For the past couple week’s Texans running back Chris Brown has split time with Steve Slaton in the back field. In that time Brown has run the ball hard but failed to receive a bulk of carries that could make him a fantasy football starter.

On Friday the Texans revealed that Slaton’s neck injury was very likely to keep him out of action for this week’s game against the Jaguars. In light of this information, Brown should receive a bump in touches and is worth a start in fantasy leagues.

Slaton Out, Moats In

It seems like ages ago that Ryan Moats touched the Bills’ defense for over a hundred yards rushing and three touchdown scores in week eight. Moats was given an opportunity to shine in that game because of Slaton’s fumbling issues.

The very next week Moats got the start against the Colts but ended up splitting time with Slaton throughout the game. Since that game Moats hasn’t touched the football one time as Slaton and Brown received all the work on the ground.

This week Moats will be Brown’s backup if Slaton is, in fact, out for the game.

It does seem that Brown is ready for his best game of the season, but if the Texans fall behind or Moats runs more effectively than expect Brown’s production to be disappointing.

Even if Slaton misses more than one week with his neck problem and Brown plays well this weekend, I wouldn’t recommend Brown as anything more than a flex option.

The reason I say that is because at this time of year in the NFL you know the makeup of what a team is and how the coaching staff will use their personnel. In Houston’s case the team loves to throw the football and will abandon the run if they fall behind.

Secondly, head coach Gary Kubiak has shown little belief in just one running back to carry the load in a full game.

With that being said, look for Brown to produce, just don’t expect him to carry your team to a fantasy football championship.

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

The Jets needed a win to keep any hope of making the playoffs this season and came up with a solid win on the road. Just like the last time the Jets played the Bills, they leaned on their running game to lead the way.

Winning on the Road

The Jets have a great offensive line, and tonight they pushed the Bills’ defense around for 249 yards on 43 total rushing attempts. Thomas Jones led the way with 23 carries for 109 yards on the ground.

This hundred yard game marked the sixth time Jones has reached that accomplishment this season. Jones now has over 1,000 yards rushing for the season to go with nine touchdowns on the year.

This marks the second rock solid fantasy football season Jones has had in a row, and he should continue his success for the rest of the year.

Braylon Edwards also hooked up through the air with Mark Sanchez for a touchdown. Edwards stats were cut a bit short as Sanchez had to leave the game early with a knee injury. The injury is not expected to keep Sanchez out for next week, however.

Lynch Responds with Touchdown

Marshawn Lynch has lost his starting role to Fred Jackson, but tonight it was Lynch that posted solid stats. Lynch only received six carries for the game but had 60 yards rushing and a 15-yard touchdown run.

I wouldn’t recommend either running back for the rest of the season until one of the runners steps up and gets consistent work.

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

Many expected the Buffalo Bills to lay down and get blown out against the Jaguars, but instead they gave them a fight. With a new head coach, the Bills seemed to be rejuvenated as Terrell Owens had one of his better days in his career.

TO Goes Wild

This has been a pathetic season for Owens, but he has picked it up in recent weeks. Against the Titans Owens had 85 yards on three receptions and in this game, he was fabulous. On nine receptions Owens posted 197 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown catch was the highlight of the game as Owens hauled in a 98-yards completion for the score. This touchdown was the longest of Owens’s career.

In the past two weeks Owens yards per catch have been over 21 yards as he is starting to show his explosion once again.

Give serious consideration to starting Owens again in your fantasy football league.

Jags Pull Out a Victory

This wasn’t a pretty game for the Jaguars but in the end, they found a way to win. Maurice Jones- Drew was held down by one of the worst defenses against the run and David Garrard was harassed all day.

In the end Garrard found Mike Sims-Walker for a game winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining.

Next week the Jaguars will travel to San Francisco and take on the 49ers. Expect the 49ers to give them another strong game.

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

This week was all about wide receivers that have had horrible fantasy football and NFL season that finally got something done. Terrell Owens, Greg Jennings and Calvin Johnson all had huge games.

Hopefully, you had them in your lineups because if you didn’t, your are probably even more frustrated that they produced while on your bench.

Below I have some observations from the eleventh week of the regular season and how I see those points of interest playing out from a fantasy perspective.

