Strange week. Lot’s of injuries and bye-weeks. Either you are scrambling to put together a team or you are just hoping to stay healthy this week, the season is only half over (for fantasy). Let’s take a look at the ‘Wednesday Countdown’ where I list:
- 5 Studs
- 4 Duds
- 3 Sleepers
- 2 Deep Sleepers and
- 1 Food for Thought
- Eli Manning
- Drew Brees
- Adrian Peterson
- Chris Johnson (seriously)
- Anquan Boldin
- Fred Jackson – Against one the NFL’s best rushing defenses, the Bills are going to pass early and often and I would be surprised if Jackson eclipses 17-18 touches.
- Frank Gore – Cleveland has only allowed two rushing touchdowns to opposing backs all season.
- Dwayne Bowe – He has been inconsistent since he has been in the league and this is going to be a down week. San Diego only has given up two touchdowns to opposing receivers outside of last weeks game where Burress scored three times. That won’t happen again.
- Jimmy Graham – This call could end up looking genius if I am right. I am assuming Brees will have a big day but the beneficiaries will be Colston, Sproles, and Meachem. St. Louis plays tight ends well and this could be Grahams worst week of the season.
- Matt Hasselbeck – Indianapolis is awful. Big day for the Titans ahead.
- Demaryius Thomas – After a week to get acclimated with the offense, Thomas will be unleashed. Hope you picked him up before he gets hot.
- Reggie Bush – His name doesn’t sound like he can be called a sleeper but everyone has about given up no him. Expect him to turn it around against an awful Giants defense.
- Alfonso Smith – With Beanie Wells likely out in week 8, Smith stands to receive a huge boost in workload. Expecting 15 touches is reasonable this weekend.
- Daniel Fells – With Tebow being Tebow, he is going to need close targets to be successful. Fells is the first TE on the depth chart for the Broncos and he has shown he can make Tebow look brilliant. He isn’t a must start but he could make you look smart by heeding this advice.
- The most underrated aspects of fantasy football is the concept of ‘guaranteed touches’. When I get the large list of questions each day, the phrase I try and include is ‘guaranteed touches’. With said touches, you help yourself out with more chances for big plays. If a player is only going to touch the ball five times a game, his fantasy value is limited. This is why fantasy analysts constantly recommend running backs over receivers, they simply touch the ball more. So when deciding between Mike Tolbert and Steve Breaston, just remember, Tolbert will have more guaranteed touches.