FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 4

Jordan Cameron hauled in 3 TD's in Week 3. (msn.foxsports.com)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

It's a funny thing when work gets in the way of your free time. I'm a day late, but not a dollar short on this week's pick-ups due to some pressing matters in reality. So far it's been a crazy season, but I feel like we say that every year. Trent Richardson was traded, Colin Kaepernick is being heavily questioned, and Jordan Cameron launched what I can only imagine is a personal attack on my TE rankings. The Giants lost the most standard of "New York Football Giants" games as they failed to win on the road, while 0-2. Now they're 0-3 and can add themselves to the laughing stock that has become the NFC East.

There's a lot of chaos going on, and not quite enough time to filter all my thoughts. Week 4 also starts the bye weeks, so I will try to pick out one player from each position, so with that as a preface, let's open the Book of Manning and see what's what.

Ryan Tannehill has led the Dolphins to a 3-0 record. (utsandiego.com)

Ryan Tannehill, QB - MIA @ NO (18% owned)

As I tuned into the Dolphins Falcons game near the end of regulation, I couldn't help but notice how much better Tannehill looked this year. He was poised and confident in the pocket and led the Dolphins to a victory against the Falcons. He didn't put up the gaudy and unexpected numbers of Brian Hoyer, but Tannehill looks ready to take a nice leap up this year.

Brandon Bolden, RB - NE +Atlanta Falcons (14%)

Unlike Jason Snelling and Jaquizz Rodgers who will turn back into pumpkins as soon as Steven Jackson is healthy, Bolden finds himself in the enviable position of taking carries away from Stevan Ridley. Last week saw each RB, including LeGarrette Blount rattle off an even amount of touches. The game was out of hand, but we've seen how the Patriots like to utilize their 3rd down backs, which Bolden now is. I can see him getting more and more in the mix as Ridley continues to struggle.

Stephen Hill, WR - NYJ @ TEN (15%)

Well, well, well, it's a Jet. A couple of weeks after I mentioned Bilal Powell with some indifference, it turns out this Jets team has an excellent defense, and an offense that can put some points on the board. Having Geno Smith at quarterback instead of Mark Sanchez goes to show you what a little confidence can bring to that position. Both Hill and Santonio Holmes had a big week last week, but against a lousy Bills secondary. The Titans have a good defense, so depending on how they choose to cover Hill and Holmes, this add could be a coin flip. I'm assuming they'd lean more heavily on Holmes here, so I like Hill as a play.

Colby Fleener, TE - IND +Jacksonville Jaguars (31%)

The red sea has parted for Fleener. Previously with players like T.Y. Hilton and Dwayne Allen battling Fleener for catches, Allen has been placed on IR, and under new Director of Offense, Pep Hamilton has flipped the script from last year. Gone is Bruce Arians' big play, pass happy offense, and in it's place is Hamilton's run first and more conservative pass game. This all favors Fleener as Hilton's value takes a big dive do to less deep passes (along with some of those going towards Darius Heyward-Bey). Fleener and Hamilton, oh and that guy Luck have had a lot of reps together, so I see Fleener getting a lot more opportunities.

Previously mentioned:

There are also a couple of players whose stocks have risen even higher since I first mentioned them in FAABulous. It's not worth rehasing them, but worth mentioning them.

Bilal Powell,  Ryan Broyles, and Brian Hartline

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Jonathan Franklin, RB - GB BYE (19%)

The Pack are on a bye, and after James Starks was injured early on Sunday, Franklin took over and had the game of his life. After a training camp and preseason that was as loathed and poorly received as a Miley Cyrus live performance, Franklin does get credit for shining when credit is due, however, he also fumbled away the football and caused the Packers to lose. I find it hard to believe that he'd build up enough good will to get significant playing time going forward or supplant Eddie Lacy when he's back and healthy.

THE 1%

Mike Glennon, QB - TB @ ARZ (1%)

I was leaning Delanie Walker here, but how often can you pick a starting QB that's 1% owned? Plus, since this is breaking news this morning, I get to take advantage of my 24 hour delay. Win win! So much for the Josh Freeman era. The only person that's more upset than Freeman is probably his agent who couldn't get that fat second contract out of Freeman. Actually, his agent is probably more pissed than Josh.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football 2013 Pre-Season Ranks - QB

Joe Flacco proved himself to be an elite QB in reality, but in fantasy, much remains the same. (msn.foxsports.com)

I like having a steady QB situation on my fantasy teams. I'm not one to try to piecemeal together my imaginary team's signal caller. No position has a higher floor on a week to week basis than QB, so why wouldn't I want to pencil in 20-25 points every week and just focus on everything else?

