It's Hallamentary: Questions and Answers For Week 14

Posted by Ryan Hallam on 12/06/2012 | 1 Comments

Tags: DeMarco Murray, Jacquizz Rodgers, Michael Turner, Ryan Mathews, Martellus Bennett, Matt Ryan, Pierre Garcon, John Skelton, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Roberts, Beanie Wells

Are you ready for some fantasy football playoffs?  Most of you are there now, though some of you might still be in the regular season. The decisions you make now are those that will either keep you going to send your fantasy football team golfing. How can you keep this season going for you?  It’s Hallamentary of course! 

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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. 

OK so DeMarco Murray is back, should you start him now?  Coming into the season the Cowboys’ offense was going to revolve around DeMarco Murray.  Sure, Tony Romo was going to get his and Dez Bryant surely is their best playmaker but Murray is great catching passes out of the backfield and is also a great runner. He was way more involved in the running game in his first contest back than I anticipated and with another week to rest there’s no reason to think that he won’t be an RB1 come Week 14.  Start Murray with ultimate confidence and hopefully we will all reap the rewards of holding him all of this time.

Jacquizz Rodgers vs. Michael Turner.  Who is more valuable down the stretch? It has been an interesting couple of weeks for Jacquizz Rodgers and Michael Turner, and the majority of the carries are starting to be a blurry line for the Falcons. Rodgers clearly has the advantage over Turner.  I know that Turner had more yardage on Thursday but I still see Rodgers being the better workhorse in the last month and if I had both I would be starting Rodgers over Turner down the stretch of my fantasy playoffs even though that isn’t the way the majority of the way the regular season has turned out.

Is it time to stop considering Ryan Mathews no matter the matchup?  It has been seven weeks since this guy has visited the end zone and although he is still getting the majority of the carries for the Lightning Bolts, can you possibly start Mathews anymore?  The answer is clearly no.  He hasn’t broken 75 rushing yards since October, and without being able to find paydirt I see no reason why you should consider Mathews. Hell, in the one league I own him I started DeMarco Murray who was documented to be limited in Week 13.  There’s very few situations that I can see starting Mathews makes much sense these days.

Is Martellus Bennett a sleeper tight end?  I loved Bennett coming into the season as a great sleeper tight end and he started the season like a house of fire with touchdowns in each of the first three games.  Something happened after that as he only broke 50 yards once in the next eight weeks, until Monday.  Bennett seemed to be one of the favorite targets of Eli Manning against the Redskins as he had five catches and 82 yards and a score.  Can he build on this effort and help you in the playoffs if you have an inconsistent guy like Jared Cook, Greg Olsen, or Brandon Pettigrew?  Eh, I like Bennett, but I think I would roll with the guys who got you there.  If you are rocking Tony Moeaki, Dustin Keller, or Heath Miller, I would grab Bennett. 

Is Matt Ryan hitting the wall?  He has been leading your team to victory the entire first half of the season, and now all of a sudden in the last five weeks you’ve seen the slide.  In the last five weeks he has thrown five touchdown passes against seven interceptions.  The yards have still been there, and so have the victories for the Falcons, but fantasy football is all about touchdowns and who could give a crap if the Falcons win or lose (sorry Brian Fraser)?  I liked Ryan coming into the season, but with the Falcons having nothing to play for soon and with Jacquizz Rodgers starting to get more run, I can see Atlanta throwing less, but as I was asked this week, “can you think about sitting him?”  Is that blasphemy? Well, Martha Mitchell and the rest of you out there in Fantasy Land, it depends.  If you drafted Ryan as your second quarterback, then there is a chance.  But if you are going to throw someone like Cam Newton, or try to pick a guy off of the wire, I would roll with Ryan.  If you have say Eli Manning or someone like that I could consider it, but I would probably keep rolling with my guy. 

Is Pierre Garcon a viable fantasy receiver down the stretch?   With his foot injury earlier in the season, I advised many, including Jason Siler, to let go of Garcon with little hope of him coming back in time to make a fantasy impact and if you held him your season would be over before it mattered.  But Garcon is back, and in the last two weeks he has had a serious fantasy impact with 12 catches for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. With just four games left in the regular season and fewer in the fantasy season, Garcon looks like a fantastic contributor as he clearly has a chemistry with his quarterback and should be an awesome source of points down the stretch. He is owned in most leagues and he should be started in most any format in December. 

Now that John Skelton is back under center, can you start Arizona players?  The past two weeks, last week particularly, have been some of the ugliest football I have ever had the chance to witness in my entire life and that is because of Ryan Lindley.  Thankfully, Ken Whisenhunt has declared that John Skelton the quarterback so can you play Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Roberts, or Beanie Wells? I’ll take these one at a time.  Beanie Wells, no.  He hasn’t shown the ability to make people miss, and while Skelton should make the defenses stay sort of honest, I can’t see Wells having a good game in Seattle.  Roberts’ value is tied to his health in my opinion.  If he is going to play and you are in a PPR league, I would play Roberts.  If it is standard scoring, I don’t think I would.  Larry Fitzgerald owners REJOICE!  Skelton is far from a good NFL quarterback, but he’s good enough that Fitzgerald is startable again.  Put him back in there and I think he has a shot at 100 yards and a score. 

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