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Injuries, injuries, and more injuries have riddled fantasy teams. If you can’t pull off a trade you’re in dire need to pluck away on the waiver wire to finalize an option. Here are some best pickups to grab before you’re waiver wire deadline.

Joseph Randle

Sure he is in the news for the wrong reasons today, but he was a catalyst for the Cowboys Sunday. His shoplifting incident will fade away and be an after thought in a few weeks. What won’t be is his role in the Cowboys offense. The Cowboys are running it well with Murray but will try to not wear Murray out fully by using Randle more.

Patriots RB’s

With Stevan Ridley likely out for the season the Patriots will truly have a running back by committee with James White and Bolden. I’m not sold on either but the opportunity for carries is one fantasy owners in need of help at running back can’t ignore.

Storm Johnson

He may not have had a great game in his first start for the Jaguars, but he will get plenty more opportunities. The Jaguars progression with a rookie tailback and rookie quarterback will take some time, but results indicate that rookies tend to excel around the same time as fantasy playoffs.

Tre Mason

On Monday night Mason looked to be the best option on the Rams offense against the 49ers. It was kind of surprising that they didn’t use the young tailback more as a threat to open up the offense more. In his limited carries he did well with forty yards on five carries.

Mohammed Sanu

Sanu was supposed to be the receiver that ran away with the wide receiver two position a few years ago. Setbacks with dropped balls caused him to get buried on the Bengals depth chart a bit. Now with AJ Green’s toe injury and Marvin Jones on IR, Sanu is forced into a starting spot.

Louis Murphy

Murphy is surprisingly becoming Mike Glennon’s favorite target at wide receiver. Shocking, considering the freak athletes and tall targets that Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans are. But one thing Murphy has going for him is his health. We can’t be exactly sure how healthy both Jackson or Evans are at this point.

Andre Holmes

Oakland has actually been a bit of a surprise for fantasy owners in the receiver department. James Jones has been a big catalyst for those that drafted him as their fourth or fifth fantasy wide receiver. Can Derek Carr and new head coach Tony Sporano keep things revved up for the Raiders offense? San Diego’s defense may not be the best indicator of future play for the Raiders. But Holmes numbers Sunday are too good to ignore.

Branden LaFell

Two weeks ago LaFell and the Patriots offense were left for dead. Buried by the media and fans across the globe based on one poor game against the Chiefs. Two games later and the Patriots have racked up 30 plus points and are a fantasy haven with multiple players once again.

Jace Amaro

The Jets had Vegas shaking a bit as it looked like the Jets would get the cover against the Broncos. In a span of a Geno Smith pick-six in the waning seconds, the Jets failed to beat the number. But there was a positive to the Jets play and it was led by a defense that harassed Peyton Manning and Jace Amaro having a big game with ten catches and a touchdown. Can Amaro’s stats transfer over to Mike Vick?

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Week four featured six teams on bye week to trouble fantasy owners around the country. Week five there are just two teams on bye. Plan ahead the next bulk of bye weeks this waiver wire period, and grab yourself one of the following options.

Quarterbacks

Joe Flacco
At home Baltimore is showing once again they are a force. With the running game on the uptrend, Joe Flacco has once again regained the form we witnessed in his elite playoff run two seasons ago. The resurgence has been done with veteran Steve Smith, who has caught fire with Flacco. Joe nearly had one of his oh-no interceptions against Carolina, but linebacker Luke Kuechly dropped the ball. Flacco is one of those spot starters that shouldn’t be on the waiver wire.

Mike Vick
I was one that believed whole heartedly that the Jets had planned to use Geno to neutralize Michael Vick’s health. A Mike Vick that plays 3/4ths of a season instead of a full might last the entirety. The rumblings with the fans have started and now the coaching staff awaits to pull the trigger. It may be two weeks away, but if you’re searching for a quarterback go nab Vick this week.

Mike Glennon
After a woeful first half, Glennon seemed shook that off for a phenomenal second half capped off by a game-winning touchdown throw. Sorry McCown but there is no getting your job back after that finish. Glennon has an arm to hit tall receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. Tampa Bay just needs to tone down their offensive penalties to keep offensive momentum going.

Running Backs

Justin Forsett
One week with a big game from Lorenzo Taliaferro and Justin Forsett was tossed aside in fantasy owners minds. Forsett might not be a high carry back but he has a definite roll for the Ravens. Sunday he made several key plays including a great run after the catch on a third and long to extend a drive. I wouldn’t pick him up expecting touchdowns from Forsett, but he can get you sneaky yardage and PPR points.

