Week Three Aftermath

Week three brought us some supreme performances and some clunkers as well. It also brought us one more season ending injury as Kenny Britt was taken out with a torn ACL. We spin it in a DLF staple series of articles – the weekly aftermath.

Week Three Fantasy MVP

Well, it looks like Wes Welker‘s knee seems to be healed. He torched the Bills for 16 catches, 217 yards and two touchdowns to win the MVP award for the week. Welker is locked in as the number one target in an offense that passes the ball all over the yard. Dynasty owners who were patient through his long recovery are being rewarded handsomely at this point.

The runner-up award has to go to Baltimore’s Torrey Smith who posted five catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns, while being started in around 0.2% of all leagues. Go figure.

Week One Fantasy LVP

James Starks was supposed to be taking over the role of lead dog in the Packers backfield, but turned in an awful performance with just five rushing yards on 11 carries, 9 receiving yards on three catches and a lost fumble. In many leagues, he actually posted negative points. Meanwhile, Ryan Grant posted 92 yards on 17 carries. All in all, this was a disaster for Starks.

Stay patient, though.

Lineup Fun

You probably won if your lineup looked like this…

QB Joe Flacco BAL = 389 passing yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions
RB Darren McFadden OAK  = 171 rushing yards, seven receiving yards, two touchdowns
RB Ryan Mathews SD  = 98 rushing yards, 51 receiving yards, two touchdowns
RB Fred Jackson BUF   = 74 rushing yards, 87 receiving yards, one touchdown
WR Wes Welker NE = 16 catches, 217 receiving yards, two touchdowns
WR Torrey Smith BAL = 5 catches, 152 yards, three touchdowns
WR Victor Cruz NYG = 3 catches, 110 yards, two touchdowns
TE Jermichael Finley = 7 catches, 85 yards, three touchdowns

You probably lost if your lineup looked like this…

QB Philip Rivers SD = 266 passing yards, n0 touchdowns, two INTs
RB Steven Jackson STL = 23 rushing yards
RB Reggie Bush MIA  = 24 rushing yards, 12 receiving yards, lost fumble
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis  = 16 rushing yards
WR Kenny Britt TEN = 3 catches, 18 receiving yards, one torn ACL
WR Santonio Holmes NYJ = 1 catch, 19 receiving yards
WR Steve Smith CAR  = 2 catches, 15 receiving yards
TE Jared Cook TEN  = 2 catches, 12 receiving yards

Gut Checks

I’d be worried if…

I own Kenny Britt in a dynasty league. The injury is bad, but the free time might be worse.

I have BenJarvus Green-Ellis in my dynasty league. The Law Firm had just 18 yards on ten carries, while rookie Stevan Ridley had 42 yards on just six.  There’s growing confidence in Ridley’s ability and BGE needs a good showing this week if he wants to keep holding off the rookie.

I own CJ Spiller in a dynasty league. It’s getting pretty ridiculous now. Two touches for Spiller for a total of -4 yards, while Fred Jackson had 17 touches for 161 yards and one touchdown. This is far from a timeshare.

I’m still holding out hope for Chad Ochocinco. He played 60 or the 72 snaps for New England this week and came up with just two catches for 28 yards. I always thought the league would be less entertaining when he was gone and his antics were done. Turns out it’s less entertaining with him still here.

I’m expecting RB1 numbers from a Panthers running back. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart just don’t get enough touches each week to merit much more than flex consideration at the moment.

I’m hoping for big numbers from Maurice Jones-Drew each week. While he looks fairly healthy, every team knows he’s the only thing Jacksonville has going for them on offense and he’s going to see a whole bunch of eight man fronts this year.

I own Frank Gore in a dynasty league. He signed his big contract, but he’s being outplayed by Kendall Hunter at the moment.

I’m hoping Chris Johnson is going to carry my fantasy team. Not only is he not running well, it looks like he’s not running hard. You can blame the holdout all you want, but he’s been in camp for nearly a month.

I expect anything but inconsistent performances from DeSean Jackson. He’s going to average around 20 yards a catch this season…and they’re all going to come in bunches.

I expect Michael Vick, Jay Cutler or Matt Ryan to survive the season. If the way these three have been thrown around thus far is any indication, it’s going to take a miracle for them not to get hurt with something worse than a bruised hand.

I’m relying on anything from the Denver running game. There’s no easy way to put this – Knowshon Moreno looks fragile and Willis McGahee looks old.

I expect Shonn Greene to emerge as anything more than a RB3. Greene has looked tentative and uninspired thus far this season and was outplayed by LaDainian Tomlinson this week. That pretty much says it all.

I have Mike Tolbert in my dynasty league.  Little by little, Ryan Mathews is taking over the backfield.

I was hoping Thomas Jones would re-emerge one more time for Kansas City with Jamaal Charles out. He posted just 31 yards on 14 carries this week and was severely outplayed by Dexter McCluster.

I expect another performance like that from Torrey Smith. The rookie was unbelievable this week, but temper your expectations. That being said, Lee Evans‘ value is tanking.

A Look Ahead to Hot Names on the Week Four Waiver Wire
Remember, we focus on the lesser names here who we haven’t mentioned much this season.

1. Lavelle Hawkins, WR TEN

With Kenny Britt out, the Titans need someone to step up. Damian Williams and Nate Washington are likely owned in your league, but Hawkins has a chance to emerge as well.

2. Curtis Painter, QB IND

It’s not like he’s not going to have players to throw to if he takes over and he does know the offense better than Kerry Collins.

3. Alfonso Smith, RB ARI

Chris Wells should be back this week, but Smith looked markedly better than Chester Taylor this week. If Wells was to miss any more time, Smith is worth a look.

4. Armond Smith, RB CLE

Montario Hardesty did a decent job taking over for Peyton Hillis this week, but Smith is still intriguing. With Hillis wearing down and Hardesty’s history of injury, Smith is worthy of a stash in a deep dynasty league.