Ever since I said the Bears were the best team in fantasy football, Chicago has gone (0-3) and the good fantasy football performances have been few and far between. Marshall and Jeffery pale in comparison to Cobb and Nelson and I’m afraid Forte’s best fantasy days may be behind him. Aside from the Bears falling apart, there are a few things to note from this week’s Fantasy Football Week 10 Recap.
Quarterbacks:
After consecutive atop the weekly leader board, Ben Roethlisberger finished with 17.15 fantasy points in Week 10, 13th among quarterbacks.
Roethlisberger’s worst game at home: 19.55 fantasy points
Roethlisberger’s best game on the road: 17.90 fantasy points
A porous Jets defense, 12 passing touchdowns in two weeks, and still Big Ben couldn’t reprise his performance away from Heinz Field. He’s a must-start at home in Weeks 13 (New Orleans) and 16 (Kansas City), but on-the-road in Weeks 11 (at Tennessee), 14 (at Cincinnati), and 15 (at Atlanta) I would look to start a more reliable quarterback.
Russell Wilson: with more pressure on him than ever before, it has become clear that the Percy Harvin Trade did little to Wilson’s fantasy stock. He remains a top quarterback for the rest of the season.
Before Percy Harvin Trade: 5 games, 195.6 passing yard/game, 1.6 passing touchdowns/game, 0.4 interceptions/game; 44.2 rushing yard/game, 0.4 touchdowns/game
After Percy Harvin Trade: 4 games, 215.75 passing yards/game, 1.333 passing touchdowns/game, 0.75 interceptions/game; 69.75 rushing yards/game, 0.5 rushing touchdowns/game
With a combined 11 touchdown passes in Week 10, both Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers finished with more than 30 fantasy points for the third time this season (second most). Only Andrew Luck has more 30+ point games (five) as these three have established themselves as the elite fantasy football quarterbacks.
Running Backs:
The scoring leaders at the running back position are as follows: DeMarco Murray, Marshawn Lynch, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, Le’Veon Bell, and Justin Forsett. Easily the best fantasy football free-agent signing of 2014, since Week 4 Forsett has rattled off six double digit fantasy games in his past seven. The one single digit game was a 95 yard rushing yard performance against the Falcons. He is clearly a RB1 heading into playoffs.
Leading the league in carries for the third straight week, Mark Ingram rushed for 120 yards on Sunday against an always tough San Francisco 49ers defense. With match ups against the Bengals, Panthers, Bears, and Falcons coming up, Ingram may very well lead all running backs in fantasy points the rest of the way.
After quarterbacking for the Blue and Gold, Denard Robinson has burst onto the fantasy football scene in 2014, scoring the fourth most fantasy points among running backs since Week 7. In that span Robinson has scored four touchdowns and remains a solid option at either running back or receiver for the rest of the season.
Wide Receivers:
Prior to 2014, Emmanuel Sanders’ best career season was 67 receptions for 740 yards and six touchdowns. In his last four games the Broncos wideout has 27 receptions for 379 yards and six touchdowns. Clearly feeling the effects of Peyton Manning, Sanders has become a fantasy football star after a mediocre career in Pittsburgh.
In five games this season Torrey Smith has scored double digit fantasy points. In the other five games he finished with less than 5.00 fantasy points. An obvious boom-or-bust pick for the rest of 2014, he has finished in the double digits in five of his last seven games, although in the other two he totaled 3.80 fantasy points. Without much to predict whether Torrey Smith will show up in any given week, he remains a sketchy start for the playoffs.
Of the receivers with eight or more touchdown catches this season (Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Jeremy Maclin, Dez Bryant, and Antonio Brown) only two are over 6 feet tall (Nelson and Bryant), a surprising revelation given the NFL’s inclination for taller receivers. In fact, a receiver under 6′ feet tall hasn’t finished in the top five in touchdown reception since 2011 (Wes Welker). Perhaps height isn’t as valuable at the wideout position as it use to be.