Big Rotowski’s Rankings

ESPN’s Christopher Harris unleashed his latest year-to-end fantasy rankings earlier this week. The highlights? Harris is jumping on the Aaron Rodgers bandwagon, isn’t giving up on LDT, and is a believer in Sidney Rice:

• There are only so many weeks I can write, “Aaron Rodgers is getting it done despite getting throttled every game.” The Dallas Cowboys sacked Rodgers four more times Sunday (although things did seem to get better after halftime), and overall Rodgers didn’t play all that well, but he ran for another score, saving his fantasy day. I drop him behind Tom Brady here because Brady looked the best he’s looked all season Sunday night, and because I have a sneaking suspicion that Rodgers could finally put up the stinker his O-line so richly deserves at just the wrong moment for fantasy owners. […]

• Best overall remaining schedules (a mixture of statistics and sniff test): Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler. […]

• That was why you shouldn’t drop LaDainian Tomlinson (and if someone dropped LDT in your league, pick him up). His first touchdown was of the typical “old-man-falls-into-the-end-zone” variety, but his second score stirred the echoes a bit, as LDT showed some nice quickness to the hole and explosiveness coming out of it. He’s still going to be a scary guy to start, but there’ll be weeks where he’s just fine. […]

• Ken Whisenhunt told reporters that Beanie Wells won’t replace Tim Hightower in the starting lineup despite Wells’ huge fantasy day Sunday, but you’d have to be blind not to see that the offense is trending in the former Ohio State star’s direction. Hightower is probably still the goal-line guy and is a better blocker and receiver, but Wells is improving in those regards. It seems a natural fit that at some point, Wells is going to be the first- and second-down back, with Hightower in on third down and in short yardage. Then again, Wells scored one of his touchdowns on a fourth-and-1. […]

• Whoa, Sidney Rice. That was a performance. Not only did Rice have seven catches for 201 yards, but he looked like Vincent Jackson out there (gee, maybe they’re the same guy? I mean, Jackson was missing in San Diego). It’s awfully hard to commit a safety to Rice on every play the way teams are doing now with Miles Austin, but that may be coming. But that’s no reason not to start Rice; frankly, I think defenses are a little less likely to pursue that strategy against the Minnesota Vikings, because the Dallas Cowboys don’t have Adrian Peterson running for them.