Week 6 Pickups

Looking good there Miles!

We saw a lot of wide receivers have great games on Sunday and most of them were probably sitting on your league’s waiver wire. Guys like Austin Collie (8 REC, 97 YDS, 2 TD), Jeremy Maclin (see below) and Miles Austin (see below) had monster weeks, which is why I am touting week 6 as the week of the wide receivers pickups.

Jeremy Maclin, WR, Philadelphia

Maclin should be the top pickup this week because the Eagles are clearly the best offense in this column. Maclin scored on two long touchdowns and finished the game with six receptions for 142 yards, but the most surprising thing was that he received eight targets compared to Desean Jackson’s three. Beware because the Eagles love to spread the ball around, but Maclin will be a solid contributor for the rest of the season and has the ability to turn in great performances much like the one on Sunday.

Miles Austin, WR, Dallas

What a game for Miles Austin! When all was said and done, Austin had 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns. He will be an interesting play going forward because Romo has shown a liking for the receiver, but a lot of his yards came on two long touchdown plays as a result of poor tackling. I wouldn’t expect big things going forward, but he could be a solid flex play during a bye-week.

Donnie Avery, WR, St. Louis

Avery was touted as a nice preseason sleeper, but injuries to both him and Marc Bulger forced many people to drop him. I am here to tell you it’s time to pick him up again. He looks to be healthy again and Bulger did come back at the end of the Rams’ game Sunday and went 7-for-7 for 88 yards and a 27 yard touchdown strike to Avery. If Bulger plays next week look for Avery to be a nice sleeper to put up nice numbers against a bad Jaguars pass defense.

Chansi Stuckey, WR, Cleveland

He played for Mangini last year and is playing for him again this year. Mangini must love Stuckey because he was brought in to replace Braylon Edwards. Obviously, he is not going to be anywhere near as good as Edwards, but the Browns will be down in every game they play this year so Stuckey should receive a lot of targets. If Cleveland can figure out their quarterback situation, Stuckey could be a nice mid-season find.

Week 5 Pickups

Bye Weeks: Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans, San Diego

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Pittsburgh

Mendenhall went from a fantasy zero to a fantasy hero. After being benched for not knowing the plays, Mendenhall got the start and gained 191 total yards with two touchdowns. With Willie Parker’s injury status unknown for the next couple weeks, Mendenhall makes for a good play as he should get the bulk of the work for the Steelers. Their next two opponents are Detroit and Cleveland.

Mohamed Massaquoi, WR, Cleveland

Massa-who? Derrick Anderson targeted the rookie 13 times on Sunday and they connected eight times for 148 yards. Probably not going to happen again, but then again maybe him and Anderson are good buddies and he will continue to receive looks from the new QB. It’s worth a shot to pick him up and find out for yourself because six weeks from now you don’t want to be that guy saying, “Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have passed up on picking up that guy.”

Jerome Harrison, RB, Cleveland

It’s no secret, Jamal Lewis is on his last legs and with James Davis now on the IR look for Jerome Harrison to get a lot more work this season. He looked good against an average Bengals run defense with 95 yards on 25 attempts. Unfortunately for him the Browns will probably be down big most weeks so the rushing stats will be limited, but anyone that has as much a chance to become a starter as he does is worth a roster spot.

Pierre Garcon, WR, Indianapolis

Pierre Garcon has developed into a very nice deep target for Peyton Manning. He has 10 receptions for 207 yards and two touchdowns so far this season and scouts have labeled him as “Reggie Wayne lite.” Even when Anthony Gonzalez comes back I think it will take him a while to get back into game speed, so look for Pierre Garcon to continue to be a viable third WR option, especially with the way Peyton Manning is throwing (four straight 300 yard games).

Sidney Rice, WR, Minnesota

Rice has scored a touchdown in two straight games and Favre looked his way six times on Monday night. If Favre continues to play like he did against the Packers, these Minnesota receivers are going to have a lot more value in the future. The Vikings face the awful Rams defense next week so if anything he will make a good play next week.