Before the game started I already counted myself out. There was no way I could win.Westbrook is one of the best running backs in the NFL. Sure he has a history of injuries, but what are the odds he gets hurt at the start of the game? I didn’t plan on watching last night’s Eagles vs. Redskins game. I didn’t want to see Westbrook shred the Redskins and put a dagger in my fantasy football week.

Around 9:00 PM I get a text message from my opponent: “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he says. Not knowing what’s going on, I quickly check my iPhone for updates on the game. I couldn’t believe that Westbrook got injured at the beginning of the game, after scoring 1 fantasy football point. He got a concussion and didn’t return to action. I had won my fantasy football matchup by one point.

You never want to celebrate a player’s injury – that’s just wrong and is bad karma. But this just goes to show you that it’s not over till it’s over, especially on prime-time Sunday/Monday night games. Anything can happen.

Did you struggle in the opening week of Fantasy Football last Sunday? That’s probably because you didn’t have my list of sleepers, top performers and who to sit in front of you. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I was the top scorer in our Fantasy Football league last week. So take my advice and ride these players to the top of your league standing.

Sleepers:
QB – Brett Favre – Facing the Lion who Drew Brees threw 6 TD’s against last week. Not to mention, 0-18 last 18 games.

WR – Laurent Robinson – Strong week 1 after a strong preseason, in his 3rd year which is widely regarded as the breakout year for WR’s…. look out for this guy as long as his QB can be at least respectable, he is targeted frequently. This is the only one I’m iffy about. Only start him if you have no other options.

RB: Fred Jackson – Looked really good as an all purpose back running and catching the ball last week vs a good NE Patriot’s defense. Start Jackson until week3 when Bills #1 back Lynch comes back.

TE – Todd Heap – Faces San Diego who’s defense should be improved with the return of Shawne Merriman…onlyt thing is the just can’t seem to guard TE’s. They gave up over 90 yards last week to Zach Miller of Oakland which does not have a good passing offense around inaccurate QB JaMarcus Russel. Start Todd Heap, TRUST ME!

Who To Sit –

QB – Donovan Mcnabb – Do not wait for Andy Reid to make a decision, Mcnabb will not play on Sunday…pick up an extra QB if you have to and set your starting line ups not to include him now.

RB – Pierre Thomas – I think his knee is giving him more problems than we know about, owners should start Mike bell instead who looked really good last week besides a fumble.

K – Kris Brown – Brown who was ranked in the preseason as a top 5 kicker was the most dropped player in Yahoo leagues last week after a terrible 1 point performance in most leagues. Nuff’ said!!! (Yeah I had him in one of my leagues)

DE – Dallas – They let Tampa Bay run all over them in the first half, expect more of the same except all game vs NY Giants.

Top Performers –

QB – Aaron Rodgers – The obvious pick would be Drew Brees every week but I like Rodgers vs a suspect Bengal pass defense.

WR- Larry Fitzgerald – Reggie Wayne was the top WR last week vs the same Jacksonville defense Larry F. will face this week, expect Larry to capitalize as he always does.

RB – Adrian Peterson – Facing 0-18 Detroit who just let a backup…Mike Bell…run all of them for 143 yards. I wouldn’t be surprised by a 200 yard game from “All Day”.

DE- Washington Redskins – Facing St Louis who couldn’t even get on the board last week. Expect a lot of man on man action with Haynesworth on top of Bulger all game.

Rookie of the week:

WR – Percy Harvin – I like Percy to continue his strong start to the season vs a terrible Detroit pass defense. Seems to be good ol’ #4 Bret Favre’s go to guy so far this season

How would you advise David M. ?

At some point, we all joined our first Fantasy Football league. Maybe you started in 1995 or 2001? Well David M. (part of the IT team) is playing fantasy football for the first time ever this season! In fact, before the 2008 season he didn’t know much about football at all. Here’s a quick video of David talking about his newly drafted fantasy team and his expectations for the year.

Side note: David won his week 1 Fantasy match-up by like 30 points.

Football fans everywhere are holding Fantasy Football drafts this time of year. Whether you’re in a keeper league or a redraft, the one thing you’re looking for in a draft are SLEEPERS. In today’s blog post I’ll go over my sleeper picks for each position. I’m evaluating sleepers based on past performance, average draft position, strength of schedule, injury to the starter potential and gut instinct.

Quarterback – My quarterback sleeper for 2009 is Cincinnati Bengal Carson Palmer. Palmer is currently the 11th rated quarterback and being selected behind guys like Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub. Just 3 years ago, Palmer was arguably the second best fantasy QB in the league. The Bengals brought in Laveranues Coles and Chris Henry should play all 16 games this season. Couple that with an improved running game and a much improved defense and Palmer could be a top 5 QB in 2009.

Running Back – My running back sleeper pick for 2009 in Kansas City Chief Larry Johnson. Larry Johnson is still the No. 1 back in Kansas City and one of the few backs remaining who doesn’t split carriers. Johnson has the ability to rush for 1,100+ yards and double digit touchdowns. The Chiefs can’t be any worse than they were in 2008 when Johnson averaged 4.5 YPC.

