It's Hallamentary: Questions and Answers For Week 7

Posted by Ryan Hallam on 10/18/2012 | 3 Comments

Tags: Shonn Greene, Cam Newton, Josh Freeman, AJ Green, Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Brandon Batch, Matt Hasselbeck, Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Larry Fitzgerald, James Jones, Alfred Morris

Week 6 of the NFL season and we are starting to get to the point of the season where we separate the contenders from the pretenders. Even if you are 1-5 or 2-4 there is still time to save your team and your season, but it’s going to take work.  It is time to make some tough decisions.  It’s time to analyze each player on your roster and see if they are helping you or have the chance to right away. You might have to cut a player you wouldn’t imagine.  The future of your team begins right now.  How do you win this week’s matchups?  It’s Hallamentary!

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Questions about your team or a waiver move?  Lineup decisions?  You can email me at ryan@fantasyalarm.com for answers to those questions.  You can also hit me up by following me on Twitter @ryanhallamFA or if you just want to read some of my incoherent babbling in 140 characters. 

Is it OK to trust Shonn Greene? Greene had perhaps the game of his career as he rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns in just a single outing on Sunday against the Colts, which nearly doubled his season totals in just four quarters.  All of a sudden people actually believe in this guy and seem to think that he might be able to replicate this game.  WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!  Greene is mediocre at best, and if you have the opportunity to trade him, PLEEEEEEASE do it now!  Greene may have one more games like this right now, but you are in for a whole bunch of 65 yards and no score kind of games in his future than 100 yard games and any touchdowns.  Greene isn’t going to all of a sudden turn into a consistent back, so dump him now if you can.

What do you think of Josh Freeman?   Freeman has thrown for 300 yards his last two starts, and in Week 6 he also tossed three touchdown scores. I’ve been starting to hear some rumblings about people possibly thinking that they could trust Freeman.  Is this true?  Is it possible?  I’m actually going to say…….not yet, but I’m getting closer.  I’ve always felt that Freeman has talent, but he has never had much talent in the running backs and receivers around him.  Vincent Jackson has been everything the Bucs hoped for, and now Mike Williams is starting to look like his rookie season and not the colossal disappointment that he’s been the past couple of seasons.  I am liking Freeman as a bye week replacement this week if you have him, and I could suggest starting him in the right situation.

Can Cam Newton become a viable starting fantasy quarterback again? Newton has had a tough rough start to the season, as he has more interceptions than touchdowns and has fallen short of 250 yards in three of his five starts.  I still have faith in Newton and believe that you (and I) should continue to start him until he figures it out.  He also is averaging 40 yards a game rushing and has three scores that way, so even when he disappoints you through the air he can still score points in other ways.  Unless you drafted someone like Eli Manning as your QB2, I still feel like you need to continue to start Newton and roll with him come hell or high water, live with him and die with him. 

Seriously, how much longer can AJ Green keep this up?  Green has been absolutely ridiculous this season as he has topped 100 yards in three of six games, and has scored in each game since Week 1.  He is on pace for over 100 catches, well over 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns.  Now the question is can he get to those totals?  If you read my preseason articles, you would know that I absolutely loved Green coming into the season and own him in five of my six leagues, so believe me no one is happier than I in his performance.  Well, maybe his agent is…….and maybe his mother, but that’s it.  All of that being said, I might surprise you here……..I would shop him.  Now, I’m not saying shop him with the mindset of having to trade him, but I would try to gauge the interest of your league.  I would never dump him.  Hell, I wouldn’t even trade him if the deal was pretty fair.  But you might find someone in your league that is willing to give you the mother load for Green.  If you can find some dynamite deal for him, that is when I would be willing to trade him.  I’m talking about an elite running back and a great wide receiver back in return.  See if it’s out there.  It never hurts to try, but I’m telling you that it has to be a great deal for you.  Smart fantasy players are those that take advantage of such situations. 

What can you expect this week from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running backs?  Last week Rashard Mendenhall was hurt early, Isaac Redman was hurt late after racking up over 100 yards receiving, and Brandon Batch came in to finish the loss to the Titans. So far this week neither Mendenhall or Redman have practiced, which means we could be seeing a heavy dose of Batch again this week.  The Bengals have been a pretty porous run defense this year, so it would be a shame of Mendy (the only real fantasy relevant back in Pittsburgh).  If he’s going to play, I would start Mendenhall.  If he’s out and Redman is in, I can’t say that I would start him. The receiving yards last week were way out of the ordinary for him, so you can’t count on that happening again.  And although Batch scored last week, it was a short touchdown and I didn’t see anything from him that screamed Please Play Me!  I would probably stay away from the whole situation this week if you can, but if you really need a back, Mendenhall would be the only one I’d be comfortable starting. 

Is Matt Hasselbeck a decent bye week replacement against the Bills?  There are six teams on bye this week, so chances are you might be looking to your QB2 to step up to the plate this week and carry you to a victory.  Hasselbeck draws Buffalo this week, who has been very, very generous to opposing quarterbacks and receivers so far this season.  At some point Mario Williams and the Buffalo defense has to wake up and start playing better, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at home this week against a decent but far from great Titan offense.  Hasselbeck has good weapons in Kenny Britt, Jared Cook, Nate Washington, and the underrated Kendall Wright, but I’m thinking this isn’t a great week to start Hasselbeck and can see him throwing for 180-210 yards and just a single touchdown. 

With Kevin Kolb down, does that kill Larry Fitzgerald’s value? Do you remember last year when both Kevin Kolb and John Skelton were terrible?  I know, I know you are saying “Damn it Ryan why would we watch the Arizona Cardinals?” and I get that.  So let me refresh your memory.  Last year both John Skelton and Kevin Kolb were horrible and Fitzgerald still had 80 catches for over 1,400 yards and eight touchdowns.  And after getting off to a slow start this year he has had four strong games in a row including last week which was mostly run by Skelton. So, why I think that Skelton isn’t going to put up very many points, when he does I believe that it will be when he combines with Fitzy.  I do, however, think that this hurts Andre Roberts’ value.  There are only going to be so many completed passes and scores in Arizona, not sure there’s enough for Roberts to score consistently. 

Should you go with James Jones again this week?  I don’t see a way that Greg Jennings plays again this week, so I have to believe that Jones is going to be a good play again this week against the Rams.  Now his catches and yardage have decreased in each of the last three weeks, so there is some cause for concern, but he does have two touchdowns in each of those three games.  I also do believe that when his fantasy value slips, it’s going to be quick and drastic, so watch for that as well.  I have a feeling that after this week, Jones might fall back to a guy that isn’t going to be startable on a weekly basis whether Jennings returns or not.  It helps him that the running game in Green Bay is basically non-existent, but I don’t look for Jones to be a long term success, and if you can pawn him off on one of your sucker friends, I would do so before Sunday. 

Is it time to sell high on Alfred Morris?  I think the answer can be summed up best in three words.  Oh hell no!  Outside of last week, the guy who we never expected to start for Washington had rushed for at least 75 yards in each game.  But to make up for only getting 47, he at least scored.  Morris has been fantasy football’s biggest surprise this season, and I don’t see any reason to stop playing him or thinking that he might slow down now.  I am sure that some of you are worried about him becoming a victim of some Shanahanigans and the coach changing his mind, and I get that anything can happen, but I see no reason why he should even be considering it, so I would not shop him and keep him in your lineup on a weekly basis.  Mike Shanahan has always liked to run, and has always been successful at it, so Morris should be able to top 1,200 yards and double digit scores this season.

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