Ballin’ or Fallin’ – Week 11
Scott Henkel
Ballin’ or Fallin’ is an unorthodox look at the fantasy football values of players from around the league taking in everything to see if a guy’s value is going up or down.If your guy isn’t one of the ones looked at in the feature article or you think I’m full of it shoot me an email, start a thread in the forums, or post a question in the comments below and I’ll answer. I don’t just answer one or two softball questions, I answer all of them. Seriously.
I’ve been without a rant for quite a while and it is quite time I went on a small one early in this week’s edition. Bill Belichick, you sir have some brass ones. If you weren’t such a douchenozzle in every other aspect of coaching and in your own personal life I would salute you. It takes moxy to go for it on 4th down with 3 yards to go on the road. It takes cajones of Mountain Ram proportions to do so on your own side of the field and with under 2 minutes in the fourth quarter. I wouldn’t do it. I’d be pissed if the Steelers did it. But since it is you Coach B, that was awesome! Also to Jim Rome who decided to call out fantasy football hobbyists who WIN their leagues for not having a life I have one response; dude, more people care about fantasy football than horse racing by a long shot. Seriously, just because you dumped more coin into a freaking horse than most Americans can afford to spend on a house in one lifetime doesn’t translate into the all important “give a crap” by your listeners. You have coin to drop in a sport with a steroid history that makes baseball look clean, hell, pro body building looks clean by comparison, good on ya’! But seriously, pot meets kettle when a horse racing fan clowns on fantasy football for being worthless and taking time away from work and families.
Week 11 is here and the time is now to act if you want to make a push for the playoffs this season or if your team stinks like a methane farm you may want to start putting things in place for next year. Wherever you’re at in your season you’ve come to the right place for the best fantasy football information on the net. If you’re new to the feature don’t expect the same obvious garbage that can be gleamed from the stats sheets. We’re talking about players that are either outproducing their perceived value or draft status or are tanking. Ballin’ or Fallin’ is a the MOAB in your fantasy football arsenal when considering making major roster moves or making trades. I’ve been scary accurate this year so if you’ve found me, bookmark this page. Alright let’s do this:
Ballin’
Quarterback
Chad Henne
Chad Henne- Looking at his stat line only tells 1/4 of the story. He didn’t light up the scoreboard and had more than one bone headed throw. But he showed me something that I can’t put into a stat line. He had his second 4th quarter comeback this season and looked like a grizzled veteran as he made great decisions with the ball and audibled at the line to give “Sticky” Ricky Williams the chance to put the Fins in a great spot to win it with a field goal. He’s not going to tear it up stat wise at least this season but to be bold and go out on a wild limb with the pieces being put into place around him, Henne could be an absolute beast in the near future…like next year. Considering Ricky is thinking hard about retiring from pro-football and taking up the bong and holistic massage full time that leaves Ronnie Brown as the sole offensive weapon in the backfield. The whole Wildcat thing sticking around for a second year is amazing and without Williams unlikely to continue in any appreciable amount next season. No, the depth in the Dolphin lineup is at wide receiver and not that trumped up return man Ginn Jr. There are about 3-4 1st and 2nd year players who have some good talent and more important fit a role to an offensive scheme that centers around the quarterback. Henne won’t be Tom Brady but numbers similar to Donovan McNabb are possible if the Dolphins continue to build around Henne.
Honorable mention: Josh Freeman (loved what I saw from him), Phillip Rivers, Vince Young (3-0 as a starter this year and his numbers are getting better each week), Jason Campbell
Runningback
Chris "Beanie" Wells
Chris “Beanie” Wells -Comparing Henne to McNabb was a small twig to my next prognostication. You Bengal fans are going to have to find someone who hasn’t freebased lead paint to tell you what that word means. The first thing to pop into my sizable head when watching Beanie get carries against the Seahawks was, “Damn this kid runs like Adrian “ADP” Peterson.” He appears to be getting his sea legs underneath him and has a very competent complimentary back in Hightower so wearing down is less of a possibility compared to guys getting 25-30 touches per game. On 15 carries he managed 5.3 yards per carry on both power and speed runs. The coaching staff knew what they got when they picked him in the first round of this year’s draft and now we’re getting a glimpse of what could be coming in the next few years. So here’s the big leap: redraft leagues Beanie could be a decent flex to solid RB2 but in keeper leagues, say hello to ADP II. Yup, this kid has the same kind of speed ADP had coming out of college and seems to possess the same ability to finish runs…just like ADP. Now will he get the same kind of eye popping numbers that ADP has gotten every year since being drafted? No, not while the Cards have the best wide receiver trio in the business. BUT, The Desert Heat won’t last forever and may not last to next year with Boldin on the edge of trade rumors every year and Father Time behind center. So next season you could see Wells blow up out of nowhere ala. Peterson.
