Playoff Runs

Time to jump back into the fray after taking last weekend off - nice card there, Rob! Where was that advice when I had money to bet?! Speaking of money, it is that time of year when all your hard work is ready to pay off, unless you drafted a team of Eagles. Yikes, what a debacle. Vick was not a huge surprise but how disappointing was LeSean McCoy this year?! TWO rushing TDs? What is even more perplexing than that is the fact that Bryce Brown (who?) doubled that in two weeks! It will be interesting to see if anyone gives Vick a shot at a starting QB spot next season.

The majority of fantasy football league playoffs started this week and Thursday night's results had many owners wringing their hands going into Sunday's games. I am one of many people who benefitted from a huge year from a bargain-priced Peyton Manning but am now a bit concerned after his 14-point night. He only had one game with lower points all season. If you owned any Broncos WRs, you had to be relatively disappointed as well as the one scoring toss went to Joel Dreesen. Ugh. Those who picked up Knowshon Moreno were giddy though. I was on the Ronnie Hillman bandwagon this season and thought it would finally pay off when Willis McGahee went down. But noooooo, Moreno gets the money shot against the Raiders. You definitely can't count on the Morenos of the world when it comes to winning the trophy. Stick with your studs. Of course, you always need a few players on the bench to fill in on injury or when teams start benching players going into the playoffs. There are a few to consider:

QB: Jay Cutler (CHI) – There are only a few starting QBs on the waiver wire in 12-teams leagues that are worth picking up at this point. Cutler is one of those players. The Bears will be fighting for the division so there is no concern about Cutler being rested and their defense is very dinged up, which will mean that the Bears will need to win with their offense. They have some nice matchups on their schedule so I would have Cutler on my bench over the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Mike Keller's man-crush, Christian Ponder.

RB: Vick Ballard (IND) – Ballard was dropped in many leagues when Donald Brown came back and they started splitting carries. Well, Brown is injured again so get Ballard on your team since he has some great matchups ahead.

RB: Marcel Reece (OAK) – Darren McFadden's return this week scared a lot of owners into dropping Reece. Well, McFadden was hurt on Thursday (shock) and will most likely end up sitting the rest of this season out instead of risking more damage to his frail body. Get a waiver claim in early on Reece if he was dropped in your league
RB: Jonathan Dwyer (PITT) – Pittsburgh seems to have finally settled on a one-back system and Dwyer is it. Sure, he looks like he runs in molasses, but that is how the Steelers like their backs. The return of Big Ben should actually help Dwyer since defenses won't stack the box like they did with Leftwich and Batch under center.
WR: Riley Cooper (PHIL) – If you are this desperate, you can't be in the playoffs. But, if you have room for another WR, you could consider wavy, unkempt locks of Cooper. With DeSean Jackson out for the year and teams blanketing Jeremy Maclin, Cooper's involvement in the gameplan grows weekly.
WR: Mike Thomas (DET) – With Titus Young, Nate Burlson and Ryan Broyles all out for the year, someone has to line up across from Megatron. Thomas was given a large contract by the Jaguars due to his play last year and then was given a gift by being traded to the Lions. He has a chance to put some nice numbers down the stretch here.
TE: Dallas Clark (TB) – I had written Clark off after he looked like his production was solely tied to Peyton Manning. However, he has finally come back to life with the Bucs and is available in many, many leagues. If you are still looking to replace Gronk, Clark could be your answer, though he is not very useful in PPR leagues.