Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the debut of rookie quarterback, Josh Freeman, the potential rebirth of Chris Chambers, and, as weird as it sounds, the first place Cincinnati Bengals.

Bang for Their Buc!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been looking for their quarterback of the future for some time now. Brad Johnson, Brian Griese, Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, and most recently, Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson - do you really think any of these men is the man an NFL franchise is going to hand the keys to. Truth be told, those guys were just stop-gap quarterbacks - temporary solutions until a more permanent fix could be found. That permanent solution could be rookie quarterback, Josh Freeman.

Upon selecting Freeman as the third quarterback (Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez went ahead of him) and 17th overall selection of this year’s draft, the Bucs and head coach, Raheem Morris, said that they’d be patient and not just throw the rook into the fire. And, they have to be commended as they stuck to their word. Week in and week out, the Bucs’ offense struggled as their passing game failed to get off the ground. Through seven games, the team ranked 26th in passing offense, averaging just 174.3 yards per game, while throwing just 8 TDs to 11 INTs. As a result, the team limped to an 0-7 start to the season.

The 0-7 start may have been a blessing in disguise. With no where to go but up, Morris felt this past weekend’s match-up against the Green Bay Packers was the perfect time to allow his rookie quarterback to make his NFL debut - a no pressure situation. Freeman took the opportunity and ran with it. Sure, he may have only completed 45% of his throws, but Freeman did finish the day with 206 yards, 3 TDs, and just 1 INT while leading the Bucs to their first win of the season. More importantly, the quarterback appeared cool and collected as he threw for the winning score on 4th and four late in the fourth quarter. The Bucs may still just be 1-7, but that record is easier to swallow with the hope Freeman brings for the future.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the potential emergence of Ryan Moats, the fleet feet of Ted Ginn Jr., and the will of Steven Jackson.

(Note: Do not be alarmed, I am not an uninformed football writer. The absence of Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau has been left out intentionally. Seeing as I can’t go anywhere without hearing about or seeing an image of Brett Favre, I have decided to make this article “Favre Free” for all of my readers)

Slaton Fumbles Away Starting Job?

During week 1 and week 2 of the fantasy season, owners were calling for the head of Houston Texans’ running back, Steve Slaton, as the back, who many owners grabbed in the first round of their fantasy drafts, had just a combined seven fantasy points. Slaton, though, quickly returned to his owners’ favor by going for 10, 18, 8, 18, and 18 fantasy points during his next five games. However, while Slaton was returning to his owners’ favor, he was actually losing favor with his real head coach, Gary Kubiak. A integral part of the Texans’ passing game, Slaton was unable to, also, get his ground game going, failing to top 100 rush yards in any contest this season. Making matters worse, he developed a penchant for putting the ball on the ground. So, when the back fumbled for the 7th time this season (he has lost 5) in just eight games, Kubiak decided to make a switch.

Enter Ryan Moats. A five-year veteran who has enjoyed stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Texans, Moats, perhaps realizing this could be his last true opportunity to play himself into a large amount of playing time, took full advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. On 23 carries, the back tallied 126 rushing yards, a 5.5 ypc average, and made three trips to the endzone. Granted, Moats’ big day came against the Buffalo Bills, who rank dead last against the run, but the performance was impressive nonetheless.

Kubiak has kept mum as to his plans going forward, but at the very least, it seems a RBBC will be rearing its head in Houston. While Slaton will continue to enjoy his role in the team’s passing game, Moats looks to be the guy that will be getting the carries between the tackles. If that is indeed the case, both backs make for low-end RB2 plays - an improvement for Moats, but a disappointment to all of Slaton’s owners.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the return of Alex Smith, the rise of Miles Austin, and the running of Shonn Greene.

A Second Chance for Smith

Being a long-time San Francisco 49er fan, I can tell you with certainty that up until yesterday, the name Alex Smith was one met with disdain by Niner fans far and wide. Selected first overall by the Niners back in the 2005 draft, Smith was supposed to be the franchise savior, the man who would turn around the mess that the Niners had become in the early 2000s. However, heading into 2009, thanks to a quarterback rating of just 63.5 in 32 games played, it wasn’t even certain that Smith would be back with the team. After all, Shaun Hill was winning games - the wins may not have been pretty, but fans were just happy to be able to mark some tallies in the win column - and Smith was due a hefty sum. Perhaps sensing that no other team would be interested, Smith reworked his contract to remain in the red and gold.

A quarterback battle ensued, and despite improved play from Smith in the pre-season, Hill came out on top. In essence, the situation could not have worked out any better for Smith. Being in a back-up role, Smith was free of pressure, just waiting in the wings until his chance came. And on Sunday, that chance presented itself.

With Hill lobbing up lame duck after lame duck to the tune of just 45 yards on 6 of 11 passes, head coach Mike Singletary, seeing a need to spark a fire in his team which was trailing 21-0 put Smith into the line-up. Smith came out ready to play. Showing zip on his passes that Niner fans hadn’t seen in some time, Smith demonstrated a nice rapport with WR Michael Crabtree and TE Vernon Davis, helping him to post 206 passing yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. When all was said and done, though, Smith couldn’t being the comeback to completion as the Niners lost 24 to 21. Nevertheless, Smith’s play should make him the team’s starter moving forward, and who knows, perhaps savior is next to come.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the New Orleans Saints’ back field, the return of the 2007 Tom Brady, and the sensational play of Matt Schaub.