2009 NFL Regular Season Week Eleven

• Dolphins vs Panthers
• Colts vs Ravens
• Cowboys vs Redskins
• Lions vs Browns
• 49ers vs Packers
• Jaguars vs Bills
• Vikings vs Seahawks
• Giants vs Falcons
• Chiefs vs Steelers
• Chargers vs Broncos
• Raiders vs Bengals
• Eagles vs Bears
• Titans vs Texans

Regular Season First Ten Weeks

• Week One
• Week Two
• Week Three
• Week Four
• Week Five
• Week Six
• Week Seven
• Week Eight
• Week Nine
• Week Ten
  

Fantasy Football Regular Season Week Eleven Notes:

Ricky Williams a Top Ten Fantasy Football Running Back

Now that Brown is out of the way, Williams can turn up his fantasy production into high gear for the rest of the season. Tonight on short rest (Thursday game) Williams ran the football 22 times for 119 yards and two rushing scores.

Running wasn’t the only part of Williams game as he had two receptions for 19 yards and a touchdown in the passing game.

Not only did Williams put the numbers up, but he took snaps out of the quarterback position for the wildcat offense.

Look for Williams to continue his surge of fantasy football production next week against the Buffalo Bills horrible run defense.

Browns Down and Out….Really?

If you just went by this week alone and looked at the stats from the Cleveland Browns you wouldn’t know they are one of the worst offenses in football.

In this contest, the Browns young quarterback Quinn threw for over 300 yards passing and four touchdowns. He would have led his team to victory if it wasn’t for Stafford throwing a touchdown pass with no time left on the clock.

Rookie wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi benefited from Quinn’s strong game for 115 yards and a long bomb touchdown.

This was a very nice game for the Browns, but I wouldn’t expect them to have many strong games the rest of the season.

Stafford Leads Lions to Victory on Injured Shoulder

Everyone associated with the Detroit Lions should feel good about the performance of young rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford. Today Stafford threw the football for 422 yards passing and five touchdown passes.

Not only did Stafford have a strong game but his final touchdown was thrown on a very bad shoulder. The play before the game winning touchdown Stafford was driven into the ground by a Browns’ defender and injured his throwing shoulder.

This was an effort that showed everyone in the Lions’ organization that Stafford is committed to winning football games.

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

This season has been a bumpy ride for Texans star running back Steve Slaton. The season low for fantasy football owners with Slaton had to be when he was benched against the Bills and Ryan Moats had a huge game.

Because of Slaton’s fumbling issue’s head coach Gary Kubiak continued to go with Moats as his starter when the Texans faced off against the Colts a week later.

Bye Week Magic?

After the Texans lost a close game to the Colts they went into their week ten bye with question marks still looming around their running game.

Over this time off Slaton was busy working on his ball handling skills and watching film of Tiki Barber running the football. Barber was a smaller running back like Slaton and in the early part of his starting career, he had trouble holding onto the football.

Barber corrected his fumbling mistakes with a new ball holding technique, and it saved his career as a starting runner.

Not only did Slaton watch film of Barber, but he went back and talked to old college coaches from West Virgina to see if they had any pointers on what he was doing different.

This commitment and attention to detail must have paid off in the eye’s of his head coach because two days before their Monday night game against the Titans, Slaton has officially won his starting job back.

Fantasy Game Plan for Using Steve Slaton

This week is a tough matchup for Slaton and the Texans running game, so I wouldn’t recommend starting Slaton as more than a flex play at best. However, if Slaton shows that he has used his off time well and starts playing the way we all know he can then he could do some damage down the stretch.

After this week Slaton has the Colts, Jaguars, Seahawks, Rams and Dolphins for the rest of the fantasy football season. Those last three opponents listed are all games during the fantasy football playoffs.

Look for Slaton to shine now that he’s back in the saddle again.

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

It sure didn’t seem to matter for the Dolphins that they lost Ronnie Brown for the season tonight as Ricky Williams put on a show. In the first half, he scored on a touchdown run and a touchdown catch. In the fourth quarter, he put the Panthers away on a long touchdown run.

Ricky Williams a Top Ten Fantasy Football Running Back

Now that Brown is out of the way, Williams can turn up his fantasy production into high gear for the rest of the season. Tonight on short rest (Thursday game) Williams ran the football 22 times for 119 yards and two rushing scores.

