Week Nine Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Options
One more week of fantasy football down. DeMarco Murray looks legit. Will be interesting to see what happens once Felix Jones is back. Although Murray’s performances have been against two bad run stopping teams. Chris Johnson is a bum. It looks like he took his money and is avoiding contact to make sure he gets paid in full. Philip Rivers still looks off but he turned things around after his two first half picks.
Those are just a few observations I have from this past week. With that out of the way let’s get to some week nine pick ups…
QUARTERBACK
Nobody worthwhile that probably isn’t on someone’s team already. If Sam Bradford can’t go this week then A.J. Feeley would be an interesting pick up. He was capable in the Rams’ upset of the Saints and they play the woeful Cardinals this week. Speaking of the Cardinals Kevin Kolb has a turf toe issue and might not play. If you’re really, really, really desperate you can pick up John Skelton.
RUNNING BACK
Javon Ringer. Now, I’m not saying he’s a better player than CJ. We all know how much talent Johnson has. We’ve seen his brilliance on the field. He just doesn’t have it this year. He’s not injured, which makes it even more frustrating for fantasy owners who keep plugging him in. Now Titans head coach Mike Munchak has said that whoever gets the ball will be based on game flow. So it’s pretty much a running back by committee approach in the Titans backfield. I wouldn’t start Ringer yet. Titans play the Bengals this week. But Ringer is someone to stash on the bench, especially if you’re a CJ owner or need depth at the RB position.
Curtis Brinkley. He filled in admirably for Mike Tolbert as Ryan Matthews’ back up and then did even better once Matthews left Monday night’s game against the Chiefs, scoring a touchdown and getting 67 total yards. But he suffered a concussion. Matthews’ status is unknown for week nine but Tolbert should be back. Pick up Brinkley if you own Matthews as you might need to plug him in if his concussion isn’t serious enough to hold him out.
WIDE RECEIVER
Jonathan Baldwin. The rookie wideout has been out must of the season but came through with a pretty nice second game, hauling in five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. Steve Breaston was replaced by Baldwin in a lot of the Chiefs’ two receiver sets. So the talent is there we just have to hope the fundamentals are. His route running needs work and I imagine head coach Todd Haley will yank him off the field the first mistake the rookie makes. But until then pick him up. You can plug him in as a WR3 or stow him away on your bench until you’re comfortable starting him.
TIGHT END
Brent Celek is the biggest tight end name that will be picked up this week. I don’t really see him being a consistent factor in the Eagles passing game. Vick is going to throw to whoever is open and this week Celek was the man because the Cowboys focused on shutting down the deep threats, leaving Celek open down low. If you need a tight end and still haven’t picked up Jake Ballard do so now. The Giants are a passing team and spread the ball out a lot to Cruz, Nicks, Manningham and Ballard. Ballard had a good game against the Dolphins and could of had a great one if he didn’t drop a long one.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Oakland Raiders. They play Tim Tebow. That’s the only reason you need. You saw what the Lions D did to Tebow this past week. Now, the Raiders D is nowhere near as good as the Lions D but you don’t need an awesome D against Tebow. He’s going to give up sacks and interceptions and probably lots of them. Maybe even a touchdown or two. If you need a bye week D the Raiders are the ones to grab.