The Juice ain't Loose

If they had Fantasy Football in the 1970s, I'd bet that O.J. Simpson would have been a top pick for a few years. And whoever had The Juice for the 1975 year would have probably won the championship. Dude put up LT-like numbers ... in a 14-game season!

Look at this stat line:
329 attempts, 1817 rush yards, 16 rush TD
28 receptions, 426 rec. yards, 7 rec. TDs (tied for 9th in the NFL)

He led the league in rushing four times, yard from scrimmage 3 times, rushed for 2,000 yards in a 14 game season. Won the NFL MVP in 1973. Sick.

Too bad for OJ there's not a fantasy criminal league. Double murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon. He'd be a first-round pick for sure.

This week's Guru Review is dedicated to Nordberg.

The Good
Seriously. 2,200 yards from scrimmage in 14 regular season games. 23 TDs. Top of the world. Neither Eric Karabell nor Scott Engel came anywhere near reaching this high this week, but they did have some good picks in their weekly rankings. Both fellas had Carson Palmer the #2 quarteback this week. Palmer's 400-yard, 6-TD day in a loss to the Browns made him the top fantasy scorer this week. And Karabell had Steve Smith as the #1 WR this week. Smith scored 3 TDs and had 150+ yards, making him the #2 overall scorer in fantasy. Engel had Smith ranked #2, so points for him as well. Chad Johnson (Karabell 5/Engel 3) was the third leading fantasy scorer, totalling 200 yards and 2 of Palmer's TD passes.

Other big-name, highly ranked guys that Karabell and Engel hit with were RBs Frank Gore (2/3) and Fast Willie Parker (4/5). Gore tied for the second-most fantasy points among RB this week, and helped my Niners to a 2-0 start. FWP tied for fifth-most among RB with 126 yards and 2 scores. Not OJ in 1975-esque, but both guys lived upto their billing as first-round picks.

At wide receiver, Andre Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh made Karabell and Engel look smart. Johnson (9/14) and Houshmanzilly (8/11) both had 2 scores, and were in the top seven fantasy WRs this week. And after a first week with terrible tight end picks, our gurus did pretty well this week. Kellen Winslow (2/2), Todd Heap (5/4) and Antonio Gates (1/1) were the top three fantasy scoring TEs this week.

The best picks on defense this week were Chicago (1/2) and Minnesota (10/6). Engel was obviously higher on the Vikings, which paid off. Four sacks, three INTs, and two forced fumbles against the Lions adds up to some nice fantasy points for anyone who has the Purple People Eater defense.

The Bad
Don't lie. This is the most fun part. Last year in a fantasy playoff game, I was facing a guy who had LT and Carson Palmer. Going into a MNF game, I was only up by about 4 points, and my opponent had Palmer playing. No TDs, a couple INTs, and less than 200 yards passing later, I was moving on (and won the league title). When big names underperform, there's only one person that gets upset: that player's owner.

So sorry if you had any of these megastars this week.

The number 1 overall pick sure hasn't lived upto it yet. LaDanian Tomlinson (1/1) had tough week against a pissed off New England Defense. LT scored the same amount of points as Najeh Davenport, and less than Mewelde Moore. Never thought you'd see that. I understand the point that you start your studs every week, but Karabell and Engel knew he was on the road against a tough defense. It's not a crime to rank LT as the #2 or #3 RB for a week.

Steven Jackson (6/2) isn't backing up his 2,500-yard goal. He added 96 yards this week, and was outscored in fantasy leagues by Sammy Morris. Reggie Bush (11/12) and Maurice Jones-Drew (10/14) also killed owners who took them high in drafts this year. Neither had a TD, and both had less than 75 yards of offense. And both are in a system with a second strong RB (Duece McAllister, Fred Taylor). It will be interesting to see how it plays out the rest of the year.

The poised (and over-paid) prognosticators had a tough week predicting wide receivers. Tory Holt (6/6), Marvin Harrison (2/1), Larry Fitzgerald (16/7), and Lee Evans (14/8) were all predicted to be in the top 15 WRs this week. None were. Obviously Engel took it on the chin a bit more, as he ranked all four in the top 8. None of these guys scored more points than Marty Booker or Roydell Williams. But all are fantasy studs who you really should start every week.

Drew Brees (3/3) had a second traight crappy fantasy week. This guy was a top 3 fantasy QB before the season and hasn't performed anywhere close to that this year. Less points this week than Kyle Boller. Less points this season than Jason Campbell. With his weapons on offense, he has to improve, right?

The Ugly
Two words: double murder. OJ was acquitted, but wasn't able to find the real killer on a Florida golf course, and apparently he wasn't hiding in a Vegas hotel room.

Two more words: Derek Anderson. One week ago Anderson was the backup QB on the Browns, and this week he lit up the Cincy defense for 300 yards, five touchdowns, and was the #2 fantasy scoring QB. But he didn't even make the top 25 fantasy QB list for Engel and Karabell.

Ranking the Cincinnati defense in the top 10 really bit our gurus in the ass. Braylon Edwards (23/28), Jamal Lewis (28/31), and Joe Jurevicious (not in top 50) all blew up and put up great fantasy days. That tends to happen in a game with 96 points and 1,000 yards of offense.

Outside of Cleveland, our fearless forecasters had some other gaffes. Marion Barber III (18/22) had a nice little day, and was tied for the second-most fantasy points among RB. He outscored high draft picks like Westbrook, Parker, Addai, and Alexander. Randy Moss (13/16) had a second consecutive strong week, and is the #3 fantasy WR so far this season, points wise. Wonder how many he has to string together to get some love.

Gunslingers Brett Favre (15/15) and Jeff Garcia (24/19) also outdid predictions and were the fourth and eight highest scoring fantasy QBs this week. Favre is capable of a huge week any week, but can also destroy your fantasy team with a 1 TD, 3 INT performance at any point.

Rounding out the huge misses in week two were WR Jericho Cotchery (31/34) who had 165 receiving yards and outscored Terrell Owens, Roy Williams, and Donald Driver. The Houston Texans defense once again had a huge day, even though Eric Karabell ranked them as the #30 defense in the NFL. You'd think a week after being the #2 fantasy scoring D, they'd get a LITTLE love, but no. Nothing.

And no shock here. Once again our gurus totally botched picking kickers. The top three scoring kickers this week? Phil Dawson, Jeff Reed, Nick Folk. Karabell and Engel both had Reed ranked in the top 10, but the other two didn't crack the top 20. I'll say it again, picking kickers is a crapshoot. Don't waste a draft pick on them. Ever.

This week's grades:
Karabell C
Engel D

See you next week.