Nobody needs to be told
starting Peyton Manning, Jamaal Charles, or Calvin Johnson is
a good idea. Duh, right? You can’t have studs at every position,
though, unless you’re in the shallowest of leagues. This
is where the Shot Caller comes in. Need help deciding which bargain
basement QB to use and which to ignore on Manning’s bye
week? Let’s talk. Looking for solutions at running back
because Charles is a game-time decision? Look no further. Need
to know which of your unproven targets to start and which to sit
since you ignored Megatron and went Jimmy Graham-RB-QB in your
first three rounds? You get the idea. Past results may not guarantee
future success, but ignoring them entirely can ruin your Sundays
in a hurry (maybe even your Mondays and Thursdays). Read on for
a little history and, hopefully, a little sage advice.
Note: Fantasy points
based on FF Today’s standard scoring system.
Bye Weeks: San Francisco, N.Y.
Giants
Ryan Tannehill has 97 rushing yards over
the last two weeks to go along with 521 yds and 4 TDs.
Grab a Helmet
Ryan
Tannehill @ JAX: Heading into Week 4 about a month ago,
Tannehill was one lackluster performance away from losing his job
as Miami’s starting signal caller. All he’s done in three games
since is throw for nearly 800 yards, six touchdowns, and average
25.7 fantasy points per outing, placing him squarely in the top
10 over that stretch. The Fish also apparently remembered he was
a wide receiver in college and can outrun most linebackers/safeties
when he tucks the pigskin and runs. In his first three games, the
former Aggie gained a measly 18 yards on foot. In his last three,
he’s tallied a robust 132. I’m not sure what took Coach Philbin
and Co. so long to tap into Tannehill’s multi-dimensional athleticism,
but failing to do so demonstrated a stunning lack of offensive creativity.
The Miami brain trust has seen the light, it seems, so keep starting
Tannehill.
Mike
Glennon v. MIN: South Florida’s other professional franchise
spent Week 7 licking its wounds after another thrashing, this time
at the hands of Baltimore’s Ravens. In its two worst losses this
season, the Bucs have been outscored 104-31 (yikes!) and both games
were essentially over before the second quarter started. If there’s
a silver lining for them, I’m not sure what it would be. If there’s
a silver lining for us, it’s Mike Glennon. He’ll never be a star
in this league and might not even be the long-term solution for
Tampa. Nevertheless, while he’s still presiding over an offense
regularly digging out of deep, deep holes, he’s a sneaky fantasy
start. He’s averaging about 40 pass attempts, almost 290 yards,
and two scores per contest since taking over for Josh McCown, all
useful figures. The only thing he can’t do is augment those figures
with decent rushing totals.
Tony
Romo v. WAS (Monday): I was pumped about Romo’s prospects
when the season began and even snatched him up in almost all my
leagues. My logic was simple: He’d be steering a crummy team frequently
playing from behind and executing a pass-happy Scott Linehan offense
that possesses elite offensive weapons. It’s now a couple months
later and the reality has mostly matched the forecast…but for all
the wrong reasons. Romo engineers the league’s most successful squad,
almost never plays from behind, and has only thrown 35 or more passes
twice so far (Matthew Stafford, Linehan’s former QB, only FAILED
to reach that mark twice last season). Regardless, Romo’s almost
right on his career points-per-game average and appears to be in
no danger of getting hurt thanks to stellar protection. It’s working
in Big D and should continue working for us. Start Romo against
Washington’s below-average defense this coming Monday.
Grab a Clipboard
Colt
McCoy @ DAL (Monday): When McCoy takes Washington’s
first snap Monday night, he’ll become the 43rd quarterback to
start a game under center this season. At that rate, fully two-thirds
of Day 1 starting QBs will have missed action or been completely
replaced by the time we reach Week 17. Consider this your annual
reminder that change is the only constant when it comes to NFL
football. Will Washington be better off with McCoy running the
show? He was certainly very efficient in mop-up duty last Sunday,
completing 11-of-12 passes for 128 yards and a score. I should
probably remind you, however, that more than half that yardage
and the TD were tallied on one play (his first attempt) and that
Pierre Garçon did most of the work. McCoy is a check-down specialist
who doesn’t scare a single defensive coordinator. I think it’s
safe to ignore him.
Austin
Davis @ KC: Davis was the very first backup to make
an appearance this season (excepting Michael Vick’s gimmicky participation
in Week 1) and has, inarguably, been the most successful. He’s
already notched two 300-yard, three-TD games and is now coming
off a super-efficient 18-of-21, two-TD performance against the
league’s best defense. Fellow Southern Miss alum/quarterbacking
great Brett Favre even weighed in this week on Davis’ ceiling:
“Not to sound off my rocker, but [Davis]…can be the next Tom Brady
or Kurt Warner. [Brian] Hoyer as well.” If you’ve ever wondered
why Favre drives a tractor and makes weird infomercials for a
living instead of providing color on NFL telecasts, there you
go. I bet an uppity league mate of mine (aka, my cousin) Davis
wouldn’t top 50 fantasy points Weeks 6 through 8. He needs 23
more against KC to win the bet. He isn’t gonna get ‘em.
Cam
Newton v. SEA: Newton’s points-per-game average
has declined every single year since he splashed onto the NFL
scene in 2011 and is currently sitting at 21.8 through seven weeks.
That figure is very misleading, however. If you remove the wildly
anomalous 38.9-point effort he totaled in five Week 6 quarters
against the Bengals (the game ended in a tie), he’s only
averaging 18.4 points per tilt in 2014. For perspective, EJ Manuel
averaged 18.3 while he was still playing in Buffalo and Blake
Bortles has averaged 18.5 since he took the reins in Jacksonville.
That’s not exactly select company for a guy who finished
fourth overall at the position his rookie season. They didn’t
play like it last Sunday, but I just called Seattle’s defense
the best in the league and absolutely meant it. Expect an ugly
offensive performance from Cam and his Panthers this coming Sunday
in Charlotte.
Running Backs 
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