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**Any players from MNF that are waiver wire worthy will be added to this article

When it come to the waiver wire the coverage amongst fantasy football websites has been outstanding. You’re not going to miss a name nowadays with the instant access out there. What is missing is detailing over reaction. After just one week do not overreact and go after multiple players. It’s like trading stocks. You can’t sell every week and expect to make gains. When you sell is when that stock reverts upward and helps your portfolio. Treat your team the same way. Go after value if it’s there but do not overreact off of one week’s results. With that being said, lets take a look at some players to pick up this week.

Quarterbacks

Jake Locker
It looked like Tennessee was going to win in ugly fashion as they typically have done under Jake Locker. It was a close game at halftime and 10-3 in the third quarter. Then Locker took control and beat a team on the road soundly in Kansas City. A team that has had strong success as a home team. This is a key year for Locker and will need to show consistency to become a viable regular starter. For now with what he can do with his legs and his maturation as a passer he is worth a stash if you’re in need of an upgrade at backup.

Joe Flacco
For all the negative attention Flacco draws, it’s remarkable how Baltimore stays in a majority of their games. One of the main reasons is that Flacco doesn’t allow his team to give up. With an inability to run the football for an entire half, Baltimore axed the game plan and went Flacco’s way. He had a complete reversal in accuracy and was throwing crisp balls. It was too late to attempt to get a win but if Flacco can avoid interceptions he is a top tier fantasy backup quarterback.

Running Backs

Carlos Hyde
Sometimes it’s not just all about jump out stats for a waiver wire addition. Hyde only had seven carries but made each one count Sunday. He ran for 50 yards and a touchdown. What’s impressive with Hyde is he showed the power the 49ers want in the second half with a back. Frank Gore was able to do it for years by himself but at his age the team needs a complimentary back. Hyde and Gore wore down the 49ers with Hyde showing he is well worth a second round pick.

DeAngelo Williams
The knock on Carolina backs is their goal line use. A lot of valuable touchdowns go to Cam Newton on dives and to big bruiser Mike Tolbert. With Newton’s rib injury being as serious as it is, we all have no clue how that changes the way Carolina runs Newton. Maybe they’ll tone it back in goal line situations to avoid Newton taking unnecessary hits. Williams can get the yardage but will need to see more attention in the red zone.

Chris Ivory
Ivory’s been on this waiver wire list for the past three seasons. The problem is once he gets added he gets re-dropped. New York won against Oakland Sunday but got a way with miscues from second year starter Geno Smith. Against a seasoned quarterback as opposed to a rookie in Derek Carr, things may have got interesting. Look for the Jets to make a commitment to running the ball with the likes of Ivory to keep Smith’s errors at a minimum. Smith had a couple of costly turnovers and an ill-advised sack in field goal range.

Mark Ingram
The game against the Falcons was as chaotic as it gets. Amongst the chaos was an all around great fantasy producing Saints team. Everyone seemed to be involved as Brees and the ground attack worked well. The Saints have been so heavy of an offensive passing touchdown team that their running backs get devalued. Sunday, the Saints rushed for three touchdowns with two coming by Ingram. It likely won’t be the norm, but it’s good to know a team that can score has an asset in Ingram who is available in nearly 50% of Yahoo leagues.

Wide Receivers

Ricardo Lockette
His stats did not jump out but he did find the end zone on Thursday night. Seattle is one of those teams that has had sneaky value from their wide receivers over the last couple of seasons. Russ Wilson hasn’t been a top tier yardage quarterback but you can see the transformation beginning. Seattle is entrusting him more with throws as they seem to be balancing the pass with the run. Before it was a run heavy offense and game managing Wilson because of their strong defense.

Kelvin Benjamin
Derek Anderson was the unheralded performer of the day Sunday. Carolina did not panic without Newton starting and likely made the announcement days earlier to the team. I firmly believe the Panthers made the right call in letting veterans Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell walk. They needed to add fresh talent and did so with Benjamin. But with any Carolina Panther offensive weapon you need to be patient with his results. Benjamin should be a quality fourth or fifth wide receiver for you in deeper leagues.

