Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Fantasy Performances on the Bench

In this edition of the Coffin Corner we take a look at the biggest fantasy games from players who were left riding the Pine Pony instead of the starting lineup and the ripple effect of the mistake. Every year there are monster games left on the bench, such as Ronnie Brown’s 5 Touchdown performance against the Patriots when the Wildcat was unveiled. These games are big because a huge game left on the bench might be the difference between a win and a loss, or might be the difference in a tiebreaking scenario in the playoffs. I didn’t include a player if they scored a ton of points, but were outperformed by the starter, such as if Mike’s backup QB had 50 points the week Vick had 57 points.

10. Matt Ryan – (Week 7) 30.46 Points

Matt Ryan threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs against the Bengals in Week 7. Kevin lost this game to Hurst by less than 2 points, so the difference in points between Matt Ryan and Kyle Orton would have been enough for Kevin to win. This would have dropped Hurst from 8-5 to 7-4 and he would have had the 5 seed rather than the 4 seed, meaning that his first round game would have been on the road instead of at home against Jimmy… okay, so basically nothing significant would have changed.

9. Matt Forte – (Week 5) 31.8 Points

Forte had almost 200 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs against the Panthers in week 5, but Nick had given Peyton Hillis the nod in the starting lineup this week. Nick had gotten Kevin on an off week and stuck it to him beating him by almost 60 points, so the additional points would have done nothing other than embarrass our league commissioner a little bit more. No effect on the standings occurred because of these missed points.

8. Peyton Hillis – (Week 9) 33.5 Points

The New England Patriots basically rolled through most of the regular season, minus a few speed bumps. The Cleveland Browns were one of those speed bumps. Hillis had 220 all purpose yards and 2 TDs, but Nick has started Matt Forte over Hillis this week (basically the exact opposite of Week 5). Nick was lucky that the rest of his team had a great day and that Joey couldn’t keep up with him, even with Hillis on the bench. The points didn’t have a bearing on the tiebreakers, so Nick wasn’t punished for missing the extra points.

7. Keiland Williams – (Week 10) 33.9 Points

Sometimes it’s nice to have running backs from the same team when they use a running back by committee, but when you start the running back that has 0 points and you bench the back that has 3 TDs and 140 yards you tend to regret it. That is exactly what happened to Brendan “the Fresh Prince” Feifer (thank god for that memory at Stump the Schwab). Luckily for Feifer he cock-slapped John by 50 points, but the extra 33 would have nice to embarrass Johnny Boy. These points had no bearing on the playoff seeding. 

6. Jay Cutler – (Week 12) 35.58 Points

Not many people can say they truly believed that Jay “Redzone Interception” Cutler would throw for 250 yards and 4 TDs against the Eagles, so it’s hard to fault Mike for giving Vick the start. Mike ended up pulling off a 2 points squeaker over Hurst, so had he started Cutler he may have saved himself a little bit of stress, but nonetheless, these extra points didn’t hurt Mike on the bench.

5. Kyle Orton – (Week 10) 35.74 Points

Kyle Orton had a huge day this week, throwing for nearly 300 yards and 4 TDs against the Chiefs. This would not have had too much of an effect on the season since Kevin would have still won this game and just outscored everybody else by a few more points at the end of the year. Luckily for me, Orton threw a few TDs to Brandon Lloyd during this game, so I’ll just thank you Kevin for helping me win this week.

4. Darren McFadden – (Week 14) 40.4 Points

This was the second time of the season that Darren McFadden punished me for not starting him. It felt like every time I turned my head to the Oakland game, DMC was making his way into the end zone, and my hopes of beating Kevin in the playoffs were dying. Little did I know McFadden was just giving us all a wonderful gift in the form of the greatest Fantasy Football finish of all time. Had I started McFadden, I would have blown Kevin out of the water and advanced to the semis with ease, but instead I was forced to rely on Matt Schaub and Neil Rackers to basically outscore the dynamic duo of Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster with their trusty sidekick Derrick Mason. This is a tall task for anyone, but Schaub and Rackers proved worthy and helped carry me to a win in true David vs. Goliath fashion.

