Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

—Written by Cory Steger
—Edited by: Allie Fontana

Bruno Boys senior staff writer Cory Steger takes a look at five players who delivered fantasy results substantially beyond their projected rankings and point totals in The Fantasy 5: Week 10 Phenoms. To be considered a “Phenoms” candidate, a player has to exceed his weekly point projection total by seven or more fantasy points. It’s not easy to narrow the list down to just five players, so be sure to check out our Week 10 Phenoms Roundup for more players who came through for their teams and fantasy owners in a big way.

Our Who the Heck is this Guy? Player of the Week feature shines a spotlight on one player who came out of nowhere and posted huge or at least substantially higher fantasy numbers than anyone expected. The “WTHITG” player could be a lesser known starter who made the most of his opportunity to contribute. Other times, the player was so under the radar that he was riding the pine in all but the deepest of fantasy leagues. On occasion, he’s someone that most of us had never heard of before his breakout performance.

Now let’s take a look at our top Fantasy 5 Phenoms for Week 10:

1. John Skelton (Arizona Cardinals)
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. 32; Points: 6
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 3; Points: 21

With Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb out for a second consecutive week because of turf toe, John Skelton got the start against the Philadelphia Eagles. Though the Eagles have been inconsistent defensively, it stood to reason that Skelton, who completed 47.6 percent of his passes last season, would struggle. He didn’t. Skelton went 21-for-40 for 315 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Yes, there were some passes that were ugly and one of his touchdowns came off a lucky bounce. Yes, he threw a pick six to Asante Samuel.  Let’s give credit where credit is due. Skelton was good when the Cardinals needed him most—on the final drive of the game. On third-and-goal at the Eagles 5-yard line, Skelton threw a touchdown pass to Early Doucet for the game-winner with 1:53 to play. You can watch it here if you haven’t already seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0bNL3qZOXM.
While the second-year pro is still very raw as an NFL quarterback, he delivered above and beyond expectations. Skelton led Arizona to a 21-17 comeback win and he was a fantasy standout.

2. Michael Bush, RB (Oakland Raiders)
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. 18; Points: 12
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 2; Points: 29

Michael Bush—best known for being Oakland Raiders star running back Darren McFadden’s handcuff and the best backup in the NFL—bowled over San Diego Charger defenders on his way to a career performance last Thursday night. While Bush has played well behind McFadden throughout the season, he stepped up his game since taking over as Oakland’s lead back after “Run DMC” sprained his foot in Week 7. Bush absolutely dominated the Chargers in Week 10, carrying the ball 30 times for 157 yards and a touchdown. He also added 85 receiving yards on three catches, and looked pretty nimble for a power back who tips the scales at 245 pounds. Bush posted the most total yards from scrimmage of any Raiders player since 1963. He’ll be a free agent in 2012 and there will undoubtedly be a number of teams ready to pay Bush to be their No. 1 guy. In the meantime, Bush’s fantasy owners can look forward to another week of productivity with McFadden expected to be sidelined for Week 11’s matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

3. Chris Johnson, RB (Tennessee Titans)
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. 23; Points: 10
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 3; Points: 23

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson has had a number of “favorable” fantasy matchups prior to the team’s Week 10 game against the Carolina Panthers, not-so-proud owners of the NFL’s worst run defense. Unfortunately Johnson’s been a huge disappointment this season, scoring one touchdown, averaging 3.0 yards per carry and racking up just one 100-plus yard game through eight games. Titans’ fans were turning on him and so were his fantasy owners, many of whom felt he no longer was a “must-start.”  While the player nicknamed “CJ2K” won’t get anywhere close to 2,000 combo yards and seems to lack that extra burst of speed that he’s known for, he rebounded nicely on Sunday. Johnson ran for 130 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries and caught four passes for 44 yards. His 27 carries were a season-high, and it was only the third time this year that he had more than 20 in a game. Tennessee clearly needs Johnson to be heavily involved in the offensive game plan and his fantasy owners won’t complain about that. He has a decent schedule down the stretch of the fantasy season and it’s not too late from Johnson to turn things around and shake off the dreaded bust label. Welcome back to fantasy relevance Mr. Johnson!

4. Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals)
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. 17; Points: 11
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 1; Points: 26

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had his biggest game of the season on Sunday and he made it easy. Everyone knows that Fitzgerald is one of the best receivers in the NFL, but you’d never know it if you watched the game. The Philadelphia Eagles allowed No.11 to do his thing and he finished the day with seven receptions for a season-high 146 yards and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald also came up big for his fantasy owners, posting 26 fantasy points (ESPN standard scoring), his highest production of the year. In the fourth-quarter drive in which the Cardinals tied the game at 14, Fitzgerald caught two passes that were tipped, including the game-tying touchdown.  He also had a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch in the final minutes of the game that set up the winning score. He accomplished all this with backup quarterback John Skelton under center. If Arizona’s quarterback played more consistently from week to week, then we’d see huge games from Fitzgerald on a regular basis. That’s a big if—but fantasy owners can dream can’t we?
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5. Denarius Moore (Oakland Raiders)
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. 41; Points: 6
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 2; Points: 24

We’ve seen a fair number of rookies shine this season ranging from quarterbacks Cam Newton and Andy Dalton, to running back DeMarco Murray and wide receivers A.J. Green and Julio Jones. We caught a glimpse of Week 10 standout and Oakland Raiders rookie wide receiver Denarius Moore’s big-play ability way back in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills. Moore reeled in five balls for 146 yards and a touchdown and was a hot waiver wire pickup heading into Week 3. Then the former fifth-round pick from Tennessee disappeared from the fantasy radar.  He had nine receptions for 66 yards in five games, including three straight contests in which he posted zero fantasy points. Moore showed signs of life when the Raiders returned from their Week 8 bye with Carson Palmer under center. Although he caught four passes for 61 yards on 12 targets, fantasy owners were decidedly skeptical about Moore’s staying power. Anyone who watched Palmer and Moore work together to torch the San Diego Chargers last Thursday night saw the undeniable chemistry between signal caller and receiver. Moore caught five passes for 123 and two touchdowns. While there’s a possibility that Moore might not deliver big numbers every week, especially when second-year receiver Jacoby Ford is healthy, he should be an excellent start when the Raiders take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. The Vikings secondary is a flat out mess and to make matters worse, lost its best defensive player cornerback Antoine Winfield to a season-ending injury. Fantasy owners who had Moore on the bench for his Week 10 outburst or those of us who claimed him off waivers after the fact are hoping that Moore is the real deal and not a one-week wonder.

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Fantasy Phenoms Week 10 Roundup: Lance Ball, RB (Denver Broncos);  Rob Bironas, K (Tennessee Titans); Tom Brady, QB (New England Patriots); Vincent Brown, WR (San Diego Chargers); Chicago Bears D/ST; Dallas Cowboys D/ST; Phil Dawson, K (Cleveland Browns); Ed Dickson, TE (Baltimore Ravens); Harry Douglas, WR, (Atlanta Falcons); Arian Foster, RB (Houston Texans); Graham Gano, K (Washington Redskins); Rob Gronkowski,TE (New England Patriots); Steven Hauschka, K, (Seattle Seahawks); Leonard Hankerson, WR (Washington Redskins); Houston Texans D/ST; Jacksonville Jaguars D/ST; Jacoby Jones, WR (Houston Texans);  Marshawn Lynch, RB (Seattle Seahawks); Rashard Mendenhall, RB (Pittsburgh Steelers);  DeMarco Murray, RB (Dallas Cowboys); Jordan Nelson, WR (Green Bay Packers); New England Patriots D/ST; Laurent Robinson, WR, (Dallas Cowboys); Tony Scheffler, TE (Detroit Lions); Jacob Tamme, TE (Indianapolis Colts); Tennessee Titans D/ST; Lawrence Tynes, K (New York Giants); Damien Williams, WR (Tennessee Titans)

 

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The Fantasy 5: Who the Heck is this Guy?

Leonard Hankerson, WR, Washington Redskins
Bruno Boys Week 10 Projection—Rank: No. N/A; Points: N/A
Week 10 Actual: Rank: No. 14; Points: 10

Washington Redskins third-round pick Leonard Hankerson had a breakout performance in his first NFL start on Sunday, catching eight passes for 106 yards in a 20-9 loss to the Miami Dolphins. After an inconsistent training camp and being inactive for the first five games of the season, Hankerson caught his first pass in Week 8 against the Buffalo Bills. Washington hadn’t won a game since October 2 and after three starts with John Beck under center, Mike Shanahan turned back to Rex Grossman. The veteran quarterback and rookie receiver showed instant on-field chemistry and Hankerson was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal Redskins offense.  Unfortunately it was not meant to be. Hankerson hurt his hip in the fourth quarter and joined teammates Chris Cooley and Tim Hightower on injured reserve.  Leonard Hankerson, we hardly knew you.