Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

If you are still playing meaningful fantasy football games this week, good luck to you. This may single handily be the toughest week of the fantasy football season. Because football is such a violent sport you already have a ton of injuries to deal with this late in the season, but with several teams having already locked playoff positions there is a good chance a lot of fantasy studs will be resting this week. There is also a good chance that your starting lineup this week won’t look anything like it did in Week 1, or even in Week 16 for that matter. Make sure that you check out all of the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings this week to see which of your starters may be sitting and who will be a suitable replacement.

As you sort through whom on your team is actually playing this week, it’s time for us to take a look at some of the news around the NFL and analyze the potential fantasy football impact for this week. We will once again take a look at some of the injuries that could possibly plague your starting lineup this week. There have been many stories in the Bruno Boys Forums this week about members of the Bruno Boys Nation that have won their respective fantasy football championships last week. We hope to hear about many more league championships after this coming week.

The Bruno Boys would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and there is no better way to ring in a new year than with a fantasy football championship.

Steven Jackson misses practice Wednesday and Thursday, hopes to play on Sunday

To say that Steven Jackson being a surprise scratch for last week’s game hurt fantasy owners is an extreme understatement. Many owners either found themselves scrambling to alter their lineups at the last second or were simply left without options and took a zero at the position. He had been listed on the injury report for so long without missing a game that no one even saw this coming. Jackson said that a herniated disk in his back flared up during pregame warm-ups. He also added that he believes that the flare-up was caused by “forced inactivity” on the flight to Arizona.

Jackson believes that being at home this week and not having to travel should allow him to be able to play. Keep in mind that he didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday, but that has become the norm over the last month or so. Make sure you monitor this situation closely this week, as you don’t want to once again be stuck scrambling at the last minute. If he starts, Jackson is worth using as a No. 2 running back option as St. Louis host a tough San Francisco 49ers rush defense this week, just make sure you have a backup plan in case you need it.

Brandon Marshall injures hamstring at practice, should play in Week 17

Reports out of Denver are that Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall strained his right hamstring at practice on Wednesday. He was running a route when he came up limping. He left the field and was attended to by the team’s trainers. Despite the injury Marshall is expected to play on Sunday.

If Marshall wasn’t able to play it would be terrible for owners who were excited about the fact that the Broncos have a meaningful game this week and they would be playing all of their starters. Not to mention the fact that this was a great match-up for Marshall. In seven career games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Marshall has 44 receptions for 483 yards with six touchdowns. Consider him questionable for Week 17 but with the season on the line we’d be shocked if Marshall didn’t suit up, and play well.

UPDATE: Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels has already ruled Marshall OUT of action in Week 17 against the Chiefs. You can read more about his decision to keep Marshall off the field in our here…Brandon Marshall out Week 17 v. Chiefs

Pierre Thomas remains questionable with rib injury suffered in Week 16

In the Saints loss last week to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pierre Thomas led the team in rushing with six carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. He was having one of his best games of the month before leaving in the first half with a rib injury and he did not return. His MRI test came back as negative and he has been diagnosed with bruised ribs and is listed as questionable for a Week 17 contest with the Carolina Panthers.

With New Orleans already having home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, there is a good chance that they will be resting some of their starters. Using Thomas would be very risky this week. There is no reason for the Saints to play him and risk further injuries. It would be a good time to start considering other options for this final game of the season.

UPDATE: As anticipated, Saints’ head coach Sean Payton has already ruled Thomas OUT of action for the season finale against the Panthers. For further information regarding what to do with the Saints’ running backs go here…Saints to sit Pierre Thomas v. Carolina

Brandon Jacobs knee injury forces him out of Week 17, ending his season

A knee injured suffered in Week 16 to New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs will require arthroscopic surgery next week and will force him to miss the team’s last game of the season. The Giants have placed him on Injured Reserve. Ahmad Bradshaw will start in Jacobs place in this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Jacobs has led the Giants in rushing over the last two seasons, but he has been a disappointment for fantasy football owners this season. He finished the season with 224 carries for 835 yards with six total touchdowns, not exactly the numbers owners expected when he was drafted as a low-end RB1 or high-end RB2 this summer. Bradshaw has been sharing carries with Jacobs and has been running very well of late, as he has had more than 50 yards rushing each of his last three games and he has three total touchdowns during that span. Consider Bradshaw a low-end No. 2 fantasy running back this week carrying the full rushing load for New York this week against the Vikings who has a very good rush defense.

Tony Gonzalez has a calf injury, questionable versus Tampa Bay

When you consider that Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is just four catches shy of 1,000 for his career you can bet he wants to play this week and he would have an excellent chance to reach his milestone this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have one of the league’s worst pass defenses. The problem is that Gonzalez injured his calf during the team’s victory last week against the Buffalo Bills.

He is arguably the best tight end in NFL history and heading into this game he has 80 receptions for 837 yards with six touchdowns this season. He leads all tight ends in history at almost every statistical category recorded at the position. Fantasy owners could really use the services of their No. 1 tight end this week. If he is healthy enough to play this week he should be used as a starting tight end against a weak Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass defense, but there is cause for concern since he did miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

Donald Brown missed the Colts’ practice Wednesday, practices in full on Thursday

With the Colts projected to rest their starters for most, if not all, of the team’s Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills, rookie running back Donald Brown is expected to see an increase in touches and fantasy value this week. He should carry most of the load at running back with Joseph Addai likely spending a good amount of time on the sidelines resting for the playoffs, but Brown is dealing with an illness that caused him to miss the team’s practice on Wednesday. However, Brown was a full participant at Thursday’s practice.

After dealing with injuries during his college days, Brown missed five games this season due to injury. If he is healthy enough to play this week, which he should be, Brown will see extensive time in the Colts’ backfield and he could be used as a RB2 this week against a soft Buffalo run defense that ranks dead last in the NFL against the run.

Week 17 Rankings:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  | DEF    (click to read)

Week 17 Start & Sit:  START ‘EM  |  SIT ‘EM    (click to read)

Week 17 Waiver Wire Advice:  PICK THEM UP  |  CUT THEM LOOSE    (click to read)

————————

Don’t forget to head over to our Fantasy Football Message Board and sign-up for a FREE FORUM account. By doing so you will be able to talk fantasy football all season long.