Williams’ secret fantasy football sauce

My eyes are wide open, and my jaw hangs loose in disbelief. I quickly grab my iPhone and update my twitter feed hoping to find some news on the injury that just took place on the field.

 I find a tweet that reads, “Steven Jackson has left game with quad injury. Return is questionable”

“This is terrible news,” I said out loud, while my mind raced with all of the different scenarios that my fantasy team could face as I lost my starting running back on his first touch of the game

People that owned Eddie Lacy, Ray Rice, Reggie Bush, Maurice Jones-Drew, Andre Johnson, or Larry Fitzgerald experienced the same helpless feeling as I did when they watched their starting players exit their games due to injury. Basically it was a rough week for a handle full of owners out there. If your team escaped injury free, then please be understanding toward owners who take time out of their days this week to join Ron Burgundy as they weep in a glass case of emotion.

Recaps

Jets vs. Patriots: Why am I recapping a game so atrocious offensively that Minnesota Vikings own Christian Ponder could have been playing quarterback for either team, and know one would have noticed? It is because I have some apologizes to make. I have no clue what is going on with the Patriots running game. This team was second in the NFL in rushing attempts last season, and as we all know the offense for the Patriots looks a lot different now than it did last year. Yet, with a much weaker receiving core, Brady still threw the ball to a slew of no-name receivers 39 times.

 Here is the deal. Ridley will find his way back to being a top 15 running back, and I have a feeling Kembrell Thompkins will figure it out at some point. Sadly, though, I have no idea when that will be. So, did I just dish out some pretty crappy fantasy advice there? Yeah, I sure did. But at this point I’m tired of eating crow due to the unpredictability of this New England offense.

Fantasy Feeling: “Gronk, save us,” said every Patriots fan in America as well as any owner that has him sitting on their bench right now. As of now, Rob Gronkowski is expected to be back on the field by week four, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. There is some buzz that he could be active for week three though. Don’t start Tom Brady until Gronk or Amendola returns to the lineup. Julian Edlemen caught 13 passes for only 78 yards. Keep starting him as long as Amendola is out.  Now it is time for me to talk about any and all fantasy relevant players for the New York Jets…

 Chargers vs. Eagles: In what many thought would be a blowout, it was the San Diego Chargers that SHOCKED the world by defeating Chip Kelly and his fast-paced, high flying Eagles. What a lot of people seemed to forget about the Eagles is that even though their offense is completely revamped, their defense that gave up almost 5,500 total yards of offense last season did little to improve this past offseason. Fantasy-wise, this means that the Eagles secondary is one of the weaker units in the league. Get excited when you see that your quarterbacks or wide receivers have the Eagles on their schedule.

Fantasy Feeling: Let me take you back to a time before I had my own fantasy football column, and these pitiful words of advice exited my mouth. “I hate Desean Jackson. Don’t draft him.” I shall now eat more crow. It looks as if Jackson is now inspired to play because he has found a coach that knows how to maximize his unique and specific skill set.  As long as he and Michael Vick stay healthy, I find it hard to see a reason why Jackson’s production would dramatically fall off.  Also, I like the value of Bryce Brown right now. Add him to your bench or even don’t be afraid to go get him in a small trade. If LeSean McCoy goes down, then Brown is all of a sudden a top ten running back.

 Don’t put too much stock into the connection between Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers and the fantasy Frankenstein that is wide receiver Eddie Royal.  Royal was fantasy relevant about five years ago, and now he has come back to life, leading the NFL in touchdowns and red zone targets. That all sounds great, but I don’t see how it can last based on the fact that over the past years the Chargers have been a model of inconsistency. The only thing I found in this game that could prove to be worthwhile is that former top fantasy tight end Antonio Gates might be capable of becoming a top-eight fantasy tight end season this year.

 Packers vs. Washington’s pro football team: Didn’t I tell you all to start your Packers pass catchers? I hope you listened because, as I’m sure most of you saw, they all went off in a big way. James Jones, who did not tally a single reception in week one, bounced back to show the world he is still ballin’ like his hypothetical cousin Jim Jones was back in 2006. Robert Griffin III threw for 300 plus yards, and Alfred Morris owners rejoiced when he was able to eclipse the century mark on the ground.

 Fantasy Feeling: If you own RGII then you have to be content with what he’s given you this far. That is largely due to the fact that the professional team in the nation’s capital have had to play catch up with teams the entire season this far. If I owned RGIII, though, I’d be a bit skeptical of the long-term outlook of Griffin. He has not been running the ball nearly as well as he did last year, he is not stepping into a lot of his throws, and even his own teammates have stated that he is not the RGIII of last year. If you can trade him to an owner who still remembers the Griffin of last year then make the trade.

Eddie Lacy left the game on his first carry. Don’t expect him back until after the Packers bye week at best. I believe Lacy might be a nice guy to target in a trade right now because I believe he’ll be touchdown dependant. He’s going to have a lot of chances as long as Aaron Rodgers is at quarterback.

 Predictions:

QB I BELIEVE in this week, Russell Wilson: Wilson passed for 320 yards in week one of the NFL season. Now he did follow that up with only a 142 yard passing day the follow week, but cut the kid a break. It was against one of the top defenses in the league.  This week the Seahawks play the Tebow-less Jaguars, and my fantasy senses are telling me this one could get ugly. Wilson will have a chance to make a lot of plays this week.

 RB’s I BELIEVE in this week: Lamar Miller and Rashad Mendenhall: This week the Dolphins take on the Falcons. Atlanta is bruised up on both sides of the ball, and Miami wants to run the football. Look for Miller to take the next step this week.

 Mendenhall faces a Saints defense that allowed over 140 yards to the man known as the Muscle Hamster last week. Mendenhall has a good shot at having his first 100-yard  game as a Cardinal, and I have a gut feeling he gets into the end zone also.

 WR’s I BELIEVE in this week: Pierre Garcon and Anquan Boldin: Garcon has been capitalizing on the garbage time that Washington has seen the past two weeks, and that could continue to happen. The reason I like Garcon though is because I am not putting much stock into the success of Detroit’s pass defense so far. I think they’ve been put in some favorable situations. I like the chances of Garcon making some big plays this week.

 My fantasy senses are telling me that Anquan Boldin will score more points this week in fantasy then he did last week. Take that for insight. But seriously there is a lot to like here. I mean someone has to catch the ball in the 49ers offense, and the Colts made Terrelle Pryor look like Johnny Football.  Boldin will bounce back strong with a nice week.

 That’s all I wrote! As long as I continue to have some decent calls, I think my wonderful staff here at The Spectator is going to keep letting me write. So good luck this week and remember this:  “Let the haters hate, winners celebrate.” Best wishes.