Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Week 7 featured all kinds of fun, a couple of broken records (the good kind), trick plays, last minute victories and Cecil Shorts and Barkevious Mingo on the field at the same time (a drinkfive wet dream).

- I would be remiss in my duties if I did not start this article without Peyton Manning's record breaking night. Brett Favre, the former record holder, threw 508 TD's in his career, spanning 302 games (1.68 per game). As of Sunday night, Peyton Manning now has 510 TD's in only 246 games (2.07 per game). If Manning continues at this clip and plays as many games as Favre, he will finish his career with 626 TD's. Absolutely crazy.

- The Jaguars can win, after all. With their victory over the up-and-down Browns came a glimmer of hope with their run game. Denard Robinson came to life when given a full workload. 22 attempts netted him 127 yards and 1 touchdown, but more importantly, it may have netted him the starting spot in Jacksonville. The Jags are desperate for stability anywhere, and look for them to go with the hot hand approach. Robinson will be a very popular waiver wire addition this week.

- Jerick McKinnon had another good showing, even if his team did not. McKinnon had 19 carries for 103 yards against Buffalo, a team with a tough run defense. McKinnon's match-ups coming up are against Tampa, Washington and Chicago. Buy low on him and take advantage of the weaker part of Minnesota's schedule.

- Ever since Aaron Rodgers told the good folks of Wisconsin to just "relax", they've done nothing but win games. Putting up 38 or more points in three of the last four games, Rodgers has thrown for 13 TD's during that span. Jordy Nelson has also catapulted to the top of the league in receiving yards (though Antonio Brown can pass him with a good game Monday night).

- The Bears continue to struggle at home and are now 0-3 there on the season. It's really the same story we always hear. Cutler struggled and Matt Forte put up numbers anyways. Forte does have two down games this year, but every other game he scored 17 or more points, going for over 20 in his last three games. This kind of consistency is very rewarding with all of the turmoil at the top of the RB draft board this year.

- The Bengals became the third team this season to be shut-out. After having none the first four weeks of the season, we've now seen one three weeks in a row. The Bengals are by far the best offense to be shut down during that stretch, but I think credit needs to be given to the Colts defense. The Colts limited the Bengals to 8 first downs, 135 total yards on offense and the Bengals didn't have a snap in Colts territory until well into the 4th quarter, on a drive that resulted in no points. They only sniffed it once more at the end of the game for just a moment.

- Jeff Fisher has a lot of special teams tricks, and he decided that the best time to showcase them was when the Super Bowl champs came to town. The Rams handed Seattle their second loss in a row, something that Russell Wilson has only experienced once before in his career. The fake punt deep in your own end at the end of the game probably took more balls than brains, but the play I'm in love with is the punt return. The punt return in the second quarter faked out nearly the entire Seahawks special teams unit, which is bizarre considering they ought to know what side of the field their punter is kicking it to.

- One thing from the other side of that game became apparent as well. Russell Wilson is shaping up to be an elite fantasy QB. Two games over 34 points this year and only one game with a low of 11 have him up to 142 points on the season, good for fifth overall. Keep in mind, he has already had his bye week and three of the guys ahead of him have not taken a break yet. Wilson is definitely on pace to finish this season as a top 5 guy.

- The Cowboys keep rolling and Demarco Murray is leading the way. With his record breaking seventh 100 yard game to start the season, he has an astounding 913 yards through 7 games. He has not scored below 17.1 points this season, making him one of the best weekly guarantee since Arian Foster in 2010, heck, maybe since LaDainian Tomlinson's golden years. Expect Murray to stay match-up proof and hope they keep riding him as much as they have, because hey, fantasy football only lasts a year at a time.

- Back to the Broncos, who had a stellar night which might have been overshadowed by Peyton's big record. Demaryius Thomas is living up to his draft position, maybe more than most first/early second rounders. He started slow, but after the bye has scored 34, 18 and 29 points over the last three weeks. In fact, he's the only thing keeping Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb from being the top two fantasy receivers by points.

Last time we spoke about fantasy, we broke down the AFC east, starting with the Super Bowl champion Patriots. This time, we will head west and cover the NFC west, starting with the Super Bowl losing Seahawks.

