Bloom, you're killing me! (1 Viewer)

[Team Legacy]

Andre Johnson is a player that should NEVER ever under ANY circumstances be benched period. I've seen all the stats on cincy shutting down #1 wrs. It doesn't matter to me. This is a classic case of too much information influencing what should NOT be a decision. Use the info accordingly, but not to bench your best player in the league. Use it for WDIS, Driver or Walter, that kinda thing. I've done the, "I'm benching X this week" thing when he's playing a dominant defense, and have been burned repeatedly. HEED the warnings on the wall. You draft Andre Johnson, he starts for you every week.

 

[salmonstud]

Andre Johnson is a heathen hell-beast... so while I totally respect the Bengals defense, I couldn't bench AJ unless you held my wife at gunpoint. And even then...

Signature worthy quote!

 

[Chaka]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores. AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

 

[Chaka]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

 

[Jed]

Never bench your studs Never bench your studsNever bench your studs

Foolish post. Never bench your studs is the most worn out cliche in FF, and totally untrue. People said it in the Moss vs Revis thread too. How'd that work out? AJ doesn't do anything special this week. Cinci's absolute sell out to shut down the #1 is WORKING, they won't change it this week.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

Cinci's absolute sell out to shut down the #1 is WORKING, they won't change it this week.

It's so easy to see. But, people also refused to acknowledge that they were going to feed Benson 20 carries a game, even as it was happening.

 

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

Cincy has been repeatedly shutting down opposing team's #1 WRs. Leon Hall has been outstanding this year, and #2 WRs have been getting much more love vs Cincy.

Leon Hall got abused by Mohammad Massoquai. I like Andre's chances.

did u read this thread? bungles been 2x (or even 3x) the WR1 and leaving Hall to single cover teh WR2. When Massaquoi had all those grabs it was in the Wr2 role. (b edwards was the one getting 2x's)

 

[cardsharky]

Never bench your studs Never bench your studsNever bench your studs

I'd like to see a study done on the never bench your studs theory. % of time a player currently running #1-#12 at a position facing a top 5 fantasy defense is outscored by a player running #25-#36 at the position (flex RB for example) facing a bottom 5 fantasy defense. My guess is the "never bench your stud" theory would hold up - but it'd still be interesting to see.

In week 3 I violated the theory "never bench your stud". Drew Brees has 6 TD passes week 1 and 3 TD's week 2. Week 3 he played Buffalo in a 4:15pm game. There had been a lot of rain on the east coast that weekend. I googled Brees, Purdue and rain and it came back he had a bad game against the University of Michigan. (When I went to Michigan we usually played Purdue late in the season and it was too cold to rain.) I figured Brees always has the capability to put up big numbers but i felt I would take a little less with a sure thing for my backup. So Brees scored 4 fantasy points that game and Mr Schaub (who most are forgetting will be throwing to AJ) got me 29 points. +25 not too shabby. I've started Schaub then in week 4 and #'s weren't great but surpassed Brees who had his second game with no TD pass.I probably have violated the 2nd theory of never trade your stud. This week I traded Brees for Ronnie Brown.

 

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

Cincy has been repeatedly shutting down opposing team's #1 WRs. Leon Hall has been outstanding this year, and #2 WRs have been getting much more love vs Cincy.

Leon Hall got abused by Mohammad Massoquai. I like Andre's chances.

I didn't actually see that game, but wouldn't Hall have been covering Bryalon Edwards (who was shut down)?

Hall and Joeseph switch up at times I think, probably to let the guy doing the single covering get a breather from time to time. But I did see Massaq. make a few catches while being covered by Hall.

 

[Chaka]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

 

[cardsharky]

I need to change my signature. I did pick up Mason Crosby as a kicker. I dropped Buffalo defense and picked up Denver? After all the above sounds like i should have picked up Cincy.

Maybe i should make decisions without emotion but how can you root for a defense who's going against your starting QB?

 

[Chaka]

People use the term "stud" too loosely and we hear the term so often that we become desensitized and don't realize when we are looking at one of the truly transcendent players in the game.

 

[Chaka]

I need to change my signature. I did pick up Mason Crosby as a kicker. I dropped Buffalo defense and picked up Denver? After all the above sounds like i should have picked up Cincy.Maybe i should make decisions without emotion but how can you root for a defense who's going against your starting QB?

I, and I think the vast majority of others on this board, would take the Cinci D over Buffalo six days a week and twice on Sunday.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

I would generally agree with you. But clearly, Cincy is dedicated to shutting down the other team's #1. I believe that blindly starting your studs, especially in this case, is a mistake. Specifically, in this instance, where the OP has an alternative (MSW vs ST Louis), I'd take the alternative.

