in another league. Go ahead and tell them about us.

I thrive on positive feedback and boosts to my ego, so seeing more traffic would be an incredible advantage to everyone involved.

So please, the next time you see something on GHL that you like. Share the love a little. Its what all those crazy buttons are for.

If we all work together and do our part.. I can become famous. And that is really the end goal for all of us.

Week 6 Advice Time

2011-10-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

Hey all.

Once again I will be taking and answering all questions on this site until 10am (ET). After that, I will be away from the computer, but will have my phone so you can ask any questions you have on Twitter @godhateslosers.

Ask away!

2011 Week 6: Revisiting Shuffling Defense Strategy (SDS)

2011-10-15T12:12:00.001-04:00

It's a lovely boring Saturday, so what could possibly be better than pouring over fantasy football stats to share with you? Not a thing.

We are five weeks through the season, and it seems that we are finally able to see a bit of a picture showing up in consistency of NFL teams.

Before the season began, I introduced to you my Shuffing Defense Strategy.

Essentially, this strategy boils down to changing your defense out each week. Rather than picking a defense to roll with the entire year, you can earn a higher fantasy point total from your defense by strategically choosing your defense from the free agency based on the team that they are playing against.

Let's take a look at the highest scoring defenses so far in the NFL and compare them to a perfectly deployed SDS.

The five highest scoring fantasy football defenses this season are the Baltimore Ravens (19 fantasy points per game), San Francisco 49ers (15), New York Jets (13), Detroit Lions (11), Washington Redskins (11) and Buffalo Bills (11).

So, if you drafted the Ravens and played them every week, you would have accumulated quite a few points.

The following chart indicates the ten offenses that have given up the most fantasy points so far this season, broken down by week.

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Seahawks	Chiefs	Rams	Jets	Bucs
Falcons	Jaguars	Steelers	Ravens	Giants
Steelers	Seahawks	Bengals	Cowboys	Cardinals
Cowboys	Rams	Falcons	Browns	Eagles
Colts	Ravens	Patriots	Panthers	Jaguars
Rams	Bears	49ers	Broncos	Chargers
Giants	Dolphins	Cardinals	Rams	Seahawks
Bears	Panthers	Colts	Steelers	Texans
Broncos	Chargers	Dolphins	Bengals	Bears
Panthers	49ers	Seahawks	Jaguars	Falcons

From the super convenient color coordinating, you can see a general pattern arising. The teams that have given up the most fantasy points per week so far are as follows: St. Louis Rams (15.5 points per game), Seattle Seahawks (12.6), Dallas Cowboys (11.75), Jacksonville Jaguars (11.4), Pittsburgh Steelers (10.8), New York Jets (10.8), Atlanta Falcons (9.4), New York Giants (9.4), Arizona Cardinals (9.0), Carolina Panthers (9.0).

We can conclude a few things from this.
1) Owning the Ravens this year would have yielded you 75 total fantasy points.

2) In an ideal scenario, if you were to be able to play the defense facing the Rams every week, you would have 78 total fantasy points.

3) If you managed to play the highest scoring defense that is under 50% owned, you would have a total of 83 fantasy points.

So the strategy does work. It take a lot of luck, and a bit of research, but if you are shooting for a few more points per game, then this is an option for you.

And now you know the weakest offenses this year. I hope this has been beneficial to you.

Week 6 Running Back and Wide Receiver Sleepers

2011-10-14T17:05:00.000-04:00

This has been a prime year for sleeper candidates. It seems that every week a new name emerges and has the waiver wire buzzing.

This is largely in part due to the big names that are going down nearly every week with injuries. So if you are in that boat, fear not.

If you lost a key player like Jamaal Charles early in the year. Or suffered in the beginning with setbacks from Frank Gore, Arian Foster, Miles Austin and a slew of other receivers. Or were dealt a blow recently with the injuries to Andre Johnson, Joseph Addai and LeGarrette Blount.

Now is the time to curse a little bit, settle down and start shopping for the fantasy football hit, that is sure to pop up in Week 6.

Follow along for the list of running backs and wide receivers that I like to perform higher than expected this week. Who knows, one might be available in your league.

1) Earnest Graham, Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

LeGarrette Blount is down with injury and it is not at all far-fetched to imagine Earnest Graham making a big impact in the Bucs Week 6 matchups with the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have allowed 107 rushing yards per game to opposing backs, and we have seen in the past, then when healthy and given a good dose of carries, Earnest Graham can deliver. Even more intriguing is Graham's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Graham has 23 receptions this season for 143 yards.

I expect to see the majority of Tampa's ground work to go to Graham, and he should finally be seeing the end zone for the first time this year. I think that a rushing performance of 80 yards is not out of the question, if the Bucs can establish a passing game and keep it close. Add his receptions and receiving yards, and Graham is a good fill in for Blount or any player you have on bye.

He is currently owned in 30 percent of Yahoo fantasy football leagues. Graham is listed in my running back rankings as No. 22, making him a great pickup this week and a good man to plug in if you need him.

2) Danny Woodhead, Running Back, New England Patriots

If you wanted a deep, unowned sleeper then you have come to the right place. Danny Woodhead exploded last season as a fantasy star as the Patriots utilized him to convert first downs and add an elusive receiving threat from the backfield. He posted 34 receptions last year, most of them coming in the second half of the season.

Squaring off against the No. 1 run defense, the Dallas Cowboys, Bill Belichick and company will need to get creative when it comes to the backfield. The one area that the Cowboys have shown weakness in, is their ability to cover the screen.

It is a long-shot, but if they opt to take Green-Ellis and Ridley off the field and lineup Woodhead in the slot or behind Tom Brady, then they will have a great short-range receiving threat.

