Posts tagged Pierre Thomas at FanHouse

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

Hopefully you traded Rashard Mendenhall, as we insinuated last week when we said his value will never be higher. Remember, fantasy sports are all about value and perception is reality in between games. Many owners flocked to Mendenhall last week because he was "replacing" Willie Parker. His perceived value skyrockets, which means it's the perfect time to spin him. Just keep this in mind as we move forward.

Top week four : Laveranues Coles ... He busted loose for 30 plus points in most leagues. The problem is that he didn't receive the majority of Brett Favre's attention and rarely will this result in three scores. Jerricho Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, and Dustin Keller all take looks away from Coles. This was a one week ride, so hopefully you enjoyed it and can move him for good value this week.

Top week four : Carson Palmer ... He comes off his one good game of the season -- against a solid defense, no less -- and decides to not fully disclose his injury. Owners found out he couldn't go right before game time, and surely some guys were screwed over by this. Keep an eye on his health, because if he can come back, his owners will surely be pissed enough to deal him for less than market value.

Everyone needs sleep. Including fantasy football teams and one-armed men. We will now discuss some ways for you to get rest throughout Week 3. Notice what annoying word I'm avoiding. One from each major position in order of league depth; I will most certainly remind you when these people have big games on Sunday.

Mucho gusto (yes, I know it's the incorrect translation) to Shane Bacon for filling in quite well last week. As with everything else in my life this week, I blame Vegas. To the picks ...

Power Naps
Derek Anderson, QB, CLE -- Oh, how I hate you, Mr. Anderson. Oh, how I hate you so much. But yet, here we are, in Week 4 and Brady Quinn is set to take your job. And you get to play against the Bungles Part II. Now or never, sir.

Selvin Young, RB, DEN -- Well, this list is already chock full of people I drafted who haven't performed well this year. Sigh. Fortunately, Kansas City is horrible at everything, including stopping the run.

Braylon Edwards, WR, CLE -- OHMIGODBRAYLONEDWARDSISASLEEPER. Seriously, see above. Start him.

Drew Brees has had to deal with losing two of his best receiving options -- Jeremy Shockey and Marques Colston -- early on this season, but the stats are looking quite sparkling thus far. Will it continue? In a word, yes.

Brees carved up the Broncos for 421 yards through the air, with a wildly efficient 39 completions in 48 attempts. His most reliable option has been Reggie Bush out of the backfield, and the losses of Colston and Shockey aren't going to do anything to change that. The reason is that the Saints -- through the offensive scheme of Sean Payton and horizontal field-stretching ability of Bush -- can make a weapon out of nearly any receiver. You know Terrance Copper? Well, you wouldn't had he played for any other team.

Moving forward, you can expect Brees to remain an elite QB in fantasy and in reality. He's facing the Niners at home this week, so I'm calling for at least 300 yards and multiple TD passes.

Let's check out the impact on some other players:

"Hey, bro-ther!"

Everyone needs sleep. Including fantasy football teams and one-armed men. We will now discuss some ways for you to get rest throughout Week 1. Notice what annoying word I'm avoiding. One from each major position in order of league depth; I will most certainly remind you when these people have big games on Sunday.

To recap from last week: 5/9, and two of my misses were of the deep variety. You're welcome.

Power Naps
Matt Cassel, QB, NE
Chad Pennington looked good against the Jets and he doesn't have Randy Moss or Wes Welker. I'm not overly optimistic that Cassel is going to pull a Brady on Brady, but I think he's a pretty nice start here this week. Also, he quarterbacks the Patriots, which means he can only be so bad. He's probably about saturated, ownership wise, though, in your league.

Chris Johnson, RB, TEN
Speaking of saturated ... oh no, that's LenDale White, the guy losing his job to Johnson. But you might be debating whether to go with Johnson this week, and you should stop debating. Start him.

Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC
Sure, Damon Huard-Croyle is scary. But did you see Eddie Royal on Monday?

Normally two consecutive comfortable victories would fill a team with good feelings. For the Chicago Bears, though, it is more likely to raise questions. There's no shortage of queries. For starters, where was the defensive effort that led to five turnovers, four sacks and a safety during the rest of a desultory season? Why was the offense so conservative all year before taking the wraps off in Week 17?

Two questions focus on two of the team's best players in particular. During the first half of the season, when Brian Urlacher was struggling with a back injury, why didn't they give him some time off? He finally seemed healthy over the last month of the season and the proof was in his play. Two sacks and three interceptions, including one today, in his final three weeks. He dominated the Saints in the second half, seemingly in on every hit, and looked every inch the player of his reputation. How much of a difference would it have made if Urlacher was healthier earlier in the season?

The other question is one that's been asked since the earliest days of the season. Why wasn't Devin Hester a bigger part of the offense?

Well that was one of the uglier games I've seen lately.

The two biggest concerns heading into Michigan are the Buckeyes ability to stop Mike Hart and the Wolverines running game, and the ability of the Buckeyes to run the ball against a great Wolverines rush defense.

It really doesn't bode well that the Buckeyes couldn't run the ball against Illinois, nor could they stop the run. Sure there are excuses, Alex Boone was out, they kind of did stop the run outside of the 43 yarder that Pierre Thomas broke, but good God. Today's performance absolutely did not inspire confidence heading towards Michigan.

Illinois fans should be proud, because they certainly didn't play like a 2-8 football team today. Zook's building a pretty good defense over there.

I said before the game that Illinois is a program on the rise, and that today's game would be a little more interesting than the games in recent weeks, but I would never have thought I'd be right to that extent. I'll repeat: ugly.

I'm looking forward to the Tressel press conference this week.