Published: 11/17/2008 4:12 am by Smitty in Fantasy Articles
Below are the Players On The Rise & On The Decline entering Week 12. This is our Fantasy Football Stock Market in many ways and we hope that this feature helps you get a pulse on some of the more talked about fantasy players at this point in the 2008 fantasy football season.
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Brandon Jacobs | RB NYG
Brandon Jacobs was fantastic on his 11 carries on Sunday, running for 73 yards and two scores. You can’t ask for much more than that on 11 carries against that Ravens defense. So what do you do if you own Jacobs? Do you sell-high? Do you ride the 264-pound beast into your fantasy playoffs? While most would laugh at the idea of trading him, his rushing schedule is a bit tough moving forward. I say sell-high, but ONLY if the price is right. In Weeks 12-17, the Giants face just TWO rushing defense that are NOT inside the league’s top 11. In fact, in Weeks 12-14, Jacobs faces the Cardinals (7th), Redskins (5th) and Eagles (11th). Now, realize that Jacobs just defied this kind of logic on Sunday, rushing for 73 yards and two scores against the Ravens (3rd against the run), but fantasy owners got lucky getting that kind of production off of 11 carries. Eleven carries isn’t going to get it done most weeks… but again, because Jacobs is such a beast-of-a-runner, he is the kind of back that can somehow break off a run against an extremely tough rushing defense… that’s why only sell-high if you sell at all. Need help trading Jacobs? Get on our FFX Forums for some hardcore advice, or Ask Our Staff.
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Terrell Owens | WR DAL
Terrell Owens had a disappointing outing this week (38 yards) given that he just got Tony Romo back from injury, but if you own him, do not sell! At least, do not sell unless the offer is too good to pass up. There was concern that Romo would be a bit rusty in his first game back from his finger injury, and he was, but the stud did lead his team to victory and he should be back to form in Week 12 against the 49ers. Owens is a perfect buy-low candidate, as he was struggling while Romo was out of action, and he just struggled this week with Romo back in the line-up — That could spell knee-jerk reaction for some fantasy owners! Take full advantage and know that Owens is a top 3-5 fantasy wide receiver moving forward. All that said, keep in mind that T.O. and the Cowboys do have a rough passing schedule during the fantasy playoffs, as they play at Pittsburgh (1st) in Week 14, at home against the Giants (2nd) in Week 15 and at home against the Ravens (8th) in Week 16. That could scare some fantasy owners away, but since you’re buying Owens low, fantasy owners can look at this as a solid risk to take. Use that brutal passing schedule to help lower the price!
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Tony Romo | QB DAL
Tony Romo had a weak fantasy performance in Week 11, passing for just 198 yards, 1TD and 2 INTs. Granted this was just his first game back from his finger injury, and as stated above, his schedule is extremely rough moving forward, but this is Romo we’re talking about here. If you own Romo, do not panic. If you do not own Romo, consider attacking him now via trade. Use his rough passing schedule as a part of your sales pitch and go get Romo for your playoff run!
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More Players On The Rise:
- Marion Barber – Barber exploded on Sunday night, rushing for 114 yards and a score against the Redskins. He also caught 6 passes for 39 yards. This is why Barber has been one of our top two "buy-low" candidates as of late. The offers will now starting rolling in for Barber, but decline them unless someone is extremely overpaying. Oh, who is the other player that we have been suggesting to buy now before it’s too late? Marshawn Lynch! Both runners are inside our top 8 moving forward. Lynch plays tonight against the Browns… like Barber after his big game on Sunday, we expect Lynch’s value to quickly change.
- Justin Gage – The Titans receiver had a huge Week 11 game, catching 4 passes for 147 yards and 2TDs. Odds are not many of you started Gage this week, but he could be a decent WR3 play from here on out if you’re hurting at that starting slot. Although, if you can sell-high and use him to upgrade one of your starters, we say go for it.
- Jonathan Stewart – Stewart exploded in Week 11, rushing for 130 yards and a score against the Lions, but DeAngelo Williams topped Stewart’s performance rushing for 120 yards and 2TDs. Stewart is a great player to have stashed away if you already own him, but don’t go trading for him just yet because it doesn’t look like Williams is going anywhere this year. Williams can be counted on for the moment and Stewart is just a high-risk/high-reward flex option moving forward. If Williams gets banged up, though, that will certainly change.
- Maurice Jones-Drew – We said buy-low last week and he responded with two scores. Congrats to those who landed him cheap!
- Ray Rice – Willis McGahee left in the third quarter and did not return. His inconsistency is why we said last week to go after, or keep, Rice while his value was low. Keep tabs on McGahee’s health using our Fantasy Breaking News.
More Players On The Decline:
- Chris Johnson – Rookies often hit that rookie wall, but we do not see the Titans runner slowing down. He only ran for 64 yards in Week 11 – He also had just 24 yards receiving — Johnson should rebound in Week 12 against the Jets. The Jets are 4th against the run, but Johnson is a special runner and can run against just about anyone — And don’t forget how involved the rookie is in the passing game. The Jets rank 28th against the pass.
- Steve Smith – Smith has struggled in back-to-back games, but in his five games prior, the Panthers WR was averaging over 100 yards per game and had four scores in those five contests. He was also averaging 5.8 catches per game in that time. We have actually been asked by some fantasy owners if they should trade Steve Smith for players like Hines Ward. Smith is extremely undervalued right now. We have no clue why!
- Willis McGahee – Last week we said "sell-low" and we recommended that fantasy owners stop counting on McGahee moving forward. We admit that we believed in him (hardcore) early on, and a few of our fantasy teams are falling behind due to his inconsistency, but we have said from the start that owning all three Ravens runners is key. Still, because one doesn’t know which back is going to get the most work week in and week out, this situation is to hard to predict. In fantasy football you have to be able to observe and adjust in order to keep on winning.
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