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Fantasy File Some stars offer only frustration
By James Quintong, CNNSI.com Many fantasy owners leave their drafts thinking they've done a decent job of stocking their team. Then reality strikes, usually around this time of year, and they're staring at a 2-3 or 1-4 record wondering what went wrong. Sometimes there's some bad luck involved -- a bad bounce here or there, a last-second garbage-time TD or field goal that pushes your opponent over the top. Sometimes there's an unforeseen major injury by one of your stars. But what's even more frustrating is seeing your top stars falling short week after week. Injuries aren't a problem, and they're not always ineffective. But there's just something about them that has helped your team come up short almost every week. Five weeks into the season, here's a roster of fantasy stars who are still playing well but are probably still major disappointments for their owners: QB: Mark Brunell, Jaguars: He's far more valuable in the real football world than in the fantasy football world, and that fact has popped up yet again. He had a nice first week of the season, throwing three TD passes, but he had just 198 yards. He's broken the 200-yard barrier twice since then but has just one TD pass since Week 1. Granted, he was injured against Cleveland, but his numbers haven't looked all that great since the opener. RB: Jerome Bettis, Steelers: He's averaging more than a 100 yards per game this season (407 yards in four games) as well as an impressive 5.4 yards per rush. So why is he on this list? No touchdowns! Pittsburgh has scored just three TDs all season, which is a direct result of a sub-par offense (outside of the Bus). What's more aggravating is that backup running backs like Kevin Faulk and Travis Minor have scores, but not Bettis. RB: James Stewart, Lions: He and Stephen Davis in Washington are good backs on teams that are far worse than they should be. Stewart gets the nod here because until he finally found the end zone Sunday, he was averaging about 80-90 yards in total offense without scoring. Stewart's rushing numbers have gone up every week. Maybe they're finally figuring out that they should give him the ball more if they expect to win a game. Stewart has been averaging just under 15 carries per game -- he needs more than that to succeed. WR: Randy Moss, Vikings: This goes without saying, given that he's caught just one TD pass this year. He's been gaining decent yardage since that flop in the season opener, but he still doesn't have a 100-yard game. Moss is way overdue for a huge game. Maybe it comes this week against the rival Packers. WR: Isaac Bruce, Rams: Outside of a 144-yard, 1-TD outing against the Niners in Week 2, Bruce has done little other than pile up moderate amounts of yardage. Torry Holt, as I predicted before the season, would see a lot more balls this season, and he's come through with a lot more catches, not to mention a couple of scores. Holt is looking more like the go-to guy in the offense, but Bruce will also have his share of big games. Like Moss, Bruce is due for a big outing soon. TE: Freddie Jones, Chargers: With Doug Flutie in town, many expected Jones to have a huge season. The Dallas game seemed to show some glimpses of that -- 51 receiving yards and a TD. In the other four games he has a total of six catches for 54 yards and no scores. You can't get too frustrated with tight ends. Outside of a Tony Gonzalez, you'd be happy with 50 yards and maybe a score. However, with Jones' track record and potential in this offense, he's frustrated many owners.
Monday's BestEmmitt Smith, RB, Cowboys (25 carries, 107 yards; 5 catches, 45 yards): Sure the game was as bad as everyone expected. But put Emmitt on Monday night against the Redskins and watch him shine. Both starting running backs looked good (outside of Stephen Davis' late fumble that set up the winning score), which also wasn't a surprise given the sorry nature of both starting quarterbacks.
Monday's WorstStephen Alexander, TE, Redskins (0 catches, 0 yards): It was actually hard to pick a worst effort from this group given that most played to their level of which they're capable. Neither Tony Banks nor Anthony Wright broke 200 yards passing, but they didn't need to given their running games. Michael Westbrook actually showed up and had a TD catch while the Cowboys receivers had reasonable numbers.
Bye week watchThere are a whopping five teams off this week. The Dolphins, 49ers and Seahawks were originally scheduled to have this week off, and they're now joined by the Cowboys and Raiders who rescheduled their game because of a potential conflict with an ALCS game in Oakland. That never materialized, but they've already played that game and now have this week off. Lots of players will need to be replaced on fantasy rosters this week. Lamar Smith, Garrison Hearst, Shaun Alexander, Tyrone Wheatley, Charlie Garner and Emmitt Smith are among the top running backs that are off. Terrell Owens, Tim Brown and Jerry Rice are the top receivers off. You'll need to find replacements for Jeff Garcia, Rich Gannon, Jay Fiedler and that two-headed monster of Matt Hasselbeck and Trent Dilfer. It's also a week with an early game with Bills and Jaguars squaring off on Thursday night so be sure to have your rosters set early, depending on your league's rules.
Injury watchMarshall Faulk, RB, Rams: He bruised his knee against the Giants and is expected to miss at least a week of action. However, the team said Monday it wasn't ruling him out just yet. It's going to be a touchy situation this week with him, and having the short week won't help fantasy owners much. It still might be safer to play Trung Canidate or whatever backup you might have than take the risk on Faulk. Joey Galloway, WR, Cowboys: He was finally having a good game before he injured his ankle and sat out the second half on Monday night. Luckily, he has a bye this week to give him (and the rest of the banged-up Cowboys) a chance to heal. Elvis Grbac, QB, Ravens: A concussion ended his day early on Sunday but he looks ready to go for Sunday's game against the Browns. Randy Moss, WR, Vikings: He'll play this week against the Packers but he's suffering from a sprained ankle, which will likely slow him down. Muhsin Muhammad, WR, Panthers: A hip contusion ended his day early, leading to very disappointing stats. He should be ready to go this week and could flourish as Carolina takes on Washington. James Quintong is Fantasy Sports producer at CNNSI.com.
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