With the second straight six-team bye week upon us, the XN Sports fantasy experts scrambled to the waiver wire to replace their one-week replacements from last week and grab new ones for Week 9. If you’re struggling to fill your lineup holes this week, take a look at what your favorite XN Sports writers are doing to get through this week for some ideas on what you can do in your own league.
Studfeldsville (Salvatore Stefanile) added Tim Wright, dropped Cole Beasley
Although he has a tough matchup against Seattle, Wright figures to see an increased role with Mike Williams out for the season. Meanwhile, Cole Beasley has failed to capitalize on his new found playing time and doesn’t make much sense to keep around.
Fifty Shades of Cats (Felipe Melecio) added Colts D/ST, dropped Charles Clay
The Colts have the most statistically favorable matchup this week since the Texans have been a pick-six gold mine. We’ll see if Case Keenum is as helpful as Matt Schaub and T.J. Yates were. Clay, despite a couple of promising weeks, put up just 5.5 points against the Pats last week and a mere 4.5 against the Bengals on Thursday.
Keepin Heads Ringin (Michael Clifford) added Austin Davis, dropped Matt Flynn
With Kellen Clemens absolutely struggling behind center, Austin Davis has some value as a stash pick in 2QB leagues. It’s hard to imagine the Rams sticking with Clemens much longer.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Nate Washington, dropped Tavon Austin
Although Washington showed some promise earlier, he’s only put up a combined 13.5 points over his last three weeks. Of course, that was against Kansas City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Tom is hoping the easier matchup against St. Louis will be a help and it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t an upgrade over Tavon at this point.
Fantasy Foundation (Rich Hribar) added Kyle Rudolph, dropped Kendall Hunter
Rudolph has a good looking matchup against the Cowboys and Rich has to replace Vernon Davis who’s on a bye. Hunter has put up just one double-digit game this season but the Niners fan in Rich can’t be happy he had to make this move.
Studfeldsville (Salvatore Stefanile) added Cardinals D/ST, dropped Daniel Thomas
Although he had a solid Week 8, Sal dropped Thomas just in time as the Miami backup put up just 3.5 points on Thursday. The Cards have a bye this week but Sal is clearly banking on their Week 10 matchup against the Texans.
Keepin Heads Ringin (Michael Clifford) added Delanie Walker, dropped Brandon Myers
With Brandon Myers on a bye (and failing to surpass 5.5 points since Week 2) Michael will swap him for Delanie Walker who finally showed some signs of life with 12.5 points against the Niners in his last game.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Montee Ball, dropped Mike Tolbert
With Ronnie Hillman hitting the inactive list as punishment for his late-game fumble, Montee Ball figures to be the number two back going forward. Of course, aside from Knowshon, he has C.J. Anderson stealing some carries so his value remains limited. Mike Tolbert has seen an increased role of late but Jonathan Stewart’s return will likely limit him even more than it will DeAngelo Williams.
Fantasy Foundation (Rich Hribar) added Cowboys D/ST, dropped Steelers D/ST
The ‘Boys have a good looking matchup against a terrible Vikings offense this week and make for a solid streaming pick, regardless of how bad they’ve played.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Alex Henery, dropped David Akers
With David Akers on a bye, Tom will opt for Alex Henery against the Raiders. Of course, Henery has a combined 11 points against unimpressive defenses like the Giants, Cowboys, and Bucs over the last three weeks so he may not be of much help.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Ravens D/ST, dropped Denver D/ST
Although the Ravens D hasn’t topped eight points in four straight games, Tom is hoping their matchup against the Jason Campbell-led Browns is what he needs to get through the tough bye week.
Brykno Rhinos (Bryan Knowles) added Kenny Stills, dropped Isaiah Pead
Stills has a great matchup against a Jets D that has allowed a ton of receiver points of late while Pead remains on the sidelines watching Zac Stacy turn into a legit NFL running back.
Blurred Goal Lines (Tony Consiglio) traded Maurice Jones-Drew and Jordan Reed to Brykno Rhinos (Bryan Knowles) for Rob Gronkowski
Stuck in last place, Bryan is trying to make moves to gain any traction, even if that means trading away Gronk. Jordan Reed is more than a suitable replacement and Maurice Jones-Drew has put up a solid 33 points over the last three weeks so this is a very good trade for Bryan and gives Tony plenty of high upside if Tom Brady ever gets it together.
Blurred Goal Lines (Tony Consiglio) added Ted Ginn Jr.
Although Ginn has been inconsistent at times, he has put up at least nine fantasy points in four of his last six weeks and there aren’t too many receivers worth grabbing on the waiver wire.
Studfeldsville (Salvatore Stefanile) added Daryl Richardson, dropped Stephen Hill
With Zac Stacy banged up, Sal was looking to take a chance on DRich but that would only last a few hours as he’d drop him once Zac Stacy put in a full day of practice.
Fifty Shades of Cats (Felipe Melecio) added Adam Vinatieri, dropped Ryan Succop
Vinatieri has put up double-digit points in four straight games and should have the chance to add on to that against the Texans on Sunday. Succop doesn’t have a bad matchup himself against the Bills but Vinatieri has been the better kicker.
4th and Goal (Neil Parker) added Dexter McCluster, dropped Sidney Rice
With Rice hitting the IR, Neil made a solid move to grab McCluster who has put up 24.5 points over his last two weeks. Of course, he hadn’t topped 5.5 points in any previous week so we’ll see if his increased workload continues.
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major) added BenJarvus Green-Ellis, dropped Peyton Hillis
Hillis isn’t likely to have any value with Andre Brown and Brandon Jacobs back after this week’s bye. BJGE gave Dave a decent seven points but failed to score a touchdown on Thursday.
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major) added Nick Novak, dropped Joseph Fauria
With Matt Prater on bye, Dave grabbed Novak in a beautiful matchup against a rough Redskins defense.
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major) added Titans D/ST, dropped Giants D/ST
With the Giants on a bye, Dave grabbed the Titans who have a great matchup against Kellen Clemens and the Rams.
Studfeldsville (Salvatore Stefanile) added Doug Baldwin, dropped Daryl Richardson
So much for DRich. With Sidney Rice out, Baldwin could be in for an increase in targets and Sal needs the help with Tim Wright as his only eligible backup receiver.
