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Preseason is more of a period where fantasy owners get over zealous in hyping their player’s and over all roster. Do not get to the point where you’re tinkering so much with the bottom of your roster that you’re subbing off and on with the waiver wire already. It’s uncalled for. Be patient. Here are some newsworthy players though that did a little more for themselves, especially for drafts coming up this week.

Jared Cook- I’ve never been big on guys rejoining their old coaches and expecting great things. That’s all people keep saying about Cook and Jeff Fisher. But Saturday, Cook showed great burst and size over the middle for the Rams. He used his speed on getting open for a couple of seam routes with Bradford, and then used his size and leaping ability to snare a touchdown pass from Bradford.

Brandon Gibson- I profiled a post about Gibson yesterday. He did a solid job Saturday with five catches for over forty yards and a touchdown. It should have been two touchdowns for Gibson. With Miami looking for a tight end to step up and not getting it, Gibson is going to be a guy Tannehill leans on even more.

Kenbrell Thompkins- It’s a game of who knows when it comes to the Patriots receivers behind Danny Amendola. I wouldn’t expect Thompkins or Dobson to explode on a week to week basis but one is going to emerge to have more value—it’s just inevitable. Thompkins had a slew of catches and over 100 yards in Saturday’s poor outing by the Patriots. Thompkins filled the role that the Patriots have used over the years with Welker and now Amendola, as Amendola sat out the game. He’ll be on the field but do not expect the slot receiver catches consistently from Thompkins.

Brandon Stokely- There is a reason why Stokely keeps hanging on and signing with quality franchises. At his veteran age, Stokely still has great route running and hands to play in the NFL. I’m not sold on Jacoby Jones, and the threat of Stokely filling the Anquan Boldin role might not be as big of a drop off as people think. The flare after the catch will not be there, but Stokely can be a great third and short and third down option for Flacco. He had three catches for over forty yards against the Panthers Thursday.

Michael Floyd- Floyd already looks much better than he did last preseason. He caught on in the Cardinals offense in the second half of 2012 and seems to be carrying that over into 2013. Attention is not going to be on him, as teams know all about Larry Fitzgerald and even Andre Roberts. Expect Floyd to develop nicely with Palmer, as he caught a neat back of the end zone beaut from Palmer in yesterday’s loss to San Diego.

Alshon Jeffrey- Cutler loves to air out the ball, and new head coach Marc Trestman is going to emphasize to Cutler that he needs to stay off the radar lock feed with Brandon Marshall. If he listens games like Jeffrey had Thursday should keep increasing (7 catches for nearly 80 yards).

Aldrick Robinson- Someone is going to fill the aging Santana Moss’s role and Robinson may be that guy. Pierre Garcon still has to prove his health over the long haul as well. Robinson is not a guy to jump on immediately but is one to keep an eye on. He had nearly 60 yards receiving with a touchdown against the Bills.
Joique Bell- Keep an eye on Bell as the Lions likely aren’t sold 100 per cent on Mikel LeShoure. It looks like the Lions will utilize Bush similarly to how Miami did, which will be to give him just enough carries to keep him fresh. Bell had five carries for over fifty yards against the Patriots.

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The season-ending injury to tight end Dustin Keller is already rearing its ugly head. Clearly, Miami needs to identify a target at receiver to fill in even more as a possession receiver. Saturday the Dolphins settled for three field goals in which they dominated the Buccaneers in yardage by almost 2 to 1. Yet, they lost not all just because of their red zone inefficiency (three costly turnovers) but it’s something that cannot be overlooked.

Charles Clay who is supposed to be the tight end to replace Keller had another putrid outing with just one catch against the Buccaneers. Tight end is vital for any young quarterback. This is a sticky situation for Miami entering the season, and will put added pressure on the perimeter for Miami’s receivers. It also will allow the linebackers to cheat up more in the box to stop the run, as Clay has not shown to be a quick outlet safety valve in preseason action.

One positive Saturday was the play of Brandon Gibson. A free agent bolstered addition to the Miami receivers along with Mike Wallace seems to be emerging quickly. Tannehill looked for Gibson quite often Saturday. The pair should have had two touchdown connections. One was dropped by Gibson in the back of the end zone. It was in an awkward spot where Gibson looked to have lost his concentration because he was trying to land his two feet without being crunched by defenders and also avoid the bottom of the field goal post. The ball went in his hands and as his shifted his body to land his feet the football slipped out.

At least a few drives later Gibson redeemed himself with a short four yard touchdown catch right before halftime.

