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 7 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 7 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 7:

1. Christian Ponder, QB (Minnesota Vikings)
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 25; Points: 7
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. 10; Points: 15

While there was nothing amazing about the performance of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, he certainly was amazing in last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. After all he completed just 40.6 percent of his passes and two of his incompletions were actually complete, just to the other team. However, let’s give the guy some credit. Here’s a rookie making his first start and it’s against the defending world champions. Though he didn’t complete a high number of passes he threw for 219 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He put up 15 fantasy points with those numbers, not bad for a guy most felt the Vikings reached on by taking him with the 12th pick in the first round.

2. Arian Foster, RB (Houston Texans)
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 6; Points: 17
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. 7; Points: 40

So as good as Brees’ performance was in Week 7, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster topped it. The way Foster played on Sunday is what a fantasy owners’ dream of when taking a player with their first-round picks. All Foster did was run 25 times for 115 yards with two touchdowns, and he caught five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. That amounted to 40 fantasy points. No seriously, Foster put up 40 fantasy points in the team’s win over the Tennessee Titans. He could’ve done more, too. Ben Tate spelled Foster and ran for 104 yards on his own. We are still amazed at Foster’s performance, as well as the thrashing the Texans put on the Titans. If you own Foster, then good for you. For those of you who had to go against Foster this week, we’re sorry. Not that it’s our fault or anything, but we felt you needed some consolation.

 

3. DeMarco Murray (Dallas Cowboys)
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 27; Points: 7
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. 2; Points: 31

When Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones injured his ankle last week it was expected that DeMarco Murray would take over the starting role for the time being. It was also expected that Tashard Choice would get some carries as well, and with Murray being a rookie there weren’t big expectations for him heading into the Week 7 game with the St. Louis rams. Well, it’s safe to say that Murray exceeded all expectations, rushing 25 times for 253 yards and a touchdown. Murray did so well that head coach Jason Garrett even compared him to Emmitt Smith. Now, obviously that comparison is a bit premature. Smith is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest running backs to ever play. Murray just made his first start, and no, he’s not going to continue averaging over 10 yards a carry. However, it certainly appears that he’s got a bright future ahead of him. 

 

4. Plaxico Burress, QB (New York Jets)
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 43; Points: 5
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. T-2; Points: 20

We disliked New York Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress so much this week that we included him on our Week 7 Sit ‘Ems list. Inconsistent and unproductive, it appeared Burress was struggling after a good start to the season. In last week’s win over the San Diego Chargers, Burress only caught four passes and those four passes only went for 25 yards. However, three of those passes were also touchdowns. The good thing to see here was that Burress played well when needed, including catching the go-ahead touchdown pass. That gives Burress five touchdowns on the season, meaning he’s on par to reach double-digit scores. Not bad for a guy who spent the last two years in prison.

 

5. Michael Jenkins, WR (Minnesota Vikings)
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 62; Points: 3
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. T-3; Points: 17

It’s not a stretch to say that Minnesota wide receiver Michael Jenkins is a bust after being a former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons. He’s not a terrible player, but he’s inconsistent and can disappear at times. However, he was right where Ponder needed him this week, catching three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. If anything, it’s games like this where Jenkins teases us so much. We know he’s got the talent to be a standout player but sometimes you watch him and feel like he’s not trying at all. He almost caught a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage - an interesting parallel to Matt Ryan’s first start - but was ruled out of bounds just before the end zone. It’s possible Ponder could start to lean on Jenkins, at least around the end zone where the 6’4” receiver can use his size. If that’s the case then Jenkins is a guy to keep your eye on.

 

Fantasy Phenoms Week 7 Roundup: John Beck, QB (Washington Redskins), Drew Brees, QB (New Orleans Saints), Antonio Brown, WR (Pittsburgh Steelers), Delone Carter, RB (Indianapolis Colts), Marques Colston, WR (Green Bay Packers), Cleveland Browns D/ST, Denver Broncos D/ST, Houston Texans D/ST, Jacksonville Jaguars D/ST, Kansas City Chiefs D/ST, Miami Dolphins D/ST, New Orleans Saints D/ST, Adrian Peterson, RB (Minnesota Vikings), Emmanuel Sanders, WR (Pittsburgh Steelers), Seattle Seahawks D/ST, Alfonso Smith, RB (Arizona Cardinals), Darren Sproles, RB (New Orleans Saints), LaRod Stephens-Howling, RB (Arizona Cardinals), Phillip Tanner, RB (Dallas Cowboys), Pierre Thomas, RB (New Orleans Saints), Roy Williams, WR (Chicago Bears)

The Fantasy 5: Who the Heck is This Guy?

Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bruno Boys Week 7 Projection—Rank: No. 70; Points: 2
Week 7 Actual: Rank: No. 9; Points: 13

Are the Buccaneers just stockpiling young and talented wide receivers, or is just us? Between Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn the Buccaneers are set for years to come, but a third player just threw his hat into the ring. Dezmon Briscoe got his start in the league as a practice squad player for the Cincinnati Bengals, and ended up doing a whole lot of nothing for them. Now with the Buccaneers, Briscoe flashed his potential in the team’s loss to the Chicago Bears last week, catching six passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Considering the Buccaneers will be using their third and fourth string running backs for the next few weeks, we could see even more Briscoe. Not bad for a guy who caught six passes in the entire 2010 season.