The Fantasy Football Sherpa

Welcome to “meaningful December football” - congrats to those of you who’ve already qualified for your league’s playoffs, and good luck to those who are still in contention and need a final victory this weekend to get your foot in the door.  On the injury front there were several “big names” who went out with injuries this past weekend (both football-related and self-inflicted) - QBs Derek Anderson & Trent Edwards, and of course, WR Plaxico Burress.  Anderson and Burress are both out for the season - actually, Burress’ career may very well be over - even in the NFL there isn’t much of a market for 34-year-old ex-cons, which is what Burress would be if he is convicted of illegal possession of a firearm and serves 3 years in prison.  Still, chances are you weren’t relying heavily on any of the three at this point, so hopefully the impact on your fantasy team is minimal.

Just in case you need to add a player this week due to injury, suspension, or a bad matchup, 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) (i.e. - the rest of the season), or as speculation plays (SPEC).  Short term recommendations are players who should help fantasy owners this week (due to injuries, benchings, suspensions, favorable schedules, etc.) but who will probably drop in value again in subsequent weeks.  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 this week (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), Daunte Culpepper (LT), Marc Bulger (LT), Kerry Collins (ST), JaMarcus Russell (SPEC), Ryan Fitzpatrick (SPEC), J.P. Losman (SPEC), Matt Schaub (SPEC).

Running Backs

Patrick Cobbs (SPEC), Jamaal Charles (SPEC), Tashard Choice (SPEC), Kenneth Darby (SPEC)

Wide Receivers

Davonne Bess (LT), Josh Reed (LT), Bobby Engram (LT), Shaun McDonald (LT), Bobby Wade (LT), Brandon Jones (ST), Justin Gage (ST), Brandon Stokley (ST), Malcom Floyd (ST), Steve Smith (SPEC), Amani Toomer (SPEC), Mark Clayton (SPEC), Reggie Williams (SPEC), Hank Baskett (SPEC).

Tight Ends

Donald Lee (LT), Heath Miller (ST), Billy Miller (SPEC), Daniel Graham (SPEC), Desmond Clark (SPEC), Marcedes Lewis (SPEC).

Kickers

Jay Feely (LT), Joe Nedney (LT), Josh Brown (LT), Robbie Gould (LT), Garrett Hartley (LT), Connor Barth (LT), Jason Hanson (LT), Dan Carpenter (LT).

Defenses

San Diego (LT), Dallas (ST), Washington (SPEC)

Until next time,

The Sherpa

Most fantasy football leagues have just one or two weeks left in their regular season.  At this point your team falls into one of three categories:  (1) those that have already clinched playoff berths, (2) those that are still in contention for playoff berths, and (3) those that must relish the opportunity to play spoiler the rest of the season.  No matter which group your team falls into, there’s still plenty of motivation to continue to scour your league’s free agent pool for late-season pickups.

Week 12 was relatively kind to fantasy team owners from an injury perspective - Dolphins’ WR Greg Camarillo and Browns’ QB Brady Quinn are out with season-ending injuries, but chances are you weren’t relying too heavily on either of them (especially Quinn).  The Redskins also cut former league MVP RB Shaun Alexander yesterday, but if you were relying on him to lead you to the fantasy promised land this season, then this blog probably won’t help you much.

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) (i.e. - the rest of the season), or as speculation plays (SPEC).  Short term recommendations are players who should help fantasy owners this week (due to injuries, benchings, suspensions, favorable schedules, etc.) but who will probably drop in value again in subsequent weeks.  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 this week (barring injuries, benchings, suspensions, etc.) but may have value later this season or in future seasons (for those in Keeper leagues).

Quarterbacks

Shaun Hill (LT), JaMarcus Russell (LT), Kerry Collins (ST), Ryan Fitzpatrick (SPEC), Daunte Culpepper (SPEC), Derek Anderson (SPEC)

Running Backs

Patrick Cobbs (SPEC), Jamaal Charles (SPEC), T.J. Duckett (SPEC), Kenneth Darby (SPEC)

Wide Receivers

Davonne Bess (LT), Brandon Jones (ST), Justin Gage (ST), Michael Jenkins (ST), Bobby Wade (SPEC), Steve Smith (SPEC), Shaun McDonald (SPEC), Amani Toomer (SPEC), Ike Hilliard (SPEC), Jabar Gaffney (SPEC), Reggie Williams (SPEC).

Tight Ends

David Martin (LT), Billy Miller (SPEC), Heath Miller (SPEC).

Kickers

Ryan Longwell (LT), Jay Feely (LT), Josh Brown (LT), Robbie Gould (LT), Garrett Hartley (LT), Connor Barth (LT), Nick Folk (ST), Phil Dawson (SPEC), Neil Rackers (SPEC), Shaun Suisham (SPEC), Jeff Reed (SPEC), Joe Nedney (SPEC).

Defenses

Dallas (ST), Kansas City (ST), Denver (ST), Washington (SPEC)

Until next time,

The Sherpa