The injury bug strikes again, and this time it’s a quarterback who takes the beating. Philadelphia will be without the services of quarterback Nick Foles for several weeks after breaking his collarbone in Sunday’s game against Houston. Mark Sanchez, yes he’s still in the league, came in and helped the Eagles the rest of the way to a win over the Texans. So who can you turn to now? Six teams have a bye this week in Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New England, San Diego and Washington. There’s a ton of talent to replace and that’s before we jump into injuries. Let’s get into it and see who you can pick up this week to help your team out…
Quarterbacks
We’ve discussed the virtues of Carson Palmer before and we’ll do it again. Palmer threw for three touchdown passes in the Arizona win over Dallas last week. This week, he takes on a Rams team that stole a win at San Francisco. Look before that 13-10 win, and you see a team that has given up 34,34,31,26 and 34 points in their five games prior. The win over the 49ers is the exception and Palmer should rule over the Rams this week. He’s been consistent this season with two touchdown passes in nearly every game.
What about Mark Sanchez of the Eagles? Foles is out with his collarbone problem and it’s Sanchez’s team to run now. The Eagles host Carolina so the matchup is favorable. The Saints were able to put up 28 on the Panthers last week and still had tons of problems on offense.
Here’s why we’re not recommending you take Sanchez. The Eagles-Panthers game is a Monday night affair. It really paints you into a corner if you pick him and want to use him when a guy like Andrew Luck is on bye. The Eagles have Green Bay in Week 11 and we all know Sanchez can’t keep up with Aaron Rodgers. It’s best to let someone else have the headache associated with the Butt Fumble.
Ryan Tannehill of Miami is someone to check for on your wire. Tannehill looked sharp in engineering the Miami 36-0 mashing of San Diego. The Dolphins travel to Detroit and its tough defense so you might want to temper expectations a little bit. The Dolphins’ starting running back, Lamar Miller, is day-to-day with a shoulder injury so Miami might need to do more passing in the Motor City.
If you’re desparate, Brandon Weeden should be out there and Dallas takes on Jacksonville in London this week. Tony Romo looks like a no-go. Don’t pick up whoever starts for the Jets as they host Pittsburgh. You’d be relying on garbage time points to make your day since the Steelers should have this in hand early.
Running Backs
Go get Jeremy Hill of Cincinnati now. We’ll stop the column while you put your claim in. Meanwhile, I’ll mention that I won again in the Razzball Writers’ League to make it 8-1 with eight straight wins. I have a two-game lead over the entire league with five games to play. Sky’s second at 6-3 and everyone else is 5-4 or worse.
Okay, the reason why you just claimed Hill is two-fold. First, he ran roughshod over Jacksonville last week to the tune of 154 yards and two touchdowns including a 60-yard jaunt. The word out of Cincinnati is that Gio Bernard is not likely to play against Cleveland as he still deals with a hip issue. Basically, it’s this easy.
Hurt Gio + Short Week + Cleveland’s Pathetic Run D = Jeremy Hill Goes Bananas Again. Follow the formula and find success.
Bobby Rainey of Tampa is another player to target since the Tampa backfield is in flux. Doug Martin is hurt, ineffective or both. Charles Sims will cut into the workload a little bit but anyone taking on Atlanta should be fantasy gold at the running back position. The other thing to think about here is the Bucs might be a little pissed after getting their asses whipped 56-14 on that early-season Thursday Night Game in the Georgia Dome. Motivation and opportunity combine perfectly here for Rainey.
Tre Mason of the Rams pulled into the lead on the Rams backfield competition with 19 carries against San Francisco. I’m not sold on adding him since he is taking on the Arizona defense this week. The same defense that limited DeMarco Murray to 79 yards. The good news is that Zac Stacy is pretty much out of the picture and Benny Cunningham was a little factor with four carries in the win.
Anthony Dixon of Buffalo is a good pickup this week. He had 22 carries when the Bills were last on the field two weeks ago and looks to be the lead back in Buffalo over Bryce Brown. True, the Bills face a tough KC defense but Dixon looks like he will get the goal-line carries.
Alfred Blue of the Texans should only be rostered if you have Arian Foster and you had a scare after this week’s game against the Eagles. Foster went off hurt, slamming his helmet into the ground along the way. The early reports indicate he shouldn’t miss time after the Texans Week 10 bye so you may have dodged a bullet.
Pick up Ryan Mathews now and beat the rush when he comes back next week.
Wide Receivers
Josh Gordon comes back Week 12 at the earliest. Get him now or forever regret it.
Mike Evans of the Bucs broke through with a solid 7-124-2 game last week. Vincent Jackson is drawing the coverage and Evans is benefiting from it. If the game against Atlanta like it did last time, the Bucs could be throwing a ton.
Allen Hurns of Jacksonville had another good game with 7-112-2 against the Bengals. But besides his Week 1 outburst, what has he done lately? Not much. Hurns is a risk-reward play and is iffy at best against Dallas in London.
Kenny Britt seems to have taken the top receiver role in St. Louis for now. The Rams take on a questionable Arizona pass defense this week so the opportunities could be there for Britt to steal a score.
Martavis Bryant of Pittsburgh only made three catches but two were touchdowns in the Steelers smackdown of Baltimore. He looks to be a red zone target you can get your hands on if you want a piece of the Steelers this week against the Jets.
Tight Ends
So who replaces Rob Gronkowski this week? Jared Cook of the Rams is a good option if Arizona couldn’t cover tight ends like they didn’t last season. Check and see if Delanie Walker of the Titans is on the waiver wire since he put up solid numbers so far.
Jace Amaro of the Jets could get some looks as the Jets break in a new quarterback and should be down plenty against Pittsburgh. On the other side of that game,
Heath Miller of the Steelers should be able to take advantage of a team that can’t cover tight ends. The Jets allowed their 10th touchdown of the season to the tight end when Travis Kelce scored last week.
The deeper option is Mychal Rivera of the Raiders. Oakland takes on Denver and has played teams rather closely as of late, nearly beating San Diego and Seattle. Rivera looks to be a cog of the offense in the red zone and could score a touchdown.
Kickers
Meh. Pick one.
Defense & Special Teams
Get with the Baltimore DST (at home against the Titans), Cincinnati DST (home to Cleveland on Thursday) or the Pittsburgh DST (against the Jets) should do you well if you stream.
In closing, keep your eyes open for possible double waivers like we mentioned earlier this season.
