Mulligan’s Fantasy Forecast, Week 10
Don’t look now, but it’s the last week for bye weeks! Bye weeks can be a miserable time of the season if you didn’t happen to draft a very deep team. Most people don’t enjoy dealing with byes but I’m a guy who likes to scour the waiver wire and make pickups every week to fill-in for my star players when they’re on bye. At the same time, it’s never fun losing to an inferior team because your two best players were on bye that week. Whether you love them or hate them, after this week, bye weeks are bye-bye until 2011.
Good match-ups
DeSean Jackson vs. Redskins defense: With Mike Vick back in the lineup for Philadelphia, Jackson was able to carve up the Colts defense last week to the tune of seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Look for more of the same from Jackson and Vick this week as the Eagles go up against the Washington Redskins, owners of the second-worst pass defense in the league.
Jahvid Best vs. Bills defense: Best has retained some value in PPR leagues throughout the season despite having a poor yards per carry average. If there’s ever going to be a game this season when Best shows his running ability, it will be this week against the NFL’s worst run defense, the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo is allowing opponents to rush for over 178 yards per game so feel free to insert Best into your starting lineup this week.
Not so good match-ups
Roy Williams vs. Giants defense: Williams had been off to a great start this season before Tony Romo went down with an injury. With Jon Kitna now at quarterback, Williams’ numbers have dropped drastically, and there’s no reason to think he’ll be worth starting this week as the woeful Cowboys take on a very strong New York Giants defense.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis vs. Steelers defense: Green-Ellis had a poor performance last week against the Browns, but he wasn’t the only Patriot as New England was trampled. The bad news for Green-Ellis owners is that it’s not going to get any better this week as the Patriots travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers and their NFL-best run defense. Keep Green-Ellis on your bench no matter how desperate you are for a running back.
Waiver wire watch
Seyi Ajirotutu, WR, Chargers: Try saying that name five times fast. Ajirotutu busted out with a huge game against the Texans NFL-worst pass defense last week with four catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Despite his big game, there are two factors that will limit his fantasy value. The first is the fact that the Chargers have a bye this week and the second is that both Malcolm Floyd and Vincent Jackson are likely to return in Week 12, moving Ajirotutu back to the bench.
Kyle Mulligan is a contributing sports writer for the Observer. He welcomes your feedback and can be reached at kjmulli@gmail.com.