FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue XIII

Welcome to our thirteenth edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue IV (September 27, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue V (October 4, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VI (October 11, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VII (October 18, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VIII (October 25, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue IX (November 1, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue X (November 8, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue XI (November 15, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue XII (November 21, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 13 game-by-game fantasy preview
^ NFL Week 13 top 5 waiver wire pickups

^ FDH New York Bureau Report

NFL Week 13

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.

In addition, every week right here we will provide you a link to your ultimate Sunday morning last-minute news source: Google News. Although any updates from responsible news providers are very useful, pay particular attention to those who come from team beat reporters, because they are closest to the action.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30

San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m. Figure on the usual suspects for both teams (the Niners’ one gimme at RB and the Bills ones at RB and WR), plus both QBs for good effect.

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. We can no longer recommend WR Johnson, barring any big change in his status, so the Bengals are down to exactly one good starter in his WR counterpart. For the Ravens, no members of the three-headed hydra at RB are great, even against this pathetic defense, but each is at least acceptable if you’re reduced to that consideration.

Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m. All-in (plus WR3) for Indy, while RB Lewis is worth playing now that he has mau-maued the coaching staff into giving him more touches. The Browns should be playing from behind, but QB Anderson isn’t worth much until further notice and TE Winslow is banged-up, making drop machine WR Edwards the only member of the passing game set to possibly make an impact.

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m. These teams are mirror images this week in what looks to be a game of moderate-to-good offense on both sides: all-in except for TE. For the Panthers, that means either option at RB is decent.

Denver Broncos at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m. This one merits an all-in recommendation, including Denver RB Hillis.

Miami Dolphins at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m. Feed the Wildcat! Both Miami RBs should tear it up in the dome. For the Rams, monitor QB Bulger, who is more likely to play than not and would be a decent start – the same cannot be said for his backup Green, however. RB Jackson may not go, in which case his positive recommendation would transfer to Darby. WRs Holt and Avery look good also.

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m. Keep the Saints all-in until further notice, with the Garcia-Bryant hookup recommended for the Bucs. Stay away from their weird RB hybrid.

N.Y. Giants at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m. It’s all-in yet again for the Giants, with Dixon and Smith now counting as your good WR plays and Ward as the likely starting RB. For the Skins, yet again, you should look at playing everyone except WR Randle El, with Betts quite possibly the starting RB.

Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers 4:05 p.m. This could be a wild one. Consider the Chargers all-in and the Falcons all-in except for TE (ironic considering that Crumpler once accounted for such a large percentage of their offense!). Keep an eye on WR White’s back, though.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots 4:15 p.m. Don’t stray away from the Cassel/Moss/Welker nexus for New England. The Steelers are all-in, with some question as to whether Parker or Moore will be the main RB as of now.

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m. If WR Bradley is good to go, the Chiefs should be all-in. Perish the thought! RB McFadden is the only Raider worth playing right now.

Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings 8:15 p.m. Both RBs have horrible matchups here, but it’s unthinkable to bench them. QB Orton and WR Berrian are the only other decent options in this one.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans 8:30 p.m. Call it just the usual suspects here: both Jag RBs, RB Slaton and both Texan WRs.

NFL Week 13 top 5 waiver wire pickups

1. Domenik Hixon: Once again, in the absence of Plaxico Burress, Hixon was making it happen. We need not remind you again that we told you to pick him up earlier this season the week before he broke out against Seattle based on a tip from Scout.com’s Ken Palmer. Hixon has many of the same attributes as Burress without being a pain in the posterior and if Tom Coughlin has a chance to give him a bigger role down the stretch, he will.

2. Mark Bradley: This is another guy we’ve touted before and he’s becoming a nice part of the developing passing game the Chiefs are developing.

3. Ashley Lelie: As we’ve said before, yesterday’s bust can be today’s value. Rarely will he have the motivation that he did on Sunday when he torched his former team, but he’s got more raw talent than anybody else in JaMarcus Russell’s receiving corps.

4. Kevin Kolb: The beginning of the end of the Donovan McNabb era came on Sunday, when Kolb inexplicably got put into a close game against Baltimore. Although McNabb started this week, Philly will keep sliding further out of the playoff race and the ’09 season will be starting soon for this young QB as he gets to work with some nice weapons.

5. Jerry Porter: At least he’s healthy right now. The Jags are in a mode of trying anything out of desperation right now, and like Lelie, his physical talents will at least put himself in the mix.

