Welcome to Pick Ups and Drops - Week One.
If you did not own Tom Brady, feel free to skip below and begin reading. If you did own Tom Brady, take a few deep breaths, breathe, take a walk, buy some ice cream, kick a trash can, pet a puppy... Better? Okay... Let's begin. Caveat – If your league was dumb enough not to draft WR Brandon Marshall (because of his week one suspension), or WR Steve Smith (because of his week one and week two suspension), then run, don’t walk to your waiver wire and pick them up. Now.
That said, here are the post week-one players to look at.
Add –
Quarterbacks
- QB Matt Cassel - I know you know this already. Long story short… N.E. is still an awesome offense, and you could put Ryan Leaf in there and have success. Grab Cassel ASAP. He’s easily a top-QB2, and in this offense, will likely do a QB1 imitation on most weeks. Plus, the guy in your league who drafted Brady 5th overall is ready to cry (if you're that guy, please re-read the first part of this article. Repeat as many times as necessary) , and would probably throw in his first-born to make a trade happen.
- QB Kerry Collins - See above, but on a smaller scale. VY doesn’t affect the fantasy world as much as Brady, but still… Collins actually improves all of the WR’s in Tenn as well (and… may improve the overall team’s chances…). Pick him up as a QB2, with room to move. Early word is at least 2-4 weeks for Young. I bet he’s gone longer.
- KEEP AN EYE ON – RETIRED, QB Daunte Culpepper - You probably can’t even draft this guy in most leagues, but why wouldn’t the Patriots take a chance on this guy as a back up? It might just be the nostalgia, but I seem to remember the sound of “Culpepper-to-Moss” ringing in my ears more than once. As a matter of fact, this offseason, when Moss was contemplating a change of postal codes in free agency, I seem to remember the two touched base this past summer (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3273447). I bet Moss has already phoned Culpepper again encouraging him to pull a Favre. This is New England we’re talking about, so if this ever happened, you may not hear about it until after it happened. If you’re a risk taker, and you have room, why not take a flier and throw him on your bench until New England sorts out their mess?
Running Backs
- Rookie Running Backs - In most leagues, these guys are probably long gone, but if you have some borderline league members, take a look and see if RB’s Felix Jones, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, Johnathon Stewart, or heck, even Tim Hightower, are available. Grab any of them you can… If week one is any indication, 2008 might be a banner year for Rookie RB’s.
- KEEP AN EYE ON – Free Agent RB, Shaun Alexander - This is a flier, so take it with a grain of salt, but RB Alexander seems to think that the Cincinnati Bengals are on the verge of offering him a contract. He may be sniffing the glue, but then again, did you see RB Chris Perry in week one? Neither did I. He was invisible…. It’s do or die time in Cincy, picking up an ex-league MVP for nothing may not be the craziest idea.
Wide Receivers
- WR Matt Jones - He’s only owned in 8% of NFL.com leagues, but led the Jags in week one with 6 grabs for 80 yards. He looked to be QB David Garrard’s favorite target, and if that continues, he’s well worth a roster spot.
- WR Courtney Taylor - He was already a borderline “add” because QB Matt Hasslebeck needs SOMEONE to throw to, and he’s rapidly running out of options. In week one, Hasslebeck added to his list of lost receivers as WR Nate Burleson went down. Again, Hasslebeck has to throw to SOMEONE. The Seattle WR core has been decimated with injuries…. And now, rookie WR Taylor may be one of the best options. Grab him.
- WR Vincent Jackson - Again, someone I pegged as a “sleeper”. Which was easy for me, since everyone has been calling him a sleeper for the last two years. This might be his year. As I was typing this, I saw Philip Rivers check Antonio Gates (who was double covered), and turn and look at Jackson – who he promptly threw a touchdown to. Honest. I don’t expect Jackson to be a Plaxico Burress of 2008, but I do expect him to exceed a Plaxico Burress of 2004. WR Burress played second fiddle to Hines Ward back then…. Look at Gates as better version of a 2004 Hines Ward, and subsequently, look at Jackson possibly as a better version of a 2004 Plaxico Burress. Burress had almost 700 yards and 5TDs back then… Reasonable numbers for Jackson are1000 yrds and 7 TDs. Those are solid WR2 numbers.
