Week 10 is a make-or-break week for a majority of fantasy competitors. In each of my leagues, 10 of the 12 owners range from 3-6 to 6-3, with most falling in the 5-4 and 4-5 camp, making this virtually a must-win week for 83% of us. In talks with some of you, this appears to be par for the course.
Adding to the intensity is that some of the NFL's most prolific offenses are on bye, including the Colts, Patriots, and Chargers, while many of you have someone on the Texans, Vikings, and/or Redskins. How do we field competitive teams with key players on bye?
Here are some guys you'll probably find on waivers--or for "relatively" cheap through trades--who are worth a close look:
(1) QB Mark Sanchez should prove to be better than Nick Foles. Heralded coming out of college, Sanchez never had a chance to succeed playing with middling Jets receivers. He'll be a high-end QB2 with QB1 upside this week, with the potential for 225+ yards and 3 scores.
(2) QB Josh McCown has replaced Mike Glennon in Tampa Bay. This news would be meaningless fantasy-wise if the team weren't facing the Falcons at home. The arrival of RB Charles Sims and the "arrival" of WR Mike Evans as a WR2 on the rise should keep the ball moving for McCown & company. I'm projecting at least 3 scores for the team, with 2 coming off the arm of the largely forgotten McCown.
(3) I hyped up RB Marion Grice last week as a worthwhile desperation play. He finished tied for 22nd among fantasy RBs; in other words, he returned low-end RB2 value in 12-team leagues. Not bad for a desperation play. You could do worse in a desperate situation than to hope for another goal-line carry for Grice.
(4) RB Robert Turbin is good enough to start, but won't until Marshawn Lynch goes down or is given rest. Lynch's workload the past few years (300 carries per season) will have an effect at some point. Turbin is a very interesting desperation starter, with the potential for 6-8 4th quarter carries, good for 5+ points overall (topping out at 11 if he can get in the endzone).
(5) I've been telling folks on this blog for weeks to hold onto RB Adrian Peterson in case he returns. If you have bench space, grab him. Though it won't happen this week, his potential production value is obviously too great to ignore.
(6) I was very down on Michael Crabtree this preseason, and have continued to be all year. But this is a week where he could surprise a lot of people as a top 15 fantasy WR. He might be available on the cheap, and could produce high-end WR2 numbers where similar production is not easily found. Predicting 70+ yards and a TD.
(7) Trade for Julius Thomas. After scoring 9 times in his first 5 games of the year, Thomas has looked all too human the past three weeks, netting a total of only 83 yards and a TD. He's a huge buy-low candidate. A guy told me yesterday that he snagged Thomas for Ben Rothliesberger and Ben Tate. Knowing that Ben will regress (he has to), this guy shored up his TE slot without sacrificing long-term production.
Adding to the intensity is that some of the NFL's most prolific offenses are on bye, including the Colts, Patriots, and Chargers, while many of you have someone on the Texans, Vikings, and/or Redskins. How do we field competitive teams with key players on bye?
Here are some guys you'll probably find on waivers--or for "relatively" cheap through trades--who are worth a close look:
(1) QB Mark Sanchez should prove to be better than Nick Foles. Heralded coming out of college, Sanchez never had a chance to succeed playing with middling Jets receivers. He'll be a high-end QB2 with QB1 upside this week, with the potential for 225+ yards and 3 scores.
(2) QB Josh McCown has replaced Mike Glennon in Tampa Bay. This news would be meaningless fantasy-wise if the team weren't facing the Falcons at home. The arrival of RB Charles Sims and the "arrival" of WR Mike Evans as a WR2 on the rise should keep the ball moving for McCown & company. I'm projecting at least 3 scores for the team, with 2 coming off the arm of the largely forgotten McCown.
(3) I hyped up RB Marion Grice last week as a worthwhile desperation play. He finished tied for 22nd among fantasy RBs; in other words, he returned low-end RB2 value in 12-team leagues. Not bad for a desperation play. You could do worse in a desperate situation than to hope for another goal-line carry for Grice.
(4) RB Robert Turbin is good enough to start, but won't until Marshawn Lynch goes down or is given rest. Lynch's workload the past few years (300 carries per season) will have an effect at some point. Turbin is a very interesting desperation starter, with the potential for 6-8 4th quarter carries, good for 5+ points overall (topping out at 11 if he can get in the endzone).
(5) I've been telling folks on this blog for weeks to hold onto RB Adrian Peterson in case he returns. If you have bench space, grab him. Though it won't happen this week, his potential production value is obviously too great to ignore.
(6) I was very down on Michael Crabtree this preseason, and have continued to be all year. But this is a week where he could surprise a lot of people as a top 15 fantasy WR. He might be available on the cheap, and could produce high-end WR2 numbers where similar production is not easily found. Predicting 70+ yards and a TD.
(7) Trade for Julius Thomas. After scoring 9 times in his first 5 games of the year, Thomas has looked all too human the past three weeks, netting a total of only 83 yards and a TD. He's a huge buy-low candidate. A guy told me yesterday that he snagged Thomas for Ben Rothliesberger and Ben Tate. Knowing that Ben will regress (he has to), this guy shored up his TE slot without sacrificing long-term production.