Seahawks additions/re-signings:

Signed Marshawn Lynch to a 2-year contract extension. Beast mode is staying put in Seattle for, presumably, the rest of the prime of his career. Maybe they’ll remember to give him the ball on the goal line in the 4^th quarter the next time they’re in the Super Bowl. The biggest trade in the offseason saw Seattle acquiring Jimmy Graham from the Saints. This finally gives Russell Wilson a pro-bowl caliber pass catcher and is a huge upgrade for the offense.

Seahawks Losses:

They cut Zach Miller – don’t need him now, and besides, they have the other Willson for 2 TE sets. They also lost center Max Unger (as well as 2015’s first round pick) in the Jimmy Graham trade. This trade is still a net gain for the Seahawks offense, as they already have a center on the roster that filled in for Unger while he was out for 10 games last year.

Seahawks notes:

Michael Bennett wants a new contract after just getting a new one last year. So far, he hasn’t reported to voluntary workouts. The Seahawks haven't made a ton of moves, their roster is already rather stacked (at non-fantasy positions)! They still just have Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse at WR, and added Graham. I think all they need is Wilson and Beast-mode.

Cardinals additions/re-signings:

Signed Mike Iupati, a stellar guard from the 49ers. Iupati is signed to a 5 year deal, so he should anchor their line for quite some time. They also signed LaMarr Woodley, veteran LB who was on the Raiders last year.

Cardinals Losses:

Jonathan Dwyer – after his arrest, that’s a “no duh”. Rob Housler is no longer their TE, but that’s not really a position of great focus on this offense. Antonio Cromartie went back to the Jets. Larry Foote retired, Ted Ginn was released and signed with the Panthers and Darnell Dockett (D-lineman) was released to allow salary cap space.

Cardinals Notes:

The Cards need a QB, and they're going to wind up going with one less as they haven't offered a deal to Ryan Lindley. Maybe they want to draft one? They kept Larry Fitz, and they will ride with Ellington / Stepfan Taylor and Kerwynn Williams at running back.

49ers additions/re-signings:

Torrey Smith signed with the team, leaving the Ravens. He’ll be teamed up with Anquan Bolden for quite the 1-2 punch. Reggie Bush will provide a great change of pace behind an impressive Carlos Hyde. They also signed Darnell Dockett, Jerome Simpson, and of course Jim Tomsula as their new head coach.

49ers losses:

Frank Gore, who seemed eternal in San Francisco, is finally gone and went to Indy. Patrick Willis and Chris Borland both retired due to future injury concerns / they didn't want to destroy their body playing football. They also lost (addition by subtraction?) coach Jim Harbaugh. Mike Iupati went to Arizona, Michael Crabtree signed with Oakland, and they cut Stevie Johnson.

49ers notes:

The biggest change has got to be the coaching staff and the fact that there will be a new system. There's a ton of fantasy potential on this team now, so the 49ers could be in for a big turn-around, if they can get their in-house stuff in order. Of course, if you listen to our podcast, we both basically decided that it’s most likely that the 49ers finish last in the division this year.

Rams additions/re-signings:

Nick Foles is their new starting QB, one would assume, after acquiring him from the Eagles in a trade. They signed Nick Fairley, one of the best DL's in the league who played with Suh and joins the team that had the best line last year. They also added LB Akeem Ayers from the Pats - they will have a great defense again this year. Case Keenum has been signed from Houston as the backup QB, which is a rather important role in St Louis in recent years.

Rams losses:

Sam Bradford & Shaun Hill have been shown the door. I'm sure people in St Louis are saying "good riddance" to these guys. The Rams must be sick of Bradford's annual injuries and swapped him for Nick Foles. I’m not sure if the mad genius Chip Kelly just doesn’t like Foles, or if he has some crazy grand plan with all of his QB’s. What I do know is that the Rams didn’t really upgrade or downgrade their QB situation, but I suspect that Foles has a higher upside.

Rams Notes:

The Rams vs Steelers in week 3 should be sweet, as defense usually is stronger early, before the offenses can get rolling. Games that feature strength vs strength are always entertaining. They still only have Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin, so the receiving core is awful for now. Jared Cook is not likely to pick up the slack (ala Jimmy Graham). Tre Mason is still a bit unproven, but could be excellent if there are other playmakers on the offense to take some attention away from him. This is all going to be on Nick Foles to make something out of the offense.