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Fantasy Football Sleepers and Busts: Week 4

Editor's Note:  Be sure to get your picks in for the Stampede Blue Prediction Contest.  You have until 1:00 ET on SundayI'm going to try something different this week:  I've also put the survey in this story.  I'm hoping to get some more people to play.

Welcome to Week 4 of your Fantasy Football Sleepers and Busts.  I'll review last week before going into this week's studs and duds.  I did much better this week than I did in Week 1.

Sleepers:

  • J.T. O'Sullivan:  189 yds passing, 2 TD/0 INT, 32 yds rush = 22 pts.  Picking against the Lions defense is becoming the norm here.
  • Julius Jones:  140 yards rushing, 1 TD = 20 pts.  That's two good weeks in a row for Jones.  Seems to be a win-win for both him and MB3 so far this year.
  • Jeremy Shockey:  8 catches, 75 yards = 7 pts.  This was a top 10 performance for TE, so I'll be generous to myself, as I said he'd have that many yards, and make me 3/3 on my sleepers.

Busts:

  • Phillip Rivers: 250 yds passing, 3TD/1 INT = 26 pts.  Missed this one, as Rivers looked good again.
  • Willie Parker: 13 carries, 20 yds rushing = 2 pts. The Eagles defense was fantastic last week, and completely shut down Parker.
  • Larry Fitzgerald: 7 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD = 16 pts.  I should have gone with my other instinct, and I'm going to give myself a 1/2 point for this prediction, as TO was shut down completely.

So I was 4.5 / 6 last week, so I keep improving. There are 6 teams on bye this week, so make sure to take them out of your lineup (DET, IND, MIA, NE, NYG, SEA).  Here are you fantasy nuggets for Week 4:

Sleepers:

  • Kerry Collins vs. MIN:  The Titans offense is very good running the football, and the Vikings defense is very good against stopping the run.  Expect Collins to air it out against a suspect secondary.
  • Edgerrin James vs. NYJ: Our good friend Edge has been running the ball well this year (248 yds, 4.0/carry), but hasn't found the end zone as of yet.  They are going against the Jets, who are on a short week, and coming back from the West Coast.  They also gave up a lot of TDs on Monday.  Expect Edge to get his this week.
  • Lee Evans vs. STL:  The Rams have been awful this season, and until they show it on the field, there is no reason to expect that to change.  The Seahawks best receiver last weekend was Billy McMullen, and he had a good day.  Evans is a good receiver, so I see good things for him this week.

Busts:

  • Aaron Rodgers vs. TB:  It was just two weeks ago that I had Rodgers in the Sleeper category.  This week he's playing a very good defense against the pass in Tampa Bay, and he didn't look that great last week (had half of his 290 passing yards after the game was already decided, sacked 5 times)
  • Frank Gore vs. NO:  Gore has scored a TD in each of the first 3 weeks.  However, he hasn't played a defense in the top half of Fantasy RB defenses.  He is this week in NO, who completely shut down the Bronco running backs last week, which is always an accomplishment.
  • Andre Johnson vs. JAC: The Jaguars did ok keeping the 3 Colts' receivers in check last weekend, and expect more of the same this week.  Matt Schaub is on the hot seat, and he struggled trying to get the ball to Johnson last week.  Don't expect much from Johnson

Weekly Derek Anderson "bust" pick:  He looked awful last week, again, against the Ravens (14/37, 125 yds 1TD/3 INT).  I also predicted that his head coach is way too stubborn to make any changes, and the two of them will go down together, which is where the Browns seem to be headed.  He threw 4 INTs in Week 16 against the Bengals last year.