UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES FOR ROSTER FLEX, BENCH DEPTH, AND BORDERLINE STARTERS

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Upgrades

Terrelle Pryor Pryor is showing enough with his legs to warrant fantasy consideration as a borderline starter. Hold the inserts into your starting lineups just a tad bit more. He’ll need to show consistency for four complete quarters before he gets the bump up. As of now though he is an adequate fill in if needed for bye week or injuries with an asterisk on the uptrend. Bilal Powell Powell appears to be entering that fantasy realm where Alfred Morris was a year ago. A back that shouldn’t be a top ten to twelve fantasy running back but may crack it because of the system he is in. He has a great offensive line and a system that flourishes off the running game. The best games for Powell are ahead of him. Antonio Gates While Jimmy Graham treads to astronomical territories for tight end statistics, Antonio Gates is having a comeback year. I was one that didn’t believe Gates would get back to this type of level. After two consecutive years of down numbers it appeared his injury woes and age would continue his downfall. Similar to the way Tony Gonzalez kept at it, Gates has as well. He has transformed from a smooth effortless tight end to one that uses his size and nimbleness to outwit defenders. Jerome Simpson The Vikings didn’t bait to trade for Josh Freeman and still landed him. Sounds like a move they did years back to land Brett Favre. No one can perform under the scrutiny and non-belief of your abilities as were the situations with Freeman in Tampa Bay. I love the fact that the Vikings are not inserting Freeman right away this Sunday. He gets a chance to breathe in soak in this new opportunity. Something the Raiders did not do when they acquired Carson Palmer via a trade two years ago. Freeman doesn’t have to be an all-world quarterback in Minnesota. If Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel could find success with the Vikings than Freeman can as well. With confidence Freeman had Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams as fantasy studs. The same should happen with Simpson and Greg Jennings. Others: Alshon Jeffrey, TY Hilton, James Jones and Vernon Davis

Downgrades

Mike Wallace Wallace was never a high catch per game fantasy juggernaut. Miami’s offense isn’t predicated on any main strengths. They seem to be winging it every series hoping for success. I don’t like that recipe as the season stretches on. The Fins’ need to find a neutralizer of go to plays and players to perform them. Wallace can be that guy but it appears that Tannehill and Wallace need an offseason to get on the same page. Based on Wallace’s targets per receptions it’s obvious these two need to build a stronger connection. Larry Fitzgerald I’m not knocking Fitzgerald’s skillset but he is on a team that strangles his talents. If you’ve watched Arizona this year, Carson Palmer is under extreme duress every passing down. It’s to the point that Palmer will likely be sidelined with an injury before the end of this month. It has happened a couple of times as a Bengal and even last year as a Raider. Pocket passers need protection to succeed and Arizona doesn’t have the line or running game to sustain that. Fitzgerald has to be downgraded after four straight games of poor yardage totals. Danny Woodhead Kudos to Ken Whisenhunt for implementing a quick strike passing attack. Plays have been implemented to ensure Philip Rivers gets rid of the football much quicker than he has in years past. That philosophy is going to take a hit with Ryan Matthews now out for at least a month. Woodhead showed in New England that he can’t handle twenty or more plays on the field. Quite frankly Ronnie Brown’s in the Chargers system based more on his mental strengths for pass protection than he is as a rusher. That means Woodhead has to try and be a feature back for the next month. His effectiveness as a pass catcher has to diminish quite a bit now and may be levied off for the rest of the season. Doug Martin Of all rookie quarterbacks to get starts over the last two to three years I believe Mike Glennon is right near the bottom from a talent standpoint. You have the Buccaneers organization mired with controversy. They had a locker room MRSA virus outbreak that affected two players. On top of that the team seems to be rebelling against head coach Greg Schiano. No team has performed worse offensively than the Buccaneers. Discounting one drive against the NY Jets the offense has done absolutely squat against the Patriots, Buccaneers, and Saints. With Glennon in, even more attention can be placed on Martin. The workload may prove to be too much for the second year back. Others: Eli Manning, Dwayne Bowe, Tavon Austin, and Marshawn Lynch

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