10 Fantasy Football Studs For the First Half Of 2008

10 Fantasy Football Studs for the First Half of 2008

October 23, 2008

Most Fantasy Football leagues end their regular season around week 13 or week 14.  This puts us at the midway point in the season, right?  Let’s have a position by position look, including Individual Defensive Players, (IDP)  at Team Stud 2008 up to this point.  Here is the Dream Team up to Week Eight of the NFL Season.

Also Check out 10 Fantasy Football Duds for the First Half of 2008.

TEAM STUD:

QB: Aaron Rodgers,Packers

Not only has Aaron Rodgers exceeded the expectations of many football fans taking over for Brett Favre with his toughness and play, he has out played the expectations of most fantasy football drafters in 2008.  15 total TD’s at the midway point is way more than expected on a team that was expected to put the ball on Ryan Grant.  I took Rodgers in the 13th round of the experts league hosted by Junkyardjake.com, as a back up to that Tom Brady guy back when Favre was still talking about going back to Green Bay.  So with losing my first round pick before the end of the first quarter in game one, Rodgers has kept me competative.

RB: Clinton Portis,Redskins

Portis has been a solid rock of consistency up to this point.  We were told in the offseason that he would be a featured part of the new offense that Jim Zorn would be installing in Washington…we always hear that but it never seems to pan out like this.  He is not as big of a factor in the passing game as we thought he would be.  If that part of the game starts to click, watch out.  Barring the usual injury, Portis could be the top RB for 2008 in both the NFL and Fantasy Football.

RB: Reggie Bush, Saints

During the offseason I was testing different drafting theories at Fantasy Football Calculator.  I was laughed at and ridiculed for drafting Reggie Bush at the end of round two (LT in the first pick in RD 1 and Bush fell into the theory being tested).  Who would have thought that Bush would be at the top of most RB rankings that include PPR, and LT…well?  We knew he was a decent target there, but not top of the rankings material.  Bush has peaked for now as an injury will keep him out for some weeks.  He deserves his props up to the halfway point though.

WR: Greg Jennings, Packers

We knew Jennings was pretty good.  He was expected to take a little bit of a drop off when Brett Favre decided to retire…and then when Favre was traded.  Three 100 yard games already, only one under 84 yards.  The Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings hook up could be one we hear about for some time in Green Bay.

WR: Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals

Fitz has been a solid WR and has out played those guys that fell in front of him in the pre-draft fantasy football rankings like Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne and so on.  We are conditioned to think of the Cardinals as a bad team and that will cause many to shy away from a good fantasy football player.  The Cards are not doing so bad this year and Kurt Warner is still in the lineup.  Before it is over we could see Fitz as the Top Fantasy WR of 2008.

TE: Jason Witten, Cowboys

For those of you that are playing in leagues where the owners are living in the past and drafting TE’s like Gates and Gonzo while you picked up on Witten, good for you.  If you looked at any rankings before the season you would see Witten at the top of most of them for TE.  What was not expected was for him to be outscoring the rest of the TE field by the margin he is.  With Romo out Witten should still put up above average numbers compared to other TE’s, giving you a step up in those matchups against your opponant.

DT/ST: Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles Defense/Special Teams squad has been solid.  One game with over 200 yards passing, no 100 yard games allowed on the ground.  They have been sack machines (ask Big Ben), and are taking the ball away as well.  Not bad for a team that had an Average Draft Position of six rounds after the Defenses started coming off the board.

Individual Defensive Players (IDP)

LB: Patrick Willis, 49ers

In many IDP drafts this year we saw other LB’s go earlier than Willis…DeMeco Ryans, Jon Beason, David Harris.  The questions was whether or not Willis would keep up with what was a solid rookie campaign.  Well, whoever got Willis behind those other guys was one lucky drafter because he has not missed an IDP beat in 2008.  In fact, in one IDP league of mine he is a Top 5 fantasy performer, just head Clinton Portis and Reggie Bush.

DL: Terrell Suggs, Ravens

Okay, so there is an argument that Suggs is really a Linebacker.  But, as long as your league has him marked as a defensive lineman, that is where he is ranked.  Even with having that early bye week Suggs is tearing up the IDP D-Line stats.  His monster game against the Dolphins helped shoot him to the top.  DL players are not usually a priority on IDP teams because they don’t score as much…let’s say they are the TE.  But, just like with a stud TE, you have an advantage over your opponent in the matchups if you have a guy who is going to give you points.    Suggs is doing that this year.

DB: Eric Weddle,Chargers

Weddle has been a consistent tackling machine.  In leagues that put a focus on that rather than turnovers he is going to be toward the top of the defensive backs list.  Not a fancy name when it comes to fantasy football, the guy that has him in your league wither did his homework and has a solid team around him, or lucked out and you may be able to swing a trade.

***So that is the list of Team Stud.  We have a list of Team Stud and Team Dud each week so if that strikes your fantasy football reading fancy, Subscribe to our RSS Feed in a reader or book mark us at FootballJabber.com