FINE TUNING FOR THE PLAYOFFS (1 Viewer)

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Yes, it's still pretty early but we're approaching the 1/3rd mark and It's getting to that point now where some teams are getting a good idea that they're going to be in a position for a playoff run. Using both FBG's tools (the Ultimate SOS grid) as well as your general hunches/knowledge... let's start posting a few guys to target as we head into the playoffs as well as a few guys we should avoid. These guys could be people you've already got, or guys you'd love to make a move for.

Perhaps some slightly less obvious guys I'd target:

TATUM BELL :

Faces a stout SD D in the quarterfinals... but should CRUISE for weeks 15 and 16 facing CIN and ARI who are allowing 120-140 yards per game on the ground. Bell should still be the go-to guy at that point, yet he's underperformed to date and should be available for a reasonable price. He's getting ready to face a easy stretch of Defenses after this MNF so if you're in agreement then you should try to snap him up this week.

JOSEPH ADDAI :

Indy faces JAX during week 14, but then wraps up the year in CIN and HOU who are allowing about 140 yards / +1 TD per game thus far. It's purely my opinion but I'd be surrprised if Addai wasn't seeing a larger piece of the RBBC pie at that point as well. He's certainly not a guy that 's going to carry your squad... but if you can get him cheap he could help you win it all if you make it to week 15-16.

MUHSIN MUHAMMAD

Chicago is clearly going to the playoffs... there's simply no way they're not going to be cruising by the end of the season. They face one of the best combinations of terrible pass D's over hte playoffs to boot. STL / TB / DET are on the menu and Chicago should win these games handily. I wouldn't be surprised to see them featuring Muhammad more in various short pass routes to control the ball in conjuction with a run-heavy schedule. In PPR leagues I'd consider Muhammad to be even more valuable as MM could be pulling down a LOT of balls. There is a chance he might be rested a bit but I don't see it cutting into his numbers too much.

 

[ImTheScientist]

See all players on the Bears

 

[Restricted]

See all players on the Bears

Sarcastic or not, I disagree. There schedule is cake but the weather in Chi has to be acounted for and I really don't want their kicker wide receivers or QB in December/January.

 

[packersfan]

See all players on the Bears

Sarcastic or not, I disagree. There schedule is cake but the weather in Chi has to be acounted for and I really don't want thier kicker wide receivers or QB in December/January.

Weather may be a secondary issue to record. If the Bears keep steamrolling through the NFC they could start resting guys late in the season. That's looking more and more like a realistic possibility given how the Bears aren't just beating people, they're dominating everyone they play.

 

[jurrassic]

I agree with this. Chicago could have home field wrapped up by week 14. If that happens look for Benson to see a large amount of carries. Nice playoff option.

 

[CA_7]

some pretty good info here

 

[Marburg]

See all players on the Bears

Sarcastic or not, I disagree. There schedule is cake but the weather in Chi has to be acounted for and I really don't want thier kicker wide receivers or QB in December/January.

Weather may be a secondary issue to record. If the Bears keep steamrolling through the NFC they could start resting guys late in the season. That's looking more and more like a realistic possibility given how the Bears aren't just beating people, they're dominating everyone they play.

I completely agree. Grossman and Berrian were on the sideline after the third quarter yesterday. How much are they going to play come week 15 when the rest of the NFC North is 3 games back and they have home field advantage all sown up? I plan to ride these guys through the next few weeks, but I am worried about their production in the fantasy post season since it seems likely that the Bears will already be a lock for the NFL post season.The NFC East looks like a dog fight where the starters will be in through week 17. You can probably get Westbrook and Tiki and maybe even Portis below their actual value. Tiki Barber and Westbrook are likely to be fighting for position in the NFC playoffs and Portis will still be productive. Jones is probably overpriced, but might be worth picking up as well.

 

[Restricted]

So, week 15, 16 and 17?

