2012 Fantasy Football Waiver Pickups: Week 5

Posted by Ryan Hallam on 10/03/2012 | 3 Comments

Tags: Brian Hartline, Brandon Bolden, Scott Chandler, Andre Roberts, Kendall Wright, Jackie Battle, Chas Schilens, Matt Flynn

We are at the quarter pole of the fantasy football season and who would have expected Andy Dalton to have double the touchdown passes of Michael Vick, Alfred Morris to have more touchdowns than Maurice Jones-Drew, and Andre Roberts to be leading receivers with four touchdown catches.  Ah, the power of the waiver wire.  Do you need any more reason to check out the Fantasy Alarm waiver article each week?  I didn’t think so.  Enjoy and make moves accordingly, and remember you can always send me an email.

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Questions about your team or a waiver move?  Lineup decisions?  You can email me at ryan@fantasyalarm.com for answers to those questions.  You can also hit me up by following me on Twitter @ryanhallamFA or if you just want to read some of my incoherent babbling in 140 characters. 

Brian Hartline, WR, Miami Dolphins.  I could have put him in this article last week, and I considered it, but to be honest I didn’t see a repeat performance.  Man was I wrong!  Hartline had 12 catches for 253 yards and an 80 yard touchdown.  Ryan Tannehill has looked like a competent quarterback last week, and there’s no question who is favorite target is.  I can’t believe that I am suggesting you pick up Brian Hartline, but if you are in a PPR league he is a great grab if he’s still available.  Obviously another game like this is highly unlikely, but there definitely should be a spot for him in your starting lineup while he stays hot.

Brandon Bolden, RB, New England Patriots.  Bolden was shot out of a cannon in Week 4 to lead the Patriots in rushing yards and found the endzone for the first time this season.  Now, before you go and bid all of your free agent bucks on Bolden or stay up until 3am to be sure that you claim him first from waivers, remember a few things.  One, Stevan Ridley still had more carries and scored twice and has been fairly consistent this season.  Second, how many more times will New England run the ball 40 times like they did against the Bills?  I’m not sure if there are enough carries to make two backs fantasy relevant and I still believe in Ridley.   You can pick up Bolden in deeper leagues, but this is not a guy I’d be picking up with the intention of starting in Week 5.

Scott Chandler, TE, Buffalo Bills.  Yes, yes he had two touchdowns on Sunday and now has scored in three of the first four games but I am still not ready to call him a consistent every week starter.  Touchdowns are what fantasy football revolves around, but he also needs to be more of a part of the offense.  Chandler is averaging just three catches a game, and so far he has been a good target in the red zone but I’m not riding the Chandler bandwagon just yet.  If you had Aaron Hernandez he’s not a bad sub until he’s ready to return.

Andre Roberts, WR, Arizona Cardinals.  The Cardinals have enjoyed a revitalization this season, and a lot of it has to do with the renaissance of Kevin Kolb.  Did I just use revitalization and renaissance in the same sentence?  But, outside of Larry Fitzgerald, someone else has to get a solid number of targets and thus far that has been Roberts.   Outside of one game where he had just a single catch, Roberts has been a reliable target in the Cardinals passing game.  If you are looking for a receiver to plug into your WR3 or flex spot, you can do far worse than Roberts. 

Kendall Wright, WR, Tennessee Titans.  What does this guy have to do to get more attention?  Wright has two touchdowns in four games, and in the other two games he has had five and seven catches respectively.  Whether Jake Locker is hurt or not, that doesn’t affect Kendall Wright’s value as I feel that Matt Hasselbeck is a very capable backup.  Wright isn’t even six feet tall, but he has good speed and good hands, and with Kenny Britt questionable again, I don’t see any reason why Wright won’t be a capable of being a nice flex option on a weekly basis.

Jackie Battle, RB, San Diego Chargers. With Ryan Mathews still not quite 100%, Battle took the start and he ran with it……literally.  His 39 yards on 15 carries doesn’t earn him a great yard per carry, but he did find the end zone both on the ground and through the air with one of his four receptions on the day.  Mathews did end up with 14 carries, and I believe that when he is ready to carry the load, Battle will be relegated to a much smaller role.  Even though Battle has been put on the top of the depth chart, I am not on board that this is going to be a full-time gig.  If you are looking for a one or two week substitute Battle might not be bad, but he’s not a long term option unless Mathews goes down again, which is entirely possible. 

Chas Schilens, WR, New York Jets. Playmakers on the New York Jets are dropping like flies, and after Santonio Holmes went down Schilens had a few catches and had at least a representative game. SOMEONE has to catch passes on this team, at least for the 10-12 completions that Mark Sanchez throws.  Schilens has long promised to be a playmaker but his health has always been an issue.  If he can stay on the field I think he can be a good target for Sanchez, especially if Holmes is going to miss a significant time, which I believe he will. 

Matt Flynn, QB, Seattle Seahawks.  Do the Seahawks get it yet?  Russell Wilson looked great in the preseason, but if you were able to watch any Seattle games this season you would see that he seems overmatched a lot and hasn’t been making great decisions.  It is just a matter of time before they decide to bring in the guy that they gave the big contract to and Flynn is on the field. I know it was limited time, but Flynn is more of a traditional quarterback and I believe that he will be successful when he is a starter.

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