Week 15 Sleepers and Pickups

And the playoffs keep rolling along. Awkward week last week. Lots of stars putting up pretty awful performances. A handful of no-names came out of nowhere.

Overall, the pick-ups here are pretty simple. When we get into the playoffs, I am far less likely to count on sleepers, so I don’t have any pickups for that either.

Basically, if you want to get anyone off of free agency, you are looking for great matchups, or injury fill-ins.

Biggest injury of the week has to go to DeMarco Murray. Felix Jones filled in and had a decent day. But I think that, for the most part, that we because the Giants did not game plan for him. The Cowboys have another good matchup though as they face the Bucs, who just gave up four touchdowns to Maurice Jones-Drew.

If Felix is still floating in free agency, I think he is a must add. He will be a great play for the next two weeks, facing the poor run defenses of Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. He will also be working with fullback Fiammetta, who has been largely credited with Murray’s success. The Cowboys just signed ex-Patriot Sammy Morris to the team. He could get some runs, and steal the goal line work, but I would not add him unless you are in a mind-blowingly deep league.

Week 6 Running Back and Wide Receiver Sleepers

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.

Fantasy Football Week 6 Position Rankings

Week 6 Position Rankings

A little bit upset to see that we are already over a third of the way through this fantasy season. So far so good on this end. Hope that these weekly rankings are getting the job done for everyone.

Got a handful of wide receiver sleepers since they seem to be popping up every week. I have a feeling about Torrey Smith this week. Same goes for Michael Crabtree, Antonio Brown and Greg Little. I am finally sold that Victor Cruz is pretty legit. As long as Eli keeps going deep with it, Cruz will put up numbers.

Running back, as usual has a pretty sharp drop off. I would expect Felix Jones to put up a good show. It is going to be interesting to watch some backups play this week with Earnest Graham likely getting a lot of the work with Blount out, and a likely split between Delone Carter and Donald Brown with Addai out.

As always, feel free to post any questions or comments you have on this post in preparation for this weekend’s faceoffs. Also, let me know if you have any great sleeper picks or see anyone that I left off the list.

