Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition. Is it time to trade away Jordan Cameron? Does the Jay Cutler injury doom Brandon Marshall? And how does the Houston offense change with Case Keenum at quarterback?
Question 1
I lost Cutler and Vick to injuries. I own Gronkowski and J. Cameron. PPR league. 6 points for all touchdowns. Would you consider trading Cameron for Russell Wilson? Seattle's schedule seems to be very easy the rest of the way. I have no faith in Vick staying healthy even if he does play this weekend.
Johnny Bazzano (SANTA ROSA, CA)
Yes. Clever, aggressive move, and I’m all for it. In leagues with 6 points for TD passes, you must have a good quarterback. You might have acceptable play at that position. You could use Vick for the next four games and hope Cutler is healthy enough to take the field in Week 12 (when Vick has his bye). Maybe you pick up Josh McCown and/or Nick Foles and juggle those four guys into make-do quarterbacking the rest of the way. But the wiser course, I think, is to move Cameron for Wilson. Gronkowski is back now, so Cameron has not value to you. The way the Browns are falling apart, his value also could be declining. So I am in favor of moving Cameron, then going with a Wilson-Vick tandem the rest of the way. Both of those teams have favorable schedules, so I think that would put you in a good spot at quarterback in all of your remaining games. You’d just have to gamble that Gronk can stay healthy the rest of the way, but I think that’s a lesser evil than the grab-bag committee approach at quarterback.
Question 2
With the injury to Matt Schaub, how does this effect Andre Johnson & DeAndre Hopkins? It was obvious who Schaub's favorite target is
Daoud Bey (CAMDEN, NJ)
Gary Kubiak says Matt Schaub is still the starter there, but we’ll see what Schaub looks like next week when they start practicing for the Colts game. My guess is that he still won’t be 100 percent, and that they’ll go with Case Keenum. In the Kansas City game, Keenum showed more of a tendency to try to get the ball deep. He completed only 15 passes, but they went for 271 yards. If Keenum is in there, I think it helps Hopkins and hurts Johnson. Johnson (I think) is more likely to catch 8-9 balls when Schaub is in there. Hopkins is more likely with Keenum to hit on a long touchdown. Hopkins caught 29- and 35-yard passes against Kansas City. And from a scoring perspective, probably both of these guys would be better with Keenum. When Schaub is at quarterback, it tends to be the tight ends scoring the touchdowns.
Question 3
How much do you think Marshall's value will fall with Cutler out, and is Douglas for real? I have been offered Marshall, Wallace and Trent Richardson for Alfred Morris and Harry Douglas, and have AP, Moreno and L. Bell as RBs. I appreciate your insights.
Scott Kopischke (MENOMONEE FALLS, WI)
I will take the Morris-Douglas side of that deal. Morris is better than Richardson. I know that Roy Helu ran for 3 TDs against Chicago, but I still like Morris a lot more than Richardson. Richardson has been struggling since the get-go for the Colts. I don’t know if he isn’t comfortable in the offense or if he’s simply nowhere near as good as everyone thought he would be, but it’s not happening. With Morris-Helu, Helu is the better pass catcher, so they use him in their spread-type offenses. Think Danny Woodhead and Darren Sproles. But Morris is still the guy there, and he’s playing well. He averaged around 5 yards per carry against Chicago. I would much rather have Morris than Richardson. If I were downgrading from Morris to Richardson, it would need to be for a big upgrade at wide receiver. I don’t think Marshall gives you that, relative to Douglas. Atlanta passes a lot, and Douglas is a big part of that offense. I don’t think Marshall will die without Cutler; McCown looked fine running that offense against Washington. But the difference between Morris and Richardson is greater than the difference between Marshall and Douglas. Wallace is in the background relative to those guys; I don’t really care about him. On my board, I’ve Marshall outscoring Douglas by 7 points the rest of the way – 94-87. But Morris beats Richardson by 14 (100-86). Note that in the numerical analysis, Morris-Douglas benefit from each having already had their bye, while neither Richardson nor Marshall has had his bye. If you ignore the byes and injury potential and say each guy’s playing nine games the rest of the way, then the numbers give a slight edge to Marshall-Richardson-Wallace. So I give my vote to Morris-Douglas, but it’s a soft vote.
