Eli Manning has improved as an NFL QB and his team is winning-- so why is Cankosyan trashing him?
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Football fans all over the country
are eagerly anticipating the big game between the Colts and the Patriots. I hate to leave you hanging, but you’ll have
to listen to our radio show tonight to find out who I’m picking to win the
game. Suffice to say that these are
easily the two best teams in the league right now. The intriguing thing about this game is the almost complete role
reversal of the two teams. The Colts
are playing like the old Patriots.
Peyton Manning is putting up quiet numbers and allowing Joseph Addai to
pile up the lofty stats, while Tom Brady is playing like the old Peyton
Manning. The Patriots’ running game is
barely adequate, so Brady has had to carry the team on his shoulders. It’s amazing that he only has two interceptions to date to go along with
the thirty touchdown passes. It seems like no record in football is ever
safe. Not too long ago Manning broke
Dan Marino’s single season record for passing touchdowns, and it no appears as
if it will be broken by Brady. Shaun
Alexander had the single season record for rushing touchdowns for a whopping
year before it was broken last season by LaDainian Tomlinson.
I’ve got to tell you that it’s been a very weird season so far from a fantasy perspective. So many of the well-known name players are badly underperforming that I barely know where to begin. Among the quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and
Carson Palmer have been out-scored by Derek Anderson, while Drew Brees (#14)
and Marc Bulger (#25) are not even in the top ten. Larry Johnson is the 10th ranked running back, but
he’s not close to being the biggest disappointment. That honor goes to my main man, Frank Gore, for being #20. Just to put into perspective how bad he’s
been, Kenny Watson and Ernest Graham have outperformed Gore to date. Memo to Frank: You suck! Edgerrin James
(#15), Travis Henry (#23), and Shaun Alexander (#25) are some of the other big-name
busts. Braylon Edwards (#3) and Wes
Welker (#4) have to be the biggest surprises among the wide receivers, while the
biggest busts are Marvin Harrison (#62), Javon Walker (#61), Donald Driver
(#24), Anquan Boldin (#28), Marques Colston (#29), and Roy Williams (#17).
Stock Up
QB Drew Brees, Saints
Brees started the season about as
bad as you could, but he’s been shooting up the charts the past three
games. He has averaged 30.6 WCOFF
points over those games, and he has a chance to get a lot better by season’s end. He might not finish in the
top-five because of his horrible start, but you’d be a fool to get rid of him
now.
QB Jay Cutler, Broncos
He’s currently #13 among
quarterbacks, and that’s probably a surprise to most folks. Cutler has had to throw the ball a lot over
the past month, because Travis Henry and the ground game have gone to pot (just
a figure of speech). The Elway
comparisons are wishing thinking, but he’s a credible QB1 at the moment.
RB LenDale White, Titans
I thought that this slob would
have eaten his way off the team by now, so I am pleasantly surprised by his
success. White is running hard and
taking advantage of the touches to rank #16 among the runners. He’ll likely fall a little below that by the
end of the year, because I can see the team giving promising rookie Chris Henry
some of his carries.
RB Willis McGahee, Ravens
McGahee has never impressed me
since he tore up his knee in college, but he’s a serviceable RB1 right
now. He’ll never be a great back,
because he’s not explosive and doesn’t catch the ball enough, but McGahee has
taken advantage of the other fallen running backs to rank #6.
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Bengals
I avoided putting him on this
list, because I didn’t want to have to spell that long name, but I can’t ignore
him any longer. Housh is ranked #2
among the wideouts, and that’s got to be a surprise for the folks who expected
to see other big names in that spot.
He’s taking full advantage of the additional looks by Palmer and the
absence of WR Chris Henry to put up even better stats than his partner in crime
(just kidding again) Chad Johnson.
Stock Down
QB Eli Manning, Giants
The Giants are winning (6-2), but
Manning’s stats are not getting any better.
I had big hopes for him after that impressive Week One game against the
Cowboys. Manning seems to play just
good enough for his team to win. That’s
fine in real life, but it’s not good enough if you want to be a top fantasy
player.
QB Jon Kitna, Lions
Kitna’s play has fallen off the
past three games. He’s fallen to #12,
and he’s not a great bet to get much better with the healthy return of Kevin
Jones. Kitna is a serviceable QB1, and
it’s unlikely he’ll ever be more than that at this stage of his career.
RB Cedric Benson, Bears
This guy should be a lot better
than he is. Benson had the job all to
himself after the team traded Thomas Jones to the Jets, and he hasn’t taken
advantage of the opportunity. He was a
big-time player in college, but that seems like eons ago to his fantasy
owners. Benson will have to pick up his
play or the Bears may start looking at other options in next year’s draft.
RB De’shaun Foster, Panthers
Foster is another guy who isn’t
playing up to his ability. He’s got a
nice blend of size and speed, but it’s rarely displayed on the football field
for one reason or another. Foster is
not a second half player, so don’t look for things to get much better. In fact, the Panthers may start giving more
touches to DeAngelo Williams as the season wears on.
WR Roy Williams, Lions
He’s a big talker, but William’s
play on the field hasn’t been very loud lately. He’s too big and fast for most opposing cornerbacks, so a strong
second half is quite possible. Williams
is one of the players you should be targeting in trade talks, because his value
is relatively low right now.
Senior NFL writer Roy Cankosyan has been writing for Sports Grumblings for over 10 years, contributing his keen observations on both the NFL and fantasy football. He is also the co-host of the "Gridiron Grumblings Live!" broadcast.