Sunday Morning Huddle: Week Six

Ken Kelly

Let’s face it, there’s an enormous amount of information out there this morning. We’re not going to waste your time by repeating the news and notes about who’s in or out this week, since that’s really not what you visit us for. We’re also not going to do another article on starts or sits this week – we already have the personalized lineup advice for you on the premium content. Again, there are 100 places you can go for that, so we do something different on Sundays for our Premium Content subscribers every year.

The Sunday Morning Huddle goes through each game and states what we’re looking to see from a dynasty perspective. We’ll pick one player from each team who we have our eye on and describe why their weekend performance is a key one for them in relation to their dynasty value.

Early Games

schaubGreen Bay at Baltimore

For the Packers, it seems as if James Jones is emerging as a consistent threat in reality and fantasy. After his no catch clunker in week one, he’s been a huge part of the offense moving forward and has posted a 19/339/2 line in his last three games. If Jones can remain consistently productive, he’s going to be a key player in the bye weeks.

The Ravens, it’s time for Joe Flacco to start earning that money. So far this season, the $120 million man has a total of five touchdown passes and ten turnovers. There’s a lot of pressure that goes along with a contract like that and Flacco hasn’t come close to looking like a franchise quarterback so far. You just can’t live off a Super Bowl win forever.

Cincinnati at Buffalo

It’s becoming crystal clear that AJ Green is a stud and Andy Dalton isn’t. The dynasty value of both players really depend on the other doing well (especially Green). Let’s see if the Red Rifle can start putting together some good games so we can start leaning on Green even more. At this point, it’s getting worrisome.

For the Bills, I’m actually excited to see what Thad Lewis can do. Expectations should be low, but there’s no doubting his athletic ability. Buffalo is claiming they’re going to open the whole playbook (by that we assume using CJ Spiller improperly and calling plays that don’t make sense), so we should get a good shot at seeing what Lewis can do even though he was on the practice squad at this time last week.

Detroit at Cleveland

We’re not sure if Calvin Johnson will play quite yet, but we do know the Lions are saying they want Ryan Broyles more involved. Dynasty owners who held on to Broyles despite his second torn ACL have wanted to see more this season, whether that’s fair or not. Right now, Broyles has been a big disappointment. Today is a big day for his dynasty value as we may finally see the training wheels come off – hopefully his wheels stay on.

St. Louis at Houston

This one is easy.

Zac Stacy finally gave the running game of the Rams a much needed spark last week. Was it a fluke or a sign of things to come? Simply put, this may be the biggest story line of the day in dynasty leagues.

For the Texans, this could be the last stand for Matt Schaub. Another “pick six” is going to send him to the bench and send the Texans looking for a new franchise quarterback. If he doesn’t play well today, all bets are off. With as many as nine quarterbacks having first round grades this year, the Texans could very well find themselves in the market.

Oakland at Kansas City

There’s a lot of buzz about Terrelle Pryor and justifiably so. However, Denarius Moore is really started to play well alongside him. Moore has posted a 25/276/2 line over his past three games and is starting to look like a go-to receiver for the Raiders. Can the unlikely dynamic duo keep this up against a stiff Kansas City defense?

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Dwayne Bowe, reports are coming out now claiming he’s lost a step. While that doesn’t seem to make sense, neither does the fact Bowe seems to be an afterthought in the Kansas City offense. We can blame noodle armed Alex Smith all we want, but there’s no reason Donnie Avery should look better (or produce more) than Bowe. Let’s see if he takes a step forward today.

Carolina at Minnesota

All of a sudden, we’re seeing the “bad” Cam Newton again. After last week’s dreadful performance, Newton will look to get back on track against the Vikings. Newton is currently sporting his lowest quarterback rating of his career and his just seven total touchdowns and six turnovers in four games this year, It’s time for Superman for grab his cape because he’s been looking more like “Cam Kent” at the moment.

The Vikings are going to play the hot hand at quarterback here soon (if anyone’s performance can actually justify being classified as such) and Matt Cassel will get the first shot at attempting to claim the job for the rest of the season. We have our doubts as this is really all about just how fast the Vikings can justify getting Josh Freeman into a football game.

