Posts tagged JasonWitten at FanHouse

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.

Zach Miller is coming off a very big day in his young career, in which he caught five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders have had a bye week and will enter this week looking to form a new identity under a new regime. JaMarcus Russell will need a receiving option over the middle he can trust, and know he should trust Miller. Also, the Raiders are playing the Saints, who allowed a TD to Visanthe Shiancoe last week. Furthermore, the Saints are now missing rookie Tracy Porter at CB, and will likely have to offer safety help on the outside to lackluster cover-man Jason David. Miller's a great option this week.

- Kellen Winslow is sick. No, not in a good way this time. This really sucks at a time like this. Hopefully you have a good option instead, otherwise you just have to gamble.

- Nate Jackson will take stellar TE Tony Scheffler's place this week. Just remember that doesn't mean you get the same production.

- I'm going to say this every week until people stop asking about him: Never play Vernon Davis. EVER. Please stop asking.

1. Jason Witten, @ AZ
2. Chris Cooley, vs. STL
3. Antonio Gates, vs. NE
4. Dallas Clark, vs. BAL
5. Zach Miller, @ NO

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

Apparently Terrell Owens is unhappy. This comes as something of a surprise since the soft-spoken wide receiver is often seen and not heard, letting his on-field performance do his talking. Actually, it's exactly the opposite, particularly if Owens isn't -- in his mind, anyway -- getting enough touches to carry the ol' ball team to victory.

He's been relatively content in Dallas, primarily because the Cowboys win, and quarterback Tony Romo finds a way to keep T.O. happy. Well, even that wasn't enough during Sunday's game against the Redskins.

And today, the Dallas Morning News' Calvin Watkins writes that Mr. Owens had a little talk with Romo in the locker room following the 26-24 loss to Washington.

Owens, despite having 18 passes thrown his way in the loss to Washington, had what was deemed a serious conversation about the offense with quarterback Tony Romo after the game, according to multiple sources.

The types of routes and throws are what concerns Owens, the sources said. The receiver, who the sources said was venting to Romo about his frustrations, has not liked how some of the throws were coming from the quarterback as far back as the season opener.

But Owens said Sunday he is still confident in Romo.

Well, that last sentence makes everything okay then, I guess. Last week, Jason Witten explained how Romo dealt with Owens' in-huddle demands for the ball: he ignores him. I suspect that's a little tougher when he's right in your grill in the locker room.

I would probably not disagree with you if you said, "Jason Witten is super awesome and the Cowboys were totally smart for reaching on him in the draft." In fact, I probably wouldn't disagree with you if you said, "Jason Witten is the best tight end in the NFL."

Personally, I still think Antonio Gates might be better, but right now, it's hard to dog Witten for the work he's been doing since Big Tuna left and Big Wade let him actually run routes. Still, Troy Aikman might have been reaching a little bit when he dropped this line on FOX today:

[The Cowboys would] be hard pressed to make the playoffs without Jason Witten.

I mean, yeah, he's great. But that's an insult to Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, a great offensive line -- which matters a whole hell of a lot more than a single tight end -- and a very stout defense. Not to mention Roy Williams.

And I get that sometimes the ex-Cowboys deal with various levels of nostalgia -- some of them nice, like Emmitt Smith crying after the 'Boys won, and some of them not so nice -- with regards to the current Cowboys team. But Troy. Pal. Buddy. This is a playoff caliber team with or without Jason Witten.

As we get ready for this week's matchup between bitter rivals Cowboys and Redskins, I exchanged e-mails with Dave Halprin from Blogging The Boys. Dave was nice enough to offer some insights on Dallas for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: As a Redskins fan ... I will humbly admit that Dallas is the best team in the NFL. Is there any flaw on that team right now?

Dave Halprin: We're as excited about the potential of this edition of the Cowboys as we've been in a long time. In terms of personnel, I would still have to say our secondary can be exposed on occasion; the Eagles did it a couple of weeks ago, but the window on that might be closing. Terence Newman has returned to the lineup in full health and played a great game against the Packers. Adam "Pacman" Jones is starting to round into form after his long layoff from competitive football and rookie Mike Jenkins is getting some valuable experience that should help his game. So this unit should be getting better as the season progresses.

The Cowboys also have problems with self-inflicted wounds like penalties that we are racking up in alarming numbers. It hasn't hurt us yet in the final score but somewhere down the road it could. We also haven't been getting enough turnovers from our defense, something I would like to see get better.

I have this vision of Tony Romo spending his time away from football explaining the nuances of everyday life to his moderately famous girlfriend Jessica Simpson. How to distinguish chicken from fish, or why buffalo wings aren't really made from buffalo meat. You know, the important stuff.

