Fantasy Football

Top 5 Fantasy Football Handcuffs for 2013Unlike past years when I wrote about fantasy football handcuffs, designating a true handcuff for 2013  is becoming harder and harder to pin point. Especially 5 that are worth writing about. With teams continuing to use more of a two-back system, or the dreaded Running Back By Committee, distinguishing a worthy handcuff to draft in the later rounds behind a stud running back isn’t as easy as it used to be. Many backups are starting to have their own fantasy value, which means the chances of them being snagged by another owner earlier than usual is greater than it used to be. Aside from those teams who are expected to use more than one running back like the Patriots (Ridley/Vereen) and the Bengals (BGE/Bernard), there are also those other teams who do have a true workhorse, but have backups who I wouldn’t trust to get me through one game let alone multiple ones. Can anyone really trust Jacquizz Rodgers if Steven Jackson missed more than a game or two? Not me. So after doing much fantasy football research on the topic, below are the top 5 handcuffs who I feel deserve a shot at getting drafted by the same owner who took a guy like Arian Foster or Ray Rice in round one in their drafts. 1. Ben Tate – Texans Tate’s 2012 was a disaster after closing in on a 1000 yard season in 2011. Multiple injuries to his hamstring and foot, along with competing against Justin Forsett for touches behind Foster, knocked Tate’s numbers down big time. His saving grace, however, was that he still averaged 4.3 yards a carry, even if it was on a puny 65 rushes. Tate’s 2013 can’t possibly get any worse. In fact, he has a lot riding as he enters the last year of his rookie deal. If I take Foster with a top 3 pick, you better believe I will have Tate on my radar. Foster has averaged around 318 carries over the last 3 seasons, so owners might have to fork over a higher-than-usual pick for Tate’s services. 2. Fred Jackson – Bills There is no doubt that C.J. Spiller is one of the most electrifying dual threats in the league. After a disappointing rookie season, Spiller was the hottest fantasy football waiver pick in 2011 after Jackson suffered a fractured fibula in Week 11 against Miami. Spiller went on to continue as the dominant back in 2012, but many people don’t remember that Jackson was still a big fantasy player before getting injured. He reeled off 6 100-yard rushing games in the first 10 weeks and amassed 934 yards before being put on injured reserve. Spiller will be the guy again in Doug Marrone’s new offense, but Jackson will be one of those guys some owners might forget about as a handcuff. He could wind up being a very strong value pick in the later rounds as my No. 2 ranked handcuff. 3. Michael Bush – Bears Maybe Bernard Pierce and Bryce Brown have more upside, but Bush’s resume ranks him as the No. 3 handcuff on my list. Coming off a 2011 season in which he racked up 1395 total yards and 8 total scores as a Raider, Bush didn’t do much last season after signing a 4-year, $14 million contract with the Bears. Biggest reason for that? Matt Forte stayed relatively healthy for most of the season, relegating Bush to true backup duties and 114 total carries, until he was placed on IR with injured ribs. Lovie Smith is gone as head coach, so Forte figures to have another big role in Marc Trestman’s new offense. However, Bush has showed us he is just as good a rusher and receiver if healthy. So if you wind up nabbing Forte as your low-end RB1/high-end RB2, grabbing Bush and stashing him away would set my mind at ease. 4. Bernard Pierce – Ravens Drafted in the third round in 2012, Pierce had a surprisingly strong year behind Ray Rice. He averaged 40 total yards a game, a 4.9 ypc average and had the fifth-best broken tackle rate in the league among running backs at 16.5%. While Rice has been the pinnacle of health over the la

Which Cowboys Rookie Do You Think Will Have The Best Season?

Our expert picks the top 30 PGA tour golfers for this week's tournament: 1. Justin Rose, 2. Hunter Mahan, 3. Lee Westwood, 4. Bubba Watson, 5. Keegan Bradley, 6. John Rollins, 7. Fredrik Jacobson, ...

The New York Jets are a fantasy football catastrophe. Everywhere you look there is a glimmer of promise that is sure to implode. Do you dare?

Marcus Lattimore will be coming off severe injuries to his knees and will try to make a positive impact to the 49ers offense.