Running wasn’t the only part of Williams game as he had two receptions for 19 yards and a touchdown in the passing game.

Not only did Williams put the numbers up, but he took snaps out of the quarterback position for the wildcat offense.

Look for Williams to continue his surge of fantasy football production next week against the Buffalo Bills horrible run defense.

Panthers Continue Their Passing Struggles

The Carolina Panthers seemed to have no problems running the football. DeAngelo Williams had 122 yards on the ground on only 13 carries for the game.

The Panthers struggles in this game are the same struggles they’ve had as an offense all season long and that is passing the football.

Sure, star receiver Steve Smith had a solid game with seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown score, but that was about it for the team.

Jake Delhomme was coming of a solid performance against the Falcons last week, but tonight he was off on most of his passes. To his credit, he did only have one interception on 42 pass attempts but only completed 19 attempts. For those of you scoring at home that is a completion percentage of less than 50 percent.

Next week Delhomme’s competition won’t be any easier as the Panthers travel to New York and take on the Jets solid pass defense.

The running backs should have another solid game but Smith should be the only player from this team’s passing attack that is worth a look the rest of the season.

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

Adam Schiefter of ESPN reports today that the Dolphins star running back Ronnie Brown has been placed on injured reserve. This is a major blow to the Dolphins and the team is now in jeopardy of missing the playoffs

With Brown down the Dolphins’ success on offense will now hinge of the shoulders of Ricky Williams.

Williams has had one of the more checkered pasts of any sports player I can remember. From wearing a wedding dress on an ESPN cover with Mike Ditka to leaving the game to smoke weed around the world.

This guy has sure had some off the field notable’s but he’s also had success on the field in his career as well.

Turning a Career Around

Last year Bill Parcels gave Williams another chance to help the Dolphins and prolong his career after coming back from a yearlong suspension ( he actually came back in ‘07 but only played one game). In 2008 Williams ran hard and with conviction as he helped the Dolphins win their division and go to the playoffs.

This season Williams is running more effective than ever before and is helping fantasy football owners weekly.

So far, this season Williams has 105 carries for 558 yards rushing (5.3 yard per carry average) and six rushing touchdowns. Not only is Williams helping out in the run game, but he also has 18 receptions for 193 yards ( over ten yards a catch) and one touchdown.

These numbers are almost amazing for a running back that is now 32 years of age and supposedly on the tail end of his career.

Fantasy Breakdown Going Forward

With Brown out of the lineup Williams makes for a very strong fantasy football start every week. Not only will Williams see a majority of the touches and goal line opportunities, but he will play the Panthers and Bills these next two weeks.

Hopefully, you have Williams on your fantasy roster or at least don’t have to play him in that time.

Williams now makes for a top 15 fantasy football running back for the rest of the season. He should get the ball twenty plus times a game and be a strong producer most weeks.

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

This week the Buffalo Bills decided to fire head coach Dick Jauron. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell will take over as interim head coach upon his promotion. This season has been a complete train wreck for this organization, since they released LT Langston Walker and fired OC Turk Schonert just before the season began.

While Fewell’s defense has struggled against the run because of injuries to their best run stuffer’s, they’ve been decent against the pass.

Change Has Come

Upon Fewell’s promotion the team benched quarterback Trent Edwards and will use Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter. Fitzpatrick did a good job of game management when he was starting.

Look for the Bills to run the football early and often with Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson as Fewell tries to keep is defense rested.

In the passing game Fitzpatrick should have no problem finding Lee Evans as the two have good chemistry together.

Terrell Owens is a non egsistant fantasy football option and is probably not worth a roster spot on your team. Now that Fitz is the quarterback, I wouldn’t expect Owens to do much (other than get cut from the team) for the rest of the season.

Beyond ‘09

After this season, the Bills need to do two things to get themselves back on track. First they need to get some offensive linemen and rebuild the once solid line they had a few year’s ago. Next they need to get some big boys in the middle of their defense to help stop the running game.

If they can do this than the Bills should be a competitive team once again in 2010.

For the rest of this season Lee Evans is an every week starter and Marshawn Lynch makes for a good play when he has a solid matchup.

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

The Tennessee Titans have now won three games in a row now as they took care of the Bills this week. Not only are the Titans winning games but their star running back is putting together one heck of a season.

