Week 13 Fantasy Picks

Just 2 weeks left for people to make a push towards the playoffs, so this is most likely a very big week for people on the bubble and every roster spot will be crucial.  For last week, I missed big on a few as Case Keenum and Ben Tate were about as bad as it gets for Houston against a bad Jags defense.  Phillip Rivers, who I did not like, was able to get it going as Hali and Houston, KC's best 2 pass rushers were injured and forced to leave the game early.  Antonio Brown was able to have a decent first half and then was held to one catch in the second, but I still missed on that one.  Bobby Rainey and Ray Rice were not factors last week, which were ones that we did hit on as were Lacey and Kaepernick, who had pretty good games as well.  Greg Olson kept it going as he scored, which is almost becoming a weekly occurrence.  Now, it is time to turn the page and see if we can help make that playoff push.

Quarterbacks

Palmer is starting to make it look
the good old days.  Today should
be one of those days as well.

Carson Palmer, welcome back after some time off this list.  Palmer has put together some good games and
is now traveling to the East coast to face the league's worst pass defense.  Should be able to replicate those numbers he has been putting up.

Alex Smith, I think Andy Reid liked what he saw last week out of Smith and knows that he is going to have to let him loose to keep up with Denver.  This could be a good option as they are at home and DRC will be a game time decision and Champ is still out. 

Josh McCown, playing against a bad Minnesota pass defense, he should keep it going with a lot of great options to throw to for Chicago in the dome at Minnesota.

Running Backs

C.J. Spiller/Fred Jackson, who knows who will get the majority of the carries, but they are playing against a bad Atlanta run defense, so Jackson should be a definite go and Spiller should be more of a desperation as we still don't know how they will use him.

Rashad Jennings/Darren McFadden, not sure if McFadden will be going, but start whoever is dressed tomorrow as they will be doing plenty of running against Dallas' porous defense, especially if Sean Lee still can't go.

Ben Tate/Dennis Johnson, follow the trend and start any running back against New England.  Since Mayo and Wilfork have been down, they have not been able to stop anybody. They are stating that Tate will get the start, but who knows after last week's terrible performance.

Desperation

Donald Brown,  is now getting the start as Trent Richardson has been benched for this week.  Turned in a good performance with 80 yards and 2 touchdowns, the last time Indy played Tennessee.  He has also been catching passes out of the backfield, which is a bonus for PPR leagues.

Stay Away

Bobby Rainey, two weeks in a row for this guy as he faces another tough matchup in Carolina.  Rainey is not good enough to start against a good defense as evidenced from last week.

Eddie Lacy, tough to bench Lacy as he has been doing very well, but Detroit and a motivated Ndamukong Suh are going to do everything in their power to let Flynn beat them tomorrow.

Wide Receivers

Alshon Jeffrey, playing on the other side of Marshall helps a lot and this week, it will help even more that Minnesota will be facing him.  Trestman likes to have his offense throwing the ball a lot, which means there are plenty of targets to go around.

Green Bay Receivers, does not matter which one you would like to pick, they should all put up decent days as the Lions focus on stopping the run as they don't realize that this is now a passing league.  Start each of these receivers with out worry.

Victor Cruz, should have another decent day as the Giants desperately need this win.  Now that the running game is going for New York, the Redskins are going to have a very hard time stopping Eli and company.

Desperation

Denarius Moore/Rod Streater, playing against the Dallas defense and Oakland may need to score a lot of points to keep up with Dallas.  Take your pick and hope for the best.  It seems McGloin like Streater better but you never know with this team.

Michael Floyd, coming off 2 good games, there is a chance that he is turning the corner towards being a consistently good receiver.  It helps that Philly will be on the other side of him this week, so look for him to possibly keep it going.

Roddy White, I am going to give Roddy another go as eventually they are going to take advantage of this talented receiver.  Today may be the day for Mr. White.

I missed on Roddy White, but I can Explain!

