Week 8 Sunday Pickups

Well, I said to keep on eye out for Marvin Jones; but no one could have predicted that kind of day. 4 TDs on 8 catches and 122 yards is unbelievable. This also raises the value of Andy Dalton. Teams won't dare focus on Jones because AJ Green would eat them alive. If you haven't picked him up already, consider him gone unless you have a delayed waiver system.

Andre Ellington should already be gone in most leagues. He blew up today as Rashard Mendenhall was out. He posted 15 carries for 154 yards and 1 TD. He will still have his touches limited, but this proves to Arizona that they have to get him the ball every game.

Montee Ball and James Starks should both be added as stashes to your bench. Starks is clearly the number two at Green Bay and is a viable option when Green Bay is up big. Montee Ball has taken over the number two spot from Ronnie Hillman and is getting some goal line carries.

Kenny Stills may be worth an add if you are in a 12 team league. He is a home run threat and the number 4 option in New Orleans. That's about it. The numbers look good but he only had 4 targets. If you are going to get a Saints WR, take a look and see if Lance Moore is on the free agent list. He came back after an injury and might be available.

You are still going to want to pick up either Andre Brown RB NY Giants or Shane Vereen RB NE Patriots. They are both coming off of IR soon. They are both going to be must owns. Percy Harvin also should be coming back soon, but it is doubtful that he will be available now.

Week 9 Kickers and Defense Pickups

Week 9 is looking like it will be slim pickens as far as DST is concerned. Indianapolis has a favorable matchup on Sunday Night at Houston. If New Orleans is available, which is unlikely in larger leagues because they just played the Bills, the Saints are playing at the New York Jets. Baltimore was on a bye week this week; if they are available, pick them up as they are playing at Cleveland. Both Tennessee (at St Louis) and Dallas (vs Minnesota) have good matchups as well.

As far as Kickers are concerned, you can give Adam Vinatieri (Indy) a shot against Houston. Garrett Hartley may also be available, but that is more unlikely as New Orleans just played Buffalo. Robbie Gould (Chi) should also be available and he has kicked for multiple FGs in 4 of his past 5 games. Steven Hauschka (Sea) and Mason Crosby (GB) are both kicker that have been available, but are probably picked up by now. If you are desperate, you can try either Mike Nugent (Cincy) or Nick Novak (SD).

Pickups for Week 8

Sorry I missed last week. There wasn't a whole lot to report except for the injury replacement of Joseph Randle in for DeMarco Murray in Dallas and Jarrett Boykin taking Randall Cobb's place in Green Bay. I missed Keenan Allen as well, who is almost the number 1 WR option for San Diego. This week has a ton of action that you need to be aware of.

First, lets go over the major injuries for this week:

Reggie Wayne WR Ind - Out for season. Pick up TY Hilton or Darrius Heyward-Bey if they are available.

Doug Martin RB TB - Out for season. Pick up Mike James immediately!

NY Giants RB situation - David Wilson is going to miss at least another month. Brandon Jacobs is banged up. The Giants only have Michael Cox and Peyton Hillis in the backfield. You need to pick up Andre Brown if he is available. He will probably be the starter immediately after the Week 9 bye week.

Nick Foles QB Phi - He did not play well even before he was knocked out of the game with an injury. If anyone dropped Michael Vick, you will want to pick him up.

Jermichael Finley TE GB - He has a neck injury and is still in the hospital. You can go with Andrew Quarless if you are desperate at TE.

Jimmy Graham TE NO - He left Week 6 with an injury and he is questionable for Week 8 after their bye. Pick up Ben Watson if he is available.

Sam Bradford QB STL - Out for season. Find another option for a quarterback, the backup Kellen Clemens is not going to be viable.

Arian Foster RB Hou - Pulled his hamstring. You will probably want to pick up Ben Tate if he is available. Houston has a Week 8 bye, so Arian will probably play in Week 9, but may be limited.

Jay Cutler QB Chi - Has a torn groin and out at least 4 weeks. Cutler has struggled with injuries in the past. The Bears have a bye week next week. Josh McCown filled in nicely, but you may want to look elsewhere for the time being.

Other Pickups

If Harry Douglas WR Atl is still available, pick him up. He was able to fill into the WR1 against a tough Tampa Bay secondary with 149 yards and 1 TD. Roddy White may be limited for a few more weeks still and Matt Ryan will find him if teams are doubling Tony Gonzalez.

Jordan Reed TE Was - If you lost Jermichael Finley, this is your best option to replace him. Jordan Reed has a performance against the Bears that mirrored Julius Thomas' Week 1 performance for Denver.

If you are in need of a QB, take a look at Jake Locker Ten, Terrelle Pryor Oak (coming off of bye week), Josh Freeman Min, or Andy Dalton Cin if no better options are available.

I already put Terrance Williams on the pick up week a couple of weeks ago, but he needs to be owned if he isn't already. He is clearly the Cowboys' number 3 option behind Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

Keep an eye on Marvin Jones WR Cin. He may start to get consistent numbers if teams double team AJ Green all of the time.

Kendall Wright is the most consistent option at WR for Tennessee. Jake Locker will probably shake the rust off and start to find him more often.

If Percy Harvin isn't owned yet, he needs to be. He will probably be back sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Week 8 Kicker and Defense pickups

Both Sebastian Janikowski and Garrett Hartley have good matchups coming out of the bye week. I would trend towards Hartley, but he may not be available.

Alex Henery and the Eagles have a great matchup against the New York Giants at home.

Mike Nugent has done well in the past two weeks and has a home game against the New York Jets.

