I won’t cover Survivor here (new article should be out Wednesday), but I offer an apology for all of you who went down with the Patriots. It was an unbelievable victory for the Cardinals, but the Patriots still had a chance to win with a 42-yard field goal that was completely blown. I lost seven of nine entries in various pools because of New England so I certainly went down with the ship.
This column will take a quick look at under owned or newly valuable players for this week’s waiver period.
Quarterback
Tom Brady – Is it time to worry about Tom Terrific? His first pass of the game this Sunday went for an interception. His favorite WR, Wes Welker, seems to be a bench player though with Aaron Hernandez’s injury Welker will likely get onto the field a bit more. My advice on Brady – wait it out a bit longer. Arizona’s defense is much better than it was given credit so give Brady another week or two. However, if it looks like the Patriots are going to run the ball more and more, Brady’s value is diminished.
Robert Griffin III – Yep, he looks like the real deal .And with the injuries (and lackluster play) on defense, he will likely have many chances this season to rack up yards. I would treat him as a top five to eight rated QB for the remainder of the season.
Carson Palmer – Darren McFadden’s struggles with the new zone blocking scheme for the Oakland Raiders has led to more opportunities to throw the ball for the Raiders. Palmer has taken advantage of it. McFadden will get better, but the Raiders defense likely won’t so Palmer will likely continue to have top 12 value for the year.
Running back
Michael Bush – Don’t go too crazy after Michael Bush as it looks like Matt Forte’s injury may not be quite as serious as assumed. Forte may only miss a week or two. If you own Forte, bid aggressively for Bush. If not, only grab him if you have needs for the next couple of weeks.
Andre Brown – Mr. Brown can do it. How about you? Last week shows that David Wilson is buried in a doghouse beneath the end zone of Giants’ Stadium (or whatever it’s called now). The current reporting on Ahmad Bradshaw’s injury is that it is a sprain, but the Giants have used two backs in the past so Brown is worth an add in deeper leagues.
Daryl Richardson – More handcuffs here, but Jeff Fisher showed last week that he isn’t afraid to rock the boat. Richardson showed good speed and elusiveness and I could see him supplanting Jackson in the second half of this season. I’d rather have Richardson for the long term than Andre Brown.
Mikel Leshoure – There is a great deal of excitement around Leshoure, but I’m not sure how excited we should get. The Detroit Lions haven’t incorporated the RB into their offense in many seasons. Leshourse’s skills seem to point towards a two down back with his inability to catch and trouble with pass blocking. Tread carefully here as I’m not sure Leshoure becomes a major contributor (even with the inevitable Kevin Smith injury).
Wide Receiver
Danny Amendola – PPR stud. Bradford safety blanket. He’ll never have another performance like he did last week, but he’s clearly number one in the WR pecking order for the St. Louis Rams
Brandon LaFell – This early season breakout looks to be for real. With Jonathan Stewart back for the Panthers last week, Cam Newton had his full complement of offensive weapons. LaFell continued to perform. And with Steve Smith drawing loads of attention on the other side, LaFell will likely have single coverage all season long.
Donnie Avery – See Amendola, Danny. Avery is Andrew Luck’s safety blanket in the early going. As long as Avery stays healthy (a big question) he is a WR2/3 in PPR leagues.
Second WR in Cincinnati – There is value to be had here, but it’s not clear on a week to week basis who that player will be. I still think Andrew Hawkins is a wild card who isn’t worth owning – you just won’t know when lightning will strike with him. I like Armon Binns as the leader for this job, with Hawkins just behind him and Brandon Tate fourth. Mohamed Sanu has yet to play and can be ignored at this point.
Tight End
Martellus Bennett – Yes, let’s add him in 10 team leagues now. He’s always had the athletic ability to succeed, but many of his failings have been mental (and also being stuck behind Jason Witten). If you lost Aaron Hernandez this week, Bennett is a nice second prize. I’d also drop Jacob Tamme, Fred Davis (concussion), Owen Daniels, Jermaine Gresham and Dustin Keller for Bennett or my next entrant.
Kyle Rudolph – He is still criminally under owned at just 35% of Yahoo! leagues. He’s the only TE on that roster worth anything and he’s playing every snap. His chances will come as the season progresses.
Scott Chandler – The Buffalo Bills had their way with the Chiefs this week and Chandler picked up another TD. The Bills will likely be in their share of shootouts over the course of the season.
Dante Rosario – No. He had three TDs this week on four targets against the Tennessee Titans (hold that thought). He had 5 career TDs in 79 prior games.
TE playing the Titans – Through two weeks, it has become quite clear that the Tennessee Titans cannot cover TEs especially with middle linebacker Colin McCarthy likely out for a few more weeks. That bodes well for Brandon Pettigrew this week. If you need a matchup play (especially when bye weeks appear), note who the Titans are playing.
Kicker
Stephen Gostkowski – It will be interesting to see how he handles the miss which cost the New England Patriots on Sunday. Monitor him over the next couple of weeks and be ready to cut bait if he struggles.
Blair Walsh, Justin Tucker, Greg Zuerlein – Three reasons why you do not draft kickers early. These three rookie kickers are likely in your top 10 for kickers this season. Tucker plays for an offense that has consistently provided FG opportunities. The other two play in domes which is generally a good
Defense
Arizona Cardinals – As I mentioned earlier, I think we were wrong about the Cardinals defense. The Cardinals ended 2011 on a hot streak and seem to have continued on in to 2012. Their offense still looks like it is a wreck, but their defense may be matchup proof.
Buffalo Bills – A good one week add as they face the Cleveland Browns. I’d even think about picking up the Browns against the Bills. I will have more on this matchup in my start/sit column.
Oakland Raiders – They failed me last week in a number of leagues. And they’ve been hit by injury again in the secondary I’m not sure if they can be trusted in any leagues at the moment.
Washington Redskins – With the injuries to Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker, the Redskins should be avoided until it is clear what impact this will have on the defense and how their replacements perform.
Chris Garosi is a contributor for District Sports Page. One of his favorite sports memories is witnessing Wilson Alvarez’s no-hitter at Memorial Stadium in 1991. Chris has played fantasy sports since the pre-Internet days and participates in any league for any sport to which he’s invited. He even won an XFL fantasy league. Really. You can follow him on Twitter at @chrisgarosi.
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