The Bell Tolls for Thomas?

Just as fantasy owners got a reprieve thanks to the confusion around the Baltimore Ravens’ backfield finally clearing up, a new three-headed monster has come onto the scene in the form of the New Orleans Saints. In Mike Bell, Reggie Bush, and Pierre Thomas, the Saints feel they have three solid backs they can turn to on any given Sunday to get the job done, much to the chagrin of fantasy owners. So, who’s who in this backfield?

It appears that Bell and Thomas will be the team’s go-to-guys between the tackles, a role they both occupied while the other was injured earlier in the season. Bell performed admirably in weeks 1 and 2 with Thomas out, going for 229 rush yards and a score, while Thomas tallied 212 rushing yards and 3 scores during Bell’s absence in weeks 3 and 4. The question, though, becomes who’ll get more work with both active. Sadly, week 6 shed little light onto the situation as both runners accumulated 15 rushes. With 72 yards on those 15 rushes, Thomas edged out Bell who totaled just 39 yards; however, it was Bell that had the score between the two. Fantasy owners (and experts alike) will have difficulties determining the value of both Bell and Thomas heading into weekend contests from here on out. With that being the case, both RBs can be considered high-end RB3 types. If you have to roll the dice with either, just hope you don’t crap out.

As for Bush, his role is not effective by the presence of either Bell or Thomas. Bush has a niche he’s carved himself into, and he’ll continue to occupy that niche. He continues to be a match-up type flex option moving forward.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing Miles Austin’s big game, Donovan McNabb’s return to the field, Roddy White’s return to stud status, and Ahmad Bradshaw’s running ways.

Milestone for Miles

In the world of fantasy football, one man’s injury is always another man’s opportunity. That was the case this past Sunday for Miles Austin, who recorded his first start in an NFL game thanks to Roy Williams’ rib injury. Austin made sure to make the day one to remember as he hauled in 10 passes for 250 yards and two scores. To put Austin’s big day into perspective, one just need look at the fact that only 11 quarterbacks passed for more yardage than Austin racked up as a receiver.

Austin’s big day couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dallas Cowboys, who have seen their passing attack somewhat grounded in recent weeks. The question now becomes whether offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, will try to keep the life Austin brings to the aerial assault by designing more plays for the Cowboys’ No. 3 receiver. We think he does just that.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the 4-0 Denver Broncos, the 0-4 Tennessee Titans, and the 4-0 New Orleans Saints.

Broncos Riding the McDaniels’ Highway

First time head coach, Josh McDaniels, made it poignantly clear upon his arrival in Denver that he was going to do things his way - the old, “My way or the highway” type attitude. Initially, it appeared that mantra was going to derail McDaniels’ coaching career before it got started. Not only did it cost McDaniels and the Denver Broncos, their quarterback of the future in Jay Cutler, who took offense to McDaniels’ attempts to trade for Matt Cassel, thereby demanding and getting a trade of his own, but it, also, led to tensions between Brandon Marshall, the Broncos’ top wide receiver, and McDaniels. Needless to say, Bronco fans were a bit weary.

However, McDaniels’ way has turned into a winning way in Denver, and winning ways have a tendency of alleviating worries. Following Sundays, 17-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Broncos are now 4-0 with their closest competition in the AFC West, the San Diego Chargers, two games behind them in the standings. So, what’s gone right for Denver?

For starters, Kyle Orton, Cutler’s replacement, has done a tremendous job putting McDaniels’ game plans into action as he’s thrown for 906 yards, 5 TDs, and more importantly, has yet to throw an interception. Add Orton’s strong play to a running attack, consisting of rookie Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, that ranks 4th in the league, and Denver’s offense is one to contend with, especially now that it appears Marshall, who had 4 catches for 91 yards and the game winning TD this past Sunday, is on board with McDaniels. Again, winning will do that.

Offense, though, hasn’t been the Broncos’ problem in recent years. Rather, it’s been the struggles of their defense that have held them back. McDaniels brought in former San Francisco 49ers head coach, Mike Nolan, to fix that. And, fix it he has. After four games, the Broncos are allowing just 6.5 points per game and only 239.8 yards per game.

McDaniels has everyone in Denver drinking the Kool Aid, and if the team continues to rack up the “Ws,” everyone around the league will take note of McDaniels’ management. Need I say it again, winning will do that!

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the quarterback as I look at the mediocrity of Tom Brady, the magnificence of Peyton Manning, the quarterback controversies brewing around the league, and the 0 TDs thrown by Drew Brees in week three.

Tom Not So Terrific?

A 15 point fantasy day - not bad, right? Typically, no, but when you’re talking about Tom Brady, his owners were looking for more, especially since he was coming off a performance of just 6 fantasy points in week 2. You see, Tom Terrific never has two so-so games in a row.

