The Holy Grail – Week 6 RB’s

SOMEONE TACKLE THIS GUY!

BYE WEEKS: DEN , TEN , KC, AZ, SD, SEA

MUST START

1 Mcfadden vs Cle – Most are putting AP in this spot , but I feel like Mcfadden is a breakout week waiting to happen. He has been held without a TD for two weeks and is going against a defense that is 25th in the NFL in total rushing yards allowed. BTW the 4 Rbs Cleveland has faced: Benson , Addai , D. Thomas and Cj2k  and Mcfadden is better than all of them.

2 AP @Chi – We saw what Best did to them last week and they are slow to the ball as they lack overall team speed. Watching AP run is just ridiculous , even he doesn’t know where he is going sometimes. Expect another monster day.

3 Rice vs Hou – Houston loses Mario Williams which really hurts a defense that is playing above its paygrade right now. Rice is going to be impossible to stop at home off a bye week against a defense that will have no answer for him. PS Houston gives up 4.8 YPC and that was  before the Williams injury.

4 Mccoy @Wash – He is impossible to guard in that offense , but Washington is a very good tackling team. His dual threat ability ultimately wins out every week and I think Vick will be energized in this game. We all know what happens to NFL talent once their back is against the wall.

5 Foster @ Bal – He can run against anyone even a team giving up next to nothing on the ground. Regardless of where I put him he is still a must start for the simple fact he is going to get 30 touches weeklyand has multiple TD potential.

6 Forte vs Min – Earth to Matt Forte, you can not keep up these rushing numbers.. can you? The guy looks great , and is a lock for touches  , catches and yards. If they ever get  the O Line to block anyone he could be even better.

7 Gore @Det – Detroit giving up almost 5 yards per carry , Gore looks back in form , Alex Smith actually looks ok , and Vernon Davis is beasting right now. In Harbaugh I trusted before the season , keep it going Niners!

8 Fred Jackson @ NYG – He is playing above his skillset , and it is pissing me the hell off. Someone tackle this guy , he is not all that fast , not terribly shifty doesn’t posessess bulldozer power , but yet he just gets yard after yard and falls forward. This offense is perfect for him and he killed me last week on fanduel as the lemmings are flocking to this flavor of the month.

SOLID STARTS

9 MJD @Pit – Pit is being run on this year. I still think they will sure up their run defense this year , but MJD deserves top of the solid start status because he is running great this year and getting a ton of touches as usual. Temper your expectations this week though , especially on the road.

10 Best vs SF – Last weeks explosion plus a home game this week is enough for me to put him at 10 on the PPR weekly rankings. This guy is a never sit type player because for every average to below average game he pops off for a 30 point blow up game.

11 Bradshaw vs Buf – At home against an energized defense and offense , this guy needs 25 touches for the Giants to win this game. After last weeks flat effort the Giants will be up to par this week , I see 100 yards 1 td and 4 catches for this smallish dynamo.

12 Turner vs Car – Great matchup and they are home this week. Julio Jones is inactive , which just means more balls to the other studs. Turner for multiple TDs this week , his only drawback is no receptions which is why he is behind Bradshaw and Best for me who hold equal stud ranking but get bumps for the safety of PPR receptions.

13 Sjax @ Gb – He will finally be healthy and is going against a defense that is surprisingly beatable this year. I expect him to get a big enough work load and be involved in enough of a shoot out to put up nice numbers this week with a chance at great returns. Would be higher if not for the obvious bust potential in an offense that has looked lost so far.

14 Felix Jones @NE – Great matchup , I bet he goes off in the catch game this week. Start all your Cowboys and Patriots this week.

15 Hillis @Oak – Rumblings of his contract , rumors of teammates calling him out , then the coaches say he is going to be the work horse. He has a great matchup and because of his health and planned touches he makes for a high end RB2 this week with potential to play like a RB1.

16 Sproles @TB – I am finally a believer. It took 30 percent of the fantasy season but he is just impossible to tackle and guard in that offense. I mean how to you account for a tiny lil guy running around all crazy when you also have to guard against Graham and the rest of that offense.

SOME QUESTIONS

17 Benson vs Indy – I have long loathed this guy and he rarely finds the endzone. But against a team that has given up 6 rushing TDs already he is going to fall into the endzone at least once.

18 Greene vs Mia – Miami is a bad defense , Jets are back to ground and pound. Greene looked very strong at times during the Pats game last week and I expect some more down hill running from this guy who should be finding his legs right about now.

19 Torain vs Phi – Going to take a chance that Torain has a really nice couple weeks here. We know Shanahan is hard to read , but what isn’t hard to read is his production two weeks ago. Hightower should still get catches and enough carries to contribute

**This is a rank assuming he starts and gets the most touches**

20 Mendenhall vs Jax – Left off the Grail mid-week b/c of injury concerns but with news he is starting , he plays as a RB2 with decent TD potential. In this area you are looking at a bunch of guys that receive 12-15 carries and Mendenhall has the most talent of all of them. Ben had to have loosened up some defenses last week with all those TDs which could give him some room to run early in the game. Keep your hopes in check and if Pit gets a lead you may see more of some other players as they will not over use him – for that reason alone I can’t blame you for starting any of the other RB’s in this area.

