Crazy Gabey's Week Eight Pick Ups

By: Gabriel Harber

What’s going on here?

The Saints beat the Colts by 437 points, then lost to the Rams by a bruised ego.  The Cowboys beat the Rams handily the week before, then got shellacked by the Eagles, who were supposed to be in disarray.  The Colts took the Steelers to the wire a few weeks back, and the Steelers beat the Patriots, who had to come from behind to beat the Cowboys.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Steelers edged out the Jaguars, who grinded out the Ravens, who hobblestomped the Steelers week 1.

Making sense yet?  Of course it does.

You see, by using the transitive property of fantasy football congruence, and multiplying pi times the quadratic formula we arrive at the eventual champi…………..

Nevermind, I have no clue what the hell I’m talking about.  Let’s just get to the pickups.

 
Smoke and Mirrors

Brent Celek:  Don’t buy into the hype.  What you saw Sunday night was the Eagles coming off a bye week, with a specific game plan, and attacking a specific weakness on the Dallas defense.  Vick’s wide open style has proven to rarely feature tight ends and I would be looking elsewhere if I needed help.

Laurent Robinson:  Robinson’s big day was a product of a Tony Romo shoulder shrug, not his own talent.  The Cowboys offense has 3 passing weapons atop the pecking order before Robinson, and you won’t see many games like Sunday’s too often.  You can find consistency elsewhere on the wire.

The Pick-Ups 

Roy Helu:  Shanahan went scoreless for the first time in his career, flipping the bird to all of you who thought there would finally be some predictable production in his backfield.  Torain ran like he had cement shoes on, and with the ‘Skins season quickly slipping away, they’ll have to pull out all the stops soon.  Helu is the most natural talent at running back, and with his pass catching abilities could become a force if given the touches. (Note: Redskins later went on to claim Tashard Choice from waivers)

Maurice Morris:  Morris delivered for everyone who chose to take a gamble on him, gaining 58 yards and touchdown.  What impressed me the most was his 4.5 yards per carry which is exactly what the Lions need to take the pressure off of Mathew Stafford.  Best is notorious for durability issues, and even when he comes back I could easily see Morris getting 10-15 touches a games.  That, coupled with the injury concerns for Best make him worth rostering.

Titus Young:  I know his big play had more to do with a defensive breakdown than skill, but as I mentioned above, if Detroit continues to establish some sort of running presence then Young will be worth rostering in deeper formats.  It helps that Detroit wide receivers have a great schedule the rest of the way.

Deion Branch:  You know exactly what you’re getting here, so temper your expectations.  Branch’s value is directly tied to Brady’s success, and as long as the Pats are throwing Branch should get you in between six to twelve points a game.

Javon Ringer:  No one saw this coming, but since it’s here, we might as well chat about it.  CJ(insert number here)K is bad.  I don’t just mean he’s not playing well, I mean he just looks like he’s not a good player any more.  Ringer has been a perennial waiver wire discussion piece the past few seasons, but strictly as a handcuff to Johnson.  Now I’m advocating Ringer as the primary back, and the Titans, who are hungry for a playoff berth, will go with the hot hand to make it happen.  If losing his feature back status doesn’t light a fire under Johnson’s ass, it’s safe to say this will be a time share moving forward with Ringer being the greater value.

Kyle Orton:  Remember Jake Delhomme?  I do.  Remember how much John Fox loved Jake Delhomme?  I remember that too.  As much as I believe Tebow is the guy (yes I’m a Timmy lover), I think Fox would love a return to the traditional style of Orton and Sunday’s game may have given him exactly the out he was looking for.  Just like Delhomme was kept as Carolina’s starter far longer than he should have been, I don’t believe we’ve seen the last of Orton.  Denver has an extremely soft passing schedule from here on out which helps the upside of this play.  Grab Orton if you’re weak at quarterback and you might just hit the lottery.

Tavaris Jackson:  Maybe Jackson has Jason Terry syndrome.  After sitting out the first two drives, Tavaris came in and engineered one of the best statistical games of his career (though his no touchdowns killed his fantasy day.)  I mentioned earlier in the year that I saw quite a bit of improvement in him from last season, and to play the way he did against an unforgiving Bengals unit was impressive.  I like the outlook on Jackson moving forward.

Torrey Smith:  This kid has all the talent (and speed) in the world, and as long as he continues developing

rapport with Flacco, he could become the Lee Evans the Ravens always wanted.  His big time pressure catch was what stars are made of, and in order for the Ravens to compete in the suddenly hyper-competitive AFC North they’ll need to balance Ray Rice with a passing attack; something they’ve failed to do in previous weeks.

Antonio Brown/Emmanuel Sanders:  The Steelers' new look offense has provided a fantasy boon for owners everywhere, and if you happen to need wide receiver help I like both of these guys more than anyone else this week.  If you have to choose between the two, I would go with Brown as he seems to have more big play potential, but honestly I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

Scott Chandler:  Chandler is an interesting case because he either catches touchdowns (good) or does nothing (bad.)  I wouldn’t view him as a long term solution to the tight end position as he has only 15 catches all year, but if you’re in a deeper league and need a bye week fill-in, you could certainly do much worse than to take a gamble on the high-powered Bills offense.

Johnathan Baldwin:  Baldwin finally showed us why the Chiefs used a first round pick on him tonight, manhandling the coverage assigned to him.  He actually played better than his number indicate (and his numbers are impressive), and with Bowe and Breaston lining up alongside, this looks to be an extremely potent aerial assault.  He immediately becomes a mid-range flex play and a WR3 with upside.

Curtis Brinkley:  The Chargers backfield has been a M.A.S.H. unit this season, and with Mathews legs falling off every game (hey at least he waited until the fourth quarter this time) Brinkley was thrust into a starring role.  What I saw tonight made me question why Norv Turner has been sitting quietly on this kid all year.  He cut back, darted, leapt, and burst through holes like an elite level talent.  He even caught a difficult pass late in the fourth to move the Bolts into scoring position.  Post-game reports have him being examined for a concussion so be sure to monitor his status throughout the week, but it’s tough to not advise an add when you combine Mathews’ health and Tolbert’s general ineffectiveness.  Should either running back miss significant time Brinkley would become an overnight RB2 play. (Edit: Curtis Brinkley has a concussion.)

Good luck figuring out what the next week holds and see you back here.  Until then I’ll be using my TI-84 to perfect my lineups. Check out my Twitter for all of your troubles.