Strikes & Gutters: Week 7 Fantasy Football Advice

Never stop learning. It's a pledge I've made to myself a hundred times over. Every mistake happens for a reason, and that reason is to teach us a lesson. It's how we learn from these mistakes that define us as people. I learned a very valuable lesson last week; NEVER GO ALL IN ON ELI MANNING. Struggling mightily in my main fantasy league I pulled the rip cord on Tom Brady sending he and Mark Ingram to another team for Marques Colston and Eli Manning. If last week was any indication, this could go down in annals of history as one of the worst trades ever. I was rewarded with a 134 - 59 loss and now I sit at 1 - 5. Drastic times call for drastic measures. At least the Dolphins played well! That was as tough a loss as I've seen this team have, and yet I still feel confident that they are going to make the play-offs. Time will tell I suppose, but I am legitimately excited to watch them play every week which is a far cry from where we were a few years ago. As for my column predictions, aside from the Eli manning debacle:

I missed on Emmanuel Sanders as well, but Ben Tate, Darren Oliver and Lamar Miller were all awesome. Aside from the Cam Newton Gutter call I was perfect on that end. So, 7 out of 10..

ON TO THE STRIKES!

STRIKES:

Fred Jackson: Far be it from me to call a Buffalo Bill a national treasure, but seriously, this guy consistently goes in the 8th - 10th round of fantasy drafts and always gets double digit points in PPR formats. The Vikings are vying for the coveted worst team in Football distinction. Look for another solid performance this week.

Davante Adams: The replacement for James Jones in the GB offense goes against a suddenly terrible Carolina Panthers defense. I expect a good week from this young man.

Justin Forsett: Just pencil in whatever running back plays the Falcons the rest of year as must starts. The Falcons defense...

Colin Kaepernick: He has a full stable of weapons, finally. And there will be points scored in that Denver game on Sunday Night. I know the 49ers will try to run the ball to keep Manning off the field, but these are the types of games where Kap seems to be at his best.

Courtesy Dolphin Start of the Week, Charles Clay: This is the week he has a great game. I like Landry a lot this week too. I think this team has more guts then we give them credit for and we will see a solid all around performance. When this offense is at its best, they are getting everyone involved. Clay has performed well on the road in the past, and I look for that trend to continue here.

GUTTERS:

Brian Quick: A match up play and bye week fill in for some, or an injury replacement for others. This is not the week to use this guy. Sure, St. Louis may be throwing a lot as they will be behind at home against the Seahawks. But I wouldn't risk it. Not with Austin Davis at QB. Let's get Gruden's take on it. Jon, I know you started to compare Davis to a young Drew Brees on MNF this week. Care to retract that statement?

"Well James, I'll tell you what man. This Austin Davis, I like to call him the Hoover. Because all he does is suck."

Thanks Jon. Hard-hitting analysis as always.

Dwayne Bowe: The Chargers will most likely use Flowers on Bowe for the game. This will neutralize him. Not like you ever had to really worry about neutralizing this guy, since he too hasn't been very productive. I don't expect that to change much this week.

Cordarrelle Patterson: This poor kid. All the talent in the world, just being completely wasted. Someone should tell Teddy Bridgewater that he has this guy on the field, or at the very least introduce them.The Vikings are terrible.

C.J. Spiller: Remember what I said about Fred Jackson earlier? This man is the exact opposite of that.

Courtesy Dolphin Sit of the Week, The Defense: Tough match up on the road against one of the stronger offenses in the NFL with lots of weapons. I think we will play well and hopefully, force a few of Jay Cutler's patented direct interceptions, you know the ones he throws directly to the defenders. But I'd look elsewhere. Also, I thought our Defense played very well last week, and I'd like to see them continue to make some noise and force some TOs this week on the road.

There you have it. I won't ever call it sage advice, but it is mildly accurate fantasy advice. Been hovering at or around 70% all season and that's what we like to see. Just imagine if the Dolphins won 70% of their games? You'd take that every year! The season is evolving and taking shape. Certain items continue to befuddle and confound while others seem to make perfect sense. How are the Cowboys this good? Will any NFC South team finish with a winning record? Does Donovan McNabb know you can tie in the NFL yet? It happened in Cincinnatti again, maybe a trend is forming. Will Geno Smith QB the Jest forever? Will he ever unlock the mysterious nature of time zones? Or will he just realize that his cell phone can do all that work for him? IT AUTOMATICALLY RESETS TO WHAT EVER THE TIME IS IN YOUR CURRENT LOCATION! I didn't think it was possible to love a Jets QB more than Mark Sanchez. Thank you, Geno Smith. You taught me to love again.

Well, dude, sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you...