1. Roddy White
2. Reggie Wayne
3. Miles Austin
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Andre Johnson
6. Greg Jennings
7. Randy Moss
8. Hakeem Nicks
9. Anquan Boldin
10. Larry Fitzgerald
11. DeSean Jackson
12. Marques Colston
13. Donald Driver
14. Malcom Floyd
15. Chad Ochocinco
16. Santana Moss
17. Mark Clayton
18. Austin Collie
19. Steve Smith (NYG)
20. Jeremy Maclin
21. Eddie Royal
22. Dez Bryant
23. Percy Harvin
24. Dwayne Bowe
25. Pierre Garcon
26. Braylon Edwards
27. Johnny Knox
28. Santonio Holmes
29. Brandon Lloyd
30. Kevin Walter
31. Terrell Owens
32. Derrick Mason
33. Louis Murphy
34. Michael Crabtree
35. Lance Moore
36. Mike Williams (TB)
37. Kenny Britt
38. Mike Thomas
39. Legedu Naanee
40. Demaryius Thomas
41. Jacoby Jones
42. Jabar Gaffney
43. Roy Williams
44. Jason Avant
45. Lee Evans
46. Mario Manningham
47. Mike Sims-Walker
48. Nate Washington
49. Devin Hester
50. Steve Johnson

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Vikings at Jets

The Headline trade made yesterday morning to send Randy Moss back to the Vikings as they make their last ditch effort to regain their offensive firepower they had last season.  With Favre only in town for one year and the passing offense being pretty bad, Randy Moss is sure to provide a spark.  Every time Moss has changed teams he has used the fresh start to its maximum potential.  Sidney Rice will be returning from injury and the Vikings will likely have the best receiving corp in the NFL.  For now, they have to face the best defense in the league and Moss has to lineup against his ex-division rival Darelle Revis.  Expect this to be a low scoring game given the caliber of defense on each team.  Players like Moss, Keller and Peterson have to be started anyways, but if you have viable options instead of LT, Favre, Holmes and Greene you should use them.  I like the home team to squeak out a win with a healthy Revis shutting down Moss and the Vikings looking like they did before the bye for just one more game.

Chiefs at Colts

The Colts are pissed, they must be sick of hearing them mentioned along with the phrase “Super Bowl Hangover” and after losing to the third longest field goal in NFL history you can expect them to try and put on a show.  The Chiefs are the last undefeated team left in the league after their early bye week.  Even with the extra time to prepare, the challenge is the Colts at home and I don’t see them managing an upset.  The abysmal Colts run defense will allow Jamaal Charles and, to a lesser extent, Thomas Jones to have plenty of value to their fantasy owners in a losing effort.  Despite the Chiefs success thus far, Matt Cassell is not a quality QB and they will not be able to hold the division lead for too long.  Pierre Garcon participated fully in practice on Wednesday and with him back in the lineup Austin Collie will need to have a big day in order to keep the attention of Peyton Manning and hopefully the number 2 spot on the depth chart.

Titans at Cowboys

Both of these teams are at the bottom of competitive divisions.  The Cowboys are part of a wide-opening competition where every win is crucial and the Titans have to compete with the Colts and the newly-dominant Texans. Whichever team loses this game will probably go into crisis-mode and do something in an effort to shake things up.  Last season a mid-season shake up at QB led to a huge win streak to come back from an 0-6 start to be a part of the playoff hunt at the end of the season for Vince Young and the Titans.  Both teams are playoff contenders and this just may be the best game of the week.  I like the Cowboys to win a high-scoring game given their home field advantage as well as the match up of Miles Austin against the Titans secondary.  The Titans have allowed two straight 300 yard passers and Romo will also have a great game.  Don’t take a chance on a Cowboys RB or Titans WR unless you have no other choice, but Chris Johnson and Vince Young should do just fine if you are counting on them.

