IDI Fantasy All-Stars Week 7

Results and standings from IFAS I and IFAS II:

IDI Fantasy All-Stars Week 6

Results and standings from IFAS I and IFAS II:

IDI Fantasy All-Stars Week 5

Results and standings from IFAS I and IFAS II:

Bye Week Replacements - Week 4

The bye weeks are coming...
And as much as we dislike having to bench our fantasy stars, bye weeks give owners an opportunity to show some creativity, flex their fantasy muscles and dig a little deeper than normal to find acceptable subs. Much like last year, the purpose of this post is to highlight a couple of players in each offensive position that you might have a chance of snagging (according to Yahoo! statistics) off your waiver wire for a bye week sub or flex play. I don't cover kickers, and depending on feedback, I may add team defenses in the next week or two. The teams taking a breather in week 4 include Arizona, Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia.

QB

• Jason Campbell - Washington - 33% owned: Despite the Redskins' humiliating week 3 loss to the bottom-feeding Lions, Campbell put up solid numbers with 340 passing yards, 2 TD's and 1 INT. I'm not going to lobby for Campbell as an every week starter, but Washington has an opportunity to bounce back from last week's loss against a highly suspect Tampa D in week 4. Look for Campbell to lead the charge and attempt to repeat last week's statistics.
• Mark Sanchez - New York - 41% owned: After watching the Jets dismantle the Titans in week 3, I have to grudgingly admit that the Jets are the real deal. Their run D is stifling and Sanchez is benefiting from one of the most solid offensive lines in the league. Week 4's matchup against the Saints has all the makings of a shootout between Brees and Sanchez. If you don't already have a decent backup QB on your bench, Sanchez might be worth stashing for the long haul.

RB

• Glen Coffee - San Franciso - 24% owned: Coffee proved to be a capable backup during the pre-season. Now with Frank Gore sitting out 2-3 weeks with a sprain/strain, Coffee will have an ample opportunity to showcase his talents. With the Niners failing to sign Michael Crabtree and no obvious talent in the wideout category, Mike Singletary has been forced to roll with a run-first offense. This won't change just because Gore is hurt. NOTE: That % owned statistic is pre-waiver clearance. Coffee may be the hottest wire prospect of the week and that % owned figure will jump by Wednesday.
• Correll Buckhalter - Denver - 36% owned: While Knowshon Moreno is well on his way to owning the starting role in the Denver, Buckhalter has been running so well that a permanent time share is almost a certainty. Buckhalter had 14 carries to Moreno's 21 against the Raiders in week 3 and owners can expect a comparable week 4 workload. It's important to note that recommending Buckhalter is based on his anticipated touches, not the matchup. Dallas did a nice job shutting down the Williams/Stewart duo in week 3.
• Fred Taylor - New England - 32% owned: New England's running back situation is quickly replacing Denver's as the most frustrating and hard to predict in the NFL. However, Taylor had a nice game against Atlanta in week 3 (105 yards rushing, 1 TD) and may have distanced himself from the pack. An injury to Laurence Maroney could also net Taylor additional carries in the coming weeks. Once again, this recommendation is being made based on Taylor's anticipated workload, as New England's matchup against Baltimore is not ideal.

WR

• Pierre Garcon - Indianapolis - 28% owned: Peyton Manning and company appear to be thriving despite the early loss of up-and-comer Anthony Gonzalez. Part of that success is attributable to Garcon, who notched 64 yards and a TD in week 3's romp over the Cardinals. Garcon is a highly athletic wideout with possession and deep threat potential. He has a nice matchup vs. Seattle in week 4 and will likely contest for a permanent starting role if his outstanding play continues while Gonzalez rehabs.
• Mike Sims-Walker - Jacksonville - 36% owned: Many owners have already gone to the wire and snagged Sims-Walker. His 187 yards receiving in the past two weeks have firmly established him as David Garrard's weapon of choice. He represents a rare opportunity to grab a team's #1 wideout off the wire. Especially during a week when the Jags will face Tennesee's porous pass D. Act accordingly.
• Nate Washington - Tennesee - 25% owned: Acquired from Pittsburgh during the off season to provide a provide a deep threat for Kerry Collins, Washington's value plummeted when he was injured during the pre-season. Now he appears healthy and has snagged a TD in each of the last two games. His performance will likely continue to improve throughout the seasons as he builds rapport with Collins, and he presents an exceptional value for a bye week fill-in or replacement for an underperforming or injured draft acquisition (e.g. Eddie Royal or Anthony Gonzalez).
  

