Darrius Heyward-Bey

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Fantasy Football 2013: Waiver Wire Pickups for Week #8

Posted by fantasyfurnace on October 22, 2013
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Can you recall a season when there were so many injuries? And those of the season-ending variety no less! The only good news that comes out of these players going down are the opportunities that are available to fantasy owners on the waiver wire. Here are some of those players, none of which is owned in more than 23% of leagues as of Tuesday, Octobber 22, 2013.

1. Mike James-RB-Buccaneers- 11% Owned- Doug Martin, Tampa Bay’s prolific running back, has been sidelined indefinitely with a torn labrum and thus has opened the door for the Buccaneer’s 6th round rookie out of Miami, Mike James. He is also a serviceable receiver  which bodes well for current quarterback Mike Glenn. Although the 3rd down carries will continue to belong to Brian Leonard another sneaky pickup in deeper leagues, James will be the featured back for the foreseeable future.  A must add in most leagues and formats.

#25 RB Mike James will take over the featured back duties in Tampa Bay with Doug Martin out indefinitely. Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

#25 RB Mike James will take over the featured back duties for Tampa Bay with Doug Martin out indefinitely. Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

2. Darrius Heyward-Bey-WR-Colts- 22% Owned- Another major injury this past week was to standout wide receiver Reggie Wayne (knee). Reports say that not only is this season ending, but it could possibly be career ending as well. Heyward-Bey will make for an excellent WR2 in his place. In the Colts’ stunning win over the Broncos on Sunday night, DHB had 4 catches for 44 yards and one touchdown. He also added one carry good for 30 more yards. DHB’s seven targets just emphasizes that he is in line for a much larger role going forward.

3. Jeremy Kerley-WR-Jets- 9% Owned- Kerley is forming a close bond with rookie quarterback Geno Smith as Sunday’s game against the Patriots bears out. He led the team with 10 targets and posted 97 receiving yards and a touchdown. Only one of his receptions didn’t go for a first down! Kerley, with more faith and confidence from Geno Smith, will see more opportunities and hopefully be less inconsistent going forward. He will make a serviceable WR3 this week.

#11 WR Jeremy Kerley almost hit the century mark in receiving yards vs the Patriots last Sunday & is a capable WR3. Photo: USA Today Sports

#11 WR Jeremy Kerley almost hit the century mark in receiving yards vs the Patriots last Sunday & is a capable WR3. Photo: USA Today Sports

4. Saints-DST-23% Owned- The ninth ranked defense in the league goes up against a rookie quarterback, Thaddeus Lewis, and the Buffalo Bills this week. The Saints are a team that’s angry and hungry for a win in the hopes of erasing the memories of the debacle against the Patriots last Sunday night in that ugly 30-27 loss in the waning moments of that game. The Saints will be at home at the noisy confines of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In leagues of 12 or more, there probably isn’t a better team on the wire to select for Week 8.

5. Joseph Fauria-TE-Lions- 18% Owned- We have touted Fauria before, but not many took advantage of his availability last week and so we think another shout-out for Fauria is in order. Oddly enough, he was targeted more times in last week’s game than he has been all season but he did not see the endzone. This week the Lions take on a Cowboy team that has given up the 3rd most fantasy points to Tight Ends this season. With Tony Scheffler remaining out (concussion), the undrafted rookie should  have a 1-2 touchdown day. ForMartellus Bennett owners and those leary about whether or not Jimmy Graham will be on the field this week, Fauria makes an adequate pickup.

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10 Reasons why the Replacement Refs should be replaced…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on September 25, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments

Week #3 in the NFL saw the most mishaps to date which is why the further along the season goes, the more it seems inevitable that sports historians will find it necessary to put an *asterisk  on this season’s games. Every game, no matter who is reffing, will have its share of questionable calls but it seems more and more this year that some of them have been ‘game changing’. Which leads us to our first reason why the replacement refs need to be replaced:

1. Game changing calls can, in some instances, put a team into the playoffs that shouldn’t be there and put others that should on the charter flight back home.

2. The Monday Night Football game between the Packers and the Seahawks. Two refs in the end zone and each with a different take on the game-ending play. The call that stood was, of course, incorrect, making Russell Wilson the first QB in NFL history to win a game by throwing an interception!

The picture of ineptitude has one replacement ref signalling for a Touchdown while the other is calling for a Touchback. Roger Goodell, unforunately, is the only one who can change this situation. Photo: AP

 3. On the Redskins final drive vs the Bengals in their week #3  loss 38-31 , an unsportsmanlike conduct call by the refs resulted in a 20 yard penalty instead of 15. What’s worse is that the refs never explained who the call was against nor what the penalty was for.

4. Two ‘extra’ time outs  were awarded; one to the Ravens in their game vs the Eagles in week #1 and the other to the Seahawks in the game vs the Cardinals also in the same week.