Tatum Bell - Denver's opponents @ Ari, Cinn & SF

Baltimore D - Will be expensive but Cle, @ Pitt and Buff

Maroney - Houston, @ Jax, @ Tenn

 

[stevegamer]

Avoid:

Muhammad

Grossman

Brady

Harrison

P Manning

Brunell

I think the first 5 guys will be rested. I think the last one won't be starting once the Skins are eliminated.

 

[pacman_fl]

Players I have for the playoff run (in the 2 leagues where it is realistic) -

McGahee - @NYJ, Miami, Tenn

Driver/Jennings - @ SF, Detroit, Minn

C. Taylor - @ Det, NYJ, GB

Palmer - Oak, @ Indy, @Denver (Oak is a given, Indy indoors - shootout, @ Denver is tough, but if I get to the Championship Game, I'll take my chances)

There are others with 1 solid or 2 good and I think you hope your "studs" are good no matter the game.

 

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Avoid:Muhammad

I tend to disagree here... I think Muhammad will be see a lot of short passes and should be gold in a PPR league in the final weeks.

 

[kupcho1]

Drew Brees is an intriguing play*. NO has @DAL, WAS, @NYG in weeks 14-16 (ranking 4th, 9th and 4th respectively in terms of fantasy ppg to QBs (3 pts/TD pass; 1/20) or 8th, 6th and 4th in leagues where TD passes are worth 6). To top it off, NO has SF in week 13 in case you need a boost into the playoffs (4th easiest regardless of pts/TD pass).

Lamont Jordan is another with an easy schedule: @CIN, STL, KC in weeks 14-16 (HOU in week 13): 3rd, 9th and 19th respectively (HOU is 1st, aka easiest)

For WR, CHI has an easy schedule, but as pointed out previously, may be resting their players.

If you can determine who will be "the man", MIN and NE have attractive end of year schedules as well.

With respect to TE, if you can pry Crumpler away from a disgruntled owner, the teams ATL faces at year end give up a lot of points to TEs. Gates and SD, on the other hand, have the toughest TE schedule through the remainder of the year and playoffs. If you can do a multi-player deal exchanging Gates for Crumpler AND pick up some additional value, it may be worth your while.

Kickers? Well, unfortunately, the rich get richer. CHI and STL have the easiest year end schedules. If you are pressed for every advantage and want to change horses midstream, MIN and NYJ face teams yielding K points. (But why bother?)

Team DEFs that face easy schedules (or rather, offenses that give up points to the defense: sacks, turnovers, TDs) are MIN, GB and ARI.

* based on 5 weeks year-to-date fantasy ppg allowed by defense

 

[T-Bone976]

Great info so far.

I want to note that regarding the Bear's playing conditions in Weeks 14, 15, and 16, two of those games will be played indoors.

CHICAGO

week 14 @ STL

week 15 TB

wee6 @ DET

 

[bbuster]

See all players on the Bears

Sarcastic or not, I disagree. There schedule is cake but the weather in Chi has to be acounted for and I really don't want thier kicker wide receivers or QB in December/January.

Weather may be a secondary issue to record. If the Bears keep steamrolling through the NFC they could start resting guys late in the season. That's looking more and more like a realistic possibility given how the Bears aren't just beating people, they're dominating everyone they play.

This is obviously a possibility, but the other possibility is that they go the Dungy route from last year and don't want to break momentum. If they do decide to rest guys, who do they rest? They may rest Jones and let Benson take the carries. They may rest Grossman, but being a young QB, they may want to keep him going(again, momentum). If they decide to rest Grossman, Griese is a good replacement at QB. If they keep Muhammad in the game, I think he could actually benefit from Griese throwing the ball. IIRC, it seems that Griese seemed to target Muhammad quite a bit.

 

[mektarus]

Great info so far. I want to note that regarding the Bear's playing conditions in Weeks 14, 15, and 16, two of those games will be played indoors.CHICAGOweek 14 @ STL week 15 TBwee6 @ DET

This is exactly the reason I have decided to hold onto Benson. Hopefully da Bears have home field advantage wrapped up and Cedric sees significant playing time.