Johnson goes for 100/100 Game

In this contest Chris Johnson put together another massive day as he had 132 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving.

On the ground Johnson had 26 carries for the 132 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. In the passing game Johnson had nine receptions for 100 yards.

This performance is the reason why Johnson will be the number one pick in many fantasy football leagues next year. His production is just too solid to ignore as he has the best skill set overall for fantasy owners.

Look for Johnson to continue his strong season as he helps fantasy owners win games and take them to the playoffs.

Lee Evans Scores Twice

Not much went well for the Bills in this game but wide receiver Lee Evens did have two scores in the game. It seems that Evens is benefiting from having Terrell Owens on the team as he now doesn’t have to face heavy coverage.

One of the touchdowns came on a wildcat play as running back Fred Jackson threw him a 22-yard touchdown pass.

The Bills aren’t a very good team but Evens and Lynch still make for half way decent starters for fantasy football. Other than that you would want to stay away from this team.

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

This coming week has to be the worst schedule for fantasy defenses for the entire season. Teams like the Browns, Rams, Raiders and Bills are all on bye weeks and that means fantasy owners can’t start defenses against them.

This week we have our weekly section on wounded warriors, as well as our top rankings for top position players. We have the top 16 ranked QB, TE, K and D/ST ranked. We also have the top 30 RB’s and top 35 WR’s as well.

Every week we will start off with our wounded warrior’s section. These are the key players that are on the injury report that you need to pay attention too before games begin.

Wounded Warriors

Quarterbacks

Packers- Aaron Rodgers- After the Packers’ loss to the Vikings’, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was seen limping badly. When Rodgers was questioned about his foot, he said that in a few days he would be ok.

This is the same foot problem that has landed Rodgers on the injury report for the past few weeks. While this is a concern, Rodgers is slated to play this week and should produce well against the Buccaneers.

Panthers- Jake Delhomme- Delhomme had a good first half against the Cardinals before he had to leave early because of a chest injury. The injury required that Delhomme go to the hospital and get tested.

On Monday Delhomme didn’t seem to suffer any major ill effects and looks to be a go week nine against the Saints.

Running Backs

Eagles- Brian Westbrook- Philadelphia’s star running back is slated to practice on Wednesday after missing the Eagles’ contest against the Giants. While Brian Westbrook will practice, he will not engage in physical contact.

We will find out more by the week’s end if Westbrook will be a go for the Eagles tilt against the Cowboys.

Wide Receivers

Lions- Calvin Johnson- Megatron practice on Thursday and Friday in limited fashion last week. At one point John Clayton of ESPN thought Johnson would be a go against the Rams this past Sunday.

As it turned out the Lions kept Johnson out of the lineup, and hopefully he will have a better week of practice this coming week. If he can practice all week than I would expect him to play this coming week in Seattle.

Cardinals- Anquan Boldin- One of the biggest problems with having Anquan Boldin on your fantasy team is that he is injury prone. This season Boldin has failed to stay healthy for the entire year and his production has suffered on the field.

Boldin’s continued ankle issue has led his head coach to consider sitting him down for this coming week against the Bears. If he does, in fact, not play than Steve Breaston will get the start.

Tight Ends

Texans- Owen Daniels- The Texans suffered a major blow to their offense when they lost tight end Owen Daniels for the season this past weekend. Daniels tore his acl and is done for the season.

Look for the Texans to use receiver Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones more often as they need them to step up their production.

Quarterbacks

• Peyton Manning vs Texans
• Tom Brady vs Dolphins
• Drew Brees vs Panthers
• Aaron Rodgers @ Buccaneers
• Donovan McNabb vs Cowboys
• Matt Schaub @ Colts
• Ben Roethlisberger @ Broncos
• Philip Rivers @ Giants
• Eli Manning vs Chargers
• Jay Cutler vs Cardinals
• Tony Romo @ Eagles
• Kurt Warner @ Bears
• Matt Ryan vs Redskins
• Matt Hasselbeck vs Lions
• Carson Palmer vs Ravens
• David Garrard vs Chiefs

