Charles Woodson has been ruled out for six weeks. That turns an already average pass defense into a relatively poor one. Although it’s hard to say just how much of an impact this will have when looking at your fantasy teams, Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon owners may want to consider starting them this week. With Maurice Jones-Drew out for at least this week, Jacksonville may opt to pass a little more frequently than usual as well so this is about as perfect a scenario for Jaguars wide receivers as you’ll get this year.
If you like perfect scenarios, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are in one of their own. They come back from their bye week this week well-rested and facing the easiest pass defense in the league. The Saints let Josh Freeman pass for 420 yards and 3 TDs last weekend so imagine what Peyton Manning is capable of doing to them. If you have either receiver on your fantasy team, you should start them without question.
While we’re talking about wide receiver pairs, I should also mention Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace of The Steelers who play the relatively porous Redskins defense this weekend. Neither WR managed to find the end zone this past weekend against The Bengals, but they should both find themselves with more opportunities when Washington travels to their home turf. The Redskins are also terrible against tight ends so be sure start Heath Miller too.
It isn’t all fun and games for this week’s wide receiver pairs though. Sure, Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Roberts may have had a super easy matchup last weekend, but this week they take on the 49ers on Monday night. They’ll both still get their share of targets, but I wouldn’t count on either of them for a huge day.
After The Saints made Josh Freeman look like a fantasy stud, both he and his receiving duo of Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams will have a much tougher time in Minnesota. The Vikings are one of the top pass defenses in the league and held Larry Fitzgerald to just 29 yards last weekend. A similar performance to Freeman’s week in Dallas where he managed just 110 passing yards isn’t out of the realm of possibility so make sure Freeman is on your bench this week and proceed with caution when considering either receiver.
Finally there’s Roddy White and Julio Jones. I know, I know, they’re two of the best receivers in the league and it’s almost impossible to bench them, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say neither of them scores more than 10 fantasy points this week. The Eagles are coming off of a bye week that was preceded by a disappointing loss to The Panthers. So disappointing, in fact, they finally fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Now I’m not saying The Eagles’ problems will be solved overnight, but I do think we will see an incredibly aggressive defense looking to prove something in week 8. The Eagles will want to avoid a losing record this season and winning in home against The Falcons is currently their key to doing that for the time being.
