Hey Study Breakers! Another great week of NFL football is in the record books and it was capped off by a crazy Monday Night Football game. Oops, they just called another penalty on the Packers.
Let’s take a look at a few names that could be free agents in your league that could help you out, especially now with the bye weeks upon us.
Quarterbacks
Mark Sanchez (NYJ): Silly me, here I went and told our very own Daniel Stone that Sanchez wasn’t a viable fantasy QB. Well, 450 yards and 6 TDs later, he’s looking like an option. He’ll be getting Santonio Holmes back and faces a wickedly-weak Bill defense here this week.
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT): He was probably drafted in your league, but if you’re in a smaller league or play with monkeys or kindergartners, he may be on the wire. The Steelers are playing solid football and Big Ben will energize the offense upon his return. That is, if he can keep out of bathrooms at dive bars.
Chad Henne (MIA): Henne was a super-sleeper of mine to start the season. Adding a receptions machine like Brandon Marshall automatically ups your stock as a QB. Sure, the Fins run the Wildcat from time to time, but when Henne gets under center, it seems like he makes plays.
Running Backs
Peyton Hillis (CLE): If he’s somehow on your wire, run, don’t walk… and go pick up Hillis. Now. Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you here. OK, back? Keep reading, if you want…. but if you added him, you got a guy who’ll be a PPR stud for the rest of the season. Jerome Harrison could return this week, but the Brown coaching staff will likely stick with Hillis and use Harrison as a change-of-pace back only.
Kenneth Darby (STL): Darby got a couple cups of coffee with the Bucs a year or two back, and didn’t really make much out of it. He has a decent opportunity here with S-Jax dinged (although he supposedly just has a “strained groin”). The Rams have absolutely no other options so Darby is an instant add for S-Jax owners or those that need some RB depth.
Laurence Maroney (DEN): This situation has “rebound” written all over it, like the Cedric Benson situation in Cincy. Maroney’s always been a good runner, but has battled the injury bug and the Patriot RB situation is always a mess. Now in Denver, he’ll get plenty of looks with Knowshon Moreno less than 100% and Correll Buckhalter apparently just a part-timer.
Chris Ivory (NOS): Reggie Bush he is not, and he had an inauspicious start to the 2010 season with a key fumble in the Saints’ first loss of the season. But he was explosive in preseason and could get some of the Reggie Bush looks as he gets more familiar with running with the big boys.
Wide Receivers
Lance Moore (NOS): Now, if you’re not on the Ivory train, perhaps you should buy a ticket to the Lance Moore express. He may actually become the beneficiary with Bush sidelined. The Saint WR corps is a goofy bunch, with Moore, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Marques Colston all very talented. It could be Moore this week, and Colston the next, and Meachem the next after that. Good luck trying to figure that all out. But hey, if we see Moore getting the looks that Reggie Bush typically got, you could have found yourself a waiver wire gem.
Mario Manningham (NYG): I’d love to take credit for “calling” this one early on in the preseason, but I was just not buying the Hakeem Nicks kool-aid (hey, I am a Nicks owner in a dynasty league and think he’s great). Steve Smith is a solid possession guy, and Nicks has tons of big-play upside, but I just saw Manningham as a combination of the both; a polished WR that could get the favor of Eli Manning with consistent play. Looks like I was right. Add him.
Blair White (IND): Yeah, Blair White. Pierre Garcon is dinged, and was already looking like a 2010 bust before he got hurt. Manning won’t play favorites and WRs seem to come out of nowhere with the Colts. You could do worse.
