Fantasy Ninjas

I beg to differ. Not about Jaquio being defeated - although I'd like to see the body - but about the Ninja. He knows nothing? I'm not so sure. There are some ninjas hopping around on the roofs of the fantasy world, swinging their blades silently and chopping down weekly opponents. For whatever reason, these ninjas seem to evade pre-seson fantasy hype, and in many cases, are even the subject of some hate.

Let's take a look at a few of these unnoticed silent (wide receiver) assassins:

1) Hines Ward - 6 receptions, 108 yards

To some degree, this one is obvious - not many people outside of Pittsburgh like Hines Ward and I kind of get why. He is rugged, confrontational, pretty hard on the eyes, and he hits defensive players on your favorite team. Still, the guy had 95 catches last year and probably should have been drafted a bit higher in all leagues. I'm sure there are leagues out there in which he went later than Mike Wallace and that is probably not smart. In the Mantasy League, he went after Crabtree and Sims-Walker and certainly seems safer than those two, even without Big Ben for a few weeks. In fairness, he was drafted 57th overall by the Maurice Jones-Jew owner and that makes me proud, but Ward is still under appreciated. He'll cut you.

Oh, look. Hines Ward owns a motorcycle.

2) Steve Smith - 5 receptions, 75 yards, 1 TD

I'm talking about the better Steve Smith. If you are still not sure which one I'm talking about, you are likely a Giants fan, but then again, I'm a Giants fan and after watching the Panthers go at the Giants many times, I still think the Carolina Smith is better. This isn't so much a knock on the other Steve Smith, it's just that every time that I watch Panther Steve Smith play he impresses. He is fiery, determined, fast and has cotton candy hands. Even with - and I would like to draw this out - a terrible, horrible, no good, down right rotten quarterback, Steve Smith, the better one, is awesome. Of course he had a good game, and of course he scored. Like Ward, Smith felt to me to be an untrendy pre-season player and got little attention. Gym, Tan, and Smoosh drafted Smith 23rd overall, another pick that makes me proud, but admittedly, one that drew no reaction out of me. It was a good pick, he is a strong weekly play, and he just entered your house through the attic and is killing your family.

3) Reggie Wayne - 7 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD

The touchdown this week was an amazing pass from Peyton Manning. The ball was slotted in at Wayne's back shoulder and totally safe from the reach of a defender. On the other hand, the ball was not easy to catch. Wayne had to turn and react quickly, which he did. Of course, Reggie Wayne always makes catches like this. He was drafted 15th in the Mantasy draft by Debbie Does Dallas Clark, the top seeded team after week 1, and I'm not surprised. Despite the knocks - last season's last few games, his age, many other targets - Pete pulled the trigger here and landed a proven stud. Unlike some of the other ninjas on this list, Wayne actually spent the pre-season receiving some lashes from people's hate sticks. He took those lashings and then took some heads with his five body blade.

This guy has one thing in common with Reggie Wayne, who is a  Crip
and drinks Miller Lite.

4) Roddy White - 13 receptions, 111 yards

There are probably some owners out there who see Roddy White in the opposing team's lineup and think, "Alright, he'll get a few points. No biggie." Well, those owners are right, he is guaranteed to get points. Unfortunately, it's likely to be a bigger deal than it initially seems. In fantasy football, even the best wide receivers have bad days, and those days can be 3 catch, 30 yard days. A couple of those and a team is likely to lose. If you have Roddy White, you are unlikely to have that kind of production from one of your WR spots. Roddy White was targeted 23 times. 23 times. 23 times. Roddy White was targeted 23 times. He had 13 catches and in the Mantasy league that is a four point bonus and 2 catches shy of the bonus equivalent of a TD. The Ninth District is lucky to have his sturdiness in light of some other uncertainties, and Roddy White is a strong pick at 20/21. It is time somebody in the fantasy world painted a sexy portrait of this guy. I'll be that guy, but mostly because he is currently in my office with a blow dart pointed at me.

If you admit that you couldn't pick Roddy White out of a line up, I'll tell you a secret...
...this isn't a picture of Roddy White.
They'll both kill you unexpectedly, however.

5) Greg Jennings - 5 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD

The touchdown count was down last year and all of a sudden Greg Jennings smelled funny. Look at the career numbers of other good wide receivers and you'll see that this almost certainly means he'll bouce back. He already has one. Additionally, Aaron Rodgers was the pre-season darling of many drafts, making it stranger that more analysts didn't pump this guy. The time has come to sayeth his name. He looked terrific on Sunday, moving with incredible speed and agility. If you watched the game, you saw many Eagles players leave with concussions and other ailments. Fox did a nice job of censoring this game. Jennings poisoned those men with cyanide tablets as he ran deceptive routes all over the field.


*Any suggestions for other fantasy ninjas are welcome. Just post a comment.