Detroit Lions Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 7

Week 7 – vs Minnesota – L 19-28

QB: Stafford killed by protection as pass rush was crushing him all game long.  Threw it pretty well considering the circumstances.  Decent game as receivers made some plays for him.

RB: Abdullah okay numbers but not enough touches to matter much for fantasy.  Line hurts and it doesn’t appear he would be able to handle full load.  Will be boom-or-bust rest of season.

WR: Johnson a big game and looked great.  Making great plays and seems to be 100% healthy right now.  Tate did little and just didn’t get great throws in this one.  Need to get him the ball more.

TE: Ebron a good game and was very good here.  Has the ability to make huge plays and did it in this one.  Could be a monster in the right match up.

OL: Awful.  Was decent on limited runs but atrocious in protection.  Looked like they were stuck in the mud and playing against track stars on some plays.

Def: Decent pass rush.  Except for one big play, decent game against the run.  Got wore down.  Coverage was decent but got burned a few times.  Gave up good games to RB and #2 WR.

Detroit Lions Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 2

Week 2 – @ Minnesota – L 16-26

QB: Stafford rushed and hit quite a bit.  Ended up with pretty good numbers but was lucky to get that.

RB: Shutout because of terrible line play and deficit.  No one could of put up numbers behind that blocking.

WR: Johnson a good game but failed to make any truly big plays.  TD grab was nice but didn’t break tackles and missed some balls he used to get.  Tate a nice game and should be a consistent PPR play.

TE: Ebron a good game making a great play to get his TD.  Starting to look like the real deal.

OL: Atrocious game all-around.  Will kill this team if they continue playing this badly.

Def: Trampled by the best runner in the league.  Passing numbers looked good but only because they got dominated by the run.  Looks like a pretty bad unit so far.  Gave up huge game to RB and good game to TE.

Detroit Lions Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 1

Week 1 – @ San Diego – L 28-33

QB: Stafford seemed to be playing rather conservative in this one.  Took a few chances but some hits may have rattled him.  A little concerning.

RB: Abdullah looked phenomenal and made it look like he should have been a first round pick in the draft.  Super quick and seems to be patient enough to not overdo it.  Also caught the ball fairly well.  Bell was bottled up in this one.  Abdullah might be more of a workhorse than expected.

WR: Johnson shutdown to nearly nothing.  Wasn’t really even getting throws in this one.  I would assume this was more the offense just being out of sync.  Tate basically the same.  These guys will be better.

TE: Ebron a good game and showed the talent again.  Just need consistency out of him.  Really believe he has the talent and situation to be a top 10 TE.

OL: Wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible.  The mistakes looked more like early season rust than personnel problems.

Def: A little shaky against the run and torched by the passing game.  Similar to last season.  Gave up good games to everything.  Until they show something, this is definitely a start-all-WRs-against-every-week situation.

Detroit Lions Week 17 Fantasy Analysis

Week 17 – @ GB – L 20-30

QB: Stafford a good fantasy game but hurt by some drops and was a little inaccurate.  Was rushed a bit but looked good scrambling again.

RB: Bell an okay game but deficit limited carries.  Riddick a good game with all of it coming through receiving.  Bush did little and, with Riddick’s skill set, there is no reason he should be on the team next season.

WR: Johnson a big game with 2 TDs but little else.  Was covered well in this one.  Tate average and didn’t get many looks.

TE: Ebron was average but looked better than numbers indicate.  Was really going after the balls thrown his way and might be on the verge.  Hope he comes into next season playing like this.

OL: Was decent all-around but did have a little trouble with the pass rush.

Def: Was gashed on the ground and couldn’t stop the stars in the elite passing game.  Just didn’t look great as line was held in check.  Gave up good games to QB, RB, and both WRs.

Detroit Lions Week 15 Fantasy Analysis

Week 15 – vs Minnesota – W 16-14

QB: Stafford not a great game as pass rush disrupted.  Was Jekyll and Hyde during the game.  Looks phenomenal on some throws, looks just terrible on others.

RB: Bell a good game with receiving added but ran great.  This doesn’t look like a committee now nor, hopefully, next season.

WR: WRs suffered due to QB.  Tate a good game with a short TD but not a ton of yards.  Johnson a down game and couldn’t convert anything long.  Should be getting more throws than this.

TE: Ebron 1 catch.  Still can’t trust.

OL: Fairly good run blocking game but didn’t handle pass rush well.  QB play hurt here.

Def: Strong against the run again.  Got thrown on for plenty and pass rush was mostly negated.  Did get some sacks but not enough to disrupt.  Gave up good games to QB, RB, WRs, and TE.

Detroit Lions Week 14 Fantasy Analysis

Week 14 – vs TB – W 34-17

QB: Stafford a big game and looked okay.  A lot easier against a weak D and with a healthy Megatron.

RB: Bell another monster game although receiving TD was complete fluke.  Ran really hard and showed good patience and vision.  Bush did little.  Looked okay but just couldn’t take the hits.

WR: Johnson a huge game and made D look silly.  Tate okay but not going to get as many looks when D can’t cover Johnson.

TE: Fauria a TD but Ebron looked a little better in this one.  Seems to be progressing but still can’t use.

OL: Decent game.  Run blocking was solid.  Got QB hit some but wasn’t devastating.  Average pass protection, at best, against good line.

