Tips at the halfway point for Fantasy Footballers

If you are like me right now, you are either tired of garbage injuries, tired of bye weeks, tired of inconsistency in head-to-head matches, or you are just flat out tired of fantasy football. I know I'm getting to the point where I just wanna quit. My highest standing in any league right now is 5th. Yeah, some fantasy guru I am. Really smart of me to own DeMarco Murray in multiple leagues even though I advised against it amongst my peers. Good job of following my own advice, and that was some prediction for Kevin Smith, eh?

Well I'm not some fantasy guru, and I don't pretend to be one. I try my best to help others to do as well as they possibly can in their leagues, even if sometimes it looks like I don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about. What in the hell was I thinking when I said Arian Foster or Ray Rice wouldn't finish as the top two RBs? It was a bold prediction, but a very stupid one. Tony Romo elite? Oh boy. At least I redeemed myself somewhat in this article. The keyword being somewhat.

The Reggie Wayne, Tony Gonzalez, Peyton Manning, and Andrew Luck predictions make me look good, but RGIII and Trent Richardson are making me look really awful. Jordy Nelson was proving me right for the bulk of the season, until these past two weeks where he absolutely destroyed the Texans and the Rams. Hey, but I was right about Ryan Tannehill too. Many thought he was a horrible draft pick, but I liked the pick and the Dolphins look like they have a QB for the future, and he could be fantasy relevant for years to come. Let's hope this doesn't blow up in my face.

Enough about my hilariously awful predictions. Predictions aren't what I'm here to talk about on this day. I've been hit and miss on predictions so far, but I do believe I can give you some useful tips and possible moves you should make at the halfway point of the season. You can also check out my top 100 from this point forward as well.

1. Arian Foster

2. Ray Rice

3. Aaron Rodgers

4. Drew Brees

5. LeSean McCoy

6. Tom Brady

7. Adrian Peterson

8. Calvin Johnson

9. Robert Griffin III

10. A.J. Green

11. Matt Forte

12. Jamaal Charles

13. Victor Cruz

14. Roddy White

15. Larry Fitzgerald

16. Wes Welker

17. Marshawn Lynch

18. Ryan Matthews

19. Percy Harvin

20. Rob Gronkowski

21. Jordy Nelson

22. Chris Johnson

23. Peyton Manning

24. Jimmy Graham

25. Brandon Marshall

26. Vincent Jackson

27. Julio Jones

28. Frank Gore

29. Alfred Morris

30. Trent Richardson

31. Eli Manning

32. DeMarco Murray

33. C.J. Spiller

34. Matt Ryan

35. Fred Jackson

36. Tony Romo

37. Miles Austin

38. Darren McFadden

39. Marques Colston

40. Reggie Wayne

41. Andre Johnson

42. Doug Martin

43. Dez Bryant

44. Matt Stafford

45. Willis McGahee

46. Antonio Brown

47. Brandon Lloyd

48. Darren Sproles

49. Hakeem Nicks

50. Cam Newton

51. James Jones

52. Demaryius Thomas

53. Ahmad Bradshaw

54. Antonio Gates

55. Dwayne Bowe

56. Tony Gonzalez

57. Mike Vick

58. Mike Wallace

59. Stevan Ridley

60. Andrew Luck

61. Randall Cobb

62. Tony Gonzalez

63. Reggie Bush

64. Vernon Davis

65. Eric Decker

66. Shonn Green

67. Brian Hartline

68. DeSean Jackson

69. Steve Johnson

70. Andre Roberts

71. Torrey Smith

72. Jason Witten

73. Lance Moore

74. Ben Roethlisberger

75. Steve Smith

76. Michael Turner

77. Andy Dalton

78. Aaron Hernandez

79. Malcom Floyd

80. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

81. Denarius Moore

82. Ryan Fitzpatrick

83. Anquan Boldin

84. Jay Cutler

85. Owen Daniels

86. Jeremy Maclin

87. Matt Schaub

88. Mikel Leshoure

89. Johnathan Stewart

90. Danny Amendola

91. Philip Rivers

92. Joe Flacco

93. Jeremy Kerley

94. Heath Miller

95. Maurice Jones-Drew

96. Nate Washington

97. Donald Brown

98. Kendall Wright

99. Mike Williams

100. Josh Gordon

Don't trade Arian Foster

If you own Arian Foster, for the love of god do not trade him. He is the best fantasy player in the game. I emphasize not trading him simply because he scores TDs every single week. To put things in perspective, Foster has nine TDs in seven games. No other RB has more than five TDs. The only other person that has more than five TDs is RGIII with six. RGIII is having an outstanding season and so is Arian Foster. There is nothing better in fantasy than having an RB who's a lock to score a TD every single week. And Foster just so happens to lead the NFL in rushing attempts after seven weeks. Foster is a monster and he has a bye this week to rest up for a strong finish to the season. A 1300-yard/20-TD season looks more than attainable. Don't even think about trading him even if you think he can't maintain this pace.