FDH New York Bureau Report

By Steve Cirvello

NYB Sneaky Starts Week #13
QB: Trent Edwards (BUF vs SF)
RB: Dominic Rhodes (IND at CLE)
WR: Antonio Bryant (TAM vs NWO)
TE: Tony Scheffler (DEN at NYJ)
K: John Kasay (CAR at GRB)
DEF: Jacksonville (at HOU)

RED ALERT (player coming off injury who could have fantasy impact):
REGGIE BUSH - RB: The Saints, coming off a big home win, still find themselves in last place in the NFC South at 6-5. They'll need all hands on deck to pull off the upset at
8-3 Tampa, and a win would give them a sweep of the season series. Bush had over
160 total yards and a TD in their meeting to open up the season, and the Saints will need similar production out of him to creep back into contention in the Division.

LOOKEY HERE: (team with favorable fantasy schedule the next three weeks):
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Week #13: at STL
Week #14: at BUF
Week #15: vs SF
The Dolphins are tied with the Bills at 6-5, two games behind the Division-leading Jets, and one behind the Patriots. They can remain right in the thick of the AFC East race with three winnable games on their schedule. Although the pivotal game in this stretch is at Buffalo, Miami has already defeated them once this year back in Week #8. Although they could lose the game, when those two teams hook up they are rarely defensive battles.
Chad Pennington, and especially running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, figure to have some very productive games ahead of them.

The Ricky-O Trio (three questions for FDH Managing Partner Rick Morris):

1 - Coming off his worst start of the year, would you start or sit Jay Cutler on the road against the Jets defense if you have a comparable option, or is an upset looming?

I think Cutler is a decent start. Although not the gimme he was earlier in the season, it’s still hard to justify benching him given the team’s weapons and style of play. I’m not sure about an outright upset, but I look for the Broncos to hang in a game that should have some scoring.

2 - Would you start or sit any of the Patriots running backs at home this week against the Steelers (Morris, Faulk, Ellis)?
Ugh … I see nothing of a high or even moderate-percentage nature here, especially against the Steelers. If you don’t have better options than these three guys, you have my sympathies.

3 - Since the Chargers are desperate for a win this week at home against the Falcons, would you sneak players such as Darren Sproles and Malcolm Floyd in your lineup?

Boy, you’d really have to have some injuries or a ton of bad matchups elsewhere to look at getting these bench guys in there, notwithstanding the likelihood of a shootout.

FDH Insider/Goon Squad November 26

Tonight's FDH Wednesday night promises its usual variety of content through its three hours.

On THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-10 PM EST), we take care of a couple of housekeeping matters at the outset. We'll lead off with what we consider to be proper criticism of our peers in the industry and then we'll talk about how we are adapting our fantasy programming on Wednesday nights starting in two weeks. From there, we'll examine our Top 5 waiver wire picks for NFL Week 13 before getting into a game-by-game fantasy breakdown for this weekend.

ON THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EST), we pick up where we left off last week with our Brian Burke discussion. He appears to be moving closer and closer to the Toronto GM job and STN hockey analyst (and lifelong Leafs' fan) Kyle O'Rourke will surely have thoughts on that! I'm sure that he, a Canadian, will also have thoughts on the latest breakdown of NHL players by nationality. Hint: less players from The Great White North! Also: recent studies have shown that the NHL may be nipping on the heels of the NBA in terms of growth. Hoops fans feel that it's a phony indicator; hockey fans think it's legit. Which is it? We'll tell you.

As always, tune in tonight for entertainment and enlightenment you can't get anywhere else, only on The SportsTalkNetwork.

Legitimate Matt Berry criticism

Since my initial column attempting to clear up our stance on ESPN's Matt Berry, I've since had the question posed to me about what our legitimate criticism would resemble. I believed when I wrote that column that I had put keyboard to digital paper saying some of the same things I regularly say on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER program on SportsTalkNetwork.com. It turns out that I have not.

So I will do that here and now and explain some of the areas that have been major philosophical differences with Berry. I preface this by noting again that we regularly address pieces of advice being put out by those with significantly bigger megaphones than us (and Berry probably has the biggest with the "Worldwide Leader" platform). On last week's show, for example, we took issue somewhat with advice from Sports Weekly's Mat Pitzer when he advised that fantasy owners may well want to bench LT when the playoffs materialize. He cited the possibility that some owners may also have Matt Forte or Tim Hightower, for example. We stated that, while this may be the case, we're dubious that very many fantasy owners have two other running backs who are on the top tier where LT still resides and that Pitzer's point probably didn't merit being the lead item in his weekly column.

Without further ado, areas of sharp disagreement with Matt Berry:

^ Value: It's what we're obsessed with in terms of building teams and it's the building block of (all successful) pro franchises when they're conducting their own drafts. When Berry drafts Thomas Jones 11th overall in The Sporting News experts' draft a few years ago without regard to his market value, that makes our teeth grind. Championships are won and lost by patiently grinding out value all through a draft or auction and we don't see this truism addressed, at least explicitly, by Berry.