Branden Oliver
The Chargers must find something out of their running game soon. Philip Rivers is just carrying too much on his shoulders right now to continue at this rate. Plus, the defense hasn’t exactly looked sharp either. But neither Oliver or Donald Brown have been able to fill in adequately for Ryan Matthews or Danny Woodhead. Oliver will continue to get chances. With what we have seen from Brown over the last four seasons, I’d take my shot on Oliver.

Jerick McKinnon
Wow, Minnesota saw something to expose the Falcons and executed it to perfection. They ran the football down the Falcons throats and used a running back no one has heard of. I didn’t hear Paul Charchian or Matthew Berry giving a name drop on McKinnon. Now the Black Friday waiver wire rush will occur as owners scurry to scoop McKinnon. McKinnon didn’t find the end zone but has likely found himself a bigger role with Matt Asiata.

Wide Receivers

Mike Evans
Evans hamstring injury has not been diagnosed yet. Lets hope its just a minor issue. If it is a minor issue, Evans should be picked up in a heartbeat. Glennon had solid chemistry with Evans and got the offense going once they connected in the third quarter. This duo could make for a big young dual threat for years to come.

Mike Williams
Yes, that Mike Williams that has been a fantasy threat for several years when he was a Buccaneer. Off the field issues caused the Bucs to part ways and trade Williams back to his old college football coach in Buffalo. After being buried on the Bills depth chart, Williams has appeared to work his way back on the field. Will Williams be a one week wonder or will he continue to build off this week.

James Jones
James Jones has been captain of crunch time garbage fantasy points. Seeing as the Raiders are likely going to continue to suffer with blowout losses, Jones should be an adequate third or fourth wide receiver for fantasy teams. He is only owned in 47% of Yahoo leagues currently.

Eddie Royal
Royal continues to be that yearly fantasy football one week wonder teaser. Lets let him tease owners again.

Jarius Wright
Will have to see how impactful Teddy Bridgewater’s ankle injury is. If it is going to keep him out than Wright dwindles down as a non fantasy pickup. Keep an eye on Bridgewater’s status.

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The market in college sports sees key trigger movements in point spread totals and lines all week. Many people look at the last minute fluctuation that occurs between Friday night and Saturday morning as a barometer of sharp movement. That typically is a toss up when it comes down to the final 24 hours.

An area that can’t be disputed is when we see line movement from Sunday through Friday in a game. That’s where you probably want to head for smart action. Lets take a look at four games that have had line movement throughout the week.

Some may think the value is lost because they may have missed out on two to four points. You can look at it that way, or you can say the market is telling you something. In the stock market when a stock soars five to ten dollars it typically doesn’t stop. More buyers buy and continue to push it upward. If you play all four of these games listed below, you’ll likely come out no worse than a split.

To view updated lines, visit Tags: appalachian state vs southern miss point spread, army vs wake forest point spread, ball state vs toledo point spread, bowling green vs wisconsin point spread, california vs arizona point spread, central michigan vs kansas point spread, clemson vs florida state point spread, eastern michigan vs michigan state point spread, florida atlantic vs wyoming point spread, florida vs alabama point spread, georgia southern vs south alabama point spread, georgia state vs washington point spread, georgia tech vs virginia tech point spread, hawaii vs colorado point spread, idaho vs ohio point spread, indiana vs missouri point spread, iowa vs pittsburgh point spread, louisville vs florida international point spread, marshall vs akron point spread, maryland vs syracuse point spread, miami florida vs nebraska point spread, miami-ohio vs cincinnati point spread, middle tennessee state vs memphis point spread, mississippi state vs lsu point spread, new mexico vs new mexico state point spread, north carolina vs east carolina point spread, northern illinois vs arkansas point spread, notjustagame.com, oklahoma vs west virginia point spread, old dominion vs rice point spread, oregon vs washington state point spread, rutgers vs navy point spread, san diego state vs oregon state point spread, san jose state vs minnesota point spread, saturday college football lines, south carolina vs vanderbilt point spread, southern illinois vs purdue point spread, texas a@m vs smu point spread, texas state vs illinois point spread, troy vs georgia point spread, tulane vs duke point spread, uconn vs south florida point spread, ul lafayette vs boise state point spread, umass vs penn state point spread, unlv vs houston point spread, utah state vs arkansas state point spread, utah vs michigan point spread, virginia vs byu point spread, western illinois vs northwestern point spread, zack cimini Category: Automatic/Don't Do It, Handicapping, Predictions Comments (0)

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Each Wednesday, Notjustagame.com will take a look at key fantasy football contributors to upgrade and downgrade based on the past week. When placing these labels of course these upgrades or downgrades can be viewed as short term and long term.

