…but we’re going to talk some fantasy football. I started writing here to do some sports coverage, but that hasn’t worked out so well. Mainly because any time I would come up with a general sports topic it would be simply, “RYAN HOWARD FOR MVP!!! bitches” and really, that’s not going to work anyone. Unless Ryan Howard reads the site. In which case, Ryan Howard for MVP.

Why fantasy football? I mean, it’s a subject that is covered in article form probably a little bit too much anyway, despite the fact that way too many people spend too much time getting wrapped up playing it. The hope is that eventually we’ll get into discussion of potential trades because that is the area of the game that I enjoy the most. I make way too many trades. Generally, here are how my teams work out…terrible starts, great finishes. OK, better finishes. If you have a potential trade offer that you think might be good material for this column, post it here. Or, just general fantasy stuff, I think the Maitland’s Palace of Wickedness area of the BATCAVE will need some sort of content, so feel free to use that.

Raise your hand if you had Chris Johnson on your roster after the Draft? But, how many of you also had Rashard Mendenhall after the draft. Or, how many of you had Mendenhall ahead of Chris Johnson? I’m not trying to disparage the folks that had Mendenhall or have Johnson. If you have Johnson, you should definitely have an air of confidence about the moves you’re about to make during this Fantasy season. Early bragging rights are certainly in your corner.

Here’s a different question…who has Eddie Royal on their roster…or would have wanted to add Royal? Yeah, mostly everyone who plays fantasy sports except the bitter folks who want Royal to fail because they don’t have him. Sorry, not happening. Maybe it was headed that direction…but Cutler going to him on the winning TD and the 2 point conversion? He’s going to be a solid WR3 for a lot of teams. Going into the season I had Royal ranked in a cluster of young receivers. The main other two in that cluster were James Hardy and Robert Meachem. Chansi Stuckey was not in that cluster. While Royal looks to be a potential starter for your teams, Hardy and Meachem will garner less interest, and if Favre continues to go to him, Stuckey might be the best in the group.

Speaking of Favre targets, many took Jerricho Cotchery thinking that a 1200 yard bust out season was possible. After the second week, reality has sunk in that maybe Cotchery is not the possession receiver you needed him to be. It’s too early to make a final call on that, but if you are a Cotchery owner and doubt hasn’t crept in, well, I hope you have Brandon Marshall and Terrell Owens as your other two receivers.

What is the point of all this?

Fantasy football is about adjustments. You don’t win leagues with the team you drafted unless you’re in a pretty inactive league. You did not draft a perfect team and some of your philosophies about how you put your team together are not going to work out. That’s pretty inevitable. So, where to make changes?

It’s still early, remember that. Most people will tell you to sell high and buy low. Thanks. Someone who just told you this just told you something you already know. The problem with this bit of advice is that everyone knows it. So, the guy in your league was shopping you the BURNER Michael Turner after he ripped the Lions to shreds? Go figure. Someone in every league was doing that. Hopefully you weren’t buying at too high a cost. The Lions are the damn Lions for a reason.

If one of these trades fall to you, hey, be happy. I dealt Darren McFadden for Steven Jackson this week, I’m pretty happy right now. Then again, the other trick is knowing when you’re buying high and low. With McFadden’s situation, I feel as if I’m buying high and selling low right now. I’m working on the hunch that Steven Jackson is still getting his legs after the hold-out and Run DMC will struggle at points. Afterall, his big week came against the Chiefs, who fail to give a fuck. Also, Justin Fargas had solid numbers before leaving and Michael Bush ripped that same Defense for 90 yards on 16 carries in the same game. Ki-Jana Carter probably could have come out of retirement, had his knee scoped on Wednesday and break off 35 yards on six carries on Sunday against the Chiefs.

The downside is that I could be wrong. I might have just traded Silver Jesus like many folks traded Purple Jesus last season thinking his early performance was too good to be true.

Well, the other downside is that I had planned on naming my team after Run DMC songs each week. I went through the 24 hour period where the trade was pending naming my team all sorts of fun stuff like, MY ADIDAS, SUCKER MCs, MARY MARY, Christmas in Hollis, Down with the King. When the Down with the King name change happened I got the sudden urge to add to my roster fake thugs that would add nothing to my team.

I’ll be spending next week trying to unload half the Bengals.

So, what kind of trades should you target going into Week 3? I generally like to send out trade offers late in the week where I would underpaying for a targeted player that I think is going into a tough matchup that weekend. It will get rejected, but if the premonition pans out, then you might get someone thinking that they messed up by not accepting the deal. It certainly preys on the psyche of the weak, but I think that’s my duty in trying to win at all costs.

A couple guys that have tough matchups this weekend, but will otherwise be solid:

  • Andre Johnson – The Titans have been crushing everyone this season, so Johnson might struggle a bit this week.
  • Braylon Edwards – Struggling and plays Baltimore. The Ravens in week 1 shut down the Bengals. Most people right now credit the Bengals being awful more than the Ravens being good. If Edwards gets shut down, there might be some owners ready to bail.
  • Willis McGahee – Did not play in week 1 and in week 2 the game was postponed. Everyone is talking running back by committee which is dreaded. It is likely that after this game it will look like RBBC if McGahee plays. But, that might be more due to McGahee getting up to speed rather than longterm planning.
  • Matt Forte – Forte has been a stud rookie play thus far. Against Tampa Bay’s run defense that might change. Most people should come away from a less than stellar performance realizing this, but some might also come away thinking, well, that Forte is a rookie and will be up and down.
  • Greg Jennings – This one is a longshot. More things need to break right than most. Expectations for Jennings from his fantasy owners has to be huge this week as they play a Cowboys secondary that was torched by the Eagles on Monday night last week. The Cowboys realize that and adjustments should follow. If they work out, then don’t expect a repeat of Monday’s gunslinging affair.
  • Wes Welker – Dolphins always seem to be tough defensively, but the perception is Welker did well against his former team last season when 1 out of the 2 games was just REALLY good and the other subpar. Like with Jennings, expectations from owners should be high. The important thing with Welker is to watch his targets. As long as he’s still targeted, the yards will come when he gets more in line with Matt Cassel.

These are predictions, but let me put the caveat on quantity over quality when it comes to fantasy football. If you pick 8-10 guys to target like this, chances are a couple of them are going to pan out. These are offered up by me to serve as examples. The great thing about fantasy sports is that judgment on players is so up and down and different amongst the people who play.

Now, mosey thee on over to Maitland’s Palace of Wickedness and get some fantasy football discussion going.

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