3. Matt Cassel – (Week 10) 41.06 Points

Matt Cassel was a late season pick up during this week and showed me that I should not have hesitated to put him into the starting lineup. Cassel threw for 469 yards and had 4 TDs, which showed me that he probably deserved to start down the stretch, especially with the chemistry he and Dwayne Bowe had been building. These points left on the bench would have put me into 7^th place over John and would have gotten me eliminated in the first round instead of the semi finals. John would have lost to Jimmy in the semis after beating Kevin.

2. Kenny Britt - (Week 7) 44 Points

Kenny Britt exploded this week with 225 Receiving yards and 3 TDs and it really hurt John because Mike Thomas had -2 points and Wes Welker had 4.5 points. Had Britt been placed in the lineup for either one of them, John would have beaten Mike and had the 6^th seed in the playoffs. Nick would have fallen to 7^th, but it didn’t matter too much, since both Nick and John would have still been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

1. Darren McFadden – (Week 7) 44.6 Points

This was Darren McFadden’s break out performance this year. McFadden looked like a man possessed against the Broncos, scoring 4 TDs on 196 all-purpose yards. Although I won the game, McFadden would have replaced Rashard Mendenhall who only got 4.6 Points this week, giving me 40 more points on the year, which would have made me the 7 seed and John the 8 seed for the playoffs due to the tiebreaker. Assuming the same playoff point totals, I would have lost to Mike in the first round of the playoffs, John would have beaten Kevin in the first round and then would have lost to Jimmy, thus keeping the end result of the season the same.

Editor’s note: As I was putting this together, I thought more of these games would have been effected by the points on the bench, but for the most part it really had no bearing on the final outcome of the league.

Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Fantasy Performances

In this edition of the Coffin Corner we are going to take a look at the biggest fantasy games by players who were in the starting lineup. Interestingly enough, only half of the teams won during weeks that they had a player make it on this list, solidifying the fact that Fantasy Football is a team game and cannot be won be a single player.  Take note Lebron.

10. Aaron Rodgers – Greg Jennings (Week 11) 38.14 Points and 36.7 Points

When your QB throws for 4 TDs and 301 yards and your WR catches 3 of those TDs and 153 yards, there’s a good chance you won your fantasy game. That’s exactly what happened here when the Packers decided to take a squirt all over the Metrodome and Robbie Wood’s Tapout Shirt in the process. Rodgers and Jennings were lethal for fantasy owners all year, so lethal that not even Darren Sharper, the hardest hitting safety in the league, could stop them when Jennings had a broken leg (I’m pretty sure that was real). These two might have a few more monster games when the lockout ends and football starts up again.

9. Tom Brady (Week 10) 38.3 Points

What Tom Brady did to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense this week at Heinz Field was scary. Brady threw for 350 yards and 3 TDs and also ran for a TD, but he made it look so damn easy. The Patriots were firing on all cylinders at this point and continued to roll all the way to the playoffs. Johnny Buck stuck with the scorching hot Brady all season long and, much like the Patriots was able to shake off a rocky start and had Tom Brady lead the way to the playoffs. Unfortunately for John and the Patriots, Brady was only able to take both of them as far as the playoffs before bowing out in the first game.

8. Michael Vick (Week 3) 38.64 Points

Michael Vick is the only person to be on this list more than one time and is actually on it 3 times. Although this is the first of Michael Vick’s three appearances on this list, but it might have been the most important of the three. Vick showed us early in the year that he was beginning to return to the player that he was before he went to prison. Vick had 4 TDs and about 300 yards in the air in this game and showed Powers that he had found his starting QB for the season, and it wasn’t Jay Cutler. And I’m sure Vick would like to say thank you to Kevin Kolb for banging his head and getting the concussion that allowed him to step back into the spotlight.

7. Peyton Hillis (Week 12) 40.4 Points

Peyton “The Great White Hope” Hillis had a few monster games and proved to be a big free agent pickup for Nick. Hillis had almost 200 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs in a game against the Panthers and showed us all that White Men Can Jump. This is probably the biggest fantasy game put up by somebody from the state of Ohio since Corey Dillon broke the single game rushing record back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately for Hillis and Nick, the Doors put up some big numbers this week and ended up spoiling the big day for the Browns back, but Hillis continued with a strong year and ended up as the 4^th ranked player in fantasy.

