By JIMMY D / NFL fantasy Week 1 success for Jimmy D| Jimmy's archive

9-11 Jimmy kicks grass in gridiron Week 1

Thank you, Jeff Wilkins.

Thank you, Donte' Stallworth.

In an opening week where his QB’s head almost popped clean off his shoulders and his No. 1 pick ran for a whopping 30 yards, Jimmy still managed to be in great shape in his head-to-head NFL pool thanks two mid-round picks.
Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. But as we always preach, you make your own luck with hard work.

Wilkins kicked six straight field goals – including a 51-yarder good for six fantasy points in Jimmy’s Yahoo league – in the Rams win against Denver. The logic in Jimmy’s draft choice was not only the Wilkins’ recent proficiency, but also the fact he kicks in a dome where those nasty cross-breezes and headwinds don’t mess with the kicks.

And freshly hatched Eagle WR Stallworth made six grabs for 141 yards and a score as Philly opened with an easy win in Houston. As a Saint, his production kept increasing each year and you had to expect he was ready for a big season, especially with the absence of a true No. 1 wideout in Philly.

Those performances more than compensated for Ronnie Brown’s woeful production against the Steelers (although his two TDs salvaged the week on the fantasy side) and Trent Green’s fantasy goose egg after he was nearly killed in the third quarter against the Bengals.

Jimmy not-so-sagely had Frank Gore on the bench this week and he racked up 18 fantasy points for the 49ers, more than Brown’s 14 and Brian Westbrook’s 12.

All us Green owners out there will watch the medical reports this week to see if the man who started 81 straight games will be able to speak in complete sentences. If not, the trade vultures will be after Jimmy because Steve McNair is not a long-term solution off his bench.

Of course, if the Ravens can continue to roll up 27-0 road wins all season, maybe Jimmy will hitch a ride on Air McNair.
The top fantasy producers through Sunday’s games were QBs Donovan McNabb and Kurt Warner, who rang up 22 points. Both were efficient and went over 300 yards passing with three scores in wins Sunday. Jake Plummer, the guy Jimmy tried to take with the pick that he mistakenly took Green, was worse than useless – he accumulated -6 points.

There were still a pair of Monday Nighters to play, where Jimmy had Antonio Gates going against the Raiders.

Jimmy D pool update

With regret, there will be no sequel to the Jimmy D NFL Pick ‘em game that kept many of you coming back last season. There was no last-minute sponsor riding to the rescue, so with no prizes and no sponsorship dough to run the game, there is no game.

The best Jimmy could do was set up a league where Jimmy readers could go to at least compete and brag. Check out www.thescore.ca/fantasy for the King of Football promotion, where there are generous weekly and grand prizes in a two-headed Pick ‘em/Survivor contest.

If you want to join the Jimmy D league and go head-to-head with yours truly, you can join the Buddy League by using ID 269 and password staybusy.
Good luck and we’ll see you online.

Ryan flyin’

He snuck up on the rookie-of-the-year voting last year with a mammoth second half and he’s doing the same thing to the MVP voting this year.

Philly 1B Ryan Howard has been a one-man gang that has kept hopes alive for tortured fans and lagging fantasy GMs. Through Monday, he had clubbed 56 homers, driven across 138 runs and raised his average to .314.

All the while smacking clutch homers to give the team a chance to win each night. If the Phillies can catch the Padres for the wild card, it will be pretty tough to keep his name off the MVP award.

In fact, the only place with odds on the NL MVP lists Howard as the favorite. He is -130 at wageronsports.com, while last year’s winner, Albert Pujols, is even odds at +100.

Pujols missed a few weeks of action, so his numbers are down just a bit.
The odds are listed at +500 for anyone else, including Marlin 3B Miguel Cabrera, who has also generated MVP-calibre numbers, and Carlos Beltran, who is the main gun in the New York Met arsenal.

Coming soon, Jimmy laces up the fantasy blades and starts talking shinny skinny.
Stay busy, stay lucky.

Jimmy D

JPoole@Herald.ca