He finished the evening with a Dolphin high five catches for 43 yards. Do not be too alarmed by the yards per catch. In the regular season Mike Wallace has proven throughout his young career that he is one of the best deep threat receivers in the NFL. That won’t change and that is going to allow Gibson to develop even more with a high amount of under route catches. He will be Miami’s new Davone Bess and critical to the Tannehill having a reliable possession receiver.
Gibson should have fantasy owners thrilled in PPR leagues. His projected 50 or so catches should jump by at least an extra fifteen, and maybe five to six touchdowns. Not a fantasy starting wide receiver, but a receiver you can insert against a team like the Patriots, or for a bye week fill in. His catches each week make him a borderline fourth receiver in deep leagues.

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It’s a troubling sign when you’re rotating NFL teams with more velocity than Peyton Manning’s football throws over twenty yards. Felix Jones is a name but does he fill a need for Pittsburgh? He is on his third team in less than a season now, and obviously did not show enough for Philadelphia to consider him worth keeping. They traded him away to Pittsburgh for a former undrafted linebacker.

Pittsburgh is not sure how to handle the current injury to Le’Veon Bell so they insured themselves just in case. With a backfield that already consists of LaRod Stephens-Howling, Isaac Redman, and Jonathan Dwyer, the move is a bit peculiar.

This automatically negates one of the three running backs, and I believe that to be Isaac Redman. I wrote an article just a few days ago on the Steelers running back situation, and believed Redman was the odd man out amongst the three then. With four to worry about now, Redman is downgraded even more.

As far as Jones being a sleeper and taking on a big role for the Steelers, I do not believe that will happen. Jones has struggled through a vast amount of injuries after showing promise as an speed back a few years ago in Dallas. The job as a starter in Dallas did not last long as DeMarco Murray ran away with the job, and proved to be much more effective.

Jones proved the notion that a smaller back has a tough time taken on the heavy-duty role. Games that he had carries above ten he struggled and was ineffective. His yards per carry dwindled and his injury-risk skied as he was not durable. But when you lessen the amount of carries he receives to be between five and eight, he can produce heavy damage. He is that change of pace back that is a true home run threat when the burden is not solely on him.

With Demarco Murray’s injury woes last season the Cowboys began to lean more and more on other backs, instead of Jones, relegating Jones to a third running back. Dallas made it clear when they drafted former Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle that they were not pleased with Jones run efficiency nor his 3.6 yards per carry last season.

His role in Philadelphia would have been third back behind McCoy and Brown, and will be his role as a Steeler. Pittsburgh must quietly have concerns on LaRod Stephens-Howling’s health. He did miss week two’s preseason game and has missed practice this week with a strained knee.

Pittsburgh can ill-afford to rely on the tandem of Dwyer/Redman as they did last year. I doubt Jones will get a significant amount of carries for Pittsburgh. Opportunity does have a weird way of knocking on someone’s door. Jones may get that in Pittsburgh where injuries have become prevalent and the need for someone to step up is there. The max I would expect from Jones is a game or two in which he is the primary ball carrier. Something we have seen in Dallas just as recent as last year, in which he still showed no fantasy value.

This signing should have no fantasy committal value. Take a wait and see approach before you consider a roster move for Jones, even in PPR leagues.

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There is no secret fantasy football has taken off exponentially over the last several years. For those of you that just became interested over the last three to four years, you probably have done standard leagues for the most part. More than likely you’ve been approached a few different times to partake in an auction league. If you said yes this year here are some basic tips for success.

Back in the day even before standard draft leagues, leagues that use to be popular were salary cap leagues. They’re still around, but dwindling down to fantasy football extinction (head2head.com still is very popular) but smallworld, sandlot, and others around years ago have fallen of the earth. I, myself have not done a salary cap league in over five years. The basis of a salary cap league is kind of how an auction league is based. Salary cap leagues would give you an X amount of dollars (salary cap) and each player would be given a dollar value based on his skill set.

So back in the day in a $200 salary cap league, high stars were likely in the 50 to 65 dollar range. Fantasy league roster spots were similar to today and salaries will shift throughout the season. The fun of it was that you could gain dollars if you bought an athlete low, and use that to bolster your roster. I’d say if you have not done one of these leagues and want to join one this year head to sportingnews.com. They probably have one of the best free salary cap leagues around.

What really has taken over the dollar strategy leagues is auction leagues. People like to have self control and auction leagues put you in that position off the bat, just like standard draft leagues. I’m sure after three or four years being in a standard draft, you’ve seen a mistake or two from someone inexperienced in a fantasy football draft.

That laughter you had then, and mistake pick you capitalized off of might be staring at you for your first auction draft.

Here are four basic tips to have success in your auction league

You Have Money, Spend It. Don’t Be That Guy/Gal
Your given an X amount of dollars to spend. When it’s all said and done you typically do not want to have dollars left over. If you do, you were over cautious and missed out on depth and better profile players. At the end, if you’re the one buying consecutively you know you did something wrong. Just because you have the most amount left and can outbid everyone, means nothing because you didn’t partake in the majority of the auction.

