Week 5 free agent/waiver wire recommendations (9/30/08)
Tuesday, September 30th, 20084 teams have their byes Week 5: Cleveland, NY Jets, Oakland, and St. Louis. Unless you’re in a league that’s so competitive that team owners speculate on players with bye weeks, I’d avoid picking up anyone from any of these teams this week.
Here’s a list of players who are probably on a roster in your league and will need to be replaced because of the bye week if they’re in a starting lineup:
Quarterbacks
Derek Anderson, Brett Favre
Running Backs
Jamal Lewis, Thomas Jones, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Stephen Jackson
Wide Receivers
Braylon Edwards, Laveranues Coles, Jericho Cotchery, Torry Holt
Tight Ends
Kellen Winslow
Kickers
Josh Brown
Defenses
None
Here’s a list of recommended free agent/waiver wire pickups who may be available in your league. I’ll give an indication of whether I believe these players should be picked up for just the short term (ST), for the long term (LT), or as speculation plays (SPEC). Short term recommendations are players who should help fantasy owners in the next few weeks (due to injuries, benchings, suspensions, favorable schedules, etc.) but who will probably drop in value again later in the season. Long term recommendations are players who have the potential to help their owners’ fantasy teams for the remainder of the current season. Speculation plays are players who are unlikely to help your fantasy team in the short run (barring injuries, benchings, suspensions, etc.) but may have value later this season or in future seasons (for those in Keeper leagues).
Quarterbacks
Kyle Orton (LT), Chad Pennington (ST), Gus Frerotte - assuming he’s healthy enough to play (ST), Matt Ryan (SPEC), Chad Henne (SPEC)
Running Backs
Correll Buckhalter (ST), Mewelde Moore (ST), Najeh Davenport - just signed by Pittsburgh (ST), Cedric Benson - just signed by Cincinnati (SPEC), Jamaal Charles (SPEC), Fred Jackson (SPEC), Lamont Jordan (SPEC), Ray Rice (SPEC)
Wide Receivers
Kevin Walter (LT), Devery Henderson (ST), Lance Moore (ST), Jordy Nelson (SPEC), Michael Jenkins (SPEC), Ted Ginn (SPEC)
Tight Ends
Greg Olsen (LT), Visanthe Shiancoe (ST), Alex Smith (ST), Robert Royal (ST)
Kickers
Rian Lindell (LT), Shaun Suisham (LT), Ryan Longwell (ST), Matt Bryant (ST)
Defenses
Seattle (LT), Atlanta (ST), Washington (ST), Denver (ST)
Until next time,
The Sherpa