Mine’s a quickie.
Pick 3
Pierre Garcon v Hou
Deion Branch v Min
Vernon Davis v Den
Steve Smith (Car) @ StL
Garcon is definitely in, with our injuries in Indy. I like Branch, but I don’t know how much to worry about the Vikings keeping him out of play. Vernon Davis is always good, but losing their QB and playing in London this week against what must be an absolutely pissed Denver makes me wary. Smith has been a bit weak this season, but a guy of his caliber is probably due (don’t call me on the gambler’s fallacy! ), and where better than St Louis?
Bonus question- I picked up Kansas City’s D/ST to cover Chicago’s bye. I have enough time to pick up Det, StL, or Ari from waivers instead. I’m thinking KC is good enough and this is only for one week anyways. Any thoughts?
Hell’s belles! I just checked out how Joseph Addai is doing and according to Yahoo there’s a very real chance he’s going to be out against Houston. My 3 RBs (for 2 slots) are Addai, Cedric Benson, and Matt Forte, who’s on bye. Tim Hightower is the best RB available (projected points this week) followed by Darren Sproles. Here’s my current roster. Obviously I’m not dumping Manning or Forte just to patch a hole for one week, but it might help to see what my strengths are. Also, as you can see, I’m pretty much finished with byes after this week (Only Davis is left @ week 9).
Here’s my roster:
Peyton Manning (Ind)
Pierre Garcon (Ind)
Deion Branch (NE)
Steve Smith (NYG)
Steve Smith (Car)
Cedric Benson (Cin)
Joseph Addai (Ind)
Matt Forte (Chi)
Vernon Davis (SF)
Stephen Gostkowski (NE)
Chicago
Kansas City
I only picked up KC to cover for Chicago’s bye (see above), and I plan to dump them afterwards, so that seems the natural to drop. KC is projected to earn ~10 pts, Hightower is projected at ~14, Sproles ~10.
If, Saturday night/Sunday morning, Addai doesn’t look good, should: I
1.) Just play with one RB?
2.) Drop someone and add Hightower?
2a.) Who to drop?
ETA-Smith (Car) is the next lowest performer, but I’d rather not dump him, since I just got him in a trade for Tony Gonzalez and I’d look awfully dumb to release him right after I got him.
Johnson and Lloyd are basically must-starts; Bowe isn’t, but I think I’d definitely take him 3rd. Buffalo can’t be counted upon to do their part in creating a shootout, but they do have the worst defense (both passing and rushing) in the NFL (according to DVOA), and in the end that counts for something.
Johnson, Johnson, & Owens. Gotta keep playing Owens until he has a bad week, I guess
Brown in most situations, Blount if you’re a big underdog this week and you need to add some variance. (Eh, even then maybe Brown; Cincinatti has one of the worst rushing defenses in the league.)
Looking like Jonathan Stewart will actually start, so easy call.
(Phew. Just checked and we’re not playing each other anywhere this week, so I don’t have to go back, change my advice, then come up with plausible rationales for bad ideas.)
Ok, now that I’ve addressed a few questions from others, I can ask my own.
Half PPR. DeAngelo Williams is listed as Doubtful (which means “Out” like 90+% of the time). So Jonathan Stewart is basically starting for Carolina, and he’s been extremely productive when given opportunities, so I definitely want to find a spot for him. Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson are taking the two WR slots, meaning I have to fill RB, RB, WR/RB, and WR/TE from among these players:
RB Knowshon Moreno @SF
RB Brandon Jackson @NYJ (326 yards/scrim, 1 TD in last 3 games, but NYJ allows fewest RB fantasy points in the league.)
RB Jonathan Stewart @StL
RB Marion Barber vs. Jax
RB/WR Danny Woodhead vs. Min
WR Kenny Britt @SD
WR Dez Bryant vs. Jax
WR Michael Crabtree vs. Den (London)
WR TB’s Mike Williams @Ari
WR Santonio Holmes vs. GB
WR Anthony Gonzales vs. Houston (He’s allegedly healthy and will apparently, probably be the slot receiver this week with Dallas Clark and Austin Collie out. A huge variance play here, since he basically hasn’t played football in a season and a half so who knows what’ll happen, but Houston has a terrible pass defense (gives up the second most fantasy points to WRs) and Manning’s slot receiver is always a valuable commodity.)
TL;DR version: pick 4 of the above, including at least 2 RBs. Thanks.
Some nice matchups. I think Megatron is a good start. Lloyd is inconsistent and has two meh! games in a row. Bowe is inconsistent and has two Yeah! games in a row. Go with the hot hand?
As to the flex spot, Ronnie Brown has been a bit of a disappointment, I don’t think Woodhead is worth a start, but Branch is intriguing. Tough call. I’d probably go with the first three too.
Top 2 definitely. Owens has 4 straight games with a TD, Bowe has a nice matchup, and Britt was phenomenal last week. Watch Palmer’s injury though, if he’s healthy, I generally like to start the WR with the better QB.
Ronnie Brown. I’m not sold on Blount yet, but I haven’t watched him closely either.
Check DeAngelo’s status to be sure, but I think Stewart has the highest upside of all of those by a good margin. Gonzalez may be back for the Colts, making White the 4th WR.
I’d do Stewart, Woodhead, Bryant, and Holmes, but that’s not a well-researched answer - I only tend to keep up with my players and potential waiver adds.
), and where better than St Louis?