Fantasy Football News 10/25/06

[Hache Man]

Romo, Big Ben Likely to Start
Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, and Chad Johnson get all the headlines and attention, but Roy Williams is the league's most underrated loudmouthed wide receiver. What makes Williams' constant talk especially intriguing is that what he says is often completely ridiculous. For instance, earlier this season he felt is necessary to "guarantee" a victory against the Bears, in Chicago, only to watch the Lions get predictably destroyed.

Williams' latest mouth movement includes telling reporters that he plans to hold a team meeting prior to his teammates leaving for their Week 8 bye, at which point he will apparently tell them he thinks the team is capable of finishing the season with nine straight wins. Or, as Williams put it: "I'm going to say we can put this together. I feel we are a 9-0 ballclub."

For those of you wondering, the Lions are currently "a 1-6 ballclub," boast a 12-27 record since drafting Williams in 2004, have not won nine straight games in over half a century, and have not put together even a three-game winning streak since the 2000 season. I'm not really criticizing Williams, because he's more amusing than out of line and is playing very well this season.

With that said, I do think his days of being taken seriously should probably be over (assuming, of course, such a time ever existed). As the great Brian Fantana once said when faced with someone who spoke as often and made about as much sense as Williams: "Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you stop talking for a while."

While Lions fans think about exactly how many seasons it will take to win nine more games, here are some other notes from around football …

* As expected, coach Bill Parcells has reportedly decided on Tony Romo as the Cowboys' Week 8 starter. The team had yet to announce anything official as of this writing, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday morning that Romo will take first-team reps in practice leading up to the game and will get the start against Carolina Sunday night.

While three straight road games gives Romo an unfavorable schedule to work with right away, he's still worth a pickup in most leagues if you're short on quarterbacks. The odds of Drew Bledsoe getting another chance under center in Dallas appear very slim at this point, meaning Romo should have ample opportunity to cement his status as the team's quarterback of the future during the second half of the season. He has a chance to put up some numbers.

* Initial reports suggested that the concussion Ben Roethlisberger suffered in Week 7 wasn't "severe" and coach Bill Cowher confirmed that during his press conference Tuesday, saying Roethlisberger is questionable for Sunday's game. Cowher reiterated several times that he was "very encouraged" by the results of various tests that were run on Roethlisberger and it sounds likely that he'll practice either Wednesday or Thursday.

However, even a healthy Roethlisberger is not a great fantasy play on the road against an underrated Raiders pass defense. Oakland had Matt Leinart looking lost for most of Week 7 and laid several monster hits on the rookie, so there are plenty of reasons to consider keeping Roethlisberger on your fantasy bench this week.

Two-Minute Drill: In an effort to boost his production, the Dolphins are reportedly considering moving Chris Chambers into the slot position … Lee Suggs working out for the Texans is more bad news for Ron Dayne's increasingly slim chances of reemerging as a fantasy option … Cincinnati turned back the clock Tuesday, bringing in Peter Warrick for a workout … Interesting Rumor of the Week: Dick Vermeil as a potential replacement for coach Dennis Green in Arizona … The bad blood between the Vikings and Seahawks is growing, with Matt Hasselbeck (knee) accusing E.J. Henderson of knocking him out of the game with a dirty hit Sunday.

Red Zone: Even if Byron Leftwich (ankle) starts this week, it sounds like he'll be a on a very short leash in front of David Garrard … Matt Jones (hamstring) has been cleared to practice, but coach Jack Del Rio said Tuesday that he's not yet 100 percent healthy and remains questionable on the injury report … After sitting out the past two games, Bobby Engram (thyroid) may return to practice this week … Marcus Robinson (back) is unlikely to suit up against the Patriots Monday night, and both Troy Williamson and Travis Taylor are iffy after suffering concussions Sunday … Coach Art Shell said Monday that Andrew Walter (hamstring) has been cleared to start this week … Trent Green (concussion) may be on the verge of practicing and is eyeing a Week 10 return.

[Hache Man]

IDP Nation
Seven weeks is an important time in fantasy football circles.

For most, it's the halfway point of the regular season. For IDP owners, it makes a great time to study a player's performance to date and find out what to expect the rest of the year.

Players can have fluky weeks, even a fluky month. But, chances are, if a player hasn't shown anything to this point, he won't for the rest of the year.

Same goes if your guys are on fire – if he's done it for seven weeks then he's for real. The cream has officially risen to the top.

So take stock of your roster – patient owners of guys like Michael Strahan, Aaron Schobel and Donnie Edwards can breathe a little easier.

Hopefully you've learned a little patience in the seven weeks. Don't go trading Jonathan Vilma for Elvis Dumervil just yet. But, do take a hard look at who is going to succeed in the second half of the season.

Defensive Line – Start

Bertrand Berry, DE, ARI (@GB)
Green Bay usually does an excellent job of protecting Brett Favre. But, Berry is just too hot after his three-sack performance against Oakland. Let's see if he can put two solid games together.

Charles Grant, DE, NO (v. BAL)
Grant looked like a man possessed against Philadelphia two weeks ago. Now, he gets a shot at Baltimore and the soft right side of their defensive line. Look for him to post at least one sack.

Kyle Vanden Bosch, DE, TEN (v. HOU)
This one is just too easy. KVB should have an easy day against the Houston offensive line.

