Crucial Weeks for your Fantasy TeamBy Chris Goudey Weeks 6 and 7 are crucial weeks for your fantasy team because there are 12 NFL teams on their bye, 6 in each week. All of the other bye weeks (3, 4, 5, 8, and 9) only see 4 teams on a bye, so if it seems like your whole team is on a bye this week or next, that's why. It is vital that you field a competitive team these two weeks even if you have a ton of guys out. There are usually only 13 or 14 games during the fantasy regular season, so to give up these two weeks would mean you are basically punting 20 percent of your games. You must fill those empty spots the best you can and try to win every game. Hopefully if you've been paying attention to my articles during the season, you have a lot of depth at RB and WR and are going to be able to start a quality player even with a lot of byes. If your kicker is on a bye this week, I would just drop him and pick up another one and then re-acquire him next week if he's a top-shelf guy. Defenses are a tough call. If I have a team like Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh or San Diego as my primary defense, I'm not going to drop them because they are too valuable. If you have any other defense going for you most weeks, go ahead and dump them this week and pick up another team. You can always try and get them back next week, but if not it's not worth dropping one of your playable RB, WR, or QB to get them. I'd say the same strategy applies with TE. If you have one of the top 6-7 guys (Gates, Gonzalez, Heap, Shockey, Winslow, Cooley, LJ Smith), I'd hang on to them and pick up a one-week fill-in guy, but if you don't want to drop anyone, go ahead and take the zero for this one week. A TE is rarely going to make the difference between a win and a loss, so if your team has a lot of good bench players, that's one strategy you might employ. If you have someone you think you can re-acquire next week, then go ahead and pick up a one-week TE and take your chances. Play in the FREE $15,000 NFL Betting Handicapping Contest every week all season long! Put your bankroll over the TOP and sign-up now at SBG Global!Join SBG Global and start winning CASH today! Setting the industry standards with fast, free, secure and reliable deposit and withdrawl options, for over a decade SBG Global has been the World's most respected Online Sportsbook, Online Casino, Poker Room and Racebook! With up to 265% in total Bonuses for this 2011-2012 NFL Season, sign up to SBGGLOBAL.COM for their Unmatched Bonuses and Phenomenal Customer Service right now!! I'm going to go team-by-team and let you know which players might be on your waiver wire and are worth picking up as a fill-in during these critical weeks. Arizona - QB Matt Leinart and WR Bryant Johnson: Leinart looked solid in his debut last week, and now that stud WR Larry Fitzgerald is out for 2-5 weeks, Johnson will be his fill-in and should put up respectable numbers. The Cardinals have a fantastic schedule the next two weeks after this one (when the play Chicago), with games against Green Bay and Oakland. Both guys should do well in both games. Atlanta - RB Jerious Norwood: With the way Atlanta runs the ball, Norwood should be a good candidate for a No. 3 RB or a Flex spot. Week 7 would be a bad week to pick up Norwood, though, as the Falcons play the Steelers. Baltimore - QB Steve McNair and WR Mark Clayton: If you need fill-ins during Weeks 8 and 9, these two guys have good matchups against New Orleans and Cincinnati, respectively. Buffalo - QB J.P. Losman: Losman has great matchups this week against Detroit and in Week 9 against Green Bay. He has a tough matchup Week 7 against the Patriots, and the Bills are on bye Week 8. Carolina - Unfortunately most of their players are probably already taken. If Keyshawn Johnson is available he would be a nice play in Week 7 against Cincinnati, but the Panthers have a rough schedule the rest of the time and are on bye week 9. Chicago - RB Cedric Benson, WR Bernard Berrian and TE Desmond Clark: This is a great place to look if you need help other than Week 7, when the Bears have their bye. The Bears play Arizona this week, then San Francisco in Week 8. Benson scored 2 TDs this past week and it looks like he'll be splitting carries with Thomas Jones and getting the bulk of the goal-line work. Berrian has just exploded onto the scene and if you're lucky and he's available, pick him up now because this is the last time you'll see him there. Clark is a good backup TE. Cincinnati - When you're a monster offense like the Bengals, most if not all of your stud players are going to be taken. That's the case here, as the only possible pickup might be WR Chris Henry, but he's suspended for the next two games and their games in Weeks 8 and 9 are against tough defenses in Atlanta and Baltimore. Bet Super Bowl XLVI!