 

[Chaka]

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

I would generally agree with you. But clearly, Cincy is dedicated to shutting down the other team's #1. I believe that blindly starting your studs, especially in this case, is a mistake. Specifically, in this instance, where the OP has an alternative (MSW vs ST Louis), I'd take the alternative.

It is not blindly starting your studs it is playing probabilities.Starting AJ pays off over time.

 

[SSOG]

Cincy has been repeatedly shutting down opposing team's #1 WRs. Leon Hall has been outstanding this year, and #2 WRs have been getting much more love vs Cincy.

Leon Hall got abused by Mohammad Massoquai. I like Andre's chances.

did u read this thread? bungles been 2x (or even 3x) the WR1 and leaving Hall to single cover teh WR2. When Massaquoi had all those grabs it was in the Wr2 role. (b edwards was the one getting 2x's)

Hall covered Brandon Marshall and Santonio Holmes. Don't know who he covered against the Packers or Ravens, but he's seen more action against the #1 than not, and is frequently cited as one of the big reasons why Cincinnati is so good against #1 WRs. He also got beaten multiple times by Mohammad Massoquai.

 

[GreenNGold]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

Who in this thread is saying Pittsburgh is better than Cincy??? Only dinosaurs living in the past think that.

 

[GreenNGold]

Never bench your studs Never bench your studsNever bench your studs

Foolish post. Never bench your studs is the most worn out cliche in FF, and totally untrue. People said it in the Moss vs Revis thread too. How'd that work out? AJ doesn't do anything special this week. Cinci's absolute sell out to shut down the #1 is WORKING, they won't change it this week.

Bump this in a couple days.

 

[RebelINS]

I'll just say this. Johnson will get a TD this week and will produce just fine, take him out of your lineup if you wish but I think it's a stupid decision.

 

[•TheRealMcCoy]

Andre Johnson is a heathen hell-beast... so while I totally respect the Bengals defense, I couldn't bench AJ unless you held my wife at gunpoint. And even then...

WELL PUT!! AJ is NOT sit-able!

 

[FantasyTrader]

Never bench your studs Never bench your studsNever bench your studs

I'd like to see a study done on the never bench your studs theory. % of time a player currently running #1-#12 at a position facing a top 5 fantasy defense is outscored by a player running #25-#36 at the position (flex RB for example) facing a bottom 5 fantasy defense. My guess is the "never bench your stud" theory would hold up - but it'd still be interesting to see.

In week 3 I violated the theory "never bench your stud". Drew Brees has 6 TD passes week 1 and 3 TD's week 2. Week 3 he played Buffalo in a 4:15pm game. There had been a lot of rain on the east coast that weekend. I googled Brees, Purdue and rain and it came back he had a bad game against the University of Michigan. (When I went to Michigan we usually played Purdue late in the season and it was too cold to rain.) I figured Brees always has the capability to put up big numbers but i felt I would take a little less with a sure thing for my backup. So Brees scored 4 fantasy points that game and Mr Schaub (who most are forgetting will be throwing to AJ) got me 29 points. +25 not too shabby. I've started Schaub then in week 4 and #'s weren't great but surpassed Brees who had his second game with no TD pass.I probably have violated the 2nd theory of never trade your stud. This week I traded Brees for Ronnie Brown.

Well no need for an entire study then. Back in week 3 you benched your stud and it worked out for you.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

I would generally agree with you. But clearly, Cincy is dedicated to shutting down the other team's #1. I believe that blindly starting your studs, especially in this case, is a mistake. Specifically, in this instance, where the OP has an alternative (MSW vs ST Louis), I'd take the alternative.

It is not blindly starting your studs it is playing probabilities.Starting AJ pays off over time.

It is blind if you are not considering the defensive half of the probability equation.

 

[KingEl]

I know Cincy is improved from last year, but AJ did have 11 catches for 140+ yds against them (and the same CB's I beleive).......

Sure AJ can be shut down... Also, the flow of the game can alter things.. AJ was well on his way to a great game against shutdown Aso in Oakland, but Houston got so far ahead they just ran it the whole game... IF this game against Cincy is close, they will target AJ plenty... He the kind of guy who can put up 10 catches against anyone-- they might be able to limit the yardage somewhat, but he is a reception machine..

 

[jobarules]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

So far this year, Johnson has had two tough matchups: one vs Revis & one vs Asamuogh. How did he do in those matchups? Not too good. Now this week makes a third tough matchup. We'll see how it plays out. If I owned Johnson I wouldnt bench but I also wouldnt make fun of people who do because it was the right move both times this year.

 

[Jed]

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

I would generally agree with you. But clearly, Cincy is dedicated to shutting down the other team's #1. I believe that blindly starting your studs, especially in this case, is a mistake. Specifically, in this instance, where the OP has an alternative (MSW vs ST Louis), I'd take the alternative.

It is not blindly starting your studs it is playing probabilities.Starting AJ pays off over time.

