Week Seven Bench/Start Projections:
Quarterbacks:
START THE ELITE EIGHT
1) Brett Favre: Favre lit it up against Minnesota twice last year. He’ll put up at least 325 yards and three scores.
2) Peyton Manning: The Colts are starting to put up numbers like last year. Expect Peyton to have a great day against one of the worst teams in the league. 300 yards with three touches would not surprise me.
3) Mark Brunell: Has averaged 293 yards and two scores over the past three weeks. Imagine what he will do to the 49ers and their gimpy secondary.
4) Donovan McNabb: The bye week came at the perfect time for the Eagles QB. Look for him to have 250 yards and two Touchdowns (1 Throwing, 1 Rushing).
5) Aaron Brooks: With the Rams offense hurting look for the Saints to have a few extra touches on Sunday. 250 and two through the air is probable.
6) Josh McCown: Even David Carr had a good day against Tennessee. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald should both have big games against the Titans. McCown should be able to throw for 225 and two with out a problem.
7) Jake Plummer: Denver’s running game has opened up the pass for the Broncos. Watch for Plummer to throw for at least 200 yards and two Touches.
8) Gus Frerotte: Kansas City has stopped the run all season. Miami will attack with a lot of ‘Play Action’. Frerotte will fair well with 200 and two.
NEXT
9) Mike Vick
10) Trent Green
11) Carson Palmer
12) Eli Manning
13) Matt Hasselbeck
14) Ben Roethlisberger
15) Drew Bledsoe
IF YOU HAVE TO
16) Kelly Holcomb
17) Daunte Culpepper
18) Drew Brees
19) Steve McNair
BENCH
20) Kerry Collins
21) Trent Dilfer
22) Anthony Wright
DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
23) Joey Harrington
24)Jeff Garcia
25)David Carr
26)Vinny Testaverde
27)Kyle Orton
28)Kurt Warner
29)Alex Smith
30)Jaime Martin
Running Backs
START THE ELITE EIGHT
1) Willis McGahee: Has a TD in four straight games. He will make it five this week against the Raiders. Expect 140 yards and two TD’s.
2) LaDanian Tomlinson: Has scored in 18 straight games.
3) Clinton Portis: Will have his best game as a Redskin. Expect at least 100 on the ground and a score.
4) Shaun Alexander: The Seattle Running back has scored 12 Touchdowns in his last five games. He had 80 yards and two scores against Dallas last season, expect similar numbers this week.
5) Edgerrin James: He would be higher but he may have a mini Monday Night Football hangover. That shouldn’t keep him from having 80 yards and a touchdown against the Texans.
6) Warrick Dunn: The Falcons will handle the Jets on Sunday and with T.J. Duckett out Warrick Dunn will get plenty of carries and yards.
7) Priest Holmes: Has scored in four of five games this season. Expect 120 total yards and a score.
8) Lamont Jordan: With Randy Moss hurting he is the Raiders number one weapon.
NEXT
9) Curtis Martin
10) Tiki Barber
11) Brian Westbrook
12) Ahman Green
13) Kevin Jones
14) Jamal Lewis
15) Thomas Jones
16) Dominick Davis
17) Rudi Johnson
18) Stephen Jackson
19) Chris Brown
20) Marcel Shipp
21) Tatum Bell
22) Mike Anderson
23) Mwelde Moore
24) Antoine Smith
25) Jerome Bettis
BENCH
26) Ronnie Brown
27) Rueben Droughns
28) Kevan Barlow
29) Larry Johnson
30) Chris Perry
31) Ricky Williams
32) Aaron Stecker
33) Marshall Faulk
34) Willie Parker
35) Julius Jones (INJ)
36) T.J. Duckett (INJ)
Wide Receivers
START THE ELITE EIGHT
1) Terrell Owens: When wouldn’t you start him?
2) Santana Moss: Has great chemistry with Mark Brunell. Worst game was six catches for 86 yards.
3) Marvin Harrison: With Reggie Wayne a little banged up Peyton will be forced to throw to Marvin. Like that’s a problem.
4) Plaxico Burress: Has four touchdowns in five games.
5) Chad Johnson: How many people have stopped him? You got to go with the hot hand.
6) Anquan Boldin: This guy is a stud.
7) Larry Fitzgerald: This guy is a stud to.
8) Rod Smith: A solid start every week.
9) Donte Stallworth: With Joe Horn out, he is number one.
10) Reggie Wayne: Even banged up he’s a good play.
