Our friends over at Onlinecertificateprograms.org just posted a terrific artical on the ten most-hyped games of all time in college football. It’s a great read and was surprised to see a game listed that I attended. At No. 7, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl (Penn State vs. Miami) was a great game that I had the previlage to whitness in-person.

As the fantasy season is rapidly approaching our 2nd half, it is time to reflect on how all of the prognosticators fared over the course of the summer with all of our BOLD pre-season predictions. It is time for our Annual Mid-Season Awards feature.

1st Half MVP: normally I would give it to the overall statistical leader in points but I just love an underdog and feel justified giving it to RB Fred Jackson who plays brilliantly and largely unrecognized in the NFL outpost of Buffalo, most likely the team in the NFL’s smallest market. Fred Jackson is Mr. Everything for the Bills and is a complete, every down and goal line back.

1st Half Bust: this one is much easier- RB Chris Johnson. For Johnson, otherwise known as the self=proclaimed CJ2K, to be averaging 2.9 YPC, 1 TD and not exceeding 75 total yards in 4 out of 6 games so far, he is well short of his moniker 2,000 yards rushing in a season. The talent level drop off could not be this huge without an explanation and the only reason has to be pinpointed to his offseason conditioning or lack thereof.

#1 WR: Calvin “Megatron” Johnson. Always my proverbial #1 WR every season, everybody else is now realizing his full potential and it is unlimited. Unlike a lot of other WRs whose production drops off due to a QB injury (ie Matt Stafford, Shaun Hill, Drew Henson or Dan Orlovsky), this guy can produce under any scenario: QB injuries or inconsistencies, lack of a Detroit running game, perpertually losing seasons and even constant double teams- this guy brings it regardless of what Cris Carter thinks!

#1 TE: Jimmy Graham. Graham is a defensive coordinator’s worst nightmare since he has both tremendous size (6’-6”, 245 LBs), athleticism (ex-basketball player) and speed that is almost impossible to match up with a safety or linebacker one-on-one. He has become Drew Brees’ #1 option in the explosive New Orleans passing game.

Fearless 2nd Half Predictions:

Top 5 QBs: A Rodgers, T Brady, Big Ben, Drew Brees and P Rivers. No surprises here at the top as Rodgers is red hot and has a multitude of weapons. Big Ben should come into prominence in the 2nd Half especially if the Steelers go to a no-huddle, spread offense. And I am expecting a huge 2nd half turnaround for Philip Rivers who is currently the 18th ranked QB.

Top 5 RBs: A Foster, R Rice, R Mathews, A Peterson, and L McCoy. You can see a theme starting to develop here as I am really plugging all of the San Diego skill players going forward. Arian Foster is back to his 2010 MVP form and should absolutely dominate his 2nd half opponents.

Top 5 WRs: Vincent Jackson, G Jennings, L Fitzgerald, Megatron and Mike Wallace. This is par for the course and pretty much maintaining the status quo from the 1st half with the exception of V Jax who doesn’t have to face Revis Island again this season, he should be fully healed from his hamstring injury and the Chargers have a “cupcake” 2nd half schedule. Keep in mind that Vincent Jackson is playing for a contract after a bitter and protracted contract squabble with Chargers’ GM AJ Smith. V Jax should be just as motivated as Matt Forte, who also feels slighted by management.

Top 5 TEs: A Hernandez, Jimmy Graham, J Witten, A Gates & J Finley. I believe that Aaron Hernandez is just scratching the surface of his potential as a true hybrid or “H-Back” in this sophisticated offense. Hernandez is basically a wide receiver primarily playing as a TE in this explosive offense led by MVP Tom Brady. It is almost as if Brady has too many weapons to pick from each play. Hernandez is the 2nd option in this passing offense behind Wes Welker. I am in a fortunate position to start both TE Jimmy Graham and Hernandez (as my “flex” player), who I believe will post better stats in the 2nd Half than a lot of #2 WRs.

Breakout 2nd Half Rookies:
QB: Christian Ponder (Vikings)
RB: Stevan Ridley (Patroits), Delone Carter (Colts)
WR: Greg Little (Browns) & Torrey Smith (Ravens)

That’s all for now and good luck in this week’s upcoming games.
JS

With FF leagues everywhere being extremely competitive due to the vast resources on TV and radio today, it is becoming very tough to gain a distinct “edge” on your competition. In addition, injuries have just made the competitive issue that much more complex as there is probably a direct correlation between injuries and the cancelation of offseason OTA’s and reduced training camps comparative to the quantity and severity of player injuries, particularly the “skill” players which make up fantasy leagues.

Finally, with the down years of such players as Chris Johnson, A Gates, Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams (Tampa), to name just a few, from their lofty pre-draft status and past performances,
we no longer have automatic starts each week that we could coast to titles with but instead much analyze the matchups more closely on a weekly basis. The market is very unsettled mimicking our economy.

