As the 2014 preseason came to an end, few offenses looked worse than the New York Giants’. Though they did not lose a preseason game, the first-team offense was woeful, as Eli Manning completed 20 passes out of 31 attempts for just 188 yards, and one touchdown in five games. Starting wideouts Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle combined for only seven catches, while first-round draft pick Odell Beckham, Jr. sat out the preseason with a lingering hamstring injury (he has yet to return).

The tight ends were even worse. Adrien Robinson, Daniel Fells, and Larry Donnell split reps, and it was impossible to tell which one would end up starting come the regular season. It didn’t really matter. No Giants tight end was going to do much in 2014, and anyone playing fantasy football knew it.

So when the Giants began the regular season in embarrassing fashion, getting hammered by Detroit 35-14 on Monday Night Football, most people failed to even register the fact that Larry Donnell played a pretty good fantasy game, catching five passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted in the end zone no fewer than three times, and led the Giants in receptions, receiving yards, and targets.
In week two, the Giants were again humbled, this time by the Arizona Cardinals, but again Larry Donnell fantasy gem emerged, grabbing seven of his nine targets for 81 yards. He followed it up with a team-high six receptions against Houston in week three.

Despite three solid games in a row, Donnell was still owned in less than 20 percent of fantasy leagues as of Thursday morning.
This will change dramatically before the Giants play their next game though, as Donnell exploded for three touchdowns and 54 yards against the Redskins on Thursday night, and he is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. He currently leads the team in receptions, targets, and obviously, touchdowns.
But Donnell is not the only Giants tight end outperforming expectations. Even backup Daniel Fells has found the end zone three times, which is more times than Jimmy Graham (a first-round fantasy pick in most leagues), Rob Gronkowski, Greg Olsen, Jason Witten, Zach Ertz, and Vernon Davis.

The success of the Giants’ tight ends is only possible because of the sudden resurgence of Eli Manning, who is off to one of the best fantasy seasons of his career. For starters, he has a 9-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has thrown for just under 1,000 yards, and has even scampered for a rare rushing touchdown. After his 300-yard, four-touchdown performance on Thursday night, Eli Manning needs to be considered for a roster spot in all fantasy leagues.

Finally, 29-year-old running back Rashad Jennings is taking full advantage of his first real lead-back opportunity. After years of backing up Maurice Jones-Drew in Jacksonville, and then Darren McFadden in Oakland, Jennings is finally a featured runner in New York. So far, he has gained 331 yards on the ground, run for two touchdowns, and been heavily involved in the passing game, too. He has played like a true premier ball-carrier, and he currently ranks among the top five fantasy running backs.
The Giants offense had everybody fooled for a while, but their newfound consistency and production can no longer be ignored. They are a goldmine of waiver claims and free agent pickups for your fantasy league.

About The Author:
Ron is the lead editor of FantasyFootballOverdose.Com – prime source of NFL news and rumors. You can follow his NFL updates at this Facebook page.

The post Larry Donnell Fantasy Gem first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Trash Talk Is Coming From All Angles

The other day I get a notification on the FaceBook from an old high school friend who now lives in Texas.  Yuk.

Dominique Lamay Denton posted to ‎James Doino

QB’s:

Jay Cutler – Bears – Love him this week as there will not be a lot of running room for Forte and the Jets can’t match up with the Bears WR’s.

Kurt Cousins – Redskins – Better fit for Gruden’s offense then RGKnee and the Eagles are in the top ten in the league for the most fantasy points given up to QB’s

Russell Wilson – Seahawks – Wilson will have his way and account for at least 3 TD’s — Book it.

Tom Brady – Patriots – Raiders at home after two tough matchups to open the season. Handsome goes off.

RB’s

Joique Bell – Lions – Starting to out carry and straight up out play Reggie Bush – Look for a big game against a porous Packers run defense.

Stevan Ridley – Patriots – Playing the Raiders at home.  #EnoughSaid

Chris Ivory – Jets – Ivory will find the end zone at least once against the Bears.

Khiry Robinson – Saints – If you don’t know the name now you will be hearing it a lot over the next month.  Pick him up.

Donald Brown – Chargers – He’s been a major fantasy contributor whenever he plays…he’s playing Sunday and will be the feature back for a offense that loves to run the ball.

WR’s:

Desean Jackson – Redskins – Playing his former team on the road and this guy loves playing the villain.  Tough to sit him this week.

Marquis Colston – Saints – Colston had a off game last week but will get healthy against the Vikings.

Mike Wallace – Dolphins – Looks like the old Wallace of late…the strong 2014 campaign continues.