May 30, 2013; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) prepares to throw during organized team activities at the Broncos training facility. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports Quarterback — Peyton Manning (37) Peyton Manning is still among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. If you need a frame of reference, coming off of a handful of neck operations in 2011, he had the most touchdowns he’s had (37) since throwing 49 back in 2004, and his lowest number of interceptions (11) since the Colts’ 2006 season where he threw just nine picks. Manning has some elite receivers, which we will highlight later in this article, so he is ready for another top tier fantasy football season. He is not a threat to run the ball, but I don’t think owners will have to worry about that whatsoever. His arm feels stronger, and with a plethora of targets in the passing game, Denver is set to air it out even more in 2013 than they did a year ago. The Broncos signal caller should once again be among the top fantasy quarterbacks in the NFL, and depending on how your league is run, he should be worth a first round pick. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was right around 4,500 yards and 35-40 touchdowns this season. At 37 years young, Manning is still a superstar. Backup — Brock Osweiler (22)

. Tommy Hanson, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners Hanson is 4-2 with a 3.94 ERA. In his last six starts, Hanson is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. . Season Totals: 23-28, 447.2 IP, 356 Ks, 3.96 ERA (197 earned runs), 1.27 WHIP (435 hits, 133 walks) .

Written by Rich Arleo Edited by Marc Caviglia To help better prepare you for your upcoming 2013 fantasy football drafts we have has decided to take a close look at each team’s depth and predict how each players role will play out during the 2013 NFL season. These fantasy football depth charts will cover every position, however the main focus will be on the running back and wide receiver positions, since fantasy football owners have the toughest time projecting these positions. Keep in mind our NFL Depth Charts are fantasy football specific. Arizona Cardinals Depth Chart QB1: Carson Palmer | QB2: Drew Stanton | QB3: Ryan Lindley | QB4: Caleb TerBush RB1: Rashard Mendenhall | RB2: Ryan Williams | RB3: Stepfan Taylor | 5. Andre Ellington | RB5: Alfonso Smith WR1: Larry Fitzgerald | WR2: Michael Floyd | WR3: Ryan Swope | WR4: Andre Roberts | WR5: LaRon Byrd TE1: Rob Housler | TE2: Jeff King K: Jay Feely 2012 In Review After Kevin Kolb was hurt again, John Skelton and Ryan Lindley stunk up the joint for the Arizona Cardinals as none were even worth considering in fantasy football . The backfield situation wasn’t much better as Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams didn’t last for many games and LaRod Stephens-Howling and William Powell just weren’t good enough. Poor Larry Fitzgerald , one of the best receivers in the game, could only muster up 709 yards and four touchdowns with Andre Roberts close behind. Tight end Rob Housler was the fourth leading rusher with 417 yards and zero touchdowns. Kicker Jay Feely was worthless in fantasy because of the lack of scoring. What to Expect in 2013 The Cards attempted to revamp their offense over the winter by bringing in Carson Palmer and Rashard Mendenhall . Palmer should be a good QB2 coming off a solid year. He now has Fitzgerald to throw to, who also should be thrilled with the change as Palmer is light years better than the garbage that was throwing to him last year. Look for Fitz to bounce back into form. Roberts may be roster worthy but will only be a decent bye week fill-in. Mendenhall is certainly a big name but is now two years removed from his last 1,000-yard season and couldn’t fully recover from his knee issues last year. He’ll get the first crack in the backfield, but former second-rounder Ryan Williams will try to stay on the field and could see plenty of carries if he proves healthy and effective. On top of that, Arizona used late NFL draft choices to select Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington. Taylor is a between the tackles runner, while Ellington is always trying to find a hole and it to paydirt. At tight end, Housler is an intriguing sleeper option with Palmer under center. Palmer threw a ton to his tight end last year and could look to Housler often. Take him as a TE2 with upside. Feely at kicker again shouldn’t be drafted. Don’t be surprised if… Housler becomes a TE1 by midseason. Nobody knew about Brandon Myers last year before he became Palmer’s favorite target. Also don’t be shocked if Fitzgerald once again becomes a top 10 WR again thanks to Palmer. AFC EAST DEPTH CHART: BUF | MIA | NEP | NYJ AFC WEST DEPTH CHART: DEN | KCC | OAK | SDC AFC SOUTH DEPTH CHART: HOU | IND | JAC | TEN AFC NORTH DEPTH CHART: BAL | CIN | CLE | PIT NFC EAST DEPTH CHART: DAL | NYG | PHI | WAS NFC WEST DEPTH CHART: ARI | STL | SAN | SEA NFC SOUTH DEPTH CHART: ATL | CAR | NOS | TBB NFC NORTH DEPTH CHART: CHI | DET | GBP | MIN

