So, Week 9 is in the books and it was boring.

A lot of sloppy offense. A lot of field goals. A lot of mediocrity across the board in the fantasy world. Two overtime games. Mike Shanahan shaking things up in the fantasy world as usual, and an 0-7 Bengals team erasing the goose-egg as it toppled the Jags.

But lucky for you, Big Bertha has sifted through the rubble of the Week 9 yawn fest to bring the best of Sunday’s standouts and blunders. This is your Week 9 hardware. Read more »

Clinton Portis backed up his recent promotion to Imaginary Gridiron’s No. 1 player in fantasy in a big way this week, rushing for 175 yards and a score in a win over Cleveland. He symbolized a shakeup last week, as we attempted to get a better grasp on the current state of fantasy football affairs. Less has changed in this week’s edition of The Fantasy NFL 101, but the Top 10 did get a small facelift in light of Week 7 happenings.

No player had a bigger week than St. Louis’ Steven Jackson, who finally “arrived” with 160 yards and three scores in a stunning win over the Dallas Cowboys. Even with a bruised thigh, Jackson moves up to No. 6 in the rankings because he has such a bright outlook in the season’s second half. Reggie Bush quickly plummeted after suffering a meniscus injury in his left knee, one that required surgery and at least three weeks of recovery time. Read more »

As we near the half-way mark of the ‘08 season, NFL action continues to startle and excite each and every Sunday. This week, the Titans steamrolled the Chiefs with a versatile ground attack, and two quarterbacks in the Big Apple found their way onto our list for disappointing performances.

Mewelde Moore makes Steelers fans think “Willie Who?” and an MVP day for what seemed to be an ‘08 bust in Steven Jackson as his Rams put a hurtin’ on America’s Team. Willis McGahee and Ryan Grant also show up big in Week 7, as this could be deemed the week of redemption for guys struggling to get on track.

Be sure to check out this week’s Bonus Hardware after the Highlight Reel. Some performances were so bad they didn’t fit into our standard list of awards. Read more »

Some new faces crack our top 101 rankings, but the list has the same distinct look to it with a virtually unaltered top 10. That could change next week, though, because Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is officially on probation as our top-ranked player. The only question standing in the way of a Week 6 demotion is, who else deserves the top spot?

LaDainian Tomlinson has issues of his own and comes off a lackluster Week 5 effort. Frank Gore is having a fine, fine season, but his game just doesn’t scream “best player in fantasy football.” Clinton Portis is ever-so-slowly inching his way there, but doesn’t have half the big-game explosion of Peterson. We knew going in that Peterson would be inconsistent, so he gets at least one more week to prove just how good he can be. Read more »

Note to readers: DO NOT miss another Monday Night Football game this season!

It seems like every week on Monday night, viewers get a treat from the NFL. That gift has come in the form of three incredible primetime games in the past four weeks.

Last night’s Vikings-Saints contest went down to the final minutes and was settled by Ryan Longwell’s 30-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 30-27 win. Despite the offensive futility in the first half, it took only a few plays for this game to go from sloppy to downright thrilling. Read more »

As the season progresses and players begin to feel the wear and tear of a 16-game schedule, fantasy owners face a problem they didn’t face in the first few weeks. The NFL injury report lengthens each week, which forces owners to make hair-pulling decisions in their lineups. Problems cannot be solved on the waiver wire, so roster depth and viable bench options become the key to victory.

As Week 5 approaches, many guys may see little to no action due to lingering injuries that limited their practice time. Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook is nursing a sprained ankle from two weeks ago. Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer has a sore throwing elbow. Baltimore’s Willis McGahee has rib problems, and Big Ben has a whole slew of battle wounds in Pittsburgh. Read more »

Youth movement has been a good theme for 2008, with an influx of rookie running backs, dominant performances by young quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers, and lost confidence in some of the game’s best veterans LaDainian Tomlinson, Randy Moss and Peyton Manning. There are no signs of halting the movement, so youth have continued their invasion of our pre-Week 4 edition of the Fantasy NFL 101.

Second-year back Adrian Peterson narrowly fended off a healthy-looking Tomlinson for No. 1 honors, while Frank Gore and Marion Barber jumped Brian Westbrook, who is questionable this week with an ankle strain. Two more young backs are waiting in the wings in Marshawn Lynch (No. 6) and Joseph Addai (No. 8). Read more »

Some big-name playmakers are hurting going into Week 3, leaving many fantasy owners scrambling for replacements. Among the most valuable fantasy assets banged up heading into the third weekend, Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Braylon Edwards are all on teams that face the NFL abyss that is 0-3.

Some of the top fantasy athletes in this young season may be on the shelf this weekend, so their owners had better beware in several of these cases: Read more »

Big names have big matchups this week, so huge performances by running backs could mark Week 3 of NFL action. On the flip side, some other top performers - Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ryan Grant and Darren McFadden - enter the weekend as question marks while they nurse injuries, making for a stark contrast between certainty and uncertainty.

Frank Gore, Michael Turner and Brandon Jacobs fall under the category of “sure things” because of their stature and soft matchups. Tomlinson tops the list of “unsure things” with a sprained toe, making him a scary must-start at home against the Jets. Steven Jackson is shortly down the same list, not because of injury, but because of how poorly he and the Rams have played so far. Read more »

Time to shake things up in our Week 3 rankings, especially at the top where the unthinkable happened - LaDainian Tomlinson lost his weekly home at No. 1 to Adrian Peterson. More struggling backs were bumped from the top five, as we try and let go of our preseason draft stocks and start seeing reality for what it is.

Reality is, Steven Jackson and Joseph Addai are no longer more desirable than Clinton Portis and Marion Barber. Ditto for Randy Moss, who was passed by Terrell Owens as our No. 1 wide receiver after seeing New England’s revamped offense with Matt Cassel at the helm. Read more »