If you do a snake draft, well, the picks may not always break in your favor. You might have to build around two mid-range guys and hope one breaks out, or if it's last year just grab a rookie QB that's the age a rookie qb should be.

This year, you won't be so lucky as to nab a rookie QB that can lead your team to a fantasy title, but the good news is that these now second-year QBs have added immense depth to the fantasy QB pool. All 4 of 2012's breakout stars are in the Top 11 of my rankings, and all of them have the potential to do even more damage this year.

In my rankings, I suppose I tend to lean a bit more on QB's that are secure in their position. Not only job-wise, obviously, but also the protection and skill weapons they have around them. Since I tend to put a higher value on QB than most, I want to make sure the guy I take is as sure-fire as can be. That's a little easier to gauge near the bottom portion of the rankings, but once you get near the top, it's when some of this picking nits really shows itself. So let's run through the tiers together, shall we.

TIER FANTASY BACK-UPS

25. Ryan Tannehill, MIA

24. Matt Schaub, HOU

23. Alex Smith, KC

22. Carson Palmer, ARZ

You always like to have 2 QBs in your 1 QB league for insurance purposes? Don't want to go dig up Christian Ponder off waivers during a bye week? Here are your guys. People that given a match-up and a situation can certainly be a worthwhile sub to your elite QB.

The surprising pick in this tier might be Schaub, but I'm not nervous about dropping him. Schaub has decent numbers at the end of every year, but there isn't a QB more likely to give you 0 TDs than Schaub (did it 5 times last year). He did have a 4 TD and 5 TD game, so like I said, match-ups.

TIER WILL THEY-WON'T THEY

21. Sam Bradford, STL

20. Josh Freeman, TB

19. Philip Rivers, SD

18. Andy Dalton, CIN

17. Jay Cutler, CHI

All of these QBs are at a point in their career where we really need to see something out of them this year to dictate where their fantasy future lies. There have been flashes of greatness from these players, but there has also been an inability to keep that level of perfomance up for a full season.

It's sad to see Rivers here. He looked to be every bit the QB his fellow draft classmates Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were, and for fantasy purposes he looked to be even better. But perhaps it's injuries, attitude and team that have dragged him down.

Bradford is the guy that is the least accomplished of this group. The benefactor of the no rookie draft slot era, Bradford hasn't come close to paying back the $50M in guaranteed money he signed for after he was drafted #1 overall from Oklahoma. I do feel like it's between him and Freeman in this tier for who has the most upside to offer. Bradford has an improved offensive line and some legit speed and athleticism lining up along side him. It'll be up to him to gel this unit together and do what great quarterbacks do ... elevate his team to a new level.

TIER FLEAS

16. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT

15. Michael Vick, PHI

14. Joe Flacco, BAL

13. Tony Romo, DAL

12. Eli Manning, NYG

We know these players. We know what they can do, we know what they can't do. We know their strengths, but ultimately we know their weaknesses that befall them. Whether it's injuries, inconsistency, or just steady play none of these guys have high ceilings or low floors.

The first two on this list, Big Ben and Vick, I have some serious questions about. Roethlisberger's injuries are mounting and this Steelers team looks to be the weakest in a long-time. Roethlisberger has never been an elite fantasy player so those strikes against him threaten to drop him significantly.

Someone that was once a valuable fantasy commodity in Michael Vick may not even have the job out of training camp. New Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has preached an open competition for running out of the big inflatable helmet priviledges. Insiders and/or Vick haters already have to job going to Nick Foles, but we shall see. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Vick doesn't get the job. Regardless of what Kelly's NFL offense looks like, the number one skill needed will be making quick reads and decisions. Not read-option, not the ability to scramble, but knowing the defenses and how to audible appropriately. Two things that Vick is abhorrent at. However, in this tier, his ability to potentially thrive in the offense along with his running ability gives him some bonus points.