If you are in a pinch, or have everyone on bye in a damn deep league, or just looking to flaunt your 5-0 record in everyone's face, then he is an incredibly risky, but a high-reward running back option.

Woodhead is owned in 32 percent of Yahoo leagues. This might be the week to start him.

3) Victor Cruz, Wide Receiver, New York Giants

Coming into the season, all the buzz around the Giants' receivers were going to Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. And with good reason.

2010 set us all up to believe that both players could net over 1,000 yards each and put up a hefty number of touchdowns behind the arm of Eli. But injuries to both opened the door for previously unknown Victor Cruz.

Like many, I wrote off his Week 3 110 yard, two touchdown performance against Philadelphia as a fluke. But he followed that up with six receptions for 98 yards in Week 4 and eight receptions for 161 and a score in Week 5.

Cruz has been picked up in most leagues, only available in 20 percent according to Yahoo. If he is available, get him, and if he has been collecting dust on your bench, now is the time to throw him in the starting lineup.

Cruz will be squaring off against a Buffalo team in Week 6, that has given up 283 yards per game and they are tied for third worst, giving up 10 touchdown receptions. Cruz has proven to be more than a deep threat, with his receptions going up each week.

I have Cruz steadily climbing my rankings, landing this week at No. 24.

4) Torrey Smith, Wide Receiver, Baltimore Ravens

Like Cruz, Torrey Smith had a breakout performance in Week 3. He pulled down five receptions for 152 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was practically silent the following week with a single one-yard catch.

There will definitely be some hesitance to put Smith in your lineup this week, but I expect the Ravens to embrace the pass against a heavily-injured Houston team.

Mario Williams is out for the season, striking a blow to the pass rush. While a lot of receptions are going to go to Boldin, Rice and Dickson, it would not be the least bit shocking to see Smith step up again and have a surprising game.

With Lee Evans having missed the last two games, and admitting that he is not 100 percent, I expect to see Smith ending with more than five receptions, and you have to like those odds after he has scored on half of his catches this season.

Torrey Smith is owned in 38 percent of leagues, so if you are in a pinch with injuries or byes, he might just be the next best thing.

I have him sitting at 39 on my wide receiver rankings.

5) Harry Douglas, Wide Receiver, Atlanta Falcons

If you are looking to turn some heads with a deep sleeper this week, then look no further than Harry Douglas.

It was just reported that Julio Jones will miss the Week 6 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, meaning that Douglas will be stepping in to take over the receptions.

At the WR2 slot, Julio Jones has pulled down 25 receptions, putting him in the top 20 in the league. Stepping into that role, Douglas will be adding to his 11 catches this season and will definitely see an increase in his yardage.

Against the 18th ranked Carolina pass defense, Roddy White will be taking a good amount of heat, leaving Matt Ryan looking for a playmaker. If Douglas can show flashes of his junior and senior seasons in Louisville, then expect him to have a big impact on the game.

Douglas is owned in just one percent of Yahoo fantasy football leagues. He is sitting at number 42 on my wide receiver rankings.

NFL Week 6 Pick'em Predictions

2011-10-14T11:42:00.001-04:00

Giants lost to the Seahawks. Awful. So, like roughly 80% of all those who started, I am now out of Survival Football. Who'd have thought. Oh well. Once again, it goes to show you how insane this year has been so far.

Last week was not out best outing. My Girlfriend's Little Sister Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo'ed her way into a better weekend record than Jordan and I. I predict a Week 6 breakthrough though as we are starting to get a better handle on these teams.

I think the Panthers finally pull together a win against another underwhelming favorite, the Atlanta Falcons. Redskins win at home in their rivalry with the Dream Team. The Browns burst the Raiders' bubble. And the Cowboys rebound against the Patriots on the wings of Rob Ryan.

If I were still in it and had to make a Survival pick, I'd say that I'm most confident in the Steelers over the Jags, Jets over the Dolphins and Saints over the Bucs.

Excited to hear about your upset picks. I suggest that everyone who reads this scrolls down to the eminent Allan B comment, as the man is an upset savant.

	Jordan	Andrew	MGLS
Record (LW) (Total):	(7-6)(45-32)	(7-6)(45-32)	(8-5)(40-37)
Panthers @ Falcons	Falcons	Panthers	Panthers
Bills @ Giants	Bills	Bills	Bills
Colts @ Bengals	Bengals	Bengals	Colts
49ers @ Lions	Lions	Lions	Lions
Rams @ Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
Eagles @ Redskins	Eagles	Redskins	Redskins
Jaguars @ Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
Browns @ Raiders	Raiders	Browns	Browns
Texans @ Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Texans
Cowboys @ Patriots	Patriots	Cowboys	Patriots
Saints @ Bucs	Saints	Saints	Bucs
Vikings @ Bears	Bears	Bears	Vikings
Dolphins @ Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets

Survival Pick	Eliminated	Eliminated	Eliminated

The Price of Losing

2011-10-13T16:22:00.001-04:00

Everyone, if they read GHL closely, knows that Andrew whupped my ass this weekend. I could say a lot about injured players and under-performances, but, you know what, that's fantasy football. No whiners. To adapt a famous line from a deservedly famous movie scene: There's no crying in fantasy football. No matter how well one game plans for a matchup, there is still the Quasimodo-faced specter of pure, unadulterated LUCK with which one has to deal.

The stakes: drinks, Diet Coke (our favorite soda), and a humiliation photo. The embarrassment: eternal.

~ Jordan

UPDATE: I actually posted the photo, but one reader accurately described my appearance as being that of a "little wiener", so it's been taken down. Thanks, fans. You're the best. My humiliation photo was actually humiliating. You rule.