Monday's Minings--Week 3

Week 3 may be the biggest week in fantasy football. By this point, you have a fair idea of what your team looks like, and what you need. Time to start considering trades, and time to start considering bye week. Later in the week, I'm going to post schedule analysis and rank running backs for the rest of the way. Now, on to the minings.

The two most interesting situations right now may be the Saints and Cowboys running backs. Bell put up great numbers for two weeks, the Saints ran Hamilton for the first half in week three. He looked dreadful, even though he got a touchdown. Pierre Thomas came in the second half and put on a show. He is powerful. The Hamilton experiment is hopefully over but when Bell comes back it will get tricky. Either way Saints RB1 is a great play every week. Likewise, Dallas RB1 is a must play, that line can really open up holes. But while Thomas looks likely to grab the lion's share of the carries in new orleans, Barber and Jones limit each other's value as long as they both play.


Start any backs against Houston. Any. That defense has serious issues. That said, Sims-Walker looks like the top target the rest of the way for Garrard. A positive for Slaton owners, that key fumble should keep the ball of Chris Brown's hands at the goal line. It never should have been there, he was benched for Lendale White, the fat version.


Chris Johnson looked good against an elite run defense. It's vexing that he gets run up the middle so much, when that's what White is for. Johnson can break one at anytime, against any d. On the other side of the ball, the fantasy death of Thomas Jones has not been exaggerated, he's as done as Tomlinson.


Cleveland is the worst team in the league. The Jets are a top 5 team. Is there a coaching change that could explain this?

Julius Jones represents an interesting archetype. Consistently scoring points, but would you ever start him? The kinda guy you pretty much don't want on your bench, but its extremely frustrating when someone uses him against you. Every year there's guys like this.


Cutler and the Bears passing game will get better and better as this season goes on. The defense may let them down, however. The antiBengals.

I watched alot of Denver and I still have no idea what to make of them.

The Raiders should bring in an assistant to run the wildcat immediately. Perfect situation for it.


Diamonds

1. Cedric Benson tore up the Steelers D. The Steelers D. He's good. Credit to the oline as well.
2. Pierre Thomas was scary. The contrast the Hamilton provided running with the same line against the same d just emphasizes it.
3. Peyton Manning, noones ever done it better.
4. Kevin Walter looked great. The rich man's Welker, he'll be an important cog in that offense.
5. VJackson, DJackson, we are starting to expect this from them
6. Cotchery came through all day for Sanchez.