Sunday Stylings

With week 3 in the books it’s not officially time to panic yet but it’s getting close. Sunday provided some big performances so if you had Peyton Manning, MJD or Aaron Rogers you probably chalked one up in the win column. Sorry Brees owners, not every week can single handedly won by him.

Now that we’re moving on to week 4 we have the byes to deal with. So if you have Falcons, Eagles, Cards or Panthers you’re going to need some fillers from the wavier wire.

Welcome Back:

Pierre Thomas: PT Cruiser got back into the swing of thing in the second half against the Bills. He runs tough and through people, looking like the back that won many people their Fantasy Bowls at the end of last season. Lucky Pierre had 14 second half carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He looks to finally be fully recovered from his MCL sprain and should be solid going forward. You may want to wait one more week with the Saints playing the Jets but he’s not a terrible option.

Kevin Walter: K-Walt stepped back in without missing a beat against the Jags. He makes the potent Texans offense that more dangerous. He should prove to be a quality option as he is going to draw single coverage all game; this is what happens when you line up opposite the best receiver in football. Walter made an impact immediately grabbing 7-96-1 after missing two games. Get him in your line up as a WR3 or a flex.

Vernon Davis: The über bust Vernon Davis looks to be developing a solid rapport with Shaun Hill. Davis nabbed 7-96-2 against the Vikings and what’s even more encouraging is the 10 targets, which was double what anyone else on the team received. Davis will probably be the biggest pick up of the week as Brent Celek and Tony Gonzalez are on bye. He’s a quality bye week filler but has the talent to make an impact all season, you just need to monitor his consistency.

Willie Parker: Fast Willie got some of his lost value back this week amounting 129 total yards and a score. It was encouraging to see that he got 25 of 26 running back carries. I don’t think you can trust Parker too much yet, I mean, how often if he going to get a receiving score? It was just nice for everyone to see he can still put up some numbers and isn’t completely useless.

Fred Taylor: Taylor has emerged from the Pats’ backfield as the guy to own. While the Pats are notorious for using different backs from week to week, if Taylor can keep this up, it will be his job. I think he is someone you’ll want to go grab and store on the bench to see if his role becomes fully realized. You can never complain about a 21-105-1 day.

Injured- The Tale of Busted Shoulders and Ankles

Wesley Welker once again sat out despite looking like he was going to play. It’s hard to tell what to make of his injury as he looked fine in week one. The Patriots are not going to disclose the extent of the injury so get him in your line up and monitor his status before game time to see if he’s going to be inactive. If he’s not, you’ll want him in the line up.

Kevin Smith busted up his shoulder pretty good in the forth quarter Sunday which spells doom for a lot of my teams. It’s unclear how long smith will be sidelined for but as it stands right now the replacements are some people call me Maurice Morris or TCU rookie Aaron Brown. If you need to help right away, it looks like it will be Morris you want. He scored on a two yard run to seal the Lions win yesterday,

Frank Gore: He has become a victim of my hatred. After killing me last week, he killed all his owners this week coming out on the second series of the game. It’s the ankle that caused him to come out of the game last week and it looks like he’ll miss a few games.

Marc Bulger: That’s what he gets for that stupid c in the name. He hurt his shoulder late in the fourth quarter while trying to recover a Steven Jackson fumble. This is nothing but good news for anyone who has any stake in the Rams. Replacement Kyle Boller was able to move the offense pretty well and led STL to their highest point output of the season. This may be end of Bulger as he has deteriorated since taking over for Kurt Warner in 2004.

Laurent Robinson: This is much worse news for the Rams as Robinson was carted off the field having hurt his ankle. He was very useful for fantasy owners through the first two weeks and could have be been upgraded with the emergence of Boller. He’s listed as day to day but I would keep an eye on his progress.

Chad Pennington: Left the game yesterday with a bum shoulder and looks to miss significant time. Chad Henne will replace him as the starter and could prove to be useful when he settles into the role. I would also look for Pat White to get some more reps as well.

Week 3 Pick Ups:

Glen Coffee is the pick up of the week hands down as he is stepping into a role that’s going to guarantee him about 20-25 touches a game in a weak defensive division. For all you missing Gore for the next few weeks you need to grab him. If you don’t have Gore, Coffee is the perfect blend to get some trades brewing. Go grab Coffee now, he’ll be a quality RB2 or flex option while Gore is sidelined. He’s currently owned in 29% of leagues but that will change very soon, get him now.

