The fantasy football week got started off with a number of early games on Thursday and with three contests down, that leaves less games to pick players to start on Sunday and Monday and some of the top players to watch out for this week includes Benny Cunningham, Montee Ball, Michael Crabtree, Andre Ellington, Shane Vereen and Brandon Marshall and Josh Gordon.
The Rams are coming into their game against the San Francisco 49ers a bit banged up and both Cunningham and Crabtree are names to watch out for and to START for the game on Sunday. Cunningham is likely getting the start with Zac Stacy banged up after suffering a concussion last week and he comes into the game after rushing for over 100 yards last week in relief of Stacy. The Rams have been rushing the ball well recently with Stacy taking over the starting job from Daryl Richardson and he has gone over 100 yards multiple times over the past few weeks and was one of the top rushers in the league since taking over the starting job in Week 5. Cunningham comes in with the potential for a big game despite the 49ers having a solid defense and fantasy owners should start him on Sunday.
Cunningham comes in after having 13 carries and 109 yards on Sunday with a touchdown against the Chicago Bears and he should be getting the bulk of the carries against the 49ers. Cunningham nearly matched his total for the season against the Bears and while the Chicago defense was not very good coming into the game, he had some nice runs and averaged over eight yards per carry.
Michael Crabtree is expected to return for the first time this season after dealing with an Achilles injury and it comes at the perfect time for the 49ers, as the Rams have a solid secondary and the San Francisco passing offense has not been good at all, ranking last in the league in yards per game and Crabtree comes in at the perfect time, as the WR stats are in the bottom of the league as well. Crabtree comes in with five touchdowns in his last four games played, including one in the Super Bowl and now he is set to make his return.
Andre Ellington has been very solid as a rookie and he had 50 yards last week and a few weeks ago he was excellent with over 150 yards rushing and he also scored a touchdown in that game. This season he has been solid out of the backfield and while he is questionable for the game on Sunday against the Eagles, he is expected to start and he has made two catches in five straight games for the Cardinals. This season he has been solid behind Rashard Mendenhall and another back to watch out for is Shane Vereen, as he has been highly targeted since coming back from his injury and Tom Brady is glad to have him back in the offense.
Montee Ball has had some fumbling problems, but with Knowshon Moreno injured, he could be in line for a big game on Sunday when the team plays the Chiefs. Kansas City is solid on defense but the team is in a slump and Ball has shown that he can be explosive and he had two touchdowns in the last game against the Chiefs and he is coming off of a 40 yard game against the Patriots and could be in line for a solid day, as could Vereen.