Posts tagged LaDainianTomlinson at FanHouse

It's quite OK to claim that LaDainian Tomlinson's big toe is killing your fantasy season. Seriously, you drafted the guy #1 overall and you, like most people have come to expect a little more for him. The same can be said about Peyton Manning and probably a handful of other projected "studs."

Look, there's no such thing as "sink or swim" when it comes to the stars. That's what can make it as equally maddening as losing a key player to injury when your first or second round pick just ain't picking up his end of the bargain. It's not as if these guys are flirting with being complete busts, but the early or current returns aren't in your favor.

As the stock market plummets in the real world, in the Fantasy Football world stock values fluctuate day in and day out as they should in a perfect world. Hero one day, on the block the next. Well, trading "studs" is always a risky proposition, but today I'm taking a look at three guys that are at the crossroad better known as "stick or deal."

Let's ante up and take a look.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his face-mask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's our new feature, Studs and Duds:

Here's Week 5 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Brandon Jacobs, RB NYG (15 rushes, 136 yards, 2 TDs) -- Remember back when you were in fifth and sixth grade and there was that kid who was bigger, stronger and more athletic than you and all your friends? Yeah, well that's Brandon Jacobs, except he's the best running back on the best football team in the world. A dominating performance against Seattle that was highlighted by a 9.1 yards per carry average has the Giants ... umm .... giant?

The Miami Dolphins won one game in 2007. In 2008, they've now won two in a row as they notched an impressive 17-10 victory over the San Diego Chargers, evening up their record to 2-2.

What is amazing is that they have beaten the two teams who played for the AFC Championship last year in consecutive games. In both games, they used the "Wildcat formation" where quarterback Chad Pennington lines up at receiver and running back Ronnie Brown takes the direct snap.

The Dolphins ran the play 11 times, gaining 49 yards and scoring a touchdown.

That will get the press, but it was the Phins defense that deserves a ton of credit. They shut down a potent San Diego offense to just ten points and 202 total yards. LaDainian Tomlinson was held to just 35 yards rushing and 22 yards receiving. They hounded Philip Rivers into 13-for-28 passing day for just 159 yards.

This was an offense that led the NFL in scoring average (34.5) heading into the game.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Anquan Boldin - After the last Sunday's vicious hit, Boldin came away with a fractured sinus membrane, which I believe means he broke his face. While he is lucky that is the worst of it after what looked like a neck injury, he is very unlikely to play on Sunday at this point. It has not yet been ruled out however, so keep an eye on his progress.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - McGahee continues to keep things interesting as now he has injured ribs, which limited his playing time on Monday night. His efforts in practice this week have been limited, but he did practice on Friday, so he should be good to at least split carries.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for three to five more weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it opens the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart is still on the injury report, but he will be fine to go this week.

Jake Delhomme - Delhomme is listed as probable with a thigh injury, but he will be ready for week 5. With Steve Smith back and Muhsin Muhammad getting involved, Delhomme's value is on the up and up.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

Tennessee (4-0) at Baltimore (2-1): Okay, fine, I'll agree, the Titans are a good football team. They're giving up just 11.5 points per game, best in the NFL, they have a competent quarterback that doesn't do anything flashy but also doesn't make a lot of mistakes (only one interception in four games) and a rookie running back in Chris Johnson that made every fantasy owner that didn't snag him do a collective head slap. Interesting little comparison here, last week Johnson had just 19 less yards than Adrian Peterson with one less carry and as many touchdowns. Also worth noting, the 4-0 Titans have just one nationally televised game the rest of the season, October 27 against the Colts, while the Browns still have four. Does Al Davis also dabble in national television scheduling? Cool.

Pick -- Tennessee

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - After making the injury report last week with an ankle injury, Turner is now probable with a shoulder injury. He should be fine as he practiced full speed Thursday, but it might not be a bad time to start thinking about selling high on Turner.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - In a controversial development, the Ravens are speculating that the Browns pulled a "Sweep the leg Johnny" on McGahee and purposefully inflicted harm upon him. McGahee continues to struggle with his swollen, cut eye and although he is listed as probable, he has not made much progress. The game is Monday night though, so hopefully he'll be ready, but this is worse than it sounds.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for four to six weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it may open the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart was limited in practice Thursday to rest his foot injury, but he should be there come Sunday.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - After making the injury report last week with an ankle injury, Turner is now probable with a shoulder injury. He should be fine as he practiced full speed Thursday, but it might not be a bad time to start thinking about selling high on Turner.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - In a controversial development, the Ravens are speculating that the Browns pulled a "Sweep the leg Johnny" on McGahee and purposefully inflicted harm upon him. McGahee continues to struggle with his swollen, cut eye and although he is listed as probable, he has not made much progress. The game is Monday night though, so hopefully he'll be ready, but this is worse than it sounds.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for four to six weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it may open the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart was limited in practice Thursday to rest his foot injury, but he should be there come Sunday.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

Cleveland at Cincinnati: So here are a few fun facts heading into the showdown of Team Zeros. Carson Palmer has more fumbles in three games (2) than touchdown passes (1). If you added up both Derek Anderson and Palmer's quarterback ratings, the number would still fall behind Philip Rivers, Kurt Warner and Jay Cutler, and would be just three points ahead of J.T. O'Sullivan and Tony Romo. Anderson's five interceptions are tied for the most in the league. Needless to say, this might not be the game you DVR in hopes of showing your son the proper way to play quarterback.

Pick: Cincinnati

Houston at Jacksonville: Is it fair to say that Houston is slowly taking the place of Arizona as "the team everyone picks as their preseason sleeper to the point that they're over-hyped and fall flat on their face?" The Texans limp in with the third worst quarterback in the league statistically and the third worst defense, going up against a Jacksonville team that just claimed their first victory in one of those "win or send all the ticket holders a free iPhone" games against the Colts. If there was ever a time for Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Jones to make some magic happen, it is at home against Houston who is giving up 170.5 yards a game on the ground. You know what they call what I just did? Blogger research. It's tough to come by so enjoy the smell.

Pick: Jacksonville

Running back Willis McGahee and company might have thought the eye laceration during the win over the Browns was intentional, but the NFL thought otherwise.

Head coach John Harbaugh said that they thought the hit was intentional and were sending the video to the league for review after McGahee left the game with a badly cut eyelid. Harbaugh said he didn't feel like mentioning the player in question, but did give us the option of seeing ourselves.

"I don't think we should say," he said. "I wouldn't want to comment on it, but you can see it on the tape."

On a 7-yard carry to Cleveland's 1-yard line in the third quarter, McGahee came up bleeding after a tackle by Browns linebacker Andra Davis, who appeared to get his hand caught inside McGahee's visored helmet while being blocked to the ground by Ravens tackle Jared Gaither.

McGahee got up and immediately headed to the sideline with blood dripping down his face. His right eye is still swollen and he has been limited in practice this week as the Ravens prepare for a Monday night game against Pittsburgh.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our live Fantasy Fanhouse experts live chat from 10 am to 1 pm every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Steve Breaston - Breaston practiced lightly this week with a knee injury, but is expected to play on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - Turner was seen with his ankle in a bucket of ice (owww)after Sunday's game, but he says it is not serious and will be ready.

The Chicago Bears

Devin Hester - Hester has some torn cartilage in his ribs and has not practiced this week. I doubt if anybody starts Hester, but if so look elsewhere as he probably will not play.