Waiver Wire Week 14

By Chris Goudey
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

This is a critical week in fantasy football circles, as in most leagues this is either the last week of the regular season or the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Having the right players in your lineup this week could make the difference between making the playoffs and crying in your beer. These players could be available on your waiver wire and would be decent starting players for you if you need some help:

Quarterbacks
There are a lot of QBs available on the waiver wire who have nice matchups this week. If you are a Donovan McNabb owner, these guys could be inserted in your lineup and should do just fine for you. I have them ranked in order of preference:

Vince Young, Tennessee vs Houston
Brad Johnson, Minnesota vs Detroit
Jeff Garcia, Philadelphia vs Washington
Alex Smith, San Francisco vs Green Bay
Matt Leinart, Arizona vs Seattle

Running Backs
There probably aren’t many RBs left out there who could help you this week, but if you own Ronnie Brown (who is probably out again this week) and need some help, here’s who should be out there:

Cedric Houston, NY Jets – Houston broke out in a big way last week, with over 100+ yards and 2 rushing TDs. Look for more of the same this week against a soft Buffalo rush defense.
Sammy Morris, Miami – Morris should get the bulk of the carries with Brown out again, but he has a tough matchup against New England.
Justin Fargas/ReShard Lee, Oakland – Fargas gets most of the carries now, but Lee is the goal-line guy. The Cincy defense can be run against, so either or both guys could have nice games.
Mewelde Moore/Ciatrick Fason, Minnesota: Regular starter Chester Taylor was banged up against the Bears last week and both Moore and Fason saw action in his place. Taylor’s status is currently up in the air for this week, but if he sits, there is an opportunity, as the Vikes have a real nice matchup against the Lions. Moore would be my first choice between the two.

Wide Receivers
Marcus Robinson, Minnesota/Antonio Bryant, San Francisco: Minnesota and San Fran have the two best schedules against the pass in the next three weeks, and these are the No. 1 guys for those offenses.

Marty Booker, Miami – Booker has taken over as the No. 1 guy in Miami, as he has built a nice connection with Joey Harrington. Miami should have to throw this week against New England, so look for Booker to put up some good yardage and have a shot at a TD.
Matt Jones, Jacksonville – Jones finally had the game his owners were waiting for last week, with 128 yards and a TD. Hopefully he continues this trend, as he has extreme physical gifts and just needs to stay on the field to produce.

Tight End
Vernon Davis, San Francisco: I had Davis on this list a couple of weeks ago, but he hasn’t done anything since. That should change this week, as the 49ers’ other TE, Eric Johnson, is out with an injury. Between that and the great matchup against Green Bay, Davis should finally put some numbers up this week.
Ben Utecht, Indianapolis: Starting TE Dallas Clark is out, and even with Clark in the lineup Utecht is getting a few looks per game. He should see his pass targets increase this week and he could be a top-10 TE as long as Clark is out.

Kickers/Defenses
As you know I’m of the mindset that kickers are pretty much dime a dozen and you can do just fine playing matchups each week. For defenses, the best thing to do is check the schedule each week and try and get teams that are playing against teams with bad records, i.e. Houston, Oakland, etc.

Best of luck as you make your last stab for the playoffs or are in your first-round matchup!