Fantasy Football: Dormant stars show life

Published 9:46 pm Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I am not a huge Godfather fan, but I did enjoy Part I and Part II. Like most people who watched the trilogy, I did not like Part III very much.

Maybe it was Andy Garcia — no, it was Sofia Coppola, who is a great director now, but was not the best actress then.

But even without liking the movie, I do think Godfather III provided one of the better quotes of the three movies.

An old Michael Corleone, no longer concerned with power as the Don, is attempting to live out the remainder of his days peacefully.

No spoilers, but something happens that forces him to change his outlook and Corleone famously says, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Now, how does this relate to fantasy football?

Well, there are a few players that exhibited signs of life last week after weeks of being dormant.

Fantasy owners were ready to cut bait and drop underperformers like Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Patriots running back Stevan Ridley, Chargers running back Ryan Mathews and even Buccaneers receiver Vincent Jackson, who blew up last week after doing little to nothing before that.

So, the big question to ask — was this a fluke or a sign of better things in the coming weeks?

I will address each separately.

Larry Fitzgerald: Dynamic No. 1 receiver who has languished due to bad quarterback play since Kurt Warner retired. This year with Carson Palmer, signs looked good with a strong Week 1 (8-80, 2 TDs), but the four weeks combined since yielded one touchdown and no game with more than 68 yards receiving. Then last week Fitzgerald broke out, despite a hamstring problem, to catch six passes for 117 yards highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown. Verdict: Roll with him. Fitzgerald is too good to bench and that one week you do will be the one he does what he did last week. Hopefully Palmer gets more consistent.

Stevan Ridley: Ah … the Belichick backfield; always a quandary. Well, Ridley was supposed to be the guy and many fantasy owners drafted him that way. But through six games, Ridley had failed to surpass 50 yards in any of them, without a touchdown. Then came last week against New Orleans in which Ridley carried 20 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Verdict: Buy Ridley. I think last week was a sign of things to come, especially when you see how poorly other Pats options Brandon Bolden and LeGarrette Blount performed last week.

Ryan Mathews: This guy has been a yearly headache for fantasy owners due to injury issues. Well, he’s healthy, but hadn’t been doing much before Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts. Take away a decent outing against Dallas (61 rush, 41 receiving) and Mathews had gone nowhere near 100 yards rushing, receiving or combined without a touchdown. Well, against the Colts, Mathews carried 22 times for 102 yards. Verdict: Buy Mathews. This has everything to do with his upcoming schedule, which features porous defenses like Jacksonville, Washington and even Denver. Maybe after that you can sell him for high value because he should reel off three-straight strong efforts.

Vincent Jackson: The Buccaneers receiver, like Fitzgerald, is solid, but the quarterbacks throwing him the ball have been anything but. In his two previous games before last week, Jackson had turned in efforts of 3 for 34 and 2 for 27. Then last week, Jackson exploded with nine catches for 114 yards and two TDs. Verdict: Sell high. Jackson still has Mike Glennon throwing him the ball and you will never be able to sell him for as much value as he does right now.

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The Last Action Heroes are 3-3 in Dereliction League thanks to San Diego Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, who enabled my team to erase a 24-point deficit on Monday Night Football by scoring 25 points. This week we face Sideliners, one of the top teams in the league. I really hope Tom Brady can turn it around and revert back to the top-5 quarterback I drafted.

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Teams on a bye this week: New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders

Waiver wire pickups for those needing a bye-week fill in for Drew Brees: Josh Freeman, QB, Minnesota; Ryan Tannehill, QB, Miami. Both QBs are not starters normally, but both have good matchups this week with Minnesota facing the N.Y. Giants and Tannehill going against Buffalo.

Waiver wire ads for Denarius Moore, Jimmy Graham owners: Jarrett Boykin, WR, Green Bay; Heath Miller, TE, Pittsburgh. Boykin steps into the No. 2 receiver role now that Cedric Cobb is out with a broken leg. Not ideal, but Aaron Rodgers needs to throw to someone and he will be the second option after Jordy Nelson. Graham is tougher, but Miller is serviceable for this week. He should catch six to seven passes from Ben Roethlisberger for 70 yards and possibly a touchdown. Not bad for a bye-week fill in.