Let’s compare the bid wars show on A@E as an example. If you came to bid on a storage unit and waited, waited, and waited, and then the last two units shown you decided to bid on, you’re left with a limited upside and more than likely duds. Bid early with everyone else and manage your money as the draft goes.

Have a Strategy
The main purpose of an auction league is that you have full control of each and every player you can get. For the most part you should be able to control 70% of your roster outcome, especially the cream of the crop. Sure, you might have to outbid aggressively for a couple of players, but that’s the cost of having a sure-fire top notch athlete. Go in with an aggressive mindset that you’re going to get seven to ten players. You’ll be surprised how many of those athletes you end up with.
Use Common Sense
This goes hand and hand with strategy, but you need common sense when piecing together a roster. You’re the GM, and you have to surround your team with high caliber automatic high ceiling athletes, middle-tier, and value based with potential. If you lack the common sense to envision a team with prospects along with stars, than you’re in a world of hurting. You need to spread out your dollars and picture yourself as a GM taking risks and outplaying the other ten to thirteen fantasy owners in your league. Remember, these aren’t computers automating selections. Have a mind, and outthink as if you were on the poker table.
Your Team is Assembled, Now Manage It
Just like in professional sports, a draft with talent looks good on paper. Ironing out the rough spots (bye weeks, injuries, poor performance) needs to be a daily and weekly focus for you. If you end up like a NFL coach or GM that is too trustworthy of his talent, you’ll fall flat on your face. You need to be prepared to dump players that don’t perform, go for a couple of trades, and out bid league owners on certain waiver wire acquisitions. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel once your draft is over. Wake up and smell the coffee on the players that are dragging your team down. Even if you’re doing well early, there are other owners pushing to outpace you before season’s end. Outsmart them and ensure your team is not going to falter.

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When an incentive is front of you no matter how minor it is, you’re going to strive for it. In grade school if the teacher had to pull out candy to get students to answer a question, you raised that hand. If at work you’re involved in a contest for a day off or incentive laden performance goal, you put in the extra effort to try and reach it. The NFL is no different and fantasy owners should take note of the current 2013 players that are in contract years.

These are all considered under achievers for the most part and should have money on their mind each game, instead of before the game on Friday’s when they collect a team check.

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The talent has to still be there. When Freeman threw for 25 touchdowns and six interceptions he had me glowing as I had selected him in a dynasty rookie league draft. He was stashed behind Peyton Manning. So when Manning went down for 2011, I thought I was all fine and dandy with Freeman for 2011. Boy was that a rough year for my dynasty league team as Freeman threw just 16 touchdowns to go along with 22 interceptions. He recovered somewhat last year, and he is in a must-prove situation now. I’d classify Freeman as a sleeper as he has about as great a cast around him offensively as a quarterback could hope for, with Doug Martin, Mike Williams, and Vinny Jackson. Remember Doug Martin did not fully emerge for the Bucs offense until after week eight. Look for the offense to flow more running the ball first and then through the air.

Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders
The storm has occurred via Shaun King for McFadden. King blasted McFadden’s preseason effort on air during week two of the preseason. Obvious reaction to those comments would cause high alert and alarm for fantasy draftees. Maybe he is a bit out of shape and has an injury prone history, but McFadden has shown when on the field he is one of the better backs in football. Sure he truly has only had one great season, but you can say that for other running backs including Doug Martin and Trent Richardson. McFadden is in a contract year which means he may play through a few nagging injuries this season.

Ben Tate, Houston Texans
The injury concerns of Arian Foster may have been just out played by the media. What can not be outplayed is the fact that Foster has been an old school workhorse back the last three seasons. Wear and tear has proven to rear its head and not go away to the detriment of backs like Foster. He may be a year or two away from a decline. For insurance, Houston will likely increase Tate’s carries slightly and figure out if they want to retain him as the complimentary back in 2014.

Donald Brown, Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis just never seems to be able to get a grip of their running back situation since Joseph Addai hit the wall. Donald Brown was drafted and never took off, then Delone Carter who was recently traded, and last year Vick Ballard. Ballard has the keys right now. How long that will last is what gives Brown another chance to take another crack at the role. The Colts have always fluctuated in the backfield and I think that has more to do with the fact that they love to air out the football than anything else. Brown the former first round pick has shown flashes but needs to stay healthy.

Kenny Britt, Tennessee Titans
Injuries and non-discipline have turned Britt from a big surprise to a dud instantly. The former Rutgers receiver is who he is. A tall target that can stretch the field from time to time. Teams know what he is capable of as Britt’s offseason market value is already established. I don’t expect him to do anything abnormal with his season coming up.

James Jones, Green Bay Packers
All fantasy football owners should know that Jones touchdown totals and season as a whole were and will be his career year. Jones role in Green Bay is best suited for the third wide receiver role that can spring a few big games a season. As far as an every down receiver he probably can do it for stretches. Having the drops that he does though lowers his on the field value from a coaching standpoint and fantasy standpoint. He benefitted for stretches last season with injuries at receiver to Green Bay and may get that opportunity again.

