FanHouse John Carlson

Here's how it works. We throw some intriguing matchups at the FanHouse staff and ask whether each player will be over or under a certain point total. The result? Fantasy Football Over/Under. Makes sense, right?

Let's review my picks from last week and see how awful I did ...

Talk about two tight ends headed in different directions -- Vernon Davis and John Carlson have similar situations with offensive lines that need help protecting the quarterback. But Davis isn't going to stick back and help protect Alex Smith. Carlson, on the other hand, is being asked to block a lot these days. If Carlson wasn't facing a Lions defense this week, he'd be ranked a lot lower than where he sits.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is near the top of every major statistical category that quarterbacks track. Even though Manning has always put up incredible numbers, Dallas Clark said this week, "You probably never thought he (Manning)could raise his level of play, but he has." Not that Manning needed another reason to target Clark, but I bet Clark gets an extra red zone look or two just as a debt of gratitude from the All-Pro quarterback.

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Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

You had to be crazy not to see this coming. And whether you think the penalty was too stiff or not harsh enough for the crime, just know that Larry Johnson is being punished. In a release from the Kansas City Chiefs, we find out that Johnson will receive a two-game suspension.

The Kansas City Chiefs have suspended RB Larry Johnson for Conduct Detrimental to the Club effective immediately. Johnson will not be permitted to participate in any team activities or be on team premises until Monday, November 9th. The Chiefs will have no further comment on Johnson's status at this time.

This punishment wasn't as harsh as I predicted, but since I have no say in the matter let's focus on what the Chiefs are doing to make sure their rushing attack doesn't suffer.

Here's how it works. We throw some intriguing matchups at the FanHouse staff and ask whether each player will be over or under a certain point total. The result? Fantasy Football Over/Under. Makes sense, right?

Sure, it's the Over/Under, but let's throw some fantasy point lines out there as well:

Marshawn Lynch (-4) over Fred Jackson. Who scores the TD? I say neither, but Lynch breaks a long carry and pulls ahead in the passing game.

Leon Washington (+5) over Thomas Jones. I'll take a long TD or two from sparkplug Washington against sparkless Buffalo.

Kevin Walter (+6) over Andre Johnson. Johnson will eat up the attention while Walter does the damage.

Ronnie Brown (NL) over the bye. Not even a bye week can stop Brown.

There are plenty of solid options to be had this weekend at the tight end position. Sure, Dallas Clark, Jason Witten and Vernon Davis are all on the bye week. If you need to replace one of those guys this week, you'll be able to get by via playing the matchups correctly. (As a side note: it just feels right to have Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates back atop the fantasy tight end hierarchy)

Both Gonzo and Gates have prime-time favorable matchups that they should very well dominate. On the heels of his monster game against the Eagles, Kellen Winslow has caught our eye and deserves even more attention based upon the soft matchup against the Panthers. It hasn't hurt that Josh Johnson is locked in on Winslow as his new favorite target. Chris Cooley and Brent Celek are also eying down cupcake matchups. You're in good shape if you're starting any of these guys.

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Every week in this space we've been bragging about the abundance of depth at the tight end position. Well, thanks to the bye weeks the pickings have gotten just a little slimmer. Or maybe, it's just that some of the hot starts have cooled off a little. Anyhow, prepare to yawn as it's another week and yet again Dallas Clark clutches onto the top spot. Until we see proof otherwise, that's that.

Tony Gonzalez returns from the bye week, but faces a tough defense in San Francisco. Surely, the 49ers will be amped to stop the run which may lead to Gonzo slipping in a nice game. John Carlson returns to the upper echelon this week and should be primed to get back into good graces against a soft Jaguars defense at home. If Jason Witten can't somehow exploit the Chiefs' horrid defense, then you may want to press the panic button. And as for the rest of the ranks, follow along...

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We've been down this road before. We get it -- Dallas Clark is distancing himself as the clear-cut top tight end option in fantasy football. So, don't expect us to bump him from his lofty perch just yet. Really the only other tight end keeping the pace might be Brent Celek, but he's on a bye this week.

Well, insert Jason Witten to finally break out in a big way against the Broncos this weekend. We saw that the Cowboys were comfortable playing it safe on MNF with a lot of Tony Romo dump-offs to Witten. That was good enough for Witten to rope in nine passes. Of course, he didn't find the end zone, but that's coming on Sunday. Welcome back to the elite, Mr. Witten.

As for the rest of the ranks...

1. Dallas Clark, IND vs SEA
2. Jason Witten, DAL @ DEN
3. Chris Cooley, WAS vs TB
4. Jeremy Shockey, NO vs NYJ
5. Greg Olsen, CHI vs DET

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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. We call it The Once-Over.

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It's been said in his space on numerous occasions that the tight end position holds plenty of depth this season. The argument was to not panic if you missed out on any of the big names during the draft, because you'd find an equally serviceable option in the end. And if anything Week 1 simply enhanced the notion, with at least 11 of the top 20 projected tight ends going over 60 yards and 11 total TDs mixed in. That's pretty solid if you ask me.

And so, this week we're gonna take the leap for Todd Heap. He was mentioned last week by R.J White as a sleeper for Week 1. Well, nobody should be sleeping this time, as he gets to face the Chargers who were simply awful against tight ends last season. And you may also recall that Zach Miller just throttled them on MNF. That said, Heap appears healthy and has a growing rapport with Joe Flacco. As for the rest of the rankings let's take a look.

1. Dallas Clark, IND at MIA
2. Tony Gonzalez, ATL vs. CAR
3. Chris Cooley, WAS vs. STL
4. John Carlson, SEA at SF
5. Jason Witten, DAL vs. NYG

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Weeding through those unwieldy waiver wires requires a keen eye and a quick trigger. Thus, Waiver Wire Wonders provides a weekly snapshot of players worthy of consideration who should be available on a good portion of league waiver wires. Enjoy those pickups...

Ah, it feels good to be back doesn't it? But don't go getting too comfortable, because Week 1 is almost in the bag and that means one thing: It's time to make a mad dash for those waiver wires. It's true you cannot read too much into a single week's performances, but there are certainly some big-time pickups up for grabs. So without further ado, here are the players coming off breakout performances in Week 1 to help bolster your fantasy squad.

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