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Each week, TSN. Cheap Boston Celtics Jerseys .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen and NFL Editors Ben Fisher and Mitch Ward discuss three hot fantasy football topics. 1) What type of production do you expect out of Trent Richardson now that hes in the Colts offence? Cullen: I wouldnt get carried away with expectations for Richardson because the Colts also have Ahmad Bradshaw in the backfield. Richardson may have better opportunities to run in Indianapolis, with a better offence surrounding him, and that could lead to better than the 3.6 yards per carry he averaged in Cleveland last season, but I dont necessarily see Richardson with an increase on the 318 touches or 12 touchdowns he had as a rookie. Ward: Richardsons stock certainly goes up with a move from Cleveland to Indianapolis but I still wouldnt expect elite RB1 production. On the positive side, Richardson should get substantially better blocking than he had been getting in Cleveland which means he should be able to do more with his touches and improve his sub-standard yards per carry. However, Richardson also has to share the Colts backfield with the very capable, but injury prone, Ahmad Bradshaw. As long as Bradshaw stays healthy, he will command a decent share of the touches which limits Richardsons upside. Unless Bradshaw goes down for a significant stretch I dont see Richardson as anything more than a low-end RB1 or solid RB2. Fisher: All the debate last week was who won the Richardson trade; is he really an elite running back? While he passes the eye test and was a top draft pick, his numbers suggest otherwise. While Im still out on Richardsons value as a real running back in Indy, I really like him as a fantasy RB. Richardson was a Top 10 back last season and should see his 2013 numbers rise as he gets more opportunities to score playing in a far more potent offence. The only thing stopping me short of adding Richardson to the group of elite fantasy running backs is Ahmad Bradshaw. The injury-prone Bradshaw is a talented runner that will warrant his share of touches. But if Bradshaws wonky foot starts acting up again, Richardsons opportunities – and numbers – should really take off. 2) Can anyone, regardless of position, catch Peyton Manning as the top fantasy points producer this year? Cullen: Not if he keeps playing like this, but since Manning is not likely to throw more than 60 touchdowns passes (his current pace is 64), hes due to come back to the pack, at least a little, and other top quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees could still push Manning. Id also keep the Philadelphia Eagles in mind. LeSean McCoy is off to a phenomenal start and, even though he struggled last week, Michael Vick still ranks second to Manning in fantasy points. Ward: Absolutely. Were only three weeks into the season and a lot can change between now and Week 17. Manning is great, has a ton of weapons to work with in Denver and could easily stay on top for the whole season but its just to early to tell. There are a few other pretty good quarterbacks like Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers capable of going off on any given Sunday and closing the gap quickly. Im not ready to hand Manning the title yet. Fisher: No chance. The top five scorers each of the past two years in most formats have been quarterbacks, so that trend is likely to continue for this season. Maybe Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees catch him, but theyre already 15-20 points behind and the Denver Broncos offence, with Manning at the helm, has looked virtually unstoppable through the first three weeks of the season. They dont get to play the Oakland Raiders every week, but its hard to see Manning having a slow day against any defence right now. 3) Is it time to give up on New England Patriots RB Stevan Ridley? Cullen: I wouldnt necessarily abandon all hope with Ridley, but he may be at the tipping point in the next week or two. Right now, hes maybe a Flex option as bye weeks start to affect fantasy rosters or he could even sit on your bench if you have more reliable runners -- which shouldnt be hard, he ranks outside the Top 50 running backs through the first three weeks. However, its not as though there is one locked-down replacement who is going to bump Ridley from the Patriots backfield, so if he makes the most of his opportunities, Ridley could still pull back ahead of LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden to have some fantasy relevance. Ward: If you bet on Ridley to have a big season and took him as your RB1 youre probably not off to a very good start. And while I wouldnt want to be relying on Ridley to bounce back and save my season, I wont completely write him off either. Despite the lack of production he is still the Patriots top back and will