You'd think Romo would look forward to work to get a break from all the absurdity and, well, you'd think wrong. To his teammate's credit, most can spot identify fish without much prompting, but Jason Witten and Terrell Owens can both be extraordinary nags in the huddle, particularly if passes aren't coming their way.

"He'll tell me sometimes, 'Just relax,'" said Witten, who rooms with Romo on the road and hangs out with him often. "Sometimes Terrell says something and he'll just shake his head and he won't say anything. He takes it under the chin a little bit between all of us sometimes. But he'll let me know, 'If you get open, maybe you'll get that ball.'"

Good advice, all of it. I suppose Romo could tell T.O. to shut his pie hole, but the last time a Pro Bowl quarterback tried that, Owens became a monumental distraction and ended up doing topless sit-ups in his driveway. Nobody wants that.

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.

The Denver Broncos, formerly the league's running game savants, have become the league's preeminent passers. There should be plenty of passing room this weekend against the Swiss Chiefs, which means Tony Scheffler is an elite option at this position. Again. Get used to it.

- Jerramy Stevens may only be listed at the TE2 on his team's depth chart, but the Bucs loved getting him into single coverage on linebackers last week and taking advantage. As long as he shows he can hold onto the ball after gaining separation, they won't ignore him.

- Billy Miller is a quality play against the Niners at home. We know Drew Brees is gonna throw all day. While Miller is no Jeremy Shockey, he can help as a bye week replacement.

- Dustin Keller is coming off his first career TD. As the season moves along, his QB will become more comfortable with him and this will happen with more frequency.

1. Jason Witten, vs. Was
2. Tony Scheffler, @ KC
3. Kellen Winslow, @ Cin
4. Antonio Gates, @ Oak
5. Tony Gonzalez, vs. Den

Even before somebody woke William Clay Ford up long enough to have him fire Matt Millen, there was speculation that 2004 first-round pick Roy Williams might be traded. It didn't happen this offseason, even though the Cowboys were supposedly very interested, and now that Millen's out the door, rumors have resurfaced about Williams' eventual whereabouts.

According to Mlive.com's Tom Kowalski, the Lions have no interest in moving one of their best players, at least not before the Oct. 14 trade deadline.

[New Detroit Lions general manager Martin] Mayhew said that he has no plans to open trade talks involving receiver Roy Williams, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Like every GM in the league, Mayhew said he would listen to any offers but he doesn't expect to make any calls concerning Williams and doesn't expect to receive any.

So there you have it; Williams will finish out his rookie contract in Detroit, and presumably, be somewhere else in 2009 ... unless there's a chance that the home-state Cowboys make a play for him in the coming weeks.

The Dallas Morning News' Tim MacMahon wonders if the Cowboys might be interested since owner Jerry Jones is forever on the lookout for a "wow" receiver to line up opposite Terrell Owens, but then (correctly, I think) answers his own question.

While I rarely agree with anything ESPN's Bill Simmons says, he did raise an interesting point about Monday night's Cowboys-Eagles game. After all, it was only the most watched cable event ... ever.

Again, it was an extraordinary game. But it wasn't more dramatic or memorable than Baltimore blowing its chance to end New England's undefeated season on a Monday night last December, right? The more I thought about it, I decided the fantasy subplots propelled the Philly-Dallas game to its record numbers. That had to be it.

There were a ton of subplots going in that game. The Eagles and Cowboys may be the NFC's two best teams. Both are fierce NFC East rivals. And there is that whole Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb thing.

Those all contributed to great numbers of viewers. But fantasy football also brought in a ton of others.

In that game, you had Terrell Owens, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jason Witten and Marion Barber ... who are all elite fantasy performers. You also had Donovan McNabb who is no slouch himself. Some owners had Patrick Crayton, Desean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Felix Jones, David Akers or Nick Folk. And that doesn't even mention the two defenses who, depsite giving up a lot of points, scored some too.

While I rarely agree with anything ESPN's Bill Simmons says, he did raise an interesting point about Monday night's Cowboys-Eagles game. After all, it was only the most watched cable event ... ever.

Again, it was an extraordinary game. But it wasn't more dramatic or memorable than Baltimore blowing its chance to end New England's undefeated season on a Monday night last December, right? The more I thought about it, I decided the fantasy subplots propelled the Philly-Dallas game to its record numbers. That had to be it.

There were a ton of subplots going in that game. The Eagles and Cowboys may be the NFC's two best teams. Both are fierce NFC East rivals. And there is that whole Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb thing.

Those all contributed to great numbers of viewers. But fantasy football also brought in a ton of others.

In that game, you had Terrell Owens, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jason Witten and Marion Barber ... who are all elite fantasy performers. You also had Donovan McNabb who is no slouch himself. Some owners had Patrick Crayton, Desean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Felix Jones, David Akers or Nick Folk. And that doesn't even mention the two defenses who, depsite giving up a lot of points, scored some too.