It’s buy week for Maurice Jones-Drew

08 Oct
2012
by in General

Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew ran well in a lopsided loss to Chicago on Sunday, gaining 4.7 yards per carry against one of the NFL's better run defenses. In fact, this run was one of the day's absolute best, as Jones-Drew dragged a helpless Chris Conte over the final eight yards. That's badass. It's also vintage MJD.

However, Jones-Drew was a dud for fantasy purposes in Week 5, as he was limited to just 13 touches. The Jags offense only possessed the football for 24 minutes, gaining just 189 total net yards. Blaine Gabbert was dreadful, posting a passer rating of 37.7 and tossing two pick-sixes.

But MJD has overcome poor quarterback play before, of course. The dude led the league in rushing last season, when Gabbert was a punchline. There's no reason to think that Jones-Drew won't be a terrific fantasy asset following his team's Week 6 bye. The forecast here remains sunny.

Just take a quick look at Jacksonville's upcoming games...

...and tell me you don't like what you see.

Five of the next seven defenses on MJD's schedule currently rank in the bottom-half of the league against the run. Tennessee and Buffalo are uncommonly generous, allowing 144.2 and 171.8 rushing yards per game. There's simply no way Jacksonville won't lean heavily (if not exclusively) on Jones-Drew when they return from the break.

So if you're well-positioned in the fantasy standings on Tuesday morning — let's say your team is 3-2 or better — and your league's MJD owner is scuffling ... well, you know what to do. Make your move. You probably don't need a fantasy expert to point you in the direction of this bye-week buying opportunity.

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by in General

Atlanta's Monday night win over Denver featured another strong performance by Matt Ryan (219 pass, 2 TDs), a vintage line from Willis McGahee (113 rush, 2 TDs), several odd officiating moments, and a sloppy, scattershot effort by Peyton Manning, who tossed three first-quarter picks.

Falcons running back Michael Turner gained 42 yards — most of them ugly — on 17 carries, and he punched in an early one-yard score. Then, a few hours later, Turner apparently decided to celebrate his 10-point fantasy night. He was reportedly arrested early Tuesday morning, charged with speeding and DUI, and released around 7 am. So his season is not off to a great start.

(This is where I'm tempted to make a joke about Turner failing his field sobriety test because he can't walk more than two yards without falling. But maybe that's inappropriate, considering the seriousness of the charge. Thus, I'm gonna go with the parenthetical aside.)

There's no immediate suspension threat here, we believe, so the fantasy impact is minimal. The greater worry facing Turner owners is that Atlanta's ground game has been pathetic, and not just when the Burner has the ball in his hands. Jacquizz Rodgers has only gained 25 yards on 10 carries (2.5 YPC). Turner has 74 on 28 (2.6). For Jason Snelling, it's seven yards on three attempts (2.3). Not great.

And the Chargers are up next, a team that's allowed just 83 total rushing yards over two games.

Turner still owns the goal line role for the Falcons, the key to his ongoing fantasy relevance. He broke off a 15-yard clock-killing run on his final carry on Monday, making his final stats seem less terrible.

I'll remind you of Turner's advice to fantasy owners following his 32-yard performance in Atlanta's opener...

"Not after one game," Turner said when asked if fans should be concerned with his production. "If it's a couple weeks down the road and I'm still looking like that, then trade me off your fantasy team."

He's obviously not familiar with the sell-high concept.

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Strasburg dominant, Nats produce late to top Cards (Yahoo! Sports)

02 Sep
2012
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stephen Strasburg returned to dominant, strike-throwing form against St. Louis after struggling in his last start. According to his manager, the All-Star ace will have two more opportunities at being ''vintage Strasburg'' this season.
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Halladay tremendous in victory over D’Backs – Roy Halladay | PHI

04 Aug
2012
Roy Halladay was in vintage form in Saturday’s victory over the Diamondbacks, scattering three hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings.
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