Chiefs' WR Dwayne Bowe has flashed some big-play ability recently.
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Another week down, more rookie news to discuss. The cream is definitely starting to rise to
the top, but don’t count out another rookie lurking into the scene this coming
Sunday. We have a stud linebacker going
down, but a possible stud running back getting opportunity due to
injuries. On to this week…
Running Backs
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Season Stats: 64 car., 271 yds., 1 TD; 8 rec., 160 yds., 1
TD
Last Week: 25 car., 102 yds., 1 TD; 3 rec., 48 yds., 0 TD
If Chester Taylor would have been hurt coming into this
season, Peterson would have likely been a late first round pick in some
leagues. While his work in the passing
game was not much last week, and his yardage is inflated by that 60-yarder from
week one, he’s only going to be incorporated in to more and more of the offense
as the season wears on. The Vikings
wide receivers are abysmal, and aside from their up-and-coming tight end in
Shiancoe, Peterson has a chance to be a Reggie Bush (of last year, ugh) type
player for the Vikings this season.
Mewelde Moore will not cramp his style.
Easily the rookie to have this season.
Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo Bills
Season Stats: 57 car., 228 yds., 2 TD; 5 rec., 36 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 20 car., 74 yds., 1 TD; 2 rec., 6 yds., 0 TD
With Lee Evans laying eggs thus far and J.P. Losman going
down to an injury, Lynch has become the only formidable weapon on the awful
Buffalo offense. 20 carries for 74
yards and pay dirt against the New England Patriots is a great sign of what the
rookie can do. The fact that he gets to
face a Jets defense that is considerably weaker makes things that much better
for week four. While I wish he would be
a larger part of the passing game, he may be forced into that situation with Losman’s
replacement being rookie quarterback Trent Edwards. With his blitz pick-up ability only going up from here, expect
Lynch to be an every down back; resulting in plenty of dump-off passes from a raw QB.
Brandon Jackson, Green Bay Packers
Season Stats: 38 car., 97 yds., 1 TD; 11 rec., 81 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 6 car., 22 yds., 1 TD; 3 rec., 22 yds., 0 TD
If it was not for the touchdown last week, Jackson would not
even be mentioned on this week’s report.
Single-digit carries is a tough pill to swallow, but with Brett Favre
passing the way he is, Jackson’s receiving abilities improve his value
greatly. If you were worried about
DeShawn Wynn last week, you can breathe a sigh of relief. However, Vernand Morency is improving and
may cut into the “carries” of Jackson.
If the rookie loses goal line duties or becomes a smaller part of the
passing game, feel free to cut bait.
Brian Leonard, St. Louis Rams
Season Stats: 4 car., 21 yds., 0 TD; 6 rec., 41 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 4 car., 21 yds., 0 TD; 1 rec., 6 yds., 0 TD
If you drafted Steven Jackson and did not draft Brian
Leonard then shame on you. Leonard
likely cost a pretty penny after Jackson has gone down with a groin injury and
could miss the next month. The only
down side to Leonard is that the Rams have been awful this season and may not
allow many carries. If you’re in a
league rewarding for receptions, Leonard’s value increases due to his
pass-catching abilities. The schedule
is pretty rewarding for the Rams coming up, so Leonard is a solid flex-play
this week against Dallas. Monitor his
use as he could range anywhere from must-start to forget-about in no time.
Kenton Keith, Indianapolis Colts
Season Stats: 13 car., 20 yds., 0 TD; 1 rec., -2 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 7 car., 20 yds., 0 TD; 0 rec., 0 yds., 0 TD
If you saw the highlight of Joseph Addai lunging for the
goal line last week, you can understand the Colts use of Keith. With the team cutting ties with DeDe Dorsey,
Keith steps into the back-up role that will spell Addai when needed. Seven carries in a reserve role on the Colts
may have more value that six carries for the Packers a la Brandon Jackson. If anything, Keith should be owned in all
leagues just based on what happened to Steven Jackson owners. If you have the roster space, stash Keith
for now – it may pay huge dividends later on.
