Studs, Duds and Sleepers – Playoff Edition

I can only imagine the relief you Big Ben owners were feeling after halftime in the TNF game. Ben’s 280 yards and 2 TDs had to be worth a fist pump after seeing his severe limp and hearing the “high ankle sprain” commentary. What a dramatic start to the fantasy playoffs!
 
Speaking of the playoffs, if you’re reading this you’re likely in the hunt for a championship so it’s a good time to get some help from the pros. What better way to get this advice than to check in on how the experts are feeling about the players on their own teams?
 
Our first annual FantasyPros Invitational experts’ league brought together 12 pros that have performed exceptionally well in our past accuracy competitions. Check out this post on Yahoo to see the invitees and the players they drafted (btw, it’s the first time we’ve enjoyed being called “fools”).
 
We asked the experts that made the playoffs to tell us who they love and hate on their teams for the critical weeks to come. What follows is a list of potential studs, duds and sleepers that will hopefully help you lock down your league’s 2011 championship. Good luck!
 
Here are experts and their playoff seeds (click on the expert’s team name to view his roster):
 
(1) Andy Behrens – Yahoo! Sports | Secret Treasure Loaf
(2) Bob Henry – Football Guys | FBG Henry
(3) Pat Fitzmaurice – Pro Football Weekly | PFW – Fitzmaurice
(4) John Paulsen – The Fantasy Shrink | Fantasy Shrink
(5) Brandon Funston – Yahoo! Sports | Team 6
(6) Chet Gresham – Razzball | Razzballs
 
Q1. STUDS: Which one guy on your team do you expect to be a playoff stud? Why?
 
Andy Behrens: “Hopefully all of ’em. Actually, I’d just settle for decent health. I’ve got Adrian Peterson, Miles Austin, Jeremy Maclin, Ahmad Bradshaw and Julio Jones on my roster. And I had Matt Schaub, too. It’s been a brutal end-of-season for me. No team needed the bye quite like mine.”
 
Editors Note: Clearly Andy is giddy about his top seed since he couldn’t narrow it down to one stud! J/K
 
Bob Henry: “I’d have to say Roy Helu after his performance over the last two games. It’s too bad I lost Fred Jackson a few weeks back and made the boneheaded move of cutting DeMarco Murray a few days before he blew up to shore up another position during the bye weeks. I had no chance in getting him back. The joy of having short benches and 16-man rosters. Honestly, though, after losing F-Jax, Fred Davis and Sidney Rice, I’ll need a good team effort from everybody starting with Tom Brady and all the way down to the Texans defense.”
 
Pat Fitzmaurice: “Aaron Rodgers. Pretty easy answer there. Did I mention that I got him in the second round? (Second round!) I thought this was supposed to be an expert’s league. Kidding, guys … only kidding.”
 
John Paulsen: “The Lions need wins and Matthew Stafford has three terrific matchups to close the fantasy season; the Vikings, Raiders and Chargers are all in the top 6 in Adjusted Fantasy Points allowed to QBs this season. And since two games are at home and the other is in California, weather isn’t much of a concern.”
 
Chet Gresham: “Tim Tebow seems to be getting better each week and gets the Patriots and Bills porous pass defenses in weeks 15 and 16. If he can put up his usual numbers against a tough Bears defense I think he’ll do some real damage.”
 
Q2. DUDS: Which one guy on your team are you worried about being a playoff dud? Why?
 
Andy Behrens: “Assuming Miles Austin is healthy in Week 16 against Philly, I’m interested to see if Jason Garrett returns to his previous failed strategy, not daring to challenge the Eagles corners. The Cowboys didn’t even target Dez or Miles in the first half of that loss. So Austin could be a problem. I’m worried about Carson Palmer, too, because the team’s top offensive weapons can’t walk.”
 
Bob Henry: “Hakeem Nicks or Larry Fitzgerald. They’re obviously both elite talents at their position but they haven’t necessarily produced up to their ADP either. Victor Cruz has overtaken Nicks in many ways as the Giants #1 receiver, although I’m holding out hope that Nicks will regain his form even though he’ll be on Revis Island in Week 16.”
 
Pat Fitzmaurice: “I’m a little nervous about Cedric Benson because, well, he’s Cedric Benson. Fortunately, he’s sort of a gravy guy for me — I don’t expect much, and anything he gives me is just gravy on top of heavily buttered mashed potatoes.”
 
John Paulsen: “He’s already a dud, but DeSean Jackson could bottom out over the next three weeks given his bad attitude and matchups with an improving Miami secondary, Revis Island, and a decent Cowboys defense. Given my lack of depth at WR, I am pretty much forced to start him and hope he starts caring about his future.”
 
Chet Gresham: “I was loving Brandon Lloyd until both Sam Bradford and AJ Feeley landed on the injury report. He has led the league in targets in the second half of the season and was a strong play each week but these QB injuries and a date with the Steelers in week 16 are troublesome.”
 
Q3. SLEEPERS: Who is the best sleeper that you have stashed away on your bench? Why might he surprise us?
 
Andy Behrens: “Given my ridiculous injury situation, I haven’t actually been able to stash many swing-for-the-fences options. By default, Kendall Hunter is the guy, but his Week 15-16 schedule is awful (Pittsburgh, Seattle). Of course I wish I’d stashed Ben Tate (Carolina, Indianapolis), but that was never an option.”
 
Bob Henry: “That would’ve been DeMarco Murray. Doh! Otherwise, Michael Bush (9.12). Drafting 12th, I decided to give the upside down draft strategy a shot and go WR/WR off the top. I landed Fred Jackson in the 6th round, which was huge, but now I’m hoping that Bush sustains his value and DMC takes a little longer to return to the lineup to allow me to continue extracting every bit of value I can get out of him. Otherwise, I grabbed Demaryius Thomas with an eye on the Week 15 matchup with the Patriots. It’s dicey rolling with a Broncos WR as long as Tim Tebow is the QB, but that matchup is loaded with potential.”
 
Pat Fitzmaurice: “That’s kind of a tough one. There are 10 starting-lineup spots in this league and only 10 bench spots. My starting lineup is pretty solid, but my bench … meh. My best bench guy is probably Andy Dalton, but he’s backing up Aaron Rodgers. Darrius Heyward-Bey might have some sleeper potential simply because Denarius Moore, Jacoby Ford and now Chaz Schilens are all banged up for Oakland, leaving DHB as the only healthy Raider receiver who’s reasonably decent.”
 
John Paulsen: “I’ve been starting him the last couple of weeks, but Damian Williams is still flying under the fantasy radar. He has gained 60+ yards and/or scored a TD in seven of his last nine games and has three nice matchups (NO, IND, JAX) to close the season.”
 
Chet Gresham: “I’m hoping that Kevin Smith can come through if I make it to weeks 15 and 16. He has good matchups versus the Raiders and San Diego and has gone off or been poised to go off each week he’s started. He most likely will be rested this week which could have him ready to go in those nice matchups.”
 
I want to thank our experts for competing in our first Invitational and contributing their advice for our readers. Hopefully your teams have more of the aforementioned studs and sleepers than duds. Best of luck to both the experts and you all this weekend!
 
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