Hot Fantasy Football Picks

Indianapolis Colts WR Austin Collie will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering another concussion during Sunday’s win over Jacksonville. Collie took a vicious hit down the seam and crumbled to the ground. There’s no way the Colts can let him back on the field after dealing with concussions off-and-on all season. His career and health after football would be put in serious jeopardy if he’s allowed to play again this season. Blair White will resume slot-receiver duties.

Lots of big match-ups and some very tough spreads this week in our game picks.

Also check out our week 15 fantasy picks.

Active:

Shaun Hill – QB – DET **will be 2nd string**
Matt Cassel – QB – KC **may not start**
Terrence McGee – CB – BUF **will not start**
David Garrard – QB – JAX
Austin Collie – WR – IND
Colt McCoy – QB – CLE
Asante Samuel – CB – PHI
DeSean Jackson – WR – PHI

Inactive:

Roy E. Williams – WR – DAL
Marion Barber – RB – DAL
Tony Romo – QB – DAL
James Davis – RB – WSH
Derek Anderson – QB – ARI
Gerald Hayes – LB – ARI
Matt Stafford – QB – DET
Donte Stallworth – WR – BAL
Todd Heap – TE – BAL
Joseph Addai – RB – IND
Mike Hart – RB – IND
Kelvin Hayden – CB – IND
Clint Session – LB – IND
Bo Scaife – TE – TEN
Jake Delhomme – QB – CLE
Scott Fujita – LB – CLE
Courtney Greene – S – JAX
Chris Gamble – CB – CAR
Stewart Bradley – LB – PHI
Chris Ivory – RB – NO

Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (concussion) has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against New England. Matt Flynn will start his first ever NFL game, and should be a little bit more prepared to play this week after taking all the first-team reps in practice. Still, he makes every Packer skill player outside of Greg Jennings and maybe TE Andrew Quarless unplayable. The Packers hopes of making the playoffs are fading fast, although either the Giants or Philadelphia will lose this week.

Pittsburgh Steelers S Troy Polamalu (ankle) is unlikely to play Sunday against the Jets, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Polamalu’s loss will be huge against a reeling Jets’ offense. It should make the game much closer than it normally would have been. Consider it an upgrade for the Jets’ receivers.

Washington Redskins QB Rex Grossman will start Sunday’s game against Dallas over Donovan McNabb, according to Kelli Johnson of CSN Washington. Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan stated Thursday that Grossman was not receiving increased reps in practice, but that is obviously not the case. The team has no reason to start Grossman, as he is not the long-term answer at the position. The Shanahan’s have clashed with McNabb all season and it’s becoming increasingly likely that McNabb’s “extension” will never see the light of day. He’s highly unlikely to be brought back in 2011, unless Owner Dan Snyder decides to cut ties with Coach Mike Shanahan after only one season, which is not going to happen.

New York Giants WR Steve Smith will undergo knee surgery and miss the remainder of the season, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. Smith suffered damaged articular cartilage around his knee and will need to go under the knife to repair it. Mario Manningham (hip) stated he will be ready to play Sunday against Philadelphia, but the Giants receiving corps takes a huge hit with Smith out. Derek Hagan will serve as the #3 WR the rest of the way.

Minnesota Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson suffered a turf toe injury during Monday’s loss to the Giants and is uncertain to play this week against Chicago, according to Coach Leslie Frazier. Tests on Brett Favre’s shoulder reportedly came back pretty positive, so the team will hope he can go if Jackson is unable to play. Rookie Joe Webb is far too raw to handle starting against the Bears on national television.

Start ‘Em

Jonathan Stewart – RB – CAR (vs. ARI) – This could be the first time we’ve recommended starting a Panthers’ player all season, but with Arizona’s swiss-cheese rush defense coming to Charlotte, we like Stewart to have his second-consecutive 100-yard rushing performance.

Reggie Wayne – WR – IND (vs. JAX) – Last time these two teams squared off, Wayne had 15 catches for 196 yards.  Enough said.

Kenny Britt – WR – TEN (vs. HOU) – Britt played a near full compliment of snaps last week against Indianapolis, looking fully recovered from his hamstring injury.  With an extra ten days to heal up, Britt should be fairly fresh against Houston’s terrible pass defense. 

Roddy White – WR – ATL (@SEA) – White has cooled off a little bit after a scorching start, but Seattle’s pass defense is atrocious and we expect White to put up between 125-150 yards, weather permitting. 

Rob Gronkowski – TE – NE (vs. GB) – With the Packers’ cornerback tandem of Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams playing exceptionally well, we expect the Patriots to attack the Packers with their secondary weapons, specifically Gronkowski.  He’s had exactly five receptions in three of the Pats’ last five games.

Darren McFadden – RB – OAK (vs. DEN) – The Raiders may very well have the softest fantasy playoff schedule for running backs, which obviously bodes well for McFadden.  Fresh off his domination of Jacksonville, look for Run DMC to keep it going against a Denver team that has all but given up. 