From my one team alone yesterday, the following players were injured and suffered significant loss of points: Darren McFadden, Beanie Wells, Mark Ingram and Matt Stafford. It is practically impossible to replace or replicate these players’ stats but it is possible to be “pro-active” in mining suitable merging talent going forward.

This week’s article is based on “Stash & Cash” players: players you can “stash” away now if you have an available roster spot with “high upside potential” and cash later for future games when their playing time or opportunities increase. These players might not have immediate value right now but could if an injury or benching were to take place to the starter in front of them. Once a “stud” player goes down due to injury- it might be too late to get his replacement on the waiver claim especially if the teams in front of you have records of 2-5 or even 3-4.

Last week’s advice centered on two players who hit it big – RB DeMarco Murray and QB Tim Tebow. Both of these players fit the profile of a “Stash & Cash” player especially if you were the owner of RB Felix Jones who has been brittle is whole career. Here are some of the players that I am targeting this week:

QB Christian Ponder of the Vikings. I was very impressed how Ponder led his team in a highly competitive game against the defending Super Bowl Champion Packers led by shutdown corners Tramon Williams and Pro Bowler Charles Woodson. Ponder showed great poise under pressure, flashed decent mobility as the pocket collapsed and utilized his weapons well. Combined with the fact that he has All Day Adrian Peterson in the backfield, and still has the skill set of a healthy Percy Harvin to look forward to, and the Vikings’ future looks positive. Ponder should round into a nice QB2 or bye week replacement.

QB Shaun Hill of the Lions. Anybody who owns Matt Stafford should definitely be caring the insurance policy of Shaun Hill. Hill has performed well in the past in this same exact scenario last year, has the ultimate weapon in Megatron at his disposal coupled with wideouts Nate Burleson and Titus Young and an emerging TE Pettigrew.

RB Stevan Ridley of the Patriots. Do not discount his value in what is shaping up as a “pass friendly offense”. The Law Firm, Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis (BJGE), is one injury away from catapulting Ridley into a “Top 15 position” at RB. Ridley has great speed and hands and can really be a tremendous asset to Tom Brady’s offense if and when he is called upon. Ridley scored 15 TD’s and had over 1,000 yards in a highly competitive SEC last year while at LSU so he definitely has some ball skills. The only problem is when to play him as Belichick loves to keep the opponent and fantasy owners in the dark about lineup decisions. However, Belichick is keenly aware that the NFL is all about scoring points in droves and teams who will ultimately meet Green Bay in the Super Bowl from the AFC will need to match the Packers on a point-for-point basis. To do that, you need playmakers and Ridley is one of the best playmakers on this team.

RB CJ Spiller of the Bills. Spiller has 1st round pedigree and has temporarily been shifted to play WR to make up for the loss of WR Donald Jones. This will produce added bonus points to those in PPR leagues. Keep in mind that he is the handcuff for the #1 playmaker in fantasy right now- RB Fred Jackson- so there is huge upside right now in this Chan Gailey-led spread offense. Spiller just might be available in some deeper leagues.

RB Taiwan Jones of the Raiders. We all see how injuries have affected the landscape of the running back world: Jamaal Charles, Peyton Hillis, Beanie Wells, Felix Jones, Mark Ingram, etc. Taiwan Jones is a 4th round pick of the Raiders who comes with the requisite skill set emboldened by Al Davis- SPEED. This guy can truly fly and would play a significant part if Darren McFadden is sidelined for awhile. Michael Bush is the clear #2 RB in Oakland, but Taiwan Jones has “huge upside”.

WR Torrey Smith of the Ravens. He might be available now after his 1st breakout performance when he netted over 150 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. He has since cooled down but is growing into the position as he has true breakout speed, is currently the # 2WR on the depth chart due to Lee Evans’ chronic ankle injury and is becoming much more familiarized in Cam Cameron’s route tree. I would recommend picking him up now to be used as a # 3WR going forward. Torrey’s deep ball skills should be on display tonight on MNF against the Jaguars.

WR Randall Cobb of Green Bay. Again there are a lot of mouths to feed in Cheese Land but Cobb definitely has the ball skills to be relevant in this scheme. Keep in mind that Jennings underwent X-Rays for his hand which doesn’t seem to be a major problem but he did complain of numbness after going back into the game yesterday. All Cobb needs is opportunity at this point to be successful.

Defense- San Francisco 49ers. Don’t forget those defenses since there are points out there if correctly identified. This is a tough defense and lead many defensive categories going into Week 8.
Throw in the added bonus points that return man Ted Ginn Jr potentially brings to the special teams unit and you are looking at a decent fantasy defense. The best part is remaining games against St. Louis (Weeks 13 & 17), Arizona (Weeks 11 & 14) potentially w/o Beanie Wells- and Championship Week 16 against Seattle and their putrid offense who can only muster 3 points yesterday against Cleveland- hardly a defensive juggernaut.

Take care and good luck with your claims
JS