Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Welcome to the fantasy football postseason, my friends. I hope you all are already participants in both the Bruno Boys’ Fantasy Football Playoff Contest and my FFLibrarian Playoff Challenge. I mean they are free, there are good prizes to be won and there are quality folks to play against…what’s not to love? So, in the spirit of the fantasy playoffs, I thought I’d take a look at players who are playing over this Wild Card weekend and see what kind of defenses they are facing.

Let’s take a look at running backs first. I have them listed here first based on the ranking of the rush defense that they’ll be facing this weekend, and second by the average number of fantasy points they scored per game during the 2009 season. I’ve also included the possible number of games they could play in case that modifies your decisions at all. Don’t view this as a straight up ranking - more of a different way to analyze your lineup decisions.

Next up, wide receivers. Again, they’re listed based on the rank of the opposing receiving defense they’ll face this week followed by their average fantasy points per game.

And finally, quarterbacks. They’re listed first by the opposing team’s passing defense rank and then by their average fantasy points per game.

So what can we take from all of this?

* Arizona has the worst rushing, receiving, and passing defenses among all of the teams playing in this Wild Card weekend (17th, 27th, and 23rd respectively)...so Green Bay can pick their poison here. While both Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson have seen an uptick in the number of fantasy points per game they scored in the last 5 weeks of the season, I have to imagine that the Packers are going to turn to the consistent and impressive Aaron Rodgers for much of the game. Aaron Rodgers’ double whammy of facing the weakest pass defense and scoring the most fantasy points per game makes him a no-brainer for at least this week and likely beyond. Another QB with a great combo? Donovan McNabb. That said, this season the Cowboys have held him to right around 225 yards each game they’ve played, with only 1 TD and 3 turnovers during those games.

* I have very little interest in any of the Cincinnati Bengals’ receivers who are facing Revis & Co. again after a daunting game last week where even the Bengals’ starters looked like a shell of who they were earlier this season. This might lead us all to think that the Bengals will lean on Cedric Benson a bit more who has had 6 games of 100+ yards - and all of those came when he had 27 carries or more in a game. No reason to think the Bengals won’t give Benson the ball plenty of times with their faltering passing game.

* Both Miles Austin and DeSean Jackson are top 10 wide receivers this season, and they’re facing rather lax receiving defenses this week in one another’s teams. Austin is a manimal - if he’s not putting up close to 100 yards, then he’s at least scoring a TD - or perhaps both. The Cowboys are sure to continue to use Austin against the Eagles, and it’s likely he’ll put up even more than 90 yards this week when the Cowboys attempt to prove that they can win 3 times in one season against Philly. Meanwhile, Jackson is no slouch either. Over the past 5 weeks, he’s put up 398 yards and 3 TDs on only 19 receptions. Wow. Get me a piece of that 21 yards per catch option.

* Let’s talk Willis McGahee here. The dude is trying to prove his worth and demonstrate that he can handle a starting RB role somewhere next season. He’s running with the enthusiasm of a rested man and has found his way into the end zone 7 times since Week 12. He could be a bargain grab against a middle-of-the-road Pats’ rush defense.

Good luck to all of you in Bruno Boys Nation and enjoy the playoffs!

To see other articles written by the Fantasy Football Librarian click here…. A Librarian’s Touch Archives

The Bruno Boys are pleased to once again welcome guest columnist, Sara Holladay, back for her feature,A Librarian’s Touch, for the 2009 season. The woman behind the web-site, Fantasy Football Librarian, Holladay is someone all fantasy owners should be well familiar with if they want to win their league’s title as she provides some of the best fantasy football insight and resources found around the web!