FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 5

Brian Dawkins emerges from the inflatable Eagle head one last time. (AP)

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 30% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

The Philadelphia Eagles retired the #20 from their uniform line this week. Honoring safety Brian Dawkins in a week long celebration of his career that culminated on Sunday Night Football with a halftime ceremony that nearly muted Bob Costas (if only).

The Eagles went on to beat the Giants to go to 3-1 on the season. With all the energy surrounding Dawkins' return to Lincoln Financial Field, I was partially serious when I posted to Facebook to see if the Eagles could hire Dawkins as Pre-Game Fire Up Coordinator/Last Player to Run Out the Tunnel-er. No one hypes up the fans like B-Dawk.

As a lifelong Eagles fan, Dawkins is without a doubt the most revered athlete in Philadelphia history. That's saying a lot considering 1. How bad Philadelphia sports teams have been and 2. How prone Philly fans are to destroy their athletes that fail to meet expectations (Eric Lindros, Donovan McNabb) (3a. Or even destroy those that do (Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins). There are few free passes in Philadelphia sports.

Not that Dawkins got one, but he was able to ascend the height of Philly fandom not by winning a championship (he never did), but by playing football the way Philly fans want the sport to be played. It's contrived to say it like that, but there was never a time watching Dawkins play where you ever felt he wasn't giving everything he had. The hustle was always there. The aggressiveness was always there. He was respected by the fans and feared by the opposition.

Even when he left Philadelphia for Denver in 2009, no one really held it against him like fans do Jayson Werth who moved to Washington for $126M*. He got paid like a top 3 safety, which he no longer was, and people knew Dawkins was past his prime.

*It's funny that Werth, who left for probably double of what he could have got in Philly get's crap from fans when he returns. People thought he was leaving for the money, and even if he was, he earned it. The guy had a broken wrist and was barely a utility guy in the majors when he revived his career in Philly. He way outperformed what he was getting paid, and at his age new this would be his last pay day in baseball. He'd be insane to not go to Washington. And as for people saying he was just about the money? The Nationals just won the NL East Title and the Phils have been out of playoff contention for 87% of the season. 

I think that the image of Dawkins really downplays just how good of a player he was. Everyone remembers the big hits and the timely interceptions, but Dawkins was able to do everything on the football field. Perhaps his most underrated trait was his ball hawking and coverage abilities. Look at the "Pro Bowl" corners the Eagles had while Dawkins was patrolling the secondary. Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Rod Hood...these were dominant cornerbacks in the NFL. As soon as they left? After thoughts. Dawkins covered for a lot of mistakes in the secondary, and his pressure on the QB surely helped some interception numbers.

Behind Reggie White, Dawkins was the best player I've ever seen play for the Eagles. He's certainly left the most indelible images I have for football as well as Google (seriously, if you Google him, lots of cool/demon looking photos).

Any attempt to spit out how important Dawkins was to the Eagles fans would be a failed attempt. Great writers probably can, but I haven't seen anyone sum up exactly what this guy means. It's an honor to have his number retired forever. It's how it should be.

As NFL 2012-2013 Season: Revenge of the Replacement Refs reaches the quarter point, let's see who could still be out there to help your woebegone team.

Jackie Battle could find the end zone more this year than Ryan Mathews. (Getty)

Jackie Battle, RB - SD (24% owned)

People love Ryan Mathews. I'm not sure why, but they do. Norv Turner doesn't love Ryan Mathews. Norv Turner controls Ryan Mathews carries. I'd rather see how the head coach of the football team handles Mathews rather than fantasy fans. Mathews is too talented to be benched, but I could certainly see Battle getting a fair amount of carries and especially on the goal line. Plus, it's not as if Mathews has been the picture of health in his young career. Good flex play here.

Andre Roberts, WR - ARZ (17%)

I believe in the Cardinals a little. Confidence is a hell of a drug. While people are busy doubling Larry Fitzgerald, Roberts has come into his own as Kevin Kolb's possession type guy. Beanie Wells is hurt, again, and I don't like Ryan Williams much at all, so shockingly, this offense will have to go - conservatively - through Kolb. Let's file Roberts under the Titus Young/Alshon Jeffrey category.

James Jones, WR - GB (34%)

Maybe the Packers haven't been the juggernaut many people were expecting. Aside from Aaron Rodgers performance last weekend, he's left a lot to be desired. The key with Jones is that with Greg Jennings tweaked and pulled muscles there's a real opportunity for Jones to step up. He's been in this offense for a while, and he has caught an escalating number of TDs over the past 3 years (5, 7, and 3 already this year).

