The Wire – Week 8: What Can Greene Do for You?

Here are our waiver wire candidates for week eight. As usual, you’ll find players who are either [Startable], a [Stopgap] to get you past a BYE or injury, [Worth a look] and spot on your bench, or [One-week-wonder]s who don’t warrant a roster spot, so you make your roster moves accordingly. You’ll also see the percent owned in parenthesis (and if you see an asterisk by the players name, it means they’re on a BYE this week.)

We’re finally starting to narrow down the list, with only a few new additions this week and a bunch taken off. The biggest additions by far will be Jets running back Shonn Greene, who is replacing the injured Leon Washington as the backup to Thomas Jones, along with the newly anointed 49ers quarterback, Alex Smith. If you counted on Leon Washington or Shaun Hill (probably less people counting on him), you better take a shot at the waiver wire and see what you can do. Anyways, let’s get to The Wire for this coming week…

Quarterbacks
  • [Startable] Kyle Orton, DEN (83%) – He had two touchdowns in each of the three games leading up to the BYE and now should have the necessary rest to come back out firing on all cylinders.
  • [Worth a look] Chad Henne, MIA (22%) – He had a rough go of it against the Saints, but he’s still finding his footing and is worth a look depending on the match-up if you’re in dire need of a quarterback.
  • [Worth a look] Alex Smith, SF (10%) – He replaced Shaun Hill in Sunday’s game and promptly led the team on three scoring drives (all ending with touchdowns to Vernon Davis.) The team still lost, but Smith will again be the quarterback in San Francisco and he’s worth a look depending on who they’re playing.
  • [Worth a look] Ryan Fitzpatrick, BUF (6%) – If you’re in some crazy, 12 team, two quarterback league, I guess Fitzpatrick might be worthy of a bench spot in case you’re need of someone to fill-in during a BYE week…but only this week, as Trent Edwards should be back in week 10 following their BYE.
  • [Stopgap] Daunte Culpepper, DET (3%) – Call me crazy, but the Lions are playing the Rams in Detroit this week and you figure Culpepper has to put up at least a score or two.
Running Backs
  • [Startable] Shonn Greene, NYJ (40%) – With Leon Washington done for the year with a compound fracture in his leg, Greene now becomes Thomas Jones’ backup…which means a lot of touches on a team that has run for over 300 yards in consecutive weeks while they take the pressure off rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. Greene already showed his stuff with a 144 yard, two touchdown performance on Sunday. Pick him up immediately if you’re in need of running back help.
  • [Worth a look] Correll Buckhalter, DEN (63%) – Buckhalter had the BYE week to do some additional healing and now should be back to near 100%. He’s not a great start as Knowshon Moreno will likely continue receiving the bulk of the carries, but he’ll still be good for 10-12 carries a game and a few catches out of the backfield.
  • [Worth a look] Beanie Wells, ARI (51%) – The team is not ready to announce Wells as the starter, but it seems to be heading that way fast. Tim Hightower will soon be relegated to short yardage and passing plays, giving Wells the remaining worload…which isn’t always a lot in Arizona.
  • [Worth a look] * Jamaal Charles, KC (24%) – After starter Larry Johnson’s Twitter-tirade about the head coach’s inexperience (and homophobic slurs), who knows what the future for LJ is in Kansas City. However, I have to imagine this is a bad thing for Jamaal Charles, who is likely to see his workload increase a bit.
  • [Stopgap] LeSean McCoy, PHI (70%) – Brian Westbrook left last nights game with a concussion and if he misses any additional time, McCoy will see his carries increase dramatically.
  • [Stopgap] Jamal Lewis, CLE (67%) – Nothing special here. He’s he starter on a bad team and shouldn’t be used unless you’re in need of help due to an injury or BYE week.
  • [Stopgap] Mike Bell, NO (65%) – Bell ran better than Pierre Thomas on Sunday, which isn’t good news for owners of the PT Cruiser. Expect the situation in New Orleans to constantly evolve, with Thomas, Bell and Bush all receiving carries when Drew Brees isn’t airing it out.
  • [Stopgap] Justin Fargas, OAK (30%) – Same as Jamal Lewis.
