Each week I
have been walking through the Twitterverse extracting some of the best
commentary from trusted fantasy football minds and delivering to the general
public. Twitter can be overwhelming with
the amount of information that streams live, but it also proves to be one of
the fastest and easiest ways to communicate.
In 140
characters or less you can learn something about a player you would have never
thought to analyze. Trends, stats,
analysis and simple suggestions pour out weekly after the NFL action is
completed and below are some of the highlights to consider when hitting the
waiver wire or seeking trades to win your fantasy championships this season.
Calvin Johnson, Lions – Josh Moore (@4for4_Josh)
highlights Megatron’s current record breaking pace tweeting, “Calvin Johnson
106-1667-5 on season & needs to avg 91 yds over (last two) to break Rice’s
record. Last (time) under 100 in W8. Avging 147 since.” Adam Levitan @adamlevitan)
also mentioned that “Megatron is first player ever with back-to-back 1600-yard
receiving seasons. Jerry Rice had 1600 once in entire career.” Detroit has nothing more to play for other than
helping Calvin get this record, and while they play a tough passing defense in
the Falcons this week, don’t overthink anything for a second and bench
him. Always play your studs.
James Jones, Packers – Jones has had a
roller coaster of a season from scoring 2 TDs in three straight games to
posting a zero catch game just four weeks ago.
Week 15 he rode the coaster back up scoring 3 times and now leads the
NFL in touchdown receptions. JJ
Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) had an interesting observation and
possible start dilemma fantasy owners may face in week 16. “Greg Jennings had the same number of targets
and one less reception than James Jones. Difference is that Rodgers trusts Jones in red
zone.” If you have both Jennings and
Jones and can only start one, Jones may actually be your guy with the title on
the line.
Adrian Peterson, Vikings – AP has been
nothing short of amazing all season.
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter)
added to the amazement stating, “Over past eight games, Adrian Peterson has
rushed for 1,313 yards, the most over any eight-game span in a single season in
NFL history.” At this point AP is likely
your consensus #1 selection in fantasy drafts next season.
Christian Ponder, Vikings – Ponder’s
struggles have been well noted, but did not realize he was this awful as
Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) tweeted,
“Christian Ponder has finished with fewer passing yards than Peterson rushing
yards in three straight games.” Without
Harvin’s incredible YAC, Ponder is not even worth mentioning as a backup QB in
24 team leagues. This also makes AP’s
season all the more unbelievable.
Russell Wilson, Seahawks – Wilson was
likely a very late round selection or waiver wire addition for most teams this
season. Next year may be a different
story as JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB)
observed, “Since Week 8, Russell Wilson has averaged more fantasy points per
week than Rodgers and Brees. And he's averaged the same as Peyton.” As his Twitter handle suggests, JJ is a firm
believer in waiting to draft your QB.
You can read more about his strategy here.
With less
than 10% of fantasy owners still actually playing football in the 16th
week of the fantasy season, most are looking ahead to 2013. Below are comments and observations to
remember come next August.
Alfred Morris, Redskins – For a coach
that is despised by the fantasy community for his fickle usage of running
backs, Shanahan has sure stuck with Morris as Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) points
out, “Alfred Morris has tallied 93% of the Redskins' rushes by a running back
this season. (As a comp, Adrian Peterson 88% of #Vikings carries).” Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom)
goes on to elaborate on Morris’ season stating, “Morris showing no signs of
rookie wall, even though he absorbs as much punishment as any back in the
league, very strong in 4th quarter.”
Morris’s consistency alone is reason to grab him as a top 10 RB in 2013.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bengals –
Another solid RB that currently sits within the top 15 for RBs, the Lawfirm has
been improving as the 2012 season progressed.
Josh Moore (@4for4_Josh)
tweeted, “BJGE has 106 carries for 543 yards last 5 games (5.1YPC), 158-537
first 9 (3.4). Getting more work AND getting more effective.” Never a “sexy” pick on draft day but could
easily anchor your RB2 slot.
Michael Crabtree, 49ers – Frank Dupont
(@FantasyDouche) notes,
“Michael Crabtree has averaged over 10 standard points/game since Kaepernick
became the starter. Interesting name for next year.” He currently sits within the top 20 of
fantasy points in standard leagues so may not be a sleeper in 2013, but a full
off-season with Kaepernick could increase his fantasy production even more.
Colin Kaepernick, 49ers – Josh Moore (@4for4_Josh)
highlighted, “Colin Kaepernick’s 4 passing TDs Sunday surpassed his total of 3
in 4 previous starts.” While Kaepernick
might have been struggling to score fantasy points in the conventional way for
QBs, he actually has averaged 18 points per week in standard leagues over the
last 6 weeks. You would expect him to
improve all around heading into next season and could easily be a weekly
fantasy starter that could be had in later rounds.
Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals – Andy
Behrens (@andybehrens)
displayed the depths to which Fitzgerald has fallen this season tweeting, “Last
5 weeks, Larry Fitzgerald has seen 42 targets, among the league leaders. He's
caught 10 balls for 89 yards. Let's chip in, buy him a QB.” Fitzgerald actually averaged 10 points per
game in standard scoring leagues with Kolb as his starter this season. That pace would have made him a top 12 WR
this season. It will be interesting to
see what the Cardinals do in regards to their QB next season, but Kolb
returning as the starter could still make Fitzgerald a potential top 10 WR that
might be drafted outside the top 20 at the position.
All of the above information and tweets
came across the News page of my website, Fantasy
Football Aggregator. Twitter can be overwhelming for most, but the FFGator
News feeds take out much of the noise and provides the ability to search on
specific players as well. News from top sources and fantasy football analysts
are aggregated in one place, so if you enjoyed the above breakdowns, check out
the site for even more. If you are on Twitter I also suggest following all of
the above for great fantasy football analysis and commentary.
Follow
Luke Wetta on Twitter @FFGator
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