Welcome back to the Midwest Sports Fans Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus for NFL Week 8.

In a recap, two weeks ago, I recommended that you pick up and start John Carlson, the tight end from Seattle. All he has done since is score touchdowns, which propelled him to the 11th ranked fantasy tight end. I told you two weeks ago to sit all of your Patriots, and in doing so, the offense was miserable. Last week I told you to start all of your Patriots, and it appeared that Tom Brady was wearing #16 as the Patriots offense did not miss a beat.

The concept of this weekly segment is to help fantasy football owners make educated, tough decisions. I am open to your questions and will provide advice to you via email, or if received early enough, I will post your question on our weekly segment. You can also interact with me via this site by posting a question at the end of this article. Responses have grown each week, and I am encouraged by all of the positive feedback I have received. I do not address the obvious “no-brainers” for who to start in my article, but try to provide insight into deeper issues.

Now, lets get down and dirty with Week 8.

We will open week 8 with a question I was sent yesterday by Robert from Youngstown:

“I picked up Carlson like you said and he was great. I also had Morris last week and wished he played the second half, that would have been huge. I also followed you on selecting Brad Johnson from the Cowboys for my QB as mine was on a bye. He had an awful showing last week, what do you expect this week since I can start two QB’s in my league.”

Robert, thanks for following my articles and I am glad almost everything worked out for you. As for Brad Johnson, I never saw that poor of a performance coming. There was so much uncertainty as to who was going to start last Sunday between Brad Johnson and Tony Romo that I think that was a huge distraction for the entire team. Wade Phillips I don’t believe has a clue of what is going on with his team as it is circling the drain.

Part of me thinks that Jason Garrett is failing on purpose, knowing that when Phillips is fired, it is Garrett’s team. I saw a source reported that Romo will not be playing until mid-November, which should eliminate any controversy as to who the starter is. The Cowboys have to win now, or this will be the worst actual team which appeared to be the best on paper in a really long time. I look for Jason Garrett to cater the offense more to Johnson’s style and abilities which will make Brad Johnson worthy of a start.

Moving on, Deuce McAllister will see additional carries with the loss of Reggie Bush; the question is, how many? I believe that only Deuce McAllister will be able to answer that question. If he produces, Sean Payton will continue to give him the rock. If he is not productive, we will see more of Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker. McAllister has shown flashes of his old self this year, and I anticipate him to be a good start if you are in need at the flex or running back position.

Another running back worthy of a start if in need is the Bengals new starting running back Cedric Benson. As I reported last week, Cedric Benson received the starting nod over previous starter Chris Perry against the Steelers. Benson did not set the world on fire, but did get 62 total yards on 15 touches against a talented Steelers defense. This week should be a walk in the park for him compared to last week as he faces the Texans D this week.

In the past week, a lot of owners were asking me my opinion on defenses. This week is no different. The top fantasy D in the league right now is the Titans. With that said, I do not like the Titans as a start this week for a few reasons. The first is they are playing the Indianapolis Colts. Yes, the Colts have only had one productive offensive game, which came against the leagues best defense, the Ravens. You know that the Colts offense is going to explode again, the question is, on who? Secondly, they are playing on Monday night, which always seems to generate scoring, regardless of who is playing. Defenses I like this week are the Jets, 49ers, Bills, Redskins and Ravens.

As always, thanks for getting your fantasy football insight with me. Post your questions here or you can reach me at profootballinsight@live.com

Kurt Fraschetti

[tags]fantasy football, sleepers, nfl[/tags]

Check out the Week 9 Fire and Ice Fantasy Football Forum for the latest news regarding Reggie Bush’s injury status.
If you’re a Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas or Aaron Stecker owner, or in need of a running back in fantasy football week 8, this applies to you.

In Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, Saints running back Reggie Bush injured his meniscus in his left knee on a punt return in the second quarter. As it stands right now, Reggie Bush needs arthroscopic knee surgery that could sideline him for several weeks.

Head coach Sean Payton stated that the plan is to scope the knee, evaluate it and go from there. This injury will yield more carries for Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker. I anticipate Aaron Stecker to be used in the same format as Reggie Bush, as he possesses the most speed out of this group. If Deuce McAllister can be productive when given the opportunity, he stands to benefit the most from the absence of Reggie Bush.

Check back with Midwestsportsfans.com on Wednesday for more insight into fantasy football week 8.

And don’t forget to get your questions in for the mailbag portion of our upcoming Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus. If you have a roster question and want expert help, email profootballinsight@live.com and your email will either be responded to personally, or here on Midwest Sports Fans.

[tags]fantasy football, reggie bush[/tags]

***Breaking News***

Tony Romo — DONE. Tony Romo is out four weeks with a broken pinky finger. Grab Brad Johnson, who will fill in for Tony Romo, if you can for several reasons. Brad will produce numbers, not Tony Romo numbers, but numbers none the less. The run game that Dallas will now have to rely upon without Tony Romo will open up the pass game. Not deep balls, but consistent numbers, and passes to two very talented backs who can break a two yard pass for an enormous touchdown.

I expect Brad Johnson to average a little over 200 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and a pick or two a game. If you don’t need him, pick him up to screw Tony Romo owners or other teams weak at the QB Position. Johnson could provide a decent return in a trade.

