NFL Week 5 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em, Waiver Wire Pick Ups

NFL WEEK 5 START ‘EM:

1.) Marshawn Lynch — You didn’t want to start Marshawn Lynch last week at Miami, but at home against the Browns, the Bills gameplan should be a LOT of Marshawn Lynch.  Expect this game to be Marshawn’s “welcome back” in the NFL.  I’m anticipating over 100 combined yards from Lynch.

2.) LeSean McCoy/Brian Westbrook — I would start both players.  Westbrook should be back with the Eagles, but since he’s coming off the injury, I’m sure the Eagles will split the load 50/50 between both backs.  With a favorable matchup against the Bucs, the Eagles gameplan should consist of running the ball a lot and there is enough room for both backs to put up quality numbers.

3.) Tim Hightower — Against a poor Texans defense, Hightower should be able to get involved in the gameplan.  Although he may not rack up rushing yards, he’ll provide enough receiving yards and should reach the century mark in combined yards.

4.) Rashard Mendenhall — With Willie Parker out against the Chargers, Mendhenhall came in and had his break out party.  191 combined yards!  165 rushing yards on just 25 attempts (5.7 YPC) and 26 receiving yards.  He also ran for 2 TDs.  Against the Lions, they’ll be in for another healthy dose of Mendenhall.

5.) Clinton Portis — Looks like Portis’s days as an elite RB may be over.  He had a chance to prove to fantasy owners that he is a valuable RB against a poor Bucs defense.  Although he posted 98 yards on 25 carries (3.9 YPA), he is averaging only 70 yards a game and hasn’t seen the endzone yet.  Against a weak Carolina defense, who rank 32nd against the run, he’ll have 1 more shot to prove to fantasy owners that he was worth the 2nd-round pick.

6.) Fred Jackson — Although he’ll be splitting carries with Marshawn Lynch, he’s still Trent Edwards favorite receiver.  He’s the #1 receiver on the Bills and has more receptions and receiving yards than Terrell Owens and Lee Evans.  With a favorable matchup against the Browns, you have to start Jackson this week.

NFL WEEK 5 SIT ‘EM:

1.) Darren McFadden — McFadden will be missing 2-4 weeks due to an injury suffered against the Texans.

2.) Cedric Benson — Up against the Ravens #1 rush defense.

3.) Steven Jackson — Don’t look for Jackson to get going against Miami’s stellar run defense.  The TDs probably won’t come this week.  The 91 yards-per-game is respectable though.

4.) Kevin Smith — Not the week to start him against the Steelers.

5.) Fred Taylor — He had a nice game against the Falcons with 105 yards and 1 TD and followed that up with 38 total yards.  The matchup with Denver does’t look promising.

6.) Antonio Bryant — He showed up last week with a TD and 44 yards vs. Redskins, but against Philly’s #2 pass D (including a game against the Saints), expect Bryant to be shut down.

NFL WEEK 5 WAIVER WIRE:

1.) Michael Crabtree — Crabtree has come to terms with the 49ers.  He has a lot of catching up to do, but if you’re last in your league, you’ll likely get a chance to grab Crabtree, who will likely pay dividends down the stretch.

2.) Derek Anderson — Good move by the Browns to bench Brady Quinn and go back to Anderson.  Can Anderson return to 2007 form when he had 29 TDs?  I doubt it, but he’s gotten off to a good start with 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 rushing TD, and 1 INT last week against the Bengals.  The bad news: he lost Braylon Edwards to the Jets.  The good news: he’s developed a nice rapport with Mohamed Massaquoi and the Jets also sent the Browns Chansey Stuckey, who is a so-so receiving talent.

3.) Mike Wallace (PIT — WR) — It’s a good idea to pick up any player facing the Lions.  If you need a WR Mike Wallace may be your guy.  Although he may not get a ton of receptions, he may post quality numbers against the Lions.  He had 7 receptions for 102 yards against the Bengals in week 2 and followed that up with 4 receptions for 47 yards against the Chargers.  He has 2 deep receptions in each of those weeks, one for 35 yards and another for 51 yards.  He is a good deep threat who may score that home run for you this week.

4.) Sam Hurd (DAL — WR) — With Roy E. Williams sidelined with an injury, that may give some playing time to Sam Hurd this week.  With a favorable matchup in week 5 against the Chiefs, he may be a potential start at the WR3 spot if you’re WR roster is thin.