TIER JUMP STREET

11. Andrew Luck, IND

10. Colin Kaepernick, SF

9. Matthew Stafford, DET

8. Tom Brady, NE

All of these guys could easily overthrow the next tier. A couple may even be knocking on the doors of the top tier come the end of the 2013-2014 season. Right now though, there are some minor questions as a side dish to their major upside entree.

Andrew Luck is, skill wise, one of the best QBs in football. He had a fantastic rookie year, but let's be honest, he had an easy schedule and to his credit was able to put his team in a position to win a lot of games. But comfort wise you have to wonder how new offensive coordinator's Pep Hamilton will use the Stanford offense Luck commanded in the NFL (can we please call Hamilton the Director of Offense, please? If not, can we make this Luck's official nickname?) and if Luck's lack of offensive talent around him will start to show.

A lot has happened to Tom Brady in the off-season. The short of it is he lost 2 of his top 3 passing targets, and the third has had more surgeries in the past year than Brady has played in Super Bowls. When you get yourself purposefully removed from Madden, you know you've done gone done something bad. It is hard to tell if Brady will be able to overcome all of this. While effecient as ever running the Pats high-octane offense, you have to have doubts as to who is going to come through on offense. This can either break with Brady making stars out of Danny Amendola and Daniel Fells or them dragging him down.

TIER WORTHY OF THE HYPE

7. Robert Griffin III, WAS

6. Russell Wilson, SEA

5. Matt Ryan, ATL

4. Cam Newton, CAR

Sure RG3 and Wilson have some questions around them, but last year they had a lot of great answers. RG3 obviously has the injury to deal with. He appears to be getting back to full strength, and barring a setback he will be ready to go Week 1. Even if he's limited on his feet, RG3 is an extremely accurate passer on short, medium, and deep throws. The guy is a weapon.

The addition of Percy Harvin isn't the only reason to look forward to a greater year out of Wilson, but Harvin's hip injury and migraine history leads me to think he might not be as big an impact player as we all want him to be.

I was really looking forward to banking on the Matt Ryan last year of his contract bandwagon. Thanks for nothing, Atlanta.

Killa Cam is a guy that is going to make me or break me this year. In this ranking, I'm at my most optimistic about him, but I can't say there aren't concerns. Last year was a marginal improvement or step down for Cam depending on what you're looking at. His sophomore year was overshadowed by the new crop of rookie QBs and attitude issues continued to follow Cam as his Panthers finished 7-9 and were completely average.

The Panthers focused on defense in the draft, which shoudn't be followed with an eye roll. If the Panthers can get more turnovers, stop more drives from developing, then that means Newton gets back on the field sooner and more often. However, the front office did nothing in free agency to help Newton out. Fringe players like Ted Ginn might amount to one spectacular play, but that's about it. The short of it is, this team isn't much different from last year. So what I'm basically relying on is his inability to get hurt because he's gigantic, an uptick in his passing efficiency, his run game, and Carolina utilizing the read-option better this year with his bloated RB corps. If he can take large strides in his pass game, then #1 overall player is a possibility.

TIER DISCO

3. Peyton Manning, DEN

2. Drew Brees, NO

1. Aaron Rodgers, GB

There aren't many concers about these three. If you're particularly nervous about any of them, then you probaby do mock drafts in your reinforced bomb shelter.

Manning has somethings like age and injuries to underline, but that's why he's third on the list. He has the most elite group of wide receivers in the league who all perfectly fit what he wants to do. If Manning takes futher control of the offense this year, I don't see why they couldn't run more plays per game and really pile up the offensive numbers.

Brees throws and he throws a lot. His interceptions went up a tick in 2012, but when you throw as often has he does, they will tend to happen. So long as the TD passes don't drop 15-18 INTs are palatable.

Rodgers is again the best fantasy QB in the game. He passes, he runs effectively, he does everything you could want out of a high pick. He may never hit the heights of his ridiculous 2011 season, but his ability to perform at an elite level, consistently week in and week out with a group of skilled players around him at minimum injury risk makes him the best pick you can make at QB.

FAABulous: Year in Review

It's been a homerun of a fantasy season for Alfred Morris. (pnj.com)

It has been quite a year of football. Rather chaotic. Filled with monumental comebacks from Hall of Fame players, rookie sensations everywhere, records broken and nearly broken, and the usual on and off the field controversies. Reffed by replacement officials and a scandal that turned nothing into a big something.