Victor Cruz – Giants – Salsa anyone? – Cruz finds the end zone in week 3.

DeAndre Hopkins – Texans – Just play him and inbox me with your thank you’s.

Cecil Shorts III – Jaguars – Boom! That just happened.

TE’s:

Jared Cook, Rams — Niles Paul, Redskins — Greg Olsen, Panthers — Charles Clay, Dolphins and of course….Zach Ertz, Eagles.

Picks Against the Spread –

Rough week 2 – (2-6) …the Trifecta took a beating last week.  Week three got off to a good start last night as I provided a good buddy of mine with this advice…”Falcons -7” – So lets try to get back to the winning ways this week …Get it? Got It? Good!

Season Record — 21-18-2

Panthers -3 over the Steelers

Vikings @ Saints – Over 50

Jets +2.5 over the Bears

Cowboys -2 over the Rams

Redskins @ Eagles – Over 50.5

Giants +2.5 over the Texans

Seattle -4 over the Broncos

Enjoy the games this week and as always….Bleed Big Blue!!

The post Deep Football Thoughts – Week 3 first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Deep Football Thoughts 2014. Week 1

Fantasy Plays and Picks Against the Spread

A year ago I contacted some dude about writing for a website I wasn’t familiar with at all.  A year later, a beautiful friendship continues. I want to give a huge Bleed Big Blue shout out to the “CEO” of Bleed Big Blue, my man Marco.

As we get ready to kick-off another season, hopefully one better than what we went through last year, I wanted to take this time to say thank you.  You gave me a chance to write about the only thing, other than my little girl, that I am passionate about…and for that I can never repay you.

This opportunity to write about the franchise that we all love so much over the last year has opened new doors for me.  Seeing how what I write has inspired some and pissed off others at times makes me smile.   I write to do just that…piss you off, inspire you and make you think outside the box.  It is what I will continue to do in my own unique way and I will do my best to give you the honesty, passion and knowledge that has brought me this far.

Thank you Marco…Thank you for letting me rant and rave on your site.  Thank you for letting me write uncensored in my articles so that people can get the real and raw emotion of a fan who cares just as much as the person reading the article.  Thank you for giving me a chance.  Here is to season number #2…many more my good man. #TEAM 

Now enough of the sentimental shit, lets get to the picks against the spread and fantasy football plays for week one.

NFL PICKS WEEK ONE — New season and I am kicking it off picking every game against the spread.  Last year I went .500 on the season, but ended on a good note by predicting the dismantling of the Broncos in the Super Bowl.  What am I thinking this week?  UNDER!!  16 games and I picked the “under” in 12…why?

Week one is tough, 1st teamers haven’t played a full game yet and usually, earlier in the season the defense has the advantage….I’m rolling with it.

Underdog Pick of the Week – I got two…Packers and the New York Football Giants.

Packers / Under At Seattle -5.5 Green Bay – 47
Falcons / Over New Orleans -3 At Atlanta 51.5
Vikings / Under At St. Louis -4 Minnesota 44
Steelers / Under At Pittsburgh -6 Cleveland 41.5
Eagles / Under At Philadelphia -10.5 Jacksonville 52.5
Raiders / Over At NY Jets -5 Oakland 40
Bengals / Under At Baltimore -1.5 Cincinnati 43
Bears / Over At Chicago -7 Buffalo 47.5
Texans / Under At Houston -3 Washington 45.5
Titans / Under At Kansas City -4 Tennessee 43.5
Patriots / Under New England -5 At Miami 47.5
Buccaneers / Under At Tampa Bay -2 Carolina 39
49ers / Under San Francisco -5 At Dallas 51.5
Broncos / Under At Denver -7.5 Indianapolis 55.5

Monday Night Football Line
Giants / Over At Detroit -5.5 NY Giants 47
Cardinals / Under At Arizona -3 San Diego 45

FANTASY PLAYS WEEK ONE:

QB – JAY CUTLER – BEARS – Cutler goes HAM in week one at home against the Bills.  Anyone you have on Chicago, play em.

QB – JAKE LOCKER – TITANS – This kid might be putting it all together and he has some weapons.  Love him against the Chiefs.

QB – TOM BRADY – PATRIOTS – If last year was a down year for Brady, which is bullshit, he will totally redeem himself this season.  Brady last year had 6 WR’s tackled on the 1 yard line after completions (Tied for most in the NFL with Matt Stafford) and had 40+ passes straight up dropped on him.  The man they call Handsome can be in store for an MVP type season.

RB – MARK INGRAM – SAINTS – I’m buying the hype.  Ingram has passed the “eye” test all preseason long. Looks like the light finally went on for him.  The fact that it’s a contract year don’t hurt either.