Written by Rich Arleo Edited by Marc Caviglia To help better prepare you for your upcoming 2013 fantasy football drafts we have has decided to take a close look at each team’s depth and predict how each players role will play out during the 2013 NFL season. These fantasy football depth charts will cover every position, however the main focus will be on the running back and wide receiver positions, since fantasy football owners have the toughest time projecting these positions. Keep in mind our NFL Depth Charts are fantasy football specific. Washington Redskins Depth Chart QB1: Robert Griffin III | QB2: Kirk Cousins | QB3: Rex Grossman RB1: Alfred Morris | RB2: Evan Royster | RB3: Roy Helu | RB3: Chris Thompson WR1: Pierre Garcon | WR2: Josh Morgan | WR3: Santana Moss | WR4: Leonard Hankerson | WR5: Aldrick Robinson TE1: Fred Davis | TE2: Logan Paulsen K: Kai Forbath 2012 In Review The 2012 season for the Washington Redskins was centered on first round pick Robert Griffin III . He burst onto the scene and was everything the team could’ve hoped for and more. RGIII had a fantastic rookie season with 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and only five interceptions; and that was only through the air. He shined on the ground as well with 815 yards and seven touchdowns on 120 carries (6.8 yards per carry). It all came crumbling down in the playoffs with a severe knee injury, unfortunately. Behind Griffin, fellow rookie Alfred Morris , a sixth round pick, came out of nowhere to run for 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns as a very effective RB1. Evan Royster and Roy Helu were rendered all but useless. No particular receiver shined for the ‘Skins last year. Santana Moss was the most effective in fantasy with eight touchdowns to go along with his 573 yards. Pierre Garcon led the team with 633 yards but was limited due to injuries and Josh Morgan and Leonard Hankerson were solid complimentary receivers. RGIII didn’t look to the tight end much and Fred Davis had just 325 yards in an injury plagued season and Logan Paulsen had similar numbers filling in for him. After years of struggling to find a kicker, it seems the team may have found someone in Kai Forbath who was missed just one of his 18 attempts last year after taking over as the starter. What to Expect in 2013 The way Washington’s season ended when RGIII damaged his ACL and MCL. It wasn’t expected he would be ready for the start of the season but the freak athlete is already saying his knee is 100-percent healthy. While we should wait to see it to believe it, after watching Adrian Peterson recover so quickly last season it’s not out of the question. If healthy he should be a top QB1, but there’s obvious risk involved. If he’s not ready Kirk Cousins showed enough for the team to have confidence in him. If something does happen to RGIII Cousins is worth a look as a QB2. Morris will be the starter again as head coach Mike Shanahan’s darling. Morris put an end to Shanahanagins last season and will get the bulk of the carries again. As long as nothing changes, Royster and Helu won’t be fantasy worthy again. Keep an eye on rookie runner Chris Thomspon. We all know Shanahan has a track record for drafting running backs late and developing them into something and the question arises… is Thompson next? The Skins will hope Garcon can stay healthy this season as he was extremely effective when on the field last year. He has top-tier WR2 potential with upside in all fantasy football formats. Morgan showed potential last year and could blossom into a fantasy starter while Moss, on the down-slope of his career, is used mostly as a big-play threat. Hankerson and Aldrick Robinson provide solid depth for the team but will only be fantasy-worthy should someone go down. At tight end, Davis returns on a one-year deal with something to prove. He shouldn’t be drafted as a starter but has potential as a TE2 in deep leagues. Paulsen is agai

Looking at the Minnesota Vikings roster, there are three players that stand out as commodities fantasy players will feel comfortable drafting. Adrian Peterson, the 2012 NFL Most Valuable Player, tight end Kyle Rudolph, the 2012 Pro Bowl MVP, and Pro Bowl kicker Blair Walsh. The rest of the roster, including the Vikings defense, has flags with question marks attached.