by Jared Smola

We’ll have more on this in our 3rd Buy/Sell/Hold Report next week, but here’s a quick list of some guys I think will be on a lot of championship fantasy squads:

QB Drew Brees — kinda an easy one, but his fantasy playoff games are against the Falcons, Cowboys, and Bucs.  Money.

QB Kurt Warner — just stay healthy, Old Man.  Playoff games against the Niners, Lions, and Rams.

QB Matt Hasselbeck — throwing like there’s no tomorrow recently.  Love what Forsett does in the passing game. 

RB Beanie Wells — picking up more and more work each week.  3 playoff games against teams in bottom-10 in fantasy points allowed to RBs.

RB Jamaal Charles — posted solid numbers against the league’s top rush defense this past week.  Week 14 and 15 games against the Bills and Browns.

WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin — see Warner above.

WR Derrick Mason — steady as ever and 3 excellent playoff matchups.

WR Mike Sims-Walker — on fire since moving into the starting lineup.

WR Michael Crabtree — games against the Cardinals and Lions Weeks 14 and 16.  Just love what this guy brings to the table.

TE Vernon Davis — Right on Dallas Clark’s tail for  #1 fantasy TE honors.  VD gets 3 bottom-10 defenses against the TE in the playoffs.

TE Kevin Boss — getting hot at the right time.  Could score another 3-4 times this year.

TE Jermichael Finley — unfavorable schedule, but the guy’s a stud and Rodgers loves him.

www.draftsharks.com

by Jared Smola

Let’s take a quick look at how DraftSharks’ 5 expert league teams are doing through 9 weeks:

by Jared Smola

Ask 10 fantasy footballers who the biggest bust of the ’09 season is.  I bet at least 8 of them give you Matt Forte’s name.  And they’d probably be right.  Forte – a consensus top-5 pick, and a top-3 pick in most drafts – is currently the 17^th-ranked RB in PPR leagues and 18^th in standard-scoring leagues.

But his numbers aren’t all that different from last year.  Except one thing: touchdowns.  Through 8 games, Forte has racked up 700 total yards on 123 rushes and 30 receptions.  That puts him on pace for 1,400 yards from scrimmage and 60 catches.  In his big rookie year, he finished with 1,715 total yards and 63 catches.  So in PPR leagues, he’s only 34 points off last year’s pace – a measly 2 fantasy points per game.

But then there are those things they call TDs, hitting pay dirt, the money shot.  Forte only has 3 of those so far this season.  He finished last year with 12.  And that’s the difference between being the top RB – like Forte was last year – and being barely a top-20 RB – like Forte is this year. 

So will Forte pick up his TD production in the 2^nd half?  He’s seen plenty of opportunities.  Forte is currently 3^rd in the NFL with 33 red zone rushes.  But he’s scored on just 2 of those for a putrid 6% conversion rate.  And both of those scores came against the lowly Browns.  So unless something changes along the offensive line, or in Forte’s nose for the end zone, it’s difficult to project an uptick in Forte’s TD production.

Forte is coming off back-to-back 100-total yard efforts.  Now seems like the perfect time to put him on the trade block.  But if you do deal him, make sure the other side knows about his solid yardage production this year.  And make sure you get a nice haul for your 1^st-round pick. 

www.draftsharks.com

by Jared Smola

Check this out — Chiefs fans have started a petition asking management to deactivate RB Larry Johnson for the rest of the season.  They don’t want him to break Priest Holmes’ franchise rushing record.  Over 15,500 people have already signed.  Here’s a link to the petition (and yes, we signed!):

http://www.petitiononline.com/StopLJ/