^ One-size-fits-all advice: His 25 rules for drafts are of an absolute nature that we abhor. Example: 2006's first rule, to avoid Terrell Owens. We complained about this at the time. Avoid him? What if he drops to the sixth round because everyone's listening to Matt Berry? Doesn't he become a sufficient value at some point, especially if you've already got your starting WRs?

I can practically hear the rebuttal coming from here. "Rick, you're taking me out of context. I didn't mean to absolutely 100% avoid him if he drops to an insane point. Don't put words in my mouth!" To that hypothetical protestation, I would reply with the following: "Matt, people take us completely literally at almost all times. I've been interacting with the public through my webcast since 2004 and writing about fantasy since 2001, both on significantly smaller platforms than the one you've got right now (and also smaller than the old Mr. Roto site). In other words, anything that has been made plain to me has been made plain to you ten times over and probably, ten times earlier. If I've had somebody scream at me about a piece of advice that I didn't intend to be taken to an illogical conclusion, then surely it's happened to you and you're not unaware that people do this. It's the reason that I preface most pieces of advice with preambles and conditions. I'd rather risk somebody's eyes glazing over with a preface and know that I'm delivering something that they won't easily misuse."

There's been a notable lack of nuance all around ESPN in recent years, the rollout of what some have called the "Skip Bayless culture." It may be unfair for me to lump in some of Matt Berry's absolutes with the mandate at ESPN to grab people with something catchy at all times, but the other explanation, a personal lack of regard for nuance, isn't much better. Regardless of why it materializes, it's something that I feel hurts all fantasy touts when our industry leader puts it out there. That's the motivation for counteracting that, nothing more, nothing less.

For that matter, I would like to politely disagree with one of my colleagues who has criticized Berry for some alleged fence-sitting opinions. I don't see him falling into the "Captain Obvious" stuff more than any of us accidentally do on occasion. I think that the valid criticism is on the other extreme, when he appears to say provacative things almost for the sake of it (i.e. the infamous advice to bench AP against the Chargers). I don't see him as a fence-sitter and I don't agree with that perception, on the contrary, I see him as somebody whose love of the provocative opinion is something I don't justify. Which leads me to the next point ...

^ He loves him some matchups: Now matchups are always quite relevant in fantasy sports and we'd be the last to deny that. By the same token, in recent years a "cult of the matchup" has sprung up in recent years, one that glorifies them to an unhealthy extent. We see Berry as a part of this issue. We strongly disagree with the notion that there are not "untouchable" players. To us, AP is somebody who never gets benched unless there is an injury question and there are others (not as many as there were even 2-3 years ago due to the preponderance of running back committees) who fit that same bill. We see Berry's approach as encouraging overmanaging.

So there it is, without rhetorical excesses or anything that could be deemed personally hurtful. Ironically, if we were ankle-biting to even half the degree that some have thought, I'd have taken the time to write out what I've said on the show before. And I hope that these points are now clear, separated from the hyperbole and trash-talking that I see in retrospect was not in good fun and for which I have already apologized for approving to be published.

But also, as promised, I looked over his recent writings to see if there were any areas where I could commend his advice in good faith. I did find a few.

He talked up Dom Hixon and Jerome Harrison as good potential pickups, advice that we have given as well. I don't really agree with him about Hixon being better than teammate Steve Smith (Hixon has a higher ceiling, but Smith is more likely to produce week-to-week), but I think he's promoting a couple of diamonds in the rough. As somebody who is based out of Cleveland, I have long seen Harrison (nicknamed "The Ghost" in college) as being quite an explosive potential weapon.

I'm not under any illusions about affecting the approach of anybody bigger than us in this industry. They've all succeeded by doing things their way, regardless of any philosophical differences we may have with them. By the same token, the fantasy sports arm of FDH is going to keep doing it our way, agreeing and disagreeing with the "big boys" as we see it, but we'll be sure to lay things out point-by-point as we did here and not give any ammunition to anybody ready to dismiss us as haters.

Criticizing Matthew Berry

Very recently, a trusted friend, one who deals with members of the sports media on a regular basis, said something to me about the tone of some FDH criticism of somebody we have written a fair amount about, ESPN fantasy boss Matthew Berry. My immediate reaction was incredulous disbelief, as I knew for a fact that everything I had ever written was substantively based and did not cross any personal lines. Knowing that I am not the only person to have written about Berry, though, I searched our archives ... and found myself at a place I never like to be: having to say "touche."

