Week 5 Observations
Published on October 12, 2009
Joseph Addai/Donald Brown are the AFC version of Tim Hightower/Beanie Wells - everyone knows which player is the better runner, but the vet is the team's dump-off option in the flat and gets most of the work. Use late-game players at your own peril. Mike Sims-Walker was deactivated at the last minute because he violated the team's itinerary, and a couple weeks ago Steve Breaston, who was likely to start in place of Anquan Boldin, was a last-minute scratch, and Boldin played. At least with players in the early games, you have plenty of subs to choose from (even from your waiver wire). Not so with late-game scratches. Donnie Avery, Eddie Royal and Antonio Bryant, three consensus top-30 receivers, woke up in Week 5. If a player has shown skills in the past, is reasonably healthy and still has his job, you should not devalue him too much solely to due poor performance over a four-week sample. Likewise, you should not drop Braylon Edwards even if he does nothing for 2-3 weeks on the Jets. Jeremy Maclin and Miles Austin broke out big time last week. I drafted one or both of them on almost every team, but dropped them due to injuries and byes in most. While neither player had ever done much at the NFL level, they were good gambles due to their physical skills. Robert Meachem and Michael Crabtree also fit that mold and are worth stashing if you have the roster room. Don't ever bench Roddy White, Dwayne Bowe or T.J. Houshmandzadeh due to matchups, cold streaks or for any other reason. Proven top-15 receivers will produce unpredictably, and you must have them active so long as they're healthy. Don't worry about the Panthers Steve Smith or Randy Moss, either. Cedric Benson is a top-10 back in non-PPR leagues. Daunte Culpepper made some mistakes, but still threw for 282 yards against the Steelers without Calvin Johnson. He also ran for 44 yards. If Matthew Stafford were out for a few games, and Johnson turns out to be okay, Culpepper is a viable bye-week QB with the upside for much more. Larry Johnson has struggled, but he was fine last year, and he's healthy, so I still think he'll produce once the Chiefs start blocking and moving the ball more consistently - so long as he retains his role. Remember how terrible Thomas Jones looked two years ago, or Jamal Lewis three years ago before he came back strong in 2007? Johnson knows how to be a good NFL back, and like most of them, just needs conditions to improve. Chances are they will, and the only question is whether he's still the feature back at that point. Terrell Owens and Lee Evans will produce as soon as the Bills fire Dick Jauron. Kyle Orton played great on Sunday and might turn out to be a good quarterback in that system. Rich Gannon was a nobody for the Vikings for six years before he became a caretaker with the Chiefs and then an MVP with the Raiders. Calvin Johnson's knee injury had better not be serious.
