Quarterbacks
Tim Tebow nearly put up a goose egg in his starting performance but pulled a rabbit out of that helmet of his in the closing minutes to have an elite fantasy QB day. This week he plays the Lions. One thing to remember in Tebow matchups is that even though a team might be good against the pass(like the Lions) it is almost equally important how that team does against the run(Lions are bad in this department). Tebow has an unproven high ceiling target in Demaryius Thomas. I believe both Tebow and Thomas will have a good fantasy 2011, if they stay healthy. TE Daniel Fells should have a bump up in production as well, not enough to make him a TE1 though. Tebow should be able to get it done against the Lions in week 8. Christian Ponder had a thumbs up performance against Green Bay like I expected. He made a couple of bad throws but should exceptional pocket awareness and had good touch on this throws. It doesn’t hurt that he can run the ball as well. I really like Ponder’s talent and think he will be a good one in this league. His receivers(Harvin, Jenkins, Shiancoe) have talent but have had trouble staying healthy. Regardless, Ponder should stay relevant as at least a QB2 this year and is a great speculative dynasty league pickup because of his high upside. Bottom line, I expect him to have a solid QB2 day against the Panthers. John Beck does not project to be a great QB in the NFL but he should be able to put up some QB1 type days in some match-ups. Week 8 is one of those weeks against Buffalo. Buffalo is giving up 284+ passing yards on average. Beck is not the second coming of Joe Theismann but he should be able to mimic his production for at least week 8. Colt McCoy is a QB sleeper I had in pre-season only because of the West Coast system that was being implemented by the Browns. He has a tough matchup against the 49ers this week and I don’t expect the standard 200+ passing yards and 1.5 TDs I usually expect from McCoy. McCoy finally seems to have a good target in Greg Little but still has a lot to do to become a QB1. I didn’t pick McCoy as a sleeper fantasy starter but as a spot starter and he can still be that, he plays a terrible Rams defense in week 10. Bottom line, I expect McCoy to have a bad game against the 49ers but should be good for a couple more select spot starts. Andy Dalton continues to look average to above average. Going against Seattle he has a somewhat favorable matchup, the Seahawks are giving up 250 passing yards a game. Dalton has good receiving talent(Green, Gresham, Simpson) so it’s hard not to like him as a backup/spot starter for 2011. Dalton looks like a low-end QB1 or high end QB2 this week.
Running Backs
Christopher Ivory is finally back in the lineup for the Saints. The forgotten man in the crowded Saints backfield should be able to contribute if given the chance and is healthy. His 2010 5.2 YPC in his rookie season should be enough to help fantasy leaguers jog their memory of how good he can be. It’s tough to project how good he will be in 2011 but I suspect his will again be at least somewhat fantasy relevant this year. Reggie Bush is again on fantasy radars with Daniel Thomas out for week 8. Bush should be considered nothing more than an emergency pickup for week 8 with more upside in PPR leagues. Bush does not project well for the rest of 2011 but has a chance of putting up a decent day in week 8. Ryan Torain and Roy Helu are battling it out for primary back duties in Washington. Your guess is as good as mine with mind games Shanahan running the show. You might as well flip a coin in this one. Still, Washington RBs project well when given a start and both Torain and Helu have good talent. Both players should be owned in almost all leagues because of their high potential capability, even if it comes with the low ceiling possibility as well. C.J. Spiller is again a blip on the fantasy radar as he lined up at WR and had a respectable 5-39-0 day in week 7. If you’re desperate or in a PPR league, Spiller is not a half bad pickup at this point. Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams split carries in week 8 with 9 carries each. Jahvid Best has had a history of concussion problems and his situation is nothing to take lightly. The Detroit backfield is something to closely monitor if you’re on the prowl for RB help, make sure to pounce on either Morris or Williams should they grab a hold of the primary back duties. Knowshon Moreno looks to be the man for week 8 for Denver, McGahee has a broken hand and may miss a game or three. Moreno has a good matchup this week but look for Tebow to vulture away running TDs and even yards away from whatever Denver RB is starting.
Bernard Scott gets one game as the starting Bengals back with Cedric Benson serving a 1-game suspenion. Their opponent(Seattle) is giving up 100+ rushing yards a game. Scott isn’t as talented as Benson but should be able to put up some stats, he is a RB2/Flex play for this week only. Jackie Battle is putting up good numbers when he has been given the ball, he has a 5.2 YPC this year. Still, he is not being given goal-line touches and that is a concern. Also, he has given nearly nothing to PPR owners, only registering a 4-23-0 line for 2011. Regardless, Battle projects well this week against a San Diego team giving up 121.7 Rushing YPG, even if McCluster has been vulturing away carries. Battle has enough talent to eventually be even a RB1 if given the ball enough and if he stays healthy, those are big if’s though.
Good luck in week 8 all you fantasy leaguers!