Fantasy High Five/Low Five: Blue Collar Guys Can Make or Break You In Week Four
The High Five/Low Five showcases the players that you may not be thinking about this week but should.
Everyone knows which superstars to start, that's the easy part. Fantasy wins and losses come from the guys in the trenches. That one sleeper free agent could mean the difference between Fantasy Stardom and explaining to your wife how you lost $100 dollars playing faux football.
Peruse these projections and you are that much closer to your league's Shiva.
High Five: Matt Ryan Vs San Francisco 49ers
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Matt Ryan is settling into a nice grove and coming off of a huge road win. Throwing for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns and finally getting Tony Gonzalez into the passing game. He sports a 117 quarterback rating in the Georgia Dome. Against these same 49ers last season, Ryan threw for 329 yards, 2 touchdowns and also ran for a score.
The 49er’s defense is not living up to expectations. The team as a whole is in disarray. I just don’t have the confidence that Mike Singletary can rally this team enough to keep Matt Ryan and the Falcon offense off the field.
Projection: 315 yards passing and 2 touchdowns
High Five: Mark Sanchez @ Buffalo Bills
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Sanchez has delighted owners the last 2 weeks, throwing for 570 yards and 6 touchdowns. Ladainian Tomlinson is occupying just enough defensive attention to allow for some very good play action passing on Sanchez’s part. Dustin Keller emerged in week 2 and shredded the vaunted Miami Defense in week 3.
Sanchez will continue his maturation process against a Buffalo secondary that is not as good as they appear on paper.
Projection: 285 yards passing and 3 touchdowns
High Five: Chad Henne Vs New England Patriots
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The biggest downer to Henne this week will be the weather. Wind and possible thunderstorms are in the forecast for Monday Night Football. Should that clear up I’d recommend Henne against a New England Defense that surrendered 220 yards passing and 3 touchdowns to Mark Sanchez in week 2.
With Marshall’s recent breakout and a new spark from media comments regarding his conditioning, MNF will be a statement game for the Dolphins
Projection: 275 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown
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High Five: Kyle Orton @ Tennessee Titans
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Orton is playing like a number one fantasy quarterback so why is he on this list? Chances are if you have him you either drafted him late or just picked him up off of waivers. He should fare well against a Titan’s defense that has yet to be tested by a quarterback playing at Orton’s level.
Knowshon Moreno is likely out again this week increasing the need to air it out.
Projection: 323 yards passing and 3 touchdowns
High Five: Bruce Gradkowski Vs Houston Texans
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You are thinking I drank the Kool-Aid… I did not. If this was any other week I’d say you are out of your mind to play him. But this against the Houston Texans, who give up an average of 386 passing yards per game.
If you are struggling with a bye week pickup…Heeeere’s Brucey.
Projections: 285 yards and 2 touchdowns
Low Five: Ray Rice @ Pittsburgh Steelers
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Although Ray Ray is typically an every week starter, he is coming off a knee injury and he’s playing the Pittsburgh D. Pittsburgh is shutting down opponents running backs to the tune of 67 yards per game. I’m talking about superstars like Chris Johnson and Michael Turner.
Rice belongs in the superstar category but I’m not betting on it this week.
Projection: 92 total yards 0 touchdowns.
Low Five: Steven Jackson Vs Seattle Seahawks
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This is much the same song we sang for Ray Rice. Injury could hamper a player already facing an uphill battle against a top five run defense. Sing along if you know the words.
With no passing game to pull the 8th man out of the box, Jackson is better off letting this be a learning experience for Sam Bradford.
Projection: He does not suit up this week.
Low Five: Jahvid Best @ Green Bay Packers
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Most bands don’t come out for a triple encore but tonight is special. Best is also nursing an injury and facing a defense that is surprisingly good at stopping opposing running backs. The Packers are only relinquishing an average of 80 yards to true running backs. (Michael Vick rushed for 103 yards against them in week 1)
If I’m a Best owner I’m looking somewhere better.
Projection: 78 total yards 0 touchdowns
Low Five: Ronnie Brown Vs New England Patriots
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The Patriots have Ronnie’s number, Holding him to an average of 75 yards and a touchdown over the last 3 meetings.From a fantasy perspective, that isn’t horrible, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
The Dolphins have found success through the air the last few weeks. The trend continues.
Projection: 64 total yards 0 touchdowns
Low Five: Shonne Greene @ Buffalo Bills
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Ladainian Tomlinson is making his presence felt in the Jets backfield. Pundits are starting to believe he still has something left. Greene is not getting it done the way L.T. is right now.
With the passing game improving, Greene doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Projection: 36 total yards 0 touchdowns
High Five: Louis Murphy Vs Houston Texans
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Murphy has been discussed plenty over the last few weeks. For those of you that jumped on the band wagon, here is your week to capitalize. The Texans have the worst pass defense in the league.
I don’t think the Raiders can win but I do think they will be throwing a lot.
Projection: 7catches, 104 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Jacoby Jones @ Oakland Raiders
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I really hope Andre Johnson is on the field. If he is chances are Nnamdi Asomugha will be his shadow for the day. Andre is a great decoy if he’s on the field. The rest of the Raider defense are not good enough to contain Jones. He is a great deep threat and is a big target in the end zone.