Wide Receivers
Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
Season Stats: 10 rec., 189 yds., 2 TD
Last Week: 2 rec., 58 yds., 0 TD
Holy yards-per-catch!
Even though Johnson only caught two balls before leaving with a back
injury last week, he still managed to produce 58 yards of work. He faces a very tough Chicago Bears defense
this week, but with Lance Briggs questionable and the Dallas Cowboys tearing
them up a week earlier, Mike Martz and his 50 pass attempts per game should
keep Johnson’s value afloat. Monitor
the back injury, but it looks like Cal J should be good to go.
Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs
Season Stats: 10 rec., 135 yds., 2 TD
Last Week: 5 rec., 71 yds., 1 TD
Aside from the yardage, Bowe has quietly put up just as good
of a season as Johnson has thus far.
Injury breeds opportunity in Kansas City, as does a terrible offense
that result in garbage time yardage.
Thinking here is that Tony Gonzalez will be asked to block a little more
than usual with Herm Edwards’ running game failing to produce. This leaves the athletic Bowe to stretch the
field. His targets are increasing, and
if he’s still out there in your league just do yourself a favor now and get him. The Chiefs schedule gets a lot easier after week five.
James Jones, Green Bay Packers
Season Stats: 14 rec., 183 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 6 rec., 79 yds., 0 TD
Is Green Bay the new Indianapolis? Jones is technically the third receiver for the Packers behind
Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, but he is getting seven looks a game and has
shown no fear in crossing the middle of the field. With minimal carries by the running backs in Green Bay, Favre
will look to Jones more often as the season carries on. Add a touchdown or two to his current totals
and he is a top-30 receiver. The scoring
will come eventually, so don’t be the one who is late to the party.
Buster Davis, San Diego Chargers
Season Stats: 6 rec., 46 yds., 1 TD
Last Week: 4 rec., 31 yds., 1 TD
You may know him as “Craig,” but Davis has slowly emerged
into a role that many pundits saw coming when they added him to their sleeper
lists for this season. The passing game
for San Diego has been a bit slow to form, but once Norv Turner rights the ship
that is the Chargers, expect Davis’ looks to increase as defenders drift toward
Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates. Week
three’s match-up provided the majority of Davis’ stats for the season, but week
four should not be much different with the Chiefs secondary flocking to the
other weapons.
Quarterbacks
Brady Quinn, Cleveland Browns
Season Stats: N/A
Last Week: N/A
Quinn obviously hasn’t started nor made an appearance thus
far. However, Derek Anderson’s playing
came back down to earth last week as the Oakland Raiders provided a little more
defense than the Bengals did in week two.
With match-ups against Baltimore and New England over the next two
weeks, Anderson’s reign as number one may be coming to an end. The Browns would love for Quinn to not have
to start until at least week seven, so he’s worth monitoring given the second half schedule of the Browns.
Trent Edwards, Buffalo Bills
Season Stats: 10-20, 97 yds., 0 TD, 1 INT, 43.1 PR
Last Week: 10-20, 97 yds., 0 TD, 1 INT, 43.1 PR
A 43.1 passer rating isn’t exactly the way that Trent
Edwards likely envisioned the beginning of his playing career. He also likely didn’t see it coming on week
three of his rookie season…against the New England Patriots. In two quarterback leagues, all starting QBs
should be owned, so Edwards is worth a look.
The Jets should provide a little more throwing room this week, so here’s
hoping that Lee Evans can get open and Edwards can find him early and
often. Monitor J.P. Losman’s injury as
he’s said to be week-to-week.
Tight Ends
Greg Olsen, Chicago Bears
Season Stats: 2 rec., 28 yds., 0 TD
Last Week: 2 rec., 28 yds., 0 TD
The top tight end in this year’s draft finally saw some time
after recovering from an injury. He has
Desmond Clark to contend with, but there is no doubting the talent of the
former Hurricane. Long-ball fan Rex
Grossman has been benched in the favor of Brian Griese who should look Olsen’s
way a bit more often. Olsen may not see
more than four or five targets a game, but this could increase with time and
production. He’s a solid red zone
threat that deserves a spot in all standard leagues.
