by Gabe Harber
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, well at
least until February. The beginning of
the bye weeks are a critical time where the course of entire seasons can hang
in the balance. A timely addition can be
the difference between taking a few Ls and winning your division. Luckily though, you have the Fantasy Football
Addict to guide you through these confusing times as your stars get some much
needed rest and relaxation. Let’s roll
up our sleeves.
Steve Breaston: I had him here last week too, and his
stock is still going up. Cassel is finally showing signs of life,
and the Chiefs as a unit have looked decent since the contest with San
Diego. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t
get to play Indy every week, but sometimes a confidence boost is all a team
really needs to develop synergy. With Dwayne Bowe swinging into midseason
form and the Chiefs finally sporting a running game worth mention, you have a
real chance for this criminally underappreciated talent to put up some WR2/3
numbers.
Jackie Battle: If you want to talk about things coming out
of left field, pull up a chair and we can chat about Battle all day. In the mindless maze of mediocrity that was
the discussion on whether Thomas Jones
or Dexter McCluster would be the
beneficiary when Charles went down,
no one even mentioned the guy that showed more promise in one game than the
other two showed all last season. He’s
not a particularly dazzling runner, with most of his yardage coming on brute
force between the tackles, but the RB situation in Kansas City is desperate
enough that the coaching staff is likely to stick with the hot hand.
Doug Baldwin: I love tooting my own horn, so I’ll do it
again here. I sensed Baldwin was ready
for a breakout performance, and while some may believe he’s peaked, I foresee
good things for the future in Seattle. Lynch, Rice, and Tavaris Jackson
are all developing chemistry, and the offense is starting to consistently move
the ball downfield. Baldwin is unowned
in most leagues and finding a receiver with three 80+ yard performances is too
much to pass up on.
Jason Avant: This
one was the one I was most unsure about.
He clearly has a connection with Michael
Vick, but how much longer will his
QB and coaching staff continue to trust him if he can’t secure the ball? There are a few things I see working in his
favor though. For one, his teammates
seem to have the same problem in securing the football, and Andy Reid, possibly coaching for his
job, will probably be willing to put the most productive players on the field
in an attempt to pull the Eagles out of this downward spiral. There’s a high risk, high reward addition to
be made here for those of you looking for a big payoff at WR.
Jared Cook: I wasn’t ready to jump on his bandwagon
quite yet after last week, as he hadn’t gone for more than 2 receptions in any
game this season. It just felt like his
2 catch, 93 yard and a touchdown performance could too easily be the product of
luck. All that changed this week,
because even though he didn’t find the endzone, he caught 4 balls for 59 yards;
a big improvement on weeks 1-3. It’s not
like he wasn’t targeted in the red zone though; he saw two passes come his was
in the red zone this week. As long as Matt
Hasselbeck continues playing at a high level, Cook is a viable option in
deeper formats.
Curtis Painter: Peyton who? Alright, maybe Painter only looked good for
one half of football, and maybe Pierre
Garcon is artificially inflating his statistics, and maybe the Colts are
still really (I mean REALLY) bad, but you could do a whole lot worse than
Painter for your bye weeks. I don’t
expect he’ll “go off” for a huge game at any point this season, but 15-20
points is a perfectly reasonable expectation.
Michael
Crabtree: As one’s season goes, so
emerges another. Losing Josh Morgan was a huge blow to a
surprisingly good 49ers squad, and now the spotlight, and a large portion of
the offensive responsibilities fall on another player. We’ve caught glimpses in the past of what
Crabtree is capable of (weeks 5, 10, and 16 last year) and now the show will be
all his to steal. Always at risk for
injury, and with an elite level of talent, Crabtree could be one of those
additions that win you a championship, or one that has you sending him back
into the talent pool after 3 weeks, he’s just that enigmatic. Still, despite all the risk, he’s a must own
in all deeper formats.
Kendall Hunter: I’ve mentioned him here before, but I
want to make sure everyone realizes exactly how important it is to pick up
Hunter if he’s still floating around on waivers. In the past 3 contests he’s averaging 4.9
yards per carry, and even broke off a long reception. If Frank
Gore goes down, which isn’t too much of a stretch, Hunter immediately moves
into the realm of RB2. Add him with
confidence and reap the benefits down the road.
Victor Cruz: If he’s still on waivers, snag him
immediately. It looks like all that talk
about Manningham taking his job back
was exactly that, talk. I’ve watched him
play in the last 3 games and I can personally attest to the fact that dude is
the real deal. I’m starting him from
here on out until Manningham puts him back on the bench
or the G-men slow down.
If you have any questions about your lineup, or just want to
chat fake futbol, stop by my Twitter, or you can just mention me: @CrazyGabey.
Thanks for reading folks and best of luck this week!
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