Let me be very clear on this. The FantasyDrafthelp.com side of FDH Enterprises, LLC has taken issue with Mr. Berry on numerous occasions for what we believe to be impeccable reasons. We place value at the very core of everything we advocate and we are critical, I believe appropriately so, when his advice does not place a premium on that (i.e. his past advocacy of two running backs in the first two rounds of a football draft no matter what and his notion of where certain players should be drafted in contravention of their market value). Furthermore, we see him as frequently delivering "one size fits all" advice and that pretty much makes our teeth grind when we see that. Fantasy games are all about exploiting certain situations and advice to "never draft So-and-So" -- when people take advice literally, as I have found out through our website and webcasts repeatedly -- is not so good. Additionally, he takes the concepts of "matchups" to a point where he advocates being open to benching untouchable players -- such as the infamous example last year when he said that Adrian Peterson should sit against San Diego and then AP carved them up for the single-game rushing record. Matt Berry has, as I have often said, the greatest megaphone in our industry. With that comes a certain responsibility, not merely for his own credibility, but for all of the rest of us because he does represent us -- this is the case even though he did not ask for the responsibility and even though all of us in this industry wish to be judged on our own merits and not on what "the ESPN guy" said. It is for that reason that we critique him and others with large megaphones, so that we may set the record straight when we feel it is warranted and when folks may be led astray by something we find inaccurate.

I have always taken great pains to do that a certain way, but I feel upon rereading some of our content that that is not good enough and that I am shirking my moral responsibility if I hide behind the notion of "at least I never said it." As Managing Partner of FDH, I review everything that we publish and I am responsible for approving everything. I let some material go by in the notion that it would be taken as hyperbole and in a fun trash-talking spirit. That was a mistake, one that is mine alone. Nobody else deserves any criticism whatsoever. I love the passionate spirit of everyone who writes here and I hope that everyone involved never changes how they write. It's up to me, though, to reign that in if it crosses a line. I can say with certitude that nothing was ever written to intentionally hurt somebody's feelings, we're all good people here, but anything along the lines of "what kind of jerk would give advice like that" is something that I have to admit I would fail to take as merely passionate hyperbole. May I say also that the criticisms that others have made of Mr. Berry are every bit as solid as I have found my own to be and I regret that the heat they generated may have kept some from perceiving the light they were trying to shed. In other words, how we said some things undermined the strong effectiveness that we had on the merits.

Now, the irony is that I have personally written far harsher things about some politicians than anything that was written about Matt Berry and I stand behind them. Frankly, what Berry does, and what our fantasy sports division does, is not a life-and-death issue. I believe that as citizens, we are entitled, nay obligated, to speak with outrage when harm is being perpetrated on us by politicians and any of their allies in any way. No piece of fantasy sports advice dished out rises anywhere near that level of seriousness.

So in pursuit of doing the right thing as my parents raised me, this column ends in a pretty uncomfortable way for me. I hope that my FDH colleagues don't feel that I'm going soft or renouncing legitimate fact-based criticisms of Matthew Berry's content. I'm not doing either and I trust they will see that; along those lines, though, I will try to review his work more often so that I can give credit for where I strongly agree and not just respond every time I see something I find outrageous. And I really hate giving any of our detractors something to smile about, so being publicly contrite just grinds on me. But my judgment about the wording of some of the evaluations of Berry was wrong, and, I am given to understand, may have led to hurt feelings. For this, I apologize. Lesson learned.

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue XII

Welcome to our twelfth edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue IV (September 27, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue V (October 4, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VI (October 11, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VII (October 18, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VIII (October 25, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue IX (November 1, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue X (November 8, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue XI (November 15, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 12 game-by-game fantasy preview
^ NFL Week 12 top 5 waiver wire pickups

^ FDH New York Bureau Report

NFL Week 12

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.

In addition, every week right here we will provide you a link to your ultimate Sunday morning last-minute news source: Google News. Although any updates from responsible news providers are very useful, pay particular attention to those who come from team beat reporters, because they are closest to the action.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons 4:15 p.m. For the Panthers, make it a qualified all-in – 2 RBs worth starting in lieu of a TE. Atlanta has gimme starters at RB and WR (although you need to monitor White’s injury status) with QB Ryan a “sometimes guy.” He’s not a great start here, but he could give you middling production if you’re willing to settle for it this week at that position.

Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m. WR Jackson is your only decent-percentage play for the Eagles along with the automatic starts at QB and RB (presuming Westbrook is good to go; don’t trust Buckhalter if he’s not). Stay away from all Ravens this week.

Houston Texans at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m. Due mainly to horrible defensive play (exemplified by Cleveland’s “tackling”), make this an all-in game notwithstanding weather that may be imperfect and notwithstanding QB Quinn’s finger issue (feel free to play TE Heiden if Winslow is not good to go).

San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys 1:00 p.m. Dallas is all-in, whereas only usual suspect RB Gore and occasional play Hill at QB look good for San Fran.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m. The Lions are all-out, and are until further notice. For Tampa, it’s a bit of a throwback week, as RB Dunn and WR Galloway join QB Garcia and WR Bryant among the start-worthy.

