THREE WEEKS!
That's all that remains until the fantasy playoffs. Shockingly close isn't it? For the blessed few of you at 8-2 or better, you're all but in. Good for you. You're a better person than everyone else. Whatever. Get out of here, no one likes you.
But for the vast majority of fantasy players, a postseason berth is very much in doubt. Those of you with sub .500 records feel a bit like the New Orleans Saints right now -- hoping to ride a hot streak right into the playoffs.
Keep in mind that trade deadlines are fast approaching. The default for NFL.com leagues has it set for next Friday! Check your league settings to make sure yours isn't even earlier.
Now, you can certainly hold on to your assets and hope for the best OR you can make like Gordon Gekko and BUY, BUY, BUY, SELL, SELL, SELL!!!
With that in mind, what should you do with guys like LeSean McCoy, A.J. Green and Reggie Bush? Trade? Keep? Drop? How nervous should you be?
Could this be the week that MORE than one player gets the "Full Jodie".
Welcome to ... The Panic Room.
LeSean McCoy
Welcome back, Mr. McCoy. The Panic Room has missed you.
After an extremely slow start to the season, it seemed like Shady was starting to shine in recent weeks. He collected 15 points versus the Giants in Week 6 and followed with solid (albeit unspectacular) performances in Weeks 8 and 9 with nine and 12 points respectively.
The offensive line was starting to get healthy again and you're thinking he was poised to have a MONSTER game against a horrible Panthers defense.
ERRRRRRRRRRRRR.
If you take away the gift touchdown he got because Brent Celek caught a pass that was downed at the 0.001-yard line, McCoy was shockingly inefficient.
McCoy amassed an amazing (sarcasm) 19 yards on 13 carries and also did a wonderful job by catching his lone pass for NEGATIVE two yards.
And oh by the way the offensive line is still a work in progress and regardless of what experts predicted, Darren Sproles has indeed cut into McCoy's productivity, especially in the passing game.
All in all, it's almost impossible to predict a bounce-back end of the season for McCoy.
My advice: I've said it before and I'll say it again. Personally, I'm going down with the ship. But if you're not as stubborn, or maybe you're just more sensible, trading him for a stud tight end like Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, or for Mark Ingram straight up would be fabulous. I'm not sure the other side would agree to that deal, but it's interesting for both parties anyway.
Most likely, because his name value far exceeds his actual production, managers looking to move McCoy will need to construct a solid 2-for-1.
Set your sights for a mid-tier, high-upside wide receiver in addition to a solid RB2. Pass catchers I'd target include Martavis Bryant, DeAndre Hopkins (duh) and Odell Beckham Jr. In terms of running backs, I wouldn't mind getting back guys like Alfred Morris, Ahmad Bradshaw or even Denard Robinson, if you think he will hold up.
Michael Floyd
After back to back 10-point games in Weeks 6 and 7, Floyd posted a fat ZERO in Week 8 and followed that up with a three-point game versus Dallas and a horrifying one-point effort against the Lou (ed. note: St. Louis).
And now that Carson Palmer and his cannon right arm are out of there, I'd be seriously worried about Floyd's production moving forward. Because say what you will of Palmer but the dude would hang in there and chuck it deep -- an area in which the big, athletic Floyd excelled.
More disconcerting is the fact that the targets have dried up. After averaging more than seven targets per game over his first five, Floyd has averaged just four targets per game over his last four.
Plus there are reports that Floyd's knee is still possibly bothering him, a problem that will either require rest (not good with just a few precious weeks left until the fantasy playoffs) or it will be an issue that will hamper him the rest of the season (also not good).
My advice: Unless you're in Phoenix participating in a Cardinals-homer league, Floyd will be hard to move. He's still not a household name and his lack of recent production will scare off anyone who was interested in Floyd's upside. Hold on to him but bench him until he shows signs of life or gets healthy, hopefully in time to be a sneaky good play in the playoffs.
A.J. Green
What do we make of A.J. Green? When he plays, he's a lot like Calvin Johnson in that you can almost assuredly lock him up for double-digit fantasy points ... or so we thought.
In Week 10 we saw Green post a horrible line. Just three catches for 23 yards and no scores. Now granted, this was largely his quarterback's fault, as Andy Dalton looked like me on the golf course, scattering shots in every direction possible.
