Week Six fantasy football

Late-week fantasy tips

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000

Buffalo — The good news for the Bills is that their ground game seemed to really come together in the loss to the Jets last week, gaining 170 rushing yards. The bad news for fantasy players, though, is that they used a RB-by-committee and there is no one scoring threat fantasy players can hang their hats on among the quartet of Jonathan Linton, Shawn Bryson, Sammy Morris and Antowain Smith. Morris is an interesting player these days, however. The fifth-round rookie has developed into an unexpectedly key piece of the offense, mainly because he has such good hands out of the backfield. One more thing about that 170-yard rushing performance: 41 of the yards came from QB Rob Johnson, whose running dimension adds to his fantasy firepower quotient. … It looks as though Jeremy McDaniel has replaced Peerless Price as the Bills’ No. 2 WR fantasy producer behind Eric Moulds. With TE Jay Riemersma out of the lineup at least another week, teams are doubling up on Price and producing more opportunities for McDaniel, who has had his share of big plays this year already.

Indianapolis — The successful return of WR Terrence Wilkins could bolster a struggling fantasy roster. His speed and fearlessness across the middle are a dangerous combination in the Colts’ system. … In case people are worried about who’s behind Edgerrin James, backup RB Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar was placed on the injured-reserve list and will miss the remainder of the season.

Miami — WR Tony Martin’s status for Sunday’s game vs. Buffalo was still up in the air. If he doesn’t play, you may want to give WR Oronde Gadsden a look. Gadsden reminded teams that if they don’t bring a safety over or get a strong chuck at the line of scrimmage, they may have problems covering him. Gadsden caught two TD passes last week vs. Cincinnati (seven and 21 yards). It was important for the Dolphins to get him going, considering he caught only four passes in the first three games. Since then, Gadsden has caught 10 passes for 133 yards.

New England — WR Troy Brown is coming on opposite Terry Glenn, which could help Glenn out in the process. The offensive line did a much better job of protecting QB Drew Bledose last week. … Head coach Bill Belichick seems content to keep RB Kevin Faulk’s workload at a certain level in order to keep him — and his productivity — from wearing down.

Baltimore — You have to think a lot of Ravens offensive threats could be great fantasy options this weekend when you consider what they did to the Jaguars the last time they played them — when RB Jamal Lewis was not a factor. The 1-2 punch of Lewis and Priest Holmes, who offers a contrasting, slashing style to Lewis’ inside explosiveness — they’re being called "Priest and the Disciple" — could cause big problems for a Jaguars defense that gave up over 200 yards on the ground to Pittsburgh last Sunday. Also, rookie Travis Taylor, who had a breakthrough game vs. the Jaguars earlier this season, and TE Shannon Sharpe, who scored the game-winning TD in that same 75-point barn-burner, are both definitely worth considering. And, of course, so is the shutout-happy Ravens defense, which is going up against a Jacksonville offense that is really struggling lately.

Cleveland — With Errict Rhett out for the year, rookie Travis Prentice’s stock goes up. He’s already shown some flashes of ability, but now he will be counted on to carry the load. Considering the only other option is undrafted rookie Jamel White, the Browns are going to give the bulk of the carries to Prentice. Prentice could be in store for a decent debut as a starter, as he will be running against a Cardinals defense that is ranked 29^th vs. the run.

Pittsburgh — As of this writing, it still wasn’t known who would be starting at quarterback for the Steelers. Kent Graham has practiced some this week but still isn’t 100 percent recovered from his thigh injury. If Graham can’t go, then Kordell Stewart gets his second consecutive start. Keep an eye on this developing situation up until game time.

