John Arias, fantasy columnist at Fantasy Football Maniaxs
Did you have Anthony Gonzalez or Julius Jones in your starting lineup last week? Well, let me tell you this, I predicted they would both breakout in Week Two.
Seven of the eight Dark Horses listed last week came through, having breakout games coming close to my projected numbers, which translate to an 88 percent success rate. I like those odds, and so should you.
Who will make the cut for Week Three? There is only one way to find out, which leads me to this week’s predictions.
1. Chris Chamber, WR - Chargers
With the injuries to Antonio Gates and the apparent injury to LaDainian Tomlinson, Chambers has become the focal point of the offense. His three receiving touchdowns have him tied for first and his average of 25.4 is among the elite in the NFL.
Chargers play the Jets at home and have a lot to prove after two devastating losses.
Prediction
Expect five receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.
2. Isaac Bruce, WR - 49ers
The ageless wonder is at it again. After not recording a catch in Week One, he blew up in Seattle. With four receptions for 153 yards, Bruce has proven to be J.T. O’Sullivan’s favorite target. and do not forget, Mike Martz trusts Bruce.
Look for a high-scoring game in San Francisco when the Lions come into town. Also, expect the ball to be flying and Mike Martz to try and run up the score on his former team. Players on both sides of the ball should get much attention for starting in fantasy lineups.
Prediction
Expect six receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown.
3. Kevin Smith, RB - Lions
Oh, what it is to be a running back in Detroit? Ask, Kevin Smith. He only has 26 rushes on the season for 88 yards, but has looked well.
Rudi Johnson has not affected his production and his eight receptions ranks fourth among all running backs in the NFL.
The Lions play in San Francisco and if you read my column last week, I predicted Julius Jones would do well against the running defense of the 49ers; Smith should do the same.
Prediction
Expect 20 carries for 96 yards; five receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown.
4. Lee Evans, WR - Bills
Trent Edwards looks like an effective quarterback, who knew? That being said, he and Lee Evans have started to have the relationship any quarterback and receiver needs to be productive.
In the young season, he has been the most consistent receiver. He has eight receptions for 179 yards (ranks ninth in the NFL). The Bills play the Raiders at home and we all remember what the Broncos did to that secondary.
Prediction
Expect six receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown
5. Justin Gage, WR - Titans
His numbers are not off the chart, but with Kerry Collins at the helm for the foreseeable future, Gage will benefit the most. He caught five receptions for 59 yards and scored a touchdown.
21 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Aaron Keel 9 months ago
You forgot J.T. O'Sullivan against the horrific Lions seconday. They've been torched two weeks in a row and Sullivan looks like he's got a handle on the 49ers offense. If he could go for 300 plus yards against a good Seattle defense on the road think of what he could do against Detroit.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Aaron, he will be in our start/sit article ready to come out in a few hours.
Thanks.
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John Jacobs 9 months ago
Your help when I lost 3 WRs last week paid off with your suggestion to pickup Patten and my gamble with Meachem. I'm in the pleasant position of having both Antonio Gates and holding onto Tony Scheffler when he was a backup TE. You mentioned that Scheffler should have another good week, but what do you think about Gates? Is Chamber's performance combined with his (Gates) injuries going to limit him again this week? I'm thinking about starting Scheffler this week.
It's too bad I didn't start Campbell last week instead of Cassel I'm going to have to figure that start out too. Again, thanks for all of your great advice. I sure hope you're right about Turner, I have him and Grant, and they didn't do me any favors last week. I'm starting them again this week due to Selvin Young not looking so hot.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
John this is from Chad (the Maniax that helped you last week):
"My first though is if you can trade Antonio Gates for a WR do so if you have to package one of your lesser WR to get an elite one go ahead and do so.
Scheffler is there to stay in Denver and Jay Cutler has grown significantly as a QB and if you move Gates you will be fine. I think you trade Gates over Scheffler because he is the more recognizable quantity and you can get more value for him.
If you can not move Gates you start him this week The Jets have proven vulnerable to the TE in week one vs Miami. Gates is still a part of the SD offense he is 5th in targets for TE and 5th in receptions as well. As long as his health holds out he should be good for about 5 or 6 receptions and 75 yards. A touchdown is not out of question. You will need to monitor the injury report. I expect him to play but you never know he could end up not playing. It is still early in the week.
