Fantasy Football Week 8: Wandering the Waiver Wire
By Alexander Hough in News on Oct 25, 2011 8:20PM
In fantasy football, players are not humans. They are nothing more than game pieces. So when we look in our heart of hearts and discover a passionate desire to see a RB to suffer injury so that his backup, who we happen to own, gets more points, we're not actually wishing harm on a real person. It's a completely different thing. We're not fist-pumping a man's pain and adversity; we're fist-pumping our fantasy football success.
Fortunately for us, football is a violent game, and this past weekend provided us with many different opportunities to improve our fantasy football teams.
Felix Jones (RB, DAL)
Jones's Week 6 high ankle sprain is an old injury, but, man, this was a good one. Hopefully you took our suggestion and picked up DeMarco Murray. If he's still available in your league, grab him. He's not going to get 25 carries every week, let alone 253 yards, but Jones is still injured and the coaching staff doesn't like Tashard Choice.
Mark Ingram (RB, NO)
The Saints rookie has a bruised heel, although he may not miss any time. Even if he doesn't, Pierre Thomas might receive an increased workload. The wild card is Chris Ivory, who will return from his own foot injury shortly. It's a crowded backfield, so it's anyone's guess as to how it will shake out. The Saints play the Rams' terrible run defense this week, so it's temping to roll the dice on Thomas, regardless of Ingram's or Ivory's status.
Darren McFadden (RB, OAK)
The Raiders are on bye this week, and supposedly McFadden's foot sprain isn't too bad, but if Michael Bush is available, snatch him up; even if this injury doesn't keep McFadden out, his history - he's never played a full season - makes Bush a valuable backup.
Willis McGahee (RB, DEN)
Denver's Willis McGahee broke his - oh, what was that? You didn't realize the Broncos had any players besides Tim Tebow? Well, one of the men Tebow threw on his back and dragged to victory last weekend was their starting RB Willis Mc-something-or-other, and he broke his hand, probably from Tebow's superfirm handshake, and will be out for 1 to 2 weeks. Knowshon Moreno stands to benefit, but Tebow Tebow, and Tebow, so Tebow. Tebow.
Beanie Wells (RB, ARI)
Wells may or may not have a bone bruise, and he may or may not be out for 1 to 2 weeks. He'll be replaced by some combination of undrafted free agent Alfonso Smith, the undersized La'Rod Stephens-Howling, and Chester Taylor, who we didn't even realize plays for the Cardinals. That combination leaves us so underwhelmed, we're not even going to finish this thought.
Tim Hightower (RB, WAS)
Hightower tore his ACL and is out for the year, which would clear up the Redskin RB picture, except, as we all know, Mike Shanahan is a dick. Ryan Torain and Roy Helu's value ostensibly goes up, but we feel confident that Shanahan will screw this up for fantasy owners somehow.
Earnest Graham (RB, TB)
Speaking of torn things, Graham, who was filling in for an injured LeGarrette Blount, is done for the year after tearing his Achilles. Poor, underrated bastard - we've always liked Graham for some reason. Anyhow, with just one back currently on the roster (Kregg Lumpkin) there's no great solution here, unless someone in your league hastily dropped Blount, who'll be back from his MCL sprain in a few weeks.
Santana Moss (WR, WAS)
And speaking of injured Redskins, Moss will be out 5-7 weeks after breaking his left hand. Tough week for Washington. But hey, at least Rex Grossman isn't their QB anymore. If Jabar Gaffney or TE Fred Davis happens to be available, pick them up. Otherwise, stay away.
Marshawn Lynch (RB, SEA)
Apparently Lynch has a back issue he's been dealing with for a while. If he misses time, which isn't definite, the Seahawks will use a timeshare between Leon Washington and Justin Forsett. But with Cincinnati (5th against the run), Dallas (1st), and Baltimore (3rd) coming up, use caution.
Joseph Addai (RB, IND)
Addai reaggravated his hamstring or his coaches took him out early, or perhaps both. Keep an eye on practice reports to see if he might miss time. If he does pick up, Delone Carter and Donald Brown, in that order.
Percy Harvin (WR, MIN)
With the bye coming next week, Harvin may well sit out this weekend's game because of his lingering rib injury. This is just an FYI - there's no upside here. The Vikings make us sad.
Braylon Edwards (WR, SF)
Here's another FYI: Edwards will return from his knee injury soon, although it's too early to tell if he'll suit up this weekend's revenge game against Cleveland, where he had his one good season.
Houston Texans D/ST
The Texans fared better than we thought they would without Mario Williams, but we expect their pass defense to take a hit now that FS Danieal Manning will be out for a month with a broken leg. Owners should adjust their expectations, and players going against the Houston D should be upgraded.