Despite coming off a lost 2008 season due to injury, Brady was still considered a top-4 quarterback option, at worst, in fantasy drafts this off-season. After all, the last time he was on the field, he set the record for most passing TDs in a single season with 50 back in 2007. However, the pay off Brady has given his owners has not matched the investment they made in the QB. Through three weeks, Brady has just 3 passing TDs, and really, if it weren’t for Leodis McKelvin and his fumble in week 1, he’d be sitting with two.

So, what’s the problem? Many believe that part of Brady’s struggles could be due to the absence of one of his favorite targets, Wes Welker, these past two weeks. But, Brady has thrived without Welker before, and wide receiver, Julian Edelman has done a decent Welker impersonation in Welker’s absence. No, the problem is with Brady himself. Just watch a Patriots’ series or two and you’ll see Brady is missing windows he hit frequently during his record-breaking 2007 season. Whether a ball is overthrown just slightly or thrown behind his target, Brady is just off a smidge. And, a smidge can often be the difference between a 1 TD outing and a 3 TD day. As his timing and confidence in his knee grows, Brady should improve; however, his owners shouldn’t be surprised if Brady is only mediocre at times till those things happen.

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Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing bounce back players, Matt Hasselbeck’s injury, and the J-E-T-S defense.

Week 2 Bounce Backs

A common theme evident in the Bruno Boys advice heading into week 2 was “DON’T PANIC!” Thanks to the invention of things like Twitter! and On-Demand Television, we, as a society, have become accustomed to immediate gratification. As such, we want to see our fantasy football team enjoy immediate success. Should this not happen, we panic, and we get stupid. We offer up Steve Smith (Car) to another owner for Devin Hester straight up (Note: This was an actual trade offered to a member of Bruno Boys Nation last week). We drop Jay Cutler because it’s obvious he’s just not going to succeed in Chicago. We over manage and destroy any hope we may have at a fantasy title. Yes, patience is indeed a lost virtue.

But, for those of you out there in Bruno Boys Nation that heeded our words of wisdom, that played it cool and kept your roster intact, chances are your studs awarded you with big time bounce back performances in week 2. After all, there were plenty of them to go around. In fact, too many to list here, though, I will mention the big ones. Tennessee Titans’ running back Chris Johnson followed a week 1 outing that yielded 6 fantasy points with a monstrous week 2 of 45 fantasy points, thanks to 197 rushing yards, 87 receiving yards, and 3 total TDs. Houston Texans’ wide receiver Andre Johnson made up for his 3-point stinker in week 1, by amassing 149 receiving yards and 2 scores in week 2 for 26 fantasy points. Johnson’s performance also helped Houston Texans’ quarterback, Matt Schaub, make up for a disappointing week 1 as he jumped from 4 fantasy points to 30. Carson Palmer also improved from week 1 to week 2, going from 5 fantasy points to 21. You know those measly 21 yards Steve Smith (Car) had in week 1, leading owners like the one mentioned above to dump him off to another poor sap in their league, well those poor saps that didn’t lose faith in Smith, were awarded with 131 receiving yards in week 2. Oh yeah, and Jay Cutler, who had 4 INTs in his debut as a Bear; he kept pretty good care of the ball in week 2, not throwing a single INT, while tallying 236 pass yards and 2 scores.

If anything, I point this out to reaffirm a lesson that many fantasy owners seem to forget year in and year out - the football season, though just 17 weeks, is still a marathon and not a sprint. By the end of the year, the studs, for the most part, will get their numbers, so be patient. Something to remember, if you own the likes of say Steve Slaton or Matt Forte.

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Could you really have asked for more from a week 1 of NFL action? An overtime game to start the season off, a tipped ball leading to a miracle reception for the win, a six TD effort by perhaps the league’s best quarterback, a Sunday Night affair that went down to the wire, and, to top it all off, we still have two games to look forward to this Monday Night! Yes, it’s great to have football back in full force.

As with the start of every NFL season, so, too, comes the start of Whooley’s Weekly Words, an article in which I’ll break down those things of interest to me from the week’s worth of action. This week, I delve into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense, the strong showing by the tight end position, Thomas Jones’ stellar start to the season, and more!

Pittsburgh – Philosophy Change?

Six time Super Bowl Champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers, have always been known for being a smash mouth football team. Defense and a strong rushing attack has been their M.O but based on week 1, it looks like that may be about to change.

Granted the Steelers faced a difficult task on the ground in week 1 against a Tennessee Titans’ defense that ranked 6th in rush defense in 2008, allowing just 93.9 rush yards a game. Still, the Steelers’ ground game looked uninspired. Amassing a mere 36 yards on 24 carries, the Steelers averaged 1.6 yards per carry. Not a good start to the season for a team that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry last season.

The talent for the Steelers’ offense, right now, resides in the team’s passing game, so look for the Steelers to change their philosophy going forward. Defense will still play a large part in their winning equation, but the ground game will be replaced by the team’s aerial assault. In 2009, look for Pittsburgh to ride the arm of Ben Roethlisberger and the hands of Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward in their quest for Seven.

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