FIVE PICKUPS-WEEK #16
This will be the last installment of wavier pickups for this season. For all of those who are no longer in the playoffs, we hope that you will go further in your leagues next year. And for the lucky few who are battling for the championship (and 2nd and 3rd place), congratulations! We hope that some of our suggestions over the past 16 weeks have helped you gain some small edge in your leagues. Good luck this week!
1) DONALD DRIVER-WR-Packers- When Greg Jennings went down we weren’t sure if James Jones or Donald Driver would receive some of Aaron Rodgers’ attention. Clearly, we can now recommend Donald Driver. Over the last 3 weeks, James Jones has only four receptions for 46 yards while Driver has amassed 10 rec.-116yds-3TD’s. He won’t prove to be more than an adept WR3 vs the Bears but given that Rodgers passed for just under 300 yds. and 3 touchdowns in week 3 against Da Bears we feel confident about Driver’s chances of at least a score and 40-50 yards.
#80 Donald Driver catches a touchdown pass last week vs Kansas City. He could find the endzone this week vs the Bears. Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP
2) DONALD BROWN-RB-Colts- Over the past three games, Brown, a 1st round pick of the Colts out of UCONN back in 2009, has rushed 53 times for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns. It’s taken a while but he is beginning to show why he was such a high pick. He ran for a career high 161 yards last week vs the Titans, eclipsing 100 yards for the first time since Dec 19th of last year against Jacksonville. He’ll face the Texans this week who are tough against the run but Brown can still make for a decent flex play nonetheless.
Colts RB Donald Brown racked up a career high 161 rushing yards last week vs the Titans. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
3. KAHLIL BELL-RB-Bears- Bell had an outstanding week last week against a strong defensive minded Seahawk team. He rushed 15 times for 65 yards and had 5 receptions good for 43 more and a touchdown. He’s a perfect add in PPR leagues especially because he’ll be going up against a Packers team that gave up 80 receiving yards to Matt Forte that last time these two teams met in week 3. Bell is only owned in 10% of Yahoo! leagues so if you could use a RB2 or flex player let him ring your Bell…
#32 Kahlil Bell gets congratulations from teammate Marion Barber after scoring on a passing touchdown last week vs the Seahawks. Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
4. KYLE ORTON-QB-Chiefs- For starters, almost any quarterback would be an improvement over the totally ineffective Tyler Palko. Just having the veteran Orton on the gridiron makes his teammates play better. He passed for 300 yards last week in the Chief’s upset of the Packers. His QB rating was a better than average 104.1. In the next two weeks Orton and the Chiefs will face two teams that give up the 3rd and 4th most fantasy points to quarterbacks; Oakland and Denver. Orton is available in 83% of Yahoo! leagues.
#8 Chief's quarterback Kyle Orton celebarates after completing a touchdown pass last week against Green Bay. Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
5. TENNESSEE TITANS-DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS- The Jaguars have scored more than 17 points only twice all year. Their anemic offense should make them an excellent pickup for defense/special teams. Maurice Jones-Drew is to Jacksonville what Steven Jackson is to St. Louis; their only offense threat. We realize that some of you got burned last week if you had the Titan’s defense who afforded the Colts their first win of the season but that was just an anomaly. They are available in 60% of Yahoo! leagues.
FANTASY FURNACE 