see the majority of snaps on early downs. The Patriots offence is also starting to come together and will be bolstered by the returns of Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola in the near future. As the passing game improves, more lanes should open up for Ridley in the run game as well. I see him as a decent RB2 for the rest of the season and wouldnt hesitate to grab him for pennies on the dollar in a trade. Fisher: In short, yes. Ridley was actually lauded this week for his pass protection play last weekend but that means nothing in fantasy. What matters is that he now appears in a timeshare with LeGarrette Blount, who received three more carries than Ridley last week. And with Rob Gronkowski on the verge of a return, red zone opportunities will be even more limited for the RB. If you have room on your bench then Ridley is worth storing based on his strong 2012, but for now there are more intriguing options on the waiver wire that should see more carries. Cheap Miami Dolphins Jerseys . Forte was injured on a run deep in Chicago territory midway through the first quarter, when Kansas Citys Derrick Johnson hit him in the knee. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Speaking to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Brodeur said "Ive come to the conclusion that Im definitely going to be available July 1. DENVER -- Serge Ibaka helped Oklahoma City get off to a good start. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook provided the strong finish. Ibaka scored Oklahoma Citys first 11 points of the game, Durant finished with 30 points again and the Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 105-93 on Tuesday night for their seventh consecutive victory. "Its a good win," said Durant, who had 30 or more points in a game for the 12th time this season, most in the NBA. "We came here and beat a team that plays well at home and has been playing really well since the last time we played them. Any win on the road is tough, so well take it." Westbrook had 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, half of them in the opening minutes on feeds to Ibaka, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. "Once they put two guys on myself or Kevin, our job is to make the other guys better," Westbrook said. "Thats what I did early in the game. If two guys are guarding me, then somebody is open." The shooting lanes opened up after that for Durant and Westbrook. "My teammates set me up so well and I was just trying to be aggressive because I knew I didnt start the game off the way I wanted to," Durant said. "The third quarter is always key for us so I just put my head down and tried to score." Denver had won 10 of 13. J.J. Hickson had 20 points and 14 rebounds, but the Nuggets dropped to 0-2 this season against Oklahoma City. Ty Lawson added 17 points and 13 assists. "We made too many turnovers after the first quarter and thats when (Thunder) made their run," Lawson said. "When they start making their runs and hitting their 3s, they are tough to stop. The third quarter we came out strong and started turning the ball over again. Cheap NFL Jerseys. It was all self-inflicted." After Hickson made one of two foul shots to get the Nuggets within two, the Thunder put together a 9-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Durant for a 69-58 lead with 4:56 left in the third. Evan Fournier broke up the flurry with a 3-pointer but Oklahoma City still led 75-65 going into the fourth. The Thunder stretched their lead to 13 points on a basket by Jeremy Lamb but Denver closed to 83-77 with 7:15 remaining, getting 10 straight points from Nate Robinson, including consecutive 3-pointers. Denvers rally stalled from there, and Durant hit a jumper and Westbrook and Lamb each connected on 3-pointers to help Oklahoma City to a comfortable 97-79 lead with 4:28 left. The Nuggets didnt threaten the rest of the way. Durant heated up in the last couple of minutes of the second quarter, dunking on consecutive possessions off alley-oop passes and then hitting a 3-pointer to push Oklahoma City to a 52-44 halftime lead. The Thunder led by as many as 12 points early on, going in front 37-25 when Reggie Jackson converted a steal into a fast-break layup midway through the second quarter. Kenneth Faried scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half for Denver. NOTES: Lawson has scored 10 or more points in 20 of 22 games. ... The Thunder have the NBAs longest active winning streak. ... The Nuggets Jordan Hamilton was ejected with 11:01 remaining after being called for a flagrant foul 2 for shoving Steven Adams. ... Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker watched the game in seats a few rows up from the Nuggets bench. ... Oklahoma City improved to 15-1 when outrebounding the opposition (53-43). cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
