Fantasy Football Week Nine Waiver Wire

Now that we’re halfway through the season, it’s time to stop and take an honest look at your fantasy football team. Is it good enough to win the league or make the playoffs? Is your team full of good players, but not winning? Did injuries decimate your roster and force your hand in free agency? Where do you stand at the midway point?

Since the beginning of the season, our weekly waiver wire piece has provided you with information on players worth looking at or picking up to help patch up your roster.

However, this is not the only aspect of the waiver wire that players need to handle.

Therefore, this week, we’ll be looking at players who are currently on people’s teams that should be dumped to free agency. There’s nothing worse than a worthless player who sandbags your team while taking up a precious roster spot in the process. So, enjoy the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week Nine Waiver Wire article.

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QUARTERBACKS

Carson Palmer/Ryan Fitzpatrick (Cincinnati Bengals)

Instead of listing both Carson Palmer and Ryan Fitzpatrick separately, we’ll save you some time and lump them together. Palmer needs to have Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, though he has delayed the decision to see if there’s any way to play through the injury.

Even if he does play, he’s not worth it, as he threw just three touchdown passes in four games he played before getting hurt. So, how good can you expect him to be with a bad elbow?

Fitzpatrick has had a couple good games, but overall, he’s just not that good of a quarterback. He has four touchdowns to six interceptions and the Bengals offense is too stagnant for Fitzpatrick to be worth a roster spot.

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Rex Grossman (Chicago Bears)

With the ankle injury to Kyle Orton looking like it could be serious, Grossman will take over at quarterback for the Bears. In case you needed to be reminded why this guy shouldn’t be on your team, consider his career completion percentage (54.2) or that he’s thrown more interceptions (34) than touchdowns (32). Add that to the fact that the guy’s incredibly injury prone, and Grossman is not a guy you want on your team.

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Brad Johnson (Dallas Cowboys)

Johnson is a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback who’s had some good years in the NFL. Unfortunately for him and the Cowboys, this is not one of them, as Johnson has just two touchdowns and five interceptions and has looked nothing like the quarterback he once was. It’s gotten so bad Dallas even brought in Brooks Bollinger to play against the Giants this past weekend.

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RUNNING BACKS

Edgerrin James (Arizona Cardinals)

It appears that James’ 2,957 career rushing attempts have finally caught up to him. James has gained just 380 yards through seven games this season and has just three touchdowns. In the team’s win over St. Louis last week, James was benched in favor of rookie Tim Hightower and didn’t carry the ball once. In his place, Hightower rushed 22 times for 109 yards and a touchdown. James can continue to find himself on the bench for the rest of the season.

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Chris Perry (Cincinnati Bengals)

Perry and his 2.6 yards-per-carry were so unimpressive that the team went out and signed former first-round bust Cedric Benson in Week Five. Two weeks later and Benson was the starter. Since Benson became the starter, Perry has carried the ball once. It’s safe to say the Bengals have finally given up on Perry. You should do the same.

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Ricky Williams (Miami Dolphins)

Major waves were made during the preseason when Miami head coach Tony Sparano said that Williams would be the starter instead of Ronnie Brown. While that may have been the case, Williams didn’t last long as the starter. Brown started running well and hasn’t looked back, as he’s rushed for eight touchdowns in seven games for Miami. Williams, on the other, has lost some steam, as he’s carried the ball just 17 times in the last three games.

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WIDE RECEIVERS

Chansi Stuckey (New York Jets)

Stuckey gained popularity in fantasy leagues earlier in the season with back-to-back double-digit performances in the second and third week. Since then, he’s accumulated just nine points in four games. With both Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery healthy and playing well for the Jets, Stuckey’s role in the passing game will continue to be limited.

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Hank Baskett (Philadelphia Eagles)

Baskett is a talented receiver known for possessing an amazing set of hands; however, he had his best games at the beginning of the season when both Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis were injured. Both Brown and Curtis are back and Baskett has caught just seven passes in the team’s last five games.

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Justin Gage (Tennessee Titans)

Gage is a talented receiver with good size, but he has terrible hands. He can’t hold onto the ball to save his life, and though it may take a few more games before he’s benched, his production on a run-heavy team is small to begin with.

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TIGHT ENDS

Kellen Winslow (Cleveland Browns)

This self-proclaimed “Soulja” has been one of the biggest disappointments this season. Winslow is currently on pace to catch half as many passes as he has averaged the last two seasons and is being outplayed by Steve Heiden, who is known more for his blocking than his hands. Depending on what league you’re in, there are anywhere from 18-22 tight ends worth more than Winslow right now.

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DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

San Diego Chargers

Linebacker Shawne Merriman was lost for the year with an knee injury, despite trying to play through it in the first game, and San Diego has just not been the same since. How bad is the San Diego defense? The Chargers rank last against the pass, 26th against the run, and 23rd in points allowed.

The few games that the team has won have been decided by their offense. Making things worse for the Chargers defense is that they don’t create a lot of turnovers or get a lot of sacks. It’s time to dump this unit and move on.

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KICKERS   

Nick Folk (Dallas Cowboys)

Folk was a terrific find last year in fantasy football leagues, but this year, the struggles of the team’s offense have considerably drained his production. Through the team’s first nine games, Folk broke double-digit points just once. With Tony Romo still out, Folk won’t see his production improving anytime soon.

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Jeff Reed (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Before the season, it appeared the Steelers would have a good offense behind quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running backs Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall, and receivers Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward, but injuries have slowed the Steelers considerably. Reed is a good kicker, but Pittsburgh is struggling on offense right now and there are simply much better options out there.

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