Fantasy Football Mailbag: 8/14/2012

Need help with preparing for your fantasy football league? The Fantasy Guru is here once again to give you a few tips on how to play the crazy game of fantasy football.

It’s a rankings day which means it’s time to open up the mailbag again and let you guys take control. Here’s three questions sent in by you fans – keep ’em coming to SZSuperLeague@live.com.

Q: Andrew Luck, Vincent Brown and Keiland Williams have looked like good bets as late sleepers this preseason. What do you think of them? How much should we pay attention to preseason? – Lou Maz from Pensacola, Florida

A: Preseason games are always important to pay attention to as we try and get some clues as to where the playing time will go in position battles and see who looks good and may be worth investing in but the reality is that preseason play can be really deceiving. Remember – some players will be going against weakened defenses, teams won’t be using full playbooks and coaches will always experiment which means that anything you see in the preseason must be taken with a grain of salt.

With that said, the three players you mentioned are all interesting as deep sleepers. Andrew Luck is going to be a superstar quarterback and he did look good out there but I would still say you shouldn’t draft him until the very end of a draft. Remember – it was against the Rams, the one big play was on a dump pass and despite the poor pass rush they were up against the Colts offensive line struggled mightily and I have a feeling the name Andrew DUCK is far more fitting.

Vincent Brown is a great value in drafts as the potential Chargers WR2. There’s always guys like Victor Cruz who seem to come from nowhere to help guys win fantasy leagues and Brown fits the mold for this. Just keep in mind that the Chargers team as a whole is a mess and Brown has plenty of competition for touches so don’t reach too far for Brown.

Keiland Williams is an old favorite of mine from back when he played for the Redskins. With Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure missing action early, KDubb could see a decent amount of touches in the first few games this season. He blocks well and has good hands which makes him an ideal third down back, allowing the Lions to rest the brittle Kevin Smith. I’d also expect Williams to start out as the short yardage back and that may be a role he keeps for the majority of the year as it does suit him. Worth a flier late in drafts as a potential touchdown maker.

Q: I’m in an auction keeper league and I need to keep two players. $200 budget, 12 team league. I’m keeping Gronk for $2 – should my other keeper be Andre Johnson for $37, A.J. Green for $22, Ryan Mathews for $20 or Ben Tate for $1? Is cheaper really better? – Nick Sutcliffe from Brooklyn, New York

A: Definitely not keeping AJ – it’s a pretty good price but you can’t trust him to stay healthy and wide receiver is deep. I wouldn’t keep Mathews either – again a really good price but he’s injured again and is another you can’t trust. Green vs Tate is really tough as in Green you have a potentially elite wide receiver at a reasonable price but in a year when wide receivers are easy to come by yet Ben Tate at only $1 is a massive bargain and with running back being shallow getting a decent one for practically nothing is very tempting.

Ultimately I’d probably go with Green – you already have Gronk very cheaply and at some stage you’ll have to pay for quality so why not pay a bit right from the start and then go in with a plan. Going cheap is always preferable but never underestimate the value of knowing you have a stud sewn up and the fact that you know where you stand going in.

Q: I read that you’re a Redskins fan so you must be paying attention to their running backs. Your thoughts? – Josh from Baltimore, Maryland

A: What Mike Shanahan will do with his running backs is anybody’s guess. Last week we did get a hint or two when the Redskins assistant coaches were available to media for the one and only time this preseason. Running back coach pushed that the most important element the team is looking for in their running backs is pass protection.

This assertion answers the mystery of Tim Hightower being at the top of the depth chart – he is the best blocking running back on the team. If there is one thing that almost always rings true of Shanahan running back committees it is that he will always give increased playing time to good blockers and with a rookie franchise quarterback to bring along you can bet he will use this strategy more than ever. When you factor in that it looks like Roy Helu Jr. is struggling with tendinitis and I’m going to go with Tim Hightower as the guy to own right now – he’s going 8-10 rounds later than Helu in drafts and will take the field in the third preseason game so should be ready for the regular season.

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That’s it for the Fantasy Mailbag for this week. Keep sending those questions in and I’ll keep answering them.

Until next week, this is the Fantasy Guru signing off.