Welcome in week five of the football season and week five of
your fantasy season. Like last week I will go over the top five waiver wire
acquisitions as well, the top three matchups I like that could potentially help
you get a win over your opponent.
Before I get into the top players I see coming off the board,
I would like to remind everyone that this week will see four teams with bye
weeks, so here is a chance to catch your opponent sleeping with some quality
acquisitions this week.
The top player I see coming off the boards this week is
Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings, who is owned in just over one
percent of leagues. With highly touted running backs like Adrian Peterson, Doug
Martin and Alfred Morris on bye weeks, and Darren McFadden and Marcell Reece
questionable to start this weekend Jennings might be a good start. While
Jennings didn’t impress on the ground last week after coming in for McFadden,
he had just 45 yards on 15 carries, he did look good in the short passing game,
with eight catches for 71 yards. If you need a bye week pick up, or you are
just looking to block your opponent from getting a back with potential Jennings
is your man.
The second player I like this week on the waiver wire is wide
receiver Donnie Avery of the Kansas City Chiefs, who is owned in just over 12
percent of leagues. With quarterback Alex Smith riding high in a new situation
in Kansas City, Avery is making the most of his chances with his new
quarterback. While Avery has had 26 targets over four weeks, he has yet to make
the most of his chances pulling in just half of those passes, 13 for 213 yards
with one touchdown, he is likely to continue seeing more targets with Dwayne
Bowe slow start to the season. With guys like Minnesota Vikings Greg Jennings,
Pittsburgh Steelers Antonio Brown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mike Williams and
Vincent Jackson on bye weeks Avery is worth a look this week at the minimum.
The Chiefs schedule also sees them face off against the Tennessee Titans,
Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills before their week 10 bye,
so Avery could play a significant role in your offense in the next few weeks.
The third player I see making his way on to fantasy teams is
tight end Brandon Pettigrew of the Detroit Lions, who is owned in just over 37
percent of leagues. While Pettigrew will hope to see a continued increase in workload
due to Nate Burleson’s injury, Pettigrew has still yet to break through in the
Lions offense, with only 12 catches for 92 yards with no scores. However, I do
expect this to change as the Lions face off against the Green Bay Packers this
week, in what should be a show down between to NFC North conference foes. The
Lions schedule also gets easier, with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati
Bengals on the schedule for week six and seven. I would take a stab on
Pettigrew if you are looking for a bye week fill in tight end for Pittsburgh
Steelers Heath Miller or Washington Redskins Fred Davis, or you have a bad
matchup to play against.
The fourth player I like this week, is actually a defense,
the Carolina Panthers defense who last week shutout the New York Giants. The
Panthers should be an easy pick up, as they are owned in just over five percent
of leagues. While I don’t believe in repeat performances, because face it, no
two teams in the NFL are exactly alike, I do like the Panthers chances this
week against the Arizona Cardinals, and their struggling running game. Making a
team one-dimensional is the first step in keying in on a specific player to
target, that being Arizona Cardinals Carson Palmer. While Palmer might put up
some high fantasy value points from week to week, this is usually based on the
fact his team is losing, if the Panthers can shut the door on the Cardinals
attack early, look for lots of pressure to find Palmer, and rack up the sacks
or interceptions. I like the Panthers this week, and into the schedule they
face the St. Louis Rams, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so they might
be worth your while stashing on the bench for a good matchup.
The fifth player I see coming off the boards this week is
quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Tennessee Titans, who is owned in just one
percent of leagues. With Jack Locker, the starting quarterback on the bench
Fitzpatrick will get another chance to prove he is worth of a starting
quarterback spot in the NFL. This week also features quarterbacks like Ben Rothelisberger
of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins on
the bench so the need for a quarterback is growing. Taking a chance on
Fitzpatrick might not pay off immediately as the Titans are playing the Kansas
City Chiefs, but if you do grab him it might pay of soon as the Titans have the
St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Raiders on the schedule
down the season.
Now that I have gone over the top five waiver wire acquisitions
for the week, I will go over the top three matchups this week.
The first matchup I see that can be beneficial to your
fantasy week is the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants. Two
divisional foes, both struggling to get anything going in their favor this week
face off in week five. While the Giants will play at home, I like more of the
offensive weapons on the Eagles sidelines. With the Giants defense getting
blown out in nearly every game this season it was easy for me to target Michael
Vick, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson to have big games for the Eagles, but it
also makes me think that the Giants will have to throw the ball when playing
catch up, so I also like Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks. I would
stay away from both teams’ defenses in this matchup, even though the Giants
have been held to seven-points or less in the last two weeks, it’s hard to keep
anyone down for that long in the NFL.
The second matchup I like this week is between the San Diego
Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. This matchup will feature the Chargers first
AFC West divisional matchup, and the second for the Raiders. The Chargers are
looking to get above .500, while the Raiders are looking for that elusive
second win, which slipped out of their grasp last week against the Redskins. In
this matchup I like Phillip Rivers, Antonio Gates and Ryan Matthews for the
Chargers, as for the Raiders, depending on who the quarterback is, Terrelle
Pryor would be nice, but outside of that I am not putting any money down, on
any one. This game should go the Chargers way, but the Raiders do make things
interesting when playing at home, and last time Pryor faced off against the
Chargers in week 17 over last year, he beat them in his first NFL start. I
could see the same happening again this week if his concussion symptoms pass,
and the Raiders deem him eligible to play.
The third matchup I like this week is the New York Jets
against the Atlanta Falcons. Hold on to your seats, I chose a Monday Night
matchup. In my opinion the Falcons are due. Due for a big win that is. At 1-3,
the Falcons are without their starting running back Steven Jackson, and are
barely able to use Roddy White, who is still hampered by an ankle injury, but I
see good things in the matchup against the Jets. In this matchup I like Matt
Ryan, Julio Jones, Jaquizz Rodgers and Tony Gonzalez. I am not quite set on
White making his first quality start of the season. If you are forced to start
him, I wouldn’t look elsewhere for help, as Monday might be the day he finally
breaks out, but I wouldn't put money on it. On the Jets side of the ball, I
like Geno Smith and Santonio Holmes, as I expect the Jets to get down early,
forcing them to throw the ball in catch up mode.
That’s
all for this week, check back next week when I go over the top five waiver wire
pick ups and the top three matchups to watch for.
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