Minnesota Vikings at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m. Not much different than usual for these teams. WR Berrian is worth a look for Minnesota along with the no-brainer choice at RB. For Jacksonville, you’d normally bench an RB against the Vikes, so RB Taylor isn’t a great call, but RB Jones-Drew is worthwhile for his additional utility in the passing game. WR Jones should play and he should be a good call along with QB Garrard, since the usual game plan against Minnesota is to air it out in lieu of the run.

Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m. QB Edwards should have the get-well game he needs to pull out of his (and the team’s) slump. For the Chiefs, there’s more good options now than there’s been all year as the locks at WR1 and TE are joined by RB Johnson and maybe even surprising QB Thigpen as worth your consideration.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m. With The Hoodie gearing up to stop the Wildcat, quit while you’re ahead with RB Williams and place your faith instead on QB Pennington along with the obvious play in RB Brown. Avoid the Pats’ RB quagmire altogether and go instead with the QB/WR1/WR2 combo platter.

Chicago Bears at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m. Speaking of QB/WR1/WR2, Bulger’s desperation to keep his job (and the Bears’ clamp-down against the run) makes the Rams compelling at those positions. QB Orton and the gimme of RB Forte could well be joined by RB Jones as a viable deep-sleeper option inasmuch as Chicago may be looking to reduce the load on the rookie and St. Louis is brutal against the run (158.4 YPG surrendered).

N.Y. Jets at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m. RB Jones is too hot to bench, even against an ace front seven like Tennessee’s. This is actually an all-in game for the Jets, which may seem counterintuitive given the matchup, but they come in very well-rested. The Titans may be chucking a bit more than usual, so take a look at emerging WR Gage along with the usuals (both RBs and TE).

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m. Only RB McFadden matters for Oaktown. A nice matchup for RB Hillis gives Denver the all-in recommendation.

N.Y. Giants at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m. Except for Arizona TE, this one’s all-in!

Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 p.m. The Skins are all-in except for WR2, with Sweet Shaun Alexander poised to run big given the opportunity coincidentally against his old team. Don’t touch any Hawks with a 10-foot stick this week.

Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers 8:15 p.m. All-in – with three WRs poised for productivity for the Colts!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints 8:30 p.m. Prime time is explosive this week! All-in on both sides, with RB Thomas getting the call for the Saints.

NFL Week 12 top 5 waiver wire pickups

1. Kenneth Darby: With Steven Jackson hurt, he’s first in line to replace him for the time being and he has been very productive when given the chance.

2. Antonio Pittman: Speaking of Rams, we’ve recommended him before and still he is not over 40% of ownership in CBS leagues. His hammy is not 100%, which is why he’s behind Darby at the moment, but he’s got enough upside to matter if he gets some touches.

3. Pierre Thomas: The Deuce might not even have to get suspended to be eclipsed by La Pierre in Reggie Bush’s absence. Thomas is showing surprising productivity and is another repeat member on this list who still is not above 40% ownership in CBS leagues.

4. Deion Branch: When healthy, he can certainly produce, but therein lies the rub. Fortunately, he’s healthy – for the moment.

5. Jerome Harrison: He still can’t block, which is why Romeo Crennel inexplicably buries him. But he’s explosive in space, as he proved yet again Monday night, and a weapon like this is too tantalizing to remain largely sheathed for a team as desperate as Cleveland.

FDH New York Bureau Report

By Steve Cirvello

NYB's Sneaky Starts Week #12

QB: Aaron Rodgers (GB vs. NO)

RB: Jonathan Stewart (CAR vs. ATL)

WR: Justin Gage (TEN vs. NYJ)

TE: Kevin Boss (NYG vs. ARZ)

K: Josh Scobee (JAX vs. MIN)

DEF: New England (vs. MIA)

RED ALERT (Player coming off injury that could have fantasy impact):

MATT JONES - WR: At 4-6, the Jaguars should have their top wideout back in the lineup in a game that their season is riding on. No other receiver was able to step up in last week's lost to Tennessee, and David Garrard will be forced to throw often if the Vikings are able to bottle up Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor on the ground.

LOOKEY HERE (team with favorable fantasy schedule the next three weeks):

BUFFALO BILLS

Week #12 - at KC

Week #13 - vs SF

Week #14 - vs MIA

The Bills fell short at home on Monday Night against the Browns to drop back to .500 after starting 5-1. The next three weeks give them a golden opportunity to keep pace in the much improved AFC East. Two wins over the Chiefs and Niners would make them 7-5, which would then set up a surprisingly meaningful game against Dolphins at home. The Bills have already lost to every team in their division, so a playoff berth could be riding on the outcome of this one.

The Ricky-O Trio (3 questions for FDH Managing Partner Rick Morris):

1 - With both the Cowboys and Jets having big games this week, which tight end gets the start between Jason Witten and red-hot rookie Dustin Keller?