So, I was pretty high on Roddy White really coming back and being the receiver he once was and was able to watch the majority of the first half.  The basis of me really liking him was the fact that Jabari Greer would be out and the Saints would not have a corner to cover him.  Most of the fantasy experts are complaining about his performance, which is unfair to those who were truly in tune to the game.  Roddy White was being covered by the only NFL starting cornerback that they had in Keenan Lewis with safety help.  This left soft coverage backside on Darius Johnson and Harry Douglas who had pretty good games.  Despite everything I have mentioned, Roddy was beating Lewis who was playing press as he knew he had help over the top.  This led to Matt Ryan not even looking to the right, if anybody really watched they would have saw this as well.  He took the snap and immediately looked to his left as if that was part of the game plan and targeted anybody but White.  Roddy was targeted twice and he caught both, last week he was targeted 9 times, but had Revis covering him.  So, don't lose faith in Roddy yet as he could help you down the road as physically he looked fine and the lack of offense seemed to be a scheme issue as opposed to White not being able to cut it.

Week 12 Fantasy Picks

Although it is Thursday, I wanted to get an early start this week as I wanted to welcome somebody back to the fantasy list for Thursday night's game.  Last week was a pretty okay week as we only missed big on the Jets defense who did not show up last week against the Bills and a couple of receivers really didn't do anything last week.  The quarterbacks all did well enough and Ray Rice played probably his best game of the year.  That was last week and we now must move on to this week.

Quarterbacks

Case Keenum, going against the Jaguars and they have Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins and now Garrett Graham is turning into a serviceable tight end.  This should be a coming out party for Keenum, who I unfortunately am playing against personally.

Colin Kaepernick, the biggest problem here is the fact that Gore scores from inside the 3 for all of their touchdowns it seems.  The other problem is that they have the potential to get up big especially against a slow starting team like the Redskins.  Once that happens, Harbaugh is happy to slowly run the clock down.  You should hopefully be able to get a couple of touchdowns and maybe 50 yards rushing, but don't expect too much over 200 yards passing as this offense is just not built that way at this point.  Maybe when Crabtree gets back that will change, but until then good luck with this crew.

Desperation

Matty Ice, Ryan has been doing okay for fantasy owners despite his team's lackluster performance.  Tonight he should be able to get you at least 2 touchdowns especially if Jabari Greer is injured and not manning one of the corner spots for the Saints.

Stay Away

Phillip Rivers, the Chiefs have only given up more than 17 points once this year and it was against the best offense this league has seen since at least the 2007 Patriots.  That does not leave a lot of room for Rivers to get a lot of touchdown passes, especially since the Chiefs have to be pretty upset with their first loss.

Running Backs

Ben Tate, he probably won't have a monster game as he has only scored one touchdown this year, but he is pretty consistent with getting about 80-90 yards a game and he has been catching a few more passes as well.  Playing against the Jags, if you aren't going to start him this week, he is just taking up a spot on your roster.  Give him the rock this week.

Chris Johnson,  going to Oakland, who has not been too good against the run.  CJ should find paydirt as he has in 3 of the past 4 games and get close to the century mark in rushing yards.

Eddie Lacy, playing against Minnesota with Scott Tolzien showing that he can handle playing behind center in the League, should both be huge factors for Lacy having a big day.  Minnesota has had a hard time stopping the run and with Tolzien showing that he can throw, Minnesota will have to respect the Green Bay passing game.

Stay Away

Bobby Rainey, as good as this guy has been running for the Buccaneers, they are going to be playing Detroit who has a lot to play for and a very good defensive line.  Stay away if you have better options.

Ray Rice, going against a very motivated Jet defense, who is already number one against the run is not going to help.  Same as Rainey, if you have other options start them.  Look for the Ray Rice that you have seen for most of 2013 to be playing.

Wide Receivers

Roddy should not be just standing
around tonight.  Big Game!

Roddy White, laugh if you will, but Mr. White will have a coming out party tonight, you just wait
and see.  He has played against some good cornerbacks his first few weeks back, but tonight especially if Greer can't go for the Saints, look for White to be highly targeted and motivated. 


Victor Cruz,  should be able to take advantage of a weak Cowboy defense especially if Sean Lee is not in the mix. 



V-Jax, they will not be able to run against Detroit, but they should be able to throw and look for this guy to get a lot of targets.

Stay Away

Antonio Brown, Joe Haden will be all over him and that is never good news for fantasy owners.  I have him, but this is a guy that you should sit.  Just ask AJ Green owners last week.

