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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Fantasy Football 2008: Week 12 Making The Playoff Push By Ric Atkinson It’s almost here. Fantasy football playoff time. The pre-draft planning. The weekly perusal of your league’s waiver wire. The painstaking trade you made three weeks ago. The agonizing over who to start and who to sit every single week. All those decisions have been leading up to this: playoffs. Is there anything left to do? Let’s take a look at some end of the season fine tuning that just might put your team over the top. Earnest Graham, Bucs: The season ending ankle injury to Earnest Graham gives the fantasy value of 97-year-old Warrick Dunn a huge boost. If you need some help at running back, check to see if Dunn is available on the waiver wire. Playing this week at Detroit and next week at home against the Saints, the Bucs have two pretty favorable matchups that should yield good fantasy numbers. Don’t worry too much about Cadillac Williams rejoining the team, even as tempting as it is to say the Cadillac will get jumpstarted this weekend in the Motor City. Some of my readers got that right off, others are just now getting it… Anyways… “Who will be Asomughaminized this week?” A few weeks back I mentioned that Nnamdi Asomugha was the best cover cornerback in the NFL. This week ESPN reported that so far this season quarterbacks have only thrown 20 balls in Asomugha’s direction. So I’ve decided to add a new weekly feature to this column. So here is my first installment of “Who will be Asomughaminized this week?” This week Brandon Marshall will be Asomughaminized. If you own Marshall and have any other viable option to play in his place, you’ll want to play the other option. If you own Denver’s #2 WR Eddie Royal, you’ll want to play him as he will be the most viable option in the Bronco’s passing game this week. Dallas Clark: For all you Dallas Clark owners who have been disappointed in his fantasy numbers so far this year, this is your big payoff week. The Chargers have struggled to cover tight ends all season. Look for Peyton Manning to take advantage of San Diego’s weak pass coverage and target Clark a lot this week (especially in the red zone). Arizona: How great has the Cardinals passing game been to fantasy owners this year? Free agent to be Kurt Warner is the leading fantasy scorer in most leagues. Free agent to be Anquan Boldin is the top scoring wide receiver in most leagues (despite missing two games to injury). Almost an after thought, Larry Fitzgerald is the 2nd highest scoring fantasy receiver. The matchup this week with the Giants should provide more of a challenge than the Seahawks did last week, but look for solid numbers from Arizona’s big three as usual. No matter whether they are up or down, the Cardinals will throw 40 or 50 times and rack up 300-400 pass yards. In deeper leagues Steve Breaston is a good sleeper play if you need help at wideout. G-Men: Speaking of the Giants, keep a close eye on Plaxico Burress’ status for this week. A sudden hamstring injury kept him out of practice on Thursday, though we know how much he hates practice. The Giants are being rather tightlipped so be sure to keep an eye on this situation as we get closer to game time. If he doesn’t play, look for Steve Smith to step in and have a big game against Arizona’s questionable secondary. Even if Burress plays look for the chemistry between Eli Manning and Smith to continue to grow. Gary Russell: It’s been a bumpy road for Willie Parker owners this year, and it might get a lot bumpier from here. Looks like Gary Russell may be emerging as the Steelers short yardage/red zone back for the rest of the season. Look for him to become a classic TD vulture who might be worth a waiver wire pick up in 12 and 14 team leagues. Sleepers Of The Week: I got two good sleeper tight ends in the same game. Sleeper #1 Bo Scaife. The Jets have given up big numbers to tight ends this season, and Scaife has emerged as one of the key guys in the Titans passing game. Sleeper #2 Dustin Keller. In the past two weeks Keller has caught 14 passes for 194 yards and a TD. Bret Farve knows how to use the tight end and seems to be gaining confidence in Keller. Mailbag: Joe is Virginia asked: What happed to Ladianain Tomlinson? Joe, it looks like LT has been sacrificed at the altar of Phillip Rivers. Somebody needs to sit down with Norv Turner and remind him that when the Chargers offense was built around LT and running the ball they were making deep playoff runs. San Diego’s new pass happy offense has them at 4-6 and long shots to even sniff the playoffs. Looking more and more like the firing of Marty Schottenheimer to hire Norv Turner may go down as one of the biggest front office blunders in NFL history. Murray in Chicago sent this one in: “I really need a win this week to have a shot at the playoff. Should I start Michael Turner or Thomas Jones?” Tough call here. The o-line in Atlanta is dinged up a bit, and Thomas Jones is on a role. He has scored double digit fantasy points in each of his last six games. The numbers show that the Panther’s D (who Turner is facing) has been a little better against the run that the Titan’s D (who Jones faces). So I’d go with the hot hand and better matchup in Jones. Keep in mind the Panthers limited Turner to just 5 points early in the season. Looks like that’s it for this week. Good luck and remember: Always start your studs. November 21, 2008 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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