Rotobahn

Thursday Night Football Week 5

De-fense! De-fense!
By: Pete Davidson : October 04, 2012 7:25pm

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Tonight’s game at St. Louis features two teams that are both sort of tough to figure. There are no lock starts tonight outside of Larry Fitzgerald. It’s quite possible that we see a game that is more about the defenses than the offenses.
Both teams have some talent at the skill positions, especially Arizona, but the offensive lines of both teams are substandard to a large degree. This makes most of the receivers and all of the tailbacks risky options.

So I don’t have a whole lot confidence in anybody but Fitzgerald with the possible exception of Danny Amendola. That being said, there are some players to watch for sure. We like Arizona’s young TE Rob Housler and with starter Todd Heap banged up and inactive, we may get a decent look at him. We also like the Rams’ rookie receivers, and Chris Givens got a few looks in week four and with Brian Quick active again, we may get a glimpse into the Rams’ future tonight. Both young receivers have solid talent.

Another thing to keep an eye on are the Cardinals’ receivers. Andre Roberts is having his best season, but rookie Michael Floyd is a true high-end talent and if he starts flashing, Roberts could begin to fade.
Steven Jackson is a risky play, but if he is your RB! or RB2, then you probably need to roll with him. It’s a bit different with Ryan Williams, who will start at tailback for the Cardinals. He’s a reasonable flex option, but we’re not looking to play him unless we need him. Williams is not yet involved on 3rd downs or in the Cardinals’ no-huddle offense. This could end up limiting his snaps.

Now for the good news. We like both defenses tonight. Both make very good plays and are top-12 options for week five. Both kickers are playable as well, especially Rams rookie Greg Zuerlien, who has looked excellent so far.
Lastly, we are not looking to play either quarterback for a few reasons. First, as I said, the defenses are strong. The other issue is that both QBs are up and down at best so far. We like the tenacity that Kevin Kolb has shown the last few weeks, but he’ll need more than gumption to get it done for fantasy purposes.  The Rams' Sam Bradford is in a new offense again and with the shaky offensive line and all the young receivers, it's hard to buy into him at all in a matchup like this one.  We don't expect him to do what the Dolphins' Ryan Tannehill did in week four.  Leave the QBs on the bench unless your starter is on the bye.

For our take on each specific player as far as rankings go, please refer to our week five lineup rankings which have already been posted.