Fantasy Friday: Team Reports from SB Nation

Concluding our sweep of teams, Mile High Report on the Broncos.

Kyle Orton - For all the talk about Orton’s lack of arm strength, he has completed a respectable 36/65 for 506 yards and 2 touchdowns so far in two games.. He should provide a solid start for deeper leagues considering the Raiders have been lackluster against the pass so far this season.

Running Backs – Knowshon Moreno is still learning the system and will not likely be a good play in Week 3, Correll Buckhalter on the other hand is averaging 7.2 yards per carry in minimal usage. The Raiders have been weak against the run, but there is no telling which Bronco’s running back will bust loose. Unless one of these guys emerge as the go-to guy, it will be a risky proposition to start any of them.

Wide Receivers – Until Brandon Marshall reasserts himself as the teams #1 wide receiver, he and Eddie Royal will not likely be good starters in all but the deeper of fantasy leagues. Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Stokely will be good starts until Marshall and Royal are fully integrated into the new system. The reason for this is that Marshall and Royal will continue to get the best coverage from the defense, while Gaffney and Stokely are able to get open against inferior talent covering them. The risk of benching either Marshall or Royal is that eventually one of the two will have a huge break out game.

Tight End – If there is a true weakness in the Raiders D, it comes from the linebacker position. The Broncos tight ends could have a huge day from Tony Scheffler or Daniel Graham. Also, with Josh McDaniels running more three tight end sets the probability of touchdowns rises substantially for this group greatly.

Broncos Defense – The new “wildcat” of the year is the Broncos 5-2 style 3-4 defense. They are really getting after the quarterback and disrupting the opposing offenses rhythm which has resulted in sacks and turnovers. It has also resulted in giving up only 70 yards per game on the ground. Against the pathetic Oakland Raider’s offense, the Broncos D is a must start.

Get all your Broncos news at Mile High Report.

Bleeding Green Nation gives us the Eagles report.

Donovan McNabb – While he will again be a gametime decision, all signs point to him sitting out one more week. If you’re a McNabb owner and you signed Kevin Kolb as a backup, he’s probably a pretty good play this week. Kolb threw for nearly 400 yards and 2 TDs last week and against the Chiefs he should have opportunities as well.

The Falcoholic just can’t get enough of the Falcons.

Falcons QB Matt Ryan – Ryan is starting the season at a blistering pace, amassing quality yardage and five touchdowns. He should still have a good game against the Patriots, but they’ll be targeting him. Ryan will still have a solid game against an average Patriots secondary, but the pass rush could give him fits and two touchdowns and 250 yards would probably be an optimistic projection. If you’re going to roll with him, just keep in mind that the chances of him having a truly monstrous game are slim.

RB Michael Turner – The other side of the coin from Ryan, Turner has started out very slowly. The Patriots have some stout options up front, but I still expect The Burner to exceed 100 yards and hopefully smash in a touchdown. He’s a borderline #1 back and a definite #2 as the Patriots won’t want Ryan to have the same kind of success he’s had in recent weeks.

WR Roddy White – Tony Gonzalez has killed Roddy White’s numbers thus far, but I expect somewhat of a bounceback week as the Patriots key on Gonzo. Expecting 75+ yards and a TD from White sounds pretty fair this week, as the Patriots don’t have any corners who I feel are capable of shutting him down.

Buffalo Rumblings goes in-depth with all you need to know about Bills players for week three.

