Fantasy Football Week 5

Phew. Another close game, but a victory nonetheless. I only scored 63 points this week but it was enough to steal a game against an opponent who had a worse week than I did. So, going into Week 6, I'm 4-1, tied for 1st in my league. Week 6 is crucial because I have the following players on a bye: Manning, Henry, Lynch, Evans, Wayne, H. Miller, & J. Reed. Aside from my defense, that was my whole starting lineup last week. So now I have to be savvy with the waiver-wire pickups, which I started doing last week. More on that in a moment. For now, here's the recap:

Starters

Peyton Manning - Still not putting up 1st Round numbers. In most cases, he was the first QB chosen in a FF league, so I think you have to say this season has been a disappointment so far. I really expected 20-22 points per game on average.

Marshawn Lynch - He's putting up average numbers in tough situations: no offensive help, against strong defenses, and\or playing from behind. I think he's a solid No. 2 RB right now, and hopefully he can explode for some big games in the coming weeks.

Travis Henry - Probably the last time I'll be able to play him this season. Anytime you lose your No. 2 RB, it's going to hurt, and what makes it worse is that I really only have Lynch for depth, since Thomas Jones hasn't shown up yet this season.

Reggie Wayne - Not putting up the numbers I expected. Take away the first game of the season and his numbers are way below average. But I was able to get some yards & a TD this week, so that's encouraging.

Lee Evans - Started him over Galloway this week, and it didn't make too much of a difference, but 1 catch for 12 yards? I don't think I can play him anymore unless it's a very specific matchup. I know they've played against some tough teams early on, but I expected more than 20 points TOTAL through 5 games.

Heath Miller - Another TD & some yardage. I love that Pitt's using the TEs so much; this guy should end up in the top 6 of TEs this year.

Jeff Reed - Ever since I dropped Rackers for him, he hasn't hit a FG. Now that he's on a bye week, it's time to say goodbye.

KC Defense - Benched the Seattle D & dropped a bye week Minn D in favor of these guys. I expected a low scoring game & a chance that KC could hold Jax to just a couple of points. Didn't quite happen, but at least they got a couple sacks and put up more points than Seattle did.

Bench

Thomas Jones - The NYJ's offense is really struggling, and I don't forsee any weeks where I'll be starting Jones...except for this week. I've only got two RBs to play this week, and he's one of them. Hopefully he can do something against Philly.

Waiver Wire

Since this upcoming week leaves me so thin, I started preparing the week before by grabbing a couple of QBs - Derek Anderson & Jeff Garcia - and stored them away to make sure I didn't lose out. After watching this past week, and considering the upcoming matchups, I'm gonna go with Anderson, as I like his matchup at home vs. Miami more than Garcia vs. Tenn. I also dropped the KC Defense & Jeff Reed for Dwayne Bowe & Jay Feely, although I'm reconsidering Feely as my kicker this week. Luckily, our league allows for unlimited transactions, so I have a chance to replace him later this week. I'm hoping that Andre Johnson is healthy this week so I can put him back in my lineup, and drop Bowe for a RB like Deshawn Wynn or Jason Wright. Otherwise, this is probably my lineup next week:

QB: D. Anderson
RB: B. Westbrook
RB: T. Jones
WR: J. Galloway
WR: D. Bowe
TE: A. Smith
K: J. Feely
D: Seattle

This is why I'm glad I'm 4-1 right now instead of 3-2. Good luck to everyone in your FF this week, as well as the FSL Blogger games. I finished 2nd this week thanks to Santonio Holmes' hamstring, but I'm gaining points fast, so watch out!