This week's nationally televised game that most football fans won't be able to watch has the Cincinnati Bengals visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. While this lacks any marquee value thanks to the Bengals' being led by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and RB Cedric Benson, the game does offer fantasy players the option of starting their Steelers against one of the worst teams in the NFL.

A closer look, though, may cause some hesitation. The Bengals have been second only to the Steelers in RYA over their past three games. Despite that very impressive stat, I would be more focused on their 27th ranked PYA to inform the decision to start or sit RB Willie Parker. Assuming the Steelers passing game racks up yardage at will, I expect Parker to be able to accummulate enough yards to make him a good start.

As for the Bengals skills players, none need to be started if they weren't already. I can't imagine a QB situation so bad that Ryan Fitzpatrick is a legitimate possibility. If he was, then I'd fish in the free agent pool for a better match-up. Trent Edwards, Sage Rosenfels and Marc Bulger face much better match-ups.

As for RB Cedric Benson, he did receive a very impressive 29 touches in last week's tie with the Phialdelphia Eagles. Benson is a serious consideration tostart with that workload, as would be any RB. However, he managed just 79 totals yards. Isn't 2.7 yards per touch disqualifying?

Will Carroll offers up his injury assessments over at Si.com.  Amongst those players everyone is worrying about is Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins, Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams, Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints,  Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers.  Of these, only Roethlisberger and Frank Gore appear to be starting and slated for their regular workloads.

Ben Roethlisberger has been replaced mid-game by Byron Leftwich.  This is disconcerting enough to override the favorable match-up Big Ben has against a weak San Diego Chargers pass defenses.  I can see sitting Roethlisberger in favor of Tyler Thigpen.  Just keep in mind this is a decision based on the risk of not receiving four quarters of production from Big Ben versus four quarters of another QB.

Frank Gore is the type of decision that worries fantasy football owners all day.  Following a 99-yard effort, Gore was expected to produce strongly against a pee-poor St. Louis Rams' defense.  Then Gore tells the press he is suffering from a concussion as a result of his failure to score a TD from one yard out at the end of Monday night's loss to Arizona.  A couple days later, his head coach Mike Singletary refutes Gore's self-assessment.  Gore is again ready to play.

Just as a lawyer says something in front of a jury that the judge instructs the jury to ignore and it can't, fantasy owners cannot forget what Gore said.  Now we worry that Gore will take a hard hit and be lost for the game.  I am sticking with Gore despite the option of starting Steve Slaton or Ladell Betts.

Other start/sits:

RB Earnest Graham, Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  The recent activation of RB Cadillac Williams doesn't worry me in the slightest.  He was activated from the PUP because the Bucs didn't want to be compelled to place him on IR and lose him for the season.  Graham's knee and the presence of RB Warrick Dunn are the issues with Graham.  After a season's worth of splitting carries with Dunn, I'm sitting Graham if another viable option exists.  For me, "viable" means Kevin Smith of the Detroit Lions.  Even Ladell Betts or Peyton Hillis would quailify.

RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers:  Fast Willie is playing with a torn labrum in his shoulder.  Following his earlier knee injury and the broken leg from 2007, FWP appears to be injury-riddled and a seeming sit this week.  However, WR Chad Johnson has played all season with a similar injury and has been relaitvely productive all things considered.  I'd start Willie Parker as a RB2 with the understanding he may lose 25% of his touches to Mewelde Moore.  If for some reason he is slotting as your RB1, then start him without concern for his injury or touches.

RB Steve Jackson, St. Louis Rams:  He tells his fans via his website that he is ready to go.  His coach says he is a game time decision.  There is no reason not to start him, but be wary.  The Cardinals rush defense has ranked 12th in rushing yards allowed over the past three games.

RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers:  He has practiced all week and looks good to go.  With Mewelde Moore having filled-in better than "admirably", don't be surprised to see Fast Willie get fewer than 20 touches.  I'd sit him given other options.

RB Ryan Torain, Denver Bronocs:  Without any proof he is head coach Mike Shannahan's favorite or any record of success, I'd sit him in favor of almost every starting RB.  Maybe even Cedric Benson!  Maybe not because the Dolphins' rush defenses has played poorly recently.

TE Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys:  Witten has broken ribs but wants to play.  If he is active, there is not a lot of risk in starting him because the TE field is shallow.  He is such an important part of Dallas' new can't-throw-deep-at-all offense that he is likely to catch a couple/three passes regardless.

WR Santana Moss, Washington Redskins:  Moss sat out practice on Saturday for the 4th straight day.  Given his team plays Monday night, I'd sit him rather than risk a last-minute inactive/ineffective game.  The Redskins are also on bye next week.  I would expect that to be used to give Moss two weeks off.

