Mulligan’s Fantasy Forecast, Week 9
Well it’s probably safe to assume that this is not what fantasy owners who drafted Randy Moss this season were hoping for. As I write this on Monday night, the football world waits to see where Randy may wind up next with the announcement coming today that the Vikings will waive him just several weeks after acquiring Moss from the Patriots. Moss’ fantasy owners will just have to wait and hope for the best at this point as trading him won’t net you great value in return and there’s always a chance he’ll land in the perfect situation and become the beast we know he can be for the rest of this season.
Good match-ups
Matt Forte vs. Bills defense: Forte owners might be frustrated after the Bears RB has failed to rush for over 50 yards in all but one of Chicago’s games this season. But Forte owners in PPR leagues can’t leave him on their bench this week as the Bears travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills and their league-worst run defense.
Steve Smith (NYG) vs. Seahawks defense: Though Hakeem Nicks has emerged as the Giants top receiver this season, the Seahawks pass defense is so bad that there should be plenty of leftovers for Steve Smith to gobble up. Seattle’s pass defense ranks 29th in the NFL with the team allowing more than 267 yards passing per game to opponents.
Not so good match-ups
Marshawn Lynch vs. Giants defense: Aside from the Pittsburgh Steelers (who are in a league of their own), the New York Giants have been about as good as you can be when it comes to defending the run this season. The Giants are allowing opponents to rush for just 85 yards per game on the ground this season. On the flip side, Marshawn Lynch has not played well at all since joining the Seahawks. Combine these two elements and it should make benching Lynch an easy decision for his owners this week.
Chad Henne vs. Ravens defense: The Ravens have one of the NFL’s best defenses and they’ve had two weeks to prepare for anything Chad Henne and the Miami Dolphins may throw at them this week. Henne has been solid thus far in 2010 but don’t look for him to have one of his better games this week. If you need a QB this week, try picking up someone like Josh Freeman who plays a weak Atlanta defense this week.
Waiver wire watch
LeGarrette Blount, RB, Buccaneers: Blount appears to have taken over as the lead back for a Tampa Bay team that has been looking for a leader in the running game all season. Last week Blount took 22 of the team’s 28 rushes and should he keep performing like he did last week, there’s no reason to think that workload will change with Cadillac Williams struggling.
Kyle Mulligan is a contributing sports writer for the Observer. He welcomes your feedback and can be reached at kjmulli@gmail.com.