Fantasy Football's Week 14 IDP's Start/Sit

By Sean Haugh

I am a dog person and I married a cat person. When my sweetie moved in, she brought six of them with her.

Since we are both suckers for any stray on our porch, at one point the cat population rose to 10, but now is down to eight. Having that number back into single digits means I am no longer officially crazy.

From this experience, I concluded that people who only own one cat are missing out on most of the fun. You need to have at least three interacting with each other to experience the full joy of all their cat like behavior. Especially if you’re up at 2 AM most nights like I am.

This is the first year I’ve had five fantasy football teams, and just like the cats my darling brought into my life, now I don’t know how I lived without them all. Next year, I’m thinking seven.

One of the criticisms of fantasy football, and don’t any of you try to tell me it isn’t true, is that people end up only watching their own players and stop simply enjoying the game for what it is.

Having multiple teams allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds. You end up starting everybody and facing everybody every week, or so it seems. If you have Mario Williams in one league and face him in two others, what do you do?

There are two choices. You could take the fantasy-centric perspective to a tortured extreme. “OK, Mario, I just need you to score just one sack and then stop. Really, you can stop NOW darn it!”

Or, you can transcend it all and just enjoy the show, tally up your wins and shrug off your losses, and be glad you are alive to see guys like Mario Williams play this great game of football.

Another advantage is you can play in all different kinds of formats. I’m reading about fantasy playoffs starting this week for some, so if your offseason has already begun, you have my condolences.

Two of my leagues have 14-week seasons, including the all-important Maniaxs Dynasty league, where I have been stinking it up the last couple of weeks but am still all but assured of limping into the playoffs.

(I have to lose and watch the next team in line outscore mine by 280 points, but they way my luck has been going lately, I can imagine it happening.)

The other three have 17-week seasons with no playoffs. That sounded weird at first, but in practice, it has the same excitement as a playoff run at season’s end, except everybody still gets to keep playing. Nice.

Here at the Maniaxs, we are already preparing for our offseason content. I refuse to allow a silly fact like the season only lasting four months deter my enjoyment of this great game all year. Stick around and by the time next season arrives, you’ll be ready, able, and willing to contend for multiple championships yourself.

I am going to follow the trend of my peers and whittle down my calls for the next four weeks to only a few Starts, which I hope, will help you keep winning until you bring home the hardware.
 
But first, I owe my faithful readers a bit of an apology.

Six weeks ago, I panicked and advised people to bail out immediately on everyone caught up in the Starcaps Scandal. My prediction that these suspensions would occur earlier rather than later turned out to be just the opposite of the truth.

In hindsight, I can say I was mostly right, but for the wrong reason. I did begrudgingly admit that Charles Grant and Will Smith might be able to be worth hanging onto, maybe. If you stuck by Smith, then you did very well the last three weeks. Grant owners at least have to stash him on IR for next year.

I bragged about how I had rushed to the waiver wire to cash in Kevin Williams for Gaines Adams. Short term, that wasn’t such a hot move for me. Williams had three double-digit weeks since then, while Adams only had one. Barring an injury or a court injunction, I can honestly tell myself Adams will at least be playing the next four weeks and is a great player to have for 2009. Still no regrets there.

The lesson here, like most other lessons of fantasy football, is patience. Even if some guy who has a column tells you to panic, don’t.

Calmly assess the situation and don’t be afraid to wait sometimes to make your move.

Even in the case of Plaxico Burress, sure, he’s done for the year and teetering on the edge of football oblivion. I agree with most pundits that there’s no way the Giants will want him any more. But someone will. Burress has enough talent that he may well be a fantasy factor again, sooner than you might think.

If you doubt me, then let me introduce you to an owner who kept the faith with Pacman Jones. Today, that person has a quality DB who comes with bonus return yardage and a couple sweet matchups for his position in the next three weeks.

Patience has its rewards.

No Sits this week. Just going for the gold with some players who may be on your bench or your waiver wire. We could take care of that in our comment section.

Defensive Linemen to Start

Detroit gets the best DL matchup this week hosting the Vikings. Their line is in flux, with Jared DeVries on IR and Dewayne White still uncertain to return this week. The Lions have tried a number of different combinations to make do, with Corey Smith and rookie Cliff Avril looking the best in relief.

I am hoping I’ll be able to use White this week myself, but check the reports right up until Sunday morning to be sure if you’re with me here.

Avril won’t get the start, but he will see the field plenty. How can you not love a rookie whose first three sacks all resulted in fumbles? Definitely start Avril, and if White doesn’t play or is limited, start Corey Smith as well.

Who has the second best DL matchup on paper this week? None other than the Vikings visiting the Lions. If you love the Big Uglies causing chaos – and don’t we all? – This is the game for you.

Don’t worry about the loss of Pat and Kevin Williams; this is by no means the week to sit Jared Allen. Start Ray Edwards as well. Edwards was on fire against the Bears in Week 13 and will get even hotter this week.

Playing on Thursday night, San Diego’s DT Jamal Williams has been tearing it up since his bye week. Oakland is a much tougher matchup today than they were when these teams last met in Week Four, but Williams has improved even more since then.

That game was Williams’ only double-digit performance before the bye. This game will be his fourth one since the bye.

Continue reading ...