Question 4
In a 1/2 point PPR with no flex (start only 2 WR's) I have next to nothing at WR. Amendola (might be declared dead), Wayne (out for year), Stevie Johnson (bad back, QB?'s), T.Y. Hilton (sporadic), Tate (see Hilton), and Kris Durham (picked up for a goof). Since you can see that I stuffed my bench with ordinary wideouts I don’t have much depth to trade out off (had to drop David Wilson and Shane Vareen as they were taking space). I was wondering what WR you think I can get for the KC defense and then take my chance on a weekly basis with a matchup D. These are the FA defenses still around Bills, Bears, Cards, Browns, Texans and a few others you would expect. I’m 4-3 thanks to Peyton, and fighting for a playoff spot.
ERIC FEINGOLD (GARDEN CITY, NY)
We differ on T.Y. Hilton. With Reggie Wayne out for the year, I think Hilton is about to explode. As in, he easily could be a top-10 receiver the rest of the way. A month from now, you may look back and say that the Wayne injury was the best think that happened to your fantasy team. Yes, you lose Wayne, who was a solid, steady performer. But Hilton has a lot more big-play ability, and now they’re going to be forcing the ball into his hands. Remember when Darrius Heyward-Bey got hurt in the second game? Hilton then went for about 124 yards in a partial game. As for defenses, you can play matchups with those groups. Bills are getting lots of sacks and interceptions, and I think Marquise Goodwin will return a kickoff for a touchdown before the end of the year. Bears score on returns. Cleveland might have the league’s best punt returner (Travis Benjamin) and has been solid defensively.
Question 5
What to do with Danny Amendola? Partly on account of how strongly you guys ranked him prior to my draft, I grabbed Amendola in both of my leagues (one is PPR and the other is a 2 QB starter league that is non-PPR). Needless to say, when I drafted him I didn't expect to get more than 11 or 12 games of production, but to get just two games out of seven is even worse than my worst-case scenario. And he's too risky to start in Week 8 even if he does play. I decided to drop him outright in my non-PPR league because my bench consists of just 6 players, of which our keepers must remain owned or else their keeper status is null and void. I've stashed him on my PPR team bench, hoping he turns it around somehow. At what point is it wise to drop him?
Andrew Napoli (SPRINGFIELD, VA)
In the non-PPR league, I think you drop him. That’s a diverse receiving corps. When it comes to touchdowns, Rob Gronkowski will be their top guy, and there might not be much difference between their top four wide receivers – Thompkins, Amendola, Dobson and Edelman should all be involved. Shane Vereen will catch some touchdowns when he comes back. It’s in the PPR league that Amendola has value. I would sit him down for now; let him get healthy. The last time he came back hurt (at Cincinnati) he didn’t fill his usual role. He played only when they were using three and four receivers. When he’s 100 percent and worked into the offense into his usual role, he could be a guy who’s catching a half dozen balls per game. There’s value in the PPR format, so you give him some more time, in my opinion.
Question 6
I went into the season with some decent depth (Rice, Murray, and Lacy at RBs - Calvin, Torrey Smith, Boldin, Gordon at WR). I'm in a league where you start 2 RBs and 2 WRs + a flex. With Murray going down with his annual injury and Rice having to deal with a lost Ravens offense, I threw out an offer of Boldin and Smith for LeVeon Bell and Marques Colston. The trade was accepted immediately (typically a bad sign) followed by an assault by the league. I think I shored up my RB situation and got a decent receiver to complement Calvin (although, Gordon has been great since coming off suspension). Can you share your thoughts on the trade?
Sherif Elmazi (Brooklyn, NY)
I don’t understand why that trade would cause an uproar. I’m not even sure which owner the guys in your league are upset with. To me, LeVeon Bell is the best of those four players, and then Boldin-Smith-Colston are pretty comparable. Boldin’s value might decrease when Michael Crabtree comes back. Colston’s value will increase if Jimmy Graham’s foot issues hang around. What’s the complaint? Looks like Murray is coming back from his knee injury this week, so your roster is now a little heavy on running backs. You’ve got four viable running backs but only three wide receivers.
