Week 7 Quickplay

Mike Delrio
Thursday May 2, 2013

Week 6 of the AFL season will be remembered for some major-league fantasy points. We saw Spokane and Tampa Bay combine for almost 100 points--in the second half. REGGIE GRAY of the Rush had a killer game with more than 250 receiving yards and six scores just to name a couple of the many highlights of the week.

That being said, we had some impressive point totals put up this past week led by the 317 that "poister38," "KD5YMT," and "grego34" put up. The duo of ADRIAN MCPHERSON AND JOE HILLS of the Tampa Bay Storm were both impressive and anchored those teams. They also rolled with ERIK MEYER and ADRON TENNELL of the Spokane Shock and were handsomely rewarded.

Overall though, we still see rather familiar names in the top five spots. "CHILSTER2K" took the lead back with 1,362 points for the season, just two more than "skillet1." In third, "juanitoloc" is just eight points off the lead while "Firebird DW" (1339) and your truly (1323) round out the top five through the first six weeks of the game. In total, the top 10 players are separated by 67 points so it's anyone's game at this point.

So who will be on your lineup? This week's schedule has a full slate of games so everyone's an option. The games are: Iowa at San Antonio, Orlando at Pittsburgh, Arizona at Jacksonville, Philadelphia at Chicago, Spokane at Utah, New Orleans at Tampa Bay and Cleveland at San Jose. Let's go through and fill out the lineup for Unemployed Punters and then offer some sleeper tips for those people trying to take some risks for more points. Per usual, the lineup will be three quarterbacks with the mandatory three wide receivers, the required fullback and the mandatory kicker.

Quarterbacks

It shouldn't be much of a suprise that Adrian McPherson gets one of the spots and is quickly becoming a terror in the league. Tampa is averaging 60 points per game and he is the key that turns the engine on. McPherson leads the league in rushing (233 yards, 17 TD) and is eighth in passing (258 yards per game, 28 TD, 1 INT, 60.4% completion percentage). That stat line and his dual threat abilities make him a must-start this week. Add to that a matchup against a New Orleans Voodoo team that has a -15 point differential PER GAME and the opportunity is there for him to put up another monster stat line.

The second quarterback should also be a gimme as well with ERIK MEYER getting the call. Meyer is leading the league at 296.5 yards per game with 47 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, both of which came early last week against Tampa Bay. He also leads the AFL with a 69.3% completion rate so he's not missing very often whether it be short or deep.

Our third quarterback is where things get to be a little tricky. NICK DAVILA of the Arizona Rattlers could be a good pick but he's got a tough matchup on the road against Jacksonville in a rematch of the last Arena Bowl played on a home field. It's the same song for BERNARD MORRIS of the Sharks as both of those teams are very stingy defensively. So they both come with risk and should be avoided. RUSS MICHNA made his San Jose debut last week and performed well against New Orleans (23/35 312 yards, 6TD, 1INT) and faces the worst defense this week in Cleveland.

So who should the third one be? How about CARSON COFFMAN of the Rush? He put up a sweet stat line with 23/36 354 yards, 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He's hot right now and he connected with Gray against an Iowa team that is the third best defense in the league in terms of points allowed per game.

SLEEPERS: Michna. He's got the experience in the league and should have an easy time with Cleveland. Of course it means you would miss out on a hot receiver in the Western Division if you take him. TOMMY GRADY of the Blaze would also be a good sleeper pick since Spokane gives up a ton of yardage and Grady is coming off of a seven-touchdown game last week.

Wide Receivers

As we saw last week, when you pair a quarterback with his favorite wide receiver good things can and will happen. Using that mantra, this week's wide receivers are all going to be married with the quarterbacks.

That gives us ADRON TENNELL of the Shock, REGGIE GRAY of the Rush and JOE HILLS of the Storm as this week's wide outs. All three of them had stellar games last week and should keep on rolling right along.

SLEEPERS: MARCUS HARRIS of Iowa is leading the league with 146 yards per game while AARON LESUE of the Blaze comes in second at 131 yards per game. The downside if that neither of those players has hit double-digit touchdowns yet this season. Each has nine.

Consider MARCO URRUTIA of the Blaze as a sleeper since he's the guy getting into the end zone in Salt Lake City with 13 scores this season despite averaging 34 yards per game less than Lesue. PJ BERRY of the Pittsburgh Power is a deeper sleeper as the Power takes on Orlando. The two teams have a combined 1-9 record this season and Berry is due for a big game.

Fullback

It shouldn't come as much of a suprise that DERRICK ROSS will get the call at that position this week. He keeps getting the call for a three reasons. First, he has the skill to get the job done with 143 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. The other part of it is that he's one of three players in the game with nine or more rushing touchdowns. One of them is McPherson but the other one is this week's sleeper. The third factor is that I need to fill spots in the Eastern Division section of
the roster and he fits the bill.

It's a real weak division so far this season. How weak? If the Soul loses to Chicago and Pittsburgh downs Orlando and Cleveland pulls an upset over San Jose, all three teams would be tied for the top spot in the division at a robust 2-4. It's a stretch to see all three parts off that scenario coming to fruition but it explains the point.

SLEEPER: ODIE ARMSTRONG of Arizona is coming off of a four-score effort when the Rattlers trounced Orlando 82-42 last week. While Armstrong can be a pretty good fullback there are some question marks. First, are you willing to give up a spot in the West to put him in? Second, can he continue to deliver this well? He has nine scores, yes, but has just 63 yards in six games on 27 carries. Eight other players each have 75 or more rushing yards so it looks like Armstrong is used as a battering ram for the final yard the Rattlers need to get over the goal line.

Kicker

With a need for another Eastern Division player, I'll go with Soul kicker CARLOS MARTINEZ. While other kickers have put up better numbers this season overall, Martinez has put up the best out of the three teams in the division so he gets the call.

SLEEPER: JOSE MARTINEZ of Chicago is the second best kicker in the league at 8.7 points per game. GARRETT LINDHOLM of Arizona leads the way with 10.7 per game but has too many other options in his division to use a spot on a kicker this week. Or every week.

That's it. Good luck to everyone this week and let the big numbers continue.

Unemployed Punters Lineup Week 7

Eastern Division
1 Derrick Ross FB PHI
2 Carlos Martinez K PHI

Central Division
1 Chase Coffman QB CHI
2 Reggie Gray WR CHI

Southern Division
1 Adrian McPherson QB TB
2 Joe Hills WR TB

Western Division
1 Erik Meyer QB SPO
2 Adron Tennell WR SPO