Each week FanFeedr HotTakes will bring you the NFL All-FanFeedr team. These players were GAME CHANGERSs on the gridiron. These IMPACT players were instrumental in leading their teams to victory.
These are the players you WISH you had on your fantasy team.
Quarterback – Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints – (35-54, 446 Yards, 3 Pass TD) – You’d have a hard time convincing a gamer like Brees that yesterday’s 28-27 shootout loss to the Packers was a good day, but at least Brees’ fantasy owners were happy. Brees and the offense were incredibly efficient yesterday and have been doing their part all season, but the defense in New Orleans has been porous. That’s bad news moving forward for the Saints, but if the early going is any indication, Brees will be throwing even more than usual. Fantasy owners stand to benefit most.
Quarterback (Honorable Mention) – Tom Brady – New England Patriots – (22-36, 340 Yards, 3 Pass TD/ 4 Rush Yards, TD) – Week 4 gave owners the dominant QB they thought they were getting when they took Brady with their 1st round pick. It’s even more impressive when you consider that Brady led the Pats offense on 5 scoring drives in the 4th quarter for a total of 31 points. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s an average of about 2 points per minute. Those are video game numbers…except this was real life. And he went home to Gisele when the game was over. If you’re lucky enough to have Brady, continue to start him. If you’re lucky enough to be Tom Brady, good for you!
Running Back – Michael Turner – Atlanta Falcons – (103 Rush Yards/ 3 Rec., 68 yards, TD) – The word around the league was that Turner was done. The “Afterburner” was running on fumes; his feet slow and his burst gone. Sports writers all over the country had already begun to write his NFL eulogy. The only problem is that someone must have forgotten to tell Turner. He was flat out youthful in his performance Sunday as he broke loose on a 27 yd. run and a 60 yd. reception. Barring injury, Turner still seems to own the Falcons running game. This weeks’ effort shows the work he spent on pass-catching in the off-season is paying dividends. His stats have improved every week thus far, so owners should continue to trust Turner in the RB2/Flex position.
Running Back (Honorable Mention) – Willis McGahee – Denver Broncos – (112 Rush Yards, TD/ 6 Rec., 23 yards) – McGahee is quietly developing into one of the best value picks of this year’s fantasy draft. His average draft position was between 55-60 (just behind the likes of Shonn Greene). He’s now alternated two average performances (understandably against the stout Steelers and Texans run D) with two 100+ games with at least one TD. His six receptions for 23 yds were both season-highs. With John Fox loving to run and very little serious competition for his job, McGahee can be used with confidence against all but the elite run-stopping defense in the league.
Wide Receiver – Brian Hartline – Miami Dolphins – (12 Rec., 253 Yards, 1TD) – Hartline was otherworldly, amassing 253 yards on 12 grabs while adding his first TD of the year in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. The fourth year wideout from Ohio State has been getting pre-season sleeper buzz since the Dolphins took him with their fourth round pick in the 2009 draft. He’s flashed his talent before, but has been largely limited by a string of below-average QBs. Enter Ryan Tannehill and Hartline has now posted two 100+ yard games in four weeks and will likely be at the head of the waiver wire class this week.
Wide Receiver (Honorable Mention) – Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – (8 Rec., 169 Yards, 2 TD) – White had been quiet by his own standards coming into Sunday’s matchup with the Panthers. Unfortunately for Carolina, Rockin’ Roddy was ready to play in Week 4. He hauled in eight of his twelve targets including a 49-yd TD and a game-saving 59-yd hail mary to get the team in position for the game-tying field goal. He might have even driven the team bus on the way to the stadium too. He was just everywhere. He and Julio Jones seem to be trading big games, and the two are starting to look like the best fantasy WR duo since Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
Tight End – Scott Chandler – Buffalo Bills – (4 Rec., 63 Yards, 2TD) – Fantasy owners might want to take notice here. Scott Chandler continued to be QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite red zone target again on Sunday against the Pats. He was knocked from the game in the fourth quarter after a head injury sustained trying to make a tackle after a Fitzpatrick interception, so there could have been a little more in store for the man tied for the league lead in TDs by a tight end this season (4). The good news is he’s expected to make a full recovery for this week’s game. He’ll be coming off the wire this week if he hasn’t already.
Kicker – Greg Zuerlein – St. Louis Rams – K – ( 4/4 FG – 60, 58, 48, 21 Yd. FG, 1/1 XP) – Not everyone cheers when you draft a kicker in the 6th Rd. Especially when he comes from Missouri Western State (no seriously, it does exist. I looked it up. Their mascot is Max the Griffin…makes sense). But the Rams had a lot of faith in Zuerlein and it was easy to see why against Seattle on Sunday as he nailed 4 huge field goals that accounted for 13 of the Rams 19 points. He set the team record with a 58-yd chip shot in the first quarter and then broke it in the third with a 60 yard blast. Not too shabby for the fourth game of his young career.
Team Defense/Special Teams – San Francisco 49ers – (3 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 3 Fumbles Recovered; 1 for 51 Yard TD, Blocked Kick, 0 Pts. Allowed, 145 Yds. Allowed) – The Niners did a whole lot of really good things and one really bad thing on Sunday against the hapless Jets. The good things happened on the field, where they pitched a shutout and allowed less than 150 yds in a dominating all-around effort. We’d all be happy to root for the Niners…after all, they are very likable in that underdog sort of way these days. But they opened the sportscasters’ version of Pandora’s box. They started the Tim Tebow talk…AGAIN. And now NFL fans will have to endure hours of coverage about the potential change to replace an average QB with an overhyped TE who likes to throw the ball.
