1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings) @ St. Louis – The best Running Back against the worst defense. Well at least the 24th worse. Good things. 130/2
2. Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars) @ Seattle – Have no fear MJD owners. It was just 1 game. Seattle has the 21st ranked rush defense. which isn’t terrible, but isn’t great. MJD will get back on track this week, even if the game is in Seattle. 120/1
3. Marion Barber (Dallas Cowboys) @ Kansas City – MB Thrice got a bit banged up a couple weeks ago. He came back strong with 13 carries for 68 yards and a TD. The Chiefs rush defense is ranked 23rd. If Barber stays healthy, his workload will increase. 110/1.5
4. Chris Johnson (Tennessee Titans) vs. Indianapolis – The only way to beat the Colts is to keep Peyton on the sideline. And it would a bad move for Jeff Fisher not to run CJ on every play. Every play. Indy’s rush defense is pretty good coming in at 16. All it will take is one long run to put CJ over the 100 yard mark. 115/1
5. Brandon Jacobs (New York Giants) vs. Oakland – You gotta love Jacobs this week. Oakland is fielding the 26th worse rush defense, and Eli has healinitis. Give the big man the rock baby. 110/1
1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings) vs. San Francisco – Peterson didn’t disappoint in week 2 after running circles around Detroit in week 1. He racked up 119 total yards and a TD in week 2. This weeks match up might be a little tougher with the 49ers defense getting better, but he is still AD. another 125 + yard day with at least a TD
2. Maurice Jones Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars) @ Houston – Last week against the Cardinals, MJD fell victim to a big defecit forcing Jacksonville to throw the ball. Houston has the weapons to run up the score, but the Jags will force feed the ball to Jones Drew. This should be a real good game for MJD. 120/1
3. Fred Jackson (Buffalo Bills) vs. New Orleans – Last game for Freddy as Marshawn Lynch returns from suspension next week. Jackson certainly earned to chance to continue starting. The Bills will do everything possible to keep Drew Brees off the field, this means mondo carries for Jackson. 120/1
4. Matt Forte (Chicago Bears) @ Seattle – Forte might be the early lead for bust of the year after an awesome rookie season. Yet to score a TD or break 100 yards or 75 yards, or 60 yards. You get the picture. But this week against Seattle he will regain his game and give fantasy owners is first double digit performance.
5. Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins) @ Detroit – Portis is off to a decent year with about 70 yards rushing a game. Still no TD. The perfect tonic for a good game with a TD…The Lions rush defense.
1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings) @ Detroit – The only rush defense worse than the Browns, is Detroits. The Lions just got lit up by Mike Bell. In other words expect Adrian to run all over Detroit almost the same as he ran over the Browns. It would be shocking if AD didn’t eclipse 125 yards and have at least 2 TDs.
2. Brian Westbrook (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. New Orleans – McNabb is out for week 2, most likely. If that is the case the entire offense will go through Westy. Beautiful. The only way to stop Drew Brees from throwing touchdowns is keeping him on the sideline. I don’t think the Saints defense is good enough to stop BW. So look for Westy to rack up around 120 yards and a TD.
3. Michael Turner (Atlanta Falcons) vs. Carolina – Remember the last time Turner played Carolina. 117 yards and 4 TDs. Turner and the Falcons rushing attack will get back on track this week. 4 TDs? No. 2? Yes.
4. Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars) vs. Arizona – The Cardinals offense struggled last week. But they won’t play like that every week. The only way to stop them is keep them off the field. MJD is set up to have a nice day this week. Even though Arizona held Gore and company in check. 115 and at least 1 TD
5. Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins) vs. St. Louis – In week 1 Seattle ran all over the Rams. Portis had a decent game against a tough Giants defense with 70 yards. Clinton will be allover St. Louis this week. Look for 115 yrds and a TD.
6. Chris Johnson (Tennessee Titans) vs. Houston – After a rough start to 2009 against Pittsburgh, Johnson gets to run against an entirely new and softer defense. Houston was abused by Thomas Jones and Leon Washington last week, as Jones had 2 long runs. CJ is faster and may have a couple 40 yarders waiting for him. 115/1 [click to continue…]
1-1(1). Adrian Peterson – Peterson led the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,885, 100 yard games with 10, and is coming off of his first rushing title in 2008. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s bad to the bone. The league’s all round best back and the safest pick you will get. He played in all 17 games (including playoffs), and had 11 games with 20 or more carries. Pick him at 1 and enjoy!