While some of that stuff rents space in areas zoned for fantasy football, after a nearly full season of looking back on my first go around writing FAABulous - which wholly resides in fantasy - I can say it has been a fun experience. Writing about fantasy football week after week is not only challenging, but enjoyable because I truly followed the game closer than I ever have before. The nature of FAABulous was to shed light on some lower % owned players, so in doing such I had to dig a little deeper when I watched live games pay more attention to players during SportCenter or other highlight shows.

The fun of doing something like this is you get to make your observations, take calculated shots on certain players, and then see how things play out. Of course the glory of having written down these thoughts lets you go back and judge your guesses.

Overall, I was pretty happy with how things played out. I had some nice hits and some so-so misses. It was difficult to say if I completely whiffed on most of my calls as I feel a good amount of players I suggested were productive at some point. Obviously there were some cream of the crop picks and some I really wish I could take back.

If there's one thing I wish I could have done more of/ been better at is being proactive. Most of my picks were reactive to a previous game or an injury situation. This is mainly due to not having enough time or spending the energy out of my normal day to look that far ahead and really get involved with the numbers and match-ups in a way where any kind of advice like that would bear any fruits.

I'm not afraid to admit mistakes and take heat for them. At the same time, here is a horn, which I own, that I will blow into.

When analyzing some of my prouder and not so proud moments and selecting a couple of each I tried to gauge when my picks had the most impact. Obviously, in certain ways, the end of the season didn't have as much as impact as compared to a Week 2 pick. Also, when that pick coincided with a hot streak. If a player was on fire for 3 weeks, then faded off, then I should get credit for that as opposed to picking a player 2 games after he's had a big game. So all of these factors played into what I thought to be my hits and misses of the year. I've listed the player name, the week in which the player was mentioned and at what percentage that player was owned when I mentioned him.

Also, I get no bonus points for saying go grab Bryce Brown or Ronnie Hillman Knowshon Moreno. That's clown advice, bro.

So, here's the wrap-up to FAABulous 2012. Enjoy!

I'M A GOLDEN GOD STARING DOWN AT YOU FROM MT. PIOUS

James Jones Week 5 - (34% owned)
Jones is my big win of the year. I've always been a Jones fan due to his ability to be frequently located in the end zone by Aaron Rodgers, but due to varying and frequent injuries to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, Jones got to see what it's like to be a top option for one of the league's best quarterbacks. After Week 5, Jones went on to catch 9 TD's including a 3 TD output in Week 15. His 14 TDs led all wide receivers, and with Jennings on his way out of town, expect Jones to continue his TD scoring ways in 2013. I'd put him as a solid WR2 option.

Brandon Myers Week 3 - (1%)
One of my first THE 1% picks ended up paying some of the most dividend. With the tight end position being reinvented in the NFL, Myers took the ball and ran with it ... for 806 yards and 4 TD. He finished the season ranked 6th in Football Outsider's ranks ahead of such dignitaries as Vernon Davis, Jimmy Graham, Aaron Hernandez, Jermichael Finley, and Antonio Gates. Some shaky QB play affected Myers' production near the end of the season, but you can't argue with the return you got.

Colin Kaepernick - Week 11 (1%)
This pick doesn't fall under the No Shit category because Kaepernick wasn't supposed to keep the job. Alex Smith was coming off one of his best games as a pro, got clipped in the back of his noggin and it was expected he'd step right back in after Kaepernick started against the Bears defense that was, at the time, only playing as well as any defense ever. A 243 yard 2 TD performance ended Smith's 49ers QB experience.

David Wilson/Andre Brown - Week 13/Week 3 (15%/15%)
This was a part an injury play, but at the same time - they were both owned at such low amounts when they were respectively back-ups to Ahmad Bradshaw that it was almost criminal. From Week 7-10 Brown scored at TD a game, and when he was injured, Wilson finished the season with flair putting two scores on the board in Week 14 and added one in the fantasy playoffs Week 16. All-in-all Bradshaw's "back-ups" accounted for 14 total TD (1 was a kick return).