DeAndre Hopkins
Ryan Fitzpatrick has not been a top tier worthy fantasy starting quarterback, but on teams he has been on he has added value to the wide receivers. Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins both had solid games in their debut with Fitzpatrick. Hopkins got the majority of his big day on one catch, but that’s all you need in the fantasy football world. The Texans held things back offensively as their defense played well enough to protect a lead. That won’t always be the case and Fitzpatrick will need to throw the football more.

Steve Smith Sr.
Smith is only owned in under 40% of Yahoo leagues. Look for that number to climb into the 70th percentile after his week one performance. Everything was stalled for the Ravens offensively until they handed the ball to Joe Flacco to air it out. Smith surprised and made a key big play down the sideline that pulled the game within a few points. Smith has had big week one’s before. Obviously at his age his upside is limited. But if the Ravens can’t figure out the ground game and trail, it gives higher value to Smith. This is a completely different style of offense in Baltimore than the slow pace of the Panthers.

Allen Hurns
I’m putting Hurns name on here even though he’ll likely be a one week wonder. After one half Hurns name was buzzing on twitter on where did this guy come from. A good story sometimes is brief. Hurns didn’t make another catch in the game and finished with over 110 yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville’s offense hit a major wall against a recharged Eagles defense that lacked focus out the gate. Maybe they thought it was going to be easier than anticipated in facing Jacksonville. At any rate be careful on rushing to the wire to pickup Allen Hurns.

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Who to start and who to sit? The infamous weekly debate to be had in every worthy fantasy football league throughout the country. Part of the problem early on in the season is trusting your team as a whole. Do you lack confidence in a certain position or an unreliable likely starter? Probably. We all have holes in are teams, but their is a skill in diagnosing that and getting the most out of your team.

It starts with knowing who to sit rather than start. If you can diagnose to sit three to four names on your team, it leaves the rest of your roster breakdown manageable.

Lets take a look at week one and some names that I would sit.

Cam Newton
Newton is one of those quarterbacks that drives fantasy owners nuts early on in the season. But somehow he ends up being a staple towards the midpoint and end of season. Carolina just doesn’t have enough assets at receiver to deploy Newton as a starter week one. He has been slipping in fantasy drafts because of this. We also need to see how healthy Newton is out of the gate. I expect him to still be a top five quarterback by seasons end, but he has to be downgraded week one.

Tom Brady
If there’s one team in the division that Brady has struggled against it has been Miami. Both games last season could have easily been won by the Dolphins, as they teams split. With Rob Gronkowski on the field how will their chemistry be? It’s not easy to hit that on switch with limited on field experience in two seasons.

Marques Colston
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the youth develop quickly at wide receiver for the Saints, with Stills and rookie Brandin Cooks. Colston is still being picked as if he is Brees’s top weapon at wide receiver. Injuries and the dominance of Jimmy Graham have sort of balanced out Colston’s fading value. On one hand he has stayed in the limelight because of the attention Graham gets. On the other he should have been a much higher recipient if you actually break it down further. He hasn’t been and that’s why the Saints have spent picks trying to upgrade the position.

Jeremy Maclin
Eyes have lit up on buyers of Eagles players in fantasy drafts just because of the brand of football Chip Kelly plays. Lets tone that down a bit with Jeremy Maclin. He has been injury prone and has yet to establish himself in Kelly’s new offense or with starter Nick Foles. Over time he may be a solid wide receiver three starter, but until then Riley Cooper holds higher value for Philadelphia.

Others: CJ Spiller, Le’Veon Bell, Tony Romo, Michael Floyd, and Joe Flacco

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Key fantasy football drafts have been going on over the last week or two. They’ll continue for the next week. Many of you probably did invite leagues just for fun in mid June to late July, but now will start to get into your true fantasy groove. Your cap is on and your ready for the NFL season.

Before you head to your war rooms to draft with your buddies and colleagues here are a few fantasy football notes to think about.

Be leery of Jamaal Charles

I profiled Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles as a draft pick to be worried about this season. He has as high a stock as any fantasy football back, but there is a track record with Andy Reid to be leery of. Track the article from a week ago to read further.

Don’t Overreact to Preseason Play
A lot of people overreact to media drawn out stories or minimal statistics. Think about it this way. The action these athletes receive in preseason is so minuscule to what they receive in the regular season. Quarterbacks thus far in three combined preseason games may have totaled three to four quarters of actual action. Two of those quarters were warm up basic vanilla plays. The other few series maybe they did show rust. Think back to your athletic achievements even if they were back in peewee days. How’d you do the first week of practice or first games? Exactly. Let the pros be pros and expect their play to spike back to normal come Sundays.