The Bears defense is on a bye week. They have been decimated by injuries and now Lance Briggs is out for 4 to 6 weeks. They are almost safe to drop except that they still have favorable matchups between Week 11 and Week 16.

Carolina is going to be the pickup of the week for Week 8. They are playing at Tampa Bay who is playing with a 2nd rate QB and now a backup RB as Doug Martin is gone for the season.

If they are gone, New Orleans is playing Buffalo at home. Also, Atlanta is playing at Arizona; the Cardinals consistently have given up points to every team this season.

If you are desperate, Philadelphia should be able to put up some points at home against the turnover factory that is the Giants.

Immediate Week 6 Pickups

There is a couple of developments today. You will want to pick up the following players if you have roster spots available:

Garrett Graham TE Houston Texans - He had a good game a couple of weeks ago when he was only lining up in 2TE sets. Now, Owen Daniels is out for at least a month and he has a very good matchup against the St Louis Rams this weekend.

Harry Douglas WR Atlanta Falcons - Julio Jones is most likely out for the year with a foot injury. Harry Douglas will now be the No. 2 WR behind Roddy White, who is also struggling with injuries.

Zac Stacy RB St Louis Rams - He will be the starting RB for the foreseeable future. He finished with 78 yards on 14 carries (5.6 YPC) which was by far the best effort by a Rams RB this year.

Terrance Williams WR Dallas Cowboys - Miles Austin has been struggling with injuries again and will probably lose the number 2 WR spot to Williams, who made an incredible catch against Denver and caught 4 out of 4 targets for 151 yards.

End of Week 5 Free Agent Pickups

Sorry that I've been out for a couple of weeks. I got sick to start Week 3 and had to catch up on work after that.

Week 6 Running Back Pickups

There are a couple of Running Backs that you will want to pick up.

Zac Stacy looks like he is going to take over at starting running back for the St Louis Rams. He was briefly knocked out of the game but he says that he was taken out as a precaution after he got the wind knocked out of him.

Marcel Reece looks like he will be the only healthy running back for the Oakland Raiders next week. Rashad Jennings was injured and couldn't return last night. Darren McFadden will likely return for Week 8 after their bye week.

Andre Ellington is looking much better than Rashard Mendenhall and will likely take over for him in the next couple of weeks.

Pierre Thomas had his best game in more than a year. He's taking back over at running back with Mark Ingram out. He probably isn't available and he probably won't have another game like this again.

Danny Woodhead will probably be the featured back next week with Ryan Matthews out with a concussion. Matthews has been a fantasy bust once again.

Chris Ivory might also be available in some FFLs. He has been injured but should be back tonight. He will still be the better every down back than Bilal Powell.

Week 6 Wide Receive Pickups

Terrance Williams is an immediate pickup. Austin Miles is again dealing with injuries and Williams has proven himself as the number 2 wideout for the Dallas Cowboys.

Justin Blackmon - He wasn't available in any league that I have been in, but scoop him up if he is available. Jacksonville is always going to get garbage time yards for him and Cecil Shorts.

Alshon Jeffery - Again, he wasn't available in the leagues that I have been in, but he is a legitimate number 2 wide receiver for Chicago. Look for him to have big games whenever a team decides to double team Marshall.

Austin Pettis - St Louis is a very confusing team. I don't expect him to do as well from week to week. Chris Givens and Tavon Austin have both been big disappointments and Jared Cook has been inconsistent.

Denarius Moore - Terrelle Pryor is finally starting to find some consistency and this means that Denarius is now a legitimate WR3 in most leagues.

Keenan Allen - With Eddie Royal clearly on the way down, Keenan Allen will pick up the slack as the number 2 WR for the Chargers. Phillip Rivers has been having a decent year by his standards and San Diego will have to throw the ball a lot.

Rueben Randle - Don't expect any consistency with the Giants being so terrible. However, he should be a viable emergency start during the bye weeks.

Week 6 Quarterback Pickups

Jay Cutler has shown himself to be a consistent QB as long as he is healthy. He now has multiple targets at wide receiver which will help with his numbers.

Nick Foles - You may want to pick him up in deeper leagues if you own Michael Vick. Foles is expected to start next week. If he does well, he might supplant Vick as the starter.

Josh Freeman - He was signed by Minnesota on Sunday. Ponder is out for another month at least and Freeman might get a chance if Cassel struggles.

Week 6 Tight End Pickups

Heath Miller - With Pittsburgh's offensive line as banged up as they are, Big Ben will be relying on the tight end to bail him out. I wouldn't expect many TDs, but he will probably average over 50 yards per game.

Charles Clay - If he is still available, you will want to pick him up. He has been a red zone threat and one of the only offensive weapons for the Dolphins.

Week 6 Kicker and Defense Pickups

Now that the bye weeks are in full swing, you are going to need a replacement when your kicker or team defense goes on a bye.

Adam Vinatieri faces a porous San Diego defense and has been doing really well over the past three weeks against better defenses.

Mason Crosby - He has not missed a field goal this year. The Packers are facing Baltimore and have unexpectedly been poor in the red zone of late.

Steven Hauschka - Tennessee has a very good defense and should stop Seattle short several times this week.

Philadelphia Eagles - Even with their terrible defense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense is in shambles.

New York Jets - They are playing Pittsburgh at home and they should be able to get to Big Ben.

Detroit Lions - They have a favorable matchup at Cleveland and should get pressure on Brandon Wheedon.

Minnesota Vikings - Carolina's offense has been terrible and the Vikings are playing at home. They also play against the Giants in Week 7 if you need a fill in.