T.Y. Hilton - Week 10 (8%)
Hilton finished his rookie season with 7 TDs (5 came after Week 10) and became Andrew Luck's big play threat. What else would you expect out of one of the last picks in the 3rd round in the year of the rookies?

Russell Wilson - Week 14 (23%)
I was late to the show by a couple weeks touting Wilson, but he had my attention. By the end of the year people were just outwardly ignoring him. The guy is good, and he should have helped many a teams win a playoff game or two.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I DO THIS FOR FREE!

Alfred Morris - Week 2 (5%)
For all the good things I did this year, missing on Morris was such a misstep that it almost wiped out any positives from the year. I noted that this was the first line in the sand moment of the fantasy season, and I was on the wrong end. Morris - who still has an outside shot at Rookie of the Year - would have been a phenom in any other season that didn't include his option mate RGIII, Luck, and Wilson. If ROY was based on pound for pound value, this 6th round pick out of Florida Atlantic would surely beat out those pretty boy lottery picks. Alf is a top 15 back heading into next season, and finished with 1,613 yards and 13 TD, which I'm assuming is a rookie record for a Washington RB.

Danario Alexander - Week 11 (5%)
I felt a lot worse about this one until DX put up a goose egg in Week 15. He does emerge as the second best nickname in the NFL of 2012 though.

Greg Zuerlein - Week 5 (17%)
#1 best new nickname goes to Greg the Leg or Young GZ. This one hurt. I saw this beastmode kicker launching 50 yard field goals like they were PAT's and got all antsy in my pantsy. Another 6th round pick could only carry the rookie mojo so far. Sure he missed some long ... long field goals, but the Rams inconsistency on offense didn't put him in a good place to score points. After Week 5, he never surpassed double digit points and scored under 3 points on four separate occasions. The best kicker in fantasy, he was not.

Davone Bess - Week 6 (32%)
After Week 6, he had 1 TD, averaged 57 YPG, and missed the last 3 weeks due to injury. My point was that he'd be better than Brian Hartline, which wasn't far from untrue (0 TD and averaged 56.9 YPG), but Bess was a no show.

Titus Young, Sr. - Week 8 (26%)
The world learned in 2012 what happens when you put any eggs in Titus Young, Sr.'s basket.

Ben Tate - Week 11 (39%)
Of course that "rest period" everyone expected the Texans to have never came. They skidded like a streak down a pair of tighty whities to close out the season and could conceivably lose to Cincinnati. That lack cruising to the #1 seed hurt Tate's playing time as well as his inability to stay healthy. From Week 11 on, Tate's game high number of carries was 8 and he never scored a touchdown.

RETURN OF FANTASY FUNKHOUSER
So that's it for fantasy football season. It's been fun, and actually drove a lot of traffic to the site, so I'll be sure to bring it back next year.

Don't fret through, my fantasy baseball column Fantasy Funkhouser will be back in full affect in 2013. I will try to write more and even give a shot at rankings and such. Should be a disaster. Looking forward to it.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 13

"Hey, you're not Ronnie Hillman!" said Peyton Manning and fantasy owners. (Cannon City Daily Record)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

Talking about fantasy sports is fun. Playing fantasy sports is fun. When it comes to predicting fantasy sports, that can be not so fun.

What is funny is that as soon as the business side of things comes into play regarding fantasy sports, things take a turn to the ugly. Sure in leagues among friends there's trash talk and the occasional blow up. Public leagues allow the mask of anonymity to allow some to be total jerk-offs, but in general there's just a sense of competition. As soon as someone pronounces themselves an expert or works for a big company like ESPN, then the attitude towards these 'experts' in fantasy change.

Their predictions and rankings become something sacred. Line-ups are set, add/drops are made, and of course FAAB money is spent largely based on these fairy tale prognosticators doing their job and getting that insider info out to the public.

No one tunes into a podcast or reads a fantasy football article to hear about how awesome Tom Brady is, or that A.J. Green is a pretty good wideout. No, these are all obvious and not very astute observations. What draws people in is the mystery. Who is the next big sleeper? Is this back-up running back going to take over the starting job? What do you think this 7th round rookie will do in Week 13?

Those more in-depth opinions are what fantasy experts are out there for, and as a result being an expert and being responsible for making these more difficult calls gets you grilled by the fans 95% of the time. 