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1. Roddy White
2. Reggie Wayne
3. Miles Austin
4. Andre Johnson
5. Calvin Johnson
6. Hakeem Nicks
7. Greg Jennings
8. Randy Moss
9. Anquan Boldin
10. Larry Fitzgerald
11. DeSean Jackson
12. Marques Colston
13. Austin Collie
14. Donald Driver
15. Mark Clayton
16. Malcom Floyd
17. Chad Ochocinco
18. Santana Moss
19. Steve Smith (NYG)
20. Jeremy Maclin
21. Eddie Royal
22. Dez Bryant
23. Dwayne Bowe
24. Braylon Edwards
25. Johnny Knox
26. Percy Harvin
27. Santonio Holmes
28. Brandon Lloyd
29. Terrell Owens
30. Derrick Mason
31. Kevin Walter
32. Louis Murphy
33. Michael Crabtree
34. Lance Moore
35. Pierre Garcon
36. Mike Williams (TB)
37. Mike Thomas
38. Legedu Naanee
39. Mike Sims-Walker
40. Kenny Britt
41. Demaryius Thomas
42. Jacoby Jones
43. Jabar Gaffney
44. Roy Williams
45. Lee Evans
46. Nate Washington
47. Mario Manningham
48. Devin Hester
49. Robert Meachem
50. Steve Johnson

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Love

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC – Despite his slow start, MJD is making his 2nd straight appearance on my love list this week.  He had a huge day last week against a struggling Colts defense and this week goes against the Bills who are allowing an average of 174 yards per game.

Peyton Manning, QB, IND – The Chiefs defense has been playing well lately, but primarily against the run.  The league’s last undefeated team is likely to fall this week against a pissed off Colts team led by their passing game.  The Chiefs corner backs have struggled some this season.  With Garcon likely to be returning this week and Collie proving to be a reliable threat, Manning should have a big day.

Roddy White, WR, ATL – Roddy White has been an incredibly consistent threat for the Falcons.  He leads the league with 50 targets and has yet to have a week with single digit fantasy points.

Jamaal Charles, RB, KC - That Colts run defense who has allowed big games to opposing RBs so far this year faces a dynamic two headed attack lead by Charles.  I like Thomas Jones this week as well, but Charles is the guy who breaks the long TD runs and he has twice the talent that Jones does.

Ryan Mathews, RB, SD – The Raiders have the 2nd worst run defense in the NFL and now that Mathews has been rested and eased back from injury, it is time for him to take the reigns back and he should have a  big game this week.

Jahvid Best, RB, DET – Best saw more work last week than I thought he would.  He has to go against a surprisingly good Rams team this week, but Shaun Hill has done more than enough to keep the Lions players alive in fantasy football.

Tony Romo, QB, DAL – The Titans have allowed two straight 300 yard passers and with the extra week to prepare I expect Romo and the Cowboys to have a big day and continue their rebound from their 0-2 start.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, NYG - Steve Smith is no longer Eli Manning’s go-to-guy, that is now Nicks.  He has great hands and is very effective over the middle and in the red zone which will lead to him leading the team in both receptions and receiving touchdowns on the season.

Greg Jennings, WR, GB - He didn’t have the type of game I thought he would last week, but the Packers got ahead big very early and since Head Coach Mike McCarthy is not one to run up the score… Jennings was not able to get a big day yardage wise.  Finding the end zone salvaged the day for fantasy owners, but the Redskins have been playing worse against the pass and better on offense than the Lions.

Reggie Wayne, WR, IND - Regardless of who the number two WR will be when Garcon comes back Wayne will be the number one.  After 15 catches and just shy of 200 yards you can’t afford to sit Manning’s most reliable target.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL - See Tony Romo.

Hate

Mike Sims-Walker, WR, JAC – Even when the Jags find a way to beat one of the best teams in the NFL, Sims-Walker was a ghost.  Drop him if you want, no one could blame you.  You definitely can’t start him.

Santonio Holmes, WR, NYJ - As good as I think he will be this season, he has been locked out of the facility of his new team.  Given that he has never played a regular season game in that offense I would expect to see a slow start from Holmes.  He should be considered a flex play this week.

Percy Harvin, WR, MIN - Even though newly acquired Randy Moss will draw the coverage of Darrelle Revis, he still does great with a new start.  The move makes perfect sense as Randy is declining in his career and has not been private about his desire to play with Favre.  The Vikings are all-in on the season and with a terribly tough defense as their first opponent off the Bye, leave Harvin for your flex spot or bench him if you have other solid options.

