Wide Receivers
Brandon Marshall – For a guy who hasn’t exactly set the NFL on fire this year, seems odd to put him first. But for a prime time match-up against the Jets, a team adept at shutting down the run, it just seems like it’s time for Marshall to explode. Revis won’t be playing so Marshall should have his way.
Miles Austin – Keeping Austin in the top 5 for the second straight week. I like this match-up for Dallas against a porous Houston secondary. And the Cowboys will come to play Sunday.
Randy Moss – The unreal catch from Moss last week proves he’s got plenty left. I expect a big day through the air by NE as Buff was pretty strong against the run last week in GB.
Andre Johnson – After last weekend, I’m not sure there are many left who would question who the #1 WR in the NFL is today. Johnson is brutally difficult to defend. Crisp route-running, strong off the middle, strong on jump balls, tremendous hands and not easy to bring down. He deserved his ridiculous salary increase this off-season.
Roddy White – White owners have got to be excited about his huge number of targets. Ryan locks onto the guy sometimes, but White still manages to get open and make plays. Shoot-out in New Orleans on Sunday.
Greg Jennings – Each week, I find myself thinking about whether it will be Jennings or Driver who goes off. For some reason, I see a quieter night for Driver and Jennings getting some good stats.
Anquan Boldin – Though Ray Rice will be out to redeem himself (a couple mediocre performances so far), I do think John Harbaugh is going to ask Flacco to air it out to help Flacco recapture his confidence after the disaster last week. Boldin should be good this week.
DeSean Jackson – Just gotta love the fact that whenever this guy makes a catch, on average, it’s for 20 yards.
Steve Breaston – Though Fitzgerald is the touchdown guy, he’ll be covered mostly by Asomugha and could be rendered totally ineffective. (Asomugha is THAT good.) But Breaston could have his way with a mediocre Oakland secondary. Lots of targets for Breaston Sunday.
Wes Welker – I like Welker and Moss both this weekend – Brady will spread the love.
Mike Sims-Walker – Last weekend Sims-Walker showed a bit more of what he can do. Very good WR. But the most compelling reason to take him? Jax’s own Maurice Jones-Drew writes a fantasy football column for sportsillustrated.com and he’s been talking both Sims-Walker and TE Marcedes Lewis up.
Santana Moss – While Moss seems to be afraid of the end zone, he does make a ton of catches and has clearly established himself as THE option for McNabb. Have to like him against the Rams.
Calvin Johnson – Shaun Hill has already discovered that one of his highest percentage passes may be to simply lob the ball near Calvin Johnson. Johnson could get some stats, especially in garbage time – for some reason I see the 0-2 Vikings crushing Detroit here.
Reggie Wayne – Wayne is always solid, but I think he may get a good number of targets this week because I think Indy will be playing from behind.
Eddie Royal – Look for Kyle Orton and Denver to have an explosive offensive game – even though Knowshon Moreno will be out. Lots of passes.
Steve Smith (Car) – While there will be plenty of talking by the opponents 2 WRs (T.O. and OchoCinco), Smith may be the WR who emerges with the best numbers in this one. Some have written Smith off for this week because rookie QB Jimmy Clausen will be getting his first NFL start. But I’m pretty sure the first thing the Carolina coaches told Clausen is that Smith is his best safety option.
Kevin Walter – Matt Schaub really likes Kevin Walter – reason enough to start him this week alone. But Walter is also just plain good and is apparently a tremendous route runner (like his fellow starter Andre Johnson).
Robert Meachem – Lots of fantasy folks are wondering what happened to Meacham. He didn’t have many targets last year but he scored lots of TDs. This year he has 3 catches. Well, against a game Atlanta team, I think Brees will need to stretch the field and that’s where Meachem comes in.
Percy Harvin – The Vikes have to get their passing game going and I think it may be Harvin who gives it the necessary push this weekend.
Louis Murphy – Starting to be a name more folks are recognizing. Good player at Oakland and they will likely be throwing some late in the game down at Arizona.
