Riding the Waivers for Week 8

First off I would like to recognize how hard the pick’em for this week is going to be. The only game I am certain of is Green Bay destroying Jacksonville. The rest I could see going either way. If you have a better hold of the games than I do, come show off your knowledge and win $200 this week. Over at Point Pickers, there was a huge tie last week so the $100 weekly prize has been carried over. If you’re really good, maybe you can catch me on the Yearly leaderboard, where I am currently third place after I fell two spots over the weekend.

Now lets get to the good stuff, fantasy football pick ups for Week 8. These are all players owned in less than 50% of Yahoo! leagues so don’t expect miracles, but do expect solid results if you need a bye-week filler:

Sam Bradford – STL vs. NE (21% Owned)
The jury is no longer out on New England secondary, they have come to a ruling. New England Secondary has been found guilty. Guilty of terrible, terrible defense. Bradford will join the long list of average Quarterbacks that New England will make look beyond adequate. Look for 250+ with 2+ touchdowns, no lie.

Leonard Hankerson – WAS @ NE (42% Owned)
Hankerson was featured earlier in the year as a big upside receiver. Since then he has been lurking, putting up solid but not outstanding numbers. Now he has a match-up at Pittsburgh where he will need to show up if the Redskins want to win. Okay, that may not be true, but I think he does show up as the top Redskin receiver this week.

Titus Young – DET vs. SEA (36% Owned)
Titus Young has been the definition of disappointing so far in 2012. However, with Burleson’s injury, Young needs to put up for shut up. Seattle has tall corners that can shut down a lot of receivers. I think their height won’t be a huge advantage because Titus Young can create separation instead of relying on jump balls. Titus should have a decent game this week, and will be even better as the season progresses.

Vick Ballard – IND @ TEN (38% Owned)
Ballard put in a solid performance last week, but fantasy owners are rushing to pick up players like Rashad Jennings and Stephens-Howling while they look over Ballard. Jennings has come back really strong from his injury concerns to gain 2.6 yards per carry this season. Take a flyer on Ballard, instead. Better match-up.

Jonathan Dwyer – PIT vs. WAS (31% Owned)
I was a fan of Dwyer before the season, I guess you could say I’m a Dwyer Hipster. So it was good to see his potential unleashed last week vs. Cincy. There are still a lot of question marks in the Pittsburgh backfield, but I think Dwyer is definitely worth an add.

Jacob Tamme – DEN vs. NO (42% Owned)
This is where I differ with the other Josh here at Future of Fantasy, but Tamme is playing at Home against a terrible defense on Sunday Night. It’s time to shine for Tamme, or something like that. It’s usually about who gets the redzone targets for Tight Ends. In this case, the Broncos should be knock, knock, knocking on Heaven’s door all night.

Cleveland Defense vs. San Diego (20% Owned)
This game is all about mediocrity. The average NFL score is about 45 points. both defenses are average while both offenses are sligthly below average. That leads me to believe this game will end up in the 37-45 point range, so points shouldn’t be flying up out of nowhere. However, Rivers is a turnover factory (9 interceptions, 1 of those returned for a touchdown, and 3 fumbles lost). I think Cleveland holds San Diego under 25 points and forces a couple turnovers. Should be a solid defensive streamer this week.