Yes, starting AJ over time pays off.... and the sky is blue. That's not what we are talking about here. We are talking about a very easy to track TREND. MSW over AJ with matchups considered this week is flat out the right move.

 

[FantasyTrader]

Interesting discussion; good points made by many. I think there's one thing that the "you can sit your studs" crowd is overlooking.

It's what's likely to happen when wrong vs. what's likely to happen when right. You can't just say, Andre Johnson went 6-57 and Maclin went 7-80 - score one for "sit your stud". What needs to be accounted for is that, even when you're technically right for benching the stud, it's much more likely that you weren't right by a margin that matters in the grand sceme of a fantasy W vs. L for the week (which is really what we care about).

Conversely, sitting the stud has a much higher liklihood of resulting in a WTF was I thinking afternoon, as evidenced by Roddy White owners last Sunday on the road in SanFran. In terms of fantasy wins/losses it's much more likely that you'll lose that week by sitting your stud and being wrong than sitting him and being right. Because the the truly elite are capable of having "that game" against anybody.

 

[duaneok66]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

So far this year, Johnson has had two tough matchups: one vs Revis & one vs Asamuogh. How did he do in those matchups? Not too good. Now this week makes a third tough matchup. We'll see how it plays out. If I owned Johnson I wouldnt bench but I also wouldnt make fun of people who do because it was the right move both times this year.

logic doesn't fly in this thread . . .

 

[Football Daddy]

If you replace the word "Cincy" with "Pittsburgh", nobody would argue against possibly benching AJ. It's the word "Cincy" that is holding people back.

I would argue against that if you said Pittsburgh, Baltimore, The Purple People Eaters, The Steel Curtain, Gang Green, The Killer Bs, the '85 Bears or any other defense.I am not saying AJ is a lock to perform this week I am saying that over time benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money.

I would generally agree with you. But clearly, Cincy is dedicated to shutting down the other team's #1. I believe that blindly starting your studs, especially in this case, is a mistake. Specifically, in this instance, where the OP has an alternative (MSW vs ST Louis), I'd take the alternative.

It is not blindly starting your studs it is playing probabilities.Starting AJ pays off over time.

Yes, starting AJ over time pays off.... and the sky is blue. That's not what we are talking about here. We are talking about a very easy to track TREND. MSW over AJ with matchups considered this week is flat out the right move.

This is ultimately what this is about for me. Rounding out my last two WR slots with either AJ, Jennings, or MS-W. I generally agree with the "don't bench your studs" crowd. But part of that is, it is rare to have such quality of depth at a postion that a viable choice ever comes up much. At least for me. This has morphed into a highly interesting disection of Cincy's D vs WR1's and an excellent debate about the sanity/insanity of benching arguably the top wideout in the game at the moment. Frankly, if Jennings were not playing Detroit and had not recently been outspoken about the lack of his targets, I'd keep his butt on the bench and play AJ and MS-W along with Roddy. I'll let the board know what I decide and we'll see how it plays. Adding to the importance for me is playing a 4-1 team for first place this week...

 

[knowledge dropper]

Bengals fan and Andre Johnson owner. I am starting Johnson this week because he can go the distance on one play. However, there are a lot of posts on here disparaging the Bengals D. They are legit. They were riddled with injuries last year and this scheme still had them #9 in total D. You are basically adding Tank, Roy Williams, Rey Rey, Rivers, Odom to the nucleus from last year.

Johnson will get his, but Bengals D is a top 10 NFL defense.

 

[Chaka]

Are people honestly suggesting that if AJ played the Jets, Raiders or Bengals 16 times a year they would not draft him?

Sure if you have to choose Fitz vs Seattle or AJ vs Cinci and you can only start one, then fine go with Fitz otherwise people are putting too much stock into matchup analysis.

AJ is one of the few true studs in the league (people use that word far too loosely) great players can, and do, produce against any opponent, that's why they are great.

 

[Chaka]

There are an awful lot of people in this thread burying their heads in the sand. The trend is pretty obvious and is being ignored. Rationalizing why the other #1s had bad days isn't going to change the fact that they had, not just bad, but terrible days against the Bengals.

Marshall - 27 yards, worst of the season.

Jennings - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Holmes - 18 yards, worst of the season.

Edwards - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Mason - 0 yards, worst of the season.

Come on people, open your eyes! The earth is round and it does revolve around the sun. Three of the five players with zero yards. All with the worst performance of the season. AJ isn't unstoppable. The Jets held him to 35 yards. It's pretty obvious what Cincy's game plan will be.

No one is arguing the results of the Cinci D up to this point. However as they say on those Franklin Mint commercial "Past results are not an indication of future returns."The defense does not always win out in these situations.

There are plenty of examples when the situation dictated that because of the matchup you must bench a superstar player only to see the superstar blow up for 100+ and 2 scores.

