(written before Monday Night Football’s Monday night game – Rams at Seahawks)
Fantasy Relevance
Tim Tebow does it yet again, saving his best for the 4th quarter. While the Broncos outplayed the Bears for most of the game, Tebow’s receivers let him down with many dropped passes. When it mattered most, almost like clockwork with the Tebow led Broncos, the Broncos won yet again. Tebow did enough to keep him in that low end QB1 category among fantasy relevant QBs, in most leagues. I see Tebow making good throws and some bad ones. Heading to the fantasy playoffs he has some great matchups – Week 15 against the Patiots, Week 16 Bills, and Week 17 Chiefs. It appears the Broncos and John Fox are showing more trust in Tebow as a passer and with that you will see gradually improving fantasy numbers, especially going into the 2012 season. Demaryius Thomas (only owned in 14% of Yahoo Leagues) had another nice line of 7-78-1, further cementing my idea that he is better suited than Decker as the Bronco’s primary receiver. Remember, the Broncos play the Patriots next week. While it’s hard to imagine the Broncos will be able to pull off another win against an elite team in the Patriots it is easy to see both Tebow and Thomas having good fantasy days. Eric Decker only managed a 3-33-0, but should be better in the remaining 3 games the Broncos have. Decker should be a bench player at best at this point until we see the Broncos give Tebow more of a free reign to throw. Marion Barber had a very good fantasy day with a 27-108-1-1, even if he made some terrible mistakes that arguably cost his team the game. Barber proves to be more than a capable replacement in Forte’s absence and should be considered a RB2/borderline RB1 at this point.
Believe it or not there were other games people were watching! Rob Gronkowski just set the new NFL season record for TDs by a Tight End, catching two more for a total of 16 on the year if you count his one rushing TD he had. ‘Gronk’ is making the strong case to be a top 2 round player in fantasy for next year, barring a setback. At this point he is clearly more valuable than any other WR or TE, he seperates himself from almost all other TEs(save maybe Jimmy Graham) that he is a top-20 value fantasy player in most leagues right now. In 2012, I believe the Patriots may add a big play receiver, perhaps through the draft. This may change the value of Gronk and Wes Welker at that point. Bottom line it always gets tough to speculate next year about a player but Gronk’s value looks more brighter than just about any other WR and TE.
Jake Locker put up some good numbers in his week 14 relief of Matt Hasselbeck. Locker had a 13-29-282-1-0 passing line with a rushing line of 6-36-1. There is no definitive word who will be starting in week 15 but if Locker does then it’s one game to keep tabs on, especially for dynasty leaguers. Locker was the 8th overall pick in the 2011 draft and showed some reason why in week 14. Nate Washington had a big day with Locker at the helm, posting 6-130-1. In week 15 the Titans get a nice matchup against the Colts. Washington becomes noticeably more relevant with Locker at the helm as he looks to be a favorite target of his. Week 15 will be important for Locker’s value going forward the rest of this year and for 2012.
DeMarco Murray is out for the year and that opens the door again for Felix Jones (60% Yahoo! owned) to shine. Jones has always been a capable RB who was projected as a sleeper by many going into this year. Bottom line, Jones should be an upper half ranked(16th or higher among 32 teams) RB for the final three games.
As always, keep looking on that waiver wire in your leagues for pickups. This is the time of the year you’ll see players available that you normally wouldn’t see because teams are focusing on either the playoffs or next year. Good luck this week!