Andrew Garda gives you his endless takes on NFL and College football news and notes throughout the football season. Now featured on BlogTalkRadio.com's Fantasy Sports Channel!
Showing posts with label San Diego Chargers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego Chargers. Show all posts
CURVE BALL. Instead of the number three back, I pull out old LT2 who I think is NOT dead yet.
Here's why: Ladainian Tomlinson I always love movies where some guy is counted out - be it in the boxing ring, a classroom, a board room - the comeback story is a favorite.
Maybe that's why I'm higher on LT than many others. I think Tomlinson has another year - at least - in him and will put up solid numbers this year.
By all reports he's healthy, so he won't be starting the season banged up as he did last year. Now staying healthy - that's the trick and at LT's age, it might be no mean feat. Also a question is the play of the offensive line, which was borderline criminal last season and left LT, Darren Sproles and Phillip Rivers exposed to mad abuse.
That certainly didn't help Tomlinson's numbers.
A lack of a pure blocking fullback hurt as well. That also remains a question mark though Jacob Hester's blocking improved as last season wore on.
Still I believe LT has at least one last hurrah in him and in fact will benefit in getting spelled for some carries by Sproles. He's on the mat, bruised and battered by the pundits and I think the story ends with him getting up one last time and sending those pundits to the mat.
JaMarcus Russell - This might be a better than average start for Russell, but does it matter when the average is this bad?You can’t start him unless you are in the deepest of trouble. Yes, the Chargers are a fantastically awful 31st vs the pass. But Russell has struggled too early and often to count on in the fantasy playoffs.
Justin Fargas – The run defense here is just good enough to have me worried (15th with only 6 TDs allowed). Michael Turner did get 120 yads but that was Turner and with a good offense. Fargas is not as good and lacks that good offense portion of the formula. And he may split carries with Darren McFadden. A flex? Maybe but a risky one.
Darren McFadden – Boom or Bust with DMac2 – he can put up some numbers but is splitting carries with son of Huggy Bear and having to run with no real threat of passing offense behind him – it could be tough. Again, the Chargers aren’t great against the run, but good enough and McFadden may put up a little of this, a little of that and not enough to be worth the start. He might be an early flex or real low end #2. He is a Hail Mary early in the week and I hate those.
OAK WR core – no thanks. Seriously.
Zach Miller – Miller has been the only somewhat stable thing in the offense for a while and given how shaky many TEs are, he will be a decent though not fantastic start most weeks.
CHARGERS Phillip Rivers - A few weeks ago this looked like a much better matchup than it does now. But the oline in SD has actually gotten worse and allowed Rivers to get massacred last weekend against Atlanta. And turns out special teams player Chris Johnson (whom I admit to having less than stellar opinion of) is a pretty good CB. With him opposite Nnamdi Asomugha they might keep the passing offense and Rivers on their toes. Check that - they WILL. If I can avoid Rivers this weekend, I would.
Ladainian Tomlinson – Sure he hasn’t been himself this year. And yes the oline has been sub-par and losing Lorenzo Neal was unfortunate. Still, he is facing the 29th run D and on his own with the same bad oline scored 2 TDs and had 100+ yards. They will key on him and I think – while it will be meh for LT – he will have a good enough day to warrant starting him in all leagues – no lower than the #2 and more than likely worth at least a low level RB1.
Chris Chambers - While he is getting more targets than Jackson, he's still not impressing me and isn't doing anything much fantasy-wise. I wouldn't trust him if I could avoid it, there are better #3s and a few #4s I might like more - including his teammate Jackson. Toomer, Hixon, Ginn are all guys I would rather start.
Vincent Jackson - Jackson is not getting as many targets as he had in the past but the ones he gets are red zone targets. If Chambers could play a little better, opposing secondaries wouldn't be able to blanket Jackson and he would have more room. But he gets some redzone love and between that and his more reliable hands, I don't mind having V-Jax in my lineup as a 4 depending upon other matchups.
Antonio Gates - Gates has not had a very good season, didn't play great last time out (though was the only guy with a receiving TD) and struggled last week. If the Chargers cannot protect Rivers, Gates is in for a long day. I can only hope he plays well - this is almost a bench-worthy matchup right now - with a lesser TE it would be. But Gates can go off - so it will be hard to find someone you trust more often and can count on.
Here is the interview I talked about on tonight's Thundering Blurb Fantasy Football Show. It runs 14 minutes and I thought it was pretty good, touching on several hot subjects from thsi week including Pacman Jones and the Pittsburgh/San Diego debacle.