6. Ben Roethlisberger (Week 11) 40.5 Points

When the Oakland Raiders play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, only one thing is supposed to happen: the Steelers are supposed to beat the hell out of the Raiders. Well, Big Ben took notice and threw for nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs and also rushed for another score. This was the biggest game for a QB not named Michael Vick last year, but Lukas did not win this game, mainly because his 2 RBs and 2 of his WRs combined for 11 points. But for a few hours on that Sunday, the fantasy gods smiled upon Lukas and showed that he made a pretty good trade with Feifer to acquire Rapelisberger.

5. Dwayne Bowe (Week 12) 41.5 Points

What’s that saying? One person’s trash is another person’s treasure? Well you can apply the season of Dwayne Bowe to that saying. Nick drafter Bowe and he was just HORRIBLE in the first half of the season, so he gives Bowe the Axe. Along comes Hurst and scoops up the struggling wide receiver and then BOOM! Bowe puts up 3 TDs and 210 yards to shove it in Nick’s face yet again. This game was the last of a 7 game touchdown streak where Bowe scored a total of 13 TDs. Hurst didn’t win the game, but Bowe looked like he was going to carry Hurst deep into the playoffs. Unfortunately the Fire Bowe and Arrow flickered out the next two weeks and put up 1 catch for 3 yards over those games, one of which was the first round of the playoffs. So I guess one person’s trash is actually just another person’s trash as well.

4. Arian Foster (Week 1) 42.3 Points

I’m fairly certain that all of us getting our first taste of McCann’s Sunday had the same thought during this Texans game: Who the hell is this guy making the Colts defense look like a high school team? It was the undrafted (I’m talking fantasy draft) Arian Foster. The fantasy events surrounding the injury of Ben Tate and the subsequent emergence of Arian Foster will always leave us wondering how Foster ended up on Kevin’s team, but he had the balls to start a guy that we knew virtually nothing about week 1 and it ended up paying big dividends for Kevin (a couple hundred for a first place regular season to be exact). Foster had his biggest game of the season week 1 and just continued to put up awesome numbers on his way to being the #1 player in fantasy in 2010.

3. Michael Vick (Week 15) 44.68 Points

This is the second of three of Michael Vick’s monster performances (we all know which one is left) and this game might sit a little too fresh in the minds of his owner. Fantasy Semi-Finals are a time when you need your players to step up if you want a shot at the Championship Belt and Vick answered the call for Powers in this game against cross-town rival Feifer. Unfortunately for Powers, Vick was playing against his beloved Giants and he was at the game to witness the events. I’m sure it was fine at first, since the Giants had a HUGE lead and Mike probably said something to Hurst along the lines of “Alright, now let’s just let Vick throw a couple of TDs to Jackson so I can come back in Fantasy, since this game is well in hand.” The famous last words (that I just made up) probably haunt Mike to this day. Not only was Vick’s 44.68 Points not enough to push Powers into the finals, but on the very last play he got to watch DeSean Jackson burst up the middle on a Punt Return and destroy the Giants Playoff chances along with his already destroyed Fantasy Championship dreams.

2. Javid Best (Week 2) 45.7 Points

Javid Best was a fun player to watch in college and the Detroit Lions looked like they struck gold when Best had 232 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs in a shootout with the Eagles. Best was explosive in this game and it looked like Joey had found the Rookie running back who was going to have the biggest year, but unfortunately for Joey, Best ended up turning out like all Detroit running backs and only found the end zone once more the rest of the season. Another negative for Joey was that the rest of his team didn’t pull their weight, so Best’s best (see what I did there) game of the year was a waste and the Lyrical Geniuses lost that week.

