FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 8

Gio Bernard disappointed this weekend, but it's all in the game. (wpxi.com)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

It was a simple question my friend posted on Facebook: Bernard or Douglas? The context was who to start this past week in fantasy at his flex spot. Normally, I ignore these requests because internally I feel like should I toss in my $0.02 and make the wrong pick, I've slighted my friend and embarrassed myself. This is clearly a ridiculous thought as my friend a.) posted this for anyone and everyone to answer b.) my opinion isn't anymore or less valuable than anyone else that posted on their and c.) it's not like I'm making up some fantasy football prediction algorithm - there are multiple rankings outlets that would clearly back up one player over the other.

So with that as my misguided mentality, I had been tailgating before the Eagles Cowboys game and for whatever reason decided to type in "Gio." That would be for Giovani Bernard of the Bengals. Against a Detroit Lions defense that has struggled against the run, and more importantly I thought Bernard's pass catching ability would play a big role as well. What resulted was only able to get 5.90 fantasy points to the alternative Harry Douglas' career high game score of 20.90.

The fact that Gio stunk and Douglas went off really bothered me, but when you're looking at flex positions and it can really come down to a TD or one long reception. Last week my brother asked me if he should start Miles Austin or Kenbrell Thompkins. I said Thompkins, and although Austin had zero catches/yards/anything Thompkins only performed a little better before he caught a touchdown pass late in the game.

I stand by the Gio pick just because it's what I would have done. It didn't work out, but it can't be viewed a poor decision. Ultimately it was just one part of a disappointing sports weekend for me. Junior dos Santos lost his trilogy with Cain Velasquez in convincing fashion (and if I had time, I would have posted a Looking for a Fight where I picked JdS), and speaking of bad calls, the Eagles lost thanks to Nick Foles putting on one of the worst displays of quarterbacking ever!

In fairness, my write up on Foles was regarding a game manager that made quick decisions and didn't turn the ball over. These skills gave him an advantage as compared to Michael Vick, but the lingering question is whether he could be the long-term solution (I sided with no).

Well, whoever that game manager guy was didn't show up on Sunday. You could have told me him and Matt Barkley switched minds a la Freaky Friday and I would have believed you ... until Barkley came in and threw for 3 interceptions in three drives (not including a pick he threw during a free play when the Cowboys jumped offsides). It's hard to tell what was going on with Foles. The most common thought is that he just collapsed under the pressure of the game. Foles had started before, but those were either in games that didn't matter or the case of last week, was in Tampa, not in Philly. All week fans saw this game as the biggest one of the season due to the fact that either the Eagles would be able to beat the Cowboys and be able to make a run at the division title, or they'd lose and basically put an end to the optimism that this team could realistically compete. With Foles knowing this, did he just get too caught up in the moment? When he was facing the Cowboys man defense, as opposed to more of a zone oriented defense did that make him panic? Something was clearly off, but whether it was the pressure or the strategy, Foles made it extremely difficult to vie for a starting job for the remainder of this year or in the future.

Note: Michael Vick has been named the starter for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.

Anyway, I happened to mention the injury bug finally hitting the league last week, well that was just the initial blast to the big wallop this week.

Season altering and ending injuries happened to key fantasy players: most notably Doug Martin and Reggie Wayne. It's a blood bath out there, so now is the time to not hold on to any dead spots and maximize the value of your roster. That means carrying 2 QB's if your QB isn't elite or hasn't had his bye week yet, taking fliers on anyone that could step up for an injured player, and most importantly reevaluating players on your team that will be negatively affected by a key player's injury. So with that in mind, here are some players I will say you MUST add this week if you've been affected by injuries.

Reggie Wayne's injury was the most disastrous of this week, but it also provides the most opportunities. (espn.go.com)

Geno Smith, QB - NYJ (13% owned) +Cincinnati Bengals 

As many issues that surround the Jets and Geno before the season started, it's not hard to view how things are going so far as a success. The Jets are winning and Geno is a big reason why. For fantasy purposes, he has shown he's capable of having big games, already registering 3 20+ point performances. This week in Cincy probably won't go so well even with Leon Hall out for the season, but you need to make sure you have a solid back up QB.