The Chargers looked like the team we expected them to be last night. With the exception of a pick-six early, Rivers looks like he is taking a big step forward. The defense played better than it has in the past two weeks - Antonio Cromartie especially looked good. And while LT looked ok but not great, his 2 TDs saved his fantasy value. I still stand by the call to bench him as risky. If Sproles had stayed in o nthe first TD or Jackson had been able to make two more steps we'd be feeling differently about LT's performance. But if you had him in, you're happy. Sproles put up ok points. Cotchery had a huge night PPR wise, otherwise ok. And Brett Favre is who we thought he was - a gunslinger who can get you the huge play but also turn over the ball a whole lot. Was glad to see the Jets air it out more though dissappointed to see the receivers and Favre are not remotely one the same page at times.
As I said just after the trade, this team was not a 'Brett Favre' away. It' an 8-8 team and they will get there. But nights like last night are not surprising.
ESPN has reported that - according to Norv Turner - LT cannot make hard cuts effectively.
So - if it wasn't clear earlier - Sproles is the play. If you have a choice between LT and any of the following: Sproles Cotchery Coles V Jackson C Chambers Thomas Jones
- you may want to bench him. Jacob Hester and Leon Washington would be a little more dicey to bench him for.
Hey folks - as some may remember I write the Chargers blog over at NFLSpot.com. Just posted an analysis of Shawne Merriman's belated decision to get his knee cut on.
Check it out (and other stuff I write during the week): HERE
Lots of good articles on teams there - check it out folks!
The gist of the article is: Merriman leaving is tough but could be a good thing for the season once the Chargers adjust.
I will be posting my top 20 College Football rankings this afternoon either all at once or in halves - depends on how long the list is with commentary.
Onto the NFL -
Arizona Cardinals Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt says that Matt Leinart has improved his audibling and red zone work and will not be coming out of games at that spot on the field. While I still think Leinart is a shaky choice for a Fantasy QB until he shows me he can be consistent, it's good to hear he won't get 'middle relievered' during an important Fantasy sequence on the field and it does lessen my concerns a bit.
Oakland Raiders From 'The Sky is Falling' column - rookie RB Darren McFadden fumbled 3 times in Monday's practice. While I don't think think the sky really IS falling (first fumbles of the preseason) you will now recall that one of the issues some people (including me) had with him pre-draft was his 15 fumbles his last year at Arkansas. This was a concern and will continue to be until he proves otherwise, but as these are his first fumbles in camp, I won't worry much, he shouldn't be going so early in drafts that a fumble problem will leave you hanging too badly.
Cincinatti Bengals Rookie Keith Rivers seems undaunted by missing a teeny bit of camp - he led the Bengals with 7 unassisted tackles Monday night and didn't even start. He will probably be an intriguing late round/waiver pickup in IDP leagues, asssuming people chalked him up to 'rookie' and he went undrafted in the first place. He certainly seems to have stepped right up for the Bengals which they really needed to have happen. Tight End Ben Utecht seems to really be getting those promised looks in the offensive scheme. He had a good Monday night and the staff is putting 'special plays' together for him. I might be starting to believe it.....
San Diego Chargers Antonio Gates is running but also in a lot of pain, and apparently very frustrated with his lack of progress. He says he will not play early if it damages the season long term, which is good for your overall season, but bad if you want to draft him. If you get Gates, you may be in the position of being forced to take a back-up TE early to cover for him if he's out a few weeks. If you go early on a tight end, my advice is to think of Jason Witten or even Tony Gonzalez. Better yet, get one of the later tier guys and keep an eye on the waiver for value. Amongst the TEs I like later are Jeremy Shockey, Vernon Davis on the earlier side, Owen Daniels, LJ Smith, Ben Utecht on the later side.
Baltimore Ravens More great news for McGahee owners - the knee he just had scoped? It's the one he has had multiple surgeries on, the one he wrecked in the Fiesta Bowl 5 years ago. He showed up to camp out of shape so rehab is an iffy proposition. Ray Rice continues up the boards as McGahee drops.
That's all for now - questions and comments can go to thunderingblurb@gmail.com as well as the comment section below.
College rankings coming later this afternoon (my afternoon, not the East Coast's).
I have just begun prepping to write for a new site - this time as the coverage guy for the San Diego Chargers. The site is called NFLSpot.com and it now resides in the links to the right under 'Sites that keep you from getting pancaked'.
The site is not quite ready to launch but will soon - and I'll let you know exactly when it is. It's also a companion site for NFLDraftbible.com and the great stuff they do over there.
I'll let you know when it's up but the forums are up and humming over here, so check them out.
Will go over the preseason game notes in a while, including Charlie Batch's injury AND some USC Mark Sanchez news as well. Bad day to be a QB,
Posts