Running Backs

• Maurice Jones-Drew vs Chiefs
• Chris Johnson @ 49ers
• DeAngelo Williams @ Saints
• Frank Gore vs Titans
• Ray Rice @ Bengals
• Michael Turner vs Redskins
• Ryan Grant @ Buccaneers
• Ronnie Brown @ Patriots
• Cedric Benson vs Ravens
• Matt Forte vs Cardinals
• Marion Barber @ Eagles
• Brandon Jacobs vs Chargers
• Pierre Thomas vs Panthers
• Kevin Smith @ Seahawks
• Joseph Addai vs Texans
• Rashard Mendenhall @ Broncos
• Clinton Portis @ Falcons
• LaDainian Tomlinson @ Giants
• Jonathan Stewart @ Saints
• Brian Westbrook vs Cowboys (May Not Play)
• Knowshon Moreno vs Steelers
• Julius Jones vs Lions
• Cadillac Williams vs Packers
• Jamaal Charles @ Jaguars
• Ryan Moats @ Colts
• Ahmad Bradshaw vs Chargers
• Ricky Williams @ Patriots
• Laurence Maroney vs Dolphins
• Mike Bell vs Panthers
• Steve Slaton @ Colts ( Can’t Trust Him)

Wide Receivers

• Randy Moss vs Dolphins
• Reggie Wayne vs Texans
• Andre Johnson @ Colts
• DeSean Jackson vs Cowboys
• Larry Fitzgerald @ Bears
• Marques Colston vs Panthers
• Vincent Jackson @ Giants
• Miles Austin @ Eagles
• Chad Ochocinco vs Ravens
• Roddy White vs Redskins
• Greg Jennings @ Buccaneers
• Calvin Johnson @ Seahawks (If He Plays)
• Dwayne Bowe @ Jaguars
• Santonio Holmes @ Broncos
• Devin Hester vs Cardinals
• Wes Welker vs Dolphins
• Donald Driver @ Buccaneers
• Steve Smith (NY) vs Chargers
• Nate Burelson vs Lions
• Steve Smith (Car) @ Saints
• Mike Sims-Walker vs Chiefs
• Brandon Marshall vs Steelers
• T.J. Houshmandzadeh vs Lions
• Mario Manningham vs Chargers
• Hines Ward @ Broncos
• Michael Crabtree vs Titans
• Hakeem Nicks vs Chargers
• Nate Washington @ 49ers
• Derrick Mason @ Bengals
• Steve Breaston @ Bears
• Malcom Floyd @ Giants
• Kevin Walter @ Colts
• Johnny Knox vs Cardinals
• Justin Gage @ 49ers
• Antonio Bryant vs Packers

Tight Ends

• Vernon Davis vs Titans
• Dallas Clark vs Texans
• Antonio Gates @ Giants
• Brent Celek vs Cowboys
• Jason Witten @ Eagles
• Tony Gonzalez vs Redskins
• Heath Miller @ Broncos
• Greg Olsen vs Cardinals
• Jeremy Shockey vs Panthers
• Todd Heap @ Bengals
• Fred Davis @ Falcons
• John Carlson vs Lions
• Tony Scheffler vs Steelers
• Kellen Winslow vs Packers
• Kevin Boss vs Chargers
• Joel Dreessen @ Colts

Kickers

• Mason Crosby @ Buccaneers
• Jason Elam vs Redskins
• Stephin Gostkowski vs Dolphins
• Nate Kaeding @ Giants
• Lawrence Tynes vs Chargers
• David Akers vs Cowboys
• Rob Bironas @ 49ers
• Nick Folk @ Eagles
• Joe Nedney vs Titans
• Robbie Gould vs Cardinals
• Josh Schobee vs Chiefs
• Shayne Graham vs Ravens
• Kris Browns @ Colts
• Matt Praiter vs Steelers
• Steven Hauschia @ Bengals
• Niel Rackers @ Bears

Defense/ ST

• Packers @ Buccaneers
• Falcons vs Redskins
• Steelers @ Broncos
• Ravens @ Bengals
• Broncos vs Steelers
• Seahawks vs Lions
• Saints vs Panthers
• 49ers vs Titans
• Jaguars vs Chiefs
• Eagles vs Cowboys
• Bengals vs Ravens
• Patriots vs Dolphins
• Cardinals @ Bears
• Cowboys @ Eagles
• Bears vs Cardinals
• Titans @ 49ers

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