1. Michael Vick (Week 10) 57.32 Points

There are a few events that take place in a lifetime that people always remember where they were when it happened, such as when JFK was assassinated,  when Michael Jackson died, and when David Tyree made “The Catch”. Add Michael Vick’s week 10 performance against the Redskins to that list. I was in my den flipping to the game at each commercial of the Rangers/Penguins game only to see what seemed like 14 more points for the Eagles each time I turned it back on. I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch this game with Powers and/or Lukas. It seemed as if every single Fantasy player who owned Vick was down by at least 40 points going into this game, and Mike was closer to 50 if I recall correctly. When DeSean Jackson and Vick hooked up for an 80 yard TD to start the game, I’m sure Lukas got a knot in his stomach, but still had confidence that he could hold on for the win. About 15 minutes later, it was obvious that Michael Vick was about to do something that we had not seen in years. He turned in what may have been the greatest Fantasy Performance that I can ever remember; reminding us that he is still the Most Electrifying Player in the NFL.

Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Draft Busts

This installment of the Coffin Corner features the Top 10 busts/disappointments from last year’s draft.

10. Walking Wounded – DeAngelo Williams/Tony Romo/Sydney Rice/Ryan Grant

It’s hard to classify players who get injured as a “bust”, so I grouped a bunch of them together for this spot in the rankings. Whenever a player you drafted in the first 3 rounds gets injured, your team feels the effects of that. Grant was the only one that didn’t see any action this year, but all were injured before making any real contributions to their teams. Unfortunately it’s impossible to predict if a player is going to get injured while doing the draft, unless you pick Chad Pennington, who is built like a piece of wet spaghetti.

9. Ronnie Brown – Round 4 Pick 46 to Jimmy

140.1 Points

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams had been a dynamic duo over the past couple of seasons, both racking up yards and TDs and just thriving in the Wildcat offense. Unfortunately, the Dolphins passing offense lacked the explosiveness needed to prevent teams from piling 8 men in the box every play. Brown didn’t have a terrible season, but owners wanted more out of the starting running back for a team that relies heavily on the run game.

8. Robert Meachem – Round 5 Pick 50 to Jimmy

117.2 Points

Robert Meachem wasn’t a “bust” per-say, but he was the 2^nd of the New Orleans Saints’ wide receivers taken in the draft and didn’t have quite the season that Lance Moore had. It was impossible to know that the Saints were going to be playing Wide Receiver roulette to see who would be the go to receiver for the week, but owners who put their chips on Meachem over the other WRs lost more often than they won. Meachem gave a few solid performances, but was far from spectacular.

7. Jonathan Stewart - Round 4 Pick 48 to Feifer

101.3 Points

Jonathan Stewart was never the featured back in Carolina and Feifer did not draft him here with that expectation. DeAngelo Williams is the go to back and then Stewart was supposed to frustrate Williams’ owners by stealing his TD at the goal line. When Williams got hurt, it was time for Stewart to be more than a goal line back, but he never could get anything going. It also didn’t help that the Carolina Panthers had one of the worst Offenses in recent NFL memory, resulting in a subpar season for Stewart.

6. Ryan Mathews – Round 3 Pick 32 to John

129 Points

I know that each and every one of us remembers NFL.com telling us that the next player that we should take was Ryan Mathews from the end of round 1 to the time John pulled the trigger on him. Now he wasn’t AWFUL, but I think it’s safe to assume that Mathews owners wanted to see a little bit more out of a Running back taken in the early rounds. It also doesn’t help when your QB throws 40 TDs, half of which go to Antonio Gates. Mathews may turn out to be an elite Running back, but it was a little too high to draft the rookie back.

5. Steve Smith - Round 4 Pick 39 to Gill

87.3 Points

The Carolina midget Steve Smith punched more people in the face than he scored fantasy points last season.  That’s not entirely true, but he had an absolutely dreadful season last year. It probably wasn’t entirely his fault since Matt Moore turned out to be terrible at QB, the Offensive Line couldn’t block a Mustangs team, and the Running game was just mediocre without DeAngelo Williams, which allowed teams to double team Steve Smith and allow him nothing all season. Add in a sprained wrist and you’ve got yourself one heck of a down year for the usually reliable Smith.