Tight Ends

Garrett Graham, turning into a pretty good option and with Jacksonville in town, worrying about Andre Johnson, Graham should be able to beat the linebackers of the Jags.

Greg Olson, besides the clunker he threw up 2 weeks ago, Olson has been pretty solid.  In a season, where there are only a couple of real solid option, Olsen is the better of a bad situation.

Desperation

John Carlson, be on the lookout for this guy as Minnesota's offense is heavy on tight ends.  If Rudolph does not come back, Carlson could be good for a team making a playoff run.

Gambler's Corner for Week 12

If you are still alive in your suicide pool, congratulations to you.  For the most part, many people are already done with their pools and after my terrible performance a couple of weeks ago, I took a week off and ready to go a different route.  To be fair, I don't think anybody saw St. Louis thrashing the only team that has beat Seattle and Denver, the Indianapolis Colts and the Jags were bound to get a win and it just happened to be the week that I picked against them.  So for this week going forward, I am going to throw in my gambling picks and see if I can pick up from where I left off 2 years ago, where I hovered around 60%.  Let us see how it works out this season.

The Picks

Indy +3 @ Arizona, as much as I like the way the Cardinals have been playing, the Colts just seem to win after starting slowly every week.  After that loss to St. Louis, I don't think Chuck Pagano will have them caught off guard any more.  Andrew Luck is as good as advertised, maybe not when it comes to fantasy numbers, but he is when it comes to winning games.  In 2 years, he has already won a good amount of games with basically 2 different head coaches as Bruce Arians took over for Pagano while he was sick last year.  Arians could be a factor as he knows Andrew Luck very well since he coached him last year, but in the end this Colt team will be too much for the Cardinals and I expect the Colts to win this game flat out.

Expect CJ to help the Titans get
back on track in Oakland.

Tennessee -1 @ Oakland, Matt McGloin coming off a pretty good game for the Raiders last week will probably come back to earth as it is pretty tough to play in this league as a rookie.  There is little tape, but McGloin is a backup in this league, which is no knock on him, but he is what he is.  The Raiders have been playing okay, but look for the Titans to come back from losing 2 really tough games against the Colts and the lowly Jags and get their fifth win in this battle of 4-6 teams.

Jacksonville +10 @ Houston, this would be a much tougher call if it was 2012, but the way that Houston has been playing this year, I have no idea how Vegas can have Houston giving 10 points to a college team this season. Jacksonville has been playing harder the last few weeks and I don't think Houston can score enough to cover 10 points.  I see Houston winning this game, but 10 points is just too much.

So that is a wrap for this week, hopefully we can end up with fatter pockets than it began.  Good luck with your gambling endeavors!

Week 11 Fantasy Picks

Week 10 was a tough one as many of the guys we liked didn't play badly, but they didn't produce huge numbers besides a few, namely the Eagles players mentioned like Foles, Cooper and Jackson, who might all be every week starters at this point. Cooper is maybe the only one that you may have to think about, but that is a really good option if need be.  Peyton Hillis, did not end up playing and Andre Brown was the workhorse, despite all reports stating that he would be eased into offense.  The great thing about this game, is there is always next week and that is where we are at this point.  Hopefully, we pick it up a notch and get you a step closer to the playoffs.

Quarterbacks

Nick Foles, this will most likely be the last week I mention Foles as once you are considered an every week starter, there is no need to put you on the list unless I think they are not worth starting.  Washington is coming to town and this game could be an offensive showdown as neither defense is very good against the pass.  Great matchup here.

RGIII, from an offensive standpoint this guy is putting up numbers much like last year and unless you have a much better quarterback, he should be an every week start.  This is a good matchup and with Alfred Morris having a hard time getting in the end zone, RGIII fantasy owners are benefitting as he is getting a lot of touchdowns, without having to throw for a lot of yards.

Russell Wilson,  Minnesota and their terrible defense are coming to town and Wilson's main issue will be not letting Lynch get too many goal line carries.  If that is the case, Wilson should have a big day and may be the best option on the day.

Desperation

Eli Manning, the Packers are coming to town and this is a must win for the Giants, who despite an awful start, can still win the division, but they need to keep winning.  Manning should be able to get you at least 2 touchdowns today.