Sit

John Henderson, DT, JAX (@PHI)
The Jaguars are struggling and Philadelphia won't test them up the middle. Instead, they'll run wide with Brian Westbrook and go after their untested linebackers. Henderson won't be a factor in the run or passing game.

Jared Allen, DE, KC (v. SEA)
Walter Jones had a slight hiccup earlier in the season, but will return to dominating form by the end of the year. He'll get it going this week and flatten Allen and the Chiefs.

Dwight Freeney, DE, IND (@DEN)
Regular readers of this column know I'm no fan of Freeney. And maybe I'm piling on since he's having an awful year, but I can't imagine a team (outside of maybe Oakland and Houston) that I'm recommend playing him against. He'll put up another goose egg this week.

Linebacker – Start

Keith Brooking, WLB, ATL (@CIN)
Brooking is the best linebacker on Atlanta and his numbers won't be hurt by his move to WLB. I still think Atlanta is a better team with Brooking, Michael Boley and Demorrio Williams in at LB instead of Brooking, Boley and Edgerton Hartwell. But, until the Falcons realize that, Brooking is their only LB worth starting.

Brian Simmons, WLB, CIN (v. ATL)
Michael Vick threw for 4 TDs against Pittsburgh, but Atlanta will be smart enough to return to its running roots against the Bengals. Give Simmons the start and he'll rack up at least 6 tackles.

LeRoy Hill, SLB, SEA (@KC)
The Chiefs have found their groove in the run game. Cash in on it by playing any of Seattle's starting linebackers this week (Hill, Julian Peterson or Lofa Tatupu.) Hill is likely on the waiver wire in your league, so snap him up for this week.

Sit

A.J. Hawk, WLB, GB (v. ARI)
Hawk had a breakout game last week, but won't be able to duplicate last week's success against pass-happy Arizona. Sit him down while you can because before the end of the year he'll be a must-start.

Al Wilson, MLB, DEN (v. IND)
Denver has done an excellent job stopping the run, which will force Indy to go to the air. Wilson simply isn't good enough to run down any of Indy's pass catchers, so his numbers should take a dive this week.

Chris Draft, MLB, CAR (v. DAL)
Dallas is having serious problems run-blocking. And, with their receivers, Dallas should be throwing the ball 40 times a game. They'll attack Carolina's secondary and limit the plays guys like Draft can make.

Defensive Back – Start

Ken Hamlin, SS, SEA (@KC)
Hamiln has been hot and he'll be up on the line of scrimmage to try to stop Larry Johnson. Just don't count on anyone to be able to stop LJ.

Antoine Winfield, CB, MIN (v. NE)
New England's bread-and-butter all year has been short passes and runs. Winfield is physical enough to make plays in the run game, while also making the stops on short passing routes.

Kevin Kaesviharn, SS, CIN (v. ATL)
He made the game-saving interception against Carolina last week and should get plenty of chances to make plays against the Falcons.

Bye weeks – Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Washington

The roster squeeze is always tough on good IDP owners. When guys hit their byes, it's often a tough decision for owners whether to hold a spot for their IDP or cut him loose. IDP Nation gives owners a quick list of who to bother holding a spot for during their time off.

Defensive Line
Buffalo – Aaron Schobel
Detroit – James Hall (deep leagues only)
Miami – Jason Taylor
Washington – None

Linebacker
Buffalo – London Fletcher-Baker, Angelo Crowell (deep leagues only)
Detroit – Boss Bailey (deep leagues only)
Miami – Zach Thomas, Channing Crowder (deep leagues only)
Washington – LeMar Marshall (deep leagues only), Marcus Washington (deep leagues only)

Defensive Back
Buffalo – Nate Clements, Donte Whitner (deep leagues only)
Detroit – None
Miami – None
Washington – Sean Taylor (deep leagues only), Adam Archuleta (deep leagues only)

Hits and Misses

Last week: 7-10, Overall: 67-57

Defensive Line
Last week: 3-3, Overall: 26-16

Hits
Michael Strahan – 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 PD (Start)
Aaron Kampman – 2 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack, 1 FF (Start)
Ryan Denney – 0 (Sit)

Misses
Mike Rucker – 1 tackle (Start)
Jason Taylor – 3 tackles, 2 assists, 2 sacks, 2 FF (Sit)
Mario Williams – 1 tackle, 1 assist, 1 sack, 1 FR (Sit)

Linebacker
Last week: 2-3, Overall: 18-23

Hits
London Fletcher-Baker – 6 tackles, 3 assists, 1 sack (Start)
Zach Thomas – 2 tackles, 5 assists (Sit)

Misses
Demorrio Williams – 2 tackles (Start)
Derrick Brooks – 5 tackles, 2 assists (Sit)
Ahmad Brooks – 3 tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack, 1 PD (Sit)

Thomas Davis – DNP (injury)

Defensive Back
Last week: 2-4, Overall: 23-17

Hits
Mike Minter – 4 tackles, 5 assists (Start)
Ronde Barber – 7 tackles, 2 INT, 1 FF, 2 PD, 2 TD (Start)

Misses
RaShean Mathis – 1 tackle, 1 assist (Start)
Jermaine Phillips – 7 tackles, 1 assist (Sit)
Michael Huff – 3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 safety (Sit)
Dwight Smith – 4 tackles, 3 assists (Sit)