FanHouse AnthonyFasano

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Team who invented the Wildcat formation! Cue all sorts of zeal from the dramatic broadcasters. Of course, the formation has actually been around for decades, we just hadn't seen a ton of usage in the NFL until the Dolphins seemed to perfect it -- peaking with Ronnie Brown's ridiculous game against the Patriots.

The Dolphins have a careful quarterback, two solid runners, a good, young receiving corps, and have added a great all-around athlete via draft. It might be tough to predict who is going to consistency amass yardage, but we know one thing: They are going to be fun to watch.

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I'm just gonna be real right now: Your fantasy league should be over. It's one of those things about which we've all pretty much made an unwritten pact. When people like Peyton Manning will likely not be playing because their teams want them to rest, you shouldn't have a fantasy relevant game. That's why we don't play in the preseason.

All that being said, there are leagues out there with a championship game this week. Since we are committed to helping you win your league title no matter what, we'll still be helping you out. In lieu of positional rankings -- due to a limited audience -- we'll sift through each position and give some pointers. We'll also examine guys who need to play well, as well as those who won't factor at all.

Feel free to leave specific lineup questions in the comments section, and we'll answer. We'll also be having a shortened -- yet quite effective -- Tailgate Sunday morning.

Again, we want you to win ... even if that means supporting you when your league is mishandled.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Kellen Winslow has been a colossal bust at the tight end position this season in fantasy. Mostly, it's been due to injury issues, which we later found out was a staph infection and not any sort of crotchal inflammation. He had five catches for 64 yards last week against a tough Ravens defense.

This week, the Browns are set to face an absolutely terrible Broncos defense. As I noted in the wide receiver rankings, I expect Brady Quinn to heavily rely upon Winslow and Braylon Edwards in his first career start. There are only two tight ends I'd rather have this week, and they are facing off in the same game ...

1. Tony Gonzalez, at SD
2. Antonio Gates, vs. KC
3. Kellen Winslow, vs. DEN
4. Owen Daniels, vs. BAL
5. Visanthe Shiancoe, vs. GB

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Heading into the season, there were a nice amount of solid options at tight end. Going into this week, only Tony Gonzalez is reliable among the elite group. Antonio Gates is on a bye, as is the still-banged up Jeremy Shockey. Chris Cooley has been inconsistent and faces a rough and tough defense. Tony Scheffler is coming off injury, and thus, is not trustworthy just yet. Jason Witten is banged up. Oh, and there's the whole Kellen Winslow enlarged jewels staph infection fiasco.

- I love the chances for a huge game from Greg Olsen against the Lions at home.

- Anthony Fasano is a great plug-n-play this week, facing the porous Denver defense.

1. Tony Gonzalez, vs. TB
2. Greg Olsen, vs. DET
3. Dallas Clark, vs. NE
4. Owen Daniels, at MIN
*5. Jason Witten, at NYG

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

San Diego (3-3) at Buffalo (4-1): Trent Edwards is back from being concussed (my favorite word), which is probably a good thing, since they absolutely got rolled by the Cardinals two weeks ago after Edwards went down. The bad news is that he has to face a Chargers defense that sacked Matt Cassel four times last week, basically tossing him around like the plastic bag in that video from "American Beauty." Also, always beware of the LaDainian Tomlinson bounce-back game. He's slumped before, but always has that "140-yard, three-touchdown" game when his fantasy owners are about to give up on him that makes us completely forget about what came before. I'm putting this on the table for LDT -- if he doesn't reach double-digit fantasy points this week against a team that gives up 114 rushing yards per game, he cannot appear in any more cool Nike commercials.

Pick: San Diego

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The usual suspects top the list this week, as there shouldn't be anything really out of the ordinary, matchup-wise. A couple guys we do really love are Greg Olsen and Anthony Fasano.

Olsen showed last week the same thing he showed us in week one. Kyle Orton really likes throwing to him in the red zone. He trusts him. Expect another TD this week.

Fasano was likely able to watch Zach Miller torch the Chargers' safeties last week, and will look to do the same. We know Chad Pennington has no problem feeding him, as we saw in week one.

But yeah, this is still Jason Witten's personal playground.