4. Shonn Greene – Round 2 Pick 13 to Terrono

104.6 Points

Shonn Greene was supposed to put the “Pound” in the Jets’ “Ground and Pound” run game. Greene showed that he clearly was not ready to have the running load put on his shoulders, as old man Tomlinson had the superior season to the second year back out of Iowa. Fumbling problems and just an all around lack of the big time play making ability shown in his rookie season made Terrono look foolish for selecting Greene with the first pick of the 2^nd round.

3. Devin Aromashadu – Round 6 Pick 63 to Gill

19.9 Points

Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking when I made this pick. I was doing a little bit of research and read that a lot of analysts were pretty high on him as a sleeper pick, but in my paranoia that someone else would take him first and he’d have a stellar year, I took him in the 6^th round. What a horrible mistake that turned out to be. The guy couldn’t get on the field for a team that has about ½ of a legitimate WR in Johnny Knox and he averages a measly 1.32 points a game. If I had taken him in the 9^th or 10^th round I wouldn’t have been that upset, but for the 6^th pick on my team, this is just disgraceful. Shot for the stars and missed by a mile.

2. Beanie Wells – Round 3 Pick 35 to Lukas

61.6 Points

It’s not difficult to figure out what went wrong here. Chris Lukas chose a Running back for the Cardinals. Nothing about that sentence hints at success. Beanie Wells was coming off a strong rookie season for the Cards, but Kurt Warner was dancing with the stars and Matt Leinart was too shitfaced to know that it was football season, meaning that every Cardinal was going to have a bad year (except Larry Fitz because I don’t think he’s human). Wells couldn’t get anything going and ended up losing his starting role to Tim Hightower. Hightower ended up having a few big games here and there while Wells ended up doing nothing.

1. Randy Moss – Round 2 Pick 19 to Hurst

83.3 Points

When you are the greatest deep ball wide receiver in NFL history, no one really cares about your attitude because they know you’re going to ball out every game and be an ass doing it. Unfortunately for Randy Moss owners, Moss decided to go with the “I have a shitty attitude AND I’m going to catch nothing in the process”.  He traveled from Patriots to Vikings to Titans to Bench. You felt the need to start him week in and week out because he was your #1 WR and you could always tell yourself that he just had an off week being covered by the likes of Darrell Revis and Vontae Davis, but he only rewarded you with more Goose Eggs in the Point column than you want to remember. When you’re rated as a Top 3 WR in the league and you put on that kind of performance, you are officially the biggest bust of the draft.

Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Value Draft Picks

Coffin Corner is going to be a recurring post on the blog during the offseason, in order to recap on last year’s Fantasy season. Everything from draft busts and surprises to unbelievable performances, both on and off the starting roster will be broken down here. This is the first installment.

Top 10 Value Picks

10) Austin Collie – Round 8, Pick 94 to Jimmy

#34 WR – 138.2 Pts

Austin Collie’s final Fantasy production value was around where it should have been, given where he was drafted. However, he makes this list for big reasons. The first is that Collie missed a significant amount of playing time with a concussion, which undoubtedly would have increased his Fantasy point total. The second is that Collie’s 2 TDs in week 15 were the difference between Jimmy losing in the semi-finals and Jimmy winning the championship. This big playoff performance deserves at least the 10 spot on this list.

9) Hakeem Nicks – Round 5, Pick 54 to Powers

#9 WR – 210.7 Pts

Hakeem Nicks was the 22^nd wide receiver picked in the draft and he was the 9^th wide receiver in total points.  Although he was picked in the 5^th round, which means that he was a very highly regarded player, Nicks also missed time with an injury that very well have cost him the points to be one of the top 3 Fantasy wide receivers in the league. Look for Nicks to be a second to third round pick this year.

8) Mike Wallace – Round 5, Pick 56 to John

#7 WR – 219.6 Pts

Mike Wallace claims the 8^th spot over Nicks because he was drafter two picks later and was ranked two spots higher on the wide receiver rankings. Much like Nicks, Wallace was supposed to be a good receiver since he was drafted in the fifth round, but I don’t think anybody imagined the kind of season he had. Even though Wallace had Charlie Batch/Dennis Dixon throwing him the ball the first four weeks of the season, he still posted ridiculous numbers. Imagine how much more he would have had with Big Ben slinging to him the entire season.

