FANTASY FURNACE

FIVE PICKUPS-WEEK #11

1. LANCE BALL-RB-Broncos- RB Knowshon Moreno (knee) is out for the season. Willis McGahee is day-to-day with a hamstring issue and so it appears that Lance will have the ‘Ball’ and a heavy workload this Thursday when the Broncos face the Jets at Mile High. Ball carried the rock 30 times last week when McGahee went down and just missed reaching the century mark. With a strong Jet’s pass defense headed by Revis Island, look for the Broncos to run & run often. He’s owned in just 11% of Yahoo! leagues.

2) DENARIUS MOORE-WR-Raiders- Clearly Moore has been QB Carson Palmer’s favorite receiver through his two weeks under center. Palmer has targeted Moore 19 times in those games. The nearest to him has been WR Jacoby Ford with 9. Moore also has 9 receptions good for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He is also 9th among receivers with 20 or more receptions. Amazingly, Moore is still available in 40% of Yahoo! leagues. Hard to figure for a guy who’s been a WR1 with Palmer at QB.

3) KENDALL HUNTER-RB-49ERS- RB Frank Gore left last week’s game vs the Giants with ankle and knee pain and coach Jim Harbough has already stated that he might see “limited action” this week vs the Cardinals. Gore, no stranger to injuries, would be best served to try and heal his ailments so that he would be at full capacity when the 49ers take on the Ravens in Baltimore a week from this Thursday. Hunter is available in 77% of Yahoo! leagues so grab him if you need a back this week.

4) BRENT CELEK-TE-Eagles- For those of you in need of a TE this week (TE Owen Daniels is one TE on a bye week), then Celek should be more than serviceable for you. Targeted 25 times in the last three games, more than in his first six, Celek has 18 receptions in that span. Eagle QB Michael Vick (two cracked ribs) has said that he is unsure if he will start against the Giants on Sunday night and if backup QB Vince Young takes over, Celek’s value goes up even further as he will need to rely more on dump-offs in his first game this season. Celek is only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

5) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS-DEFENSE- This is an opportunity to pick up some nice fantasy points in your league especially for those who do not have Houston (bye week). The Jags are a top five rated defense. They are going up against an anemic and Peyton Hillis-less team that hasn’t scored more than 12 points in any game over the past four weeks. Throw in the fact that they have allowed 14 sacks and have only scored two touchdowns over that same period, and you have the makings of a 12-16 fantasy point week.