Tennessee — There’s a good chance that neither Yancey Thigpen nor Carl Pickens will play Sunday vs. Cincinnati. Both are nursing hamstring injuries, with Thigpen’s being the more serious of the two. If they’re both out, look for the Titans to utilize a lot more two-TE sets involving Frank Wycheck and Erron Kinney. Both caught five passes last week vs. the Giants. Chris Sanders and the red-hot Derrick Mason would start at wide receiver. If you haven’t claimed Mason yet, now’s a good time. In the two games since Dyson (knee) was lost for the season, Mason has caught 11 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown. He led the team in catches in both games. Tennessee’s No. 3 receiver would be Bashir Yamini.

Denver — Put RB Terrell Davis on the fantasy shelf until after the Broncos’ bye week on Oct. 29. It doesn’t look as if he’ll play until midseason because the schedule from now until then includes San Diego, Cleveland and Cincinnati, and his foot is still too sore to do much in practice.

Oakland — Rickey Dudley is just not getting the time of day in the Raiders’ passing offense. QB Rich Gannon remains locked in on WR Tim Brown, and few others are playing much of a part. … Tyrone Wheatley was listed as questionable with a leg injury, but it isn’t believed to be serious coming off the bye week. Starting FB Jon Ritchie, the team’s best blocking back, will miss this game, however, after undergoing an appendectomy last week.

San Diego — Jim Harbaugh will remain the starting quarterback for at least another week. He put up big numbers while trying to bring his team back at St. Louis last week. … WR Curtis Conway is still nursing a sore hamstring but might be able to play Sunday.

Seattle — With Brock Huard the quarterback now, look for Seattle’s wide receivers to get more deep balls thrown to them. Huard has a much stronger arm, and Jon Kitna was benched in part because he was not as aggressive in throwing the deep routes as the team would have liked.

Arizona — Michael Pittman is in, and Thomas Jones is out — of the starting lineup, that is. Jones, the No. 7 overall pick in last April’s draft, was averaging just 2.7 yards per carry. Pittman is coming off a very productive Week Five, in which he ran 11 times for 72 yards and caught six passes for 72 yards. Pittman is a powerful runner with decent speed. He should have a productive game this week against the Browns, who are ranked 30^th in the NFL in run defense. As for Jones, he will still have a role in the offense, although it will be greatly diminished for the time being.

N.Y. Giants — If you break down the production of Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne vs. the quality of opponent, you will see "Thunder and Lightning" kicking tail vs. lesser teams, while strong opponents don’t let the RB tandem do much at all. Against the Cardinals (30^th vs. the run), the Giants rushed for 223 yards. Against the Eagles (13^th vs. the run), the Giants rushed for 167 yards. Against the Bears (25^th vs. the run), the Giants rushed for 172 yards. But, against the Redskins (11^th vs. the run), the Giants managed just 93 rushing yards. Against the Titans (6^th vs. the run), the Giants rushed for just 24 yards. So, if you believe in following the trend, the Giants should fare well on the ground this week vs. the Falcons, who are ranked 21^st vs. the run. … Keep your eye on the PK situation. Brad Daluiso has missed practice time again this week because of back spasms. If he can’t kick, the job will go to Jaret Holmes.

Philadelphia — Word out of Philly is that RB Duce Staley’s foot injury may be much worse than originally believed. He sprained his right foot in the fourth quarter of last week’s 38-10 win over the Falcons. Originally, it was believed that the injury would keep Staley out a maximum of six weeks. But now we are hearing that the injury is similar to the one suffered by Browns RB Errict Rhett, who is out for the year. This may be a good time to dump Staley. Meanwhile, look for Brian Mitchell to get most of Staley’s action, although Darnell Autry will see some playing time, too.

Washington — You might want to be a bit wary about QB Brad Johnson, who has had the stuffing kicked out of him so far this year. While he hasn’t been sacked too many times (because he is good at getting rid of the ball quickly when necessary), he has been hit a lot. With ORG Tré Johnson now out indefinitely with a knee injury, the quarterback’s protection will be even more suspect. Keep your eye on this situation.