Sell Robert Griffin III high

Yes, I know he's made me look like an idiot, but I implore you to look at his TD pass totals and the Redskins schedule. As you saw from Cam Newton last season, the more film that is out there on you, the more likely it is the other team stops you. More and more film is out there on RGIII and it's only a matter of time, especially when you consider the Redskins' schedule is getting tougher. At Pittsburgh this week, then Carolina and a bye, and then it's Philly, @ Dallas, NYG, Baltimore, @ Cleveland, @ Philly, and wrap it up with Dallas. Sure it doesn't seem all that tough from a fantasy standpoint. Dallas(after losing Sean Lee), Philly, Carolina, Cleveland, and Baltimore all have their problems defensively, but you have to keep in mind that RGIII's spectacular fantasy season is aided by six rushing TDs and he has only thrown seven TD passes at this point.

For those of you who keep up with these stats, that's tied for 23rd in the league. So he's in the bottom half of the league in TD passes thrown. Those rushing TDs are aiding his fantasy season greatly. With more film on RGIII, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he stops rushing for TDs cold turkey and if he's not rushing for TDs, his fantasy stock drops. RGIII is a great athlete, but he is not as big or as bulky as Cam Newton so he can't afford to take hits like Cam Newton can. If you can find an owner who will give an elite running back or great depth for him, do it fast.

Trade for depth

And speaking of depth, at this point in the season, injuries are probably derailing your season, or propelling it(if so, I envy you). If you are the former and you are in the thick of a playoff chase but injuries are hurting your chances of clinching, you should probably deal one of your best players for some depth(unless it's Arian Foster of course). Unless you are in a keeper league, I would suggest trading your best player for the best depth package you could get. Sometimes you just don't have time to scour the wire, and you need some depth because the fantasy gods just hate you and think it's funny that you lose Fred Davis, DeMarco Murray, Pierre Garcon, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Greg Jennings(for the season) all in a span of two weeks when you have a life and couldn't have possibly grabbed Randall Cobb, Rashad Jennings, or Felix Jones before the wire vultures got him. Oh and I just found out recently that Aaron Hernandez is out this week. Uhhh!

Sometimes those fantasy gods just don't love you and the only way you can fight back and overcome it is by making trades to improve your team. Useful depth trades that can at least give your team a fighting chance after losing so many key players to fluke injuries.

Admire the wire

Seriously, this is really something that I shouldn't have to tell you. You should be doing it anyway. But I know how it is when you have a life. Okay maybe not, but they have these little spammers on twitter like rotoworld who give you updates all the time that can go straight to your cell phone and alert you(imagine that). Setting your line ups via cell phone is so easy now. Even if you have a life, you can be promptly interrupted during a business meeting by a tweet and can possibly make a season-defining move in a matter of seconds even if it might get you fired. But hey, this is fantasy football here and this wouldn't be the first time someone got fired over it... Look at the waiver wire and study it hard. This is where championships are won. No matter what, there is always a guy sitting on the wire that will win multiple owners leagues. Make sure you are the one to get him.

Players I suggest you target

Reggie Wayne- Consistently gets points every single week. You always want consistent players over boom-or-bust garbage.

Doug Martin- I'm certain Doug Martin's stock just jumped sky high after last night's performance. But his stock is not so high to the point that you can't pry him away from his owner. You'll pay more than you would have if you tried to acquire him a week ago, but he could be worth it anyway. If you saw the way he ran the football last night, you can see he's finally understanding how to utilize his stature(like Ray Rice *cough*) and run behind his meaty offensive line. Sometimes it takes rookies a while to get it. Doug Martin is looking like a guy who's starting to get it, and Tampa's offense has taken off since the bye.

Larry Fitzgerald- I refuse to believe that Fitz is just an above average wide receiver. Something tells me his elite skill set will start to show. He has been a lot more consistent since the first couple of weeks, but I still feel like we haven't seen the best of Fitz yet. Buy low if you can.

Alfred Morris- I think he's the real deal and he's in the perfect system. If you are thinking of selling him high, I highly suggest you reconsider. This is what Shannahan does. He makes obscure running backs highly fantasy relevant. A 1000-yard season is on the horizon for yet another Shannahan running back. Same stuff, different season.

Chicago Bears Defense/Special Teams- Yeah, I know, right? I went there. A defense? Chicago has by far the best fantasy defense in just about every league. Points are points. If somebody is willing to trade it, you have the proper depth to give away, and you need a defense, then you should do it. Let me just say this: Cam Newton, Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Schaub, Alex Smith, Christian Ponder 2x, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Kevin Kolb/John Skelton, and Matt Stafford. That's what is left on the Bears' schedule. Aaron Rodgers is about the only thing worthy of mentioning and even he struggles against the Bears. Good god! Stop reading this and trade for it now!

Danny Amendola- This guy just can't stay healthy, but that's no reason not to target him. He's probably on the wire in your league, so pick him up right now. He's making a speedy recovery, and is already practicing again. He has durability issues but when he's in the line up, he's Sam Bradford's favorite guy to pass to. He was a top 10 WR before his injury. If you are in a PPR league and he's sitting on the wire, I don't know what you are waiting for. A written invitation? Grab him.