"You told me to start Kenny Britt over Brandon LaFell!? Thanks for nothing, moron!" 

That's basically how I see things going. People that do go off on fantasy experts are clearly disappointed in their inability to make their own decision as well as putting a little too much emphasis on an industry where they are anointed experts.

Of course, in a world where everything is listed out or ranked, there would be a site that ranks these rankers. The overall mark equals out to about a D- in school grading terms, so across all experts the hit rate isn't all that definitive. 

I guess now would be a good time to state the obvious. I'm not an expert. I don't claim to be. Could I see myself being one? Yes, but at this point, I'm just a guy that loves sports and writes down some thoughts. My opinion is based on my own skills and probably on par with the next 20-something year old guy bellying up to a bar that serves some great microbrews. 

With that out of the way, to me, what makes an expert an expert is having a lot of good insights, and getting paid for those insights so he can focus his livelihood around researching, reading, watching games and doing all the things amateur fantasy fans or people that have to work for a living cannot do.

As a result they should be able to dig deeper; to search a little harder and look for the nuances of teams, games and match-ups which is why fans tune in to hear what the experts have to say.

One fact that many people appear to ignore is that the experts on their computer monitor or TV screen aren't necessarily the best at what they do. They're fantasy experts with personality. You need that presence to write interesting and fun columns or carry an hour long fantasy show on Sunday mornings. Unless there's a guy out there who can predict in the low 80% range, then no one is going to sit there and sift through pages of data and info for a guy who hits on 62.1% of his rankings as opposed to 61.1%. 

While fantasy players may not admit it in this new sabermetric world we live in, we still want to be entertained. Sure, it doesn't have to be lame jokes or puns, but interesting writing or an on-air personality is what players value just as much as who is right and who is wrong. If I'm lying then John Paulsen would have almost half a million Twitter followers. This isn't praising guys like Paulsen or shunning guys like Berry, this is just a note that fantasy experts come in different shapes and sizes. They bring different things to the table. But for this game, entertainment is paramount. 

In this game of, let's face it, failing grade fantasy analysis - it's impossible to be right a large percentage of the time. Fantasy experts go off of the same thing that guys like Mike Florio go off of. Information. So when being a fantasy experts basically invites you to accept failure and criticism all the time, I found it particularly rough this past week when an obvious add for Week 12 Ronnie Hillman was set to take over for the injured Willis McGahee and quite frankly looked primed to be a big impact player. Everyone was reporting this, but then hours before the game we were all out foxed. Out John Foxed. The Broncos head coach started the 2009 12th overall pick Knowshon Moreno. Moreno was a former high pick, yes, but injuries combined with a fumbling problem left him inactive for most of the season. So to suddenly see him in the game and starting nonetheless sent shockwaves through fantasy football.

Perhaps a great fantasy expert would have see the writing on the wall, but doing so would only be out of a gut call. There was nothing to suspect Moreno would start or be effective - well, except for Peyton Manning being involved. Sure enough, there were plenty of people freaking out and complaining about their fantasy team being ruined as a result of adding Hillman over Moreno. Again, I'm not expert, but I didn't even pick the right guy and I had two guesses.

Moreno's injury bug doesn't make Hillman an automatic drop, but it does suck for fantasy players and experts alike. Let's not feel bad for Scott Pianowski, Ray Flowers, Ladd Biro, and their ilk because they have awesome gigs, but let's not pretend that they are holding the answers to everything. Like most oracles in this realm, they are here to guide you, not tell you what path to take. 

So let's get nudged in the direction of some free agent pick-ups.

Bottoms up. (NY Daily News)

Knowshon Moreno, RB - DEN (21% owned) TB

Damn you fantasy experts! Damn you! Regardless if Hillman eventually steps in, Moreno has the gig now. He's a bigger back that might be preferred for his pass catching and pass blocking capabilities. After all, it's Peyton that makes this team run on offense.

Daniel Thomas, RB - MIA (26%) NE

Fantasy experts, why didn't you predict the Matt Forte injury and tell me to trade for Michael Bush! Well, Bush is owned in 57% of Yahoo! FFL so he doesn't qualify for this column. Of course though, if you can get him, do it. Bush has been underrated since he broke his leg near the end of his college career in Louisville. He's capable of monster games and sure handed at the goal line.

