Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 6

Week 6 – @ Buffalo – W 34-21

QB: Dalton good again and continues to roll with his receivers healthy.  Continue starting as long as the big 3 are on the field.

RB: Bernard and Hill both good games with the unusual happening.  Bernard got the rushing TD, Hill a TD catch.  As with last season, they will continue to be the only must start RB committee in the league.

WR: Jones a big game in a great match up.  Will excel when there is good coverage on Green.  Green held in check in this game by great D.  Nothing to worry about.  Will happen when D is willing to take chances with others.

TE: Eifert a good game, nabbing a TD.  Also, probably a better option when Green is going to be covered well.

OL: Continues playing really well and starting to look like one of the best in the league without question.  Held great blitzing team in check and opened holes for run game.  Unit looks almost elite right now.

Def: Got run on more easily than expected.  Contained passing game for the most part.  Pass rush was solid at times.  Gave up good games to RB and #1 WR.  Good PPR game to TE.

Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 5

Week 5 – vs Seattle – W 27-24

QB: Dalton a huge game and continues to play incredible.  Still a must-start if his targets are healthy.  Practically match-up-proof.

RB: Hill held to nearly zero and didn’t look great against tough D.  Bernard’s speed played better and he had good game.  A little worried about Hill but they were playing from behind in this one.  Will be different when they have a lead.

WR: Green and Jones decent games.  Both look great and Jones is still a strong match up start.  Keep riding them.

TE: Eifert a monster game and looked awesome again.  Just a dominant player when he gets the targets.  Almost uncoverable at times.

OL: Pretty nice game against tough D.  Did get QB hit a little but not terrible.  Was solid in run blocking.  One of the better units around.

Def: Got trucked on the ground.  Just couldn’t contain speedy runner.  Strong against weak passing game.  Pass rush was solid against bad line.  Gave up huge game to RB.  Decent games to WRs.

Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 4

Week 4 – vs KC – W 36-21

QB: Dalton a decent game as they didn’t have to do a ton and lost TOP bad.  Still good numbers and looked great.  not slowing down at all with his targets playing well.

RB: Hill a monster game getting 3 red zone TDs.  Didn’t do much else.  Did look great on all the TD runs.  Bernard a good game and continues to look great.  This isn’t going to stop being a committee.

WR: Green and Sanu nice games and could have been better if not for big lead.  Jones dropped a long TD pass and did nearly nothing.  Had D beat easily on the play.  Should be fine in closer games.

TE: Eifert a decent game and continues to play extremely well.  No slowing down in sight.

OL: Really strong game against tough match up.  Did great everywhere and a great sign of potential things to come.  Should keep this offense rolling.

Def: Was on the field a ton and gave up the yards to go with it but no TDs.  Pass rush was great and made plays when it mattered most.  Gave up big games to receiving RB and #1 WR.  Held stud TE to average game.

Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 3

Week 3 – @ Baltimore – W 28-24

QB: Dalton a huge game and looks fantastic with his weapons healthy.  Is making great throws and allowing his guys to make plays.  Could easily finish as a top 5 QB if his targets stay on the field.

RB: Hill did little despite looking very good early against a tough D.  He should be okay.  Bernard a decent game and continues to be far better than people think as a runner.  Just great vision, speed, and elusiveness.

WR: Green a monster game and made some really great plays.  The other pass-catchers being healthy takes a lot of pressure off of him.  Jones another big game.  Don’t know why he isn’t considered as a better fantasy option.  A mid-to-low end #2 at the very least, in my opinion.

TE: Eifert held to zero but will be fine.  It will happen as other players have huge games.  He’ll get his numbers more weeks than not.

OL: Looking pretty good.  Pass protection was very strong.  Run blocking was hit and miss but the match up wasn’t easy.  They weren’t terrible.

Def: Run D was crazy good and held runners to almost zero.  Torched through the air.  Wasn’t covering as well as they have been.  Gave up monster game to #1 WR, nothing else.

Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Analysis – Week 2

Week 2 – vs SD – W 24-19

QB: Dalton very good in this game and will continue to be good if targets stay healthy.  Making great decisions so far this season.