- WR Eddie Royal - QB Jay Cutler found his security blanket while WR Brandon Marshall was on suspension. This will change when Marshall comes back, but the rookie looks like he has continued his solid preseason, and will be a good WR3 or flex play (with other bigger weeks) moving forward.
Tight Ends
- TE Anthony Fasano - I’m kicking myself. I had TE Fasano as one of my sleepers TE’s for the year, and I had him in a couple leagues, only to drop him for another sleeper. So what happens? He promptly goes OFF. 8 catches, 84 yards, and a touchdown. Coach Tony Sparano just came from where? Oh yeah, Dallas. And when did he ever do anything good for a TE’s career… Oh yeah, Jason Witten. Unless you have Gates, Witten, Gonzales, or Winslow… grab Fasano. He won’t post these stats every week, but he will post these stats some weeks.
- TE Dante Rosario - Dante Who? Here’s a guy who definitely wasn’t on anyone’s radar. The second year TE led his team with 96 yards on 7 grabs, and also netted the game winning touchdown. Who knows if he can reproduce his feats, and whether his looks will go down when WR Steve Smith returns in week 3, but he’s worth a look. More proof that you shouldn’t waste an early draft pick on a TE not named Gates, Witten, Gonzales or Winslow – and even then… don’t use too early a pick.
Defense
- DEF, Buffalo Bills - Only owned in 56% of NFL.com leagues… They looked solid against a previously well-thought of Seattle team,… with Oakland, St. Louis, Miami, and San Francisco on their schedule, they look like they may be better than just a bye-week replacement.
Get off the Ledge
Don’t worry about QB Carson Palmer and his anemic Cincinnati Offence. He looked terrible, but hasn’t had the benefit of much practice time with his favorite weapons as they shook off preseason injuries – not to mention a broken nose and new visor of his own. Give him a mulligan on week one. He’s too good, and so are his receivers, to stay as crappy as he looked. If someone in your league has an itchy trigger finger, see if you can pull a couple moves for either Palmer, WR Houshmandzadeh, or WR Ocho Cinco.
Get on the Ledge
Worry about TE Todd Heap. The perennially injured TE got injured again when he landed funny (not ha-ha funny) on his back. His stat lines 1 catch, 5 yards accurately reflected how he looked on the field. It’s not time to jump yet, since the Ravens will likely be very conservative on the pass and Heap makes a great security blanket… But if the chemistry with rookie QB Joe Flacco isn’t there, and Heap is injury prone… Not good.
Jump
QB Tom Brady. Ok… take a deep breath. (Remember? Re-read the start of this article...). Your season isn’t over, but it did just take a kick to the nuts. Life sucks. Give yourself a moment of anger against the gods for forsaking you, and then let it go. If Brady played, he was going to screw you anyway when Billicheck was going to bench him in week 16, after making it look like he’d start, and you were stuck with a zero in your QB column during your playoffs or finals. See? Feel better? Lots of people still win with a crappy QB. Scout the waiver wire, if you need to, make a fair trade - not a crazy trade. You’ll be fine. You probably lost your week, so maybe you’re first on the waiver wire this week and you can grab Cassel. See if you can trade for Carson Palmer after his terrible week one. JT O’Sullivan may be a decent player… Trent Edwards looked ok. Chad Pennington might be available. Just don’t panic and do something stupid like trade Clinton Portis for Marc Bulger. Keep your wits about you, and you’ll be fine. Never say die.
Me? I was playing the guy who had Tom Brady, in one of my leagues. So... it worked out great for me.
Happy Waiver-wiring.
Author - Rob Pashko, FFCollective
