Players I like this week (week 11)

Here are some players that might be flying under the radar in week 11...and I think might exceed their average numbers per game.

Ryan Grant RB, GBP
Ryan burst on to the scene against the Broncos with a stellar game. A lot of people, and myself included, thought that Grant would have a tough road ahead. After Grant's monster game against the Minnesota defense last week, I believe. Reports out of Green Bay compare Grant's running and body to that of Dorsey Levens. Now that Grant is McCarthy's feature back, I think we can see more of him - although the Pack is a pass first team.

Dallas Clark TE, IND
Clark plays against a better than expected KC defense this week. With Harrison still hurting, and Wayne the only target of significance last week - I expect Manning to find Clark a number of times this week.

Marc Bulger QB, STL
Have you seen San Francisco's team lately? Now that Rams have a lot of their starters back, I expect them to dismantle SF this week. Steven Jackson is not completely back to full speed, but Bulger has a good chance to have a huge game.

Chris Henry WR, CIN
Henry got 7 targets from Carson Palmer last week. Chad Johnson had 6 and Housh had 8. Henry is opening things up for the other guys. Against a suprisingly good Arizona run D and a lot of their pass rushers injured, we can hope to see a lot of passes from Palmer.


Interesting pick of the week:

Dwayne Wright, RB BUF
With Lynch hurting, they'll have to turn to someone. The Pats are a tough defense, but prime time games always bring out some interesting themes. The more research I do on this guy, the more I like him. The Bills took him in the 4th round of the draft last year - and when they picked him, Mel Kiper likened the Patriots pick of Tom Brady to this guy. That's saying something. And oh, did I mention that A-Train has 10 carries for 12 yards on the year?
One cause for worry though - Belichick seems to have Losman's number, so that might be an issue.

Lynch out for a while

According to this report, Dick Jauron indicated that Lynch has a more than average ankle sprain. Looks like the emergence of the A-Train will happen against the Pats.

I wouldn't get too excited about Thomas, but if you're really desperate (or a Lynch owner) he's worth a pickup.

This report makes a case for picking up Dwayne Wright - and after reading it, I was more convinced he might do well over Thomas.

If you have an extra bench spot, you may also want to look at Ricky Williams. This report thinks that Ricky will get a shot to play for the Fins this year. I also saw a report from ESPN's John Clayton that agrees with that assumption. With the Dolphins at 0-9, starting a rookie quaterback, and with Ricky Williams in for free agency next year...the Fins might want to take a look.

It's been more than a week...

Sorry for the layoff blog readers - I've been knee deep in puppies for the last week and have little time to blog. Here's some quick hitting headlines.

Cedric Benson - he's living up to that 1st round 4th pick status isn't he? 2.6 yds / carry against the Raiders? What? This defense has been torched all year by running backs...and then Lovie Smith doesn't seem to have any ringing endorsements for the running game.

'We're not pleased with where our running game is right now.''

Ouch.

In other Bears news, it looks like Grossman will take over for Griese after his performance last weekend saved the game for the Bears. This report from the Sun Times goes into more depth.

Someone I would play if I had the chance this week - Chester Taylor. With that Minnesota line against the previously mentioned Oakland defense - sounds like a good matchup.

If you are hurting for a quaterback this week, I would play Kyle Boller. I have a feeling that against Cleveland he'll play pretty well (although Brian Billick's status as an offensive genius is seriously in doubt - his play calling has been horrid this season).

Priest Holmes showed some good moves against the Denver defense last week. Although he didn't put up monster TD numbers or have a 100 yard game - the important thing of note is that he dominated the carries. While LJ is out, I think we see little of Kolby Smith (he who remained the third RB for a man that came directly off the PUP to 2nd string). Long term Kolby might be OK - but not now.

This game recap from Fox Sports says that Priest was ineffective. I highly disagree - if we take off that one run that went for a loss at the 5 yard line and instead turn that into a score, you're talking about one rushing TD and over 80 yards rushing. That would have been quite the different performance indicator for Holmes. Don't count him out yet - I think we see one good game before LJ is back.