Week three has just ended, and with it goes some surprising stories, as well as some unsurprising ones.
The Chicago Bears defense/special teams is making anybody who used a high draft pick on them look like a genius, as they are one of the most consistently producing fantasy defense/special teams in the game. The 23 points they produced in my league on Sunday was the most of any defense/special teams, and it helped their owner when he was in a tight situation. I know that trading for a defense/special teams is highly irregular in fantasy football, but if anybody offers to trade the Bears to you, I would recommend jumping on it. It is unsurprising that a defense/special teams that consistently gets you 9, 10 or 11 points per week can be very useful in making championship aspirations become a reality.
Antonio Brown, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is making the best of a bad situation in the Steel City. The 0-3 Steelers have not had many things to be proud of lately, but Browns’ consistent play is something that they can agree on. Though he did not put up very gaudy numbers before this week’s breakout performance, in which he had nine catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns, he has been doing well enough to play as a number two wide receiver or flex play. I recommend playing him even though Ben Roethlisberger is almost never given proper protection, and the Steelers offense hasn’t shown much life over the past three weeks.
CJ Spiller, who I confidently took in the first round of my draft, is suddenly at risk of becoming one of the most dreaded things in fantasy football: a high draft pick-turned bust. Although his performance hasn’t been terrible, it hasn’t been good enough for a player that was taken early in the first round of most fantasy drafts. To make matters worse for Spiller owners, Buffalo Bills backup running back Fred Jackson has been performing very well, limiting the amount of touches given to the struggling starter. I am still confident that Spiller will bounce back, but many others do not share the same sentiment. I would continue to start Spiller, but it never hurts to pick up Jackson off of waivers if he is available, just in case.
Trent Richardson, former first round pick of the Cleveland Browns, was traded to the Indianapolis Colts last week. This, in my opinion, gives his fantasy value an immediate boost. While he was doing pretty well in Cleveland, there weren’t many offensive threats to take the defensive focus off of him. Now that he is playing on a Colts offense that boasts Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, and Andrew Luck (who showed that he can be a threat on the ground by rushing for a touchdown last Sunday), I feel that he has a much greater chance to succeed. It’s possible that his owner in your league may not have heard about the trade, so I would try to prize him from their grip as soon as you can.
Finally, we can turn to the offensive trainwreck that is the 0-3 New York Giants. Minus one or two players who are still producing despite a bad situation (Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks, I’m looking at you) the rest of their offense looks downright awful. I have David Wilson in one of my leagues, and I greatly regret drafting him at this point. Until they turn the season around, I cannot in good faith recommend playing any Giants players (aside from the aforementioned Cruz and Nicks).
That’s all for this week, I’ll see you guys next week with more fantasy news and advice.
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