Fantasy Fatcast: 6 Players to Target for the 2nd Half

Bleacher Report’s Eric Mack and I get together for another podcast, previewing the Week 8 matchups (sorta) and looking at six different Fantasy players to target for this second half. There are a couple names that should surprise you, for sure.

We also help several callers with their Fantasy Football lineup issues, including two guys that were trying to pull off a trade involving one of the top players in the game – Adrian Peterson.

With six teams on bye weeks in Week 8, and several players banged up – possibly ready to miss the rest of the season – this week is quite important. Not to mention, this week is the beginning of the second half of your Fantasy regular season.

Speaking of injuries, I discuss Doug Martin’s torn labrum and how I envision Bucs head coach Greg Schiano getting fired as soon as this weekend. They likely would have fired him after losing to a battered Falcons team, but with the short week ahead, an interim coach would have been in deep, deep trouble. Plus, I doubt the NFL Network wants to promote an interim coach in his first game in promos for their Thursday Night Football matchup with the Panthers.

Week 8 Fantasy Fatcast

Our normal host, Brett Tresky, had tickets to a hockey game (Chicago at Florida) with his girlfriend and Fatcast friend of the program, Dwyne. There is no truth to the rumor that the three of them shared some dipping dots.

Emack and I also discuss some of our strategies when we play in weekly Fantasy games on sites like DraftDay.com and SportsTradex.com.

6 Players to Target For the 2nd Half

Emack and I went back and forth, each choosing a player we like as someone to either pick up off waivers or to target in trades. So I thought I’d give you a quick peek at one of the players I discussed.

Eli Manning, QB, N.Y. Giants

Obviously, the younger Manning has had a ton of problems this season, and he finally had a decent game Monday night against Minnesota with no interceptions. But he has a very favorable schedule coming up – all the way through the rest of the regular season, as a matter of fact.

His upcoming schedule includes:

• Week 8 – at Philadelphia Eagles – 31st vs. the pass
• Week 9 — Bye
• Week 10 – Oakland Raiders – 16th
• Week 11 – Green Bay Packers – 24th
• Week 12 – Dallas Cowboys – 30th
• Week 13 – Washington Redskins – 22nd
• Week 14 – San Diego Chargers – 26th
• Week 15 – Seattle Seahawks – 2nd
• Week 16 – Detroit Lions – 28th
• Week 17 – Washington Redskins – 22nd

As you can see, Manning’s schedule is quite favorable for passing teams, and with the Giants’ current issues at running backs, you have to figure they’re going to be leaning on the younger Manning’s arm.

Do you have some players to target for the second half of 2013? Drop a comment below! Or tweet us @EricMackFantasy and @DavidGonos with your choices! And don’t forget to follow hockey fan @BrettTresky as well!