Question 7
Is Doug Martin out for the year?
sal restifo ()
Not necessarily. Martin has a torn labrum, but the Bucs are holding out hope that he can rehab, strengthen the shoulder and play wearing a harness. He might return for the Week 10 game against Miami. But we’ll see how it plays out. If he has any setbacks or it’s just too painful, they’ll stick him on injured reserve. And if he plays, he could be spelled a lot more than usual. Brian Leonard can play on passing downs, and Mike James can pick up some of the load. This is an 0-7 team, right? I don’t understand why the Bucs aren’t just having him undergo surgery right now, giving him more time to come back at 100 percent for the 2014 season.
Question 8
I have a couple of questions. One, I've been offered Ryan Mathews and Keenan Allen for Sproles. Non-PPR league, but can't decide if I trust Mathews enough to stay healthy/produce. Also, I have Zac Stacy, but Bilal Powell just became available. Would you make that switch for the rest of the season?
Drew Bankston (Tyler, TX)
If you need a receiver, you could gamble on Allen being a top-30 receiver in the second half of the season. He’s strung together a few credible games. But the safer route, I think is to just keep Sproles. I think he’s a notch better than Mathews. Working against lesser run defenses, Mathews has gone over 100 yards in back-to-back games, but he’s definitely just part of the backfield there. Three weeks in a row, he hasn’t caught a pass. I don’t see him pounding out many 1-yard touchdowns. They don’t run for a lot of touchdowns, and sometimes they’ll work in Ronnie Brown for the tough yards. Danny Woodhead is their Sproles-type passing downs back. With Sproles, you’re playing for more of a receiver than a runner. He’s on pace to finish with about 1,000 receiving yards. Right now, Sproles is averaging 80 total yards per game, with 2 TDs. Mathews is averaging 74 total yards per game, with 1 TD. I give Sproles the slight edge there. I will go with Stacy over Powell. One guy is more of a full-time player; Powell’s definitely sharing time with Chris Ivory.
Question 9
I'm currently 6-1 in my standard league but have gotten fairly lucky along the way to hit that record. Namely, outside of the resurgence of Vincent Jackson, I don't trust any of my receivers (Nicks, Wallace, Shorts and Alshon) to put up consistent numbers. By this point in the year the waiver wire is pretty sparse (Steve Smith and Michael Floyd are the only 2 that semi-stick out), so which of those 4 spares do you think I can count on throughout the rest of the year? Also, will Greg Olsen ever consistently produce top 10 numbers (He's on my team)?
Drew Bankston (Tyler, TX)
Cam Newton is playing well right now. He’s coming around. So I think you stay the course with Olsen. He might be a top-5 tight end in the second half of the season. I would pull the plug, however, on Nicks. He just seems to have lost some speed and ability. I would much rather have Steve Smith or Michael Floyd on my roster.
Question 10
12-team, non-PPR with deep rosters (20-man). I'm sitting at 4-2, with Vereen on the bench for the stretch run. I also have Cobb. Should I keep him, assuming he'll be back for the fantasy playoffs? (We play a 2-week Super Bowl in weeks 16-17, so I could use him there.) Or should I drop him for someone like Ginn, Wright or Simpson who could help me now?
Scott Anderson (LAKEWOOD, CO)
I would keep Cobb. He should be back in Week 15. That could give him a game to knock off the rust and potentially help you in those final two games (if you’re playing). Even in a league with deep rosters, I think there are always guys like Ginn-Wright-Simpson out there. I’d rather hang onto a player who might be a difference-maker type guy and put you over the top.
Question 11
Approaching mid-season, and I'm having a hard time "holding tight" with what to me still appears like a decent roster. TD-only: Kap, McCoy, CJ2K, Fitzgerald, Boldin, James Jones, and Orange Julius... So far I have been resisting the impulse to blow things up (for example: was offered Eli and TRich for Kap and CJ; or RG3 and TRich for McCoy.) Kaepernick and McCoy have been disappointing, but have to improve right? And CJ looks like he has survived the rough part of Tennessee's schedule and is about to hit a soft patch, so my gut tells me to stand pat. Am I crazy to stay with what I got, or is it time to shake it up?
Matt Tinker (ORLEANS, VT)
Agreed. I think you resist the urge to, um, "tinker" with your lineup. You guy your guys the chance to do what you selected them for. Chris Johnson is getting to play against some softer defenses, including a pair against Jacksonville. Is there any starting tailback in the league who can play two games against Jacksonville and not score at least one touchdown?