Fantasy Football Breakdown - Week 2

Each week I will do an analysis on fantasy football player matchups, broken down into the following categories:

- Rising stars: Players who are known to be good, but I think will be even better for that given week

- Sleepers: Players outside the top 10 who will provide top 10 production for that week

- Duds: Top 10 players you should consider sitting

Each week I will break it down by position, including QB, RB, WR, TE, and D.

Rising Stars

QB: Mark Sanchez / Eli Manning - I like both of these guys in general. I think Manning always starts out the season strong and fades, while Sanchez is the real deal. I like them even more when you see who they are playing this week (NE and Dallas, respectively) and what juggernauts Trent Edwards (18 points, 6th overall) and Byron Leftwich (15 points, 11th overall) were able to do against them. Sanchez and Manning are better than Edwards and Leftwich.

RB: Clinton Portis - He's playing against the Rams. Need I say more? OK, last year against the Rams her ran for 129 yards on 21 carries and had 2 TDs. He also caught one pass for 14 yards. Last week against the Rams, Julius Jones was a top 5 back. I rest my case.

WR: Greg Jennings - I like Jennings a lot this year as long as Rodgers is throwing him deep balls. I think he catches one against Bengals on Sunday, and possible another 10-20 yarder. Big day from this guy. Sorry Leon Hall.

TE: Jason Witten / Tony Gonzalez - I think you could put them here every week. Two of the most consistent fantasy TEs of recent history.

D: Falcons - They shut down Miami last week and this week they get Delhomme. That's like dangling a couple of premium stakes in front of a lion that hasn't eaten in two weeks. Big game here for them. 2 picks and a TD. I'm calling it.

Sleepers

QB: Matt Schaub - Big Ben threw for over 350 yards against the Titans last week, and I think Schaub has a nice bounce back game here. If Walter starts and plays well, I like him even more.

RB: Chris Johnson - Houston gave up over 100 yards and 2 TDs last week to Thomas Jones. While I am a little worried Johnson could suffer from a sophomore curse, I think he will vastly improve over his performance last week (would be kind of hard not too). Other players I like to perform better this week (who were terrible last week) include Stephen Jackson, Brandon Jacobs, Matt Forte, and Michael Turner.

WR: Bernard Berrian - He's playing the Lions. End of story. I also think that while ADP has a big game, it's not as big as people think (not nearly as huge as his unreal game last week). Favre has gotta eat too.

TE: Greg Olsen - Has to do better than last week. Cutler will bounce back and that will help. I don't think he's a lock for a TD, but at least 40-50 yards. Dallas Clark should also improve over last week.

D: Redskins - Playing against STL. Looked OK against the Giants last week. I think they have a solid effort here (8-12 points).

Duds

QB: Matt Hasselbeck - Did you see what the 49er defense did to Kurt Warner last week? Granted, Warner might be done, but Hasselbeck isn't the most mobile QB around, and Walter Jones is still hurt. I could see him getting knocked around a bit, plus he did throw 2 picks against the Rams.

RB: Julius Jones - This might become a trend. No way he repeats last week's performance against the Rams. Patrick Willis will eat his babies. Another player that should come back to earth is Tim Hightower. I just don't see him catching as many balls.

WR: Patrick Crayton / Devin Hester - Playing against better defenses this week and both were big beneficiaries of long TD passes in their first game. While I think it is possible one pulls it off again this week, it just won't happen again for both. I'd mark these guys down for something in the range of 5 receptions for 45 yards. I think you could also say Brandon Stokley and Louis Murphey here as well, but if you're starting them on your team, you need to find something else to do with your Sundays. Dwayne Bowe could also struggle against NA.

TE: Jeremey Shockey - Last week's game was not reality for Mr. Shockey. He's gone from the king of NY to the king of trash. I hope he was drunk or high when he was spending all of those hours in that tattoo parlor. (FYI he didn't catch a TD last year and then gets two in week one. That's more than just playing against the Lions, it's luck. Brees spreads the ball out way too much for him to be a consistent fantasy TE)

D: Eagles - OUT: Jake Delhomme. IN: Drew Brees. End of story. Did you know they put up 35 points against the Panthers last week? Is that a record for fantasy defenses? Why aren't more people talking about this?