Greg Zuerlein, K - STL (17%)

A kicker? Yes, a kicker. Kickers should always be the last pick in your draft and Zuerlein is Exhibit E double F in the case for it. The rookie kicker crushed boots of 24, 48, 58, and 60 last week. He's got legit power in his leg, and kickers that explode onto the scene happen all the time. Don't they Dan Carpenter or Neil Rackers? Aside from his bye week, Zuerlein should be your starting kicker every week. He's in that nice cozy spot for kickers where he plays in a dome for his home games and his offense is good, but not great - leading to a lot of field goal opportunities.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Brian Hartline, WR - MIA (28%)

I'll give it to Ryan Tannehill (man, how many Ryan's have been mentioned already) he didn't look overwhelmed last week. He's definitely gotten a lot better since Week 1 when I was cackling with joy every time he attempted to throw a pass. His growth though does not equal to me buying Hartline. This early in the season, a monster game like the one Hartline put up would vault him to the top of the WR list, but his struggles against tough defenses along with the possibility of him getting #1 WR attention instead of Davone Bess makes Hartline a match-up only play, and not worth a splash of cash.

THE 1%

Here's something I've noticed in Week 5. The amount of players that are 1% available are basically 3rd stringers or players that are inactive. With that being said, I will now change The 1% section to include players owned is less than 10% of Yahoo! leagues! Makes sense, doesn't it?

Tim Tebow, QB - NYJ (9%)

As Dez Bryant showcased last night, there is a difference between being a good fantasy football player and a good football player. Tim Tebow is a good fantasy football player, and his resurrection in New York appears imminent. Mark Sanchez has been a total flop. You can factor in as many reason as to why this has happened, but it boils down to Sanchez not being good. If Sanchez can't show marked improvement in two weeks, you can expect Tebow to take big boy snaps with the starters. I would expect to see more Tebow oriented plays in the coming weeks. Tebow did finish with 18 total TDs last year and ranked 55. If you're like me and have Russell Wilson hanging around as QB2, may not be a bad option. I will be sad to see Sanchez go though. He will instantly make the Jets from a gambling perspective a "bet against," to an "I don't know what the hell to do" with Tebow involved.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 2

You win this round, RGIII. (wjla.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 least 30% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

Like most of you, I was eager and more than happy to hunker down on Sunday for the first full slate of NFL games for the 2012-2013 season,* but as one heralded rookie put on a show in New Orleans, I'm pretty sure I had a more unique experience watching this go down. Now, I have Robert Griffin III as my back-up to Tom Brady in my money fantasy league, so I can't say I was bummed I didn't start him, but rather happy to have him on board. Of course, this experience can be shared with hundreds of thousands of other RGIII owners. Where my experience becomes unique is that my initials are R.G. and I also just so happen to be the 3rd.

*Can we all just agree to "Madden" any sports years that aren't all encompassed in one calendar year? When Madden comes out, it's not Madden 12-13, it's Madden 13. This is the 2013 football season. Sorry to all the hyphen lovers out there.

So, not that he hasn't taken the moniker of RGIII more than rightfully over your humble narrator, I was just reflecting on two things.

1. How did I never make better use of the RGIII, RG3 nickname?
2. If I had, man I would have been able to make at least some money off of it.

The answer to the first question is much easier and more palatable. I had a better nickname growing up. Using my last name as the springboard, it initially became G-Lock, which streamlined to Glock (unbeknownst to me or any of my friends at the time a glock is also a pistol, so not trying to be all gangster or anyting). Then another incarnation, the Glockness Monster or just Glockness. To this day, I say much better than RGIII.

The answer to the second question gets to be a bit harder to swallow. For the longest time, at least in the early '00s when rap was exploding everywhere and I had realized that Glock is the name for a handgun, I was solicitous that a rapper would take my coveted nickname. Then from that point on, my nickname, which I liked, would be compared to/inspired by that rapper or it would become obsolete. Little did I know that around that same time, an 8th grader was going to blindside me for the rights to RGIII. 

Needless to say, in an era of 2Chainz, Maino, Tyga, Wiz Khalifa, and any other ridiculous rap names there are, Glock appears to be safe.

Where my RGIII connection comes in is that when Twitter first came out, I had to pick a handle. Glockness Monster was too long, Glock was not allowed due to the aforementioned affiliation to a firearm. So I tried RG3. Too short. Twitter requires 4 characters. Ok, RG_3. Eh, don't like the way it looks. What about...RGIII? Available, works, but eh, I don't know, let's go with TheRealGlockness (or something completely stupid and not funny). For a moment in time, I had Robert Griffin III's Twitter handle, and while I'm no economist I'm pretty sure the rights to that would have netted me a nice chunk of change from the RGIII camp. If only. Not to make matters any better, I've switched my name 2 or 3 times to the current one, which I'm fine with. 

As RGIII laid down after his 88-yd TD pass to Pierre Garcon, he had plenty of things whistling threw his helmet. Me? I only had one. "Shit."

Onto who you should be opening your wallets for.

