There were definitely some unexpected breakout performances this week that either helped your team score a decisive victory or landed your team a crushing defeat.
Matt Forte, Malcom Floyd, Brandon Lloyd, and Hakeem Nicks all had huge days yesterday. Ray Rice was looking like a major fantasy bust during the first four games of the season, but finally broke through yesterday with a studly performance. Marcedes Lewis and Vernon Davis outscored Antonio Gates – a major feat this year given how Gates has been doing. Two other guys that were expected to perform well, Tony Romo and Philip Rivers, also made our list.
Wondering where the experts had these guys? Read on and find out!
Sunday Stud: Matt Forte (RB), Chicago Bears
After a very impressive rookie season in 2008, Forte was a consensus top 5 overall pick in most fantasy drafts last year. However, he failed to live up to the hype and had a disappointing sophomore year. Forte is rebounding nicely this year. He racked up 188 yards of total offense and scored 2 touchdowns yesterday to lead all players in overall fantasy production.
Forte came into Week 5 with an Expert Consensus Rank (ECR) of RB #18. The only expert who had him pegged as a top 10 RB this week was Fantasy Sharks (RB #9). On the flipside, What if Sports (RB #25) had the lowest RB rating for Forte.
Sunday Stud: Ray Rice (RB), Baltimore Ravens
Rice was projected to have a huge year in 2010, but he hadn’t even scored a touchdown nor had a 100 yard game in his first four games. Fortunately for his fantasy owners, Rice came through in a big way yesterday. His 159 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns made him the second most prolific fantasy RB this week. Looks like Rice may be back on track for that big season.
Rice’s disappointing start to the season appeared to have dropped him quite a bit in our experts’ eyes. He entered the week with an ECR of RB #11, which is pretty surprising given the fact that no expert had Rice ranked worst than RB #5 during draft time. Brandon Funston of Yahoo and Ryan Lester of Lester’s Legends, had the highest ratings for Rice at RB #6. KFFL was the most down on Rice in Week 5 with a ranking of RB #24.
Sunday Stud: Marcedes Lewis (TE), Jacksonville Jaguars
Lewis was owned in less than half the fantasy leagues going into Week 5, despite having 3 TDs over the first four weeks of the season. Perhaps his low yardage numbers scared people off since TDs are tougher to predict from week to week. After catching another 2 TDs on Sunday, he’s now averaging a TD per week. Is it time to start believing in Marcedes Lewis?
KFFL and Pat Fitzmaurice of Pro Football Weekly both had Lewis as their TE #11. Fantasy Sharks missed the mark on this one, with a ranking of TE #32.
Sunday Stud: Vernon Davis (TE), San Francisco 49ers
Along with the 49ers surprisingly low number of wins this season (zero the last time I checked), Vernon has been slow out of the gates relative to his breakout year last season. Sunday didn’t change anything for the 49ers, but Vernon finally got on track with over 100 yards receiving and a TD.
Andy Behrens of Yahoo! Sports was dead on with a TE #2 ranking of Davis. Roger Rotter of Fox Sports also nailed it with a TE #3 ranking. Fantasy Sharks had a tough week at the TE position; they predicted a TE #16 ranking for Vernon.
Sunday Stud: Malcom Floyd (WR), San Diego Chargers
Floyd exploded yesterday with 213 receiving yards and 1 touchdown to lead all WRs in fantasy points. With numbers like that, no wonder the Chargers aren’t in a hurry to resign Vincent Jackson.
Floyd had a Week 5 ECR of WR #20. What If Sports was very high on him this week, rating him their WR #6. The expert that wasn’t so bullish on Floyd this week was Walter Cherepinsky of Walter Football (WR #35).
Sunday Stud: Brandon Lloyd (WR), Denver Broncos
Lloyd proved that his unexpected Week 3 Sunday Studs performance was no fluke as he racked up 135 receiving yards and scored 2 touchdowns yesterday. When the season started, Lloyd was expected to backup Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, and Demaryius Thomas. Now, this journeyman WR2/WR3 seems poised for a breakout year.
Lloyd entered Week 5 with an ECR of WR #21. Believe it or not, What If Sports ranked Lloyd their WR #2! That’s what I call a bold and accurate prediction! KFFL (WR #10) and Mike Krueger of FF Today (WR #12) were also high on Lloyd this week. On the other hand, Fan House (WR #49) and Fantasy Football Café (WR #43) didn’t buy into Lloyd as a possible stud.
Sunday Stud: Hakeem Nicks (WR), New York Giants
Nicks also makes his second appearance on our Sunday Studs list. His 130 yards receiving yards and 2 touchdowns earned him the third highest fantasy production among all WRs yesterday. His teammate Steve Smith had an amazing breakout year last year. Will this be Nicks’ big breakout year? Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?
Our experts actually rated Nicks fairly high this week (ECR WR #5), but I’m guessing his performance yesterday exceeded most of their expectations – except for Brad Evans of Yahoo, who had Nicks rated WR #1. Nice bold pick, Brad! FF Toolbox (WR #21) had the lowest ranking for him.
Sunday Stud: Tony Romo (QB), Dallas Cowboys
Romo entered Week 5 with an ECR of QB #5. He passed for a career-high 406 passing yards and 3 touchdowns to lead all QBs in fantasy performance. SI.com was right on target with their QB #1 rating for Romo this week. Mike Krueger of FF Today, Brandon Funston of Yahoo, and Pat Fitzmaurice of Pro Football Weekly all rated Romo their QB #3. Fantasy Sharks (QB #13) was the only expert who didn’t have Romo in their top 10 QB list.
Sunday Stud: Philip Rivers (QB), San Diego Chargers
Rivers had a Week 5 ECR of QB #4. His 445 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns was good enough to put him right behind Romo in overall QB fantasy production. What If Sports rated Rivers their QB #1 and Fan House hit it perfectly with their QB #2 prediction. Experts who missed on Rivers included Brad Evans of Yahoo (WR #11), Ryan Lester of Lester’s Legends (WR #9), and SI.com (WR #9).
Be sure to check back in a day or two to view our updated accuracy scores, and how the race for the title of Most Accurate Fantasy Football Expert in 2010 is shaping up!