21 Starks vs Stl – at home against a defense that is just horrible vs the run , start all your Packers this week regardless of Grant. Has a bright future and a great dynasty league look about him.

**Moves up because the law firm and D. Thomas are both questionable**

22 Green Ellis vs Dal – Dallas is going to give up points in bunches , the only reason he is not a bit higher is because there is always a chance he rushes for 40 yards with 0 Tds in that offense.

23 D. Thomas @NYJ – A team that is reeling on defense AND offense right now. Thomas looks like he is going to be a very very good starting RB in this league for a very long time IF he can shake this injury bug. He will get enough touches this week to perform like a low end rb 2.

24 E. Graham vs NO – Blount is out and the entire offense is busting all over the fantasy spectrum. He is versatile enough to play as a decent flex , but in that offense even the talented Blount struggles for yards. His positive is he will catches 3-5 balls to give you a bump in PPR value.

25 Stewart @Atl – Really runs good for a guy that gets less than 10 carries a week and catches a few balls , Horrible situation for a talented runner that should and could be a great fantasy back. Gets the bump over D Will because he contributes in the pass game but I would look elsewhere unless you are desperate.

26 D Will @ Atl – Really runs good for a guy that gets less than 10 carries a week and catches no balls , Horrible situation for a talented runner that should and could be a great fantasy back – Graham only ahead of him because he has more chances to get you points, D Will needs a 50 yard  TD to even be worth a start and that is just ridiculous to expect every week.

27 Hightower vs Phi – Should get enough catches and rushes to contribute here , but Torain’s emergence is a mar to his long term value plus his rushing average is only 3.5. Frankly he is just not all that talented and I wish I stuck my guns early on to grab Torain and Helu.

28 Ingram @TB – I have to hand it to Larry the Lip – He was right , this guy is not fast or powerful and goes down too easily. The problem is they are running him on obvious run downs. He will improve his numbers and is always a TD candidate , but in PPR this guy is only Flex play with no signs of him improving that value any time soon.

29 Delone Carter @ Cin – Addai will be nursing a week to week injury and that will open up some rushing attempts and playing time for the young rookie. The Calipari’s of Will and Logan are somewhere smiling down upon the potential of a   #freedelone occurence.

I SCREWED UP MY DRAFT

30 Reggie Bush vs NYJ – Its PPR and he has to go somewhere , but I am not starting him , and frankly I am MORE THAN happy he isn’t blowing up.

31 Michael Bush vs Cle – Always a chance at multiple TDs in a rushing offense where he is the goalline back. The problem is he isn’t a true goalline back in the sense that Mcfadden is equally as good if not better in the Redzone. But down here you have to play upside.

32 Pierre Thomas @ Tb – Still getting 5-8 carries and 3-5 catches a week  good enough for a low end flex if you are desperate. If Sproles gets knocked up any time soon he could be in for a nice bump in productivity.

33 Hardesty @ Oak – Even with Hillis being put back into the featured role , Hardesty will still get some touches and his a good enough running to put together a stat line like this: 8 carries 42 yards 3 catches 12 yards -with some decent TD potential.

34 Ridley vs Dal – He is underused , but that offense has too much everywhere. He underperformed last week , over performed the week prior , so somewhere in the middle is a low end flex play with a nice future ahead of him.

**Watch – if BJGE doesn’t go this guy moves to the early 20’s**

35 Helu vs Phi – Start all your Redskin rbs against these Eagles even the ones that might only get 5 carries! haha

36 LT vs Mia – Disappointed last week in a matchup that he should have been used more in. But what do I know , I’m not coaching the Jets , clearly that offense has it under control.. YIKES.

SLEEPER

 Jacobs vs Buf – If he plays he has a better than average chance at scoring and his team will need his energy and emotion to match that over hyper 2011 version of the winning Buffalo Bills!

**UPDATE: INACTIVE**

Shot in the Dark

37 Donald Brown @ Cin – Brown moves to the dark status this week with Addai injured. He should see 10 carries and a dump off or two and is probably on your waiver wire right now.

Missed the Cut But Worth Noting

38 Hunter @Det – with Gore back to full speed he is almost a non factor.

39 Tate @Bal – with Foster back to full speed he is almost a non factor.

40Karim @Pit– with MJD back to full speed he is almost a non factor.

41 Scott vs Indy – Scott is horrible and gets no touches and Leonard is actually a deep sleeper there in PPR.

42 Spiller @NYG with Fjax apparently unguardable he is just sitting around wishing he was home playing Madden.

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That’s it for RB’s as the Grail gets back on track.

Heading to the lab right now to get some WR’s out within a few hours.

as usual I am available on twitter @iconfantasyJoe  to answer all of your Sunday morning lineup questions!

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