Week Twelve Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Options
The big news coming out Week 11 in the world of fantasy football once again revolves around injuries. Week 11 saw Bears’ starting QB Jay Cutler fracture his right thumb attempting to make a tackle after an interception that might result in him missing the rest of the season. The other biggest injury news concerns Vikings’ starting RB Adrian Peterson, who left last Sunday’s game with a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss at least 1 game.
If you’re like me and kicking yourself for not picking up Kevin Smith last week, who went on to score 3 touchdowns, then take a look at the following players who should be available in your league to help you out for the playoffs
QUARTERBACK
Caleb Hanie. If you own Cutler on your fantasy team and there’s nobody else to pick up then Hanie is the man to get. But don’t look for him to do much. OC Mike Martz isn’t a big fan so the Bears without Cutler will lean heavily on Matt Forte. It might also be time to cut bait on Earl Bennett if you picked him up as his value will go down.
Jake Locker. Only pick him up if you have a bench spot to spare or Matt Hasselbeck is your starter. In relief of Hasselbeck against the Falcons this past Sunday Locker was 9-19 with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Pretty good numbers. However, Titans head coach Mike Munchak has already said that Hasselbeck is the starter and his injury doesn’t look like it’ll force him to miss any time.
RUNNING BACK
Donald Brown or Joseph Addai. Pick them both up and start whoever gets the starting nod this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are just atrocious on defense and can’t stop any running back. They even made Chris Johnson look good this season and we all know how hard that is.
Toby Gerhart. Adrian Peterson will miss this Sunday’s game it looks like and possibly more. Gerhart could be a serviceable fill-in but not much more. If there are better options at running back on the waiver wire then pass him by.
WIDE RECEIVER
Honestly, it’s kind of a bad week if you’re in need of wideout help. You could pick-up Santana Moss and hope he comes back this week. Or go for someone like Jerome Simpson, Andre Caldwell, Riley Cooper or Kyle Williams and see if they could do something. If you really need a wide receiver I’d go with Nate Burleson or Titus Young of the Lions, as it’s probably going to be a shoot-out in Green Bay this Thanksgiving Thursday.
TIGHT END
Anthony Fasano. He has scored a touchdown in four of his last five games and Matt Moore, yes THAT Matt Moore, is on a hot streak right now. Fasano could provide you with a touchdown if you’re willing to take a gamble on him.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Denver Broncos. A lot of the success for the Broncos current winning streak has gone to Tim Tebow but without the Broncos playing some really good defense lately and giving Tebow all that great field position there wouldn’t be much winning in Denver. The Broncos are a good one week pickup if you streamline defenses every week because they are playing turnover machine Philip Rivers. There’s the possibility of a interception returned for a touchdown plus a special teams return touchdown in play against the Chargers.