Daniel Thomas is available though. While he hasn't shoved the other Bush out of his way in Miami, Thomas is starting to come around in Joe Philbin's system. He's got some tough run defenses coming up, but weeks 15 and 16 he faces Jacksonville and Buffalo...who are not.


David Wilson, RB - NYG (15%) @WAS

Hey, remember David? That was all the way back in Week 1, but now Wilson has the opportunity to make his rookie not about if he cried or not after a fumble. Previous Lockration FAABulous pick Andre Brown unfortunately broke his fibula which opens up carries for Wilson behind Ahmad Bradshaw, and allows us all non-Bradshaw owners to player our favorite game of "There's no way Bradshaw can make it through the rest of the year, he has X injuries. Wait, how does he have 19.70 fantasy points? He's not stopping is he? Are we sure he's hurt?" I gotta think of a better title for that one.

Mark Sanchez, QB - NYJ (10%) ARI

Just kidding about Mark. Arizona is 28th in the league for most fantasy points allowed to QB's, but unless you're Fireman Ed, you can't believe in this guy. Although a nice QB to look at for a bench spot is Jake Locker. Since his return from a shoulder injury, the former Huskie has put up 14 and 16 points respectively. Even going against a not quite as good as you remember from the start of the year Texans D, his remaining schedule breaks favorably.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Cole Beasley, WR - DAL (0%) PHI

This is a half-hearted one, not because I don't think he's necessarily ownable, but the 5'8 Beasley was quite the Thanksgiving treat. As my family and I watched football, we loved seeing this guy fly all over the field for 7 rec 13 tar and 68 yards. With Miles Austin hurting, there's an opportunity for him, but I think the ball will be going other places, especially with DeMarco Murray due back...soon?

THE 1%

Joe Webb, QB - MIN (0%) @GB

You know he's coming. Christian Ponder is struggling and with Minnesota fading they need the sometimes WR-eligible QB to take the field. If the Vikings' fans aren't already in a Colin Kaepernick fueled rage, then I don't know football fans.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 11

Week 10 led to a lot of QB injuries and poor performances that probably didn't sink your fantasy team. (Getty)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

We all know what football is in 2012-2013. There's an increased concern for player safety and specifically concussions. Rules have been put into place, tests have to be administered, and the public consciousness is growing week by week.

The NFL will take credit for this, throwing around how much money they are spending on concussion research, that awareness is high, hell, even in Madden if a player is injured with a concussion he is automatically out for the rest of the game.

While these are all factors in how we are watching this violent sport, and while player safety is the dark cloud on the horizon of the sport of football, the reason all of these procedures are put into place is that while football is the most popular sport in the United States, that also makes it the most lucrative.

There have been plenty of great pieces about how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has preached player safety out of one side of his mouth, all the while looking to extend the season and schedule, make Thursday through Monday football a reality and keep the NFL money train rolling. Among all of the articles you can find written by a Jason Whitlock or Bill Simmons, the quintessential moment of this money vs. football mess is the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. In this one story, you get everything from the true violence in football, to the overblown reaction of the NFL, to skirting the facts and Goodell relying on his title as commissioner to serve as a power play to push his agenda.

Well, there's no one that will agree paying players to injure another player is acceptable, there are real questions of what does it really matter, or if the NFL can just fine and suspend players without adequate evidence. The question of does it matter will probably always be up for debate, but the legal system has found that no, you can't just suspend players and serve personal vendettas because you feel like it. There has to be proof. As a result of the fallout of Goodell's hasty actions, his reputation has taken a hit, and his respectability among the players he lords over is at an all-time low. It's something that needs to be addressed moving forward if Goodell is to remain commissioner and a lesson to be learned that the public as well as football players themselves are no dummies. There's unlimited resources available to learn, read up, and formulate an opinion. People won't just fall blindly in line with the NFL because they love the sport or they hear the NFL is funding a lot of brain damage research. Time to focus on improving the reputation of the game, not just making more money from it.

For all the rules and protection the NFL gives its players, especially quarterbacks, that didn't save a lot of them in Week 10. Four starters went down, three to concussions. In order of fantasy relevance, they would be Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Jay Cutler, and Alex Smith.

