Fantasy Football's Real and Surreal of Week Eight

I’m going to try and pop out an NBA preview column tonight, so I’m going to get straight to the games. The stadium factors will probably be done tomorrow.

San Diego-New Orleans

Drew Brees: Brees is now on pace for more than 5,100 passing yards after his 339-yard performance against his former team, and he now has almost two touchdowns per game. If you throw out his two games where he had under 240 yards, this is his per-game stat line: 28-of-36, 350 yards, with a total of 14 touchdowns and four INTs (in six games). One word: Insane. He’s the top QB in fantasy right now.

LaDainian Tomlinson: Hello, world. The top pick in most drafts had 170 total yards, the most he’s had all year by more than 50. It was also tied for his highest fantasy point output all year. With Kansas City (twice), Oakland, and Indianapolis on the schedule in the next five weeks (and Denver in Week 17 if you still play then), he’s a top-three running back from here on out.

Phillip Rivers: Hello, London. With a 300-yard, three-touchdown game last week, Rivers now has over 60 fantasy points in the last three weeks. He’s the No. 2 quarterback on the year, behind only the aforementioned Brees. He is a top-five QB for the rest of the year with his schedule (see above).

Atlanta-Philadelphia

Roddy White: He’s a beast. The man with an average draft position of 66.6 now has over 100 yards and a touchdown in all but one of his last five games. And in the game in which he didn’t achieve those stats, he had seven catches for 90 yards. A top-five receiver the rest of the way; you want him on your team.

Brian Westbrook: His 167 rushing yards were the highest of his career, and he’s averaged over 120 total yards in his four games this year (not including the week against the Steelers where he was injured early). Westbrook also has eight total touchdowns in those four games. With Seattle, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Arizona still left on the schedule, I would put him only behind Clinton Portis and maybe L.T. for the rest of the year.

Michael Turner: Check out his splits against good and bad run defenses: Averaged 150 yards and two scores against the Chiefs, Lions, and Packers (average rank against opposing RBs: seventh-worst); and 50 yards against the Bucs, Panthers, Bears, and Eagles (avg. rank of ninth-best).

He plays the Raiders and Broncos in two of the next three weeks (avg. rank of fourth-worst; his other game is against the Saints, who are in the middle in that stat), so you don’t want to trade him.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of this week’s stories:

Kevin Walter: I doubt he keeps up his 70-yard, two-touchdown performance, but with an average of 10.5 fantasy points per game with Matt Schaub as QB, I wouldn’t be too wary of him. He’ll probably average those 70 yards for the rest of the year.

Steve Slaton: Don’t worry. He’s averaging 90 total yards and a touchdown since week three, so this game is a fluke. Buy low if possible.

Donnie Avery: This is what I wrote in last week’s Real and Surreal: “Sure, he had 60 yards and a touchdown. But he also had a 21-yard touchdown catch nullified due to a penalty. Add in that catch, and Avery has averaged 75 total yards and a score in his past three games. His receptions have gone up each of the past two weeks, and he has an easy schedule (see above) in the next couple of games. If he’s available on your waiver wire, snatch him up right now.” All of that is still true, except one: change “75 total yards” to 90.

Chad Pennington: He has 48 fantasy points in the last three weeks; he’s probably available on your waiver wire. Get him quickly.

Ted Ginn Jr.: It’s an anomaly. Don’t buy into it. He was averaging 30 yards per game in his first six games with nary a catch over 20 yards. He had a 46-yarder and a 64-yarder this past week, plus a 17- and 19-yarder. He showed his speed, but he’s just another one of those I-hope-he-gets-a-long-catch-this-week guys.