On the Wire

I know it’s a holiday, but it’s also the best time to get a jump on the other teams by grabbing the best players off the waiver wire. If you don’t have any injuries–you must have signed that contract with Satan, but regardless, there is fresh blood and starters running around the NFL.

Here are the people worth taking.

Kolby Smith, RB Kansas City Chiefs
With no LJ and no Priest, Smith will have to carry this team for them to have a prayer.

Heath Evans and Kyle Eckel, RB New England Patriots
The Patriot running backs rotate weekly. With Maroney and Faulk going down with injuries last week, we could see the hand-offs going to Evans or Eckel this week. Keep an eye on the injury rep–wait, it’s the Patriots.

In addition to the regular waiver wire advice, I’d like to add to it a couple of players that I have read about who I don’t trust at the moment, but they could prove to be valuable assets to your team if you want to sit on them a week to see how they do or–if you are ballsy enough–use them this week.

Leonard Pope, TE Arizona Cardinals

The big boy had 2 TDs against Detroit last week after putting up only 2 TDs in nine games.  If Warner starts to use him like he did in the Detroit game more regularly, he could be a consistent starting TE.  Otherwise, lightning strikes every now and then.   Arizona plays the Bengals this week.  Considering the defense those Cincinnati boys don’t play, he could be worth grabbing and starting this week.  Fine, I said it.

I’ll make this week brief because, frankly, there aren’t too many players worth grabbing in leagues that aren’t probably already grabbed.  Here are a few notes gathered from suggestions around the Web.  If they are available, go after them, but don’t be too hopeful that they will be there in the free agent pool.

Kellen Clemens, QB New York Jets

I have talked about him before, but if he is still available, grab him now.  He is coming off a bye week of practice as the starting QB and should have a nice core of healthy receivers to throw to in Week 11.

JaMarcus Russell, QB Oakland Raiders
John Beck, QB Miami Dolphins

I’ll lump these two together because they are purely speculative.  If you are mopping it up in a dynasty league, you should definitely have one of these two on your roster as a QB of the future.  If you are hurting so bad at QB that you don’t have tears anymore, use a roster spot for Russell he could–emphasis on “could”–have a big impact with the Raiders when they finally decide to stop bruising McCown week after week.

Several players are worth grabbing after performances this week–or finally be cleared by Johnny Law

Chris Henry, WR Cincinnati Bengals

Chris Henry got 8 touchdowns last year as the third receiver for the Bengals. You might remember him. He comes back Week 10 after serving his suspension from the NFL commissioner. Even though the Bengals have stunk it up as of late, they should start making use of Henry almost immediately. He has already been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks. Look for him on your waiver wire, and especially grab him if Ocho Cinco misses any playing time with his head injury–although I don’t see it swelling any bigger.

Ryan Grant, RB Green Bay Packers

Ryan Grant showed some flashes of brilliance in the Denver game. I heard rumors that he would eventually become the starter early in the season when Brandon Jackson was still “the guy” for Green Bay. It’s been a mess in the running game department all season, so naming Grant as the starter after his performance show that he is a guy that Green Bay wants to keep hot. He is worth picking up if you need a decent second RB, but I wouldn’t plan on playing him every week. It would be good to have another RB to play match ups. Green Bay’s running game can go from hot to cold based on the opponent this season.