RB – FRANK GORE – 49ERS – Whoever plays that Dallas D you start.  Period, end of sentence.

RB – ZAC STACY – RAMS – Bradford is out and Stacy is at home against suspect Vikings D.  Stacy showed enough last year to be pugged into your lineups no questions asked.

WR – CORDARELLE PATERSON – VIKINGS – See what Norv Turner did for Josh Gordon last year?  Now watch this kid.

WR – ALSHON JEFFREY – BEARS – See Jay Cutler

WR – CODY LATIMER – BRONCOS – Impressed everyone during camp and was in line to get snaps before Welker got all “Molly’d” up.  Beat your buddies to the waiver wire for this kid now.

WR – BRANDON LAFELL –  PATRIOTS – Brady loves him and from reports, Lafell could line up all over the place in this offense.  Play him! You’re welcome.

WR – SANTONIO HOLMES – BEARS – Yep, Santonio is on the Bears…and he will be wide up open with defenses trying to stop Forte, Marshall and Jeffrey.

TE – ZACH ERTZ – EAGLES –  I am the leader of the Zach Ertz band wagon, remember you heard it here first.  Kid has an All-Pro season.

TE – GREG OLSON – PANTHERS -Olson should find room against the new Tampa 2 defensive being used by Lovie Smith in Tampa.

TE  – KYLE RUDOLPH – VIKINGS – Norv Turner did wonders for Novacek, Gates, Jordan Cameron and now Rudolph.

FOOTBALL IS BACK!!! … THANK THE LORD OUR GOD

ENJOY THE GAMES AND I WILL SEE YOU IN PHILLY ON MONDAY NIGHT FOR THE BLEED BIG BLUE KICK-OFF EVENT AT MAD RIVER MANAYUNK WHERE WE WILL BE CROWNING A MS. BLEED BIG BLUE AND RAISING MONEY FOR “PRAYERS FOR JOEY #TEAMJOEY“, JOEY IS AN 8 YEAR OLD BOY FIGHTING CANCER TOOTH AND NAIL, COME OUT AND HELP US DO WHAT WE CAN FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY.  THANK YOU…AND AS ALWAYS….BLEED BIG BLUE!!!

The post Deep Football Thoughts 2014 – Week 1 first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Heading into week 4 I have a thought about our Giants before we get to the picks of the week and some fantasy play for week 4.

Now I know in the Kevin Gilbride offense everything is about chunks of yardage and getting the ball downfield and considering the success this team has had I am not complaining about that. The part that makes no sense is this, considering the play of the offensive line, screens may help, a lot. I am in no way saying the Giants should revamp their offense completely, but having a couple of screens in the game plan can help to keep the defense off balance and negate their pass rush.

One more thing on this “screen” thing. Eli Manning is a Super Bowl MVP quarterback and a 10 year veteran now. Shouldn’t he have the power to come up to the line of scrimmage, survey the defense and if he sees a cornerback playing 7-10 yard off the line of scrimmage, give the wide out a had signal, take the snap, turn and just throw him the ball.

Buy doing this it does a couple of things.

1. Gets the ball in our playmakers hands in space.

2. Helps the offensive line by limiting how many times they will be forced to block Hali and Houston.

3. Keeps Eli from getting decapitated..

4. Creates 2nd and 3rd and short situations.

5. By creating short yardage situations on 2nd and 3rd down you negate the defenses ability to blitz and pin their ears back to get after Eli.

FANTASY PLAYS WEEK 4

QB – Mike Glennon – Buccaneers — I know it’s his first start but if you are in deeper leagues and have Rodgers or Cam as your #1 starter Glennon may be a steal this week. He has weapons to throw to and the Cards are not playing lights out on defense.

RB – Maurice Jones Drew – Jaguars — Usually kills the Colts who are giving up a ton on the ground this season. MJD keeps it moving this week with at least one score.

RB – Trent Richardson – Colts — The trade really pays off this week with Bradshaw out and a favorable match up against the Jaguars.

WR – Josh Gordon – Browns — If you picked

him up you got a steal. If you drafted him, like me, you might be a genius. Coming of a 2 game suspension Gordon blew up last week. He was targeted a whopping 19 times and added a carry as well. If the trade rumors are true surrounding Gordon expect him to be showcased a lot over the next couple of weeks.

WR – Dwayne Bowe – Chiefs — Bowe had 1 catch for 4 yards last week. The Giants haven’t shown they can cover at all so far this season. Expect Andy Reid to move Bowe around a lot and target him more than last week.