NEXT
11) Donald Driver
12) Torry Holt
13) Brandon Stokley
14) Eric Moulds
15) Terry Glenn
16) Eddie Kennison
17) Chris Chambers
18) Joe Jurevicius
19) Jerry Porter
20) Antonio Bryant
21) Antwan Randle El
22) T. J. Houshmanzadah
23)Derrick Mason
24) Ashley Lelie
25) Keyshawn Johnson
26) Mushin Muhammad
27) Nate Burleson
28) Lee Evans
29) Travis Taylor
30)Robert Ferguson
IF YOU HAVE TO
31) Hines Ward (INJ)
32) Laveranues Coles
33) Keenan McCardell
34) Jabar Gaffney
35) Marcus Robinson
36) Justin McCariens
37) Amani Toomer
BENCH
38) Joe Horn (INJ)
39) D. J. Hackett
40) Rod Gardner
41) Isaac Bruce (INJ)
42) David Patten
43) Brandon Lloyd
44) Andre Johnson (INJ)
45) Brian Finneran
Tight Ends
START THE ELITE EIGHT
1) Antonio Gates: Can anyone stop him?
2) Jeremy Shockey: Is having the best season for TE’s.
3) Randy McMichael: Has scored in four of five weeks this year.
4) Jason Witten: Could have had two TD’s last Sunday. Averages 50 yards a week.
5) Todd Heap: He is one of the best receivers for the Ravens and they are now a passing team. (Over 30 pass attempts per week).
6) Tony Gonzalez: Has been a huge disappointment thus far but if you got him you have to start him.
7) Jermaine Wiggins: Ten catches last week.
8) Heath Miller: Has touchdowns in three out of five games this season.
9) Alge Crumpler: Mike Vick’s number one target won’t get many opportunities this week but he is still better than most.
NEXT
10) Dallas Clark
11) Bubba Franks
12) Desmond Clark
13) Marcus Pollard
14) L.J. Smith
BENCH
15) Ben Troupe
16) Erron Kinney
17) Jeb Putzier
18) Chris Cooley
19) Mark Campbell
20) Jerramy Stevens
Kickers
START THE ELITE EIGHT
1) Neil Rackers: 18 for 18, that’s a record.
2) Shayne Graham: 12 for 14 with a great offense.
3) Nate Kaeding: Has put the playoffs behind him 10 for 10.
4) Rian Lindell: 13 for 14 and the offense is heating up.
5) Jay Feely: 10 for 10 so far this year.
6) Mike Vanderjagt: Hasn’t kicked many Field Goals but the Colts are going to score big this week.
7) Jason Elam: He is getting older but he is still solid.
8) Todd Peterson: 8 for 8 for the Falcons.
NEXT
9) Todd France
10) Jeff Reed
11) John Carney
12) Matt Stover
13) Josh Brown
14) Jose Cortez
15) Ryan Longwell
16) Sebastion Janikowski
BENCH
17) Phil Dawson
18) Jason Hanson
19) Lawrence Tynes
20) Olindo Mare
21) Rod Bironas
22) Jeff Wilkins
23) Nick Novak
24) Paul Edinger
25) Mike Nugent
26) Kris Brown
27) Joe Nedney
28) Robbie Gould
Defense
START THE ELITE EIGHT:
1) Indianapolis: The Colts have been terrorizing the league on the defensive side of the ball. Houston has no chance. Could be a shut out.
2) Washington: Turnovers have been scarce in Washington this year but with the 49ers in town that will all change.
3) Atlanta: The Falcons defense has been solid thus far. Could be a long day for old man Vinny.
4) Chicago: The Bears have dominated teams with bad offenses all year and the Ravens have one to.
5) Baltimore: The Ravens defense has been sputtering on the road this year but they should still be able to handle Kyle Orton and the Bears in Chicago.
6) Detroit: The Lions have faired extremely well on the defensive side of the ball in four out of 5 games this year. That trend should continue Sunday against Cleveland.
7) Buffalo: The past two weeks, with Kelly Holcomb at QB, the Bills have kept the defense fresh which has returned them to last seasons form. Plus the Raiders primary weapon, Randy Moss, is hurting.
8) Green Bay: Culpepper and the Vikings have been horrible this year and there is no end in sight. Start the Green Bay defense with confidence.
NEXT:
9) Cleveland
10) Cincinnati
11) Kansas City
12) Philadelphia
13) Pittsburgh
14) San Diego
15) Arizona
IF YOU HAVE TO:
16) Tennessee
17) Seattle
18) Denver
19) Miami
20) Dallas
21) Oakland
22) San Francisco
BENCH:
23) New Orleans
24) NY Giants
25) NY Jets
26) St. Louis
27) Minnesota
28) Houston
BYE WEEKS: Carolina, Jacksonville, New England, Tampa Bay,