Trent Edwards – Edwards has a juicy matchup this week with New Orleans’ 29th-ranked passing defense. Normally, I’m not one who would ever consider starting Edwards in a non-bye week or non-injury fill-in, but if I owned him I’d probably be getting ready to move him into the starting lineup. If the Bills get down early or get down big, Edwards will be throwing to make the game closer. If they control the clock and sustain drives, there should be plenty of opportunities to put a couple balls in the end zone. The Saints will bend all day and aren’t an intimidating defense. After seeing the way our RB has chewed up chunks of yards this season, I’m guessing the Saints will be daring Edwards to beat them. He should do a good job of that and is in line for some gaudy stats this week. Whether that will be good enough for a Bills victory, who knows, but that’s irrelevant for this discussion. Donovan McNabb owners should be happy to have Trent as their backup this week. The only thing that should hold owners back from starting Edwards this week are the matchups the top QBs face this week. Of those normally ranked ahead of him, only Kurt Warner (vs Ind), Tony Romo (vs Car) and Matt Ryan (@NE) face defenses ranked in the top half of the league in defending the pass. Warner might be the only one I’d consider benching for sure, but even then, that game is likely to be a shootout. Edwards may not get many starts simply because of the other matchups around the league. Verdict: Start ’Em in deep leagues and two-QB leagues.

Hogs Haven chimes in.

The Redskins defense should have a nice day. Matt Stafford, who has a league worst 40.5 QB rating, now has to deal with Albert Haynesworth and company. Against the Rams, the Redskins offense put up a lot of yards but did not find the end zone. I believe Jim Zorn will get this corrected this week against a lowly Lions defense that lost their starting weak-side linebacker, Ernie Sims, to injury. Clinton Portis consistently gets 100+ yards against the Rams, and I don’t see any reason he won’t do it again this week. Portis is listed as questionable for Saturday so keep an eye on his status. Santana Moss and Chris Cooley are must starts.

The Lions have a few players who are fantasy worthy, reports Pride of Detroit.

Kevin Smith - He struggled in week one of the season but rebounded nicely with 84 yards on 24 carries last week against the Vikings’ tough rush defense. Last year against the Redskins, Smith only rushed for 12 yards on 4 carries, and that was actually a game where the Lions led at halftime, so it wasn’t like they were coming from behind (at least not initially). After watching last week’s gameplan unfold, though, it appears that the Lions are going to put the game out of Matthew Stafford’s hands as much as possible. I imagine the gameplan will evolve as Stafford gains more experience, but I would expect Smith to get a lot of work on Sunday.

Calvin Johnson – Despite Matthew Stafford’s struggles, Calvin Johnson is still a solid fantasy football player. Stafford looks in his direction on almost every pass play, and if anything good happens offensively, Megatron is usually involved.

Lions fans show their pride at Pride of Detroit.

Canal Street Chronicles.

The Chargers report, courtesy of Bolts from the Blue.

Antonio Gates – In Week 1, Miami gave up 5 catches for 73 yards and a TD to Tony Gonzalez. In Week 2, they gave up 7 catches for 173 yards and a TD to Dallas Clark. Expect Gates to get something in between those two against the Dolphins this week.

Darren Sproles – As the starting RB, Sproles collected 278 all-purpose yards against the Ravens. Against a defense that loves to Blitz and will be paying special attention to Antonio Gates, look for a handful of screen passes to Darren that could turn into big plays.

Chargers Defense – This seems off, because I don’t know how much success the Chargers will have in stopping the Dolphins’ running attack. However, I do think they’ll be able to slow it down and take advantage when Chad Pennington is throwing the ball. There’s not a single WR or TE on the Dolphins that cannot be covered one-on-one effectively by somebody on the Chargers. That fact alone will allow Ron Rivera to blitz a lot and force Pennington into one or two mistakes, which may be the difference in the game.

To be a Chargers fan means you have to read Bolts from the Blue.

Baltimore Beatdown makes it short and sweet.

Get your Ravens news at Baltimore Beatdown.

It’s Friday, and we like to think of it as Fantasy Friday. Each week, we’ll gather team-specific fantasy reports from our SB Nation NFL blogs and post them here at SB Nation Fantasy Football. We’re tapping the knowledge-base of bloggers who follow their team’s players 365 days a year. So you know they know what’s really happening with the injuries, the position battles, the game plan; all that insider stuff that will help your fantasy team take the title.

First up, the Cincinnati Bengals courtesy of Cincy Jungle.