  • [One-week-wonder] Chad Simpson, IND (0%) – Simpson got a few carries in Indy’s blowout win while Donald Brown was sidelined with a minor injury. He should return to fantasy irrelevance within a week or two and is not worth the roster spot.
Wide Receivers
  • [Startable] Hakeem Nicks, NYG (85%) – Four touchdowns in the past four games (although this week’s was a bit of a fluke!) He’s moved ahead of Mario Manningham as the second most valuable receiver in the Giants offense.
  • [Startable] Lance Moore, NO (69%) – After a solid performance in week 6, the Dolphins shut down Moore and held him to just 18 yards. Expect those numbers to increase as the team has some pretty good match-ups in the near future.
  • [Startable] * Mike Wallace, PIT (40%) – Wallace only gets two or three catches a game, but he makes the most of them (72 yards and a TD last week.) He’s worthy of a WR3 spot following the Steelers BYE week.
  • [Worth a look] Michael Crabtree, SF (87%) – Crabtree was better than expected in his debut game against the Texans, catching five balls for 56 yards. Michael was on the field for a majority of the plays and his numbers should get better with each game of experience he gets under his belt.
  • [Worth a look] Jeremy Maclin, PHI (67%) – Not the most consistent receiver out there, but he showed what he was capable of with his 142 yard, two touchdown performance in week five…just don’t expect that every week.
  • [Worth a look] Mohamed Massaquoi, CLE (40%) – Massaquoi’s inconsistency is linked directly to the inconsistency at the team’s quarterback position. He’ll be a risky play each week, but is worth a WR3 start depending on the match-up.
  • [Worth a look] * Sammie Stroughter, TB (6%) – Stroughter has become one of the primary targets in a pretty bad Tampa Bay offense, so you probably don’t want to start him quite yet. However, he does get opportunities in the return game as well, so if your league awards points for return yards, he might be worth a WR3 or flex play.
  • [Worth a look] Mike Thomas, JAX (1%) – Thomas returns from the BYE week and should be ready to resume his ascension to fantasy football relevance. He’s coming off a 50 yard and a touchdown performance against the Rams and now has another great match-up against the win-less Titans.
  • [Stopgap] Torry Holt, JAX (74%) – Similar to Thomas, the Jaguars have a great match-up against one of the worst pass defenses in the league this week (Tennessee.)
  • [Stopgap] Lee Evans, BUF (73%) – Apparently backup quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald loves Lee Evans and since he’ll be starting at least one more game for the Bills, expect a lot of looks once more for the normally erratic Evans.
  • [Stopgap] Antonio Bryant, TB (64%) – He’s not going to do anything special in this offense, but he might be worth a spot-start given the match-up.
  • [Stopgap] Earl Bennett, CHI (35%) – He hasn’t found the endzone yet, but Cutler still throws his way with some consistency and is good for 3-8 points each week.
  • [Stopgap] * Laveranues Coles, CIN (38%) – While he’s still not racking up the receptions or yardage, Coles has found the endzone in two straight weeks. The Bengals have a BYE this week though, so wait till after that to worry about picking him up as your WR3 or flex receiver.
  • [One-week-wonder] * Sam Aiken, NE (2%) – Aiken has made the most of Joey Galloway’s departure from the team, catching his first touchdown in six years in the league. He’s now battling Brandon Tate for the third receiver spot though and who knows how many looks he’ll get when the Patriots play some real competition.
  • [One-week-wonder] David Clowney, NYJ (2%) – When Jerricho Cotchery returns, Clowney will disappear once again.
  • [One-week-wonder] Brian Hartline, MIA (0%) – He should get more looks with the team decreasing Ted Ginn’s role in the offense, but he’s still not worthy of fantasy consideration as he’s deep on the depth chart on a team that runs first.
Tight Ends
  • [Startable] Tony Scheffler, DEN (27%) – This week Scheffler should be ready to resume where he left off before the BYE, when he had 101 yards receiving and a score. With Chris Cooley, Kevin Boss and JerMichael Finley out with injuries, Tony Scheffler could be your man.
  • [Stopgap] Todd Heap, BAL (62%) – Heap returns from the team’s BYE this week, but they have a tough match-up against the Broncos.
  • [Stopgap] Zach Miller, OAK (60%) – Good tight end on a bad team = inconsistent fantasy football stats.
  • [One-week-wonder] Gary Barnidge, CAR (0%) – Who?