Fantasy Focus: Bulls on Parade

A week ago, I made the lamentable suggestion that playing Jamison Olave was a good idea because the Red Bulls were playing D.C. United. What I didn't realize was that randomly selecting any Red Bulls starting field player gave you a 50% chance of landing a Week 7 Dream Team player. Before I get to the Metros proficiency, it's time to recognize the leading scorer for the week, n00bius, who put up 94 points. 28 of those points came by way of Brad Davis ($9.0M) who, as captain, scored a goal and added an assist. Olave ($5.9M) scored a goal and helped New York keep a clean sheet on the way to 15 points. Lastly, Dax McCarty (NY, $8.4M) and Michel (DAL, $5.5M) tallied 10 points each. Stallions FC scored 76 points, and hold onto 1st place overall by 13 points.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

Dallas keeper Raul Fernandez ($5.5M, 13 points) saved a penalty and kept a clean sheet, leading all players at his position. He's also now the leading overall scorer at his position (39 points.) Three goalkeepers tied for second overall round scorer with 9 points -- Bobby Shuttleworth (NE, $4.9M), Luis Robles (NY, $5.5M) and Donovan Rickets (POR, $5.0M). Bill Hamid, ($5.4M) was worth just 3 points.

Defenders

Olave led all defenders and scorers with his 15 points. Right behind him was George John (DAL, $5.8M, 14 points), who scored an 87th minute winner and celebrated by getting hit in the head with a bottle. Michel's 10 points and 0 blunt force trauma were next in line. D.C.'s Daniel Woolard ($4.0M), Brandon McDonald, and Dejan Jakovic ($5.5M each) clocked in with 4 points, while Chris Korb ($4.6M) wrapped things up for the Black and Red with 2 points.

Midfielders

Brad Davis' 14 points set the pace for midfielders. Dax McCarty's 10 point performance was a little behind, and Will Johnson (POR, $7.4M) threw a figurative middle finger to Alan Gordon and the Earthquakes with a late goal on the way to 9 points. For DCU, Marcos Sanchez ($7.0M) led the midfielders with 4 points, Perry Kitchen ($5.8M) and Raphael Augusto ($5.5M) scored 3, Chris Pontius ($8.4M) scored 2, and Dwayne De Rosario ($9.4M) and Kyle Porter ($4.8) scored 1.

Forwards

Thierry Henry (NY, $10.4M) scored a goal on the way to pacing the forwards with 8 points. Behind him, six players scored 7 points -- Dominic Oduro (CLB, $6.7M), Deshorn Brown (COL, $6.2), Will Bruin (HOU, $8.7M), Marco Di Vaio (MTL, $8.7M), Jack McInerney (PHI, $8.2M), and Robert Earnshaw (TOR, $8.5M). Each of those players scored a goal. For D.C., Lionard Pajoy ($7.8M) scored 2 points, and Rafael ($7.7) scored 1. We are not entertained.

Two Red Bulls players made the dream team but were not mentioned above -- defender Markus Holgersson ($4.7M, 9 points) and nominal midfielder Brandon Barklage ($5.9M, 8 points). All of those high scoring Metros are appealing options, as well as Sporting Kansas City players, specifically because those two teams play twice this week. I don't believe that the Red Bulls performance will be repeated regularly, but playing twice will certainly help. Conversely, the Montreal Impact are on bye this week, so move those guys out.

If you're looking for positional replacements this week (or just looking to shake things up), think about Clint Irwin (COL, $4.4, 31 points) who's cheap, tied for 6th overall scoring goalkeeper despite not starting until Week 3, and he's playing Seattle at home. Also for Colorado, defender Marvell Wynne ($5.0M, 31 points) has put together two consecutive weeks of 7 points. If you think D.C.'s offensive woes are going to continue this week, Jeff Parke (PHI, $4.9M, 30 points) is your best Union bet. For midfielders, Will Johnson (32 points) is an interesting selection as he goes to San Jose for the 2nd of their home and away matches with the Quakes, and what will likely be a highly charged affair. If you like to gamble, Andrew Jacobson (DAL, $6.2, 36 points) has scored well this year overall, but his two highest scoring weeks have been 8 points, and 4 other weeks have seen 4 points or less. At forward, Dominic Oduro (29 points) is the 3rd leading scorer at the position, he's scored goals in consecutive weeks, and he's playing Chicago. Will Bruin (23 points) is beginning to creep up the scoring table, and he's scored in each of the last three games in which he's played (he did not play two weeks ago against Portland). Oh, and if Graham Zusi's been your captain, don't forget to select him this week. Lineups must be done by Wednesday at 7:15pm EST!