1. Jason Witten, vs. CIN
2. Antonio Gates, @ MIA
3. Tony Gonzalez, @ CAR
4. Chris Cooley, @ PHI
5. Dallas Clark, @ HOU

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

More Rankings: OVER/UNDER | Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | DSTs | Kickers

This is one position where the top ranked player never moves. Let's just get on with life and discuss the rest of the guys ...

- How about numbers two and three? Awww, doesn't it just take you back?

- The Cardinals shut out Anthony Fasano last week after he schooled the Jets in week one. So that means they shut down TEs and you should sit Chris Cooley, right? Um, no. Big difference. Clinton Portis and Santana Moss pummel anyone the Dolphins have. With the attention off Cooley, he'll be fine ... as long as he's sans playbook.

- Todd Heap is done. Plain and simple.

- Pay attention to Dallas Clark's status. He's a decent play if he goes, but that's still up in the air.

1. Jason Witten, Cowboys, @ GB
2. Antonio Gates, Chargers, vs. NYJ
3. Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs, @ ATL
4. Kellen Winslow, Browns, @ BAL
5. Jeremy Shockey, Saints, @ DEN

Value Machine checks the current value of non-obvious names -- no Tony Romo or Brian Westbrook here -- for owners looking to scope out the trade market.

For the record, the most egregious thing about Ed Hochuli's snafu is being overlooked by everyone. I officiate high school -- I understand I'm far less qualified to complain than an NFL official, but this does make me more qualified than someone sitting at their computer claiming the "refs cheated" -- and the worst part about the call was the fact that the ball went backwards. Even if Hochuli thought, in real time, Jay Cutler's arm went forward, the ball still went backwards. A backwards pass is a loose ball. How the referee can't see that from even with the QB is beyond me. People keep talking about the whistle, but it's not acceptable to blow it there. I still respect him as an official, because human error is part of the game. Human error like this, though, shouldn't happen in such a high level game.

Even without the extra points, that he never should have accrued, Cutler had another big game. With two young, studly receiving speedsters and a reliable tight end, this isn't likely to change anytime soon. This time, the Broncos actually played a legitimate defense. You don't want to expect around 30 points a week, but it's very reasonable to start expecting 20. Jay Cutler is your top for week two.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

More Rankings: OVER/UNDER | Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Recievers | DSTs | Kickers

How about that Anthony Fasano? The question people keep asking me is: Can he keep this up? Well, the answer is we don't have the first damn clue. He was stuck behind Jason Witten for two years, and now our entire sample of judgment is one game. On the surface, he looks like a reliable option. Chad Pennington doesn't have a cannon, so he'll be looking to check down often, and Fasano showed good hands in traffic.

- Dallas Clark is ranked as if he will play on Sunday, and right now that doesn't look good. Obviously if he doesn't go, don't play him.

- A good sleeper is Greg Olsen. Kyle Orton relied upon him for a few very important first downs, and one of these days those are going to be scores.

1. Jason Witten, Cowboys, vs. PHI
2. Kellen Winslow, Browns, vs. PIT
3. Jeremy Shockey, Saints, @ WAS
4. Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs, vs. OAK
5. Antonio Gates, Chargers, @ DEN

Value machine takes a look at the rising and falling fantasy stock of players in light of their recent performance. If you don't see a big mover covered, he's probably already been hit in Reality Check.

Top Riser: Willie Parker
Rashard Mendenhall was thought to be the short yardage back and steal carries that fell between the tackles. Of course, Fast Willie took nearly all the carries until trash-time, when Mendenhall garnered the majority of his ten. Parker scored three times, including twice from inside the ten. You have to assume that was a statement game by Parker that he's not going away, and the Steelers obviously believe he can handle the inside-the-tackles and short-yardage work. Parker's the starter, and Mendenhall is the backup. It's just that simple.

Eddie Royal
Brandon Marshall returns this week, but Royal was all over the place Monday night. The nine catches for 146 yards were huge, but the two carries also spoke volumes. It's obvious the Broncos want the football in his hands.

Matt Forte
He displayed the quick feet and great vision Sunday night in Indy. The Bears will lean heavily on ball control offense, and that means Forte is never going to be short on touches.