A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
After weeks of anticipation, it’s finally here…your fantasy championship game.
Oh, you thought I meant Christmas?
Ideally you’ve been shopping the waiver wire all season long and have picked up some bargains along the way. But just in case you waited until the last minute, there are still a few options out there in your hour of need.
I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed Week 14.
No, I didn’t make the playoffs in all of my leagues, but I did get to enjoy a couple of Week 14 byes, and my teams that did play meaningful Week 14 games all did well.
Sure, it all could come crashing down this week, but I’m going to spend a few extra minutes studying stats and trends and matchups to ensure that I put myself in the best possible position for victory.
And it all starts with analyzing the waiver wire to see if there are any players out there who may be able to help me out now that the fantasy pressure is racheted up to its highest levels.
Unless your league is crazy and plays in Week 17 (which, make no mistake, is crazy), this week is either the final one of the regular season or the first week of the playoffs. Consequently, it’s not a time to get too cute by picking up obscure free agents and plugging them into your lineup.
Quite frankly, I’m not sure any of these guys are plug and play options, but if you’re in a pinch and looking at the waiver wire for potential help this week or depth down the stretch, here are a few guys you might be considering.
With the fantasy playoffs just around the corner, every week is critical.
Unfortunately, at this point in the season there aren’t too many gems left out on the waiver wire with the exception of those who gain value because of injury.
Still, there are a handful of players out there who just might put you over the top based on their recent play, favorable matchups, or both.
With bye weeks now a thing of the past, fantasy owners have one less thing to worry about as the playoff push begins. However, it’s also a great time to start looking ahead to identify guys who can help you during the fantasy playoffs and to pick them up while you can.
This week we’ll look at not only guys who can help in the short-term but also those who may pay dividends when it matters most.
Update: Our Week 10 start em, sit em advice is posted, and this week’s post includes an opportunity for one MSF reader to win free NFL tickets. Make sure you check it out after you finish going through the waiver pickups.
There are no teams on bye in Week 10, but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security.
The Texans, Colts, Saints, and Steelers are all on bye in Week 11, which means a lot of fantasy firepower will be sitting on benches during one of the final weekends of playoff positioning.
Don’t get caught snoozing; take this opportunity not just to improve your lineup for Week 10 but also to plan ahead for any lineup vacancies impending next week.
This has been a crazy week for injuries, but such is life as the season nears its midway point. Sometimes supposedly injured players practice, sometimes seemingly healthy players sit out, and then sometimes guys like Jimmy Graham gets placed on the injury report late in the week out of the blue. Let’s get started and see what this week’s key injuries look like heading into Sunday.
This has got to be one of the most confounding fantasy football weeks I can remember.
With some many teams rich in fantasy talent (Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Bills, plus the 49ers and Bengals) observing their bye this week, it means that we all are having to dig deep into our benches and even onto the waiver wire just to field complete lineups. During such weeks is when start/sit advice is its most valuable, and as always we have you covered here at MSF.
Week Six saw relatively few big fantasy performances, and with some potent offenses among the six teams on bye in Week Seven (Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, New York Giants, Philadelphia, and San Francisco), that may well repeat itself. The lack of reliable options at some positions, coupled with the bye week crunch, will surely send many owners back to the waiver wire where they will find some intriguing options, particularly at wide receiver.
As you know, I was eliminated from the P&G-sponsored Blogger Fantasy Football League* last week. Luckily I played in six leagues this year, making the playoffs in four of them, and giving me plenty of motivation to stay up on the latest in the fantasy world.
With the carnage of Week 15 now settling in, it looks like I will have one team advancing to the championship round. While I’d like to have more than one chance at a title, if I was going to pick a league to win other than the P&G league, it would be this one. It’s the league with all my college friends that I’ve been in for close to 10 years now. Major bragging rights are on the line!
So as we look forward to Week 16, I know that there will be less of you reading these articles, but I also know that the stakes are as high as possible, so I’m not skimping on the research, recommendations, or Q&A.
We’ve done the Week 13 start em, sit em, the Week 13 rankings, and the Week 13 waiver wire sleeper picks. Now it’s time to turn our attention to the injured players, as we do every Friday.
When Adrian Peterson – the best and most consistent player in fantasy football over the last four years – gets injured, there is no bigger news in the fantasy football world. Thus, we’ll lead off with news about the man they call All Day.
Sadly, there isn’t a whole lot of new news to pin our Week 13 hopes on.
We have a full slate of games this week, which means extra injuries to run through. Check out the start/sit picks, the Week 11 rankings, some waiver wire sleepers, and even this fun little contest we have going on.
Then start scrolling through the injury updates below and make sure your roster decisions include this info.
A lot of people asked about Roddy White before last night’s game. He was limited in practice with a knee issue and listed as questionable.
I told everyone on Twitter (@FantasyMSF) and in the comment sections here at MSF Fantasy Sports that if he plays, you have to play him. With supreme talents like White, you play them if their team feels comfortable doing so.
And all Roddy White did was go out at put up 100+ yards and 2 TDs. Let that be a lesson as we delve into every fantasy-relevant Week 10 injury.
In other WR news, Sidney Rice is not even on the injury report!
How important are waiver wire sleepers? I’ll tell you.
As you know, I’m currently competing for a pair of Super Bowl tickets in the P&G-sponsored Blogger Fantasy Football League*. I faced one of my stiffest opponents in Week 9, and I only had a chance to win because of one move: less than 30 minutes before kickoffs of the early games on Sunday I picked up Chargers WR Seyi Ajirotutu.
With Antonio Gates out, and the Chargers facing the Texans, I figured Seyi had a chance to have a good week. Two TDs and 20+ fantasy points later, it turned out to be one of the best moves I made all season.
Granted, I didn’t highlight Ajirotutu in last week’s waiver wire sleepers column, but I did highlight names like Josh Freeman, Willis McGahee, and Nate Burleson, all of whom helped you win if you were paying attention.
Who are this week’s waiver wire sleepers? Read on and I’ll highlight a bunch of guys with a chance to be the different between winning and losing in Week 10.
