Quick Slants - Week 3

Waiver Wire:

The bye weeks begin this week. Six teams with big name players have the week off. Most Fantasy owners already have made a couple of moves to tweak their rosters; but this week should see a big increase in waiver wire and trade activity. Besides the major injury to Tom Brady, top tier quarterbacks are staying healthy. A few quarterbacks have been benched for poor play. The backups on these teams might be able to step up. My advice is to look at a couple of young guys that have already been playing. JaMarcus Russell and Matt Ryan are available in most leagues. Be aware that Russell has a bye week next week. That fact could work to your advantage, because you can pick him up and sit him for one more week. After three weeks, he has more Fantasy points than Peyton Manning. I have watched the Falcons and like Matt Ryan. He has weapons around him. He is an accurate passer. He is worth a start when the Falcons play at home. Other quarterbacks: I like Griese (and keep an eye on Kevin Kolb if McNabb can't play), but stay away from Collins, Huard, Quinn, and Trent Green. I pretty much can guarantee Green not lasting the whole game this weekend.

At the running back position, the big move this week is to go after Rashad Mendenhall. In deeper and competitive leagues, he is probably already taken. I have seen some columnists saying to not play him against the Ravens. If he does not fumble, Mendenhall will gain yards against the Ravens. Their wins have come against the Bengals and Browns! Plus, the Steelers traditionally can run the football against the Ravens. The other player to seriously consider is Correll Buckhalter. Westbrook is going to be hobbled and Buckhalter fits right into Westbrook’s role in the offense. The big drawback is that every week Westbrook will not practice and then try to play on Sunday. Every week, you will be frantically checking the active / inactive list to see if Westbrook is going to play. I still like Warrick Dunn and Michael Bush, but stay away from Leron McClain of the Ravens until you see if McGahee is going to return to full strength.

The wide receiver position makes Fantasy Football great. Every week is different for these players. Guys come out of nowhere for big games and then disappear for weeks. Even top draft picks, like Terrell Owens, are not guaranteed to get opportunities. Managing your WRs and picking the right guys to play is key to winning your games. I am still promoting Bobby Meachem and Chansi Stuckey. Favre is looking for this guy. Check out the 49ers’ receivers. JT O’Sullivan is getting better each week and you know Coach Martz is going to through the football. Other guys I like are Roscoe Parrish and Miles Austin. I think Patrick Crayton’s bad year is going to continue. Players I don’t like are Ike Clayton, Antonio Bryant, Mark Clayton, Brandon Lloyd, and Hank Baskett.

You probably need someone to replace the oft-injured Jeremy Shockey. The TE position has killed me this year. I have four total on two teams and last week I played the wrong two. That means take this advice for what it is worth. Pick up Donald Lee of the Green Bay Packers.

Pop Culture / State of the Union. The economy is keeping me from checking out www.MTV.com and watching The Hills. Whitney could probably do something to get this country moving again. George Bush’s press conference comes on in a few minutes. When someone in this Administration tells me that unless we do something there is going to be a calamity, I pause and think about how often these guys have been wrong. That list is endless. I have to agree with CNN’s Lou Dobbs tonight--we have to reject politics by fear and threats of disaster. We need to know what this bailout plan involves. Debate and intelligent discussion must occur. I actually found myself nodding my head when Pat Buchanan was talking about this issue. Scary. E-mail your national representatives and tell them not to bail these guys out!