Managing a team over the course of a fantasy football season is a bit like taking part in a poker tournament. At the beginning, you can afford to be conservative and take a wait-and-see attitude with your players, in the hopes that the underperformers will come around (just as it’s usually smart to play conservatively early on in a poker tourney, while you’ve still got the luxury of low blinds). As the season (or tournament) wears on, you have to adjust your style of play. If you’re at .500 or worse, you’re the equivalent of a low-stacked player at the final table – it’s high time to make some bold moves. Hesitate, and you’ll be doomed to watch your subpar squad slowly fade out of contention.
If you’re on the playoff bubble at this point in the season, you’ve got to field the best squad possible every week. It’s now time to give up on the “high-potential” players and handcuffs you’ve been hoarding on your bench, guys like Robert Meachem, Michael Bush, Felix Jones, Maurice Morris, Le’Ron McClain, Fred Jackson, and others of their ilk (obviously, if you’re in a keeper league, they might be worth holding on to). Drop them in favor of free agent/waiver acquisitions that you can start now, even if they’re only startable when the matchups are right. The only hard part, of course, is identifying which players to start, and when. Which brings us to this week’s desperation-start options at QB, RB and WR…
Note: “% owned” statistics are an average of that player’s ownership percentage in all Yahoo and ESPN leagues, rounded to the nearest percent.
Quarterbacks
Dan Orlovsky, DET (9% owned) - True, the Bears are likely getting their cornerbacks back, but with both Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman starting their first games after missing a few (it’s been since Sept. 28 for Vasher and Oct. 12 for Tillman), they’re not likely to be in top form. That means Orlovsky, with megatarget Calvin Johnson to throw the ball to, will be facing a pass defense that isn’t likely to look much more menacing than the 4th-from-the-bottom unit it’s been so far. (More …)


If your team needs some help and you’re looking to make a trade to bolster a position, here’s a list of players to look for and work into those deals this week. Players listed under Sell High are overvalued – meaning that I think they’re performing at a level they won’t be able to maintain throughout the season, and thus are ripe to be traded away while their value is still high. Those listed under Buy Low are the ones to look for on other peoples’ teams – hopefully their owners are discouraged by their poor performance thus far, and will trade them away for a song.
