The start of this season was a rough one for Rams’ receiver Donnie Avery. In the preseason Avery injured his knee and this help contribute to his slow start.

After the first eight weeks of the season Avery had only 22 receptions for 286 yards and two touchdowns. Since the Rams’ bye in week nine Avery has turned his production around with 12 catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns in his past three games.

Part of the turnaround for Avery has been his new attitude and approach to the game of football since embarrassing his team in week five against the Vikings. That week Avery scored a touchdown late in the game and started dancing around.

Seeing that the team was losing by four touchdowns at the time it didn’t seem to be the greatest time to celebrate and Avery took heat from local and national media.

Since that time Avery has dedicated himself to turn his game around and the performance from a fantasy stand point is starting to look good.

Can Avery Be Trusted?

This week Avery makes for a good third receiver option as he plays on the road against the Bears. After that game Avery and the Rams will travel to Tennessee and face the Titans, now healthy secondary.

I wouldn’t recommend using Avery next week against the Titans as he will be blanketed by corner back Cortland Finnegan all game long.

After that game Avery finishes up with three games that fantasy owners can take advantage of. In the final three weeks of the NFL season, Avery will face the Texans, Cardinals and 49ers.

Look for Kyle Boller to go Avery’s way often from this point on as he is the one solid target this team has in the passing game.

Heading into 2010

Next year Avery will be in his third year as a receiver and I believe he will be a good bet for consistent production. This season the Rams new offensive line has had a full year to work together and by next year they should be ready to provide good protection in the passing game.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rams draft a quarterback like Colt McCoy or Jimmy Clausen, so Avery may have a rookie under center next year.

At this time, I would say one of those rookie’s can’t do much worse than Boller or Marc Bulger have done this season.

With a new dedication to the game, Avery should be a nice late round pick in 2010.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

It’s been a while coming for Eagles’ slot receiver Jason Avant to get his chance to help fantasy football owners to victory. For the past four season’s Avant has been a non reinvent backup receiver, but now it appears that this young player is ready to produce in fantasy lineups.

Last week fantasy stud receiver DeSean Jackson suffered a concussion and upon his absence quarterback Donovan McNabb looked Avant’s way more often.

Now, Jackson has come out and told the press he doesn’t believe he will be ready to face the Falcons’ fantasy friendly secondary. This will leave the door open for Avant to cash in and help fantasy owners to the playoffs.

Three Solid Weeks

Last week wasn’t the first game Avant put up decent fantasy numbers as he’s been solid for the past three in a row. Over that span Avant has been targeted twenty times and has seventeen receptions off of those targets.

Three weeks ago against the Chargers, Avant had eight catches for 156 yards receiving. The next week against the Bears he scored a touchdown and last week he had a good stat line again.

With Jackson out of the lineup, I wouldn’t be surprised to see McNabb target Avant at least nine times in this game. The Falcons aren’t that bad against the run but have struggled against the pass in the last couple months.

A big reason for this is because the Falcons have suffered key injuries in the secondary and haven’t been able to slow down opponents in the passing game since.

Look for Avant to make a run at 100 yards receiving and a touchdown score this weekend.

Beyond Atlanta

Upon Jackson’s return Avant’s fantasy football value will drop. Jackson is by far the best receiver on the team and Avant is usually used as the slot receiver in the offense.

As long as Jackson is out of the lineup I would suggest you use Avant but when he returns expect Avant’s numbers to be sporadic.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

This was a hard hitting close game on Sunday night football but in the end the Eagles pulled out the victory.

McCoy and Jackson Put Game Away

The Eagles didn’t get much going on offense until the final quarter and a half of the game. In the third quarter Donovan McNabb hooked up with receiver DeSean Jackson for a 48-yard touchdown score to take the lead.

That lead didn’t last long as Jay Cutler drove down the field and scored a touchdown for the Bears.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles put a drive together that finished with rookie running back LeSean McCoy scoring on a ten yard touchdown run. McCoy had a good night overall with twenty carries for 99 yards and a score.

Look for McCoy to continue as the feature running back in the Eagles attack for awhile.

Kahlil Bell Who?

The Bears picked up rookie Kahlil Bell for more depth in the running game and on his first career carry, he torched the Eagles for a 72 yard run. For the game Bell posted four carries for 81 yards as Matt Forte’s backup.

Forte, on the other hand, continued to struggle as he posted only 34 yards rushing on 14 carries. Even worse for fantasy football owners with Forte is that his reception totals were down to four catches for only twenty yards.

If Bell continues to run effectively than you will probably see him split more time with Forte as the season moves along.

This has been a very disappointing season for Forte, and it looks like the misery may only continue.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

It’s been a disappointing season for Anquan Boldin’s fantasy football owners. Boldin had a strong season a year ago and was one of the top ten fantasy receivers heading towards this season.