Wide Receiver – My wide receiver sleeper pick for 2009 is Chicago Bear Earl Bennett. The Bears brought in Jay Cutler in the offseason who brings in a gunslinger mentality. The Bears will look to put up points and Cutler will need someone to throw to. Look no further than Earl Bennett – Cutlers go to receiver at Vanderbilt. Bennett is currently rated as the 53rd best WR in most drafts, behind guys like Justin Gage and Miles Austin!

Tight End – My tight end sleeper pick for 2009 is Oakland Raider Zach Miller. Miller is going into his third year and caught 56 balls in 2008 – probably leading the Raiders. His touchdown numbers lacked, but he did put up 778 yards. We can’t expect a whole lot out of the Raiders offense again in 2009. I’m guessing Miller will put up similar yardage numbers but 3-5 total touchdowns… making him worth a lot more than the 14th ranked TE.

Who are your fantasy football sleeper picks for 2009?

The following top 40 players are ranked on how I would draft them if the draft was held today. These ranks may change and I will adjust them based on FA signings, drafts, trades, and injuries. I will try to update these rankings once a month during the fantasy football off-season.

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Michael Turner
3. Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears – 2008 was just the beginning for this dual threat. He proved that not only he can top 20 carries a game, but he can add 5-6 catches as well. Forte is a younger, and now better version of Brian Westbrook.
4. Clinton Portis
5. DeAngelo Williams, RB, Carolina Panthers – You can argue he should be ranked #1 or 2 based on his numbers last year but honestly how many 1 yard TD carries will be available? I project 5-6 fewer TD’s in 2009 but somewhere around 1500 yards again.
6. Steven Jackson
7. Kevin Smith
8. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints – #1 in yardage, tied for 1st with 34 TD’s, #1 in TFP (traditional fantasy points). Safest bet in the draft.
9. Steve Slaton
10. Brian Westbrook
11. Marian Barber
12. Marshawn Lynch
13. Thomas Jones, RB, New York Jets – I’m a little surprised to hear Thomas Jones trashing Brett Favre in post-season interviews since I’d see his value going down if Favre doesn’t come back.
14. Peyton Manning
15. Maurice Jones-Drew
16. Brandon Jacobs
17. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals – Clear cut #1 in the draft next year at WR. This has been a curse in recent years.
18. LaDainian Tomlinson
19. Frank Gore
20. Chris Johnson
21. Andre Johnson
22. Roddy White, WR, Atlanta Falcons – Numbers should get even better in Matt Ryan’s second season behind center.
23. Ryan Grant
24. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys – You can blame injuries but he just plain lacked confidence at the end of the season. He has the weapons and arm though to be the #1 fantasy QB.
25. Steve Smith
26. Aaron Rogers
27. Greg Jennings
28. Brandon Marshall
29. Reggie Bush
30. Willie Parker, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers – No longer “Fast” Willie Parker, but 3 more TD’s in 2008 than 2007 in 4 fewer games. Despite the waning numbers the Steelers are financially committed to Parker so he will be the #1 RB there for at least the next couple of seasons.
31. Ronnie brown
32. Jay Cutler
33. Philip Rivers
34. Randy Moss
35. Derrick Ward, RB, New York Giants – For now he is a NY Giant. This rank assumes he signs elsewhere like Arizona or Seattle where they desperately need a feature RB.
36. Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis Colts – I’m not sure I could actually bring myself to drafting Addai after the last 2 seasons, but his upside is still that of a top 10 RB.
37. Calvin Johnson
38. Vincent Jackson
39. Terrell Owens
40. Tyler Thigpen, QB, Kansas City Chiefs – Surprised? 18 TDs and 386 rushing yards in 12 full games as a starter. Thigpen was the #3 fantasy QB in the second half of 2008. What a find for Kansas City in the 7th round of the draft.

Players on tap: Tim Hightower, Matt Cassel, Donovan McNabb, LenDale White, Chris “Beanie” Wells, Matt Ryan, Kurt Warner, Lance Moore, Antonio Bryant, Cadillac Williams, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne, Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston, Eddie Royal, Kevin Walter, Braylon Edwards, DeSean Jackson, Lee Evans, Ted Ginn Jr., Jonathon Stewart, Tony Gonzalez, Visanthe Shiancoe, Jason Whitten, Dallas Clark, Matt Shaub, Shaun Hill, TJ Houshmanzadeh.

In third place was “Step Your Game Up”.  He was rewarded with a $25 Football Fanatics gift card.  Second place was “Ready or Not”, who was ahead the entire season but lost in the final game against first place winner, “Slow Elk”.  “Ready or Not” received a $50 gift card, and “Slow Elk” received $125.  Congratulations!

On behalf of Affiliate Manager, Jason R., thanks to all the teams that participated.