- Owen Daniels cannot be in lineups right now. The guy's banged up, and if you don't believe that he isn't 100% from his offseason ACL surgery to his knee, well, now his hamstring is barking at him. He had 9 yards receiving on Monday night coming out of a bye week, and now he's the least healthy he's been in weeks. If you have space on your roster for a second tight end, fine, go ahead and hold onto him, but in most leagues you can do better with a roster spot.
- Seyi Ajirotutu is a deep sleeper this week. Look, sometimes fantasy football is about opportunity. And for this week only, you have to look at the facts. San Diego is at Houston. You know Houston can't defend the pass. They are playing Philip Rivers, the most accurate QB in football. This game figures to be high-scoring and it's quite possible the Chargers will be in throw mode for most of the second half. Actually, when aren't they in throw mode? Malcom Floyd will miss the game. So will Electric Legedu Naanee. Buster Davis is on IR. And so Ajirotutu is going to be on the field for basically every play. And although Patrick Crayton is surely the safer option among the Charger WR's this week, it's Ajirotutu that has far better athleticism and he is a better deep threat. Houston has given up 23 pass plays of 20 yards or more. I see Ajirotutu as a WR3 in 12-team leagues this week, with legitimate big-play upside. Just realize that the Chargers have a Week 10 bye, and then Floyd could be back in Week 11, so he's likely just a one-week play. But if you're rostering a guy like Kevin Walter or Danny Amendola or (gasp) T.J. Houshmandzadeh, pick up Ajirotutu and thank me when he has a good game.
- It's time to get Visanthe Shiancoe back in your lineups this week, as he should be a top-10 TE play, perhaps going forward. In Weeks 1 and 2, Shiancoe totaled 10 catches for 162 yards and a TE, evoking memories of his solid 2009 campaign. Then he had just one catch for 7 yards in Week 3; hey, no problem, it's just one game right? But then the Vikings had their Week 4 bye, and then they traded for Randy Moss. Moss' presence took a lot of Shiancoe's targets away, especially in the red zone, and since Harvin exploited mismatches over the middle when Moss was there, that also hurt Shiancoe. In the 4 games that Moss was a Viking, Shiancoe totaled just 96 yards with no TD's. But now the circumstances have changed. Moss is gone, and Harvin is hurting. The opportunity is once again there for Shiancoe to reclaim his over-the-middle targets, and red zone chances as well. He could be available in your league because he's been quiet this season since Week 2. Snap him up if you've been playing a guy like Kellen Winslow, which reminds me...
- Kellen Winslow is another guy I don't trust right now. It's not just that he hasn't scored a TD all year, despite an improved Tampa Bay offense. That could possibly be a fluke. It's that he doesn't look healthy. He's been limited in some practices all year, but again, that alone doesn't bother me so much. But I played him in one of my leagues last week (a league where I've had to deal with the season-ending loss of Finley), and I was watching him closely. The guy is gimpy. He came off the field at one point and you could see him favoring one leg. The bottom line is that with his production suffering, and with him playing hurt, you might as well get a guy in there that's at least healthy. Shiancoe is a guy that qualifies as such.
- Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Wallace will be outstanding plays on Monday night against the Bengals. The Bengals are not getting any pressure on the QB whatsoever this season, so Big Ben will have time to throw, which is actually something he usually can't depend on. Whenever Ben can extend the play, he looks to Wallace deep, possibly the fastest WR in the league. Ben may not even have to extend plays against Cincy; he may just be able to take a deep drop and chuck it deep to 60 Minutes. I like Wallace to get deep for at least one 40+ yard catch, and the matchup is ripe for Ben to rebound after last week's rough outing at the Saints.
- I mentioned the other day that I liked Nate Washington as a pickup in light of Kenny Britt's hamstring injury, and that was before the news that Randy Moss was acquired by the Titans. I still like Nate, though, even with this news. Washington is still going to be on the field in all two-wide sets (which is basically all plays except for obvious running downs), and if defenses still pay attention to Moss with their top cover CB, which is likely, Washington is going to have an even worse CB on him than what I thought a couple of days ago. Yeah, it's possible that he doesn't get as many targets as he would have if Moss weren't there, but I still like Nate's potential upside anyway, going forward. And it's possible Moss will continue to be of more help to his new team as a decoy, like he was with the Vikings and Patriots this year. I mentioned this already, but if you're rostering a WR with no upside that you should never play like Housh or Walter, feel free to take a gamble on Washington.
- Don't be afraid to use a red-hot Dwayne Bowe this week at Oakland. Asomugha's ankle injury last week looked serious, and even if for some reason he suits up this week (which I consider highly doubtful), he won't be close to 100%. Throw in the fact that Bowe is moved all over the field and that if Asomugha even played he wouldn't be asked to shadow anybody because of the ankle (he would stay stationed on one side of the field), and what you have is a guy who's a safe start this week since he's been lighting it up.
- Ah, what to do with Jonathan Stewart? Despite a not-100-percent foot in his first two years, J-Stew always looked explosive whenever he got the chance to play. He had offseason surgery on that foot, which led most to believe that he would be even healthier this year and, thus, better. Of course, Carolina has been terrible this year, and even DeAngelo Williams hasn't looked good when he's played. Williams could be back next week, so this could be J-Stew's last chance to start for a while. He gets the Saints at home this week, who are a relatively neutral matchup. But if you have more reliable options at the RB2 or flex spot in your league, like Brandon Jackson or Brandon Jacobs, I would feel more comfortable with them. The facts are that J-Stew has 28 carries for 59 yards in the last two weeks, is averaging 2.8 yards per carry this season, and has averaged more than 4 yards per carry in just one game all year. There's still upside with J-Stew, but there is also considerable downside. Considering that Carolina just doesn't move the bell well, and that the Saints' defense is healthier and looking better, I just think there's too much downside to count on J-Stew this week unless you have weak options behind him. Again, I'd rather roll with Brandon Jackson (playing well in an offense that will move the ball easily against Dallas' rolled-over defense) or Brandon Jacobs (the Giants move the ball easily and even in a 10-touch-a-week role, Jacobs has averaged 13 fantasy points a game in his last 3 and 10 in his last 5).
- Antonio Gates owners could be in a tough spot this week, as the no-doubt-about-it #1 TE appears to be in legitimate danger of missing this week's game at the Texans. The good news, at least, is that it's a 10AM PST start, meaning you'll know at the soonest possible time if Gates is going to play. Obviously, if he is active, you are starting him. But you should be prepared for the very real possibility that he won't play. Couple that with the fact that the Chargers have a Week 10 bye, and forward-thinking Gates owners should pick up another TE now. You're going to need one next week anyway, so you may as well get the jump. As I've said, I like Shiancoe as a capable replacement for this week and going forward. If Jacob Tamme is available, I prefer him to any possible TE add. Other guys that could be available in your league that are worth gambling on are Brent Celek (says he's much healthier after his bye week) and Todd Heap (averaging a respectable 45 yards per game and has 3 TD's on the year, and Flacco likes targeting him in the red zone).
- You obviously don't need me to tell you that you're starting Adrian Peterson this week. But if you play in a salary-cap game like ESPN's Gridiron Challenge or something like that, you simply have to play AP this week. Arizona is a pushover run defense, and even worse on the road (the game's in Minnesota this week). Minnesota is 2-5 and this game is an absolute must-win for them; they can take no chances. Randy Moss just left town. Percy Harvin is banged up. Sidney Rice isn't ready to play for at least another week. The circumstances here suggest that AP is in line for his biggest workload of the season against an opponent that can't stop running backs, including the immortal LeGarrette Blount last week. I think AP's just a little better than Blount.
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