Again, a mixture of good and bad this week. Obviously, Welker and Gronkowski are amazing stories, and the Patriots offense continues to be fun to watch. Let's hope Decker keeps starting in Denver, and Lloyd allows him enough targets to produce. Let's also hope that Collie gets more and more targets, and that someday, somehow, the mensa candidate Jim Caldwell realizes just how bad Garcon is, and how incredibly stupid it is to keep your best WR on the bench.
I will reserve judgment on the very curious Hillis situation until after I get a chance to read Rotoworld's and other fantasy sites' take on Hardesty's entirely pedestrian performance, and more importantly hear an explanation from the coach and also his take on Hardesty. We will learn a lot from that. I don't think Hardesty did enough to warrant any more touches, but I'm guessing the coaches and media were probably a lot more impressed than we were by his 67 yards rushing.
I'm also worried about Jordy Nelson. I don't think it's any accident that, as soon as James Jones predictably whined in public about not seeing the field enough in the first game, Jordy's snaps have been dramatically scaled back. It's laughable, really, to see all the mainstream news articles praising him and claiming he's the #2 WR, while the team continues to ignore him and treat him like the #4 guy. Whatever is going on, one thing is certain- you will never heard a similar public complaint about lack of usage from Jordy.
Gerhart is screwed, as I've noted many times. He will never get a chance to be a starting RB in the NFL, barring a 2010 Hillis-type miraculous scenario. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Bengals when Benson's suspension kicks in. Will Brian Leonard get more than a few touches per game? If he does, he will produce.