RB: Hill fumbled twice and was benched for most of second half.  Bernard took over and was a stud.  Probably the most talented combo of runners in the league.  Both are elite backs.

WR: Green and Jones both got TDs but not much else.  Can’t double team both and TE all the time so they should be pretty consistent.  Both should have double-digit TD totals by the end of the season.

TE: Eifert another TD and made great play on it.  Just keeps beating coverage and doing it with ease.  Starting to look like top 5 TE.

OL: Looking extremely good right now.  Run blocking is very strong and pass protection is good.  Might be one of the top 5 units in the league at the moment.

Def: Couldn’t stop the run. Covered WRs well but still got burned once.  Just wasn’t great up front.  Gave up good games to RBs and #2 and #3 WRs.  Decent game to TE.

Cincinnati Bengals Week 1 Fantasy Analysis

Week 1 – @ Baltimore – W 23-16

QB: Dalton was solid.  Some odd/bad play-calling early hurt but was good once that was abandoned.

RB: Bernard was okay running against a solid D and was great receiving check downs.  Probably would have had a receiving TD late but Dalton didn’t see him.  Hill looks good.  Have to see more.

WR: Sanu still not a great #2.  Jones will take a lot of targets when he returns.  Green a great game with a bobbled bomb for a TD.  Tate decent.  Wouldn’t be surprised if he takes Sanu’s spot at some point.

TE: Eifert looked really good before the elbow injury.  Gresham okay but could have been much better.  A solid grab in PPR now.

OL: Line was pretty strong both run and pass blocking.  Wasn’t dominating but doing enough to keep the offense going.

Def: Strong before Burfict injury.  Started to give up rushing yards after that.  Blew a coverage on 80 yard bomb.  Seemed to get picked apart in the middle of the field (TEs, check downs, gutsy WRs).

Fantasy Football Factors to Watch for Week 1: AFC North

A division with a ton of players and teams you can classify as “on the rebound”.

Baltimore Ravens

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Will the offense scheme to run the ball better?

I mentioned in my “Sleepers” post how much I like Ray Rice and why.  But, if I’m right about Rice being a sleeper this season, then we should see some improvement with Bernard Pierce this week as Rice serves his suspension.  I’ll point out again that Pierce’s numbers were worse than Rice’s and that’s why I think there is little chance Pierce will take the job away this season.  They will have a tough test against the Cincy D in week one but, frankly, it will be hard for them to put up worse numbers than last season.  I expect some glimmer of improvement even with the difficult match up.

Cincinnati Bengals

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Will Eifert blossom this season?

There was a lot of buzz surrounding Eifert during his rookie campaign last season but things didn’t exactly work out as most had hoped, as is the case with most rookies.  He was outproduced by teammate Jermaine Gresham last season as it turned into almost a TE-by-committee situation.  Here’s the really bad news for people that drafted Eifert: Gresham is still there and it’s likely he’ll still take some targets away from Eifert.  We just have to hope Eifert is so good they’ll have to keep him on the field.  We’ll get our first look at that Sunday.

Cleveland Browns

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How good will Tate be?

Ben Tate has been one of the most drafted handcuffs in recent years and now he gets his chance to be the main guy from the start.  Tate looked great again when given the chance last season until the rib injury slowed him a bit.  The good news about that is he played through the pain and managed to run fairly well for a terrible team.  I believe Tate could end up being a nice surprise this season and am very interested in what kind of start he has at Pittsburgh this week.

Can Austin be great again?

While Austin has become a forgotten man in Cleveland, I have to wonder if he should be more strongly considered for fantasy this season?  He is 30 years old and, considering the injuries and the lack of playing time early in his career, doesn’t have as much mileage on his body as you might think.  Everything rides on his health but he seems like a decent gamble while he is healthy.  I’m very interested to see how much he’ll be targeted in game one and if he can be trusted going forward this season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

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Can Markus Wheaton breakout this season?

A player that might end up being one of the better gambles in the later rounds of drafts this season is Wheaton.  There is no question the focus of defenses will be Antonio Brown which leaves plenty of opportunity, especially early, for Wheaton.  He is on a team with a QB that can get him the ball and a good enough run game for defenses to have to respect it so everything is in place for him to have a breakout season.  Game one might be a good time for him to have a nice game as Brown will likely be dealing with the Browns’ shutdown CB Joe Haden covering him, possibly forcing Big Ben to look Wheaton’s way a few extra times.

