Grading SI Fantasy Predictions for Week 2

This week there were no Fantasy Football predictions in the print version of SI but there were some on the website. The results weren’t very good. Overall 28 out of 56 earned a plus mark for being pretty much on. This was a little worse than last week’s grades of 22 out of 42. The Sit ‘Em grades were great and Start ‘Em were ok but Peter King and Joe Levit have no business making FF predictions based on this week’s grades.

Again, I don’t play Fantasy Football so my understanding of the scoring systems are very rudimentary and any input/disagreement/etc. from the readers is appreciated.

Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em 22/34. Better than last week but the Start ‘Em grades are not good and the Sleeper and Bust picks were both off.

Start ‘Em 8/16. Not as good as the Sit ‘Em predictions.
(+) Donovan McNabb, PHI – 27/45, 350 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT: a nice resurgence for McNabb in the first two weeks.
(+) Daunte Culpepper, MIA - 23/32, 250 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT: the numbers aren’t bad but in the game he was not great.
(-) Steve McNair, BAL – 16/33 143 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT: he ran a good game but low fantasy numbers.
(+) Drew Brees, NO – 26/41, 353 yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT: any decent quarterback will have good numbers against the GB defense.
(+) Julius Jones, DAL – 20 car, 94 yds, 0 TD
(-) Willie Parker, PIT – 11 car, 20 yds, 0 TD
(-) Cadillac Williams, TB – 15 carries, 37 yds, 0 TDs
(-) Ronnie Brown, MIA – 15 car, 70 yds, 0 TD
(-) Vernon Davis, SF – 0 rec, 0 yds
(-) Chris Baker, NYJ – 1 rec, 5 yds
(-) Rod Smith, DEN – 2 rec, 16 yds, 0 TD
(+) Darrell Jackson, SEA – 5 rec, 127 yds, 1 TD: great game, wait to see how Branch affects his numbers later.
(+) Isaac Bruce, STL – 5 rec, 77 yds: barely a plus. how did SF hold the Rams to such a low output?
(+) Joe Horn, NO – 5 rec, 88 yds
(-) Neil Rackers, AZ – 1/3 FG, 1/1 XP
(+) Bears Defense – 230 yds passing 0 TD 0 INT, 46 yds rushing 1 TD, 7 points

Sit ‘Em 14/16 right.
(+) Byron Leftwich, JAX – 26/39 260 yds, 1 INT, 0 TD: numbers weren’t bad but no TD.
(+) Trent Green, KC – DNP: boy that was a tough prediction…
(+) Jon Kitna, DET – 23/30, 230 yds, 0 TDs, 0 INTs: not bad, but not great.
(+) Chris Simms, TB – 28/53, 313 yds, 0 TDs, 3 INTs
(-) Corey Dillon, NE – 20 car, 80 yds, 1 TD: Dillon is a tough call b/c Maroney will be taking some carries.
(+) Wali Lundy, HOU – 6 car, 25 yds, 0 TD: last week this guy was supposed to be a great pickup and now you sit him. Thanks for the advice last week.
(+) Chris Brown, TEN – 6 car, 9 yds, 0 TD
(+) Kevin Jones, DET – 12 car, 44 yds, 0 TDs
(+) Chris Cooley, WAS – 1 rec, 23 yds, 0 TD
(+) Heath Miller, PIT – 1 rec, 11 yds, 0 TD
(+) Randy Moss, OAK – 2 rec, 32 yds, 0 TD
(-) Joey Galloway, TB – 9 rec, 161 yds, 0 TDs: funny how Chris Simms is so bad but Galloway delivers good numbers.
(+) Marty Booker, MIA – 3 rec, 33 yds, 0 TD
(+) Roy Williams, DET – 6 rec, 71 yds: tough call but not many yards and no TD
(+) Stephen Gostkowski, NE – 1/2 FG, 3/3 XP
(+) Broncos Defense – 133 yds passing, 0 TD, 0 INT; 145 yds rushing, 0 TD, 2 FG, 6 points: Good thing Denver has a good defense right now because the offense sucks.

(-) Super Sleeper – Dominic Rhodes, IND – 14 car, 37 yds, 1 TD
(-) Beware of Bust – Warrick Dunn, TB – 21 carries, 134 yds, 0 TDs: how wrong were they?

Joe Levit – Surprise Starters 3/12…really bad.

(+) Brett Favre, GB – 31/55, 340 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
(-) Jake Plummer, DEN – 16/30, 173 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT: couldn’t be more wrong.
(-) Correll Buckhalter, PHI – 6 car, 6 yds, 0 TD
(-) Dominic Rhodes, IND - 14 car, 37 yds, 1 TD
(+) Michael Turner, SD – 13 car, 138 yds, 0 TD: good call on this one.
(+) Troy Williamson, MIN – 6 rec, 102 yds, 0 TD
(-) Lee Evans, BUF – 2 rec, 19 yds
(-) Marty Booker, MIA – 3 rec, 33 yds, 0 TD
(-) Ben Utecht, IND – 1 rec, 26 yds, 0 TD
(-) Itula Mili, SEA – 0 rec, 0 yds
(-) Jason Hanson, DET – 0/1 FG, 1/1 XP
(-) SF Defense – 185 yds passing, 1 TD; 118 yds rush; 0 INT, 1 Fumble recovery, 1 FG, 10 Points


Peter King Recommendations 3/10…way to go PK…why don’t you just focus on Brett Favre a little more?
(+) Chris Henry, CIN – 5 rec, 113 yds, 0 TDs
(-) Clinton Portis, WAS – (good upside, worth risk) DNP
(-) Brad Johnson, MIN – 19/31, 243 yds, 1 INT, 0 TD
(-) Marc Bulger, STL – 19/34 185 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT
(+) Steve Smith, CAR – (don’t play him), DNP
(-) Brandon Jacobs, NYG – 5 car, 35 yds, 0 TD
(-) Tom Brady, NE – 15/29, 220 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT: not great fantasy numbers but still a good game for Brady.
(--) Terrell Owens, DAL – (overpay for him, he’ll produce) 3 rec, 19 yds, 0 TD: PK was off with this one by a long shot.
(+) SD Defense – 163 yds passing, 2 INT, 1 TD; 55 yds rushing, 0 TD, 7 points: not tough when they play Tennessee.
(-) Chris Simms, TB (play him) - 28/53, 313 yds, 0 TDs, 3 INTs: thanks for the tip PK. No, really.