Justin Forsett, RB, SEA -Pete Carroll already said that he plans to use Lynch early and often now that they have him.  They had done a poor job at converting in short yardage situations and Lynch should take the starting job from Forsett easily. Clearly there is not much trust in this guy in the Seahawks front office so I could easily see him falling off our radar soon.

Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ – The Vikings defense has been doing very well this season, only allowing an average of 87 yards per game.  The work has been split between LT and Greene and since LT is the guy they use in the passing game it is hard to see how Greene can be effective this week.

Jonathan Stewart, RB, CAR – Still sitting this guy until further notice.  Especially against a Bears D only allowing 77 yards per game on the ground and DeAngelo Williams playing much, much better.

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Studs

Arian Foster, RB, HOU – Despite missing a good portion of the first half of the game due to disciplinary reasons, he still tallied 187 all purpose yards and two scores.  Foster is like lightning in a bottle so far this season and until SOMEONE shows the ability to stop him, he will keep climbing in the rankings.

Terrell Owens, WR, CIN – If you started Owens you very likely were in some serious bye week trouble.  It was not unexpected that a Bengals receiver was going to have a big game against the Browns, but the smart money was on Chad Ochocinco.  If you did need to use Owens, congratulations on hitting your home run… but you can drop him now because Carson Palmer sucks.

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC – This is a shining example of why you keep starting your top draft picks despite any early season struggles.  The Jags are a bad team and MJD was not 100% healthy when the season started.  He had been held out of football activities for almost the entire off season and it takes time to get acclimated to the speed of the game again.

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, PIT – Well his value is about to drop, but not disappear.  Rashard has been as reliable as the Steelers could have hoped for in the absence of Big Ben.  Now that Ben is back they will be using the aerial attack much more.  I still like Mendenhall as a top 10 RB but once their bye week is over he won’t be coming near the top 5 for a while.

Zach Miller, TE, OAK – With Louis Murphy struggling with his shoulder pain the Raiders only consistent receiving threat was a non-factor. I was big on Zach Miller going into the year because of this lack of production from the Raiders receivers and it finally hit big.  This is obviously not what you can expect but Miller is a key part of their offense and he will stay a top 10 TE.

Peyton Hillis, RB, CLE – Hillis is now clearly the Browns RB you want to own.  I won’t bail on Jerome Harrison until I see Hillis get all the work again next week.  He is looking to be a good RB 2 if the Browns have a good match up and a flex play otherwise.

Reggie Wayne, WR, IND – Colts fans may need to be concerned after a surprising loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, but fantasy owners don’t need to share their concern.  Wayne hauled in 15 passes for 196 yards on Sunday. The one thing I did take from this game, is that if Garcon gets his #2 spot back Collie wont be able to maintain this value.

LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, NYJ - I was expecting a good game from LT this week with the soft match up, but I did not expect to see him look like he was 29 again.  I am encouraged by this performance and think LT just may remain a viable fantasy starter come the playoffs.  Shonn Greene owners should be concerned.

Duds

Santana Moss, WR, WAS - Moss had been the go-to guy so far this entire season, but the Eagles defense was able to shut him down.  I am not concerned because the strategy backfired on the Eagles and is not likely to be repeated.

Randy Moss, WR, NE – There have only been around 5 games in Moss’ career where he went without a catch and this was one of them. I have no concerns with Moss in the future you have to start him.

Jay Cutler, QB, CHI – The ridiculous pressure that he faced early in the game was not his fault.  Holding on to the ball and refusing to make a decision on who to throw to in the 2nd quarter was his fault.  For now I am treating this as a one game deal and next week (if active) he will still be ranked around 10th.

DeSean Jackson, WR, PHI - Kolb means bad news for DJax as he favors the safe check down style throws.  If you own this guy you will still probably have to start him because with a whole week to prepare knowing he is the #1 QB, Kolb will have the confidence to take a shot or two down the field.

Chris Johnson, RB, TEN - Tough crap, you drafted him. You are starting him.  It is frustrating I know, but he is still the best back in fantasy football.

Ronnie Brown, RB, MIA - Ronnie Brown looked bad last night on Monday night in a tough loss at home for the Dolphins.  Williams looked like the best back and the one that Sporano trusted the most.  I think that Williams might be the most likely to see carries in the red zone and might overtake Brown in the rankings.