Chris Ivory, RB - NYJ (28%) +Cincinnati Bengals 

Two Jets! Ivory appears to be in a timeshare with Bilal Powell for whatever reason. So far there's no pattern of actually splitting carries, just that if one guy gets going early, the Jets will keep feeding him.

Donald Brown, RB - IND (6%) BYE

This bye week will be a big deal for Donald Brown. He's effectively run the ball for a 5.9 yards per carry average, and can grab a couple of passes out of the backfield on third down. The not so big secret in Indy is that Brown is actually out producing big trade acquisition Trent Richardson. With Reggie Wayne going down, the Colts will have to get creative and really turn the screws to make their offense as efficient as possible. This could lead to more carries for Brown if Richardson can't "get it" in the next week or so, but there will almost certainly be more utilization of Brown in the pass game, which should equate to more snaps.

Darius Heyward-Bey, WR - IND (19%) BYE

With T.Y. Hilton already owned in 91% of leagues, and Colby Fleener already mentioned here in FAABulous, let's turn our sights to burner extraordinaire DHB. The former Raider has served his purpose as well as he can in the Colts new run heavy offense. However, with Wayne being done for the year, I would imagine the Colts looking to transition Hilton into more of a possession receiver role that Wayne had - along with Fleener and maybe sprinkle in some LaVon Brazill - and unleash Bey down the sideline. Luck doesn't throw the ball deep much anymore (a reason I was down on Hilton early in the season), but his opportunities will increase greatly with Wayne out.

Marvin Jones, WR - CIN (2%) v NYJ

Any Bengals wide receiver carries the Andy Dalton caveat, but Jones has made big strides as the #2 WR to A.J. Green. He's received 5+ targets the past two games and has two TDs to show for it. The second year man from Cal doesn't have to worry much about making big plays down field, but if he can get the trust of Dalton and find a little cushion in that 10-15 yard range, he should only improve.

Jordan Reed, TE - WAS (25%) +Denver Broncos 

Reed is the hot add this week. He has been impressive, and he has potential to be a steady player on the lower half of the top 10 TEs list. He had a big boost in targets last week against a horrendous Bears defense, but he came through when it mattered. The big thing to take away from the game is that Washington appears to be back to its run-option ways which was so successful last year. Robert Griffin III is getting healthier and healthier. But let's also keep in mind that RGIII doesn't use his TEs a lot. Granted, he hasn't always had the greatest talent lining up there, but I had Fred Davis ranked 13 overall in the pre-season for a reason. Reed can easily fill that spot.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Mike James, RB - TB (7%) v CAR

Here's what I'm assuming: Mike James isn't better than Doug Martin. Here's what I know: Doug Martin wasn't doing anything this year.

THE 1%

Josh McCown, QB - CHI (1%) BYE

He has the weapons around him, and let's count this on trust Trestman. Also, Casey Keenum didn't look that terrible, right? Am I crazy.

Looking for a Fight @ UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2

UFC fans are hoping this sequel is better than the original.

The Hangover Part III was released on Thursday to begrudging enthusiasm. The tepid response and worse reviews are probably no surprise to anyone that witnessed the glee in which people were ready to jump all over The Hangover Part II when it was released in 2011. As the sequel to the 2009 breakout hit The Hangover, Part II was a giant prosthetic dick slap to the face. Watching it in the theater was a completely jarring experience, as Part II is exactly the same move as the original, only set in Thailand. If you haven't seen it for yourself, I cannot express how outwardly lazy and stupid this movie is. Aside from a couple of minor changes you could probably watch these movies side by side and hit the same notes as the movie progresses.

So appalled was I, that the only thing I can think of is that the writers basically said, "Well, we can put out anything with these guys (Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifanakis, and Ed Helms) in it, and it'll make bank, so instead of trying and making a sequel people hate, let's give them a carbon copy of the first movie, then make money on the second, and then we'll see what we can do on the third." I can accept that in the same way that if you teleported me into the life of Nickelback's bassist, I'd live making the worst music ever created if it meant making tens of millions of dollars. Yes, artistic integrity means little to me. Man has got to eat!

