Fantasy Nation Week 15

[eagle eye]

What a weird weekend in was last weekend. Detroit melting down in a snow storm allowing the Eagles' LeSean McCoy to run roughshod over them while Matthew Stafford and company to be largely ineffective against the Eagles D. The Brown had their game with New England won until Tom Brady worked his magic and eeked out a win that should not have been. The Ravens prevailed over the Vikings despite the lead changing 5 time in the last 1:28 of the game when 5 TDs were scored. There was a second loss in 3 weeks to the Jacksonville Jaguars by the Texans that cost Gary Kubiak his job and there was the weekly beat down of the Redskins this time by the Chiefs after which Redskins head coach said he was thinking of quitting his job at the end of LAST year. Never a dull moment in the NFL!

 

From a fantasy standpoint there were some injuries that will affect the fantasy landscape.

 

Adrian Peterson left the game with Baltimore in the 2nd quarter with what was feared was a knee injury. The way AP was writhing on the ground it looked like his knee was totally blown. After an MRI on Monday it was revealed that he just has a foot injury. His status this week is questionable.

 

Rob Gronkowski is done for the season after he tore his ACL and MCL as well as suffering a slight concussion in the Patriots game vs the Browns.

 

Wes Welker is out of this week's Thursday night game against San Diego due to a concussion suffered against the Titans. It's Welker's second concussion in the last month.

 

Christian Ponder has been cleared to play in Week 15 after missing last week due to a concussion he received in Week 13. Matt Cassel has been starting and he may remain the starter. If you're in your fantasy league's playoffs and you're worried about this situation then you've got major issues.

 

Bengals CB Terrance Newman suffered a sprained MCL and will miss this week's game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

 

Reggie Bush is "day to day" after aggravating his calf injury in pre-game warm ups Sunday. Joique Bell has carried the load very well and probably should be the play even if Bush was healthy.

 

Rashad Jennings passed his concussion test and will be ready to go this week. Jenning missed the game against the Jets this past Sunday.

 

Seahawks linebacker K J Wright broke a bone in his foot against the 49ers last Sunday and will miss the rest of the regular season and possibly the playoffs.

 

The Giants have put Brandon Jacobs on IR because of a knee injury that has kept him out of the last two games. It's much ado about nothing though since Andre Brown and Payton Hillis have been carrying the rock for the G-men anyway.

 

[eagle eye]

Unless you're been under a rock or Christmas shopping this week you know that RGIII is done for the 2013 season and Curt Cousins is in. This is bad if you have been riding RGIII this year but don't despair because Cousins has performed pretty well in his limited starts. Not only that but the Redskins play an Atlanta team that isn't very good so prospects for Cousins are pretty good. Especially since the game will be played in the Georgia Dome and not on a slick, snowy field in the DC area. Cousins is likely going to be a pretty decent sleeper pick for playoff run. As a matter of fact, he may be a better choice than RGIII who has been struggling a lot lately.

 

Jay Cutler will be back in the Bears lineup this week against the Browns in Cleveland. Cutler may be a little rusty but it will cause not problems for the Bears in the locker room despite how well Josh McCown has played he has said he fully expects Cutler to resume his starting role when he's healthy. In truth, Cutler was having a pretty good year before his groin and ankle injuries. This could be another nice pickup for fantasy owners but beware, unlike the Cousins situation, Cleveland is not in a dome and the weather is surely going to be cold with a chance of snow.

 

Adrian Peterson has a foot injury. That's way better than an ACL knee injury or a lisfranc foot injury but it still makes him questionable for the Vikings this Sunday against the Eagles. It would be nice if Toby Gerhart could play but he's questionable too. That's bad because Dallas could sure use the help they would get with a Vikings victory. Luckily, this game will be played in a dome in Minneapolis instead of frigid Philly but will it be enough to beat the red hot Eagles? Probably not. Stick with the usual suspects from Philly in this game.

 

 

[eagle eye]

Here's the latest on the injury front.

 

> Reggie Bush returned to practice Friday and is expected to play Monday night vs Baltimore.

 

> Sean Lee is out of the game vs Green Bay.

 

> Eddie Lacy is slated to play against Dallas in a good RB matchup.

 

> Aaron Dobson's status for New England's game against Miami is in doubt. Keep a close eye on the pregame injury reports if you are counting on Dobson. It's a good bet Tom Brady wants him to play to help relieve the loss of Gronk.

 

> NFL.com is reporting that Maurice Jones-Drew is doubtful against the Bills. If he's a no-go Jordan Todman will get the start. This could be a nice sleeper pick since Buffalo is not good defending the run and Jacksonville is on a roll. Also Cecil Shorts will be a game time decision as he is recovering from a groin injury.

 

> The Law Firm missed Bengals practice earlier in the week due to illness but he was back to work Friday and is expected to play against the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. Division game in cold weather. A tailor made game for Green-Ellis expecially since he gets most of the red zone reps.

 

> Willis McGahee will miss the Browns game against the Bears with the aftermath of the concussion he suffered against the Patriots last week. The Browns will feature an all UT backfield with Chris Ogbonaya and Fozzy Whitiker. A good matchup here with the Bears defense absolutely terrible against the run. Heck even the Cowboys gashed the Bears run D.

 

> Adrian Peterson is still being listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Eagles. This is another one to keep an eye on the pregame injury lists as well as AP's backup Toby Gerhart who injured his hamstring last week. According to Vikings.com AP practiced Friday and looked pretty good. Head coach Leslie Frazier said that he would see how both his RB's looked on Saturday (today) before making a decision. If neither Peterson or Gerhart have to sit then 3rd stringer and special teams standout Matt Asiata, a 2nd year man from Utah, will get a bulk of the work. The Vikings will also have to do without TE John Carlson

[eagle eye]

Oh yeah, I have completely forgotten to mention that Seattle QB Russell Wilson was drafted in the Rule 5 MLB draft this past week by none other than the Texas Rangers! Wilson has actually been drafted three times as a baseball player. In 2007 Wilson was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles but he declined to play opting to go to college instead. In 2010 he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and he actually played two seasons in their minor league system. However, after he led Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl in 2012 he informed the Rockies he was trading in his baseball spikes for football cleats permanently to pursue a career in football.

 

Wilson played 2nd base as baseball player in his two minor league seasons he hit .229 never advancing above A ball. If Texas keeps Wilson he will have to remain on the Rangers major league roster for the entire 2014 season or he will go back to the Rockies. It may not be beyond the realm of possibility that Wilson could opt to play both football and baseball but his prospects to start in baseball are very limited. This would include a good bit of rust from being out of baseball for the past two years and to the fact that Texas let a nice player go in Ian Kinsler so they could make a spot for uber prospect Elvis Andrus. Just a little fun thinking about the possibility of the first two way player since Deion Sanders.