Fantasy Football 2011: Musts, Trusts and Busts (Week 9)

This weeks MTB rankings have Dwayne Bowe listed as the National Football Leagues top fantasy football option at wide receiver.

Mostly due in large part to the combination of the Week 9 bye-week (Calvin Johnson) and a lingering right hamstring injury suffered by another "elite" wide receiver (Andre Johnson.)

But don't get confused, in my opinion there are three tiers of talent at the wide receiver position as far as fantasy football is concerned. Bowe finds himself in tier-two, but just short of tier-one.

Returning to your "must" lineup's are fantasy football mainstays like Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, and Greg Jennings and Chicago's Matt Forte.

Also known as half of the NFC North.

Unfortunately, the other half of the NFC North is on a bye this week with Detroit and Minnesota looking to get healthy. Which ultimately means that we miss out on production from guys like Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson.

In this time of crisis comes the Musts, Trusts and Busts rankings with my Week 9 formula for success.

Quarterback

Musts:

1. Aaron Rodgers

2. Michael Vick

3. Tom Brady

4. Drew Brees

5. Tony Romo

Trusts: Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub

Busts: Philip Rivers, Josh Freeman, Jay Cutler

Big Name Byes: Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford

Bye Week Fill-in: Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez

Runningback

Musts:

1. Arian Foster

2. Michael Turner

3. LeSean McCoy

4. Matt Forte

5. Ray Rice

Trusts: Fred Jackson, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, Michael Bush

Busts: LeGarrette Blount, Chris Johnson, Delone Carter, Ryan Grant

Big Name Byes: Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones-Drew

Bye Week Fill-in: Demarco Murray, Shonn Greene, Darren Sproles, Jackie Battle

Wide Receiver

Musts:

1. Dwayne Bowe

2. Roddy White

3. Greg Jennings

4. Mike Wallace

5. Wes Welker

Trusts: Larry Fitzgerald, Miles Austin, A.J. Green, DeSean Jackson, Vincent Jackson, Mario Manningham

Busts: Steve Johnson, Nate Washington, Reggie Wayne, Mike Williams (TB)

Big Name Byes: Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith, Percy Harvin

Bye Week Fill-in: Jordy Nelson, Brandon Lloyd, Pierre Garcon, Julio Jones