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Don’t get over anxious for your fantasy starters submissions. There is always that hole of a fill in spot that you’re undecided about. It comes down to the best matchups, and flex or lower tiered starters that you can get the highest point value out of. Eye the right guy. Here are some names that likely won’t dot anyones starting lineups. Be the contrarian fantasy owner and take a risk with one of your last starting fill in spots.
Quarterbacks
Matt Cassel
Kansas City hung in with Atlanta for two quarters before the offense sputtered and couldn’t keep pace. Kansas City has talent on offense now and Cassel is finally starting to settle in as the Chiefs quarterback. Buffalo gave up a ton of yardage against a Jets team that struggled mightily in preseason action. That trend is not goin to end this week.
Christian Ponder
The Vikings second year man does not get the notoriety that Cam Newton and Andy Dalton have. Ponder replaced McNabb a year ago and showed a knack for evading pressure and holding steady in the pocket. Both of those traits had been impossible for McNabb to do on aging legs. While the focus of this matchup is going to be shined on Andrew Luck, Ponder will be the one that steals the spotlight and outshines Luck.
Kevin Kolb
Kolb is one of those guys that can perform well when the pressure is off him. As a backup in Philadelphia he played terrific, well enough that Andy Reid almost named him starter officially over Donovan McNabb. With Skelton out for a limited time frame Kolb is the starter for at least a game. The pressures off and Kolb has nothing to lose. He can regain the Cardinals coaching staffs confidence in this one.
Josh Freeman
Freeman is many prognosticators favorites to have a bounce back year and be relevant from a fantasy perspective. Week one was a defensive battle where Freeman handled the lead and played within the stages of the game. Things will be different this week against a Giants team that is going to put up points. Freeman’s arm will be on display, and that he will hook up with Vincent Jackson quite often against a banged up Giants secondary.
Running Backs
Curtis Brinkley
This is a head scratcher at first glance from many people, as Brinkley is not known by anyone. This of course will be up to the injury update of Ryan Matthews. If Matthews does not go, than Brinkley is my breakout canidate of the week. The undrafted player out of Syracuse will get some looks, probably a higher amount than week one. Ronnie Brown just does not have anything left. Brinkley will get ten plus fantasy points this weekend.
Kendall Hunter
Hunter had an impressive nine rushes week one. The 49ers want to secure their health throughout this season and into the post season. In order to do that Hunter’s involvement is only going to rise. Veteran running backs such as Gore face all types of minor injuries as the season goes on. Hunter is going to rise up running back weeks every week. In a game where there will likely be points put up by both teams, you have to figure Hunter can get in on the action. Expect a solid eight to ten fantasy points from Hunter. Solid numbers in deep leagues if you’re looking at a flex option.
DeAngelo Williams
Carolina abandoned the rushing attack early after no success against Tampa Bay. Cam Newton sometimes is more of a threat on a weekly basis out of the backfield than any one on the Carolina roster. Week one Newton and the offense struggled for obvious reasons. The balance of playcalls was horrible. They’ll go back to the basics and get the running game its proper amount of play call selections.
Jonathan Dwyer
Pittsburgh is unsettled on who to give their carries too. It will be a split carry load until one of the backs stands out. Dwyer seems like the back that can do the most with the football over Isaac Redman. All it takes is that one game for an unsure backfield to be overtaken. In a prime time game against the Jets the Steelers will look to run, run, and run the football more to control the clock. They did a very good job of controlling the clock against the Denver Broncos, but were out done by a Peyton Manning with a chip on his shoulder.
Wide Receivers
Kevin Ogletree
This one is really going to get all the Ogletree waiver wire owners drooling and hyping up his trade bait. Seattle’s defense is typically good, but an area they struggled against the Cardinals was covering the third receiver. Cardinals receiver Andre Roberts had several key catches including the game winning touchdown. Tony Romo is a considerable upgrade over Skelton or Kolb. When Romo gets a connection developed it continues. Miles Austin came out of nowhere a few years back and so did Laurent Robinson last year.
Jared Cook
San Diego’s secondary was either impressive or Carson Palmer has lost it completely. After minimal starts as a rookie Tennessee will keep things simple for Jake Locker. A young quarterbacks best friend is always at tight end. Cook has the skillset to have a strong year, and in this game against San Diego don’t be shocked to see him have more fantasy points than Antonio Gates.
Brandon LaFell
Teams are geared up to do everything they can to force Cam Newton into discomfort. It’s going to be hard to do on a weekly basis, but division rivals saw Newton twice last year. Tampa Bay made sure the third time was difficult last week. New Orleans gets their third shot as well. You’d expect them to be ready to shutdown Steve Smith better than any other team, as Smith had two of his seven total touchdowns on the Saints a year ago. LaFell is a breakout game away from being considered a top thirty to thirty five fantasy receiver.
Sidney Rice
By no means will Seattle be in this game vs the Cowboys. In fact I expect it to be the ugliest game of the weekend. Ugly blowouts do not eliminate fantasy value from a team, especially at wide receiver. Rice seems to finally be healthy and displayed impressive routes week one against the Cardinals. As the game gets uglier look for Rice to rack up the most garbage fantasy points of the weekend.