10 Fantasy Players Not Drafted But Might Be Needed Later

As is the case every fantasy football season, there are plenty of players that go undrafted on draft day that will make impacts later in the season.  Here’s 10 I think you will need to keep in mind as the season progresses.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Houston Texans

Had some very nice fantasy games last season in Tennessee and will have an upgraded receiving corps to throw to this season in Houston.  He’s a good bye-week player when the match-up is right and, with an easy-looking schedule to begin the season, he might be getting some fantasy attention very early.

Ryan Nassib, QB, New York Giants

A bit of a leap here since Eli Manning has been incredibly durable during his career but still worth noting.  The Giants offensive line was simply terrible last season and it doesn’t appear that will change much.  Couple that with some brutal pass rushers Manning will see in the first few weeks and an injury becomes a little more plausible.  Nassib has looked good in the preseason so he might become a hot pickup if Eli were to go down.

Donald Brown, RB, San Diego Chargers

Brown looked very good at times last season splitting time in the Indy backfield with Trent Richardson and he will likely see the field even if no injuries occur in SD.  But if either Danny Woodhead or Ryan Mathews go down, he would be probably the number 1 pickup on the waiver wire that week.  If you drafted one of those guys and can spare the roster space, it might be a good idea to grab him now.

Benny Cunningham, RB, St. Louis Rams

Already a lot of buzz around him since he got the start in game 3 of the preseason and he showed plenty of talent last season when he got carries.  The problem with Cunningham is Coach Jeff Fisher typically sticks with one back so he likely won’t see the field unless Zac Stacy suffers an injury.  In my opinion, however, Stacy’s running style is very bruising and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he does suffer the injury needed for Cunningham to become the starter.

Joseph Randle, RB, Dallas Cowboys

While a lot of people like Lance Dunbar as the backup to Demarco Murray, I prefer Randle.  Dunbar is a bit too small to handle being the full-time guy which would give Randle the opportunity to shine in a potent offense (and possibly goal line touches).  While he won’t put up Murray-type numbers because of Dunbar’s presence, he will still be pretty good especially when the match-ups are right.

Jarrett Boykin, WR, Green Bay Packers

Most fantasy players are already well aware of what Boykin can do after he got the chance to play because of injuries last season.  With the injury histories of the two guys in front of him, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get that chance again.  And don’t forget, a lot of his good games came when Aaron Rodgers was sitting out with an injury.  If he can do it without Rodgers, he can definitely do it with a healthy star QB.

Marvin Jones, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

Jones will be the #2 in Cincy when he returns from injury as he greatly outplayed Sanu for the spot last season and I would expect that to continue this season.  Jones has a ton of talent and his 10 TDs last season came despite some injuries and starting the season as the #3 WR.  He is big, fast, and has good hands and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he actually repeated the double-digit TDs.  If you have an IR spot in your league, go ahead and stash him now.

Miles Austin, WR, Cleveland Browns

With the news today that Josh Gordon is done for the season, Austin will probably be one of the first players picked up this year off the waiver wire in a lot of leagues.  The talent was always there and with the addition of better RBs in Cleveland, Browns WRs (not named Gordon) might be improved this season as defenses will have to show more respect for the running game.  Austin looks to be the beneficiary of all of these factors.

Garrett Graham, TE, Houston Texans

I’ve already mentioned Graham as a sleeper and I think he’ll become a solid player as the season progresses.  With a ton of receiving talent at TE in the NFL these days, it’s hard to justify giving him a roster spot on draft day over so many.  But injuries will happen and, as long as Graham isn’t one of those injuries, he’ll get some love later on.

Tyler Eifert, TE, Cincinnati Bengals

The talent is there and I think he’ll get more chances this season as he enters year 2 of his career.  There are a lot of mouths to feed in Cincy so don’t expect explosive numbers.  But going from 39 catches and 2 TDs last season to 65 and 4 this season doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.  And if that were to happen, those numbers would put him on the brink of top 10 PPR numbers according to last season’s scoring.