Upgrades

Andre Ellington
I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong on Ellington. Arizona has had key defensive injuries, suspensions, and was without Carson Palmer in week two. Ellington shook off a foot injury that was first reported to keep him out to suddenly becoming a dominant force in his second season. Teams haven’t figured him out yet, and the Cardinals are off to a 2-0 start.

Antonio Gates
Even if Gates season drastically declines he has already put up borderline tier one/tier two tight end stats. His week two performance against Seattle was one for the ages. He’ll look back at it as one of his many career moments. This from a tight end some fantasy analysts had ranked in the high teens to start the season.

Bobby Rainey
It doesn’t look like Doug Martin’s health will ever be to the level of a number one tailback. Whether that’s on the field health or playing with the injuries he has endured in his young career. Rainey on the other hand showed last year he can fill in admirably and did so in last week’s start.

Others: Mohamed Sanu and Eric Decker

Downgrades

Shane Vereen
Vereen can be a PPR monster but New England has made it clear that Ridley is their main tail back. Unless Ridley’s fumble woes resurface you have to take the Patriots back field for what it is. With Gronkowski back in the fold, Vereen’s pass catching value is diminished.

Hakeem Nicks
Nicks just doesn’t seem to have close to the skillset he had just four years ago as a Giant. He can still be a red zone threat, but between the 20’s he isn’t even a top 75 fantasy wideout. It’s time to move on from Nicks unless you’re in extreme deep fantasy leagues.

Jake Locker
It’s a shame that Locker can’t nail down the number one intangible of being an NFL quarterback, accuracy. It’s plagued his NFL career and eventually will lead to his starting role being taken away. Locker missed wide open receivers Sunday at home against the Cowboys. For the strong skills he has such as athleticism, passion, and leadership, he just does not have the accuracy to be in the NFL.

Others: Ben Tate and Anquan Boldin

Tier Two: Week Two Fantasy Football Best Matchups

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It’d be great if you could count on your top three to four picks every week to hand you a win. It doesn’t work that way on the field in the NFL and certainly doesn’t in fantasy football. You need strong efforts from your tier two and sometimes even tier three athletes. Zack Cimini takes a look at tier two players this week that should pay dividends for your team.

Quarterbacks

RG3
I was glad to see that the media did not blame the Redskins week one loss solely on RG3. In the past that may have been warranted. But for the most part the Redskins loss the game against the Texans with team mistakes. Special teams allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown before half, and the team had two costly red zone turnovers. Houston’s defense is much improved and got after RG3 all day. This week should be a much better match up for the Redskins against the Jaguars. I’d expect the Redskins to score three to four touchdowns and for RG3 to have a nice day through the air.

Carson Palmer
Boy oh boy it looks like that magic wand to snap the Giants back to a playoff contender has officially snapped. New York use to be one of those teams people could just wait for that win streak to appear with. Times have changed for the Giants and the Cardinals will look to go 2-0. Arizona might have better offensive balance especially at the receiver position than Detroit. Besides MegaTron the Lions are still working in the rest of their talent. Meanwhile Arizona is stacked with Fitzgerald, Brown, and Floyd. Expect Carson to be able to gun the ball all over the field with little pressure in his face.

Other Quarterbacks: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Running Backs

Shonn Greene
This is a great week for fantasy owners to insert Greene as their flex running back. The Titans offense clicked in week one against an undermanned Chiefs defense. It’ll be interesting to see if week one was a true progression for this team or just one week. Greene knows his job is soon to be Bishop Sankey’s, but Sankey has done nothing to position himself as the top back in this dual backfield. We all saw how Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore paired to trample the Cowboys defense. Look for the Titans to mimic that recipe with Greene.

Carlos Hyde
It looks like the 49ers have once again discovered a gem by accident. Two years ago they caught a break when Kaepernick started because Alex Smith was injured. The team did not look back. This time they drafted Hyde to eventually replace Gore, who is in the final year of his contract. Dallas’s defense is always shaky but another team that has had a hard time stopping the run are the Chicago Bears. Look for Hyde to keep rewarding fantasy owners that drafted him late in rounds.