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Assuming the game turns into a blowout, Barber should get a lot more carries than he normally does and could put up a huge game in garbage time. After this week things get a bit tougher for the Cowboys, as they have tough games against the Giants, Carolina and Washington. Denver - QB Jake Plummer: Can't believe I'm actually recommending you pick up Plummer with the way he's played, but this game is all about matchups, and he has great ones the next 3 weeks: Cleveland, Oakland and Indianapolis. Detroit - QB Jon Kitna and WR Mike Furrey: Furrey is one of the first guys I would target if I needed a WR the next two weeks. Detroit's got very nice matchups against Buffalo and the Jets, so if you need help Furrey's your guy at WR and you could do worse than Kitna as a fill-in QB. Green Bay - RB Ahman Green/Noah Herron: Keep an eye on this situation, as Green will probably be ready to play in Week 7 after the Pack have their bye this week. The Pack play in Miami that week, so that's not a good matchup, but Weeks 8 and 9 are nice for them with Arizona and Buffalo. If I owned Green I'd pick up Herron this week just in case he isn't ready to play or gets hurt again. If Green got dropped by someone frustrated with him, scoop him up and stash him until Week 8. Are you looking for a few great Fantasy Football Draft pointers? Check out this awesome article on Fantasy Football Draft Strategies!Houston - QB David Carr, RB Ron Dayne WR Eric Moulds: Week 8 is really the only good matchup for Houston, when the Texans visit Tennessee. I'd play anyone against Tennessee, so if you need help that week remember the Titans. The rest of the Texans' upcoming schedule is ugly: Dallas, Jacksonville and the Giants. Indianapolis - Like Cincy, there are no players to be found on your waiver wire that will help much, but TE Dallas Clark is a solid backup guy if you need one. Indy is off this week and has tough matchups in Weeks 7/8/9 in Washington, Denver and New England. Jacksonville - RB Maurice Jones-Drew, WR Reggie Williams, WR Matt Jones: Jacksonville has a great schedule after its bye this week: Houston, Philadelphia and Tennessee. All three of those guys might be available and all three can really help. Matt Jones has been injured but should be back for the Houston game, and this will be the last week you can pickup Jones-Drew and Williams. Kansas City - QB Damon Huard: It's hard to recommend picking Huard right now because he faces Pittsburgh this week and San Diego next week, but if you're desperate, at least he should be playing. It's still unknown when Trent Green will return to action, but it should be sometime in the middle of this bye-week madness. Miami - QB Joey Harrington, WR Wes Welker: If Harrington can't prove he's a starting QB in the next two weeks, then he might never get another chance. The Dolphins have the Jets this week and Green Bay the next, and if he does well I'd say he has the job the rest of the year. Welker should be the beneficiary of Harrington's work the next two weeks so he's a great guy to target. You can cut bait on him after Week 7, though, because Miami is out Week 8 and has Chicago in Week 9. Minnesota - QB Brad Johnson, WR Troy Williamson: I would only use either of these guys in Week 9 against San Francisco. New England - WR Doug Gabriel, TE Ben Watson: After a bye week this week, the Patriots have three just so-so matchups afterwards: Buffalo, Minnesota and Indianapolis. Both Gabriel and Watson have had their moments thus far, but it remains to be seen which guy is going to become Tom Brady's favorite target. New Orleans - I'm sure all of the Saints primary guys (Brees, Bush, McAllister, Horn and Colston) are gone by this point so I can't recommend anyone else here. If for some reason any of those guys are on your waiver wire, pick them up pronto. NY Giants - WR Amani Toomer: The Giants have some fairly tough matchups the next 3 weeks (Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa Bay) before getting Houston in Week 9. Toomer is probably the only guy that's possibly out there that's