Coming into last week’s game against the Seahawks, Boldin only produced 35 receptions for 404 yards and one touchdown on the season. These are not the numbers you want to see from a player that fantasy owners drafted somewhere around the third or fourth round of most fantasy drafts.

While these numbers are disappointing I do believe Boldin may be ready to produce on a consistent basis for fantasy owners.

Getting Healthy

Boldin made it known in the press that he was very unhappy about being benched two weeks ago, but truthfully it was probably the best move for his future play. The Cardinals went on to crush the Bears without him and the time off allowed Boldin to recover from his high ankle sprain from a few weeks before.

Last week against the Seahawks, Boldin was back in the lineup and had eight receptions for 105 yards. Those totals were both a season high’s for the pro bowl receiver and this production shows that he is ready to bounce back.

Now that Boldin is relatively healthy again I expect him to continue his success this weekend against the St. Louis Rams. Not only do I expect him to have strong reception and yardage totals, but he should find the end zone at least once.

Getting Boldin back and playing like himself should only help the Cardinals’ chances of winning their division out right by mid December.

As it stands right now the 49ers are the only team that has a realistic chance of beating the Cardinals for the division title. This is mainly because the 49ers beat the Cardinals in Arizona.

If the 49ers can beat them again in San Francisco than it could make things interesting down the stretch.

Fantasy Football Outlook for Boldin

Look for Boldin to be a solid every week starter for the rest of the fantasy football season. Now that he is healthy it should be expected that Boldin will give you solid fantasy numbers from here.

That being said I’m not sure you will see him amass the type of numbers, he was putting up a season ago when he was healthy. The Cardinals are starting to run the football better than ever before with the emergence of Chris “Beanie” Wells.

Because of this and the continued progress of third receiver Steve Breaston, Boldin is not going to get as many big days as before.

Even still I do like him and especially after this week against the Rams. Mainly, because the team will play three defenses in a row that are stout against the running game. When the Cardinals can’t use their running backs to close out games than they will lean on their receivers more often.

Start Boldin on your fantasy football squads and expect production.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Chicago Bears’ running back Matt Forte has had a bust season for fantasy football owners in 2009. Forte was a top four draft pick in many fantasy leagues, and he’s been unable to get things going most of the year.

Even this past week against the 49ers when Forte had 161 total yards from scrimmage he only had 41 yards rushing on twenty carries.

For the season Forte has 143 carries for 482 yards and a woefully bad 3.4 yards per carry. I don’t believe Forte will do much better in this area for the rest of the season as his offensive line just doesn’t run block well.

Beyond the line blocking issues the Bears will face the Eagles, Vikings, Rams, Packers, Ravens and Vikings for the rest of the fantasy football season. The one strong matchup Forte has for the rest of the fantasy season (unless you’re in a league that plays week 17 when the face the Lions) and that’s not great news for fantasy owners.

Catching the Ball for Production

If Forte is going to be a consistent fantasy player for your fantasy team than he will need to continue his production in the passing game.

In the past two weeks Forte has 14 receptions for 194 yards in the air. This is especially useful for fantasy owners in PPR leagues as you receive points just for his catches alone.

Another area that needs to improve is Forte’s touchdown total that stands at three for his first nine games of the year.

If Forte can sustain consistency in these area’s than he can still help fantasy owners earn a playoff spot this season.

Fantasy Football Ranking for Matt Forte

Forte’s fantasy football value has dropped from a top four pick this year to a No.2 running back on your team for next year. The Bears offensive line changes this offseason didn’t do Forte any favors, and it seems the coaching staff is content with Jay Cutler slinging the football.

As long as Cutler continues to find Forte underneath than the Bears starting running back is still a starter in fantasy.

Look for Forte to help your team as the season winds down but don’t expect him to be a driving force for your success.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

This game was just another reason why I don’t like that the NFL has these Thursday night games. Teams lose three extra days for rest and preparation and tonight’s sorry game showed just that.

49ers Win On Cutler Turnovers

Outside of Matt Forte and Frank Gore’s performances this was a very unproductive game for fantasy football.

Jay Cutler was picked off five times and couldn’t seem to get much done except throwing the ball to Greg Olson and Forte. His five picks helped the 49ers win the game 10 – 6 and snapped their four game losing streak.

I’m not sure what was worse, the fact that Cutler had another sad performance or that the 49ers could only score 10 points with so many opportunities to score.

In the end, it was nice to see that Forte is starting to assert himself in the passing game the last two weeks. The Bears just can’t run block, and it’s about time they started giving him the ball more in the short passing game.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

The Tennessee Titans finally got their first win of the season last week against the Jaguars and came to San Francisco looking to make it two wins in a row. While the game was close going into the 4th quarter, it was the Titans that came out victorious in the end.

Chris Johnson a Top Fantasy Back

It’s time to say that Chris Johnson is one of the elite fantasy football running backs. No doubt Johnson was a top ten fantasy back coming into this season but next year he will be a top three.

