Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus Week 9, Volume II

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Each week NFL Network and NFL.com Fantasy Football Editor Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building your fantasy team for success.

Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (October 30th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer as we make the turn on the midway point of the regular season.

How much of a drop off do you expect from Bears’ skills players with Jay Cutler out and Josh McCown in Monday night against the Packers? “…that will not keep me from playing Brandon Marshall. That will not keep me from playing Matt Forte. That will not keep me from playing Martellus Bennett. Would I rather have Cutler than Josh McCown? Of course. But the Packers pass defense can be had and those guys are so valuable, especially from guys like Marshall and Forte. You play those guys, regardless…not having Cutler there is going to hurt a bit.”

Who are a couple running backs to keep your eye on the rest of the season from a fantasy perspective? “I’ll give you two that people might not be thinking about. One is Andre Brown who is eligible to come back from the injured reserve list [this week] and the Giants running back situation is a mess. They signed Peyton Hillis and Brandon Jacobs off the street. So Andre Brown comes back and becomes the starter because David Wilson is still hurt. You’ve got yourself a nice little running back there, maybe a flex starter. Another one is Shane Vereen. Vereen is back practicing with the Patriots. He’s eligible to come back Week 11. If you pick him up now before everybody else, once his name starts floating out, you’re going to get potentially another flex starter. Looking ahead is very important…especially when you have running backs coming off injured reserve lists and can make an impact for your fantasy team.”

Is it time to plug in somebody like Kenny Stills for the struggling and injured Marques Colston? “Here is what worries me about Kenny Stills…chasing fantasy points. He is the new Devery Henderson. He’s either going to give you a big game or he’s going to do nothing for you. I would still, as crazy as this sounds, wait and see with Marques Colston…I’d wait on that. Kenny Stills needs to show me consistency and Colston’s been horrible. He’s been terrible this year, but Drew Brees is still his quarterback and there’s still time for Colston to turn things around. I would stick with him at this point.”

To hear the rest of the interview click here.