Knowshon Moreno – RB – DEN (@OAK) – With Kyle Orton imploding down the stretch again, Moreno has been the offense for the Broncos the past few weeks.  We look for that to continue against a Raiders’ defense that surrendered over 200 yards rushing last week to Jacksonville.

Sit ‘Em

Carson Palmer – QB – CIN (vs. CLE) – Palmer had his best game of 2010 in Cleveland earlier this season, but we’re betting on Mother Nature to win over Cincinnati’s noodle-armed quarterback this week.  Barring an unforeseen heat wave, the elements in Cincinnati will surely not be conducive to Palmer having a big day through the air.

LaDanian Tomlinson – RB – NYJ (@PIT) – Despite an over-hyped “resurgence” in 2010, Tomlinson has rushed for over 76 yards just twice this season, while being held under 60 yards rushing every week since Week 5.  Tomlinson’s real value is in PPR leagues, but he hasn’t topped two receptions the last three weeks either.  Tomlinson may very well have helped you get to the playoffs, but in a nightmare matchup against Pittsburgh, it’s time to plant LT on the bench.

Marcedes Lewis – TE – JAX (@IND) – Lewis has been a red-zone machine in 2010, racking up nine TD’s so far in 13 games.  While he did score in the Jags’ first meeting with Indy, Lewis only had 22 yards receiving.  We’re betting against Lewis scoring this week. 

Matt Forte – RB – CHI (@MIN) – As Forte owners in several leagues, we appreciate what he did early on this season, but that being said, we’re not going to risk our playoff lives on a guy who has topped three receptions one time in the last 11 weeks.  He just doesn’t get the ball enough on the ground (three 20+ carry games in 2010) to make up for his lack of receptions. 

Ben Roethlisberger – QB – PIT (vs. NYJ) – Since his return from suspension, Big Ben has had four above average games and five below average games, not the kind of consistency fantasy owners are looking for.  In a game that figures to feature poor playing conditions, look for other options at quarterback with your fantasy lives lying in the balance. 

David Garrard – QB – JAX (@IND) – Throw out Garrard’s poor Week 2 performance against San Diego, and his TD-to-INT ratio sits at a very solid 19:8 for the season.  But with the Colts on tap this week, we don’t expect Garrard to have a lot of opportunities throwing the ball.  We’d feel much more comfortable with Jon Kitna or Josh Freeman this week.

Featured Game Picks

San Diego Chargers (-8.5) vs. SF

Atlanta Falcons (-6) @SEA

Oakland Raiders (-6.5) vs. DEN

Week 14 Results

Start ‘Em

Santonio Holmes – NYJ – 2 rec., 57 yards

James Starks – GB – 8 rush yards

Michael Crabtree – SF – 1 rec., 1 yard

Michael Turner – ATL – 112 rush yards, 3 TD’s, 1 rec., 12 yards

Jason Witten – DAL – 7 rec., 69 yards, 2 TD’s

Brandon Lloyd – DEN – 3 rec., 32 yards

Eli Manning – NYG – 22-37 for 187 yards, TD, 2 INT’s

Results:  Eli was inexplicably terrible against the Vikings…Lloyd and Holmes suffered through terrible quarterback play…Turner and Witten had explosive performances…Green Bay’s offensive line was dominated by Detroit, leaving Starks with no room to run…Crabtree was an afterthought after SF jumped out to a big lead.

Sit ‘Em

Cedric Benson – CIN – 19 rush yards, 3 rec., 26 yards

Percy Harvin – MIN – DNP (migraines)

Danny Woodhead – NE – 22 total yards, TD

Larry Fitzgerald – ARI – 6 rec., 72 yards

Brandon Marshall – MIA – 2 rec., 16 yards, TD

Matt Cassel – KC – DNP (appendectomy)

Results:  Cassel underwent an appendectomy just after our column was posted…Harvin missed his second consecutive game after looking likely to return early in the week…Marshall and Woodhead salvaged poor days by finding the endzone…Fitzgerald was average…Benson predictably found nothing against the Steelers.

Featured Game Picks

Jacksonville Jaguars (-4.5) vs. OAK (W)

Cleveland Browns (+1.5) @BUF (L)

Green Bay Packers (-7) @DET (L)

Results:  GB was doomed after Aaron Rodgers went down…Jake Delhomme was terrible for CLE…Jacksonville pulled ahead late in a shootout against OAK…1-2 puts us at 16-26 for the year.

Buffalo Bills WR Lee Evans will likely miss multiple weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain during Sunday’s win over Cleveland. Evans failed to record a catch before leaving, and could possibly miss the remainder of the season with the injury. Steve Johnson will likely see even more targets in Evans’ absence, as the Bills lack playmaking depth at the position.