FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue V

Welcome to our fifth-ever edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue IV (September 27, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 5 game-by-game
^ A member of the Friends of FDH Club, Ken Becks of GridironEvaluations.com, provides a list of top fantasy football performers this week
^ NFL Week 5 Top 5 waiver wire pickups

NFL Week 5

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.

Week 5

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5

(Byes: Cleveland, N.Y. Jets, St. Louis, Oakland )

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m. This is a horrible fantasy matchup due to the defenses. We urge you to go "all out" on your marginal starters with the possible exception of vulture backs White and McClain.

Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m. As we've said, RB Johnson should be benched very sparingly, but this is a bad matchup for him vs. the Panther D. Use your discretion on playing him this week. Stewart and Muhammad both seem poised for big weeks on the other side.

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m. Forte should roll for the Bears, but he may be alone statistically in that regard. Only the wideouts will prosper for the Lions; shut down Kitna and RB Smith.

Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m. Turner and White, the usual suspects for Atlanta, should both be in this week. For Green Bay, monitor Rodgers up until game time and play him if he's a go. Both of his WRs should be in regardless, as should RB Grant, who should start to bounce back this week.

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m. Although we really like Schaub and always have, don't be fooled by last week's outburst into thinking it will automatically carry over this week. It will not, and he should be benched, although WR Johnson is still an every-week guy and RB Slaton has a great matchup. WR Harrison is not yet a good play for Indy as they will be focusing on trying to protect their defense by improving the 24:42 average time of possession.

San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m. Okay, we are now believers! RB Brown is back to the point of being an every-week play. QB Pennington should be chucking it a lot in the likelihood that San Diego gets up, so he's a better-than-usual bet this week. For San Diego, no surprise, it's all-in again.

Seattle Seahawks at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m. Don't buy the hype on the alleged return of the Seattle passing game yet now that some WRs are healing; RB Jones remains the only start-worthy Hawk in this game. Most Giants are now every-week starters; WR Smith is one of the few who is not, but he should definitely be in your lineup in Burress' absence. WR Dixon is also a great super-deep sleeper.

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 p.m. This shapes up as an all-in game, unless Westbrook is an unexpected scratch; Buckhalter is not a worthy replacement in your lineup.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m. This game is all-in with the exception of Tampa WR2, since Galloway is sitting out again.

Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m. The Cards, who are very comfortable at home, are an all-in recommendation in this game, while the Edwards-Evans battery for the Bills should both be among the marginal starters you should be considering this week.

Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m. If QB Palmer starts, which it looks like he will, he should be in your lineup. Actually, Cincy is almost an all-in to match Dallas' all-in with the exception of sub-par RB Perry.

New England Patriots at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m. When the team of the '00s faces the team of the '80s, forget what you remember of their great offenses from those days. This is an all-out game for marginal players.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars 8:15 p.m. WRs Ward and Holmes will see plenty of action with no semblance of a Pittsburgh running game now. Jacksonville should be all-out in a bad fantasy game.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints 8:30 p.m. The key marginal plays on either side are the #1 WRs: Berrian should finally start to bear fruit and Moore will look to keep his super momentum going.

Ken Becks' Big Fantasy Recommendations for NFL Week 5

Carolina Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart vs Chiefs D
Detroit Lions WR Calvin Johnson vs Bears D
Atlanta Falcons RB Michael Turner vs Packers D
San Diego Chargers WR starters vs Dolphins D
Houston Texans RB Steve Slaton vs Colts D
San Francisco RB Frank Gore vs Pats D
Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber/Felix Jones vs Bengals D

NFL Week 5 Top 5 waiver wire pickups

1. Lance Moore – Somebody was going to step up in the absence of Marques Colston, and whether or not he was the most likely candidate, he made the most decisive statement. With the #1 wide receiver on the shelf for a few more weeks, Moore could provide more production in the weeks to come. Plus, he’s way more available than Robert Meachem, who is already owned in more than 40% of CBS leagues.

2. Steve Breaston – Bona fide #3 receivers in explosive offenses can be worthy of starts during bye weeks during certain circumstances, but Breaston could exceed that upside if Anquan Boldin is slow in returning from his head injury. He’s an elusive player and could have more games like the one against the Jets.

3. Domenik Hixon – With only 2% ownership in CBS leagues right now notwithstanding the fact that he will start this week for the Giants in Plax Burress’s absence, Hixon is the best-kept secret in fantasy football. Ken Palmer of Scout.com reports that the team is thrilled with Hixon’s growth curve and plans to keep featuring him even beyond this week. Grab Dom Hixon now and thank us later.

4. Arnaz Battle – Like Breaston, he projects as a #3 fantasy receiver, albeit in a lesser offense. But unlike Breason, he’s only got the aged Ike Bruce sitting ahead of him on the depth chart. Regardless of whether his team considers him a 2 or a 3, he could have more days like Sunday in front of him.

5. Brandon Stokley – Like Az Hakim, he’s almost the poster child for #3 receivers who can make at least a minor fantasy impact. For what seems like the 29^th time in his career, he’s landed in a situation with outstanding weapons around him, thus allowing him to slip under the radar in his patented role.