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay

For the Eagles, Nick Foles should get the start today in place of the injured Michael Vick. Foles played pretty well last week and can take advantage of a huge opportunity today. Let’s just hope he doesn’t buy into the DeSean Jackson talk and start trying to force the ball to D-Jax when he’s being covered by Darrelle Revis.

As for the Bucs, this will be our second chance to see Mike Glennon – let’s hope it’s better than the first.

Pittsburgh at NY Jets

The Steelers have been rumored to be scouting Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. While that’s a bit surprising, it does hammer home the fact the Steelers are really just not very good. If this team goes into full rebuilding mode, it’s conceivable they take a quarterback to groom under Ben Roethlisberger. For Big Ben, a few vintage performance would go a long way in making the Steelers look in a different direction come draft time.

Where did that performance from Jets quarterback Geno Smith come from? The human turnover was lights out on Monday night as he led the Jets to an improbably road win at Atlanta. While that could very well go down as his best game all season, it’s going to be fun to see if Smith has actually generated some confidence and turned the rookie corner a bit.

Late Games

Jacksonville at Denver

Garbage time points count the same in fantasy football and that’s pretty much what the season is compiled of for the Jaguars. The Jags did get a nice boost from the return of Justin Blackmon last week. The knucklehead factor is evident with Blackmon, but so is the talent. He’s a sneaky WR2/3 with tremendous upside, even on the putrid Jags squad.

For the Broncos, everyone will score this week, including Julius Thomas, Peyton Manning, Knowshon Moreno, Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Montee Ball, Andre Caldwell, Joel Dreessen, Matt Prater and Brock Osweiler. John Elway may even make an appearance. Move along.  There’s nothing to be gained here.

Tennessee at Seattle

I remember when I was 28 and faster than Chris Johnson. ‘Nuff said.

The focus for the Seahawks today is squarely on Russell Wilson. He’s leading them to wins, but not putting up the type of fantasy points we all expected.  A home date with the Titans and Ryan Fitzpatrick should be just what the Doctor ordered after a frustrating loss to the Colts last week.

New Orleans at New England

In what should be the game of the day today, we’re going to keep our eyes on Jimmy Graham, who looks to be this year’s fantasy MVP so far. With 37 catches, 593 yards and six touchdowns already, you wouldn’t think he could get any better. Problem is, he might be able to.

The Patriots need someone to step up in their receiving corps, be it Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson, or anyone else. We’re not even going to focus on one player here.  Someone. Just someone. Please give Tom Brady some help!

Arizona at San Francisco

Lost in the Cardinals good start has been the uninspiring play of Carson Palmer. He looks like a shell of himself (and that’s even unfair to shells everywhere) as he’s thrown five touchdown passes and turned the ball over 11 times already this season. Palmer is struggling in this offense and things need to change quickly.

For the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick is squarely in the crosshairs today. After posting a monster opening day, he’s been a very disappointing fantasy quarterback so far. In fact, he had more points in his first outing than all his other combined in many leagues this season. If you’re counting on Kaep to be your QB1 going forward, it’s time for him to step up.

Sunday Night Football

Washington at Dallas

Sure, we need to see more from Robert Griffin III, but we also need to a boost from Alfred Morris. While his yards per carry average (5.3) has been great, he still only has 56 attempts in four games – that’s simply not good enough. If the defense of Washington continues to be this bad, we’re going to see a lot of Roy Helu as the Redskins try to catch up every week. This is no time to panic if you own Morris, but it sure would be great to see Washington commit to getting him the football tonight.

In Dallas, Miles Austin is set to return. However, Terrance Williams has been excellent in his place. Let’s see just how the snaps are divided between these two moving forward and starting with tonight.

Monday Night Football

Indianapolis at San Diego

The Colts come off a big home win against Seattle last week and look top build on their hot start with a win against the Chargers. For dynasty owners, this is all about Trent Richardson who has seen the change of scenery still fail to solve his running woes. A dominant performance from T-Rich would go a long way in quieting those who are believing he’s simply a “volume runner.”

For the Chargers, it’s simple. Can the fountain of youth found by Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates over the Summer continue to make them look 25? If so, I’m totally moving to San Diego.

ken kelly