Flac-daddy (http://cdn.stereogum.com)

Joe Flacco, QB - BAL (70% owned)

Perhaps no one took a leap in Week 1 quite like Joe Flacco (Audubon Green Wave, what!). The now unibrowless and fu-man-chuless QB opened up his brand new offense, and the no huddle seams to treat him just fine. With more control over play calls and having play makers like Dennis Pitta, a healthy Anquan Boldin, and burner Torrey Smith, Flacco can utilize Ray Rice as a runner, pass catcher out of the backfield, and most importantly excellent play action threat to open up deep balls that Flacco actually throws extremely well. Flacco has always been a better actual player than fantasy player, but after last night's performance he bumps up a tier to solid fantasy QB2/spot starter. By the end of the year, it could be higher than that.

Owen Daniels/Jared Cook/Kyle Rudolph/Dennis Pitta/Marcedes Lewis, TE (All 65% and under)

If you were pissed you missed on Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates, or Aaron Hernandez, maybe you shouldn't be. This appears to be Year II of the Tight End. All those guys (minus Gates who *gasp* got a little dinged up) put up solid Week 1 numbers, but the group of widely available TE's look to be up to the challenge.

Daniels we know about. He's had great success in Houston, and he has been productive. With Schaub back, it appears things are back to normal for him, however, I would still put him in the old school class of TEs. The next couple guys are a new wave.

Rudolph was highlighted in my failed Grantland submission as my sleeper, and when I was researching that position, a lot of what I liked in Rudolph you could say about Dennis Pitta. 

Kyle may not have won me a Grantland gig, but I still like him.(media.scout.com)

The thing that stood out for Jared Cook and Marcedes Lewis was easily how they were utilized on Sunday. @MikeClayNFL tweeted that the Titans called a pass play on 48 of Cook's 60 snaps. Out of those 48 pass plays, the TE stayed back to pass block all of zero times. He was out there running routes and looking for catches. The athletic TE has been a 'sleeper' pick for so many years I'm sure he's burned some bridges, but with Kenny Britt still recovering from his knee surgeries and a young QB in Jake Locker, the Titans certainly look to be turning to Cook.

Lewis did have 10 TDs two years ago, but the mess that Jacksonville was last year and some dropsies by the big man caused an unbelievably horrid year. He too became the apple of Blaine Gabbert's hair eye in Week 1 and was able to get a lot of look as well was haul in a TD.

Alshon Jeffery, WR - CHI (35%)

Titus Young was a popular sleeper pick at WR this year. People saw Calvin Johnson, people saw match-up issues, people saw a lot of one-on-one coverage for the young receiver. Well, things didn't exactly go as planned for Titus in Week 1. When you're the dumb one out of a confrontation with Janoris Jenkins, that's a problem. One Lions head coach Jim Schwartz probably won't tolerate much more of.

Another team in the division though, may have been a quiet sleeper in utilizing the Johnson-Young dilemma, the Chicago Bears. Brandon Marshall looked to be on the same page as Jay Cutler, which is a good thing for each of them, and potentially a great thing for Jeffery. The rookie wideout caught a touch and had 80 yards. If Cutler, Marshall, and Forte/Bush get motoring, it might be wide open spaces for Jeffery.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Alfred Morris, RB - WAS (5%)

Well, that didn't take long. The Redskins RB situation has created the first line in the sand moment of fantasy football 2013. Either people are going to be right or wrong in saying claim him or not. For me, I'm staying away. A tiger can't change their stripes and Mike Shanahan hasn't had a steady back in quite some time. If Alfred Morris is Terrell Davis, then I was way, way wrong, but I'll opt and say he isn't. Morris will be decent, maybe an RB4 or decent flex play given the match-up, but with RGIII at the helm, Shanahan will want to keep a back in there that can run, pass block, and pass catch. As far as I can tell, Morris can only do one of those things. That equals a RB shuffle akin to what we've all been known to hate about Shanahan.

Also, let's just say RGIII becomes a better version of Cam Newton last year? It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the run game minimized in that circumstance, along with the times when the 'Skins are trailing in the ball game. If I have a top 5 waiver claim, sure I can see doing that. But unloading half or more of my FAAB? No thanks.

THE 1%

Bilal Powell, RB - NYJ (1%)

I'm pretty sure no one is overreacting to the Jets offensive explosion on Sunday. Things would be a lot quieter in Gang Green land if Mark Sanchez could consistently do what he did against either an underprepared or overrated Bills defense. Odds are, they are going to have to turn to the run game, and while Shonn Greene looked to have a good game, he did fumble twice (both were recovered). This isn't great for Greene, who has continued to underwhelm the fantasy community for years. We all know Tim Tebow is lurking in weird packages that probably won't work, or in cases like Sunday, aren't needed, but with Joe McKnight being Joe McKnight, there is an opportunity for Powell to take some carries with the first team offense.