Witten’s close to being reasonably healthy, so while it’s OK to start either (yes, even though Keller is going against the Titans!), I can’t argue against track record and matchups.

2 - The Colts face the Chargers this week, which defense figures to have the better game?

Well, neither one is going to do much! The Chargers’ desperation against the Colts’ thirst for revenge from last year’s playoffs – that’s a wash. Ultimately, in the end, the momentum of Indy will carry them to a win, which means more points, which means that the Colt defense will be “less bad” than the Chargers!

3 - Who would get the nod this week between Jeff Garcia, Matt Hasselbeck and Gus Frerotte?

Great, an easy one! Garcia’s my only recommended play of the bunch if for no other reason than matchups alone.

FDH Insider/Goon Squad November 19

On Wednesday’s FDH Wednesday night lineup on SportsTalkNetwork.com, we will take you for your usual twirl around the sports landscape.

On THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EST), we examine some strategy that appeared in this week’s USA Today Sports Weekly before we deliver our NFL Week 12 Top 5 waiver wire picks – before delving into our game-by-game analysis as the fantasy home stretch heats up for real. This will take us into our final half hour, when we review the NASCAR season by comparing some of the expected outcomes to what actually transpired.

On THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EST), co-host Kyle O’Rourke has been all over the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, predicting that the top-heavy young squad would make tremendous improvements. So clearly he must have a take on one of the most shocking stories in years: the whacking of Barry Melrose only 16 games into the season! Also, Kyle as a Maple Leaf fan should have some thoughts on this: Brian Burke resigns from the Anaheim Ducks and is widely rumored to be headed to Toronto to take over their hockey operations. If a man of his resume takes over one of the legacy franchises in the league, it will be one of the top stories in the sport this decade, perhaps on a par with Scotty Bowman’s move to Detroit in the early 1990s. How would Burke handle what might be the hottest of all hot seats in the NHL right now? We’ll examine this in detail. And one more note that might be pretty sweet for Kyle: is Ottawa in its final meltdown mode, on the way to the lottery? Or can these potential moves save them?

Join us Wednesday night for three hours of rollicking sports fun, only on The Sports Talk Network.

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue XI

Welcome to our eleventh edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue IV (September 27, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue V (October 4, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VI (October 11, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VII (October 18, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue VIII (October 25, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue IX (November 1, 2008)

^ Volume I, Issue X (November 8, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 11 game-by-game fantasy preview
^ NFL Week 11 top 5 waiver wire pickups

^ Recap of our college hoops team draft

^ The FDH New York Bureau Report

NFL Week 11

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.

In addition, every week right here we will provide you a link to your ultimate Sunday morning last-minute news source: Google News. Although any updates from responsible news providers are very useful, pay particular attention to those who come from team beat reporters, because they are closest to the action.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m. Don’t play around with the RB situation in Denver, in terms of Hillis, Bell or whoever at this point. TE Scheffler is working his way back towards every-week status at a lean position. Borderline plays QB Ryan and WR Jenkins have excellent matchups this week for the Falcons.

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m. This game looks the same at first glance as it does with 60 minutes of studying the particulars: all-in for Carolina, all-out for Detroit.

Philadelphia Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. This is the “usual suspects” game: only WR Jackson looking consistent enough to join the gimmes at QB and RB and only the WR combo in the ‘Nati posing a realistic chance of putting up numbers here. D coordinator Jim Johnson will put QB Fitzpatrick through some medieval torture.

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m. QB Orton looks good to go, play him if it turns out that he is on Sunday morning. Do not, however, go to Grossman if he is not. This should be a rare week off for Green Bay RB Grant, while WR Driver, who is probably still a borderline starter, should be in your lineup along with QB Rogers and the gimme in WR Jennings.

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m. No to QB Rosenfels, who is owned by the Colts; yes to WR Walter for at least the chance of a TD and yes (reluctantly) to RB Slaton, who will have to run against S Sanders this time. Indy’s all-in, with Gonzalez now firmly entrenched in the fantasy WR2 slot.

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars 4:15 p.m. Don’t be fooled by QB Collins’ performance last week against nine-in-the-box; it’s still just the usuals who are worth anything for the Titans (RB/RB/TE). For the Jags, we like WR Porter with a banged-up Jones, Jones-Drew as the only RB and QB Garrard nailed to your bench.

New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m. The Saints are all-in except for their inconsistent WR2 spot (although Moore is making a nice bid for that fantasy slot recently). For the Saints, a returning RB Johnson and streaking WR Bradley are nice relatively under-the radar picks.

Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m. In a game with few fantasy implications, RB Fargas (in place of the rook with turf toe), RB Williams (Wildcat power!) and QB Pennington (almost 2/3 of passes complete this year) are the only picks to join gimme RB Brown in your lineups.

