Welcome to the first edition of my weekly Waiver Wire Wonders column, were I recommend to you stellar players to pick up off of your league’s waiver wires. I will tend to recommend less obvious names that fly under the radar, but have high upside in the coming weeks. A word of caution though, be extremely careful not to drop any of your stud players unless they have significantly underperformed all season long or have serious injuries. Being adept at finding valuable players on the waiver wire is a skill that all fantasy football players should be accustomed to. One good waiver wire pick up can make a fantasy season, but remember that one bad drop can definitely break it. I’m here to help you in that process, and hopefully you can find that key player to help your team into and through the fantasy playoffs. Feel free to leave questions in the comment section as to who to pick up/drop, I’ll try to answer them ASAP. On to the list…

• Warrick Dunn, TB: With Earnest Grahm apparently out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury, Dunn will be taking over the starting duties in Tampa Bay. Dunn may be old, but he has continues to play well this year behind Grahm, garnishing 4.4 yards per carry. The Bucs also have a pretty easy schedule through the rest of the season, with their toughest defensive opponent being Carolina in week 14. This week Dunn gets to start against everyone’s favorite Detroit Lions. Pick up Dunn and start him, no questions asked.

• Peyton Hillis, DEN: Hillis got the start in week 11 for the Broncos and performed very well, going for 70 total yards and 2 touchdowns. As long as he’s getting the starts in Denver he is worth having on your team and maybe even starting (depending on the match up).

• Derrick Ward and/or Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG: The Giants running game is by far the best in the league, with Earth (Jacobs), Wind (Ward), and Fire (Bradshaw) continually making fools of opposing defenses, even the Ravens this past Sunday. Well, Earth is now questionable for week 12 with an apparent knee injury, so run to the waivers and pick one, or both, or these guys up. If Jacobs can’t go this week they’re definitely worth the start.

• Ahman Green, HOU: While still getting less than half of the carries in Houston behind Steve Slaton, Green is now being used as the team’s goal line back. On a high scoring team like the Texans this could end up as a very valuable position, especially in TD heavy fantasy leagues.

• J.J. Arrington, ARI: Arrington is not only splitting carries with Tim Hightower, but also getting all of the teams goal line carries. Worth a pick up in deeper leagues.

• Tyler Thigpen, KC: Thigpen has been among the top fantasy producers for QBs since taking the starting role in Kansas City. Pick him up and start him with confidence.

• Kerry Collins, TEN: If you still think that Collins is simply a game “manager” for the Titans than you haven’t been watching football the last two weeks. Collins has shown that he is an elite QB and should, at the very least, be owned in all leagues, and maybe even starting.

• Antonio Bryant, TB: Bryant is the clear #1 receiver is Tampa Bay, and has had a very solid, albeit inconsistent, year. He is top 15 among wide receivers and should be owned in all formats.

• Justin Gage, TEN: With Kerry Collins playing like an all-star Gage has been the main beneficiary, scoring two touchdowns last week. Pick him up with confidence.

• Dustin Keller, NYJ: The Jets TE has become Brett Favre’s best friend as of late, and is among football’s TE elites. Keller has been Favre’s main target all over the field, and is clearly a top-5 TE. Unless you own someone of the likes of Antonio Gates or Kellen Winslow, you should be starting Keller.

So, now that you know who’s valuable, run to your league’s waiver wires and pick them up before someone else does! Don’t say that I didn’t warn you! Also, if you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to recommend another waiver wire wonder, please feel free to post them in the comments section. Thanks!

Tags: advice, fantasy football, Salahlipop, waiver wire

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 6:08 pm and is filed under Fantasy Sports Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.