11/22/14
Last week we took a look at some fantasy player who have been disappointing so far this football season. So after 11 weeks let’s take a look at players who have been surprises or have out performed were they were ranked to start the season. I’m using the pre-seasons rankings from our Yahoo! fantasy football league entitled Next Year is Here 13. At quarterback Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers was ranked at 100 to start the season. Going into Week 12 Rivers is ranked in the 19th position among all NFL players. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was ranked at 94th to start the season and right now Roethlisberger is the 6th rated player in the NFL. As hard as it is to believe Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts was rated as the 59th player coming into the season. Right now Luck is the #1 overall player in our league. Looking at running backs Justin Forsett of the Baltimore Raves was ranked as the 190th player coming into the season. If you took a chance on Forsett it’s paid off for you as he is right now the 32nd ranked player. Chris Ivory was ranked at 134th coming into the season, but has moved into 61st place right now. Denard Robinson wasn’t even the starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars to start the season. Since Robinson was just going to be the 3rd down change of pace back he was ranked at 212nd to start the season. If you drafted him or found him on your waiver wire Robinson has helped your team as going into Week 12 he’s ranked as the 93rd best player. Looking at the wide receivers. Jeremy Maclin was coming off of an injury and you had to wonder if he’d be the guy in the Philadelphia Eagles offense. With some questions coming into the 2014 season Macklin was rated at 68th overall. Macklin has stayed healthy and is rated in the 18th spot right now. Mohamed Sanu of the Cincinnati Bengals wouldn’t be considered the top wide receiver on his team; that would be A.J. Green, but Sanu is still a quality fantasy player. Sanu started the season ranked at 178th, but has moved himself into the 53rd overall spot. A lot of fantasy players stayed away from Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. thinking he might not have much left. Smith started the season ranked at 149th and even though he has cooled off a little bit the last couple weeks he’s still ranked at 62nd though Week 11. There are few elite tight ends in fantasy football and if you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast you know that the league I’m using for rankings is also the league where we have to start 2 tight ends a week. While Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots is the highest ranked tight end at 20th you could’ve found some guys to help out your fantasy team. Larry Donnell of the New York Giants started the season being ranked in the 203rd position. Going into Week 12, Donnell has moved into the 75th spot for the season. Coby Fleener of the Indianapolis Colts started the season 2 spots behind Donnell in the 205th spot and Fleener is also in a 2 tight end system with Dwayne Allen. Fleener is now ranked 84th and with Allen out injured and possible missing some games Fleener’s ranking could continue to go up. It can be tough to invest in any Oakland Raiders when it comes to fantasy football but tight end Mychal Rivera has been solid. Rivera started the season with a ranking of 246th but he’s been coming on in the last few weeks and is now ranked at 144th. I don’t know if you can be surprised by a kicker n fantasy football but there are some guys who have moved up in the rankings from where they started. Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots started the season ranked 196th, but has moved up to 79th in the rankings. Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts started the season ranked 202nd and is now ranked 91st. Shaun Suisham of the Pittsburgh Steelers started the season ranked 235th and is now ranked at 145th. When it comes to Defense?Special Teams there are a few that have moved up the rankings from where they started out. The Philadelphia Eagles started the season ranked at 191st overall, but have moved up to 54th overall with the season they’ve had. The Miami Dolphins where in the 194th position overall to start the season and right now the Dolphins are 81st overall. The Arizona Cardinals were ranked in the 200th spot to start off the season. Going into Week 12 Arizona is ranked at 109th. Hopefully you where able to draft these guys or trade for them or even find them on your waiver wire, but they’re some of the biggest movers up from where they started the season. We’ll see where they all end up by the end of the season.
Are you buying the Toronto Raptors? The Raptors are off to a 10-2 start to this NBA season after making the playoffs last season. DeMar DeRozan is averaging 20 points a game to lead the Raptors in scoring while Kyle Lowry is handing out 5.8 assists per game and adding 18.4 points per game. Jonas Valanciunas is the Raptors leading rebounder averaging 8.1 boards a game and is adding 11.4 points per game. Guard Lou Williams is also scoring 11.5 points per game for Toronto. The Raptors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 124-83 on Friday night in the first game of back to back games for them, Tonight; Saturday they have a match up with the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6); in Cleveland. Obviously 12 games into a season is too early to tell where a team will end up, but there are times where a hot start can carry a team through a season even an 82 game season like the NBA. With the NBA’s Eastern conference like it is would it be a big surprise if Toronto re[resents the Eastern conference in the NBA finals.
Is tonight the night for the Philadelphia 76ers to get their first win of the NBA season? The 76ers are 0-12 after losing 122-96 to the Phoenix Suns last night (Friday) at home. Tonight the 76ers go to New York to play the 3-10 and struggling Knicks. On Thursday’s podcast you might have heard Jerry Hoover mention how upset he’d be if the Knicks lose this game. Dan the Man also has a rooting interest in the Knicks but this could be the 76ers shot to get that 1st win. If the 76ers don’t get that win tonight then when. After tonight’s game against the Knicks the 76ers have the Portland Trails Blazers (9-3) on November 24th. The Brooklyn Nets (5-7) on November 26th. The Dallas Mavericks (10-3) on November 26th. The San Antonio Spurs (8-4) on December 1st and the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-8) on December 3rd. Even on the road the 76ers have a chance tonight against the Knicks and if you’re a 76ers fan you have to ask yourself; if not tonight then when?
You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.
So how was your week?
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