Fantasy Football 395: Week 5 Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em

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Welcome to your second dose of the Bye week… Keep in mind that these Bye weeks continue for the next 2 months, and be aware of your rosters and which players will fall on the same/different Bye weeks. This is crucial to your path to the Championship… you are the Manager of your own team – make trades, drop/add (depending on your Free Agent/Waiver Wire market), etc.  Do what you need to do. You have to make it happen in order to win. Let’s remember: Winning is all that matters in this game.

Oh yea… Obviously, if you absolutely must start someone that obviously shouldn’t start, but you don’t have any other choice… well you don’t have any other choice, so start them! Bye weeks can hurt you for this reason alone. Therefore, some of my recommendations over these weeks will include players that are used for deep leagues only (12 teams +).

Let’s get to it…

Running Backs

START Glen Coffee (RB, SF) – Coffee has been a great fill-in for Gore owners since Gore went down with his injury… and if you were a Gore owner that didn’t bother to pick up Coffee… well too bad, so sad for you. Personally, I do not think Gore will come back the same and there is a lot to love about Coffee. He’s a strong downhill runner who will hit you at the end of a run – very similar to how Marion Barber punishes defenders at the end of his runs – that plays in a run first offensive system. He didn’t exactly dazzle last weekend, but he still managed 106 total yards and was involved in a vast majority of running/passing plays all day long last week v. STL. He has a favorable match up this week v. ATL who gives up 4.7 ypc and averages giving up 136 yards per game. Count on him finding the end zone this week too.

START Jerome Harrison (RB, CLE) – Harrison suited up and burst on to the Sunday scene last weekend v. CIN. 152 total yards later, he’s your starter in CLE. If you haven’t grabbed him, do it. Let’s state the obvious reasons why: rookie James Davis is on IR for the remainder of the season and Jamal Lewis has proved he’s truly 30. He’s also the only healthy RB in CLE. Harrison is playing against Buffalo, and I don’t know if you saw Miami play them last week or not, but Miami’s RB Brown ran all over them for 115 yards and 2 TDs. Buffalo’s ranked 28^th against the run this year and they give up 4.8 ypc. The obvious plan of attack for CLE would be to run the ball effectively early and often the entire game. Expect a similar stat line for Harrison this week as last week.

SIT Kevin Smith (RB, DET) – Look, you and me both (because I own him) did not expect Smith to do anything last week with his apparent shoulder injury and playing against the Bears, who are ranked just outside the top 10 in rushing defense this year. He did put up 2 TD’s somehow and has actually been effective having found the end zone or close to 100 total yards each game thus far. We’re talkinga bout Detroit – they don’t have a choice but to get him involved. Regardless, he plays against the Steelers this week who are ranked 4^th right now in rushing defense. Oh yea, the Steelers are supposed to get an upgrade with Madden Curse ’09 version, Troy Polamalu, back at safety. It doesn’t look pretty this weekend.

SIT Thomas Jones (RB, NYJ) ­– Jones and the JETS play on Monday Night Football this week against Miami. Miami is ranked 3^rd in rushing defense this year thus far. They only give up just under 3 ypc and only roughly 60 yards rushing per contest. PLUS, the revamped JETS are looking to get their draft pick Shonn Greene more involved with their offensive scheme as well. That translates into zero running room, shared touches with a triple-headed monster (Jones, Washington and Greene), and more than likely a pass happy offense for Monday night; Miami’s biggest weakness.

Other Notable RB’s to START: Rice/McGahee v. CIN, Clinton Portis v. CAR, Knowshon Moreno v. NE, Tashard Choice v. KC, LeSean McCoy v. TB, Cadillac Williams v. PHI

Other Notable RB’s to SIT: Steven Jackson v. MIN, Julius Jones v. JAC, Steve Slaton v. ARI, anyone in Oak v. NYG, Joseph Addai v. TENN (if not in PPR league)

Wide Receivers

START Pierre Garcon (WR, IND) – Look, all of a sudden, I speak French. All jokes aside, Garcon has been absolutely solid since stepping in to the starting role across from Wayne on a powerful IND offense. He stretches the field, he’s fast, and has proven to have great hands – maybe another Wayne in the making here. This week they play against the Titans; which are close to being the worst team at defending the pass with a hurt secondary. TENN has given up on average 16 reception yards for 209 yards and about 2 touchdowns to wide receivers this season. Plus, he’s got Manning. What’s not to like?

START Roddy White (WR, ATL) – White has not proven to be an elite WR just yet; I should know, I own him. As a matter of fact, he’s not even in the top 25 in receiving yards. Yes, his team has already had a Bye week but that’s no excuse to me. I am very optimistic about this team that the Bye week and SF’s run defense will revitalize the Ryan-White connection in ATL this weekend. The 49ers are only around middle of the pack, ranked 17th, against the pass this year anyway. I fully expect Ryan to use all of his aerial weapons, especially the one with the new contract!

SIT Terrell Owens (WR, BUF) – Owens has less receptions than my 10 total fingers that type this article; he has 8 in case you were wondering. Only 8 receptions in 4 games – just 2 catches per game thus far this season. Obviously, he’s a huge disappointment on a struggling offense and there’s no sight of upside in play. Buffalo even has what they should consider a favorable match up against CLE this week, but I just don’t see anything changing for him right now. Although my bet would be that if he’s going to prove anything, he’s going to do so over the next 4 weeks (CLE, NYJ, CAR, HOU). So keep a look out for a big game to sell high on him if you own him. Just do not expect anything this week.

SIT Randy Moss (WR, NE) – Moss is an outstanding receiver; definitely in the top 3! I absolutely never recommend to sit a first/second round draft pick simply because they were your first/second round draft pick – if you don’t have faith in those picks these days, then your team is probably struggling big time. However, the Patriots are playing at Denver which is ranked #4 against the pass this year thus far. They will figure out how to get after the QB (Brady), and Champ Bailey will cause problems for Moss. Plus, I don’t know if anyone else realizes this or not, but Brady hasn’t exactly been “Brady ver. 2007”. For anyone that picked him up expecting a repeat of 2007, well you probably wasted an early draft pick on someone that is going to disappoint for the effort you gave to get him on your team. I advise extreme caution for this match up.

Other Notable WR’s to START: Kenny Britt v. IND, both Steve Smith’s v. WAS/OAK, Antonio Bryant v. PHI, Patrick Crayton v. KC

Other Notable WR’s to SIT: Any OAK WR v. NYG (if you actually own them), Mario Manningham v. OAK, Santana Moss v. CAR

Please feel free to share your thoughts on START/SIT action for this weekend… Good luck in Week 5! udothedishes . . .