The season is whirling by and we have passed the half way point in a majority of leagues. The biggest surprise to date is whether the Falcons can maintain their undefeated season so far. However, their biggest contributors should flourish down the stretch led by Mattie “Ice” Ryan, Roddy White and Julio Jones and of coursem the ageless one: Tony Gonzalez. Look for the Falcons to finish strong at either 13-3 or 12-4 and clinch the home field advantage in the NFC.

I am looking for strong finishes for the following skill position players:
QB:
Aaron Rodgers should stay strong in an explosive Green Bay featuring Randall Cobb or “Percy Harvin lite”, James Jones and Jordy Nelson. I wouldn’y count on Greg Jennings making an impact until possibly the fantasy playoffs- Week No. 14 thru 16.

Big Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers are becoming a dangerous offensive machine led by Big Ben and the continued development of RB Jonathan Dwyer who temporarily dropped off a lot of teams radars. Dwyer might be the back to own going forward as Mendanhall is batting an Achilles heel situation and Isaac Redman has two bad ankles. Combined with the fact that Pittsburgh has an excellent rfeceiving corp led by deep threat Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, as well as TD machine Heath Miller and you have a very formidable offense. Pittsburgh also has a very favorable schedule down the home stretch and just might be the most complete team in the AFC. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pittsburgh and Denver battle for the AFC Chamionship.

Of course- I see Mattie Ice showcasing his brilliant passing skills with favorable remaining matchups against a weakended NFC South. Watch out for stud WR Julio Jones in teh 2nd half of the season!

RB:
Arian Foster is in as stratosphere by himself and rightfully so. Even when he doesn’t impress with huge yardage totals, he more than compensates with multiple TD games. Look for Foster to finish strong and remain a stud #1 RB.

I really impressed with Bucs RB Doug Martin who reminds me a lot of a junior Ray Rice. He has a very similar build and is hard to see behind his massive offensive lineman as he chews up yardage. I look for martin to definitely finish as a “Top 10 RB” as Leggarette Blount is becoming a change of pace back to give Martin a breather. As the Minnesota-Tampa Bay game displayed, Blount might have even have lost his goal line duties as Martin was featured in this role last Thursday and cashed in a 1 yard TD plunge.

Don’t get down on Darren McFadden as I still see the famous burst and high speed motor that we are accustomed to. Run DMC has a very favorable schedule down the stretch and might have peak results throughtout your fantasy playoffs.

WR:
One WR tha really stands out to me is Brandon Marshall. He has virtually no competition in the Bear’s offense and is a target hog going forward especially in PPR leagues.

Denarius Moore of the Raiders is really starting to come on now nad has been declared the defacto #1 WR of Oakland by QB Carson Palmer. H ehas his health back and that old familiar burst.

Rams WR Chris Givens has been really impressive so far setting a NFL record by recording a pass of 50 + yards in 4 consecutive games. When Danny Amendola returns after their Bye week, he will command a ton of targets but Givens should still be a factor going forward.

Keep pickups:
Wr Titus Young of the Lions
Rb Rashad Jennings of the Jaguars
RB Jonathan Dwyer of the Steelers
RB Alex Green of the Packers

Best of luck this week and try to stay safe for those of us unfortunatley in the direct path of Hurricane Sandy!

Teams should get their top players into tonite’s starting lineup prior to the 8:20 kickoff between the Titans and Steelers. Besides the usual array of WRs Wallace and A Brown, I would also start Big Ben, Mendenhall and Kenny Britt, who I think is ready for a “nice breakout” game vs. Ike Taylor and a depleted Steelers’ secondary. I would definitely start players like Alex Green or Mikel Leshoure over “bust candidate of the year” Chris Johnson.

If you are in the dumps and have the “Bye Week Blues”, I would recommend starting a nice “flex” option, Green Bay’s Alex Green from the Univ. of Hawaii and the heir apparent to Cedric Benson, out for 8 weeks with a Lisfranc foot injury. This kid looks special.

Another guy I would recommend to start this week is the Cardinals WR Andre Roberts who has quickly cemented his position as the favorite #2 target for Kevin Kolb after Larry Fitz. Especially with Arizona having an extremely weak offensive line and running game, look for the Redbirds to take advantage of a very poor Buffalo team which just got trounced by the Niners by the tune of 45-3! Ouch

In the meantime, the Dirty Birds of Atlanta shall continue to roll with a heavy influx of Mattie Ice, Julio Jones, Roddy White and the Ageless One, Tony G! Watch out for the bombs as the late Al Davis would always say about his beloved Raiders- only this time the tables will be flipped as the Falcons offense should keep up its turid pace!

Don’t sleep on those under utilized defenses like Arizona, who have a dream matchup in the desert against the struggling Bills and Minnesota who play the Redskins. With a stud like Patrick Peterson returning punts- the Cardinals are really starting to surprise a lot of people.

RBs to grab off off the WW this week: Alex Green, obvious no-brainer, William Powell (Cards) with Ryan Williams gone for the year and don’t forget about “stud” rookie David Wilson of the NYG and Lamar Miller of the Dolphins. Andre Brown is out with a concussion and Daniel Thomas is also out with a similar ailment. Look for both players to start to make inroads on major playing time going forward.

