Week 11 Waiver Wire: Which Injury Replacements Should You Target?

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The only thing worse than an injury to yourself is an injury to one of your fantasy football players. That's because, you know, things like pride are at stake in fantasy.

In order to salvage as much pride as you can, you must scour the earth for players to replace your injured players. A lot of times, you have to wing it.

Or you could just pick up their backups, which is a different kind of winging it.

There are plenty of injury replacements to discuss for Week 11. So let's discuss them, shall we?

Lance Ball, Denver Broncos

Willis McGahee went down with an injury on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Knowshon Moreno went down a short while after him. That opened the door for Lance Ball to rush 30 times for 96 yards.

You have to like the carries, but the yardage leaves a lot to be desired. That would be enough to convince me you'd be wasting your time with Ball, but it doesn't help that McGahee is sounding optimistic about playing on Thursday night against the New York Jets (see Pro Football Talk).

If you ask me, Ball is a fluke. And not a very good one, at that.

Harry Douglas, Atlanta Falcons

Julio Jones came down with another hamstring injury on Sunday, allowing Harry Douglas to step in and record 133 yards receiving on eight catches.

The word from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter) is that Jones wasn't able to practice on Wednesday, which makes you wonder whether or not Douglas could be in for more work against the Tennessee Titans.

I think that's a chance worth taking. Jones has already missed time with a hamstring injury this season, and Matt Ryan is going to need somebody to step up if Jones has to miss more time.

Steve Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Remember when we made a big deal of Steve Smith signing with the Eagles? Seems like a bit much in retrospect.

Regardless, Smith enjoyed his best game as an Eagle on Sunday, pulling in five catches for 47 yards while Jeremy Maclin was suffering with a shoulder injury and DeSean Jackson was brooding at home on his couch.

I would stay away from Smith no matter what. Maclin may be able to play against the New York Giants on Sunday, but the bigger problem is that we don't know how effective Philly's passing attack is going to be. Michael Vick is also hurt, and he could be replaced by Vince Young if need be.

Matt Leinart, Houston Texans

Matt Schaub is out for the year, leaving Matt Leinart to take over under center in Houston.

Disaster will ensue, right?

Honestly, I don't think so. Leinart has an outstanding running game to rely on, which means things are going to be easier for him than they've ever been. All he has to do is keep defenses honest, which may not be asking too much. Even for him.

So if you need a QB (and you do if you had Schaub), you could do worse.

Vince Young, Philadelphia Eagles

No. Don't do it.

The word from ESPN's Adam Schefter is that Vick is looking like a no-go for Sunday, meaning VY will get his shot.

Believe me, friend, you don't want to be the guy who takes a shot on VY's shot.