By Brandon Funston //
Green is the color of money. Greene is not. At least until this past weekend, Shonn Greene has mostly been a colossal bust in Fantasyland. With the Jets constantly talking up a ground-and-pound philosophy heading into seasons of recent past, Greene had landed in early rounds of fantasy drafts in each of the two seasons prior to ’12, only to underwhelm with yardage and TD totals unbefitting of someone drafted so high. This season, fantasy owners finally turned their noses at Greene in the early rounds, letting him fall to around pick No. 100 overall, on average, in preseason Yahoo! drafts. And through the first five weeks of the season, that snub seemed warranted.
In Week 6, Greene found himself in a starting lineup in roughly 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Those few that put their faith in the idea that even Greene could make something positive happen against a soft Indianapolis defense were rewarded with fantasy riches beyond their wildest dreams. Greene punished the Colts for 161 rushing yards and three touchdowns, easily outdistancing himself from the rest of the fantasy RB crop in Week 6. Greene set a career high in rushing yards, and tied his personal-best in TDs. It was also the best fantasy performance by a Jets running back since 1985 when Freeman McNeil posted 227 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns against the Bills.
Here’s a few more Week 6 stars from off the grid:
• For just the fourth time in his 46-game NFL career, Bucs QB Josh Freeman topped the 300-yard passing mark, rolling up 328 yards and three touchdown passes against Kansas City. Prior to Week 6, Freeman ranked a woeful 28th among QBs in fantasy points per game. But, on Sunday, only Aaron Rodgers and Robert Griffin III were better at the position. For Freeman, it was his best fantasy performance since he lit up a Seattle secondary for five scoring tosses in a Week 16 contest in 2010.
• Freeman wasn’t the only surprise signal-caller in Week 6. Seattle rookie Russell Wilson enjoyed his finest day of his short NFL career, throwing three scoring strikes and posting 293 passing yards in a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Wilson finished No. 6 at QB in fantasy scoring in Week 6. In each of the previous five weeks, he failed to finish inside the top 15 at the position in fantasy scoring.
• At the tight end position, Green Bay’s Tom Crabtree was the unlikely top 4 finisher in Week 6. He needed only one reception to make his mark, that being a 48-yard touchdown toss from Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter of the Packers’ 42-24 rout of the Texans. Crabtree added a 14-yard catch for good measure to cap the best fantasy performance of his career (by far).
