Beware of New Orleans Kicker Situation

New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley may be the place kicker on one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL and was once definitely worth owning in a fantasy football league.

That was before he missed 3 of his first 7 field goals, including a chip shot in overtime last week.

Now, he is on a very short leash apparently because the Saints have recently signed John Carney. Make sure you check before game time this Sunday to make sure that Hartley is dressed. Otherwise, you may be starting a benched kicker.

Week 4 Fantasy Football Preview

This is the first week of teams taking their NFL bye week. That means that you may be looking for some emergency one-week replacements to play on Sunday. This week, there are four teams that aren't playing: the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This means you will have to bench Adrian Peterson, Tony Romo, Thomas Jones, Jason Witten, Visanthe Shiancoe, Miles Austin, Marion Barber, Percy Harvin, Jamaal Charles, Kellen Winslow, Dwayne Bowe and Carnell Williams if you have any of these players on your team. Any kicker or defense for these four teams will also have to sit this week.

When it comes to kickers and defenses, there isn't too many situations where you absolutely have to keep them through the bye week. As of today, I would not categorize any NFL place kicker as a must keep. If you drop your kicker and someone else picks them up, so be it.

For defenses, the story is a little different. I would keep any of the elite defenses on my roster through a bye week. If you notice anyone dropping one of the following defenses, you may want to pick them up for later use: Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings or New Orleans Saints.

Here's the best choices for your bye week replacements for week 4:

Quarterback - If no one has taken Denver Broncos QB Kyle Orton yet, be sure to pick him up. I don't think that his early season play is a fluke and he should put up numbers all year long. Also after some early season problems, Mark Sanchez is starting to heat up and has a favorable matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Take a look towards next week as well because Ben Roethlisberger will be back from suspension.

Running back - If you are in a pinch, you are most likely going to be out of luck as far as RBs are concerned. A couple of emergency fillers may include John Kuhn from Green Bay or Laurence Maroney from Denver. Most of the players from the Week 3 Free Agent Pickup list should already be gone.

Wide Receiver - Same as the RBs, not a whole lot of talent should be left in your league. If you really need someone, here are a couple of Wideouts with good matchups to consider:
Josh Morgan (San Francisco 49ers), Davone Bess (Miami Dolphins), James Jones (Green Bay Packers) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (Oakland Raiders)

Tight End - I have found three options for TE that should be reasonable this weekend: Zach Miller (Oakland Raiders), John Carlson (Seattle Seahawks) and Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriots)

Kicker - Mike Nugent (Cincinnati Bengals) and Jeff Reed (Pittsburgh Steelers) are currently the top two kickers in the league. This is primarily because these two teams are kicking a lot of field goals. Either of these players may be available in any league and are both good plays this weekend.

Team Defense - Cincinnati's Defense also has a good matchup this weekend against the Cleveland Browns. Also, the Chicago Bears defense has been creating turnovers and they are playing the New York Giants, who have been turning the ball over.

Week 3 Free Agent Pickups

Look for these players to pick up in your fantasy football league

1. Brandon Lloyd WR Denver Broncos - You can officially pick Brandon up now if he is still available in your fantasy football league. He appears to be this year's DeSean Jackson as he leads the league in 25+ yard receptions. He caught 6 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
   
2. Seattle Defense - the Seahawks' defense have had two great fantasy games out of the 3 weeks so far this year. Your not always going to be able to get 5 turnovers and two kickoff return TDs, but you might want to be open for grabbing them.
   
3. Ken Darby RB STL - Another week, another starting running back goes down. Don't know how long Steven Jackson will be out, but get Ken Darby if you still can.
   
4. Peyton Hillis RB CLE - Break out Peyton Hillis. He appears to be the only viable option on the Browns as a fantasy option. He got 22 rushes for 144 yards and a TD against the Ravens.
   
5. BenJarvus Green-Ellis RB NE - Could it be that the Patroits have finally found a number 1 running back? Don't hold your breath yet, but do pick up the four-named wonder because he got 16 carries for 98 yards and a TD this weekend.

Don't bother picking up the following players:

Lance Moore WR NO - 6 receptions, 149 yards and 2 TDs receiving. He didn't do anything in the first two games of the season and there are too many targets on the Saints to ever think about starting Lance on your fantasy team.

Roy Williams WR DAL - Let's see Roy put up more than one good game before you think about starting him on your fantasy roster (5 receptions for 117 yards and 2 TDs). If you have an empty spot, you might consider picking him up though.

Leon Washington RB SEA - I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's not going to get 2 return TDs again. He isn't the starting RB so leave him.

Knowshon Moreno out for week 3

Knowshon Moreno is officially out this weekend because of an injury suffered today. Either Correll Buckhalter or Laurence Maroney is going to be the starter this week. Stay tuned for more, but you should think about picking up either Denver Broncos running back.

Pre Week 3 Fantasy Football Manager News

You can officially drop Vincent Jackson as the San Diego Chargers have decided not to trade the hold out. There still is a chance that San Diego will trade him before the trade deadline in a few weeks; but that chance is slim because San Diego turned down offers for his service this week.