Anyway, sequels are a tough thing to pull off. Usually they are just tired remakes that reuse the same jokes (take note Anchorman2!), stories, or beefing up the characters/number of characters from the original. Making multiple sequels for The Hangover, which cost $35 million and made $467 million makes sense. Making a sequel of Velasquez vs. Bigfoot I is a much more difficult situation. That would be like making a sequel to John Carter from Mars. It doesn't make sense.

The first match took place as the co-main event at UFC 146: Dos Santos Vs. Mir. Velasquez was coming off his loss to JDS, where it was revealed Cain was nursing an injury that caused him to weigh in above his normal fight weight of around 240 lbs. (oh yeah, well when JDS lost to Cain, he had muscle fiber breaking down into his blood stream! You've been one-upped.) JDS had an undisclosed knee injury as well, so chalk that up for what it's worth. So Cain was looking to prove some of the doubters that he was the best heavyweight (ever?) on the planet and switched his cyborg mainframe to kill and obliterated Bigfoot Silva.

People weren't exactly banking on a rematch a year later. But Silva made that happen for himself. After enough blood donations, the Brazilian got back into the ring and knocked out Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem. The Overeem KO was a massive upset considering everyone was already pondering an Overeem fight against Cain. Again, how can you not love a sport where a guy like Bigfoot is taken lightly? The guy is 6'4 over 265 lbs. with hands that would put man-hands to shame, and a head that served as the inspiration for Easter Island. He looks like a children's nightmare. Then again, if you look like an in shape Overeem, you're probably used to thinking you can deal with pretty much anyone.

Well, as history tells us, The Reem carried his hands a bit too low, and Bigfoot's big hands tattooed loser across The Reem's face. So, here we are. The sequel to the movie no one wanted to see.

Thankfully, nothing lends itself to rematches like sports, more specifically combat sports.

Although there isn't much doubt as the outcome of the main event on Saturday, there is always a curiosity to see what will go down. If that's not enough to spark your interest, then the UFC did what the UFC does. Put together fights that are sure to be crowd pleasers.

However, in adding the likes of Donald Cerrone, Junior Dos Santos, and crew they put together a lot of potentially explosive fights, but fights that are fairly one-sided. What that means to me is that we should all be expecting an upset or two.

If the UFC can recreate the excitement that was the 146 card, then they'd be in good shape. That card too was headlined by a perceived easy match as JDS fought Mir, and while it was, in total there were 9 finishes including every main event fight. That's some damn exciting stuff.

So with the upset patrol out in full force, I'm going with James Te Hua over Glover Teixiera as my upset pick. But I am looking forward to the whole card, as it should be a pulse pounding one.

Looking for a Fight: UFC 159 - Jones v. Sonnen

Jon Jones' greatest weakness has been exposed. His fight promotion. (USAT)

Sports coverage always does seem to amaze me. In a realm where there are more and more avenues for message boards, talking heads, and articles to be written to see many people that cover the UFC simply write-off Saturday night's Jon Jones v. Chael P. Sonnen fight as an afterthought is lazy and not a service to people that read their content. After all, sports in general, and especially combat sports, are built around the humongous upset. The fact that at anytime on any field, in any arena something crazy could happen. That may not mean enough to you to plop down $54.99 for a pay-per-view, but tossing $10 to the door man to have the fight on while you enjoy a microbrew at your local bar sounds fine and dandy to me.

Sure, this fight was put together from the ashes of UFC 151, and while a more credible challenger like Dan Henderson was left to marinate a little - only to lose to Lyoto Machida - leaves a bitter taste in everyone's mouth, it's easy to forget that we've been down this road before. When Sonnen took on Anderson Silva there were just as many doubters about the validity of that fight as this one. Well, Chael P. Sonnen put on an Oregon style butt whooping on Silva, until the Spider was able to wrap his legs around Sonnen and tap him out with seconds left. This was easily the best fight of 2010.

There are other factors that make the Jones' match-up different and probably a higher mountain top to ascend, but if anyone is capable of doing it and at the very least give Jones the toughest fight of his career, it's Sonnen.

The media coverage has fueled the blase fan reaction to this card. While normally the UFC can put Silva, Jones, Georges St-Pierre, or Cain Velasquez to headline a card and fill it with average fights - this time, with a fight that truly is being treated like a foregone conclusion, the card needed to be stronger. It isn't.

