The Wire – Week 11: The Replacements

Here are our waiver wire candidates for week eleven. 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. This week we start off with a number of backup running backs who could have some immediate fantasy impact due to injuries to starters Michael Turner, Cedric Benson, Clinton Portis and Julius Jones.

Running Backs
  • [Stopgap] Jamaal Charles, KC (79%) – Charles had an impressive game against the Raiders, rushing for 103 yards and a score, but you have to consider the opponent. He most likely won’t put up that kind of production for the rest of the year, but still could fill the RB slot if you’re in need of help.
  • [Stopgap] Beanie Wells, ARI (75%) – While the team won’t commit to Beanie as the starter, it’s becoming apparent that he’s the team’s workhorse when they want to run the ball. He had the best game of his short career this past weekend and should have another good game against the Rams this Sunday.
  • [Stopgap] Ladell Betts, WAS (59%) – With Clinton Portis still suffering post-concussion symptoms, it seems unlikely that he’ll play in week eleven. That means that Betts, who rushed for 114 yards and a score against a tough Broncos defense, will get the start again.
  • [Stopgap] Jamal Lewis, CLE (54%) – AS usually, he’s a warm body (who starts for his team) that you can plug into your line-up if you’re in need.
  • [Stopgap] Justin Fargas, OAK (36%) – Darren McFadden is back from injury and should get more carries as he gets healthier, but I think it’s going to be Michael Bush who is the odd man out. Fargas should still see enough action to make him fantasy-relevant if you’re really struggling to fill the RB2 spot on your team.
  • [Stopgap] Justin Forsett, SEA (16%) – Starter Julius Jones had bleeding in his lungs (!) after suffering a hit during Sunday’s game. Amazingly, this should only cause him to miss one start or so. In his place though will be Forsett, who had 123 yards and a score (plus a few catches), although his match-up this coming weekend against the Vikings isn’t all that appealing.
  • [Stopgap] Jason Snelling, ATL (6%) – It appears that Michael Turner will be out for at least a game with a high ankle sprain and it’ll be Snelling who replaces him in the meantime. Jason put up decent numbers after Turner left the game in week 10 and could help the Michael Turner owners out there deal with their sadness.
  • [Worth a look] Bernard Scott, CIN (3%) – Even with Larry Johnson rumors swirling, it seems that Bernard Scott will still get the bulk of the carries if starter Cedric Benson is forced to miss any time. You might wait until closer to game-time though to take any chances on Scott.
  • [One-week-wonder] Larry Johnson, KC (52%) – I didn’t know how to classify LJ on this list, as according to Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, if the Bengals sign Johnson, he’ll be inactive and only used as an emergency backup. He obviously has no fantasy value until he’s starting for an NFL team.
  • [One-week-wonder] Michael Bush, OAK (23%) – Bush had a huge game against the Chiefs this past weekend, rushing for 119 yards on just 14 carries, but with McFadden back in the mix and some tough defenses on the horizon, his numbers could take a hit the next few weeks.
Quarterbacks
  • [Stopgap] David Garrard, JAX (66%) – He had two scores in week ten, but don’t expect that on a consistent basis. Garrard is only useful depending on the match-up for the remainder of the year.
  • [Stopgap] Mark Sanchez, NYJ (50%) – Sanchez has a nice match-up against Tampa Bay during week 14, but besides that, you have to be in some serious need of help at the QB position to consider starting him.
  • [Stopgap] Marc Bulger, STL (9%) – Interestingly Bulger had the best game of the season against a solid Saints defense and the Rams nearly knocked them from the ranks of the unbeaten. This was his first decent game all year though, so make him prove himself a few more times before you consider putting him in your line-up.
  • [Worth a look] Vince Young, TEN (17%) – Vince Young now has three wins in three games as the Titans starting quarterback and has a touchdown in each of those, but he’s still not worth a start at this point and only really has value in keeper leagues (and even then not all that much.)
  • [Worth a look] Josh Freeman, TB (10%) – It’s still a small sample, but Freeman hasn’t been all that bad in his first two starts for the Bucs. Josh has some skills in the running game too and is worth a look in keeper leagues especially.
Wide Receivers
  • [Startable] Devery Henderson, NO (67%) – He hasn’t found the endzone in a while, but Henderson is catching three or four passes per game and is getting some solid yardage. He makes a decent WR3 play with high upside most weeks.
  • [Stopgap] Lee Evans, BUF (76%) – Evans had four catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans on Sunday and now has four touchdowns in the past four games. He’s still a bit inconsistent for my liking, but he’s available in a quarter of the leagues out there and could help out a struggling receiver corps.
  • [Stopgap] Mike Wallace, PIT (76%) – Wallace struggled along with the rest of the offense against the Bengals, but don’t expect that to be the norm. In the four games before Cincinnati, Wallace was racking up yards and touchdowns and should continue that trend in future weeks with some favorable match-ups on the schedule.
  • [Stopgap] Patrick Crayton, DAL (60%) – If your league awards points for kick returns, Crayton is a pretty solid play. Even if it doesn’t though, he’s still getting enough looks from Tony Romo to help a fantasy team or two out there.
  • [Stopgap] Laveranues Coles, CIN (54%) – Only about a month ago everyone had written Coles off as a bust for the team, but since then all he has done is produce. He’s led the team in receiving for two straight weeks and has found the endzone multiple times over the course of the last few games.
  • [Stopgap] Chris Chambers, SD (49%) – Chris Chambers has six receptions for 130 yards and a couple scores over the past two games and could help your team if you’re in serious need of help at the WR spot, but beware of his upcoming schedule. He has dates with PIT (11), DEN (13), BUF (14) and CIN (16) during what is probably the most important part of your fantasy football season.
  • [Worth a look] Robert Meachem, NO (42%) – He’s way to inconsistent for me, but some of you might love Meachem’s high risk, high reward style of play.
  • [Worth a look] Malcom Floyd, SD (42%) – Floyd isn’t putting up numbers you necessarily want in your fantasy line-up at this point, but keep an eye on him and see if he can get more comfortable with Philip Rivers over the next few weeks.
  • [Worth a look] Donnie Avery, STL (41%) – Another very inconsistent receiver with high upside, such as this past Sunday where he had four catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns. That might mean he’ll have two catches for 25 yards next week though, so beware.
  • [One-week-wonder] Jason Avant, PHI (2%) – Avant had eight catches for 156 yards on a day that McNabb attempted 55 passes, so even the teams third and fourth receivers were going to get some looks. Besides a solid week two performance, Jason hasn’t done anything else this year to warrant a spot on your roster.
  • [One-week-wonder] Brandon Gibson, STL (0%) – Maybe he’ll surprise me, but I find it hard to believe that the rookie, who notched the first seven receptions of his career this past Sunday will have another 93 yard performance in this Rams offense (at least this year.)
Tight Ends
  • [Stopgap] Dustin Keller, NYJ (51%) – Keller has 14 catches over the past two games and has obviously become one of Mark Sanchez’s favorite targets.
  • [Stopgap] Kevin Boss, NYG (35%) – He had a touchdown in each of the two games leading up to the BYE, but the low reception numbers are a bit concerning.
  • [Worth a look] Brandon Pettigrew, DET (17%) – If Will “Vulture” Heller (below) hadn’t stolen his stats, Pettigrew may have had his second big game of the year. He’s not consistent enough at this point to be an every day starter, but he definitely has talent.
  • [One-week-wonder] Will Heller, DET (0%) – Pettigrew is the only Lions tight end you should care about.