AJ is one of the few transcendent WRs in the game (Fitz, Moss, Calvin maybe Wayne because of Manning), sure he will be shut down from time to time but trying to predict when that will happen is really not going to make you money over time. You drafted this guy for a reason, trust him and you will reap benefits over time.

The 2 bolded statements can be taken either way - for AJ or for the Cinci D. The problem though, is with Cincy's D, the exception hasn't happened (as it has with AJ). With only 45 yards given up over 5 games, if you have another option at WR, it might be worth considering. Seriously, 3 of those guys had zero catches for zero yards. That seems to overwhelm the "AJ is a stud" argument.

AJ is a transcendent player, Cinci is not a transcendent defense.Benching players of AJ's caliber will lose you money over time.

So far this year, Johnson has had two tough matchups: one vs Revis & one vs Asamuogh. How did he do in those matchups? Not too good. Now this week makes a third tough matchup. We'll see how it plays out. If I owned Johnson I wouldnt bench but I also wouldnt make fun of people who do because it was the right move both times this year.

AJ had a 50 or 60 yard catch in the first quarter vs the Raiders then the game got way out of hand. If you think Houston will be up by three TDs early vs Cinci then look elsewhere for your starting WR.

 

[Butters]

I love the fact that just about the only person who wasn't responded to in this thread was Bloom. This is the perfect FBG forum thread.

 

[BoulderBob]

AJ is unstoppable...and that trend will certainly not last the whole season, well, it might, but there will be exceptions, and this will be one of them

 

[GreenNGold]

I agree with those that say you should make your own decisions and only use the rankings as a guide. However, we are paying $$$ for what is supposed to be an expert opinion here, if we wanted the wrong answer, we could just ask Pete Prisco and Clark Judge.

However, OP, where did you see him ranked at #26??? In the prelim rankings I got via email, he was at #18, and on Wednesday's and Thursday's rankings he is at # 10.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

I agree with those that say you should make your own decisions and only use the rankings as a guide. However, we are paying $$$ for what is supposed to be an expert opinion here, if we wanted the wrong answer, we could just ask Pete Prisco and Clark Judge.However, OP, where did you see him ranked at #26??? In the prelim rankings I got via email, he was at #18, and on Wednesday's and Thursday's rankings he is at # 10.

He was 26th in my original projections, I have nudged him up around 15 or so since then. The email rankings are Dodds.

 

[HoTnickZ]

Schaub will probably get hit and exit this game, AJ will be sub-par, then we will revisit this thread and argue whether it was because of Cincy or Schaub. That's my pessimistic prediction as an Andre owner who is going to start him.

 

[Incog]

If there's one person that can combo breaker this trend it's AJ. Start him!

 

[Cookiemonster]

If you don't have a #3 like MSW or the like who has an upside of 10/160 & 2 with a floor of 4/60 yards, then no, you don't bench AJ, but I think AJ's ceiling is a lot lower than the 13/180 & 2 I'd usually peg him at and closer to 8/100 & 1. His floor drops from 5/65 to 4/40. Nobody is un-sittable if you have quality depth at that position and that varies from team to team. For some of you, sitting AJ is an easy decision and for others its unthinkable. An open mind can save two pages of debate.

 

[p00h]

lulz

 

[Fear & Loathing]

Andre Johnson is a heathen hell-beast... so while I totally respect the Bengals defense, I couldn't bench AJ unless you held my wife at gunpoint. And even then...

Well said.

 

[Northbound Train]

Help me understand why the Mods around here run in and lock threads that "they" don't like

I create a thread about that pick 6 overrated POS Garrard and it gets locked....come on, lighten up Francis.

Garrard has stunk for the better part of the entire year...he had ONE monster game but has been well below average outside of that....so that gets locked but this thread is OK

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Help me understand why the Mods around here run in and lock threads that "they" don't like

has nothing to do with liking a thread or not.there's a venting thread for stuff like that. rather not have 50 new threads in here every Sunday every time someone feels the need to complain about a player having a bad game or boast about a player having a great game. it's a judgment call but there are probably a dozen other threads out there that you can post in if you want to talk about Garrard.

 

[Incog]

AJ is unbenchable!

 

[the_Truth]

Help me understand why the Mods around here run in and lock threads that "they" don't like :( I create a thread about that pick 6 overrated POS Garrard and it gets locked....come on, lighten up Francis.Garrard has stunk for the better part of the entire year...he had ONE monster game but has been well below average outside of that....so that gets locked but this thread is OK

There are already beaucoup Garrard threads. Try the search function.

 

[dickey moe]

Andre Johnson is a player that should NEVER ever under ANY circumstances be benched period.

/threadYou draft these types of players in the 1st round for a reason, people.

 

[Chaka]

I stand by my posts in this thread but the Sims-Walker people in this thread deserve credit for playing a different strategy also to good success.