What The F*** Were You Thinking?

Alright Gusto, so I’m going to switch it up a bit to start off this week’s “What The F*** Were You Thinking” debate. In general, the guys we debate are those in which we have a difference of at least 7 spots. Well, for QB’s this week, you don’t have to defend your terrible rankings because there are none to debate! With the exception of McNabb and Manning, our rankings didn’t differ by more than 3 spots for every guy. In both cases I had them higher, but since we were only off by 5 spots, and chances are, both guys are being started in just about every league in which they are owned, I’m not going to waste my time on either one of them this week. Nice work…

Man, this is going to be a boring f’n column to read this week! I just finished working on RB’s, and only 6 of them differ by more than 5 spots. I’m going to omit Priest Holmes, since neither one of us has any idea what he has left in the tank. I had him 9 spots higher than you, but only because he’s playing Denver. I tried to find stats on the best season by a 34 year old RB, but was unable to…

How could you have MJD just outside the top 15? Tennessee is only allowing 66 yards per game on the ground, and with Taylor likely to get at least 9-10 carries, I don’t see Drew getting more than 40-50 yards this week… I also thought you had Chatman too high as well; with Buffalo controlling the clock with Lynch rushing the ball all game, Chatman isn’t going to get enough carries to be nothing more than a high-end #3 in 12 team leagues this week. And after starting off the season poorly, the Bills rush defense has allowed an average of less than 80 yards per game in their last 5, along with only 2 rushing TD’s…

I might have MJD slightly higher than I should, but I’m not in love with any of the guys ranked around him. Tennessee does have a very good defensive line, but I see the JAX-TEN game being one with lots of carries for running backs on both teams. And MJD is always a threat to pop a big run for a touchdown. I’m thinking about 85 yards from scrimmage with the strong possibility of a touchdown.

Buffalo’s rush defense has been better lately, but it’s nothing special. Chatman is a decent player, he looked good against the Giants in bad weather, and Miami uses its RB’s on a lot of screen passes. I can see Chatman finishing with about 90 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

My issue with you is your hate for Lee Evans and love for Derrick Mason. Evans at #22 against Miami? Are you you serious? The Dolphins have given up 15 touchdown passes this season and Evans is one of the hottest wide receivers in the league.

I know Mason is going against Cincinnati, which stinks, but #12 is way too high. Have you seen Steve McNair play this season? He is terrible. Mason is having a good year, but their suspect quarterback play is finally starting to catch up with them. He might catch a few balls and put up decent yardage, but no way he cracks the top 15.

And Curry at #25 - that is obscene. He hasn’t done enough to justify that spot against any team.

Let’s start with my boy Mason. As horrible as Baltimore’s QB situation is, guess who leads the NFL in receptions? Moss? Ocho Cinco? Wayne? Nope, it’s Derrick frickin Mason, who is tied with TJ Houshmandzedah, with both on pace for 124 receptions. Guess how many games he has with less than 5 catches this year – if you guessed zero, you’d be correct…. That’s why I almost put him in the top 10 this week…

As for Evans, good call. I shouldn’t have had him so low, and he’s actually going to be my “Start” in the Bills-Miami game. But I think the reason I ranked him as a low end #2 is that I can totally see Losman feeding the ball to Lynch 25-30 times on Sunday, limiting the # of looks Evans gets… And yeah, Curry should probably be dropped down a few notches, but he has had a few decent games this week, and if CHI commits to stopping the run, he may get more looks than usual this week…

Here’s my question; how can you have Driver 4 spots ahead of Greg Jennings (and at #4 overall), when Jennings has clearly been Favre’s go to guy this year? I’m a fan of Driver as well, and traded for him a few weeks ago. But at best, he is option 1A at WR these days. I hope you are right, but I don’t think he is going to fare better than both PITT guys, or guys like Burress and Holt…

And provided that he plays this week (which is no guarantee), I’m surprised you had Branch at #36. With Alexander done, and Morris and Weaver mediocre at best, even Holmgren admitted that he is going to focus more on the aerial attack. Even you said in your writeup that Hass is in for a big game, but then ranked another SEA WR coming off an injury (Hackett) 15 spots higher. Hass clearly loves this guy, as in Branch’s first 3 games this year before getting hurt, he had 20 catches for 329 yards…

Yeah, Mason is pissa. For the season Mason is averaging just 9.6 yards per catch, including last week’s wonderful six-catch for 35-yard performance. I’ve never seen a team’s wide receiver with that low of an average in a season. He is solid in a PPR leagues, but otherwise he is around the 30th best fantasy receiver in the league. The only reason I have him as high as #24 is because he faces Cincinnati this week. And again, Baltimore’s offense sucks.

As I mentioned in my NOTES section, Driver is long overdue for a big game. And he is still the guy Brett Favre looks to in the red zone. Did you know that Favre has attempted 15 passes inside the 10-yard line this season with a team-high SIX going to Driver? Jennings has been a forgotten man inside the 10-yard line with ZERO targets. Jennings is no doubt an explosive player, that is why he is ranked in the top 10 this week, but if he doesn’t catch a long bomb, he might not put up good numbers. Driver gets consistent looks in all areas of the field, especially deep in the opponent’s territory.

Branch should probably a little higher in my rankings, but there is no guarantee he will play this week and I like Engram and Hackett better anyway.

That is about all I have brother. I guess I’ll give you the last word. Holla.

If I said anything more on Mason, I’d be beating a dead horse. I think I always rank him higher because my league is PPR, which makes him a top 15 WR. Nonetheless, he’s no worse than 15th in scoring this week, no matter what the format…

As for Driver, I did read your notes section prior to my last email, and saw how you much you hyped him up. And I am very impressed with your red zone stat above – I’m assuming you heard it on Sportscenter… However, even though Driver has played every game, he only has 2 TD’s on the year. Jennings missed the first two games, yet he has 6 TD’s, and has had at least 1 in every game except 1! Now if they were playing DEN, I’d buy your argument a bit more. But we’re talking about the f’n Vikings! If Driver has a TD this week, Jennings will have at least 2…

Holla? Last I checked, you were a 31 year old white man with a white collar job, living in a rural town… I guess I should finish this out by saying “peace out dog”…