Running Backs

Andre Brown,  Coughlin is going to stay conservative knowing that the Packer offense will not have an easy time putting up points and the best way to lose this game will be from letting Manning throw too much, which can lead to picks.  Look for Brown to get a lot of carries today.

Andre Ellington, eventually Ellington will get more touches than Mendenhall as he keeps producing and the pressure must be mounting on Arians to do so.  Playing against Jacksonville should be a good day to try that out.

Desperation

Tate needs to do something today
to be considered a true fantasy
factor going forward.

Ray Rice, bad weather is expected and the Bears defense has been fairly generous to runners this season.  It could be a day that Rice catches some short passes and starts to get a good amount of carries, but with Pierce getting more involved you never know.

Ben Tate,  still needs to show something before he is considered a guy to start on a consistent basis, but he will get the majority of the carries and they are playing at home against Oakland.  This could be his coming out party.

Stay Away

Mark Ingram, don't expect a similar performance to last week as Dallas is not very good against the run.  The 49ers are not too happy about losing to Carolina this week and a big back like Ingram does not look to fare well against this type of defense.  Expect Brees to attack the secondary instead.

Wide Receivers

Pierre Garcon, should look to keep it going against Philadelphia if the weather holds up.  Garcon is the most consistent in this receiver core and he is best bet to put up some numbers.

Golden Tate, Wilson will be throwing today and he seems to like to throw to Tate, who also tends to get in the end zone fairly often.  Should be a good option.

Desperation

DeAndre Hopkins, does not score enough to be considered a starter every week, but Keenum seems to like targeting Hopkins and that should still be the trend with Oakland coming to town.

Marvin Jones, Joe Haden will be locked up on Green today so Jones, who is becoming a bigger part of the offense on  a week to week basis could be the beneficiary today.  He also has a knack for getting in the end zone.

Stay Away

Cecil Shorts,  despite the fact that somebody needs to catch the ball, Cecil will be locked down by Patrick Peterson and he probably won't be able to break free for touchdowns like Andre Johnson did last week.  AJ had 5 catches for 37 yards last week, but was able to make a decent fantasy play as he hauled in 2 touchdowns. 

Roddy White,  has Revis this week, so it won't be until next week where he may be considered a desperation option.

Defense

NY Jets, with the Bills missing 2 of their receivers, there will be less options and the Jets can focus on stopping the run with maybe one of the best defensive lines in the league.  Weather may be a factor making it easier for them as well.

Week 10 Fantasy Picks

If your league is anything like mine, regardless of your record, almost everybody still has a chance to make the playoffs.  These next 3 weeks will truly decide whether you are able to make a push or you will be watching unexcitedly on weeks 15 and 16.  Last week we missed on a couple as Alex Smith did not do anything, which I felt as I had picked up as Colin K had a bye.  Bilal Powell, I would give myself 50-50 because Chris Ivory ended up being the feature back and had a big day and you can never figure it out who will be the bellcow for the Jets, but I had the right idea.  ATP hit big on keeping away from Ray Rice, pushing for TY Hilton to start coming through worked out as well.  Hopefully, we can keep more good calls coming than bad.

Quarterbacks

Nick Foles,  now I don't like him because he threw 7 touchdowns last week.  That is a good sign, but the more important part is that he seems to be putting it together with Chip Kelly's offense.  Outside of the last time we recommended him against Dallas, he has been pretty consistent and this week he is going against Green Bay, who may be down as they don't have Aaron Rodgers for the next couple of weeks.  This should be a good day for Foles.

Big Ben, the Steelers really need to get a win and they realize that playing Buffalo is a good chance to do that.  Big Ben had a pretty good game in a loss to New England and I expect that to continue to the blight of Leveon Bell owners.  Big Ben is a top 5 quarterback this week as far as I am concerned.

Phillip Rivers, he is going to need to sling it this weekend with Denver coming to town.  They don't have a very good run game, so expect Woodhead and company to have a lot of short receptions, which they hope will turn into big plays.  Should have at least 2, but most likely 3 touchdowns in this one.

Stay Away

Case Keenum,  I know he was able to find Andre Johnson for a ton of yards and 3 touchdowns last week, but expect Patrick Peterson to be covering Andre, which should negate any chance of a similar effort.  Arizona has a solid defense all around and they like to run the ball to chew up some clock to shorten the game.  There are a lot better options than Keenum this week.