1-2(2). Michael Turner – It’s hard to ignore Turner’s league high 376 carries last season, along with his 17 TDs. The Burner led the league in red-zone carries in 2008 and was near the top of the league in goal-line touches. This is only good news for fantasy owners. Some might say with the emergence of Matt Ryan he will get less carries, which in theory is true. But, defenses will have to focus on Ryan and his new toy Tony Gonzalez, which will open the field for Turner. He may not be able to catch the ball, or he just doesn’t. So don’t expect much in the reception department, but be happy with his 1600 yards and 13-15 TDs this season.
1-3(3). Maurice Jones-Drew – Little Hercules is about to blow up the game in a big way. With Fred Taylor out of Jacksonville, it is now Drew’s chance to show what he’s got. He only had 197 carries in 2008, but had 12 TDs on the ground. Add to that his 62 catches for another 2 scores, and this guy cranks out a TD every 18 touches! Being the clear number one option for the Jags you can expect more than 12 carries a game which he averaged in 2008. Give em 18 carries and that should equal about 16 TDs.
1-4(4). Matt Forte – Forte had a very impressive rookie year in 2008. He led all RBs with 63 receptions, and had 1,715 total yards with 12 TDs. The addition of Jay Cutler sprung Forte up the ranks since defenses will have to pay much more attention to the passing game. Matt is the essential every down back, he can run, catch, and block, which means he will barely leave the field.
Tier Two
2-1(5). Steven Jackson – OK fine. So the guy gets hurt every year. He only played all the way through in like 10 games last year. In 2007, he missed 4 games. Whatever. He’s back. In the last 5 games of ‘08 S-Jax had 641 yard and 4 scores. He will also enjoy a whole new blocking experience with a new center in Jason Brown, number 2 pick Jason Smith, and FB Mike Karney. If it wasn’t for the misery that is the rest of the Rams, and his injury tendencies (knock on wood), he would be in the top tier. If Jackson stays healthy, he cold be the number 1 fantasy option come season end. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart! [click to continue…]
Giants running back Brandon Jacobstook some shots at Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo on Thursday in a radio interview on ESPN 1050 in New York. “I don’t think he’s that good a passer, to be honest with you,” Jacobs said. “I’m not a fan of Tony Romo, no. Keep him in the pocket, he’s not that good. His luck will be gone sooner or later. If you were to keep Tony Romo in the pocket he’s not that effective.”
Giants RB Danny Ware has been getting some good feedback after OTAs and minicamp. “A couple of coaches told me I had an outstanding mini-camp, they said I was killin’ it, but not everybody will say something to you. They don’t wanna blow your head up, they want to keep me humble and working hard.” Ware also talks about staying in NJ to train at the team’s facility so he can study tape and get some pointers from the coaching staff through the training staff.
The Jets front office has to be thrilled with the maturation of the second-year surprise and fifth rated prospect in the organization, cornerback Dwight Lowery. That fall in the draft was the Jets’ gain as they received a gifted playmaker that’s expected to compete with former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard for the starting job opposite Revis this season. As a rookie, Lowery played in all 16 games, starting 10 and played outstanding defense finishing with 64 tackles and an interception.
Despite skipping the final day of organized team activities, Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russellhas made good on his promise to work with his receivers for an extra week outside of team practices. Russell reportedly paid to fly the receivers to Alabama to work with him for this week. Russell has come under fire from everyone for his lack of work ethic, but he is showing a certain sense of maturity here and while the quarterback job is still his to lose, and acts like this can do nothing but help him out.
The Raiders coaching staff is very high on quarterbackJeff Garcia and running back Michael Bush — two players penciled in as backups but who might find their way onto the field. It’s something for the starters to think about because competition is an aspect the Raiders need every day in practice.
The clock is ticking for the Arizona Cardinals, who face a July 15 deadline in contract negotiations with linebacker Karlos Dansby. If Cardinals brass can’t come to an accord with Dansby and his handlers by that date, Dansby will play under a one-year contract — in what likely will be his final season with the team. Dansby carries the team’s franchise tag for the second consecutive year and without a new deal, he would likely become a free agent next summer because the team couldn’t afford to franchise him again.