Baltimore Ravens at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m. Counterintuitive though it may seem with Baltimore’s recent progress (against a very, very soft schedule), they are all-out in this game with the Giants remaining all-in (with WR Smith in the WR2 fantasy slot as per usual).

Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m. Once again, WR Berrian is the only marginal player worth a look for the Vikes, while WR Galloway should be back in your lineups for Tampa along with batterymate Garcia. RB Graham gets a rare “bench” recommendation against a ferocious run D.

St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m. QB Hill/WR Hill are nice “deep sleepers” for the Niners this week, with QB Bulger and WR Avery once again joining gimmes RB Jackson and WR Holt as good plays.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m. This is another “usual suspects” game: just RB Jones for Seattle and all-in for Arizona with the exception of TE – except for the fact that WR3 Breaston looks good as well.

San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m. A San Diego team that is reaching full potential offensively has to be all-in here, with Pittsburgh matching that recommendation with the exception of hurt TE Miller.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins 8:15 p.m. With a returning QB Romo and a healing TE Witten, the Cowboys are all-in. Beware the ‘Skins RB situation with the injuries, but they are all-in except for that; yes, that includes WR2 Randle El, who has often been the exception to our all-in recommendations for Washington this year. His contributions will be more necessary in the short passing game with a questionable rushing situation.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills 8:30 p.m. QB Edwards should join his fellow “Triplets” in your fantasy lineups this week, while QB Quinn, RB Lewis and now non-gimme WR Edwards look to try to match their counterparts. TE Winslow should still not be considered a marginal starter, but rather still an every-week player at that position.

NFL Week 11 top 5 waiver wire pickups

1. Dustin Keller: He finally made the impact people have been expecting in a big way on Sunday and there should be more of that to come. Brett Favre likes to get his tight ends involved in the offense – just ask Bubba Franks – so this rookie could make a name for himself at a very thin position down the stretch.

2. Todd Heap: As we’ve said before, yesterday’s fantasy bust can become today’s value. This tight end with the soft hands has been routinely overrated by fantasy owners for the past few years, but with rookie Joe Flacco at the helm, he’s providing a nice security blanket in terms of checkdowns and his production is starting to approximate what it used to be.

3. Jason Hill: The Hill-to-Hill combo shows how quickly things can change in this league. Both the QB and the receiver were buried on the bench during the Mike Nolan regime, but they’re getting opportunities under new boss Mike Singletary. Jason Hill has nobody holding him back at this position and he’s starting to assert himself as the lead receiver.

4. Mark Bradley: Speaking of yesterday’s busts becoming today’s producers, Bradley is belatedly becoming a decent fantasy option and a major reason Kansas City’s offense has moved from putrid to borderline acceptable at times.

5. Peyton Hillis: As the last man standing in the MASH unit that is the Broncos running back depth chart, Hillis will receive opportunities as long as he is healthy. If you doubt what somebody converting from fullback can do behind the offensive line with this system, here are four words for you: Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns.

College hoops team draft recap

On THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER this past week (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EST on SportsTalkNetwork.com), we held our annual college hoops team draft. Essentially, it consists of drafting NCAA basketball teams and accruing points based on how they fare in the regular season polls, the chase for conference regular-season and tournament titles and in the NCAA tournament. Our suggested league guidelines and draft board can be found here.

We drafted in the following order:

1. STN host Ben Chew

2. FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones

3. FDH Managing Partner Rick Morris

4. STN host Don Peterson

5. STN host/producer Ryan Scott

Here were the round-by-round results:

First Round

1. Ben: North Carolina

2. Jason: UCLA

3. Rick: UConn

4. Don: Duke

5. Ryan: Louisville

Second Round

1. Ryan: Pittsburgh

2. Don: Michigan State

3. Rick: Texas

4. Jason: Memphis

5. Ben: Gonzaga

Third Round

1. Ben: Arizona State

2. Jason: Tennessee

3. Rick: Notre Dame

4. Don: Georgetown

5. Ryan: USC

Fourth Round

1. Ryan: Oklahoma

2. Don: Xavier

3. Rick: Purdue

4. Jason: Marquette

5. Ben: Siena

Fifth Round

1. Ben: St. Mary’s

2. Jason: Wake Forest

3. Rick: Miami

4. Don: Kansas

5. Ryan: Davidson

Sixth Round

1. Ryan: Ohio State

2. Don: Wisconsin

3. Rick: Florida

4. Jason: Villanova

5. Ben: Washington

Seventh Round

1. Ben: UNLV

2. Jason: Stanford

3. Rick: Drake

4. Don: Cleveland State

5. Ryan: Baylor

Eighth Round

1. Ryan: Creighton

2. Don: Kent State

3. Rick: Butler

4. Jason: Vanderbilt

5. Ben: Clemson

NOTES: Don ended up pretty heavy on “legacy teams,” especially early! Ben chased a lot of mid-majors, trying to earn a lot of bonus points for conference championships (both regular season and tournament titles are worth 90 points). Whether by intentional strategy or happenstance, Ryan ended up with teams who have the players who may well go 1-2 in next year’s NBA Draft (Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and BJ Mullens of Ohio State).

