At this point in the season you should have your roster locked down and preparing yourself to make a playoff push. If your roster isn’t at that point of comfortability I’ll be coming out with article on how to ‘wheel and deal’ trades in fantasy football, but for now let’s take a look at this week’s waiver wire pickups.
Felix Jones RB Dallas Cowboys – With the injury to Dallas’ starting running back Demarco Murray, Jones will get the start this weekend against the Carolina Panthers. This is really no surprise as Murray has a long list of injuries in his football career, but the news out of Dallas is that his injury is not severe and Murray should be back in the next couple weeks. Jones is a good short-term option for Murray owners, or for a team whose main RB weapon might be on a bye this week. The Dallas offensive line is starting to come together and playing a soft team in Carolina will benefit Jones this week. For those who like to wheel and deal, if you are interested in grabbing Murray in a trade this is a good buy low opportunity to do so.
Shonn Greene RB New York Jets – ‘Ground and Pound’, Baby! I started Greene last week as some of my players were on a bye week and after watching game tapes I was impressed with his burst and the play of the Offensive Line. He had a huge week and its surprising to see he is still available in 20% of Yahoo Fantasy Leagues at time of publication. Greene is the workhorse for the Jets and given the struggles that Mark Sanchez has experienced, the Jets should go to the ground game even more in the coming weeks. This week will be a big task though as the Jets are going against New England. From past years watching Greene, he usually has a slow start and starts to pick up speed and production toward week 10. Maybe this year he gets an early start?
***Daryl Richardson RB St. Louis Rams*** – Dynasty league owners take note, with the Rams announcing that they’ll let Steven Jackson walk after this year the stock for Richardson is going through the roof. The play of Isaiah Pead has been lacking. The opportunities for Richardson will grow in the coming weeks while St. Louis tries to determine if he can be an every-down back in 2013, or if they will need to use an early draft pick to add a starter to their team. If you are in a keeper league and you’ve got an available roster spot, this could be a great addition for the 2013 Fantasy season.
Josh Gordon WR Cleveland Browns – If recent weeks hold true, it looks like Gordon and Browns’ quarterback Josh Weeden are starting to click on big plays. In the last two weeks Gordon has put up 181 yards on 5 receptions, with 3 TD’s. I personally would feel more comfortable adding Gordon to my roster if there were more receptions as he may be a player who could have a huge week by catching a long touchdown pass, but will be inconsistent the next. Cleveland does have a favourable match-up this week going up against Indianapolis. With the possibility that Trent Richardson may not play, look to see if the Browns go to the air more often, which could mean more opportunities to Gordon.
Flying under the Fantasy Waiver wire
Nate Burleson WR Detroit Lions – I guess at this point if you have been following my articles you can see I usually have at least one Lions player in my columns. This week, Burleson is the man and even though he has low production he is someone to monitor. Titus Young’s play has been lacking and teams are always double teaming “Megatron” Calvin Johnson. Short term, Burleson is nice bye-week fill in with the possibility of exploding for big production. Long term, he’s someone to keep an eye on, as he might take that number two receiver job and run with it. As a side note for the Lions, don’t sleep on Kevin Smith.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s article and wish you the best of luck on this week’s match-ups and in your playoff push.
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