Matty Ice, although I said to stay away from the Seahawks in suicide pools, I still don't love Matty Ice against the Legion of Boom.  It should be interesting if Roddy White is back, but not that interesting to give this guy a start.

Running Backs

Murray will need to get back on
track this week and lucky for
him, they are heading to New
Orleans who have been very
charitable to running backs.

Demarco Murray,  the Saints have had a hard time stopping the run for the most part this season.  The Cowboys are going to want to replicate what the Jets did last week and Murray should be the benefactor as he should get at least 20 carries this weekend.  Expect over 100 yards and a touchdown from Murray.

CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson,  the Steelers have had a hard time stopping the run as of late and I would expect the trend to continue this weekend.  The hard part will be figuring out which guy will do better and get the majority of the carries.  Spiller seems to be healthy for the first time in a while and he should begin to get more touches, but we will see if that is the case.  I do like Spiller better, but Jackson should get goal line touches.

Desperation

Peyton Hillis, it does not seem like Jacobs will be dressing and they are going to bring Brown around slowly, so for at least one more week against a bad Oakland team, Hillis should get the majority of the touches.  Always good for a touchdown or 2, could be a good one week pickup.

Andre Ellington, this is mostly from a PPR standpoint as Bruce Arians has made it clear that Mendenhall will start, but he wants Andre to get around 20 touches.  This will be done through the pass game, which will be a huge pickup for fantasy points in a PPR league.  It would seem that his best chance of scoring will be from distance, but you may get lucky as he has big play ability.

Stay Away

Zac Stacy, now this is a tough one to say stay away from, but it is primarily due to playing against a tough Colts defense, where Chuck Pagano will try and take away their strength, which will be Stacy and not Kellen Clemens.  He will get a lot of touches though and he may punch one in as well, but remember his 2 touchdowns were the first rushing touchdowns of the season for the Rams last week.

Wide Receivers

Desean Jackson and Riley Cooper,  I like Jackson a lot more but I will throw them both in as Chip Kelly and Nick Foles are going to do everything in their power to show last week was not a fluke.  Expect a lot of throws and for them to really put some points on Green Bay today.  Chip Kelly is an ego maniac and he is going to want to show that he can coach in the NFL.

Cecil Shorts, Somebody is going to have the ball thrown to them and with Blackmon out again, it is going to fall to Mr. Shorts who has been pretty good when he is the main option.  Shorts is a very good play in a PPR league.

Desperation

DeAndre Hopkins, Patrick Peterson should be covering Andre Johnson and will be especially attentive after AJ's performance last week, which will leave Mr. Hopkins with a lot more targets.  I am not going to put Andre into the stay away category, but he is not the best option this week.

Stay Away

Mike Wallace, don't really love this offense and Mr. Revis is starting to get into a groove, which should spell trouble for this one trick pony.  Wallace has not been able to get deep touches as Miami's offense does not call for it.

Jordy Nelson,  I would give him a week to see if Seneca is going to be able to get the ball to him.  He might have to try and force it into him as they may be down if I am right about the Eagles offense.  Give him a week off if you have better options.  In a PPR league, you may be able to get away by starting him if you have no other options and get 12-16 points.

Falcons Receivers, Roddy White is back, but he is going against the Legion of Boom and this is probably a good week to see how he looks.  I don't really like Douglas as much either as they usually do a good job of shutting the pass game down altogether.

Week 10 Suicide Picks

Moving along to the very tough portion of the suicide pool, ATP has lost one of its main picks, but has been pretty good with these picks.  Last week, Dallas ended up squeezing one out as did Seattle, which was  big surprise.  The Saints rounded out our picks, but as we stated you never know what you get with the Saints on the road, regardless of competition.  In the stay away category, the Pats took care of the Steelers, which was not a surprise, but if we were able to move anybody from taking San Diego over Washington, we did our job.  On to this week.

Indy over St. Louis,  Kellen Clemens has done a pretty good job filling in, but I expect the Colts to really do a good job of stuffing the run this weekend, which is what St. Louis has been doing the past few to keep their offense moving.  Although, the Colts are primarily looking to run, they do have the potential to throw and open this game up.  I expect a 27-14 type of win here and this is my lock of the week, but I am sure it will look scary for a bit.

