Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Now that the fantasy football Week 17 Studs have been identified, it is time to take a look at the bad and the ugly as it is the Week 17 Duds. Ryan Hallam from Fantasy Alarm gives you the players who made their owners pull their hair out of their heads in frustration of their play on the field.  So enjoy as Ryan takes a shot at all of the guys who truly deserved it this week and gives you a view into what to expect from these guys in the future.  You can email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for all of your fantasy football advice.

Note: All point projections read in this recap are from standard scoring leagues (non-PPR) and are projections made by the Bruno Boys staff

Anquan Boldin, WR, Baltimore Ravens – It was just another massively disappointing Sunday for Boldin to end the season as he again had absolutely no impact on the outcome of the game.  The Ravens spent the majority of the ground which didn’t help Boldin, but he was nonexistent as he had just two catches for nine yards on the day.  Given his struggles for most of the season, Boldin was only projected to score nine fantasy points, but put up the big goose egg. 

Hallam’s Take: It was supposed to be a huge season for Boldin heading to the Ravens’ offense, and for the first half of the season it looked like that would be the case.  However, somewhere about November Boldin’s season turned into a disaster and by the end of the year he was unstartable.  2011 should be a totally different story as he will have a whole season under his belt with Baltimore and I see him as a low end WR1 or at worst a great WR2 next season.

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints – The Saints offense never got in sync the entire day against the Tampa Bay Bucs and certainly didn’t look like a team that still had a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.  Brees was 22/38 for 196 yards with one touchdown and two turnovers.  He was one of the higher rated quarterbacks with a prediction of 19 points but was only able to muster seven on the afternoon. 

Hallam’s Take: The Bucs frustrated Brees and kept him in check all game long, something very few teams were able to do to him.  However, even with this subpar game Brees is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league and should be one of the top three in the league again next season.  There is no reason to think that he won’t be elite again next season and could very well be a first round pick again in 2011. 

Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens spent a lot of time running the ball on Sunday against the Bengals, so there wasn’t much opportunity for Flacco to have a very good statistical game.  He was an efficient 14/19 for 196 yards on the afternoon while failing to throw a touchdown but had an interception.  Flacco was supposed to score 16 fantasy points but left his owners high and dry with just three. 

Hallam’s Take: I was very high on Flacco coming into the season and while he made some good strides in his maturity as an NFL quarterback, he still has some growing to do.  Flacco has an incredibly bright future and the Ravens have given him some nice weapons to work with.  He will be a top 12 quarterback again in 2011 and is someone that you can get late in drafts and will perform like a quarterback that you could have taken four rounds earlier.  I heart Joe Flacco. 

Matt Cassel, QB, Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs were at home, but they had very little to play for and it showed as the Raiders steam rolled them in the second half and Matt Cassel never got anything going.  He was just 11/33 for 115 yards and two interceptions.  Cassel was looked upon to score 14 fantasy points, but with the turnovers he didn’t have a single point in standard leagues. 

Hallam’s Take: Cassel exceeded expectations by a mile in 2010 as did the Kansas City Chiefs.  I think it had a lot to do with Charlie Weis coming back as the offensive coordinator of the Chiefs as he was back into a system that he was comfortable with and was very successful with just a couple seasons ago.  With rumors about Weis going to the University of Florida you have to see how the offense changes next season.  Cassel is still not a quarterback that you want starting every week, but is great as a bye week or injury replacement. 

LaGarrette Blount, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The Bucs might have won the game against the Saints, but they never got their running game going and no matter how many times they gave Blount the ball he could never get in rhythm.  He had 19 carries for 66 yards and two catches for two more yards.  However, with the fumble he managed just four fantasy points when he should have scored 16 in Week 17. 

Hallam’s Take: Blount has been a great find for the Buccaneers this season and you have to believe that he has a great chance to be the starting running back in Tampa Bay in 2011.  He has been a great back no matter what the down or situation and also has added some value as a receiver out of the backfield.  He needs to improve his blocking to be a complete NFL back, but he has done a ton in his first season towards that end and should be drafted as an RB2 next season with a chance of performing much better than that. 

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers – Stewart has finished the season strong, but he was not able to carry that over to the final week of the season as he put up the definition of a dud.  He carried the ball 13 times for just 31 yards.  He was projected to have a nice day with 14 fantasy points, but without a touchdown or being a part of the passing game, Stewart was only able to put up three. 

Hallam’s Take: He missed the first half of the season due to injury but then came out like a house of fire and ran like crazy in November and December.  I have to think that the Panthers will part company with DeAngelo Williams which will give Stewart a chance to be the man in Carolina.  Of course, now they have to fix the offensive line and the passing game if Stewart has a chance to be overly successful.  He is a low end RB2 in 2011. 

Danny Woodhead, RB, New England Patriots –The Patriots Mr. Everything has been a decent fantasy player all year long especially in PPR leagues, but he definitely didn’t come through at the end of the season as he had his worst game all year long.  Woodhead had just two carries the whole game and they were good for just 19 yards.  With the lost fumble, Woodhead have his owners a big -1 in the last week of the year when he was expected to score seven fantasy points. 

Hallam’s Take: How will Woodhead be used by the Pats in 2011?  I was wondering that for most of 2010.  He seems to fit in the old Kevin Faulk role with the Pats but it is hard to say from a fantasy perspective how much value he will have next season.  Although things can change in the offseason, right now you have to think that Woodhead is a guy that you can take at the end of drafts if you are in a PPR league, but keep an eye on the Pats’ moves this spring and summer to see how that will effect Woodhead’s role. 

Vincent Jackson, WR, San Diego Chargers – It has been an interesting season for Jackson as he missed the first three months of the year due to a hold out, got injured, had one huge game, and tantalized fantasy owners all season long.  In the final game of the year he didn’t have a very good game as he had just three catches for 53 yards.  He was supposed to score 15 points, but only came up with five. 

Hallam’s Take: Jackson is a very good receiver but his season was never going to be anything great with the amount of time that he missed to start the year.  Football is so much a game of timing and being on the same page as your teammates that he just wasn’t able to come back in and be the guy he was last season.  It will be interesting to see where he lands in free agency, but you have to figure wherever it is he will be a WR2 in 2011. 

Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears – The Bears had nothing to play for in Week 17 and perhaps that was the reason why Cutler played so poorly.  He was just 21/39 for 168 yards and two interceptions.  Without throwing a touchdown pass Cutler had a horrific game from a fantasy perspective with just two points which was nowhere near his projection of 17. 

Hallam’s Take: He had a much better season this year and was able to stay away from turnovers in most games this season.  He is a big strong armed quarterback who does whatever he can to make things happen.  He isn’t one of the elite quarterbacks in the league but he is definitely a weekly starting quarterback in fantasy football and is a great target for you team if you don’t take one of the top guys early in your draft. 

Greg Jennings, WR, Green Bay Packers – Jennings has been much better in 2011 than he was last year and while he wasn’t bad on the final game of the regular season, he fell well short of his expectation.  Jennings was looked upon to score 17 fantasy as the top rated wide receiver of the week, but he had just four catches for 97 yards, which netted him just nine points on the day. 

Hallam’s Take: Jennings got back to the elite receiver that he was supposed to be this year instead of the disaster he was for half of 2008 and all of 2009. He is the number one option on one of the best passing games in all of football so you should expect him to repeat his 2010 performance and be a low end WR1 in drafts next season.  He seems to have put his struggles behind him.