Stephen Hill

All posts tagged Stephen Hill

NFL 2013: Week #5-The Furnace’s Five Best Bets

Posted by fantasyfurnace on October 4, 2013
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Another 3-2 week for our staff here last week bringing our season record to a pedestrian 11-9. Maybe now that the season is a quarter over it will get easier…we’ll see. Three games that we’ve included this week that look the most intriguing are the 49ers-Texans, Saints-Bears and the Packers-Lions. Here’s our take. and  all of our five best bets…

Home team in CAPS

Broncos over the COWBOYS- We’re not sold on the ‘Boys early dominance (2-0) at home this season. Besides playing in one of the weakest and most inept divisions this year, their “Win one-Lose one” style of competition will not fly against the more talent-laden Broncos who have won 15 regular season games in a row now. The Cowboys, and not many other teams, do not have that potent a secondary to keep Peyton from connecting often with his vast array of offensive weapons.

#18 Peyton Manning congratulates #87 Eric Decker after scoring a touchdown vs the Raiders in Denver on MNF 9/23/13 AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

#18 Peyton Manning congratulates #87 Eric Decker after scoring a touchdown vs the Raiders in Denver on MNF 9/23/13 AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

49ERS over the Texans- The Texans lost their comfortable lead and ultimately the game to the Seahawks last week at home. They will now be travelling to Candlestick which is not an easy place to help turn your game around and Matt Schaub does need to turn his game around! Two major injuries for Houston loom large in DE J. J. Watt (groin) and LB Brian Cushing (concussion). The home crowd should also help Colin Kaepernick try and get back into his comfort zone.

Saints over the BEARS- Great matchup of two teams that are currently sitting on top of their respective divisions, in a season which is now a quarter over. We are still very impressed with the Saints defense which is ranked 6th in the league at the moment. Coming off their Monday night win, the Saints duo of Sean Payton and Drew Brees seem to be working on all cylinders. Too early in the season for the weather in the “windy city” to factor into this game as well.

PACKERS over the Lions- The Pack return to the welcome combines of Lambeau Field for a key divisional game with the offensive minded Lions after blowing their last game in Cincinnati vs the Bengals. In what should be a high-scoring affair, Aaron Rodgers enters this game undefeated against Detroit (8-0) for his career. He has posted 18 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions in those eight games. Wouldn’t be surprised is the final score is 38-24.

#12 Aaron Rodgers looks to make it 9-0 vs the rival Lions on Sunday Photo: Corey Wilson/Press-Gazette

#12 Aaron Rodgers looks to make it 9-0 for his career vs the rival Lions on Sunday Photo: Corey Wilson/Press-Gazette

FALCONS over the Jets- Atlanta, who was ‘desperate’ for a win last week against the Patriots need this week’s victory even moreso before the Saints completely run away with the division. The Jets’ defense is ranked 2nd in the league which should help to keep this one close for most of the contest but if they’re on the field too long that edge would be eliminated. The absence of Santonio Holmes and Stephen Hill won’t help the Jets’ cause either.

Advertisement

Fantasy Football: Week #2 Waiver Wire Pickups

Posted by fantasyfurnace on September 12, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

It was great having football back last weekend! Drafts are over and the craziness that was week #1 is now in the books. Now comes the hard part. Deciding which of the several breakout stars of week 1 to grab or just leave alone. However, the pickups made before week 2 are usually the most important for grabbing potential studs. Study carefully and consider some of these choices we’ve made for you:

1. Alfred Morris-RB-Redskins- No surprise with this pickup as he made fantasy headlines with his breakout week 1 performance vs the Saints. He compiled 96 yards and 2 touchdowns, singling himself as the new starting back in Washington. With his 28 carries it is no secret that Morris will be the main go-to-back and, at worst, will end up at least as a RB2 with many of the goal line carries going his way. To say this is a Must Add would be an understatement!  Just remember as long as Mike Shanahan is the coach there will be some mystery attached to any back on his team. Of course with the Rams on tap in week 2, Morris is an absolute start should you be lucky enough to get him.

#46 Redskins RB Alfred Morris is a Must Add this week after his 96 rushing yards and 2 scores vs the Saints on Sunday. Photo: SI.com

2. Kevin Ogletree-WR-Cowboys- Over 180,000 owners snatched up the wideout within 24 hours of his season debut on Wednesday night vs the Giants. Over 2 million have grabbed the upstart WR in the 3 days that followed. If he’s still a part of your waiver wire, you can feel free to pick him up but temper your expectations as there are other weapons on the Cowboys (Miles Austin, Jason Witten) who, if they were playing at 100% last Wednesday and against a team with a viable healthy secondary, Ogletree doesn’t have the game of his life. If you have bench room, go ahead and get him. If not there are other WRs available with a bigger upside.

3. Randall Cobb-WR-Packers- Case in point. Cobb was targeted and ended up with the most receptions on the Pack at 9-and that’s with a healthy bunch of receivers such as  Jordy Nelson, Jermichael, and veteran Greg Jennings on the field. What I like is the other bonus you get with Cobb and that’s his return capabilities as witnessed on Sunday when he ran a punt return back 75 yards for a touchdown. You would have to check if points are given for return yards and/or return touchdowns in your league, and if they are then Cobb is someone you can add with confidence.

#19 WR Randall Cobb makes for a great addition to your roster for his receiving talent and return threat on special teams. Photo: articles.philly.com

4. Stephen Hill-WR-Jets- The Jets second round pick out of Georgia Tech looked good in pre-season but exploded on Sunday for 5 receptions for 89 yards and two scores. There seems to be a chemistry forming between Sanchez and Hill which could relate into a sleeper season for Hill. Of course a lot depends on Mark Sanchez and what we see over two of the next three games. Passing could become more of a nightmare for the former 1st rounder when he faces Pittsburgh and San Francisco. No easy task there but we still believe that Hill has the talent in the long run and is worth a  pickup in most formats.

#84 WR Stephen Hill should be considered in most formats after his 2 touchdowns vs the Bills on Sunday. Photo: dailynews.com

5.Dennis Pitta-TE-Ravens- I realize that this choice is based on a small sampling from this 4th round pick in the 2012 draft, but he did have the most receptions and receiving yards of any other receiver on the Ravens on MNF which shows the confidence that Joe Flacco has in the youngster. The other TE Ed Dickson who had 22 yards receiving was utilized more in blocking schemes and although still blessed with great hands, there are more and more teams opting to go with two or more TEs after seeing what has happened in New England the past couple of years. We certainly recommend taking a flier on Pitta and in deeper leagues would even suggest picking him up.

 6. Defense/Special Teams- There are two in this category that would be serviceable options for Week #2:

  • Oakland Raiders- All in all the Raiders defense held the Chargers to just just one passing touchdown and five field goals. This week they’ll face one of the most anemic offenses in the league when they travel to Miami. In Ryan Tannehill, they’ll face a QB who last week was intercepted 3 times and sacked 3 times as well.
  • Cincinnati Bengals- Here too the Bengals will go up against another weak, inexperienced Browns quarterback in Brandon Weeden who threw four interceptions, coughed up two fumbles, and was sacked twice vs the Eagles last Sunday. His single digit QB rating (5.1) will tell you they are ripe for the taking making the Bengals a good addition to your roster this week.