Def: Lead limited runs against.  Bad QB play also helped.  Couldn’t handle big WRs.  Gave up huge games to both WRs on a lot of jump balls.  Held everything else to little.

Detroit Lions Week 13 Fantasy Analysis

Week 13 – vs Chicago – W 34-17

QB: Stafford a really good game and looked like the player I was expecting at the beginning of the season.  Moved really well and was firing throws everywhere.

RB: Bell a huge game and looked great against struggling D.  Riddick another good PPR game.  Good player but hard to consider when he gets zero carries.

WR: Johnson just unstoppable this game.  Couldn’t be covered no matter what D did.  Tate a good game as well and continues to look very good after the catch.

TE: Ebron looked better but still not doing enough to use.  Has to do more.

OL: Great game.  Looked a little shaky early but dominated as the game went on.  Really good pass protection.

Def: O didn’t even try to run on them.  Pass rush was great when O wasn’t quick-hitting.  Still had trouble covering big WRs.  Gave up huge game to #2 WR, big game to TE, and decent games to #1 WR and receiving RB.

Grading My Last Minute Pickups of Week 12

Time to grade my week 12 pickups.  A very boom and bust week for these picks.  I said they had high ceilings and low floors and that came to fruition.  As always, I’ll be using the NFL.com projections and scoring for the grades.

Pickup of the Week – QB Zach Mettenberger – Projected 22nd among QB – Finished 10th – Grade: A+

TD to Hunter was a little fluky but it was still headed to him and, if it were a couple more inches higher, no one would call it a fluke.  He’s playing better every week and is worth consideration when the match up is good.  The Titans certainly don’t seem too interested in running the ball…

RB Dan Herron – Projected 73rd among RB – Finished 26th – Grade: A

Would have finished a little higher if not for the fumble.  Should have finished lower but his other fumble got credited to Luck.  Looked very good and should see plenty of touches for the rest of season.

WR Jermaine Kearse – Projected 80th among WR – Finished 76th – Grade: F

Disappointed yet again.  Still believe if he was on a passing team he would be a good fantasy option.  Seattle is just too erratic to ever confidently trust their WRs.

WR Charles Johnson – Projected 223rd among WR (not kidding, look it up) – Finished 12th – Grade: A++++++++times infinity

Really like what this guy is doing right now and looks like he has played his way past almost every other receiving option on his team.  Not a bad option, especially in PPR.  Might be a sneaky good play the next 2 weeks as well.

TE Eric Ebron – Projected 24th among TE – Finished 30th – Grade: F-

Played terrible and just doesn’t look like a very good receiver right now.  Maybe he’ll break out at some point, but it’s too costly to trust him for now.

Detroit Lions Week 12 Fantasy Analysis

Week 12 – @ NE – L 9-34

QB: Stafford struggled with both accuracy and drops.  Also was rushed consistently.  Still playing worse than he should be.

RB: Bush DNP.  Bell held in check.  Did little in passing game.  Riddick was the receiver and is really good in the open field.  Just great speed.

WR: Tate a good game and Johnson average.  Suffered because of QB play.  Have to believe they will be better.

TE: Ebron terrible.  Missed a few catches.  Very disappointing game.  Can’t be trusted right now.

OL: Not good in this one.  Did nothing well, even run blocking against weak run D.

Def: Obliterated.  Couldn’t stop the pass at all.  No pass rush.  Gave up huge games to QB, RB, and TEs.  Big games by WRs.

Last Minute Fantasy Football Pickup of Week 12 – Zach Mettenberger

All of these picks have high ceilings this week, in my opinion, but also very low floors.  Really tough choice for the pickup of the week.

Pickup of the Week – QB Zach Mettenberger – Tennessee Titans – Owned 9% at most on sites (<1% on some)

---

 

Travels to Philly this week, a match up that seems good but you really can’t love a rookie QB heading into that stadium on a short week.  On top of that, I haven’t been overly impressed with his play up to this point.  (I’m really selling this, aren’t I?!)  That being said, I think the Titans built some momentum in their close game with the Steelers last Monday and they get Delanie Walker back this week.  Since the Eagles give up a ton of points, you have to believe Mettenberger can put together a pretty good fantasy game and throw multiple TDs.  You just have to hope the Eagles don’t play too angry and pitch a shutout on D after their embarrassment in Green Bay last week.  (Projection: 250-3)

Honorable Mentions

---

RB Dan Herron – Indianapolis Colts – 27% (<2%)

I would like Herron more if he had a better pass-catching history.  I’ve been impressed with him on his few touches this season and last and think he could be a good play.  Just wish Indy’s O-line could run block a little better. (50 total yards-1)

WR Jermaine Kearse – Seattle Seahawks – 5% (<3%)

I’m going back to him again despite him letting me down so much.  I think the Cards run D might force a few more throws from Wilson and Kearse ends up with good numbers.  I’ll probably regret believing in him, yet again… (80-1)

WR Charles Johnson – Minnesota Vikings – 1% (<1%)

Would love this pick if Jennings and Wright were out but it looks like they are suiting up.  Love what I’ve seen out of him and think he could still make an impact this week in garbage time.  (60-1)

TE Eric Ebron – Detroit Lions – 20% (<4%)

After Fleener’s performance against the Pats last week, it’s easy to be excited about Ebron as he gets more involved in the offense this week.  He’s been hard to trust but I think he snags a TD this week.  (35-1)