Waiver Hawk: Week Two

How to burglarize your waiver wire before anyone gets a chance to.

The concept is simple. Pickup the waiver wire pickups the week before they become hot so you do not have to luck out on the waiver wire. Each week I will predict NEXT week’s hot waiver wire pickups so you can snag them before they become a hot commodity.

I will continue to focus mainly on running backs and wide receivers because that is where your bread is buttered in fantasy football. The players are listed in order of relevance, and it is up to you to decide on which one is valuable enough to fit in a league your size. Make sure you don’t miss this article each week to become the waiver hawk in your league.

This Week’s Pickups

Mike Bell RB New Orleans Saints 30% Owned

We have seen many undrafted or irrelevant players out of New Orleans become major players in fantasy. Lance Moore, Marques Colston and Pierre Thomas come to mind. Many might blow off Mike Bell’s week one performance as just an injury fill-in for the starter(Pierre Thomas) and they just happened to be playing the Detroit Lions.

While this is somewhat true, do not be surprised if it turns into a RBBC with Pierre Thomas. New Orleans running backs as a team had the most fantasy points in 2008, don’t let one of them sit on your waiver wire. If Mike has a tough game against Philadelphia this week with Pierre returning and is dropped, make sure you snag him for his week three matchup against Buffalo.

Jerious Norwood RB, Atlanta Falcons 27% Owned

Jerious was targeted six times in week one and totaled 45 receiving yards. Meanwhile, New England allowed Fred Jackson to total 83 receiving yards on five catches. Guess who Atlanta plays in week three? Yes that’s right, the New England Patriots.

We know New England can score and Atlanta should play from behind and therefore ditch the running game. Target Jerious for a week three flex play or spot start. And if you need production this week, don’t be surprised if Jerious produces against a weak Carolina run defense.

Mario Manningham 9%, Steve Smith 28% WR, New York Giants

Some of the biggest additions this week are Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin because of their ability to stroll past Tampa Bay’s secondary that is in complete disarray. Don’t be fooled. Dallas wide receivers will fall back to Earth against a tough New York Giant defense.

Your pickups should be Mario Manningham and Steve Smith who both quietly produced in week one and also play Tampa in week three. Hakeem Nicks is injured and Hixon seems to be losing Eli’s trust. Manningham and Steve Smith make a nice play in week three with a great matchup against Tampa Bay and they are even a solid start against Dallas in week two as well.

If impatient owners decide to bail on them after an unproductive Dallas game, snag them before the week three game.

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Digging Deeper

These players are worth a look in deeper leagues
Correll Buckhalter RB, Denver Broncos 22%
Antwaan Randle El WR, Washington Redskins 16%
Mark Bradley WR, Kansas City Chiefs 15%
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A look back at last week

Percentages in parenthesis are the amount owned in yahoo leagues this week. The first percentage is the amount owned last week. The big movers were Carnell Williams, Fred Jackson, Robert Meachem, and Louis Murphy. Chris Henry dropped with Andre Caldwell’s production.

Leon Washington, RB New York Jets 56% (55%)
Carnell Williams, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers 22% (52%)
Fred Jackson, RB Buffalo Bills 49% (60%)
James Davis, RB Cleveland Browns 18% (14%)
Earl Bennett WR, Chicago Bears 30% (32%)
Chris Henry WR, Cincinnati Bengals 43% (38%)
Brandon Stokley WR, Denver Broncos 4% (6%)
Joey Galloway WR, New England Patriots 18% (15%)
Robert Meachem WR, New Orleans Saints 8% (14%)
Louis Murphy WR, Oakland Raiders 0% (6%)
Arnaz Battle WR, San Francisco 49ers 0% (0%)
Deon Butler WR, Seattle Seahawks 1% (1%)
Josh Reed WR, Buffalo Bills 1% (1%)
Samkon Gado RB St. Louis Rams 1% (0%)
Joshua Cribbs WR, Cleveland Browns 7% (11%)
Julian Edelman WR, New England Patriots 0% (0%)
Legedu Naanee WR, San Diego Chargers 0% (0%)
Gary Barnidge TE, Carolina Panthers 0% (0%)

Guys mentioned before that still should be picked up

Leon Washington New York Jets 55%

The fact that Leon’s percentage owned decreased this week shows how ignorant the general public is. Leon and Jones had the exact same number of carries (15) until the last drive when the game was in hand. Leon totaled 60 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards. The big plays and touchdowns will come.

Leon will be a consistent producer this year and could honestly be top 10 in PPR leagues at the end of the year.

James Davis RB, Cleveland Browns 14%

Davis was involved in a car wreck on the way to practice Saturday and as a result received limited carries on Sunday. Many just view his four carries and throw him out as a sleeper flop. Be patient on Davis.

Davis should be involved much more as the season goes on. He should be owned in many more than 14 percent of fantasy leagues and could surprise many against Denver this week.

Carnell Williams, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers 52%
Fred Jackson, RB Buffalo Bills 60%
Earl Bennett WR, Chicago Bears 32%
Robert Meachem WR, New Orleans Saints 14%
Louis Murphy WR, Oakland Raiders 6%
Legedu Naanee WR, San Diego Chargers 0%
Brandon Stokley WR, Denver Broncos 6%
Joey Galloway WR, New England Patriots 15%
Deon Butler WR, Seattle Seahawks 1%
Josh Reed WR, Buffalo Bills 1%

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