Tennessee over the Jags seems like a good one to choose as well.  I am a little weary of MJD taking it to this Titan run defense much like Zac Stacy did for St. Louis this past weekend.  If the Jags had a win, this would be my lock but I feel the Jags will win at least one this year and this is the type of game they can win.  I will go with the Titans though in a tighter game than expected.

The NY Giants coming off a bye,  should beat the Oakland Raiders.  I expect this to happen as now that there has been enough tape on Pryor to properly defend him.  He may be able to break a big one here and there as he is very athletic, but he has not done enough in the passing game to put this team on his shoulders.

Matty Ice needs
a signature win to
help him forget
 this season thus
far.

Stay Away

New Orleans over Dallas is not a slam dunk even though they are at home.  Dallas is tough to take in suicide, but they are also tough to go against.  Although the Saints play pretty great at home, Dallas may be able to throw with them and they can run better.  Saints will probably win but there are better options.

Don't like the Seahawks over the Falcons that much either.  The Seahawks are another team that does not put it together on the road that well.  Although the Falcons look nothing like the team that beat Seattle in the playoffs, they still have some of those ingredients and Matty Ice at the helm.  Go with somebody else.

Week 9 Fantasy Thoughts

We are now looking to the playoff stretch and every player that you start could win or lose your game as has already happened to me this season.  Now is the time to really make sure that the guys you have in your lineup are the correct ones.  Hopefully, the following may be on your roster or are available to be picked up.

Quarterbacks

Tony Romo,  in a season where outside of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, there are not too many automatic starts at quarterback.  Tony Romo is beginning to look that way himself as even when he has a bad first half, he tends to pull out at least a couple of touchdowns.  This week he is at home against the Vikings and there anemic defense, so that means it should be a pretty good week for this guy.

Alex Smith,  going to Buffalo this week and this could be a week that the usually conservative Smith may be able to finally get you 3 touchdowns.  He is always good for 14-18 points as he rarely turns the ball over, will rush for about 30 yards and get a touchdown one way or the other. This week he should be able to get over the conservative hump and be a fantasy game changer. 

Russell Wilson,  Wilson is at home, which usually means a very good game regardless of who they are playing.  This week Revis and company are coming to town, but expect 20 points at the minimum as Wilson's running ability is always good for 5-8 points.  If Wilson can put together a big passing game, it could be a great day for Wilson owners.

Desperation

Geno Smith,  Smith has had a very up and down year and this is an opportunity for it to go back up as the Saints always seem to have a tough time on the road and maybe you catch Geno on the upswing.  If you are desperate in a 2 quarterback league, Geno may be your man.

Stay Away

Joe Flacco, going against Joe Haden and company, expect Flacco to be under some pressure as the Browns defense has been getting better and better.  With Haden taking away a side, it will make it difficult for Flacco and company.  They are coming off a bye, which could leave Flacco owners with a glimmer of hope.

Tom Brady,  it is pretty amazing to ever say this, but he has not been great all season and now with a rivalry game against the #2 passing defense in town, you should look elsewhere.  Who am I kidding?  These are the same type of games where he surprises everybody and throws for 400 and 4 touchdowns.  Good luck figuring this guy out this season.

Running Backs

Demarco Murray,  should be back in action this week and I expect him to feast on one of the NFL's worst all around defenses, but particularly bad against the run with Minnesota coming to town.

Arian Foster,  this is rivalry game on Sunday night and they have Case Keenum starting.  I assume that with Ben Tate nursing some fractured ribs, Foster will be getting the bulk of the carries and they are going to try and run the ball against the Colts.  Should be able to get over the century mark, but has not been scoring with the same frequency Foster owners have been accustomed to.

Bilal Powell,  should get a lot of carries with the Saints coming to town.  Powell should get 20 carries at home against a suspect run defense.

Leveon Bell,  going against a depleted middle of the defense with Mayo and Wilfork out, expect Bell to get a good amount of carries and take full advantage of them.

Desperation

Can CJ break the century mark
for the first time this week?

