Well, we’re one week removed from the inaugural Farrell’s Five Bold Fantasy Predictions, and man what a wild ride it was. Admittedly, my results could have been better, but they also could have been worse. I’m going to briefly explain why last week’s picks weren’t as bad as they seemed, and then jump immediately into my guaranteed better than week 7 week 8 picks… let’s do this!
Week 7 recap: Not as bad as you think, I swear! Last week I predicted that Ryan Fitzpatrick would out score Tom Brady, Julio Jones would return to the top of the WR rankings, it would be a good move to start both Tampa Bay RBs, LeSean McCoy would be a top three RB, and Matt Jones would end up as the leading rusher in the NFC if healthy.
The good: Julio Jones had a great week. He was targeted a league leading 17 times, caught nine passes for 92 yards and a TD. He finished as the sixth highest scoring WR in most PPR formats, behind the likes of Nate Washington (?????) and Jarvis Landry. I’m counting my prediction as a win. Doug Martin and Charles Sims were almost awesome. Martin totaled over 170 yards from scrimmage, and Sims would have been over 100 except he had a 43-yard run called back on a penalty. I’m giving myself one-half a point for that one.
The bad: The Fitzpatrick pick looked great early, but then Tom Brady remembered he was Tom Brady and dominated. It didn’t matter that he was facing the vaunted Jets D/ST. Brady and the Patriots offense is simply on another level, and made me look silly for thinking anything different. I’m sorry Tom Terrific, I’ve learned my lesson and am humbled before you. I want to defend the McCoy pick as he did end up with more than 100 total yards, but I made a specific prediction and he fell well short. My Matt Jones prediction is still alive but looking dumber by the minute.
Ok, enough with looking back, now, to the future! Week eight baby, let’s do this….
Ryan Fitzpatrick will be a top 5 QB this week: I don’t back away from loser picks the week before. Ryan Fitzpatrick may not have beaten Tom Brady, but he still finished as a top ten QB in most scoring formats. This dude is still available in a lot of leagues, and faces a weak Oakland secondary that is giving up the most yards through the air in the NFL per game (304 yards). If it weren’t for Tom Brady’s great performance already on Thursday night, I would have predicted a top three finish for Fitzpatrick, so hedging my bets here slightly, which makes this a little less bold, but a bit more likely.
Brandin Cooks finally goes nuts: Look, it’s time for preseason darlings like Cooks to put on their big boy pants and produce, and that’s just what he’ll do this week against a woeful Giants secondary. Cooks was targeted 13 times last week by Drew Brees, and has not been targeted less than seven times in any game this season. With Prince Amukamara out again in the Giants secondary, I’m predicting 90 plus yards and two scores for Cooks.
Darren McFadden will lay an egg against Seattle: Following a monstrous performance and with Joseph Randle likely out this week, McFadden was the waiver wire darling this week as many view him as the savior of a moribund Dallas offense. But, how many times has McFadden done this to us before? Seriously, he may be the biggest fantasy tease since CJ Anderson (sorry CJ). McFadden and the Cowboys will face a stout Seattle run defense this week (giving up just 3.7 YPC and 94 yards per game to opposing RBs) that will not let him do what he did to the Giants. Yeah, you picked him up this week and will likely start him, but don’t blame me next week.
Oh hey, remember AJ Green? Green will be a monster this week, and for at least two more games. He’s been ok this year but has only had one AJ Green kind of game in week three at Baltimore (227 yards receiving and two TDs), but otherwise has not really sniffed 100 yards in any other game. That changes this week when the Colts face Pittsburgh and their weak secondary, and will continue the next two weeks against Cleveland and Houston (who also sport lame defenses). Green will be a top three fantasy WR over the next three weeks.[wysija_form id=”1″]
The Broncos, Bengals, and Carolina will all lose this weekend: You just need to trust me on this one.
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