7) Terrell Owens – Round 8, Pick 92 to Nick

#16 WR – 188.3 Pts

Terrell Owens was seen as the #2 WR to Chad Ochocinco coming into the year, but he showed the Fantasy world that he’s still got some gas left in the tank. With much of the attention on #85, T.O. took advantage hauling in 72 passes for 9 TDs and 983 Yards. Getting that kind of production from an 8^th round draft pick and the 4^th WR drafted to your team had to be pleasing for Nick.

6) Mario Manningham – Round 10, Pick 120 to Hurst

#20 WR – 176.6 Pts

Mario Manningham had always been the 3^rd or 4^th option for Eli Manning behind Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Jeremy Shockey, and Kevin Boss. Well Plaxico went to jail, Shockey went to New Orleans, Nicks and Smith got hurt, and Boss sucks. This opened the door for Manningham to step up and produce for the Giants and put together a solid Fantasy season. From 3^rd or 4^th WR on the NFL depth chart to a #2 WR in Fantasy is a pretty solid improvement for a 10^th rounder.

5) LaDainian Tomlinson – Round 10, Pick 118 to Jimmy

#16 RB – 190.2 Pts

LaDainian Tomlinson had always been the #1 or #2 overall pick in the Fantasy draft, so it’s hard to think of him getting drafted in the 10^th round as a Value Pick, but we came into the season knowing that the Fantasy glory days are over. With Shonn Greene slated to be the #1 back for the Jets, Tomlinson could be seen as nothing more than a RB to be used during weeks when you were desperate and had no better options. Greene disappointed owners and LT showed that he might be over the hill, but he still can run the ball in the NFL and rewarded his fantasy owners with a very productive season.

4) Mike Williams – Round 13, Pick 156 to Terrono

#14 WR – 190.9 Pts

Mike Williams, the Syracuse grad, had a stellar rookie season for the Tampa Bay Bucs and fantasy owners. It’s difficult to predict how rookies are going to perform, but Terrono took a chance in the 13^th round and was rewarded when Williams and QB Josh Freeman showed that they had the chemistry to make the Bucs into a playoff contender for years to come. Williams had 65 catches for 964 yards and 11 TDs, showing fantasy owners that he is a reliable #1/#2 Fantasy Wide Receiver.

3) Jason Witten – Round 5, Pick 57 to Joey

#1 TE – 201.2 Pts

It’s difficult to put a player drafted in the 5^th round this high on the Value Pick list, but Jason Witten had too ridiculous of a season to put any lower than this. Witten had 94 catches for 1002 yards and 9 TDs. He scored 48 more points than the next Tight End on the list, so although he was the fourth TE drafted, his production was so much more valuable than any other Tight End, making this pick a steal.

2) Ahmad Bradshaw – Round 14, Pick 158 to Lukas

#14 RB – 216.4 Pts

Ahmad Bradshaw was the #2 Running back behind Brandon Jacobs for the New York Giants coming into the season and was drafted at the point in the draft where everyone was just trying to fill up all of the roster space and then they could continue drinking. Jacobs forgot how to run the ball and didn’t produce, so Bradshaw stepped up and took the starting role away from him. Bradshaw had 1549 all- purpose yards along with 8 TDs and 47 Receptions. These are solid fantasy numbers for a RB, especially for one that gets drafted in garbage time.

1) Darren McFadden – Round 15, Pick 159 to Gill

#8 RB – 243.9 Pts

Darren McFadden's first two seasons in the NFL made it seem like the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 draft was going to be a bust, however the third time was a charm. McFadden was the 44th RB taken in the draft, behind teammate and #1 on the Raiders' depth chart, Michael Bush. "Run DMC" beat out Bush in the early weeks of the season and then put up unbelievable numbers to be the #8 ranked Fantasy RB. He had 1664 all-purpose yards along with 10 TDs and 47 receptions, showing that this 14th round pick was the biggest steal in the draft. Look for McFadden to continue to shake the claim that he is an NFL bust.