Chris Johnson, did not think it would come to picking Powell as a guy to start and CJ2000k as a desperation pick, but when you have not scored a rushing touchdown or had a 100 yard game, that is how the cookie crumbles.  He has not been as bad in a PPR league as he has been catching balls out of the backfield and even scored this way in 2 of the past 3 weeks.

Stay Away

Ray Rice,  I know they are coming off a bye and have tried to recommit to him, but they are playing the Browns, who have a solid defense, and Rice never seems to do too well against them.

Fred Jackson,  Spiller is back in the mix, KC is coming to town and they have no idea who will be playing quarterback for the Bills.  Those all seem like pretty good reasons not to start Jackson.

Wide Receivers

TY Hilton and Darius Heyward Bey, with Reggie Wayne out, somebody is going to need to pick up the slack.  Heyward Bey is going to most likely take Reggie's spot and TY has already been a pretty good option.  Both will see upside and if you are desperate Darius may be the guy.

Josh Gordon, should be an every week start now that we know Campbell is comfortable throwing him the ball as evidence from last week's game against KC.  Should have an easier time with Baltimore and another week of practice with Campbell.

Desperation

Kendall Wright, if you are looking for a guy to give you some consistent numbers, this is your man.  Unfortunately, he consistently gives you no touchdowns, but he gets 7 or 8 catches for over 70 yards most of the time.  If you have to pick somebody up, especially in a PPR league, Wright could help you.

Kenny Stills and Lance Moore,  if Cromartie ends up covering Graham, Brees will be looking to throw to some other guys and these 2 may be the ones to benefit.  Stills is turning into his longball guy and Moore just came back last week and should begin to see more targets.

Tight Ends

Coby Fleener,  Fleener is beginning to become more important to this offense an with Reggie Wayne out for the rest of the season, this could be the perfect time to pick this guy up.  Outside of a couple of tight ends, it is pretty much a crap shoot on who to start, why not take a chance on this guy.

Defense

Dallas,  there are a lot of Cowboys on this list, so I might as well add these guys.  Going against a Minnesota team that relies too heavily on Peterson, the Cowboys will be happy to see a quarterback that can't throw as their secondary has been pretty abysmal.  They should be looking to go at the Minnesota running game and cross their fingers that Ponder doesn't figure it out.

Suicide Picks for week 9

It is week 9 and if you are one of the lucky few that has Seattle left, they are playing at home against Tampa Bay.  If this game was not at home, I would think about giving this game a stay away as the Bucs can play some defense and Seattle does not have a ton of offense.  In Seattle, it is a different story though and I would expect you to use Seattle this late in the season in a suicide pool.  Most people will not have the luxury of having them left.

I find myself with a lot of stay away candidates as opposed to games that I like, but since we have to choose somebody, let us see if we can find some picks.

Although I hate to pick these guys as they are very hard to figure out, the Dallas Cowboys are at home against the Minnesota Vikings and had they had a tough loss last week.  They usually turn it around after one of those losses, so I expect this defense that has a hard time against the pass to welcome the poorly passing Vikings and put all of their efforts into stopping Adrian Peterson.  It probably won't be a blow out, but they will do enough to win.

Due to the lack of choices, I am going to pick New Orleans to beat the Jets, but these pesky Jets always seem to win the games they are not supposed to.  It seems that Sexy Rexy will be using one of Belichick's moves and covering Jimmy Graham with Antonio Cromartie, which is a smart move, but can the Jets cover everybody else including the new deep threat Kenny Stills.  The one issue I have with this game is Drew Brees' ability to lay duds on the road.  I would still pick these guys as there are not great options, but it could be an eliminator.

Stay Away



Bowe is a big reason
the Chiefs can not
move the ball

New England over Pittsburgh, this is a tough one as despite the fact that Pitt has been not doing that well, they are more than capable of beating New England as this is still a rivalry.  The Patriots have already been having a hard time throwing the ball, I don't suspect it will get easier with the #2 pass defense coming to town. 

San Diego over Washington, if you were thinking of going this route, I would suggest against it as the Chargers are playing pretty well this year, but the Redskins seem to be finding their way and more important they are at home this week.  RGIII is becoming more and more comfortable and I could easily see the Redskins pull off a victory this week.