Week 8 Questions

Q: I need two from: Kevin Jones, Warrick Dunn, Cadillac Williams, and Deuce McAllister.
A: Jones, Dunn, and Deuce should all have good days while Caddy struggles. Deuce should have a good day, but Caddy has been inconsistent all season and shouldn't be started over Jones or Dunn under any circumstance. Jones is a must start in any format. Pass catching backs own most FF leagues.

I like Deuce a lot this week, enough to give him the nod over Dunn. Deuce is more reliable than Dunn, in my opinion, but it's really hard to ignore how bad the Lions were against the run and how easily Dunn can run for 150 yards.

After letting Leon Washington and the Jets run wild on the Lions, Marinelli has a solid game plan this week. The Lions have to better control the run, despite having Shaun Rogers and Shaun Cody out. I like Dunn, but if you pressure Vick early on and rattle him, you can control the Falcon offense.

Q: I need 2 WRs, 2 RBs, and 1 flex player from: Chris Chambers, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Terrell Owens, Cedric Benson, Corey Dillon, Dominic Rhodes, Mike Bell, and Reuben Droughns.

A: Jennings has been hurt the past couple weeks and isn't a consistent start until he shows he has returned to form. He's listed as questionable this week. Driver is the better start. For your 2 WRs, I would start TO and Driver. Green Bay is playing Buffalo, who has been underachieving all season. TO is a must start and Chambers has been essentially nonexistent with Harrington at QB. Harrington is looking to every receiver equally for the most part. Miami will be throwing all day, so expect Chambers to see 5-6 catches for solid yardage, but Driver is the safer bet considering Favre is 10 times the QB Harrington is.

At RB, I'd start Corey Dillon, since the Indy's run defense is dead last this season and Dillon is producing well for splitting time. Dillon is getting the bulk of the goal line calls and should produce very well in this game.

Mike Bell is a tough call. Though he tore it up last week on the ground, who knows whether or not he'll start this week. Tatum Bell is probable, so it's likely he could get the start. I'd monitor it day to day and see who's starting before making a decision. Shanahan doesn't really ever use a RBBC type system, so the starter is a safe bet.

Benson and Rhodes are tough calls. Rhodes will likely get more carries and the Bears won't necessarily blow out the Dolphins as they did to the Niners last week, so Benson may see less carries. I do expect Chicago to control the clock and Benson to see 10-12 carries this week. I expect Indy to throw 35-38 times and run the ball 20, tops. I believe Benson is the safer pick, since Rhodes is facing the #3 run defense in the league is bound to have trouble.

Droughns is a decent start, but Cleveland is playing SD, who is going to eat up Charlie Frye. Droughns could see 5-6 catches, so he'd be a decent flex starter, but don’t expect much from him on the ground.

Pass catching backs are the key for the flex position...

WR - Driver and TO
RB – Benson and Dillon (if Bell is starting (game time), bench Benson)
Flex - Droughns (Chambers if Bell is a go)

BTW - This would be a good week to start Chris Henry.