I know Walter is there but I expect both to have above average days
Projection: 5 catches, 99 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Anquan Boldin @ Pittsburgh Steelers
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Boldin has not faced the Steelers since 2003, where he lit them up for 118 yards and a touchdown. As for the now… Boldin and Joe Flacco are starting to connect and with the Steelers talented run defense, the Ravens will be throwing a lot.
Boldin is the top fantasy scorer on the Ravens this week
Projection: 8 catches, 112 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Davone Bess Vs New England Patriots
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The player that has benefited the most from Brandon Marshall’s resurgence has been Bess. Teams will likely roll an extra safety to Marshall leaving Bess with some nice one on one match-ups. He took advantage last week vs the Jets for 6 catches and 86 yards.
He’ll do better this week against a lesser Patriot secondary
Projection: 5 catches, 77 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Johnny Knox @ New York Giants
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This is solely a gut pick. I think Knox has shown improvement over the last few games and Cutler is starting to find the time to get Knox deep. I think this is the week they hook up for a touchdown.
It’s Johnny on the spot this week.
Projection: 5 catches, 106 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Aaron Hernandez @ Miami Dolphins
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Did I mention that Dustin Keller exploded against the Dolphin Defense? Mike Nolan is not going to be able to account for Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, believe me something has to give.
Brady is quite the skilled surgeon. I think Brady to Hernandez is going to be a theme for Monday Night Football.
Projection: 5 catches, 75 yards and 1 touchdown
Low Five: Heath Miller Vs Baltimore Ravens
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I’m not sure there is a whole lot to say here. Charlie Batch is the quarterback and Ray Lewis and company are going spend a lot of on the Pittsburgh side of the ball. I don’t think Batch is going to get past Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.
Miller is an afterthought this week
Projection: 2 catches for 13 yards
Low Five: Jermaine Gresham @ Cleveland Browns
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Cleveland has held Palmer to just 330 yards and 3 touchdowns over the last 2 meetings. Palmer is not playing well and he’s got more than he can handle with Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens hungry for the ball.
Gresham is to the Bengals what Drew Barrymore was to Batman and Robin… A nice distraction.
Projection: 3 catches for 28 yards
High Five: Greg Olsen @ New York Giants
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Mike Martz has been slow to live up to his promise of keeping Olsen involved in the offense. But he made up for it last week versus the Packers. Olsen amassed 64 yards and a touchdown on 5 receptions.
With the lack of a running game, Olsen’s size makes him a target in the red zone.
Projection: 6 catches, 82 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Todd Heap @ Pittsburgh Steelers
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Heap's 22 targets this season are more than guys like Randy Moss, Greg Jennings and “The Beastman” Jermichael Finley. Facing Pittsburgh’s number 3 rush defense will force Flacco and the Raven’s to put some air under the ball.
Heap scored 2 touchdowns against the Steelers in 2009.
Projection: 4 catches, 43 yards and 1 touchdown
High Five: Adam Vinatieri @ Jacksonville Jaguars
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The Colts are starting to get their swagger back. They were able to move the ball with ease against a decent Denver secondary. Vinatieri is 4 for 4 on field goal tries and made 11 extra points for the league’s second highest scoring offense.
The Colts offense will be on the field a lot this week. Adam will get his chances.
Projection: 2 XP, 3 FG
High Five: Matt Prater @ Tennessee Titans
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Matt is perfect this season and the Bronco offense is really starting to jell. I don’t expect that Josh McDaniels will be pulling many more 4th down tries like he did against Indianapolis, especially if he is in scoring range. 3 tries ended in an interception, an incomplete pass and touchdown call reversed on replay.
Prater has the leg to try from just about anywhere. Expect McDaniels to lean on Prater on the road.
Projection: 2 XP, 4 FG
High Five: Atlanta Falcon Defense Vs San Francisco 49ers
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The Falcons are at home and the 49er’s have been abysmal on the road. San Francisco has managed a paltry 16 points in 2 away games. This one is not so much about the strength of the Falcons as it is the weakness of the 49ers.
After firing offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye earlier this week the 49ers are in disarray. The Georgia Dome won’t be a place of healing.
Projection: 4 Sacks, 1 INT, 6 points against
High Five: Chicago Bears Defense @ New York Giants:
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The Bears are coming together on both sides of the ball. There seems to be a spark and this team is just waiting to catch fire. A trip to the ailing Giants may be just what this team needs to solidify.
With Mike Martz handling the offense. Lovie Smith can give his full attention to the other side of the ball.
Projection: 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 Def/ST touchdown
High Five: Cleveland Browns Defense Vs Cincinnati Bengals
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The Browns have the 16th best defense in the league and are giving up less than 200 yards a game through the air. I think they are capable of coming up with some timely turnovers from Carson Palmer.
The Bengals are expecting to get back on track this week but I think it could be a Brown out.
Projection: 3 sacks, 2 INT and 1 Def/ST touchdown.
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