You need to stick with Turner and Grant over Selvin Young. There are too many backs in Denver to really make any of them viable. Pittman has some value there because he appears to be the goal line back.
Do you have any other QB other than Matt Cassel and Jason Campbell? Of the two I like Cassel a little better again because he has an offense around him and Miami has proven to be susceptible to the pass more than Arizona has this season. You guessed it, Cassel plays Miami this week. "
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John Jacobs 9 months ago
Chad,
No, we only have two QB spots in our league. I originally had Tom Brady and Jason Campbell. I'm trying to figure out if they will get it together, or work a trade for Kitna and/or Pick up O'Sullivan from the waiver wire.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Reply from Chad:
I am assuming this is a seasonal league. if it is Go ahead and pick up O'Sullivan over Matt Cassel and use that (2nd QB) spot on a weekly basis to drop add a QB you can use. with a weak NO defense Campbell showed some signs of life though I personally would not be ready to start him in a few weeks the Redskins west coast offense could get to a point where you can feel confident to start Campbell. I think this is a little different from my first response. As I think about your situation more I think this is a decent route to go.
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John Jacobs 9 months ago
Chad,
Thanks again, O'Sullivan was a much better choice over Cassel. Amazingly I'm 3-0. I appreciate your help and will look for it again soon. I'll wait to ask until a fresher article, unless you don't mind helping me on this thread.
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kyle flynn 9 months ago
chad johnson and selvin young for marshawyn lynnch good trade? (im getting lynch )
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Simon Edwards 9 months ago
Hell yeah, take him.
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Evan Koch 9 months ago
what do you think about amani toomer? he had 12 targets last week which produced 6 rec 72 yds and a td. do you see him having a similar day against the bengals?
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
He very well could. The Bengals' defense is porous. Their offense is not keeping them off the field, so a tired defense can give Toomer some good numbers.
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Evan Koch 9 months ago
thanks, i think i'll go ahead and start toomer, then. i just have a gut feeling that he's gonna put up much better numbers than houshmandzadeh(who's burned me 2 weeks in a row and has a horrible matchup) this week.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Thanks for the vote! Evan.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
He, TJ housh burned me in week 1. I sat him last week. Of course I had other good options, tough.
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Evan Koch 9 months ago
well my other receivers are wayne, royal, and holmes. holmes actually did pretty well last week, but i'm most likely gonna start toomer in his place, this week at flex and go with jackson and smith at rb. good article, btw. i like this a lot better than espn's the answer guys. they told me t.j. would be fine last week.
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Did they?
Well, everybody makes mistakes, right?
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Simon Edwards 9 months ago
Which of these RBs would you recommend starting in Week 3 if you had to pick 2... I'm leaning towards Kevin Smith and Thomas Jones...
Larry Johnson
Darren Sproles
Pierre Thomas
Thomas Jones
Michael Bush
Kevin Smith
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Simon Edwards 9 months ago
Which of these RBs would you recommend starting in Week 3 if you had to pick 2... I'm leaning towards Kevin Smith and Thomas Jones...
Larry Johnson
Darren Sproles
Pierre Thomas
Thomas Jones
Michael Bush
Kevin Smith
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Jones and Smith have the best matchups tomorrow.
Larry Johnson gets a fairly easy game vs. the Falcons but their o-line and offense as a whole is in trouble. I'd steer away from him until he shows he can punish lesser teams, at least.
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Tommy Hoang 9 months ago
which WRs/RBs would you recommend in week 4 Flex position? Hines Ward, Lee Evans, Edgerrin James, Pierre Thomas? which T/E to start: Donald Lee, Bo Scaife or Jerramy Steven? Def to start: Bears or Steelers? thank u
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Football Maniaxs 9 months ago
Tommy, I'd surely use Lee Evans against a charitable Rams' secondary as your flex this week.
Bo Scaife seems to have the hot hands. I just picked him up and am planning on starting him.
Good luck.
Visit our forums' help thread as we're answering questions there this week:
http://fantasydrx.proboards92.com/index.cgi?board=ss&action=display&thread=466
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