After 11 weeks in fantasy football, here's where we stand

We're getting down to crunch time in fantasy football. Many leagues have just two weeks left before the playoffs begin.

Here's a quick look at my four teams and where they stand:

One-player keeper. I'm tied for the best record at 8-3 and have the second-most points scored. If the season ended today, I'd be the top seed and have a first-round bye. Mike Vick has crushed me the past three weeks. I actually picked up and started Vince Young this past week. He didn't do much, but I squeezed out a win thanks to the Pats' defense. I'm relying heavily on Calvin Johnson, Vincent Jackson and Julio Jones. I have Antonio Brown as a backup at WR. At RB, I'm hurting. I'm mixing and matching with Shonn Greene, Willis McGahee, Mike Tolbert and Brandon Jacobs.

Seven-player keeper. I'm at 9-2, good enough for a one-game lead for tops overall. My team's been scoring at a pretty good clip, I'm first overall, 150 points more than second place. I took at hit at QB with Matt Schaub. I put in Ryan Fitzpatrick last week and have to scramble at that position. My real strength is running back where I have Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy and Matt Forte. At WR, I have Megatron and Roddy White, with Vincent Jackson as a matchup fill-in.

Redraft league. This team is interesting. I'm 6-4-1, which is third overall. I'm third in scoring but I'm first in points allowed. My tie came on a scoring change and I have two one-point losses. I've had Matt Stafford all season at QB, I picked up DeMarco Murray and have put him in the lineup faithfully and have gotten a lot out of LeSean McCoy. At receiver, I have DeSean Jackson and Hakeem Nicks, so it's been a bumpy ride there. I have the Texans defense and picked up the Patriots defense last week while the Texans were on a bye. We have just a four-player bench and I might keep both defenses the rest of the way.


Auto-pick league. This league drafted offline based on my pre-draft rankings. I'm in second place but first overall in scoring. I had Phil Rivers at QB but went away from him weeks ago in favor of Cam Newton. I have Ray Rice and Fred Jackson at RB, but I have Frank Gore and Ryan Mathews backing them up. I'll need to watch Jackson's injury.

Overall my teams have had success, but I know it can be short-lived. Everyone should still be working the waiver wire, as I will.

Good luck down the stretch. I'll post some thoughts on the week coming up later.

What I'm doing for Week 5 in fantasy football

We're four weeks into the fantasy football season. There's still plenty of time to recover from a bad start, but you need to watch out for those bye-week landmines.

First off, here are the teams with the week off: Browns, Cowboys, Rams, Dolphins, Redskins and Ravens.

Make sure you're not starting anyone from those teams; there's no need to help out your opponent.

Here's where I sit with my four teams:

• Dynasty league: 3-1, 2nd overall, 1st in total points
• One-player keeper: 3-1, 2nd overall, 2nd in total points
• Re-draft league #1: 2-2, 6th overall, 3rd in total points
• Re-draft league #2: 3-1, 2nd overall, 2nd in total points

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. In my dynasty league, I lost last week by 0.2 points, as in two-tenths of a point. In my re-draft league #1, I lost one game by one point.

Anyway, here's what I'm looking at.

I'm starting Cam Newton over Phil Rivers in one redraft league. I gotta ride the hot hand. I picked up Victor Cruz as a bye-week fill-in, and I finally dropped Hines Ward, who's been doing nothing.

In my other redraft league, I'm going to start Isaac Redman at RB2 if I hear news Rashard Mendenhall is out. If not, I have a choice between Jon Stewart and Dexter McCluster. Right now, I'm trying out McCluster for one more week. If he doesn't produce against the Colts this week, I'll likely cut him.

I've been searching for a QB in my dynasty league. I've been going with Matt Schaub and have been disappointed. I have an offer out for Newton in that league. I'm convinced he can help. I'm loaded at RB, so I have some backs in a deal. This week, I'm starting Matt Forte and Arian Foster over Peyton Hillis and MJD.

In my one-player keeper, I have Julio Jones in my flex spot. I like his matchup this week. I'm going with Jones over Mark Ingram (nice matchup) and Will McGahee (good news on getting the rock in Denver). I have Shonn Greene in my lineup, and I might pull him, but I want to see what he does this week. The Jets are supposed to go back to running the ball, so we'll see. I can't fault you for bailing on Greene at this point, however.

That's my thinking right now. Post or email your comments or questions.

You can follow me on Twitter @ green_rick.

Fantasy football Week 2 wrap: Injuries take out key players

Fantasy football players had a scary Week 2 in the NFL with some major injuries. We're talking Jamaal Charles, Michael Vick, Tony Romo, Miles Austin and Arian Foster.

The Charles injury was fluky, seeing him get injured out of bounds, away from contact. It looked bad, and on Monday it turned out to be as it appeared.

Charles, the first-round pick in every league, was done for the year.

Now, owners have to scramble.

Thomas Jones, if he's available, needs to be rostered. He should be the short-yard back and probably will get the most carries going forward.

The player that interests me the most, however, is Dexter McCluster. In many leagues, McCluster qualifies as wide receiver, so he could be a real find, especially in PPR leagues.

There's one sleeper to consider, too: Le'Ron McClain. If McCluster and Jones are taken, McClain could be a risk worth taking in deep leagues.

It's not clear how long Mike Vick will be out. With a concussion, you never really know. If you do own Vick, it would be smart to get a capable backup, especially since he's an injury risk. I own Vince Young, thinking I would be covered if Vick got hurt.

I didn't think I'd be faced with both getting hurt. Mike Kafka is now on the radar in fantasy circles.

Tony Romo showed some guts, playing with a punctured lung. His teammate, Miles Austin will miss a couple weeks with a bad hamstring.

And Foster is quickly becoming a fantasy problem. He played Sunday, but left early. If you don't have Ben Tate, you should try to get him. It might be too late.

Sorting out the top of the RB list

Chris Johnson has signed and Arian Foster has a hammy problem.

Just what you wanted to hear before you draft this weekend, right?

Don't worry, here's how you should rank the top 10 in running backs for this season.

Take Ray Rice at No. 1. Yes, do the unthinkable. Bypass Foster and his hamstring. Don't jump on the CJ2K bandwagon.

Take Rice. He's going to score. He's going the pile up the yardage running the ball. And, he's going to add yards receiving.

At No. 2, Adrian Peterson is your guy. Peterson worries me playing on the Vikes. But he's been Mr. Reliable, so I'd grab him next.

CJ2K moves up to third, followed by Foster. I'm nervous about Foster and that injury, so I'd rather not gamble any earlier than four.

As the fifth RB, I'd tab Jamaal Charles. Next, LeSean McCoy is my pick. Rashard Mendenhall's workload last season worries me, that's why I'd rank him seventh.

Maurice-Jones Drew is my eighth selection, followed by Steven Jackson and Matt Forte.