5. Oakland WR Darrius Heyward-Bey was sent to the hospital with a neck injury after Steeler safety Ryan Mundy’s helmet-to-helmet hit in the Raiders week 3 loss. No flag was thrown on the play!

6.  An ESPN warning to the NFL eliminated Brian Stropolo from reffing the week #2 Saints-Panthers game when it was discovered that the ref was an ardent Saints fan on his Facebook page.

7. Completely out of timeouts, a replacement ref awards two replay challenges to the 49ers in the last several minutes of their loss to the Vikings in week #3.

8. Tennessee got an extra 12 yards marked off on a penalty by a replacement ref in overtime in the week #3 game vs the Lions. The ball was placed on the Detroit 29 yard line instead of the Detroit 41, thus slowing the drive towards the Titan’s winning field goal.

9. All five challenges  in the Week #3 Chiefs-Saints game were overturned ‘upon further review’.

10. Excessive penalties/Flow of the game- With some replacement crews  calling as many as 20-25 penalties a game, and then deliberating with each other for several minutes on most of them, it has affected the flow of the action and impeded teams in hurry-up offenses by completely eliminating the element of surprise.

Scenes like this where longer than normal discussions following penalties have become commonplace are disruptive to the flow of NFL games. Photo: zimbio.com

The product that the NFL puts on the field every week is beginning to lose some of its credibility. The rumblings from the fans and the media after each game are getting louder and more frequent. It is time for Roger Goodell to step up to the plate and do the right thing before the replacement refs make a mockery of  the most popular sport in this country. 

Goodell needs to come off of his white horse and fix the mess he has created; and quickly! The fans as well as the players shouldn’t have to suffer because of the commissioner’s ineptitude… 

Fantasy Football-WR’s to grab in the middle to late rounds…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on August 27, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

With the start of the regular season under 10 days away, and as the biggest draft weekend of the season draws near (Sept 1st-3rd), here are some additional tips for you to consider. This list of wide receivers are made up of mid to late round players that can fill your WR2 and WR3 slots. In fact, two receivers below will begin the season as the WR1. They all currently tier 4 and above receivers- Here they are…

Darrius Heyward-Bey-Raiders- With more and more defenses keying in on Denarius Moore, I think that DHB who is more consistent than Moore, will reach that higher level this season. His tremendous speed and versatility will make him QB Carson Palmer’s favorite receiver especially with Jacoby Ford not being a reliable option and TE Brandon Myers not a real receiving threat. Drafted #7 in 2009 he had a top 10 like last four games of 2011, and could be poised for a breakout year.

WR Darrius Heywood-Bey is the lone deep threat of the Oakland Raiders & could have himself a breakout year! Photo: Associated Press

Devery Henderson-Saints-After the Saints let WR Robert Meachem go in the off-season to San Diego, it allowed Henderson to slip into the WR 3 slot and thus be the lone recipient of deep passes from Drew Brees. We were never fans of Meachem so we think the 30 year old veteran will have a breakout year. If you remember Henderson had back-to-back 100 yard games at the beginning of last season so there is reason to believe he can return to his ’09 form.

Titus Young-Lions-We think that the 23 year old  second year receiver will make his way into the Lion’s WR2 slot right behind Megatron. Young caught four touchdown passes in Detroit’s last four regular season games so we know the kid has talent. Couple that with Coach Jim Schwartz’ possibly putting Young on special teams in the return game and you have even more reason to consider picking him up in the later rounds.

#16 WR Titus Young looks to improve in his 2nd season with the Lions as the WR2 behind Calvin Johnson. Photo: lions.com

Brian Hartline-Dolphins– Miami doesn’t exactly have a World Class receiving corps but you can’t ignore the fact that Hartline will be the WR1 this season on this mediocre staff, and as such should receive the majority of passes. Coach Joe Philbin has publicly expressed his confidence in him and although Davone Bess will be fighting Hartline for reps, Clyde Gates, Legedu Naanee (rookie), nor Anthony Fasano will not scare many defenses in the league. Look for Hartline to prosper especially now that Brandon Marshal is gone.

Brian Quick-Rams-This Brian is on another team lacking a formidable bunch of receivers which is why with their 1st pick in the second round, the Rams selected Quick. He will be their WR1 and without much competition. Steve Smith who, after his microfracture knee surgery has not returned to form and Danny Amendola who basically is a slot receiver, is pretty much all they have. Quick could ‘quickly’ become a sleeper this season IF QB Sam Bradford is afforded the time.

#83 WR Brian Quick was the 33rd overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. A lot is expected of the speedy receiver. Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Randall Cobb-Packers- Hard to believe that any receiver on the Packers wouldn’t be productive, but with 22 year old Cobb, you get fantasy points two ways. He has a ‘slight’ chance of taking over the team’s WR3 position from James Jones who came on late last season, and he is clearly one of the most dangerous return men in the league. He should see more reps this year and with Aaron Rodgers under center you always have the opportunity to excel. Cobb makes a nice late pickup…