Golden Tate, Seattle Seahawks
Tate is a Seattle guy and Seattle receiver. Can you remember the last Seattle Seahawks receiver that had significant fantasy football value? Seattle has not had a 1,000 yard receiver since Bobby Engram did it in 2007. Quite awhile, but Seattle has a team identity and does not worry about satisfying stats. Tate does his job and will only continue to be a mediocre bench fantasy producer.

Brandon LaFell, Carolina Panthers
Sooner or later you would expect LaFell to have a breakout season. It seems as if Steve Smith has been the only Carolina Panthers receiver to don the uniform with value in quite awhile. Where is Wesley Walls when you need him, so the Panthers can run double tight end formations with Greg Olsen. It sounds funny, but Carolina has failed mightily to get Smith an opposite threat. It looks like LaFell will be the latest. I do not expect him to be back in a Panther uniform. This time next year he will be fighting to make a roster in the preseason.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, Indianapolis Colts
Oakland execs and the rest of the NFL new that the Raiders made a horrific high selection pick with Bey. Maybe if he would have been drafted in the third round, his mediocre seasons in Oakland would look better. Possessing speed is still his main asset. Being brought to Indianapolis to be the third receiver seems to be a better suited role for Bey. He was in a poor situation in Oakland, so maybe he can make the most of his one year as a Colt. I’d consider him as a bench fantasy receiver with a sleeper annotation. Reggie Wayne is aging, and teams know what TY Hilton is all about after his season a year ago.

Ed Dickson, Baltimore Ravens
Dickson gets likely his last shot at being a tight end number one for an entire season because of a season ending injury to Dennis Pitta. In a league that blossomed and transformed tight ends overnight, Dickson is going to have a hard time fitting GM’s new mindset on a starting tight end. He will find a role if the Ravens do not re-sign him, but it’ll be a developmental non-significant premier role. Value for this season on the other hand is promising. Stash him as your tight end two for now, and plan on using him only for a bye week or injury issues.

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What type of fantasy owner are you when it comes to receivers? Three roster starting spots are vital on a given week, and you need to plan accordingly. But do not be one of those owners that has drafts to have limitless options. You do not want to have six or seven receivers on your fantasy roster. Draft to fulfill needs and draft strong but try to keep your wide receiver depth at five. That way you are not being burden with too many tough decisions for your third receiver starting spot on Sunday. If you have to pick out of four receivers to select for your third starting spot on Sunday, that’s just a 25 percent chance of picking the right guy.

I’d rather have to make that decision between three guys. You can analyze the matchups better and should make more of an appropriate decision. Nothing is worse than having one of your bench wide receivers go off on a given weekend. It just creates more of an indecisive move for you the following week. Automatically inserting that receiver the next week causes a tailspin of inputting the wrong receiver as he puts up a dud performance. Stick with your guns and limit your options. You’ll get a better result and if worse comes to worse, do a proper trade to upgrade instead of working with poor depth.
Here are updated wide receiver rankings for August 23rd.

1. Calvin Johnson
2. AJ Green
3. Dez Bryant
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Julio Jones
6. Brandon Marshall
7. DeMaryius Thomas
8. Andre Johnson
9. Randall Cobb
10. Reggie Wayne
11. Victor Cruz
12. Roddy White
13. Mike Wallace
14. Torrey Smith
15. Hakeem Nicks
16. Danny Amendola
17. Dwayne Bowe
18. Eric Decker
19. DeSean Jackson
20. Jordy Nelson
21. Marques Colston
22. Steve Smith
23. Antonio Brown
24. Pierre Garcon
25. Mike Wallace
26. Wes Welker
27. Greg Jennings
28. TY Hilton
29. Cecil Shorts
30. Golden Tate
31. James Jones
32. Stevie Johnson
33. Michael Floyd
34. Miles Austin
35. Tavon Austin
36. Lance Moore
37. Chris Givens
38. Josh Gordon
39. Sidney Rice
40. Anquan Boldin
41. Emmanuel Sanders
42. Alshon Jeffrey
43. Mohamed Sanu
44. Kenny Britt
45. Brian Hartline
46. Rod Streater
47. Reuben Randle
48. Santonio Holmes
49. Brandon Gibson
50. Jacoby Jones
51. Justin Blackmon
52. Andre Roberts
53. Malcolm Floyd
54. Darrius Heyward-Bey
55. Brandon LaFell
56. Denarius Moore
57. Riley Cooper
58. Ryan Broyles
59. Kenbrell Thompkins
60. Aaron Dobson
61. Cordarrelle Paterson
62. Robert Woods
63. Greg Little
64. Kendall Wright
65. Keenan Allen