Johnson’s explosiveness is amazing and at times it looks like everyone else around him is running in slow motion. That is probably because everyone else on the field can’t run a 4.2/ 40 yard dash time.

In this game Johnson had 25 carries for 135 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also put things together in the passing game as he had three catches for twenty five yards.

Johnson should continue to have a strong second half of the season as the Titans look much improved from their play earlier in the season.

49ers Continue to Struggle

Frank Gore had a good game and Vernon Davis had ten catches for over 100 yards receiving. These efforts are just a part of the reason why I believe this team is getting better than years past.

The 49ers are coming along as a team, even if the wins aren’t stacking up in their favor of late. Hopefully, they can get a win next week on Thursday night against the Bears.

If they lose that game they will be on a five game losing streak. That would be a shame as they seem to play hard most weeks.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

After the Cardinals upset loss to the Panthers last week I’m sure Kurt Warner wanted to atone for his poor play. This week Warner’s performance was a complete 180 from last week as he tossed five touchdowns and led his team to a win.

Warner and Fitzgerald Lead the Way

Warner and Larry Fitzgerald got the party started as the hooked up for two first half touchdowns and produced a big lead. This passing game just seemed to have the Chicago Bears number for most of the day as they passed at will.

For the game Warner tossed five touchdowns and Fitzgerald had nine receptions for 123 yards and the two touchdown scores.

Seeing that the 49ers lost again this week to the Titans, the Cardinals now have a commanding lead in the NFC West.

Greg Olsen Scores Three Times

This season has been a disappointment for fantasy football owners with tight end Greg Olsen. The Bears talented receiver was projected to have a pro bowl type season this year and help fantasy owners all yearlong.

While Olsen hasn’t had a great year so far he did have a huge game in this contest. For the game Olsen had five catches for 71 yards and three touchdown catches.

Hopefully, Olsen can continue his recent success and have a strong second half of the fantasy football season.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

If you own Bears running back Matt Forte in your fantasy football league than this season has not been a fun one. Every week you’ve been waiting for Forte to breakout and start producing and each week (other than the Lions’ game) he has disappointed.

Forte Shows Life

This week Forte showed some fantasy life as he had 90 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The young running back also had 31 yards in the receiving game.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a strong second half for the Bears star running back. Fantasy owners will need this running back to produce for them if they are to get into the playoffs and win a championship.

Devin Hester Continues to Produce

Last week Devin Hester had eight receptions for over 100 yards and a touchdown. This week Hester had seven receptions for 81 yards and almost had a touchdown score at the end of the game.

Jay Cutler has clearly made Hester his No.1 receiver in the passing game and fantasy owners should start Hester every week.

Browns Offense is Horrible

The Browns’ offense is horrible, and you should start any and every fantasy defense that plays them every week.

Enough said!!!

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Last week Carson Palmer made me look like a fool after he chucked five touchdowns against the Bears. The week before Palmer failed to produce against the Texans and left fantasy owners (like me) in the ditch.

While it was good to see that Palmer produced, he still isn’t attacking down the field as all his touchdowns were inside the 15 yard line.

This week the Bengals, Steelers, Chiefs, Patriots, Buccaneers and Redskins are all on bye weeks and fantasy owners will be in need of production.

Below we have our top border line players at different positions that are worth starting and worth sitting for the eighth week of the NFL fantasy football season.

Start’Em

Quarterbacks

• Tony Romo vs Seahawks
• Matt Ryan @ Saints
• Brett Favre @ Packers
• Jay Cutler vs Browns
  

Running Backs

• Kevin Smith vs Rams
• Matt Forte vs Browns (He has to produce in this one right?)
• Joseph Addai vs 49ers (Donald Brown was injured against the Rams)
• Ricky Williams vs Jets

Wide Receivers

• Miles Austin vs Seahawks (Start every week)
• Devin Hester vs Browns
• Donnie Avery @ Lions
• Sidney Rice @ Packers

Tight Ends

• Vernon Davis @ Colts
• Greg Olsen vs Browns
• Visanthe Shaincoe @ Packers

Kickers

• Nate Kaeding vs Raiders
• Kris Brown @ Bills

Defense/ ST

• Chargers vs Raiders
• Bears vs Browns (If Tommy Harris is out again Sit them)

Sit’Em

Quarterbacks

• Kyle Orton @ Ravens
• Joe Flacco vs Broncos
• Jake Delhomme @ Cardinals (Career is probably Over)

Running Backs

• Knowshon Moreno @ Ravens
• Julius Jones @ Cowboys

Wide Receivers

• Steve Smith (Car) @ Cardinals ( If you have WR’s that are performing)
• Bernard Berrian @ Packers (Sidney Rice is taking over)

Tight End

• John Carlson @ Cowboys (What have you done lately)
• Daunte Rosario @ Cardinals (Injured)

Defense/ ST

• 49ers @ Colts
• Jets vs Dolphins

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com