Brandon Myers

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Fantasy Football 2014: Our Top Five Tight End Sleepers

Posted by fantasyfurnace on August 8, 2014
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

After the top 5 tight ends are off the board, this category is reminiscent of what the catcher category is in fantasy baseball. Almost a necessary evil; taking up one slot on your roster but hardly ever realizing massive fantasy points. We list several sleeper tight ends for those who want to squeeze every possible point out of the position 

TIGHT ENDS:

1. Delanie Walker-TE-Titans- If we told you that we could get you a player to produce 6-7 points a game at the tight end posiition and your in a league of 12 or more, wouldn’t you sign up for that right now? Well, you can with Delanie Walker. Even on an offensively challenged Titans team, Walker finished last season scoring the 12th-most fantasy points among tight ends with just under 600 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. And if you are in a league of 12 or less, Walker could serve as a decent fill-in during bye weeks.

#82, TE Delanie Walker's size and great hands should allow him to continue to be a consistent tight end addition to your roster when the bigger sexy names are off the board, says the Mark J. Rebilas-USA . Photo:

#82, TE Delanie Walker’s size and great hands should allow him to continue to be a consistent tight end addition to your roster when the bigger sexier names are off the board, says the Furnace. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA Today Sports

2. Garrett Graham-TE-Texans- Owen Daniels owners really suffered last year as he remained sidelined through most of the season with a fractured fibula. However, it gave Graham a chance to impress and he did such a good job that the Texans ended up trading Daniels to the Ravens (where he’ll see his targets drop in favor of Dennis Pitta). Graham should improve on his numbers from last year which we forecast will end up somewhere around 700/7.

3. Zach Ertz-TE-Eagles- Actually it wasn’t until the end of last season that we became impressed with Ertz. We thought he had potential when he tallied 900 receiving yards and scored 6 touchdowns in his last year at Stanford, and saw signs of that talent when in the last five games with the Eagles a year ago, Ertz caught 15 passes for 195 yards and scored three times. Admittedly with Brent Celek to compete with plus playing in a Chip Kelly offense which is not tight end friendly, Ertz should be considered in deeper leagues only unless and until he we see more targets on a regular basis.

4. Austin Seferian-Jenkins-TE-Bucs- A true sleeper, Seferian-Jenkins who was the Buccaneers second round (sixth pick) in the NFL draft last May, was a pinball machine at the University of Washington last year lighting it up with 1,838 yards on 146 catches while scoring an unheard of 21 touchdowns. College ball is never the same as the NFL, but clearly the kids got the potential. Now all he has to do is compete for passes with Tim Wright and ex-Raiders/ex-Giant Brandon Myers. A tall task but worth the risk.

New tight end #87 on the Bucs, has the talent to become one of the great TE's in the league if he can show up his competition on Joe Nicholson / USA TODAY Sports Bucanneers. Photo:

New tight end #87 on the Bucs, (#88 on the University of Washington) has the talent to become one of the great TE’s in the league if he can outperform his competition in Tampa Bay. Photo: Joe Nicholson / USA TODAY Sports Bucanneers

5. Tyler Eifert-TE-Bengals- A huge bust in his first year with the Bengals last season, the first round pick of Cincinnati in 2013 has plenty of room to grow especially as the Bengals try and infuse Eifert more into their offensive scheme. Otherwise what was the point of picking him in the first round? We believe there will be a big turnaround in Eifert’s production and a breakout year could be in the offing.

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Was Kevin Gilbride really to blame for the Giants demise?

Posted by fantasyfurnace on January 6, 2014
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

The Giants offensive coordinator tendered his resignation last week and to us, it just doesn’t seem justified. Although it probably was a case of the Giants giving Gilbride the option of resigning rather than being fired, Gilbride said that it was all his decision. In any event, it still begs the question, was the G-men’s lack of offense and ultimate demise mainly his fault?

There are too many reasons to suggest that it wasn’t. The complete collapse of the team’s offensive line and Jerry Reeses’s inability to bring in some players during the season added to Eli Manning’s career-setting 39 sacks as well as his record-setting 27 interceptions. The O-Line, simply put, did not give the beleaguered quarterback the time to make accurate throws and that, coupled with his indecision this season, led to an inordinate amount of hits and sacks.

"The first thing I said to our owners is I'm responsible for the coaches, and to think there's any one individual who is responsible for the circumstances that we found ourselves in, that's crazy" -Tom Coughlin AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Keven Gilbride, the Giants Offensive Coordinator for the past ten years has now resigned.
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

We don’t believe that Eli Manning who is a former Super Bowl MVP, suddenly has forgotten how to be an elite quarterback, and more importantly, that it is Gilbride’s fault. Hakeem Nicks, in his contract year no less, was of no use to Manning failing to record even one touchdown this season. Even ‘Mr. Salsa’ himself, Victor Cruz (4 TDs) had an off year as Rueben Randle scored more touchdowns (6). The Giants’ tight end position, once a mainstay of their offense was at best ineffective with Brandon Myers averaging 32.6 receiving yards per game and posting only four touchdowns all season.