I really like that kid, Andre Roberts as mentioned earlier, to continue his breakout season vs. the Bills. Don’t look now but James Jones is suddenly the leading WR over guys like Jennings, Jordy Nelson and Finley. This trend should continue as Jennings will be benched until he is 100% with a tricky groin injury.

last but not least, don’t igonore value at the placekicker position. Guy slike Justin Ticker and Greg Zuerlein continue to impress as they are accurately kicking 50+ yard FGs on a regular basis.

Finally, if you have an extra roster spot or two, look to pickup guys with “high ceiling” potential such as Lions’ RB Javid Best and Chargers WR Vincent Brown, who both should be medically cleared soon for the 2012 NFL season. They both have loads of talent and could surprise a lot of people with their scoring ability once they are activated by their respective teams.

Good luck this week and I hope to see you again next week …………

Waiver Claims- Week No. 5

Once again some fascinating players have suddenly gained value after their performances on Sunday. WR seems to be the biggest push amongst available free agents. Shown below is my priority list of players who might or might not be available in your league’s waiver wire. Remember to keep aggressive and not to add a player on the list below unless you are in serious need of an upgrade at a position, face a bye week dilemma or have a serious injury concern with one of your players.

WR

Brian Hartline, Miami I really like Hartline for a number of reasons: a) he is the #1 WR on the Dolphins, b) he is starting to see a ton of targets from under rated rookie QB Ryan Tannenhill who happens to play in a QB-friendly offensive system coached by ex-Packers’ Coaches Joe Philbin (former Green Bay offensive coordinator under Mike McCarthy) and OC Mike Sherman (former HC of Green Bay at the tail end of Brett Farve’s Green Bay career) and c) by necessity, the Dolphins will be trailing in a lot of games this season so Hartline should see a ton of targets in what the industry has affectionately named, for a lack of better words, Garbage Time Production or GTP. GTP is what happens when your star player is force fed the ball late in the 4th quarter in a hurry-up-mode or when the defense has such a big lead that they play constant “Prevent” defense. Pick him up if available in a standard scoring league- he should already be long gone in a PPR league.

Kendall Wright, TEN Kendall should be available only in the most shallow of leagues where the pickings are very slim. He has had extensive practice time this summer with backup QB Matt Hasselbeck and I continue to expect big things from this ex-Baylor standout and former battery mate of RG III. If he is available go grab him now especially with Kenny Britt suffering a lingering ankle issue as well as having multiple knee surgeries in the offseason.

Domenic Hixon, NYG Hixon is a very good WR- unfortunately, he will be the 3rd receiving option in New York once Hakeem Nicks returns. However, if I am Nicks owner, I would be all over him stashing him away until the lineup cards are released every Sunday prior to kickoff. If Nicks is active but questionable he starts since he is “lights out” whenever he is on the field; however, if Nicks is doubtful or downgraded to “out”- then I would definitely roll with Hixon. Eli Manning is an equal opportunity distributor so I know that Hixon would get his fair share of the targets with Nicks being out. The really interesting part is that even HC Coughlin does not know the exact extent of Nicks’ injury and it only raises Hixon’s value. I would prefer Hixon over Ramses Barden.

Jerome Simpson, MIN As I mentioned two weeks ago, Simpson is a guy who definitely has potential in a Minnesota offense which is slowly starting to mature and ripen into a professional football offense not just relying upon the legs of Adrian Peterson. He offers a deep threat opposite Percy Harvin and therefore, most likely single coverage against the opposing team’s 2nd best cover CB. Teams must also account for emerging TE Kyle Rudolph so Jerome Simpson is an excellent choice as a “flex” or bye week WR that you can add now for depth.

TE

Dennis Pitta, BALT I featured Pitta here last week but some owners might have unfortunately dropped him due to his down week. He was still active but slipped in the end zone for an open TD. I expect big things from him in this dynamic offense going forward.

Heath Miller, PIT He is extremely viable and is on a scoring rampage. Big Ben jokingly promised his buddy that he was going to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii so he will continue to force feed him the ball, especially in the Red Zone. If he is still available- go get him now.

RB

There are not a ton of decent RBs available on the waiver wire this week. Keep in mind that Mikel Leshourse ran with his opportunity when given the chance so do not discount some other players like Lamar Miller of Miami or Ronnie Hillman of Denver. I like these guys because they offer “high upside” and are usually just a “stash” away on your bench until needed. I would rather have a guy like this on my bench than someone like Randy Moss who is practically the “Invincible Man” in the San Francisco offense.

I would not target Chargers’ RB Jackie Battle as some websites are touting because a) he is “hit or miss” with very little upside- if he doesn’t score a TD in a given week then he is almost a waste because the receptions and yards will not be there and b) everybody knows that RB Ryan Mathews is the #1 RB in the San Diego backfield and that last week’s game was merely a punishment game for Mathews for fumbling in the Red Zone the previous week against Atlanta. Avoid Battle if you can or unless you simply want to “handcuff” Mathews- in this case, I endorse the move.

QB

Kevin Kolb is starting to emerge but that guy that I would target is Vikes QB Christian Ponder. With Simpson joining the fold as outlined above, the Vikings are starting to become a more all around offensive team. Plus Ponder also offers an added bonus with his running ability. Gotta love that ………………