Mulligan’s Fantasy Football Forecast, Week 16
For most of us, this week is the final in a long and often frustrating fantasy football season. What I find to be interesting this time of year is that, during the fantasy payoffs, the common theory is that you must always start your star players no matter what. It’s a theory that makes zero sense to me and would have cost me a spot in the finals of my fantasy league had I followed it last week.
I would agree that when debating over which player to start you should go with your better player of the two and hope he gets it done for you. But sometimes the right choice is to use your backup because maybe he has a better match up that week or because your starter is a little banged up or whatever other reasons there might be. I decided to use Vince Young over Brett Favre this week and it paid off big time.
My point is that fantasy football “rules” shouldn’t always be followed whether it’s the fantasy playoffs or not. The NFL can change drastically from week to week and so can the makeup of your fantasy football team.
Good match ups
Aaron Rodgers vs. Seahawks defense: I think we’re all familiar with Rodgers’ work at this point in the season. He’s an absolute beast. If you’re unfamiliar with the Seahawks work defensively, don’t worry about it. Just know that they stink and that Rodgers should dominate.
Michael Turner vs. Bills defense: A week after facing the tough Vikings defense, Benson stumbled last Sunday against a mediocre Chargers run defense with just 53 yards rushing. He should have a much easier time running the ball this week against the worst run D in the league, the Buffalo Bills.
Not so good match ups
DeSean Jackson vs. Broncos defense: The Broncos might have the best pass defense, other than the Jets, in the NFL and one of the best corners in Champ Bailey. This game also marks the return of safety Brian Dawkins to Philadelphia and you know he’ll be looking to make an impression.
Ray Rice vs. Steelers defense: Rice has put together two nice games in a row after a stinker against the Packers in Week 13, but that run is about to come to an end. Ray-Ray heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers and their NFL best run defense this week. Pittsburgh allows just 83 yards per game on the ground to opponents and has still yet to allow a 100-yard rusher this season. Bad news for Ray Rice and his fantasy owners.
Waiver wire pick ups
Jerome Harrison, RB, Browns: Harrison rushed for a Cleveland record 286 yards and got into the endzone three times last week against the abysmal Chiefs. Is he likely to repeat that performance this week? About as likely as I am to make an NFL roster. But the good news is that he gets another good match up against a poor Raiders run defense and should be able to rack up some solid fantasy points.
(ITALICS) Kyle Mulligan is a contributing sports writer for the Observer. He welcomes your feedback and can be reached at kjmulli@gmail.com.