Week 6 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

1.       Aaron Rodgers

2.       Drew Brees

3.       Cam Newton

4.       Tom Brady

5.       Tony Romo

6.       Michael Vick

7.       Eli Manning

8.       Ben Roethlisberger

9.       Matthew Stafford

10.   Matt Ryan

11.   Mark Sanchez

12.   Matt Schaub

13.   Jay Cutler

14.   Ryan Fitzpatrick

15.   Joe Flacco

16.   Jason Campbell

17.   Rex Grossman

18.   Alex Smith

19.   Josh Freeman

20.   Colt McCoy

21.   Donovan McNabb

22.   Sam Bradford

23.   Blaine Gabbert

24.   Andy Dalton

25.   Curtis Painter

Week 6 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

1.       Adrian Peterson

2.       Fred Jackson

3.       Ray Rice

4.       Darren McFadden

5.       Matt Forte

6.       Arian Foster

7.       LeSean McCoy

8.       Frank Gore

9.       Maurice Jones-Drew

10.   Ahmad Bradshaw

11.   Michael Turner

12.   Steven Jackson

13.   Peyton Hillis

14.   Jahvid Best

15.   Felix Jones

16.   Darren Sproles

17.   Cedric Benson

18.   Shonn Greene

19.   Rashard Mendenhall

20.   Daniel Thomas

21.   James Starks

22.   Earnest Graham

23.   DeAngelo Williams

24.   Ryan Torain

25.   BenJarvus Green-Ellis

26.   Delone Carter

27.   Mark Ingram

28.   Ryan Grant

29.   Tim Hightower

30.   Jonathan Stewart

31.   Brandon Jacobs

32.   Pierre Thomas

33.   Stevan Ridley

34.   LaDainian Tomlinson

35.   Michael Bush

36.   Reggie Bush

37.   Donald Brown

38.   Montario Hardesty

39.   Roy Helu

40.   Danny Woodhead

41.   Tashard Choice

42.   Bernard Scott

43.   C.J. Spiller

44.   Kendall Hunter

45.   Ben Tate

46.   Ricky Williams

47.   Jacquizz Rodgers

48.   Isaac Redman

49.   Deji Karim

50.   Marion Barber

Week 6 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

1.       Greg Jennings

2.       Calvin Johnson

3.       Wes Welker

4.       Steve Smith

5.       Hakeem Nicks

6.       Mike Wallace

7.       DeSean Jackson

8.       Miles Austin

9.       Roddy White

10.   Steve Johnson

11.   Mike Wallace

12.   Dez Bryant

13.   A.J. Green

14.   Marques Colston

15.   Santonio Holmes

16.   Santana Moss

17.   Jeremy Maclin

18.   Anquan Boldin

19.   Brandon Marshall

20.   Pierre Garcon

21.   Jordy Nelson

22.   Reggie Wayne

23.   Deion Branch

24.   Victor Cruz

25.   Mike Thomas

26.   Mario Manningham

27.   Mike Williams

28.   Plaxico Burress

29.   Percy Harvin

30.   Michael Crabtree

31.   Darrius Heyward-Bey

32.   Robert Meachem

33.   Lance Moore

34.   Johnny Knox

35.   Jabar Gaffney

36.   Antonio Brown

37.   Kevin Walter

38.   Derrick Mason

39.   Torrey Smith

40.   Greg Little

41.   Danario Alexander

42.   Harry Douglas
43.   James Jones

44.   Mike Sims-Walker

45.   Denarius Moore

46.   Jason Avant

47.   Davone Bess

48.   Laurent Robinson

49.   Jerome Simpson

50.   Hines Ward

Week 6 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings

1.       Jason Witten

2.       Jimmy Graham

3.       Jermichael Finley

4.       Owen Daniels

5.       Vernon Davis

6.       Tony Gonzalez

7.       Rob Gronkowski

8.       Dustin Keller

9.       Aaron Hernandez

10.   Jermaine Gresham

11.   Greg Olsen

12.   Kellen Winslow

13.   Brandon Pettigrew

14.   Dallas Clark

15.   Fred Davis

16.   Heath Miller

17.   Ed Dickson

18.   Benjamin Watson

19.   Visanthe Shiancoe

20.   Scott Chandler

Week 6 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings

1.       Jason Hanson

2.       John Kasay

3.       Neil Rackers

4.       Sebastian Jankowski

5.       David Akers

6.       Dan Bailey

7.       Mason Crosby

8.       Billy Cundiff

9.       Stephen Gostkowski

10.   Rian Lindell

11.   Matt Bryant

12.   Nick Folk

13.   Mike Nugent

14.   Graham Gano

15.   Robbie Gould

Week 6 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings

1.       Green Bay Packers

2.       New York Jets

3.       Pittsburgh Steelers

4.       Detroit Lions

5.       Baltimore Ravens

6.       Chicago Bears

7.       Cincinnati Bengals

8.       San Francisco 49ers

9.       New Orleans Saints

10.   Buffalo Bills

11.   Philadelphia Eagles

12.   Oakland Raiders

13.   Minnesota Vikings

14.   New York Giants

15.   Houston Texans

16.   Atlanta Falcons

17.   Washington Redskins

18.   Jacksonville Jaguars

19.   Dallas Cowboys

20.   New England Patriots

21.   Cleveland Browns

22.   Carolina Panthers

23.   Tampa Bay Buccaneers

24.   Indianapolis Colts

25.   Miami Dolphins

26.   St. Louis Rams

Why Tim Tebow is Not a Fantasy Football Starter

Advertising has an odd power over us. You don’t realize it when you drive past a billboard every day, but you are taking in the message. And in the back of your mind, you are converted into believing that you actually need what is being shown to you. This explains why so many naïve 21-year-olds flock to Miller Lite, looking past the obvious signs that it tastes like cat piss. And why John Fox has named Tim Tebow his Week 7 starter, looking past the obvious signs that… you can make the connection.

But, I can’t blame the guy. It is obviously the move that fans want. The team is in the garbage either way. Tebow is the only quarterback on the Broncos’ roster that will be in Denver next season. And at some point they will need to justify their irrational decision to take him in the first round.

I say let the Broncos do as they please. Let Tebow start, keep the fans from rioting. But do not let this translate over to you fantasy football team. Let someone else make the mistake. Because nobody wants to be the Denver Broncos of their fantasy league.

Fantasy Football Deep Sleepers: Andre Roberts and Four More to Watch For

I love me a deep league. You give me 15 friends and a five-hour, 18-man roster draft and I am smitten. The longer you play fantasy football, the more you yearn to deviate from the Standard Leagues where you started playing. You experiment in points per reception (PPR) leagues, you try an auction draft, even venture into the realm of the individual defensive player (IDP). But for my money, there is nothing more satisfying, or challenging, than a deep league.

You get a chance to flex your NFL knowledge and show off to your friends that your powers of prediction are the stuff of legend. You take notes during preseason games. And you find the gems, the unsung heroes of fantasy. There is nothing like it. So, enjoy this list of deep sleepers, the guys that don't make the cut in a standard draft, the men with average draft positions of 200 and beyond. Because you go past the starters. You're a warrior.

Ten Bold Predictions for the 2011 Fantasy Football Season

Sorry for the lack of post. Turns out I actually had to do some nonfantasy football related work today. I feel terrible about it. Judging from mock drafts and a lot of the drafts that readers have shown me, this year is anything but predictable. We have first rounds where more than 7 quarterbacks are taken, we have about 10 running backs that we can expect to be great and a very muddled middle, and about 100 wide receivers that could become fantasy starters.

For this post, I want you guys to put your bold predictions in the comments. If you have a question or need advice, you can continue posting your questions on the Advice Time or Player Rankings post. Let's leave this one for predictions. Fantasy player related, NFL related. Whatever you think is going to happen, let me know.

Enough waiting... let's irresponsibly jump to some conclusions.

Pre-preseason Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks

I’ve all but given up on posting a mock draft on this site. Perhaps once my actual leagues start drafting, I will post one of those. Some ass decided that he was only going to draft Chargers, taking Antonio Gates with the 4th overall pick. Well done sir. Enjoy your 4-13 finish.

So, I decided it would be a nice time to highlight some sleepers. It’s too early to go all out and make insane assumptions, but these sleepers I feel pretty solid about. Some of them to even start for my potential fantasy football team.