The good news, fantasy wise, is that all of the quarterbacks listed are nowhere near elite fantasy players. Roethlisberger is the 13th ranked QB and Vick is 15th. Roethlisberger has been solid, but he's always been a million times more important as a real player than fantasy. As for Vick, well, we know his tale. He hasn't been an explosive fantasy player in 2 years now. His injuries are always a concern, and outside of that 2010 season, he's always been a below average fantasy player minus his rushing numbers, which have been non-existent for those same 2 years. Cutler and Smith are back-up level at best, so odds are your team isn't hurting too badly.

There are some potential fliers to take for each of these players. While Roethlisberger's injury seems to be the most serious, Byron Leftwich carries no fantasy value. But let's take a look at some two back-ups that could bring us some value through the remainder of the season.

Nick Foles has a legitimate shot at the starting job in Philadelphia. (usatoday.com)

Nick Foles, QB - PHI ( 5% owned) @WAS

What makes Foles the top QB to add this week is simple. Above all other back-ups, he has the best chance to keep the job. Michael Vick is out with what coach Andy Reid declared a severe concussion. Vick is already ruled out for Sunday's match-up in Washington, and more likely than not, will not play Monday night the following week versus Carolina. Those are two pretty nice match-ups for the 6'6 6'4 Arizona grad. He's got some offensive weapons around him, but it'll be tough for Foles to avoid getting cracked after every snap as the Eagles have been operating with only one original starting lineman from Week 1. On top of that two of the absolute worst tackles to ever put on an NFL jersey in Demetress Bell and King Dunlap will be blocking for him.

Foles did well in the preseason and despite lacking arm strength has shown an ability to make quick decisions. For his limited time playing on Sunday, he also showed an Eli Manning like propensity to throw into coverage to draw penalties. Not good for fantasy points, but might help him move the ball with more efficiency than Vick was.

Colin Kaepernick, QB - SF (1%) CHI

If I was picking up a QB for one start and one start only, I might side with Kaepernick. Even though he's facing the Bears, Kaepernick has shown a competency playing quarterback, but his most valuable asset is his speed. The Niners have used him in limited packages to showcase his stuff, and while he is passing at a 61.3% completion percentage, he's already run for 3 TDs averaging 7.6 YPC. This won't be a high scoring game with Kaeprenick against the Bears D and Jason Campbell against the Niners D, but there are points to be had.

Jaquizz Rodgers, RB - ATL (37%) ARI

Are the Falcons a fraud of a team? We've seen it with them before. Great regular season team that when the playoffs start and defense and the run game take center stage, the Falcons fade away. Regardless of what success they have in the upcoming playoffs, they are going. It's clear Michael Turner is not viewed as a contributor on offense, and while T.J. Duckett isn't walking through that door, the Falcons need to establish some kind of run game. Rodgers hasn't been carrying the load, but he has been the Falcons most productive RB out of the backfield both rushing and receiving. Unless the Falcons want to repeat errors of postseasons past, they'll need to see what Rodgers can give them. He's an add an hold for the rest of the season.

Ben Tate, RB - HOU (39%) JAX

Houston is in nowhere near the trouble Atlanta is regarding their run game. Houston does look like they'll run away with their division, and that means resting guys like Arian Foster during those final couple of weeks of the season. And if you're Houston and you have Ben Tate, why wouldn't you? Tate has been nursing a hamstring injury the last couple of weeks, but should be back soon. I'd look for his run load to increase in the interim, with the potential to be the top back on the depth chart come Week 16 as Foster rests.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Danario Alexander, WR - SD (5%) @DEN

He had a big game for San Diego and at 6'5 fits the bill for tall Philip Rivers targets, but a lot of Alexander's stats came on an 80 yard TD catch, and he was taking time from the injured Robert Meachem. With Meachem expected back, marginal production can be expected from Alexander moving forward.

THE 1%

Riley Cooper, WR - PHI (0%) @WAS

One of the injuries not covered earlier on was that to Jason Avant, the Eagles sure handed slot receiver. Due to the depth among the Eagles WR core has left Cooper primarily as a special teams ace and 4th WR. Cooper hauled in his 1st TD pass of the season on a rare fade route thrown to him by Vick. If Avant is out, Cooper is a guy Foles has had a lot of reps with and their 2nd string chemistry could pay WR3 dividends.