Week 12 Waiver Wire
The bye weeks are officially over – no more excuses. With Fantasy playoffs just around the corner, the Waiver Wire becomes doubly important – you will need to add some necessary depth and you will need to keep potential Studs away from your competition.
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There is a good variety of talent on this week’s Wire – take a look and let me know what you think.
QBs
Caleb Hanie – Chicago Bears – Hanie will take over as the Bears’ starting quarterback, likely for the rest of the season. Jay Cutler, at a minimum, will miss six weeks with a fractured right thumb. Hanie has thrown only 14 career regular season passes, but did go 13-of-20 for 153 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in last year’s playoff loss to Green Bay, playing in relief of Cutler. Hanie’s best attributes are arm strength and athleticism. His decision making and accuracy have been drawbacks, along with Mike Martz’s consistent failure to endorse him. We’d certainly still pick up Hanie in two-quarterback leagues.
Rex Grossman – Washington Redskins – Many of you dropped Grossman after he was benched in favour of John Beck. Well, Grossman is back and looking pretty good. Who knows how long he will keep his job but if Sunday’s 289 yards, 2 touchdowns throwing and 1 rush TD are any indication, Grossman could keep the starting role through the rest of the season.
Matt Moore – Miami Dolphins – Moore is in the Top 10 in the NFL in completion percentage – 62.9 and he has been on fire of late. Moore has the Fins on a three game win streak in which he has six touchdowns and only one interception. Miami plays Dallas on Thursday – a team that made Rex Grossman look pretty good on Sunday.
Jake Locker – Tennessee Titans – Locker came into Sunday’s game for an injured Matt Hasselbeck and looked pretty good. Hasselbeck’s availability for next week isn’t known yet but the coaches have to be impressed by what they saw from Locker. He passed for 140 yards and two scores to ignite what has been a very stagnant offense. It won’t be too long before Locker is starting!
Others to Monitor: Andy Dalton, Alex Smith
RBs
Kevin Smith – Detroit Lions – Smith will be the hottest target this week after 201 combined yards and three scores on Sunday. Smith is regaining the form that made him a 1st Round Draft Choice eons ago. Smith could be the piece of the Lions puzzle that has been missing and could be in line for 15-20 touches per game going forward.
LeGarrette Blount – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Some dropped Blount after injury and ineffectiveness. On Sunday he re-emerged with 107 yards and a touchdown. Time to pick Blount up again!
Ryan Grant – Green Bay Packers – Grant has been brutal this season but an injury to James Starks may open the door for the rest of the season. It certainly didn’t look good for Starks when he hobbled off and was taken to the locker room.
Others to Monitor: Toby Gerhart, CJ Spiller, Joe McKnight, Donald Brown
WRs
Jerome Simpson – Cincinnati Bengals – Simpson has quietly been slipping under the radar all season long but has been solid for the Bengals. With AJ Green out of action, Simpson stepped up with 8 catches and 152 yards. Simpson is a decent WR3 regardless of Green’s availability. [ad-8469823]
Torrey Smith – Baltimore Ravens – Injury had Smith fall off the Fantasy radar but Sunday’s performance has him back! Smith had 6 catches for 165 yards with a TD – good enough to become one of the two biggest Waiver Wire targets this week.
Earl Bennett – Chicago Bears – Chances are that he has already been gobbled up but if not, he has to be picked up. Bennett is clearly Jay Cutler’s favourite target and on Sunday he added another 75 yards to his already impressive totals.
Others to Monitor: Andre Caldwell, Nate Burleson, Arrelious Benn
TEs
Scott Chandler – Buffalo Bills – Chandler was the best receiver for the Bills on Sunday with 5 catches and 71 yards. It was his best effort since Week 1 by a mile – maybe better to look elsewhere.
Jared Cook – Tennessee Titans – Cook had 5 catches for 51 yards on Sunday but his value could increase a bit if Jake Locker is at the helm next week. Locker looked his way often and will likely do so again.
Others to monitor: Kevin Boss, Heath Miller, Jacob Tamme
Defense
Seattle Seahawks – The Washington Redskins come to town this week with ZERO running game and Rex Grossman at the helm. Seattle has been good as of late – just 24 points allowed in their last two games. This unit had five sacks and forced three turnovers in Week 11. If stuck, you could do worse!
St. Louis Rams – The Rams are headed for another low scoring game this week. The Rams have averaged nearly 4 sacks and 1.25 takeaways per game over the last month. With Arizona coming to town, expect similar numbers.