Act Like You’ve Been There
In your drafts you should be prepared 100 percent. Don’t let an owner before you spoil your pick. If he picks someone you had in mind, move on with your backup plan. Some owners get so distraught that their pick was taken that they lose sight of their draft plans. The same can be said for auction leagues as well. You have a budget and have to abide to that. Obviously your going to have to protect your wallet on certain guys.

Sleepers Are Bait in Drafts
The term fantasy football sleeper started off well back in the mid to late 90’s. Gradually it has bogged down like a ten year television sitcom. It’s redundancy has plagued fantasy owners minds for their drafts. Too many people fill their rosters with potential hype and devalue the strength of their rosters. It’s safe to target a maximum of two possible sleepers. Use the rest of your bench depth on veterans and worthy tier three players. More than likely your sleeper pick ends up as your first or second waiver wire drop.

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I continue on my divisional coverage of predictions for over/under win totals. Today we will focus on the NFC North. A division that has as much talent as any division in the NFL, but has fallen short of living up to it on an annual basis.

Lets see if this is the year that the Lions, Packers, and Bears thrive and give the NFC a run for their money.

Vegas Has It Right On
Green Bay
Many have Green Bay circled as one of the easy picks to topple Vegas’s set line of ten wins. They do look like a strong team but surpassing double digit wins is always a challenge. This is a division that hasn’t changed much personnel wise. All teams know each other very well. That’s a challenge in my mind to get through a division with ease. We’ve seen it for years in the NFC East, and the same can be said here. Vegas has this one right on. I can see them getting 11 wins, tying the number at ten, or falling just short at 9 wins. I wouldn’t put money on them.

Beats The Number
Detroit Lions 8 wins
Talk about a team that had some ugly losses a year ago. Detroit’s average season hit a landslide as they dropped their last four games. That finish was the writing on the wall to send former head coach Jim Schwartz packing. Now the question is can Caldwell boost the talent-laden Lions. I believe he can and that the Lions beat the number of 8 wins. All it’s going to take is true maturity from a team filled with great young players.

Falls Short
Chicago 8 wins
Throughout the Lovie Smith era this Bears team had its ups and downs. They got to the Super Bowl and had success based on a ferocious defense that had key players everywhere. The defense aged and truly hasn’t been the same in a solid three seasons. Marc Trestman is an offensive guy and will continue to thrive this year. I’m just not sold that they get it done even with vast improvement on the defensive side of the ball. They’re similar to the Cowboys. They’ll be in games and look fantastic in highlights, but when it comes to wins and losses they fall short.

Minnesota Vikings 6 wins
I’m an old Big East college football fanatic. I certainly was down on Geno Smith after watching him at West Virginia before his last season in the Big 12. Teddy Bridgewater is in my eyes going to struggle as well. He is slight of frame for an NFL quarterback and has worse accuracy issues in my estimation than Smith. Over the long haul I believe Bridgewater can become a decent starter but it’s going to take some serious growing pains. He was fortunate to play in a watered down Big East and AAC. Louisville’s upset win over Florida caused Bridgewater’s stock to rise similar to an NCAA basketball player having a great March Madness. Neither a veteran in Matt Cassel or a year one Teddy Bridgewater is capable of getting this team a combined six wins. AP of two years ago isn’t coming back anytime soon either.

trim.375A2DE1-E510-4ECB-956A-922B4FD70D47 from Zack Cimini on Vimeo.

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The NL wild card race features both of these teams in the Reds and Cardinals. Just a week ago the Reds appeared to be in strong contention for a spot. They’ve had a rough stretch since, while the rest of the NL seems to be winning. St. Louis is one of those teams that has been winning with rejuvenated pitching and returned hitting.

Their bats coming alive have been the primary reason for their wins. Against San Diego and the Reds they have fought off issues with their relievers to come from behind or hold off rallies.

With so much momentum on the Reds bats and the Cardinals bats some bettors today are going to think automatically on the over in this matchup for a plus payout. Lets not greedy here. The line for the under was -115 and has moved to -130 on the under of 7.

Both pitchers have been outstanding as of late, and Cueto has been all year. Look for some normalcy in strong pitching tonight and a solid play on the under.