Ray Rice, RB, BAL – See the first sentence of Chris Johnson.  He might be on pace to be this year’s Matt Forte… but you can’t say that quite yet.  He was playing against the Steelers.

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1. Randy Moss
2. Brandon Marshall
3. Andre Johnson
4. Roddy White
5. Reggie Wayne
6. DeSean Jackson
7. Greg Jennings
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Larry Fitzgerald
10. Chad Ochocinco
11. Marques Colston
12. Santana Moss
13. Austin Collie
14. Jeremy Maclin
15. Steve Smith (CAR)
16. Hakeem Nicks
17. Anquan Boldin
18. Donald Driver
19. Malcom Floyd
20. Steve Smith (NYG)
21. Wes Welker
22. Louis Murphy
23. Johnny Knox
24. Mike Wallace
25. Mark Clayton
26. Mike Sims-Walker
27. Terrell Owens
28. Michael Crabtree
29. Eddie Royal
30. Legedu Naanee
31. Hines Ward
32. Demaryius Thomas
33. Derrick Mason
34. Pierre Garcon
35. Jacoby Jones
36. Braylon Edwards
37. Kenny Britt
38. Lance Moore
39. Devin Hester
40. Mario Manningham
41. Lee Evans
42. Kevin Walter
43. Mike Thomas
44. Nate Washington
45. Jabar Gaffney
46. Davone Bess
47. Mike Williams (SEA)
48. Josh Cribbs
49. Robert Meachem
50. Josh Morgan

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Ravens at Steelers

The headliner this week will not be an exciting game for offense fans.  Among the best 2 defensive franchises of the past 10 years meet twice a year in divisional rivalry matches that are typically low scoring.  The only player I think has a good chance at having a big game for fantasy owners is Rashard Mendenhall.  He is currently 4th in the NFL in rushing and while the Ravens are historically fantastic against the run, last week they gave up 144 yards to Peyton Hillis.  There is not comparison between the two backs, but Ray Lewis and the Ravens will not allow another big game like that this week.  You should however be comfortable starting Mendenhall as normal.  Expect 80 yards and a 50% chance at a score.  Ray Rice appears to be on the right track to play Sunday, but given the pain of a deep muscle bruise and a Steelers defense that is playing better than anyone in the league, you can’t expect too much.  Given where you drafted Rice and his ability to break a big play in the passing game you will need to start him regardless.  Stay away from Jay Flacco and where possible, Anquan Boldin.  You will need some pretty great alternatives to leave Boldin on the bench however.

Patriots at Dolphins

This game will help clear up one team from the three way tie at 2-1 atop the AFC East.  The Jets have an easy path to 3-1 with a game against Buffalo, but the Monday night game between the Pats and the Phins should be pretty close.  I like the home team to squeak out a win due to how truly terrible the Patriots defense is and how effective the Dolphins are at controlling the clock at the end of the game.  It is still not known which Patriots RB will have the most value but the Law Firm of BenJarvus Green-Ellis is who you want to go with if you are in bye week trouble and reaching deep for someone.  Moss and Welker face an underrated secondary but Moss cannot be sat and Welker still made my top 20.  Neither of the running backs for the Dolphins have been too impressive but running is what the Dolphins do and the Patriots have not been able to stop anyone yet… just out score them.

Redskins at Eagles

Michael Vick’s recent success will finally be overshadowed by the return of Donovan McNabb to Philadelphia.  The Redskins did not play well at all in Week 3 when they lost to last year’s worst team… the Rams.  McNabb is not the issue for the Redskins and will certainly not roll over against his former team.  Santana Moss has and will remain a very valuable WR3 or flex play now that there is a serious play maker throwing to him.  Michael Vick finally has some quality defenses opposite him and his production will level off a bit.  I do expect him to be a top 10 QB as long as he starts simply because if he stops playing well he wont start anymore.  DeSean Jackson is quickly proving that his is still going to be able to be a dynamic weapon without McNabb and Maclin is developing very nicely as a possession receiver and red zone target.  If you own any of these Eagles you are likely going to ride out this wave, at least until it crashes.  Ryan Torain fulfilled the role of sleeper RB in Shanahan’s offense that always seems to crop up at this time whenever he is coaching in this league.  Portis will still be given a few chances to prove he can be effective in a feature role still, but it doesn’t look good and with Torain getting half the work last week I would rather own him than Portis.  You’re not starting either of them until the offense starts playing better again.