Complicating matters is his balky foot; an injury that will most likely not be fully healed until after the season.
That being said, there's actually a lot to like about Green's situation. The offense with Green, Mo Sanu and the backfield combination of Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill is pretty nice. Constantly bracketing Green with safety help is almost impossible given the options.
Sanu has emerged as a serious downfield threat and if Cincy stays committed to the run, more safeties will start sliding down to protect against the ground game. All of this means Green, if he can stay relatively healthy, should see some looks deep and some single coverage as well.
A little panic, a little confusion, but overall I think by season's end there will be a few hearty chuckles to be had.
My advice: Keep him and play him every week.
If you care about such things from a fantasy perspective, one blip of concern is that Cincy is on the road for four of their next five games, but overall I think Green is still a very, very strong play.
Reggie Bush
Bush has had ONE good game all season, a 16-point outing in Week 3. Other than that it's been nothing but injuries and ineffectiveness, with Bush failing to put up even seven points in any other contest this year.
After staying relatively healthy for nearly all of his past three seasons, Bush has been battling near-constant injuries in 2014, hopping in and out of the lineup.
Also concerning for Bush owners is the emergence of Theo Riddick, who has cut severely into Reggie's workload on passing downs. We saw in Detroit's early morning game in London that Riddick can absolutely be effective as a fill-in for Bush. With Bush out, that was a game where most expected Joique Bell to go crazy. Instead it was Riddick piling up receiving yards and putting up nearly 14 fantasy points.
My advice: While I don't think he recovers this season, Bush does have some name value left. Unfortunately his production has been so deflated it will be almost impossible to move him for a usable asset. If you can get a decent upside player for Bush, you're likely rushing to hit the accept button.
Maybe a manager who's soured on Travis Kelce would make a move, or if you're a Carson Palmer owner who is looking for a replacement, perhaps Robert Griffin would fit your fancy?
Look I get it, those are not names that are necessarily going to get you up in the mornings, so as always, if you don't like the value, hold onto the guy and let him ride the pine. If Bush gets healthy, he does have absolute cake matchups down the stretch against New England, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Minnesota.
If you have the roster space, a sneaky play would be to pick up the Chronicles of Theo Riddick, because who knows, at some point Bush may even shut it down.
Koh's Mailbag:
Wouldn't that be awesome poetic justice?
In the 2010 season, New Orleans was a HEAVY favorite on the road versus, what was back then, an unheralded group in Seattle that just snuck into the playoffs with an atrocious 7-9 record.
In the upset that followed, the football universe was officially introduced to Beast Mode. "Marshawn doe" became a thing on the internet and Skittles' stock skyrocketed.
So how great would it be if New Orleans, who is currently below .500, got into the playoffs by winning their division with a 7-9 record and played host to the Seahawks?!?!?!? REVENGE, BABY!!!!
Let's slow our roll a little bit because to finish off that scenario Mark Ingram would then have to stiff arm Earl Thomas into oblivion ... let's move on.
An almost impossible question to answer, so I'll instead tell you what's on my DVR.
"Chopped" and "Property Brothers" are in heavy rotation when my wife and I have to share the remote, and both of us are just now getting into "@Midnight" on Comedy Central as well.
Solo time for her consists of anything with the word "Wives" in it while I have the entire season of "Gotham" that I will binge watch after football season is over and my schedule lets up.
But my current go-to shows include "The League" (obviously) and "The Walking Dead," although I have to say, the latter has fallen off significantly. Is it still fun to watch? Well, yeah, but only because I'm now heavily invested in the characters.
The show started off with tremendous writing, thought-provoking concepts and character development. But we're now at the point where (spoiler alert) Carol is randomly using fireworks to blow up tankers of gas and is able to escape a gun in the back because said gun holder was in the middle of a stereotypical bad-guy monologue. That's lazy and cliche writing folks ... and I can't wait to watch again next week!!!
Always with the hair!
Have a player you're panicking on? Need relationship advice? Follow me on Twitter @JamesDKoh and use #PanicRoom to let me know!
-- James Koh is an anchor/reporter for NFL Media, and the host of NFL Fantasy LIVE. Follow him on Twitter @JamesDKoh.