If Michael Vick is still available in your fantasy football league, you might want to pick him up. As long as he puts on performances like the first two weeks, he is going to be the starter. The only way that Kevin Kolb is going to start again in the near future is if Vick performs badly. He is a very good backup QB to have and could be your starter for the next couple of weeks.

Reggie Bush's broken leg will not require surgey and he could be back in the next four to six weeks. Be sure to pick him up off of waivers if anyone has dropped him as he should be back by week 9.

Be very wary of the situation with Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Aromashodu. It seems that he was benched last weekend because the team does not have confidence in his ability to be a slot receiver when he shortarmed some catches against the Detroit Lions. Don't drop him yet, but if he does nothing this weekend you might want to.

Robert Meachem seems to clearly be the 4th wide receiver at New Orleans. He was only out on the field for 14 of the Saints offensive 64 plays. It may be close to time to letting him go if you drafted him.

TJ Houshmandzadeh seams to be struggling so far at Baltimore. So far that seems to hold true for the Ravens' offense overall. If his production doesn't improve very soon, you shouldn't think about keeping him on your roster.

The same holds true for rookie Bills running back CJ Spiller. He only received one carry last week after starting in week 1. It appears that he is the number 3 running back at Buffalo for the time being. You may want to keep him for a couple more weeks.

Be aware that Laurence Maroney is now a Denver Bronco. He may be worth watching in case there is an injury to Knowshon Moreno or Correll Buckhalter.

Fantasy Football Player Injuries and Suspensions

Injury Update - Be careful drafting the following players with injuries:

Reggie Bush RB NO - Reggie has a fracture bone in his leg during the Monday Night game and will be out for 4 to 6 weeks at the minimum.

Kevin Faulk RB NE - Kevin also went down with a leg injury (in week 2) and is now on Injured Reserve.

Ryan Grant RB GB - Ryan went down in week 1 and is now out for the year.

Sidney Rice WR MIN - Was placed on the PUP list and will miss at least the first 6 weeks of the regular season.

Antonio Bryant WR CIN - Antonio was cut by the Bengals and still has an existing issue with his knee which effected his play last year.

Donnie Avery WR STL - Avery suffered a torn ACL and has been placed on Injured Reserve.

Ben Tate RB HOU - Ben has also been placed on Injured Reserve.

Michael Bush RB OAK - Had screws inserted into his left thumb to help with a fracture. He may not miss any games due to this injury but may not keep his No. 1 status.

Kevin Smith RB DET - Kevin had a major knee surgery last year and has been struggling in the preseason. He is No. 2 on the depth chart behind rookie Jahvid Best.

Chaz Schilens WR OAK - Had surgery on his knee and is expected to miss 3 to 6 weeks.

Suspended Players

Be aware of the following NFL players that have suspensions coming into the season:

Vincent Jackson WR SD - Not only has he been suspended by the NFL for 3 games, he has also been suspended by his team for 3 games and is currently holding out. If he signs before the start of the NFL season, the 3 game suspensions from the league and the team can be served at the same time.

Ben Roethlisberger QB PIT - Ben will miss the first 4 games of the regular season stemming back from his off-field incident.

Santonio Holmes WR NYJ - Holmes has been suspended 4 games for violating the substance abuse policy.

Week 2 Fantasy Football Free Agent Pickups

Look for these players to pick up in your fantasy football league

1. Jason Snelling RB Atlanta Falcons - both starting runningbacks in front of him got hurt in the game today. Jason filled in with a huge game including 129 yards and 2 TDS rushing and 57 yards a 1 TD receiving.
   
2. Mike Tolbert RB San Diego Chargers - Tolbert had 87 yards and 2 rushing TDs in backup of the rookie Ryan Matthews, who left the game with an injury and didn't return.
   
3. Dustin Keller TE New York Jets - Came up big with 115 yards receiving and a TD. Mark Sanchez is starting to target Dustin more often.
   
4. Demaryius Thomas WR Denver Broncos - The rookie wideout had the most receptions (8) and the most yardage (97) and had a TD.
   
5. Kevin Walter WR Houston Texans - Kevin had a huge week and might still be available in some leagues. He had 144 yards and 1 TD receiving.

Fantasy Football News before Week 1

The QB controversy is over in Arizona. Derek Anderson is the starter and Matt Leinart has been release by the Cardinals. Derek Anderson is probably going to be a decent 2nd string fantasy quarterback and don't be surprised if he puts forward the same performance he did a couple of years ago with Cleveland.

TJ Houshmandzadeh was cut by the Seattle Seahawks. You will want to pick up Mike Williams (former USC Trojan, Detroit Lions 1st round pick and bust) to replace him.

Cleveland Running back and rookie Montario Hardesty , Denver Running back LenDale White and Houston Kicker Kris Brown have all been placed on Injured Reserve.

Wide Receiver Patrick Crayton has been traded from the Cowboys to the Chargers. This may indicate something about Vincent Jacksons likelihood of signing and playing this year. Pick up Patrick Crayton if you have a chance.