Where we are left is for Jones and Sonnen to hype the fight themselves. Oh, that's right, they had 15 hours of TV time on FX to do that during The Ultimate Fighter. What came from that was Jones being Jones and Chael being a great coach and mentor. However, and ironically for the betterment of the show than faking some hostilities, Jones and Sonnen seemed to get along. Jones respected Sonnen's doggedness and personality and jokes (!!); while Sonnen clearly has a lot of respect for Jones. There isn't the hostility and trash talking he's exhibited in the Silva bouts, and with Jones finally laying off the perfect guy act - is just being his normal, confident, fun loving self. This isn't to say both fighters won't put on their mean hats Saturday night, but their promotion of the fight wasn't exactly Nick Diaz-esque (again, that's probably for the betterment of everyone).

So with the trash talking/promoter belt being strapped around Diaz's waist, the UFC and the two fighters had to do something. There were rhymes by Sonnen alluding to Jones' DWI conviction. Jones saying Sonnen is a roider and not a true fighter. None of it resonated. It's clear that in all the press leading up to the fight, these two had their minds in other places.

Jones wants to win a couple more 205 title defenses to beat Tito Ortiz's record, then move on to a super fight and/or bump up to the heavyweight division (which is only logical as by the time he has his two more defenses he would have cleaned out the division and be about a year older, which will allow him to put on more weight). Sonnen isn't a legit threat to Bones, rather just another victim.

For Sonnen - he's reaping the rewards of being a self-made man. Kevin Iole mentions in his article today how Sonnen created this personality to drive his career. It's sure worked. Now moving up to 205 and taking on one of the best fighters on the planet, everything seems lined up for move to greener pastures. Should (notice I said should) Sonnen lose, then his shtick would have certainly worn thing ... still entertaining, but thin. He has a fantastic broadcast career in front of him with the UFC for sure, and UFC President Dana White hinted within the FOX family as well. Sonnen isn't a threat to Bones, rather just one more big pay day.

BREAKDOWN

While writers covering the fight could probably outline 75% of their day after articles today if they wanted, there is still the pesky matter of the fight. I'm of the persuasion where if one of the best fighters on the planet is fighting, I'm watching. I said this when Anderson Silva fought Stephan Bonnar and I say that today. I mean how much fun was that Anderson fight? Did he make it worth your money? Were you not entertained?

Sonnen is certainly more of a threat than Bonnar was to Silva, but shouldn't you expect Jones to put on a show? To leave people saying, wow this guy is talented? A couple elbows to the chiseled chin of Chael won't do that. Jones is coming, and Jones is bringing some Nike swag with him.

The most disappointing outcome of this fight would be for Jones to wrestle and hold Sonnen down. The size disadvantage is too great to have this be an exciting or interesting strategy (see, I got your back, GSP). We need some flying kicks and knees. We need something to put on that Nike commercial.

Bones has never been reckless in any fight, but he hasn't been conservative either. Sonnen won't stop moving forward, and he'll create an interesting canvas for Jones to work with.

Overall, I do think Chael will aim to impress, but without the full use of his elite wrestling it'll be tough. I just think Chael's determination will give Jones a bit more trouble than we are all expecting. However, I'm not here to act like a genius. To predict Sonnen wins so I can say I told you so. It'll be a Jones win, but I'll be tuning in to see how he does it. That ... will be exciting.

Jones 3rd Rd Submission.

Looking for a Fight: UFC on FOX: Henderson v. Melendez

What path will Daniel Cormier take? (facebook.com)

Hear that? That's the sound of another bad pun related to the Uriah Hall hype train. It was a week ago today many were wondering how Ultimate Fighter finalist would fair against Anderson Silva after he dispatched co-finalist Kevin Gastelum with some kind of highlight reel kick.

Well, that didn't happen.

Hall lost, and if he can't rebound from that, we can file him away with Todd Duffee, Brandon Schaub, Ryan Bader, Phillipe Nover, and Houston Alexander as failed next big things. Note that all but two of those fighters came from TUF. That UFC is pretty good at hyping their fighters.