Green Bay — On Monday, Packers head coach Mike Sherman was giving strong consideration to sitting RB Dorsey Levens (ankle) until after the team’s Oct. 22 bye week. But because of the importance of this Sunday’s game vs. Detroit, Sherman has decided to let Levens play. Levens has been playing with an ankle sprained in two places, and now he’ll be running on the unforgiving artificial turf of the Silverdome. Though the Lions allowed Vikings RB Robert Smith to rush for 134 yards on 16 carries last week, Levens may not be the best play. In his three games since returning from knee surgery, Levens has 140 yards on 52 carries (2.7-yard average) with no touchdowns. … TE Bubba Franks continues to disappoint the Packers. The first-round pick is still learning how to push himself and has struggled in just about every aspect of the position. He remains a wait-and-see fantasy prospect.

Minnesota — RB Robert Smith is off to a fast start, ranking fourth in the NFC in rushing yards (406). Smith has been healthy and is running behind what some believe to be a better offensive line, despite the losses of Jeff Christy and Randall McDaniel. The line is bigger and more physical, and it’s resulted in bigger bursts through the middle for Smith. Granted, he has only two touchdowns so far, but he is playing the role of Yardage King to a T. And the Vikings are committed to running the ball. At this current pace, Smith will gain 1,808 total yards this season. … Though the Vikings would rather QB Daunte Culpepper not throw into double coverage, he showed his willingness to last week, connecting with WR Randy Moss for three scores on which Moss beat double coverage. Culpepper obviously has the confidence to throw to Moss no matter the situation.

Tampa Bay — While QB Shaun King has definitely struggled on his own, he hasn’t had enough help from the Buccaneers’ running game. Defenses are concentrating on taking away the ground attack, as evidenced by the low yardage totals being produced by RBs Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn. This is by no means a tip to bench Alstott, for he should continue to see many red-zone carries. But Dunn hasn’t proved worthy of anything since his rookie year, and fantasy owners may be wondering where Alstott’s token 100-yard game is. Head coach Tony Dungy called up FB Charles Kirby to help improve the team’s blocking. We’ll see if the second-year pro can make an impact Monday night vs. Minnesota.

Atlanta — We hear WR-RS Tim Dwight could receive double the number of touches he normally does this weekend vs. the Giants, as the Falcons reportedly try to open up their basic, run-first offense a bit. Look for Dwight to be used in a number of creative ways — reverses, catching screens from the TB position — and for Atlanta to use more three- and four-WR sets, which is definitely something they don’t usually do. Also, keep a close eye on rookie RB Maurice Smith, who could begin to see more action in relief of Jamal Anderson.

Carolina — It’s possible that the Panthers could be motivated more than usual by the shocking resignation of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave earlier in the week. Musgrave was replaced by Richard Williamson, who has done a good job working with Panthers WRs Muhsin Muhammad and Donald Hayes on an individual basis. Williamson is also much more of an in-your-face, emotional, old-school guy than Musgrave, so you can expect him to have the Panthers pretty jacked up vs. the Seahawks in an almost "must" game. Finally, there are some up-close Panthers observers who feel TE Wesley Walls might suddenly be on the downside of his career, a la Ben Coates. Let’s see how he does this Sunday.

New Orleans — The Saints’ offense has to start making more big-yardage plays. QB Jeff Blake, who is ranked second-to-last in the NFC, has to start throwing more accurately downfield, which used to be his forte, and RB Ricky Williams, who has two straight 100-yard games, has to stop fumbling. The biggest fantasy threat down by the bayou these days is probably PK Doug Brien, who has been very solid.

San Francisco — Keep a close eye on FB Fred Beasley’s aching back. He is listed as "questionable" for Oakland, but our Bay Area sources hint that he might be a bit more nicked up. … Look for WR Terrell Owens to return to the lineup with fire in his eyes after his one-week suspension, and keep an eye on young WR Tai Streets, who might be too good to keep hiding much longer. Keep playing QB Jeff Garcia, who has been on a great roll ever since Niners head coach Steve Mariucci threatened to start Rick Mirer.

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