Honorable mention- LeSean McCoy (Westy is going to be out for a while if ever and McCoy has all the talent in the world to kick serious butt), Jason Snelling (believe the numbers on him), Bernard Scott (the fact the Bengals signed Larry “Pimphand” Johnson means they are concerned with Benson and Scott showed great stuff), Stephen Jackson (owners can breath now)
Wide Receiver
Devery Henderson
Devery Henderson - The big play guy has had very consistent numbers in an offense that spreads the wealth more than Marx. Henderson has had one true clunker of a game but hey, I’ll take that out of a guy who more than likely didn’t get drafted and may still be on your waiver wire despite putting up over 500 yards. Now his big drawback is tds where he only has one which sucks. But in that offense how much longer do you think he’s going to get blanked? And given his aptitude for the big play I’d guess that time is coming and soon. Henderson is a guy you can plug into most scoring systems when you have a guy with questionable matchups or to compensate for….ow, I don’t know…..LOSING A GUY TO DOPING IN MID SEASON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Sorry, momentary psychotic episode triggered by the galactically stupid.
Honorable mention – Calvin Johnson (who has done exactly jack and squat so far but put up respectable numbers against Minny), Chris Chambers (by default), Jason Avant (DON’T be a sucker but this guy was a coach’s darling all year long so there may be more to him than a one hit wonder), Robert Meachem (shhhh, don’t tell anybody but he’s fixin’ to explode!)
Tight End
Kellen Winslow Jr
Kellen Winslow Jr.- Alright I’m sold. It appears he is indeed going to continue to be relevant in fantasy football despite having a rookie quarterback behind the helm. After seeing his body of work so far this season it is entirely possible he goes on to eclipse his best years in Cleveland. To note he’s already matched career high’s in touchdowns and is on pace to beat his yardage best totals of 1,100 yards. There aren’t any true other options with Antonio Bryant on the cripple cart week in and week out so his looks will continue to hover in the double digits. He’s pretty much a weekly starter in any TE required format.
Honorable mention- Fred Davis, Dustin Keller
Fallin’
Quarterback
Jay Cutler Sad Face
Jay Cutler- Nice game Jay. You know, over the dull roar of laughter heard out of Denver (louder possibly than the tears of heartbroken bandwagon Bronco fans) is the distinctly high pitched giggle of one Josh “Doogie” McDaniels. I’m sure if the man could breath he’d be sayin, “I told you so!” but alas, the man is doubled over in laughter. 17 picks (5 the other night) so far this season is pretty much bench material if he didn’t sign an uber contract after the trade. Worse than his stats are his general attitude (came standard) along with his renewed sense of perfection in the face of awful play (that part is an upgrade). At this point even the hardened Bears fan has to be whispering in his own hollow head, “WTF?” Keep your chins up, Jay!
Honorable mention- Tony Romo, Jamarcus Russell (this week’s Dumpster Fire Award recipient), Brady Quinn (sorry ladies, he sucks…mind out of gutters gents)
Runningbacks
Brian Westbrook
Brian Westbrook – This was one that is tough to put into practical fantasy football terms because I know concussions are more than just about sports or a hobby like fantasy football. Westbrook is consulting a concussion specialist which in of itself is pretty bad news. But this is coming off of a previous concussion only a few weeks old which doesn’t bode well for one of the games most complete backs since Marshall Faulk. Right now I get the feeling that Westy may be done for the season at a minimum. Man, I hope I’m wrong for the second time in my life (see my week 3 prediction about Steve Smith of the Giants for the first) because even though I’ve never owned Westy I like him as a player and respect his skills. Time for fantasy football owners to start looking at turning the page on Westy for this season.
Honorable mention: Clinton Portis (same as Westbrook), Pierre Thomas, Tim Hightower
Wide Receivers & Tight End
Dwayne Bowe
Dwayne Bowe - MORON! Didn’t the NFL just ban a bunch of guys last year for taking diuretics? I know you have weight requirements that drive bonus triggers. I get that part of the business. But dude if you are taking anything as a professional athlete and I don’ care if it is milk in your whey protein shake, you better make damn sure it isn’t illegal. He says he showed up 30 lbs over weight for spring ball which if Bowe played defensive or offensive line I could understand. But Bowe is a wide receiver which the last time I checked required some measure of speed and running stamina in order to play at the NFL level. The timing of this tells volumes as to why Bowe started out “4th string” in preseason and was forced to “earn” a starting spot. More than likely the coaching staff caught wind of this little experiment in crapper inducing drugs and hammered Bowe on their own for being a moron. Now the league gets a crack at him and if you’re like me and are now without one of the guys you were relying on to work for you in your league you are…for a lack of a better term…..PISSED!
Honorable mention: Nope, sorry. No one is as stupid as Bowe right now. So no honorable mentions.
Well that does it for Ballin’ or Fallin’ – Week 11. If you liked or hated my calls this week sound off in the comments section below, send me an email at airram98@hotmail.com, or start a thread in the forums and lets kick up some debate. Best of luck to you and hope to see you in the forums! – Scott
4:58 am on November 18th, 2009
Another great read, and might i say comical in a very good way (the pic of Bowe)the lead-in about J.Rome funny stuff