The next, next big thing is chugging towards San Jose Saturday night as Daniel Cormier is set to make his UFC debut against former champ and tattoo makeover star Frank Mir.

Cormier is coming in with some different creds than his predecessors. Cormier is an Olympic wrestler, who since his jump to MMA hasn't tasted defeat. The 34 year-old is 11-0, and the winner of the inaugural Strikeforce Heavyweight Grad Prix where he defeated Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva (who is fighting Cain Velasquez for the belt next month) and Josh Barnett who is one of the best heavyweights of the past decade.

The rise of Cormier in this sport has surprised even himself, but what truly separates Cormier from not only Hall, but a lot of fighters is his supreme confidence. All along the way Cormier has thoughtfully responded to questions like would he fight his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Velasquez for the title? (No, he wouldn't). Would he like to fight Jon Jones? (Yes, he would at heavyweight or at light heavyweight). The responses aren't one of arrogance, but of confidence.

Competing at the highest levels of athletics his entire life allows him to know within himself that he is ready and can succeed at anything MMA can throw at him. Thus far, he's proved himself right.

At 5'11, Cormier is a stocky heavyweight, heck, at that height he'd be a stocky welterweight. But his agility and endurance make him a handful to deal with. His build is not lean, but that of a brick shithouse. Bumping shoulders with him would probably be tantamount to brushing past the HP Pavilion itself.

His striking will never be able to match with the elite heavys or 205'ers, but once he is able to get a fighter to the ground, his strength and ability to keep you there is like struggling against quicksand ... you'll only get pulled down deeper.

Of course, there's always something intimidating about going against someone that has no fear. Cormier is certainly one of those guys. It is his confidence, though, that could get in his way.

The seemingly predetermined nature where Cormier will defeat Mir on Saturday sets him up for either a fight for the heavyweight belt, should Velasquez lose, or a drop down to 205 to fight Jones. Leaving the heavyweight division doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Sure, he doesn't want to fight Velasquez, but in a weak division his star power could be a much needed addition for the UFC - especially since to get there, he would have to put Mir out to pasture as a legitimate contender.

A move to 205 is risky in that Cormier has had weight cutting issues in the past - one instance led to kidney failure and an inability to participate in his second Olympics - and on top of that, fighting Jones is no easy feat. On top of that, Jones' time at 205 appears to be coming to an end before his eventual move to heavyweight. You have to appreciate the doggedness that Cormier is showing, but he might be taking on more than he can - causing a lot more harm than good.

First thing is first though, and as Uriah Hall can let him know - you have to handle your business on fight night before you can take another step forward.

BREAKDOWN

It's certainly possible that Cormier's fight on Saturday won't be his toughest to date. Mir hasn't looked competitive since he broke Big Nog's arm, and since then, well it appears Big Nog shouldn't be fighting anymore. He got a gimme bout against Junior dos Santos and was comically knocked out, and the years are mounting on Mir.

He moved his camp away from Las Vegas to Greg Jackson's camp in Albuquerque, NM to gain better focus and train with some more elite fighters. Jackson has a way of making fighters better, but even his mantras and juju might not be enough for Mir against Cormier.

As noted before, Cormier is an extremely confident fighter. So I'd expect him to want to come out and throw some strikes with Mir. Test the waters and take some joy in his UFC debut. But when the time comes, I expect much of this fight to take place on the ground.

One of the more interesting style match ups I always like to watch is jiu-jitsu vs. wrestling. It's interesting because both styles are set on the ground, and there are some many intricacies to body control and manipulating the right move at the right moment in order to be successful.

Surprising to me is that most of the time, wrestling wins. That's what I expect out of this fight. If Mir can't hang with Cormier on the ground, then this is going to be a quick fight. Mir's opportunity is to capitalize on the ground or surprise Cormier with an overhand right. Which, for Mir, has become his only viable strike in his arsenal.

As I said, I don't view Cormier as arrogant, just confident. He is well prepared and ready to continue his evolution as a complete fighter and move onto his goal of being a UFC champion. While I probably give Mir a better shot than most, I still see Cormier as being too much for the former champ.

Cormier by 2nd Round TKO.