TE – Kyle Rudolph – Vikings — Just got a feeling about Rudolph this week. Steelers will look to smother AP and Rudolph will make a couple of plays off of play-action, Pure gut call on this one,

PICKS OF THE WEEK

SEASON RECORD – 8-6-2

Went 0-2 during the one o’clock games and totally redeemed myself going 3-0 in the after nooners…Can you say Mr. Moooomentum???

JETS +3.5 over the Titans — Don’t trust Locker against Rex’s defense and the Jets as a whole are playing better than anyone expected. I like the Under here to.

Jets 16 Titans 13

FALCONS -2 over the Patriots — The Falcons are to good to go 1-3 and the Patriots aren’t good enough to go 4-0. It’s science.

Falcons 24 Patriots 17

LIONS -3 over the Bears — The Bears are 2-5 in their last 7 on the road. and the Lions are best in the league at 3rd down defense giving up a awesome 27%.

Lions 31 Bears 20

SAINTS -6.5 over the Dolphins — Sean Payton in his last 10 home games against the spread… 10 and 0

Saints 34 Dolphins 21

UPSET OF THE WEEK

CHARGERS +2 over the Cowboys — Cowboys are 8-22 against the spread in their last 30 games…and because I hate the Cowboys.

San Diego Super Chargers 21 Cowboys 20

Enjoy the games this week and as always…LETS GO BIG BLUE!!!

The post Deep Football Thoughts Week 4 first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.

Strahan vs Tiki

If Michael Strahan Wasn’t Such A Nice Guy You Would Think He Is Doing This To Tiki Barber On Purpose. So what has happened to Tiki Barber since he began trashing his team, soon to be former team, during a building year with a future franchise quarterback? He was quick to leave the Giants, citing differences with their game plan that was created by a coach who nobody seemed to get along with. He then got a spot as a broadcaster on Sundays, where he continued to trash the team who made him who he was. Then he started talking, started running his mouth about how Eli wasn’t elite and couldn’t handle the pressure and hit the targets. Tiki, why? I loved you man; that season where you came back with a whole new game plan to end your fumbling woes was so memorable. You provided the offense when Eli was learning the Pro game in his first couple years. The best part about you leaving though… Big Blue won the Superbowl the next year and Eli was Superbowl MVP. Where have you been since? The Giants have gone on to win another Superbowl and guess what? Eli won the MVP of that game too.

Remember how you wanted to be a host of any Sunday Football program? Remember how you wanted to come back into the game, because you said you still have it? Tiki, get a life. Now you are selling dates with strangers. I’m not even gonna go into what that sounds like. Are times that tough for the Giants all-time leading rusher? Hey Tiki! Strahan wants to talk to you.

Remember when you left and almost brought a whole train of Giants vets with you, Strahan being one since he was sipping your Kool-Aid believing that Coughlin was a terrible coach. He decided to stay. He won a ring with a team that you kept doubting. Strahan retired in his prime and has never discussed coming back, because he knows that at his age he would probably just be a detriment for his team, and he wants the best of the best out of the Giants… and oh yeah he has your dream jobs. Strahan retired and instantly became an analyst. He is electric on TV and genuinely a funny guy. You know what Strahan does too? He backs up his former leader and QB. He picks the Giants and is still invited to team events. Oh yeah, now he is co-host of Live! With Kelly and Michael in the morning. I don’t think anyone had you as even an afterthought for that position.

The final nail in the coffin is that Strahan is a first ballot HOFer. You won’t even sniff the Hall unless a miracle happens and they start letting in a whole bunch of other more qualified RB’s. Sorry that you were a playing in a RB heavy era: Curtis Martin, Shaun Alexander, Corey Dillon, Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson, Clinto Portis, Fred Taylor, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and Jerome Bettis. A bunch of those guys have better career rushing yards and more TD’s than you. There are no precedents from your career that would make sense for you to be in there anytime soon. Strahan has a sack record, was in the NFL Networks top 100 players and his list of awards is twice as long as your’s. He also didn’t leave a team that won the Superbowl the next year, although if he stayed and a certain shot wasn’t fired the Giants would have repeated.
So Tiki… as you fade into obscurity just remember that I could have, anyone could have, wrote this as letter thanking you for your service as a member of Big Blue, of how you carried the team to a Superbowl appearance in 2000. But instead, you bad mouth and put down the team and fans who loved you. You tried to tarnish the name of one of the greatest QB’s this franchise has ever seen. I hope you enjoy getting a couple hundred bones for having dinner with a stranger, because Mike is going to roll around in his Television contracts and be on the field for when the GMEN secure their next title.

The post Strahan vs Tiki first appeared on Bleedbigblue.com.