TE

• Anthony Fasano - Miami - 31% owned: Coming off a miserable game, where Fasano's only real contributions were his two fumbles, the Miami TE is not a popular individual. But the loss of Chad Pennington, may be enough of a shock to the Miami system to make Fasano productive again. After a stellar 2008 campaign, the potential for Fasano's resurgence under Chad Henne presents a high risk/reward opportunity.
• Kevin Boss - New York - 44% owned: With the emergence of multiple talented WR sleepers in the Giants offense, Boss has been relegated primarily to blocking duty. However, New York's week 4 matchup against the pathetic Chiefs could result in lots of looks during play-it-safe garbage time.
  
• Bejamin Watson - New England - 45% owned: Watson created some major buzz for himself after catching two TD's in New England's week 1 comeback over Buffalo. Since then he has been quiet. However, Baltimore's defensive powerhouse may force Tom Brady to look for Watson frequently as checkdown option in New Enland's week 4 matchup. I would like to see at least one more solid game out of Watson before recommending him as a roster mainstay. But for bye week purposes, he's a nice option if available in your league.

IDI Fantasy All-Stars

There was so much interest in fantasy football at IDI this year, Crusty and I were forced to create an entirely new league. With 10 owners in each league, we now have IDI Fantasy All-Stars I (IFAS I) and IDI Fantasy All-Stars II (IFAS II). In an effort to give some visibility into what's happening in both leagues, I will be posting the weekly results and standings for both IFAS leagues here on Roughing the Passer.

RTP Reboot '09

Last season's attempt to start my own fantasy football site was a partial success. It gave me a forum to write about fantasy, but the scope may have been overly ambitious. So this season I will be focusing on more frequent blog posts, trying to add authors to the RTP roster and providing a home for the IDI Fantasy All-Stars (more on that later). Here we go again...

D-Lo Knows How to Finish

The team that I handed off to my girlfriend at the beginning of the season was looking pretty heading into MNF in the first week of the playoffs. She was up by 4 with DeAngelo Williams to play. Her opponent had Antonio Bryant. D-Lo has been on fire lately and Bryant just didn't look that scary. I didn't turn the game on the 3rd quarter. When I did, Emily's team was in trouble. Bryant was having a career night, D-Lo had only 43 yards on the ground and Jonathan Stewart had gotten the only rushing score. During the remainder of the 3rd quarter, Bryant continued racking up receiving yards, but D-Lo also got rolling. In fact, Williams carried Carolina all the way to the goal line so that Stewart could punch it in with 12:21 to go.

At this point, Emily is down 9 and I'm worried. Particularly with Stewart getting the goal line carries. But with 8:30 to go, Williams wraps up a nice drive with a 16 yard TD scamper. Emily is up by 1 and Carolina leads 23-31.

On the following drive, Bryant grabs a 15 yard pass and pulls the fantasy score even at 91 apiece. With 2:29 remaining, Garcia throws a strike that Bryant snags in the end zone with one of the most ridiculous one-handed catches of the year. Fantasy score 91 - 99. Not looking good.

On what will likely be Carolina's last drive, I'm looking at the field and wondering if D-Lo rips off a TD run, are there enough yards left to regain the lead. Turns out that yes, there are. Williams broke right and evaded a couple tackles for a 36 yard TD. Fantasy score 101-99. Tampa was shut down on the their final drive, and that was the ball game.

What really struck me is in the middle of the Williams' final run, I realized that he should kneel at the 1. Given the score, the right move was to run out the clock in the red zone. The smart football play was the same one that caused Westbrook owners to rise up in rage and disgust when he pulled that stunt last year. But DeAngelo Williams is NOT Brian Westbrook. And as a result, there are a lot of grateful fantasy owners out there.