worth picking up. NY Jets - RB Leon Washington: The Jets may have found their new starting RB, after Washington put up 100 yards against a stingy Jaguar defense in Week 5. Pick up Washington this week and stash him for Weeks 7 and 8 against Detroit and Cleveland. If you're desperate, the Jets play Miami this week so you could play Little Leon, but he might not do much. Oakland - WR Ronald Curry: The good thing about having a Raiders WR is they are always going to have a chance at a big game. The reasoning behind that is they are always going to be playing from behind and have to throw to catch up. Curry looked very strong this week against San Fran and should have plenty of opportunities going forward, as teams double up Randy Moss. The Oakland schedule is rough in Weeks 6, 8 and 9 (Denver, Pittsburgh, Seattle) and looks nice for Week 7 (Arizona). Pittsburgh - The Steeler offense has looked horrible this year, save RB Willie Parker. I can't recommend anyone that's going to be on your wire except maybe TE Heath Miller as a backup. Philadelphia - WR Reggie Brown: Brown is the most consistent WR the offensive juggernaut known as the Eagles have and should be solid going forward. The Eagles' schedule isn't too bad coming up, so Brown is the guy I'd target at WR. Donovan McNabb has been spreading the ball all over the place, but in the long run I'd say Brown has the best shot at keeping the chains moving. San Diego - QB Philip Rivers: This is the guy you want to target if you need a QB. San Diego has probably the best upcoming schedule in the league: San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis and Cleveland. All 4 of those defenses are shaky and after what Rivers did to Pittsburgh on Sunday night, he has made me a believer. Seattle -- WR Deion Branch: Branch should establish himself as the No. 2 WR in Seattle and with Shaun Alexander still out, should see plenty of passes thrown his way. Seattle also has a great upcoming schedule (St. Louis, Minnesota, K.C., and Oakland), so there will plenty of opportunities. San Francisco - I would normally recommend QB Alex Smith as a good fill-in, but he's got horrible matchups in Weeks 6 and 8 (San Diego and Chicago). He might be decent in Week 9 against Minnesota, but you could probably do better for now. St. Louis - It's been business as usual for the Rams, with QB Marc Bulger throwing all the time to WR Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, and RB Steven Jackson handling almost the entire rushing game. The Rams are not the place to look for backup help. Tampa Bay - QB Bruce Gradkowski: If your league does not count against you for interceptions thrown, Gradkowski might be a decent fill-in guy. The Bucs' upcoming schedule is murderous - Cincinnati, Philly, the Giants and New Orleans, but assuming the Bucs fall behind, Gradkowski should get some good yardage totals and maybe a garbage-time TD or two. He was impressive against the Saints last week and could be decent down the line. Tennessee - RB Travis Henry, RB LenDale White, TE Ben Troupe: All of these guys should only be considered for their Week 8 matchup against Houston. The rest of the schedule is bad (Washington this week, off Week 7, and Jacksonville in Week 9) and you could do much better with a lot of the guys already mentioned. Washington - QB Mark Brunell: Brunell has some sweet matchups the next two weeks, with Tennessee this week and Indy the next. Neither team has a good pass defense, so if you are in a deep league I'd possibly look at WR Brandon Lloyd as well. Lloyd has been MIA most of the year, and I know they want to get a nice return on the investment they put in him. They might make a concentrated effort to get him the ball and take some pressure off his running-mate, Santana Moss. Well, hopefully that gives you a good outlook at guys you can pick up to help you during these trying times. Best of luck as you fill those giant holes in your lineup and hopefully once you hit Week 10 you'll be smelling like a rose! --- by WagerWeb at 1800-sports.com on July 24, 2007
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