Others: Toby Gerhart, and Mark Ingram

Wide Receivers

Eric Decker
You could tell the Jets offense had a bit more synergy than any game witnessed a year ago. Eric Decker was one of the key names brought in to bring life to an ailing team at receiver. Decker’s not going to have an all world season like he did with Peyton Manning but he should shine as an underrated fantasy guy all year. Insert him in week two.

Torrey Smith
When inserting three starting wide receivers sometimes you just have to look for yardage value over touchdown possibilities. Smith is one of those guys this week that falls into the yardage category. He has always been a solid performer against the Steelers and I don’t see that changing this week. The Steelers showed last week that they still have huge holes in the secondary against a depleted receiving group of the Browns.

Others: DeAndre Hopkins and Marques Colston

Fantasy Football: Five Players to Upgrade and Downgrade

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Upgrades

Russ Wilson
Wilson was impressive in orchestrating a rout against the Green Bay Packers Thursday. He seems to be ready to elevate his game to another level that should be fantasy friendly. He has always talked the talk with proper interviews and now it’s translating onto the field.

Andy Dalton
The Bengals could have folded as a team offensively with the way the game tracked. In fact most of the time when you see teams give away a lead they fold with under six minutes to go. After five first half field goals and a missed sixth attempt, the Bengals found themselves down 16-15 with under six minutes. Dalton stayed poised and delivered a game winning touchdown bomb to AJ Green. He may not be a post season quarterback just yet, but he has shown through the years to be a steady fantasy quarterback in the regular season.

Codarrelle Patterson
Maybe the Vikings have something going that the rest of the league will follow suit with. They originally drafted Percy Harvin for his speed and shiftiness in the open field. It worked for a few seasons out of the backfield and at wide receiver before he ended up in Seattle. It looks like the Vikings had another route in mind when they landed Patterson. His speed and open field ability is on another level. Fantasy owners that got him as a relative mid round pick are grinning from ear to ear.

Markus Wheaton
It wasn’t the offense of the Steelers that impressed me, it was the defense. From a fantasy football players perspective you have to love the fact that the Steelers defense is still in shambles. They nearly allowed the Browns to come all the way back and win the game. But knowing that the defense is still a work in progress means that the Steelers will continue to throw a lot offensively. That boosts Wheaton who had nearly 100 yards receiving on six catches Sunday.

Pierre Thomas
Most draftees of Thomas were able to land him as their fourth running back and best flex option. The Saints have shown that they don’t mind feeding the ball to Thomas out of the backfield, as he was great in this area last season. When they decided to bring him back many people were not sure if it would be in the same capacity. After seven carries for 30 yards and seven catches for nearly 60 yards, those questions have been answered.

Downgrades

Ben Tate
Tate owners are extremely displeased with his early season injury against the Steelers. Though he will likely return soon he already has the injury bug tabbed on him from his Houston days. Owners better find a way to trade for Terrance West if you do not have him already. West came in and showcased that he can handle the load with sixteen carries for 100 yards against the Steelers.

Vincent Jackson
The problems with Tampa Bay’s week one performance are not going to resolve themselves in one or two games. Josh McCown had a couple of awful interceptions and really never got back into gear after the first turnover. Obviously if McCown continues to struggle it’s going to have a downgraded effect to Jackson. You have to move him down until the team shows better promise. Right now the offense would rank dead last from what I saw this week.

Doug Martin
Doug Martin seems to be heading down Steve Slaton territory. He came out of nowhere to have one stellar season. Owners drafted him high last year with injuries ending that season. Promise for a comeback based on his season two years ago looks far fetched after week one. He ran the ball nine times for just nine yards. A bad game against the Panthers isn’t something to overreact about, but Martin has a steep hill to climb to get anywhere near the value he was drafted for.

Trent Richardson
Richardson seems to be attacking aggressively but just doesn’t have the gear to get out of the hole. It’s hard to tell if Richardson can get in gear if Indianapolis always digs themselves a hole. But his downward progression has been going on for over a year now. Sooner or later the Colts are going to run out of patience as fantasy owners are.

Jamaal Charles
Last month I profiled how backs falter under Andy Reid. It’s been a problem for over ten years. Kansas City’s offense was the second worst in week one behind the Buccaneers. Charles is the type of back though that can have five or six great games to offset this type of performance. His low carries though from week one have to be alarming.