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1. Andre Johnson
2. Randy Moss
3. Brandon Marshall
4. Reggie Wayne
5. Roddy White
6. Calvin Johnson
7. DeSean Jackson
8. Larry Fitzgerald
9. Greg Jennings
10. Chad Ochocinco
11. Marques Colston
12. Santana Moss
13. Steve Smith (CAR)
14. Austin Collie
15. Hakeem Nicks
16. Anquan Boldin
17. Donald Driver
18. Jeremy Maclin
19. Steve Smith (NYG)
20. Malcom Floyd
21. Johnny Knox
22. Mikes Wallace
23. Mike Sims-Walker
24. Wes Welker
25. Louis Murphy
26. Eddie Royal
27. Terrell Owens
28. Michael Crabtree
29. Mark Clayton
30. Legedu Naanee
31. Derrick Mason
32. Pierre Garcon
33. Hines Ward
34. Demaryius Thomas
35. Jacoby Jones
36. Braylon Edwards
37. Kenny Britt
38. Kevin Walter
39. Lance Moore
40. Devin Hester
41. Mike Thomas
42. Nate Washington
43. Jabar Gaffney
44. Davone Bess
45. Josh Cribbs
46. Mario Manningham
47. Lee Evans
48. Mike Williams (SEA)
49. Robert Meachem
50. Josh Morgan

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1. Andre Johnson
2. Miles Austin
3. Reggie Wayne
4. Roddy White
5. Randy Moss
6. DeSean Jackson
7. Larry Fitzgerald
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Anquan Boldin
10. Greg Jennings
11. Marques Colston
12. Steve Smith (CAR)
13. Chad Ochocinco
14. Brandon Marshall
15. Wes Welker
16. Steve Smith (NYG)
17. Jeremy Maclin
18. Donald Driver
19. Hakeem Nicks
20. Derrick Mason
21. Santana Moss
22. Dez Bryant
23. Michael Crabtree
24. Mike Sims-Walker
25. Pierre Garcon
26. Steve Breaston
27. Malcom Floyd
28. Mike Wallace
29. Dwayne Bowe
30. Percy Harvin
31. Hines Ward
32. Austin Collie
33. Johnny Knox
34. Eddie Royal
35. Legedu Naanee
36. Demaryius Thomas
37. Mark Clayton
38. Terrell Owens
39. Kevin Walter
40. Louis Murphy
41. TJ Houshmandzadeh
42. Jacoby Jones
43. Bernard Berrian
44. Mike Williams (TB)
45. Nate Washington
46. Mike Thomas
47. Lee Evans
48. Kenny Britt
49. Josh Morgan
50. James Jones

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1. Andre Johnson
2. Miles Austin
3. Reggie Wayne
4. Roddy White
5. Randy Moss
6. DeSean Jackson
7. Larry Fitzgerald
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Greg Jennings
10. Marques Colston
11. Anquan Boldin
12. Steve Smith (CAR)
13. Chad Ochocinco
14. Percy Harvin
15. Brandon Marshall
16. Wes Welker
17. Steve Smith (NYG)
18. Jeremy Maclin
19. Michael Crabtree
20. Hakeem Nicks
21. Donald Driver
22. Santana Moss
23. Derrick Mason
24. Dez Bryant
25. Pierre Garcon
26. Dwayne Bowe
27. Malcom Floyd
28. Steve Breaston
29. Mike Wallace
30. Mike Sims-Walker
31. Johnny Knox
32. Hines Ward
33. Eddie Royal
34. Legedu Naanee
35. Austin Collie
36. Terrell Owens
37. Kevin Walter
38. Louis Murphy
39. Mark Clayton
40. Mike Williams (TB)
41. Bernard Berrian
42. Nate Washington
43. Demaryius Thomas
44. Jacoby Jones
45. TJ Houshmandzadeh
46. Mike Thomas
47. Lee Evans
48. Kenny Britt
49. Devin Aromashodu
50. Josh Morgan

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