Knowshawn Moreno has been a solid option the last two weeks and is starting to get the majority of carries despite the great play of Correll Buckhalter. While he is owned in 91% of league if he is available he is someone to get on the roster. He may even be a quality guy to target in a trade if you can get him on the cheap.

Brent Celek is still only owned in 31% of leagues. That’s just crazy. He has been a top 3 TE in fantasy this season and needs to be owned by players with Heath Miller, Zach Miller. Todd Heap, Jeremy Shockey as starters. I can see him having Owen Daniels value for the season and he’ll finish in the top 5 if McNabb continues to be out.

Kyle Boller has a strong arm and seems like he can get the offense moving. While he isn’t a must start every week I think if you stream quarterbacks week to week, as I tend to, he can be worth a flyer if the match up is right. Also look for a significant increase in the value of Steven Jackson with Boller at the helm. Boller should provide him with some help down field, giving Jackson a little bit of room to maneuver.

Pierre Garçon has made an impact the last two week and seems to have taken firm grasp of the role opposite Reggie Wayne. In the last two weeks he has 4-112-2 and seems to have become Manning’s favorite deep option. He’s worth a flyer until Gonzalez is back and could pay some nice dividends.

The Under 50% Ownership Club-If they’re still available go get them

Correll Buckhalter (38%) continues to produce despite being on the bad end of a time share. If anything happens to Moreno he’s going to explode with value. He ranks n the top 20 of running backs for the season and is worth rostering over someone like Jamal Lewis at this point.

Johnny Knox (20%) only had one catch this week but it was for a TD. He’s been a solid play every week and should continue to develop as his rookie season progresses. Stash him on the bench and reap the rewards later.

Nate Burlson (37%) proved me wrong by producing a nice game with Wallace throwing the ball. He has more value with Hasselbeck at the helm but is still a nice option with Wallace back there.

Mike Sims-Walker (6%) is becoming a favorite on the blog for good reason. After dropping an easy TD pass in week one he has rebounded for a two week line of 12-187-1. Pretty good numbers for a guy who is barely owned. He seems to be Garrard’s favorite target and should continue to develop.

Mark Sanchez (45%) or the Sanchize or Franchez, either one really works, has delivered a quality fantasy line through three weeks despite two tough opponents. He posted three TDs this week and has a string of weak match ups coming up over the next five weeks, @NO, @ Mia, Buf, @ Oak, and Mia. If you’re looking for a change at QB or just some more depth get your hands on Sanchez.

Some Final thoughts

The Browns have only scored one offensive touchdown in their last 9 games. You’d be nuts to start anyone from this team right now. I’ve dropped Jamal Lewis in leagues for higher upside players. This offense is anemic and will make your team suffer. I would hold Braylon for a little longer as he has the best chance to get things righted.

Percy Havrin has scored in three games to open his career and has made people look great for taking late round flyers on him. I still don’t think he’ll be an elite receiver this season though. He is currently touchdown dependant and I have a feeling he’s not scoring a touchdown every week. I think you can look at DeSean Jackson’s line from last year for a decent comparison, Jackson finished 2008 with 62-912-2 with 440 return yards for a TD and 96 rushing yards and a TD. Harvin will probably end up with 6-8 total touchdowns but less yards and receptions. If someone is willing to over pay for him, you should take that deal.

Bryant Johnson looked great in the Lions’ first win in years. It posted a 4-73-1 line with 11 targets. If he can keep the job opposite Calvin Johnson he could be in line for a couple big games. Keep an eye on him.

Daniel Fells caught two TD passes from Kyle Boller and finished the day with 5 targets, 3 coming in the red zone. He’s worth noting just to see if him and Boller have some kind of rapport, more so if Robinson misses time.

An unexpected situation is developing in Green Bay. In the last two weeks Greg Jennings has 2 catches for 103 yards with 0 TDs while Donald Driver has 10-194-2. The telling sign is the number of targets for each, Driver is making the most of his, while Jennings is not. Driver has double the amount the last two weeks with 16 to 8 over Jennings. This may be nothing but I think it is worth taking notice of right now. If Driver has a bad game this week I think you should put a lowball offer into his owner to try and grab him.

Cedric Benson is someone you need to trade for now. It’s his third straight quality week and his match ups from weeks 11-16 are fantastic. @Oak, Cle, Det, @Min, @SD, KC. Only the Vikings should give him any troubles there. It’s never too early to be looking ahead and this is someone that can really help your team down the stretch. I think the fact that he’s Cedric Benson means you can get him for much less than he’s worth, making him a great trade option.