With the fantasy playoffs upon us, it’s mostly slim pickings on the fantasy wavier wire. With that said, ESPN’s Matthew Berry echoes some of our earlier picks for the desperate (that means you, Kevin Smith owners).
Matthew Berry Drops Some Add/Drop Knowledge
Chris Jennings, RB, Browns (1 percent): As long as we’re talking depressed folks and bad beats above, can we add a fantasy columnist who last week touted Jerome Harrison as not just a good pick-up, but a good play against the Steelers? And he was totally right … except it was the wrong Browns running back. Thanks, Mangenius.
Harrison had an illness going into the game, and Jennings was the more explosive runner. He looked good, getting 73 yards and a score on 20 touches. It’s still a muddied situation, and I expect both Harrison and Josh Cribbs to get work against Kansas City on Sunday. But the Chiefs are such a tasty matchup that you have to take the flier and grab Jennings, even if you don’t use him. Better him to be on your bench than against you. He’s the No. 1 pickup this week because of this matchup and the one with the Raiders the week after. (You know, the reasons I also liked Harrison.) We’ll try to get more clarity on this situation as the week goes on, but if he can get 20 touches against K.C. and Oakland, that’s a very good thing.
Arian Foster, RB, Texans (1 percent): Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do you? Foster came into the game last week against Seattle and performed well. Of course, everyone performed well. Except Kevin Walter. Grumble, grumble. But I digress. Foster had 17 touches for 88 yards and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak says they are going to give him a long look. Texans head coach Gary Kubiak is also a big fat liar, liar, pants on fire. He’s from the Mike Shanahan school of “he will totally say one thing and then do another just to jerk around fantasy owners.” At least, that’s my impression. But just like Jennings above, even if you don’t have the guts to start him this week (or even the need), you don’t want your opponent to get him. Not with the Rams and their 27th-ranked run defense on the docket.
And then Berry mentions one pickup that even the non-desperate should consider. In fact, this is a borderline genius move:
Texans D/ST (5 percent): A week after scoring 15 fantasy points against Seattle, Houston, a team that is still in the hunt and desperately needs a win, visits St. Louis. That would be for a matchup with a Rams teams featuring a banged-up Steven Jackson and a third-string quarterback. It’s a squad that just gave up 21 points to the Titans’ defense. In fact, no team gives up more fantasy points to opposing defenses than the Rams. The defense facing them has scored at least nine fantasy points in five straight weeks.
So there you have it: a bunch of third-string running backs and an inconsistent defense. Good luck in the playoffs.
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