The Fantasy Reality: Numbers racket

FANTASY TIPS ON TWITTER

Get fantasy updates whenever you feel like it! Or, more accurately, whenever we feel like it. Follow Chris Carr and Michael Rand on Twitter by checking out the new Access Vikings site at accessvikings.com and clicking on the "fantasy" tab.

Chris Carr: There's suddenly a numbers void in town, RandBall, and it's up to us to fill it. No more baseball, the ultimate numbers game. No big stats expected from our winter pro teams, unless you plan to add up Ls. And we can only track whathisface's QB rating so often. So let's fill the void. Examples ... Nine: Number of targets for Braylon Edwards in his first game with the New York Jets. One: Touchdown for Edwards. One: Touchdown for Edwards overturned when it was ruled he was down at the 1. Zero: Number of Patriots running backs above reliable grinder Sammy Morris on the team depth chart. Two hundred and twenty-five: Fewer receiving yards (projected) for Miles Austin this Sunday. See how this works? Now the readers know that Edwards appears to be back on track, Morris is worth a pick-up and they should not hitch their wagon to Dallas' one-hit wonder No. 3 receiver.

Michael Rand: Num-bers? But I got into this business to work with words! OK, I'll give it a try. Zero: The number of TD passes for Drew Brees in his past two games. In other words, a barrage is coming. Thirteen: The longest run, in yards, for LaDainian Tomlinson this season. Two hundred and sixty-one: Average yards passing per game for the Philadelphia Eagles. Make one super-QB. McKnob? Twenty-two: Number of targets through four games for Packers WR Greg Jennings. Uh-oh. Five-and-oh: The record for the Vikings ... AND the record for yours truly in the Star Tribune league.

Carr: One: Reader interested in your fantasy record. A good wife, that Mrs. RandBall. Six: Times more excited we are allowed to be about Eagles rookie receiver Jeremy Maclin now than McNabb is back. Love this tandem going forward. Ten: Beers I'd have to drink before I felt like I was in good shape with Thomas Jones as my starting running back. He's my Fraud of the Week. He'll have more games going forward that look like his Week 3 (14 carries, 20 yards, 0 TDs) than his Week 5 (13-42-2).

Rand: One: NFL rushing yardage ranking for Cedric Benson. The Bengals have beaten the Packers, Steelers and Ravens. Benson and other Cincy players are legit. 1.3 million: Fantasy owners who finally started to believe in Willis McGahee's magic touchdown power, only to see him touch the ball about as often as Naufahu Tahi last week.

Carr: Want a running back to believe in? Zero: Other Giants running backs I'd take over Ahmad Bradshaw. Who cares who's starting? Last week Brandon Jacobs was stuffed three times on the goal line, they brought in Bradshaw and he scored. You can take the guy waving his arms around during player introductions (Jacobs); I'll take the guy averaging 6.5 yards a carry and busting screen passes for 50 yards. Some numbers do indeed lie -- I'm looking right at you, Thomas Jones -- but that's not the case for Bradshaw.

Rand: Minus-47: The fantasy value of any Cleveland QB. 118.8: Tarvaris Jackson's QB rating. What's that you said about numbers?