FDH New York Bureau Report

By Steve Cirvello

NYB Sneaky Starts Week #11

QB: Matt Hasselbeck (SEA vs ARZ)

RB: Mewelde Moore (PIT vs SD)

WR: Devery Henderson (NWO vs KC)

TE: Anthony Fasano (MIA vs OAK)

K: Matt Stover (BAL vs. NYG)

DEF: BUF (vs CLE)

RED ALERT (player coming of injury who could have fantasy impact):

DARREN MCFADDEN - RB: We all know the Raiders offense has been awful this season, what else is new, so getting a player of McFadden's caliber back in the lineup (he hasn't played since Oakland's upset win over the Jets in Week 7, could give them a boost. Miami has been playing over their head somewhat this year, and this could be a letdown game for them. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Is McFadden all the way back? We shall see.]

LOOKEY HERE: (team with favorable fantasy schedule the next three weeks):

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Week #11: vs. HOU

Week #12: at SD

Week #13: at CLE

With the AFC South Division title almost out of reach, the time is now for Peyton Manning and the Colts to string together a nice winning streak, and that means points galore. They have virtually owned the Texans over the years, and they will face two teams on the road that give up more points than everyone thought they would this season. The pressure is on and Indy has the offensive weapons to meet the challenge.

The Ricky-O Trio (questions for FDH Managing Partner Rick Morris):

1 - Are either of the key offensive players that are scheduled to return for the Seahawks (Hasselbeck, Branch) worth a start at home against an Arizona team that is in first place but has been historically bad on the road in Seattle?

Nope. The Tampa Bay Rays historically were bad, but that stopped being relevant this season. Past history is only worth so much and with Ken Whisenhunt building a winner in Arizona, he’s got them focused on the next step up the ladder, which is proving themselves on the road – and what better place to do it than at Seattle, where they have struggled as you noted? I don’t see this game as different than any for either of these teams recently, which means start your Cards and sit most of your Hawks.

2 - Who would get the nod this week between Trent Edwards, Aaron Rodgers and Jason Campbell?

Tough call, I like them all to varying degrees. Rodgers goes against the toughest D, so we’ll eliminate him based on the matchup. In the other two prime time games, Campbell and the banged-up RB situation he’ll have to deal with will be going up against the desperation of the Cowboys, while Edwards’ Bills themselves will be desperate against a banged-up Browns team. The Bills will be playing for revenge also, as last year’s blizzard game snuffed out the same faint playoff hopes they are trying to keep alive right now. In the end, I’ll take Edwards and an offense at full strength except for the (no great) loss of Josh Reed.

3 - The defensive battle of the day should be Ravens vs Giants, so are any of the running backs on these teams worth starting?

Brandon Jacobs is at the point now where you pretty much have to play him every week, if only for the goal line chances – but he’s been more than a TD back this year. For the Ravens, the committee situation rules out any of the specific backs until any of them steps up a bit more, or gets the opportunity to do so.

FDH Insider/Goon Squad November 12

On tonight’s FDH Wednesday night on SportsTalkNetwork.com, we bring yet more diverse content to our viewers and listeners.

On the FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EST), our college hoops team draft leads off the show in fine fashion. Our draft board and suggested league guidelines can be found here. Towards the end of Hour One and all throughout Hour Two, we break down NFL Week 11 from a fantasy perspective with a game-by-game breakdown – which includes our top 5 waiver wire recommendations for the week.

Then, on THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EST), we review the first NHL FDH power rankings of the regular season. After that, just for giggles, we will talk about NHL Blogger Bingo, a fun new game on the great Barry Melrose Rocks blog. And we wrap up with an explosive discussion as the simmering Crosby-Ovechkin debate has just been cranked up to new heights with the interview given by the Tonto to Ovechkin’s Lone Ranger. Alexander Semin had the following to say about Sid the Kid:

“What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.

I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.

And in Russia people like beautiful hockey, and not dump and chase. I just don't get it, why when a player is skating up the ice and no one is attacking him, he dumps the puck into the offensive zone and then chases it? Why would you do this if there is no one forechecking you? I understand that if there is someone coming at you and you don't know whether you can get past that player, then you can dump the puck, pass it or shoot. But if not, then hold on to the puck, skate forward, create a chance.

Why would you want to dump the puck and then chase after it and crash into the boards? I don't know. But that's just my opinion.”

Oh, we’ll have some thoughts on that, as have others.

Join us Wednesday night for depth and variety of coverage you can’t find elsewhere, only on the FDH Wednesday night on STN.