Now onto the Fantasy Football Week 6 Recap:

For those of you who followed my Fantasy Football Sleeper advice when in a bind last week, you should be enjoying your decisions. The closing to my predictions and analysis was gospel, “Avoid Patriots At All Costs!” If you were like me and forced to start Sammy Morris, you were not too disappointed as he found the end zone finishing with 12 points. But any other Patriot left you with next to no points. Sorry, you should have listened.

I called three sleepers out to you for Week 6, those being Deuce McAllister, Tim Hightower and John Carlson. They performed as follows;

Deuce McAllister- 13 carries equaling 65 yards with 2 receptions for seven yards totaling 6 points. Deuce McAllister could have had far greater results but was not given many goal line attempts, hence Reggie Bush’s rushing touchdown. He did however spit carries with Bush, and saw a few passes out the the backfield. The opportunity for success was there, he just didn’t cash in. Overall Grade: C

Tim Hightower- 7 carries, 20 yards with 4 receptions totaling 29 yards equalling 4 points. If Larry Fitzgerald does not come down with that unbelievable touchdown in the red zone, Tim Hightower could have ended up with his staple 1 touchdown per game. Obviously Arizona felt they had a better chance to pass on Dallas’s D versus run into it. Tim Hightower had just two less carries than Edgerrin James, and was the third leading receiver for Arizona. He too had chances to post good numbers. Overall Grade: C-

John Carlson- Carlson was Seattle’s only source of offense on Sunday with 4 grabs for 22 yards and a touchdown, posting 8 points. With a real quarterback, Carlson’s numbers would have been even better. Carlson outscored Ben Watson, Donald Lee, Vernon Davis, L.J. Smith, Jason Witten, Leonard Pope, Daniel Graham, Chris Baker, Ben Utech, Bubba Franks, Dallas Clark, Zach Miller, Todd Heap, Visanthe Shiancoe, Chris Cooley, Owen Daniels, Anthony Fasano, Greg Olson and many others. He only lost to Antonio Gates by a point. If you listened, this was genius,. Overall Grade: A++

Submit your questions to me via email at profootballinsight before Thursday morning and I will post your answers in this week’s Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus Week 7 article. By the way, ProFootballInsight’s game of the week hit for the third week in a row, with the Colts destroying the spread against the Ravens. Contact us for all your football needs.

Kurt Fraschetti / www.profootballinsight.webs.com / profootballinsight@live.com

[tags]fantasy football, nfl, sleepers, tony romo[/tags]

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Welcome to the new weekly posting of the Fantasy Football Focus, brought to you by the professionals at ProFootballInsight. If you have any questions leading into the upcoming week and wish for them to be answered on our weekly Fantasy Sleeper Focus column, please email us early in the upcoming week to profootballinsight@live.com. Your questions to be answered and posted for that week.

If your league is deep, that being 12-plus teams, and you are looking for options that could or should still be on waivers, well look no further. Leading into Week 6, we at ProFootballInsight.webs.com like the following sleeper options:

TE John Carlson, Seattle Seahawks

Last week Carlson was completely overlooked in the Giants’ 44-6 routing of the Seattle Seahawks. This oversight was acknolwedged by the Seahawks and John Carlson should recieve his share of looks in Week 6. I do not recommend starting him over a proven TE, but if in need, he is due to again produce.

RB Deuce McAllister, New Orleans Saints

It;s hard to call Deuce McAllister a sleeper, but with his non-existence last year, and late start this year, he should still be available. The New Orleans Saints in the last two weeks learned the hard way about the importance of a bruising running game. The lesson was simple: pound Deuce McAllister at the opposing defense, your offensive playbook becomes extremely potent, and this leads to wins; abort the ground game and become one dimensional, this means loss. Deuce McAllister should get a steady dose of carries this week and all of the goalline run opportunities.

RB Tim Hightower, Arizona Cardinals

This rookie has done nothing but score touchdowns, and this trend should continue. Tim Hightower continues to be the featured goalline back for the Arizona Cardinals, and has only had one game thus far without a touchdown. He should have plenty of attempts against a thus far mediocre Dallas Cowboys defense and is only one Edgerrin James injury away from being a feature NFL back. He is a must-have on your bench at a minimum if available.

Some additional wisdom in closing:

AVOID ALL NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT ALL COSTS

Laurence Maroney was always thought to be the featured back for this team once Cory Dillon retired. Sammy Morris turned into the goalline stud last year and was thought to be the same this year. With the loss of Tom Brady, Randy Moss has been worthless until last week. And Wes who?

Ben Watson is finally seeing the field after an injury made him a non factor so far this season. Matt Cassel will either score you -2 fantasy points or 18 fantasy points; just hope the coin lands on the side you picked that week. Where am I going with all of this? It’s simple: There is no consistency with this offense, and not enough of an identity to establish who will produce each week.

I guarantee you someone on this team will give you promising fantasy numbers each week, but no one will do it consistently. Do you really think Kevin Faulk will get two goalline touchdowns this week? I don’t, but at the same time would not be suprised if it happened. The only thing that I can gaurantee is that Bill Belichick will win any way possible and his best bet is to throw a different scheme at you each week, meaning different formations, players, alignments. You name it, it will be done. Until a player can package three consistent weeks in a row, if you have a more reliable option, play ‘em.

Good luck and get your questions in.

~Kurt Fraschetti

ProFootballinsight@webs.com

[tags]fantasy football, nfl, sleepers, new england patriots[/tags]