Whether your team has been plagued by injury or you just need an extra boost to push your team into the fantasy playoffs, these players are available in many fantasy leagues and will definitely improve your team.
Quarterbacks:
Colin Kaepernick, 49ers– This guy is the real deal. In the three games since taking over at QB for Alex Smith, Kaepernick has scored 16, 18, and 19 points respectively. He’s only thrown one interception in his career, and is a dual-threat to opposing defenses, with 7 total touchdowns this season (4 rushing, 3 passing). As long as coach John Harbaugh keeps Alex Smith on the bench, Kaepernick is a solid top-10 QB for the rest of the season, and available in over 72% of ESPN leagues.
Running Backs:
Knowshon Moreno, Broncos– After starter Willis McGahee was placed on IR with a knee injury following last Sunday’s game, fantasy owners scrambled to pickup Broncos 2nd- and 3rd- string running backs Ronnie Hillman and Lance Ball, respectively. After McGahee left the game last week, Hillman had 12 carries to Ball’s 6, so many thought Hillman was the clear choice to start this week. They were wrong. Sunday morning, the Broncos announced that Knowshon Moreno, not Hillman or Ball, would be starting against the Chiefs. Moreno, who hadn’t even been on the active roster since week 2, rushed the ball 20 times for 85 yards. Hillman had 3 touches and Ball had 0. Definitely pick up Moreno, whether you need a running back or not. He’s the clear-cut starter for the remainder of the season, barring injury, and he’s available in 95% of ESPN leagues.
Beanie Wells, Cardinals– In his first game back since being placed on IR with turf toe in week 3, Beanie Wells had a breakout performance in a loss against the Rams. Wells rushed the ball 17 times for 48 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 2.8 yards per carry was pretty weak, but this isn’t bad considering the Cardinals were trailing pretty much the entire game. A couple of his runs were from the goal line, also lowering his average. I had him on my bench this week, anticipating some sort of backfield timeshare with LaRod Stephens-Howling. However, this was not the case, as LSH only carried the ball once. Wells is still available in over 40% of ESPN leagues, and has a great matchup this week against the Jets.
Michael Bush, Bears– Matt Forte left the game after bending backward awkwardly on a run, leaving Michael Bush to carry the rest of the workload for the Bears. Bush finished with 21 carries for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns. What’s interesting is that Bush scored those 2 touchdowns before Forte was injured. They were both from the 1-yard line, as Bears coach Lovie Smith prefers Bush over Forte short-yardage situations. The injury appeared to be on his right ankle, the same one he sprained in week 2 causing him to miss a game. As a general rule this season, it’s been a good idea to stay away from any running back with the last name Bush. The Bears have a tough matchup against the Seahawks next week, but if Forte sit this one out, Michael Bush may still be worth starting. He’s only available in 30% of ESPN leagues, but if nobody’s grabbed him in your league, make sure you do.
Wide Receivers:
Danario Alexander, Chargers– Take a look at the Chargers receivers since Alexander took the starting job from Robert Meachem in week 9:
Malcom Floyd: 18 catches on 22 targets for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns
Antonio Gates: 11 catches on 14 targets for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns
Robert Meachem: 2 catches on 3 targets for 18 yards and 0 touchdowns
Danario Alexander: 20 catches on 30 targets for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns
How is this guy still available in over 70% of ESPN fantasy leagues? You definitely need to pick him up if you can. Even though he has tough matchups against the Bengals and Steelers coming up, he’s obviously Phillip Rivers’ favorite new receiver, and he has a very favorable schedule for the remainder of the season.
Mohamad Sanu, Bengals– Defenses are finally starting to cover this AJ Green guy, who didn‘t have a touchdown catch for the first time in ten games. So who did Dalton look to next? Mohamad Sanu. Dalton targeted Sanu as many times as Green on Sunday (9), and Sanu has twice as many touchdowns (4) in the last three games as AJ Green (2). With 19 targets in the last 3 games, it’s safe to say that Sanu has emerged as the clear #2 receiver in Cincinnati. He’s available in 99% of ESPN leagues.
Defense/Special Teams-
Jets– The Jets take on the Arizona at home this week. The Cardinals are one of the worst teams in the league vs. opposing defenses. They’ve given up 10 or more points in 7 of their last 8 games, and have their 3rd string quarterback behind center again this week. The Jets D is available in 45% of ESPN leagues.
Cardinals– Any defense playing against the Jets always a good bet. Mark Sanchez seems to create turnovers out of thin air. Defenses have scored 10 points against the Jets in 6 of the last 8 games. They’re available in 46% of leagues
Stay tuned for the weekly review.