At running back, the Giants were devoid of their Earth, Wind, and Fire trifecta on their Super Bowl run. That trio included Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward. This year’s group included Andre Brown who broke his leg, David Wilson who had a more serious neck injury, and Brandon Jacobs who couldn’t carry the load single handedly & has since retired. Was the lack of a running game Gilbride’s fault as well? We think not. Once again, without a talented offensive line to open up some lanes, the team’s running backs rang up some of the fewest rushing yards in the league making Eli force many balls downfield as he consistently found himself in 3rd and long situations.

The Giants offense was ranked 28th in the NFL by season’s end. The team struggled, scoring an average of 18.4 points per game and you are not going to win many games scoring just a little over two touchdowns a game. On defense, during their 0-6 start to the season, the Giants, in games 4 through 7, were outscored 146-61. Not your typical Big Blue defense working on all cylinders. Once again, no fault of Kevin Gilbride.

The most telling stat that we were able to come up with was this: The Giants have scored 400 points in one season just five times in their long history. Three of those were under Kevin Gilbride. Enough said.

"The first thing I said to our owners is I'm responsible for the coaches, and to think there's any one individual who is responsible for the circumstances that we found ourselves in, that's crazy."- Tom MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“The first thing I said to our owners is I’m responsible for the coaches, and to think there’s any one individual who is responsible for the circumstances that we found ourselves in (this season), that’s crazy.”- Tom Coughlin Photo: MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Fantasy Football-Week #13 Waiver Wire Pickups

Posted by fantasyfurnace on November 28, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

This is an important week in Fantasy Football. Several teams in your leagues have already clinched playoff spots making a win this week vital for the teams who are on the bubble. In some Yahoo! leagues this is the last week of the regular season! Here are some pickups for your consideration heading into ‘lucky’ week #13…

Mohamed Sanu-WR-Bengals-This former Rutgers star has fast becoming a favorite goal line receiver and #2 option for QB Andy Dalton opposite A.J. Green. Last week he was targeted nine times but only netted 29 receiving yards to go along with two touchdowns. He now has four touchdowns in the past three weeks making him a viable option in most leagues. He’ll face the S.D. Chargers this week who give up the 13th most fantasy points to WR’s. Sanu is available in over 90% of leagues.

#12 WR Mohamed Sanu has become Andy Dalton’s 2nd favorite receiver behind A.J. Green. A must add in most leagues & formats. Photo: Peter Aiken/Getty Images

Dallas Cowboys-Def/SP Teams- Although the ‘Boys have a less than ‘average’ defense, we like the matchup they’ll have this week going up against their divisional rival Philadelphia Eagles. The woeful ‘Birds have lost seven straight and are in a free-fall. The last time these two teams met back in week #10, the Cowboys amassed a total of 22 fantasy points. With Nick Foles and a very porous Eagles offensive line, this willl be the opportune time to pick up Dallas if your team defense/sp. team is suspect this week. Dallas is owned in 40% of leagues.

Justin Blackmon-WR-Jaguars- If you’re in need of a WR2 this week, then have we got a pickup for you! Coming off the Titan’s game last week, Blackmon rustled in a nice 12 fantasy points in standard non PPR leagues by virtue of his 62 receiving yards on five passes and a touchdown. This week he’ll face the team that has given up more fantasy points to wide receivers than any other in the league; the Bufallo Bills. Jags QB Chad Henne has formed a nice chemistry between him and Blackmon and we think he’s a must add in most formats. He’s only available in 40% of leagues so those of you in leagues of 10 teams or less  still have a shot of picking him up.

Jacquizz Rodgers-RB-Falcons-If you have been on the fence about whether or not to pick up Michael Turner’s back-up, then this week you should take the plunge. He’s coming off a week where he scored his first rushing touchdown against one of the more formidable teams against the rush in Tampa Bay. He ran for 49 yards on 1o carries and picked up another 30 yards on two receptions. Turner has not been burning up the turf this season and you can expect Rodgers to garner 15 or so carries this week against the N.O. Saints who have given up the league’s 2nd most fantasy points to running backs. Rodgers is currently available in just over 50% of leagues.

#32 RB Jacquizz Rodgers should pick up some additional carries this week after gaining 152 all-purpose yards last week. Photo: atlantafalcons.com

Garett Graham-TE-Texans- Tied for the most touchdowns (3) over the past four weeks, one behind Jimmy Graham (no relation), this Graham makes for a serviceable tight end in 12+ leagues and deeper leagues as he will face a Titans team that has given up the fourth most fantasy points to tight ends this season. He can fill in nicely if you’ve lost Gronk or if you have Brandon Myers on your team. (Myers goes up against one of the stingiest teams vs TE’s in the league in Cleveland this week). Graham is available in almost every league. We predict he’ll put up 40 yards and a score this week.