QB Brett Favre, New York Jets: Rumors are flying that QB Brett Favre is playing through an injury.  This causes hesitation starting him on the road in Buffalo because the Bills will be looking to make-up for last week's loss in Miami.  While I don't believe the Jets will run effectively, I can see Favre throwing very frequently.  Given his prospensity for INTs, he is a riskier play than other QB1s, but his WRs should benefit still.

Recently, I had the privilege to speak with FOXSports.com's fantasy expert, Roger Rotter, about the upcoming fantasy football season.  He kindly took the time to answer six questions about the upcoming season.  For more analysis from Roger, visit him at his blog.  For more fantasy sports info, visit Foxsport's fantasy site.

Here are the six questions along with Roger's answers.

Continue reading this post »

Previous posts: Tier 1 - Tier 2 - Tier 3

My Tier 4 running backs are the better RB2s you’ll have a chance to draft.  None of these guys are dependable RB1 material, although if you use your first round pick on a QB or a WR then you’ll probably end up with one of these guys as your top RB. That has either a little risk or a lot of risk, depending on where you’re drafting.  In alphabetical order:

Ronnie Brown, Mia – Before Brown went out with a season-ending injury, it was possible he was the best running back in fantasy, depending on your league scoring.  With 991 total yards and 5 total touchdowns through only seven games, he was well on his way to a Westbrook-esque season.  Let’s not forget that he put up those stats on a team that lost all seven of those games.   The only thing stopping me from putting him in Tier 3 is the screwed up QB situation, which could be anybody from rookie Chad Henne to Josh McCown.  I want to believe that Ronnie Brown is a fantasy stud, but I can’t just yet.

Jamal Lewis, Cle – Lewis has always been a problem for me, I'll go into that later. 

Maurice Jones-Drew, Jax – Jones-Drew couldn’t top his spectacular rookie season, but 768 rushing yards and 9 rushing TDs isn’t too bad no matter how you look at it.  The only reason he’s put in Tier 4 is that he’s sharing time with Fred Taylor and that prevents him  from fully breaking out.  Then again, Taylor will turn 32 this season.  Taylor is an iron man, but eventually the Jags are going to start transitioning away from Taylor and towards J-D.  You’d think.   Don’t they?  I like Jones-Drew’s odds to improve on last year’s stats.

Jonathan Stewart, Car – Stewart also gets the special treatment later on.

Willie Parker, Pit – Poor Willie Parker.  He was a top five pick in last season’s fantasy drafts and to justify the confidence he rushes for 1316 yards including eight games with 100+ rushing yards.  So what happens?  The Steelers draft a RB in the first round and Parker drops to Tier 4.  Wow.  Parker averaged over 20 carries a game in 2007 and there’s no way we’ll see that with Rashard Mendenhall hanging around.  In fact, with the Steelers now having three better-than-average WRs (Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and rookie Limas Sweed) , the entire Pittsburgh rushing game should take a step back.  Maybe several steps.  It’s very possible Parker won’t hit 1000 rushing yards this season, and he won’t score enough touchdowns to make up for it.

So the Pittsburgh Steelers become yet another team that’s decided to go with the "Thunder and Lightning" approach to the running game by drafting muscle-bound RB Rashard Mendenhall (23^rd overall).  Say goodbye to Willie Parker being one of the best running backs in fantasy, and say hello to a very unsettled running back by committee situation.

via graphics.fansonly.com

If you’ve read my reviews for Jonathan Stewart and Felix Jones, this post is going to be déjà vu all over again.  Despite Willie Parker rushing for over 1300 yards last season, he proved unable to pound the ball into the end zone.  Enter the 5’ 10", 210 lb Mendenhall, described as having "a low center of gravity and thick legs" .  Well, there you go.

 For fantasy purposes it’s hard to know just how much work Mendenhall is going to get.  I feel confident stating that Stewart will get the majority of carries as the new "power" back in Carolina, because DeAngelo Williams just hasn't shown that he's going to take charge.   That isn’t the case in Pittsburgh, where the speedy Willie Parker is very, very much in charge.  It’s possible that Mendenhall will mostly play a fullback role in his rookie season, watching as Parker races down the field and then coming in to pound it in from the three yard line.  I think that’s unlikely though.  Mendenhall does have some pass-catching skills, so he should see the field between the 10 yard lines as well.

 If I had to decide now, I’d say that Mendenhall will see about 150 carries and finish with 600 yards and between six and nine touchdowns.  That’s not good enough to be a regular starter on your fantasy team, but he will be good enough to fill-in your flex slot during bye weeks or if you get hit with injuries.   Mendenhall will also finish with good receiving totals for a running back, so keep that in mind if you league scores running back receptions and/or yardage.