Week 3 – Start, Bench, and Waiver

Start
Michael Vick, QB, Falcons – Vick should have a big day against a Saints defense that’s in rough shape. The Saints have given up a lot of yards in their two games and the Falcons will dominate them on the ground. Vick should have another 80+ yard rushing game in addition to 150 yards through the air. Vick should score twice and Dunn should score once.
Mark Brunell, QB, Redskins – Brunell isn’t as bad of a QB as he’s been playing lately. It’s not hard to torch the Texans, just ask Peyton, who threw for 400 yards last week. Brunell has the weapons and the best OC in the game; he just needs to use them. Having Portis back should help out a lot as well.
Ronnie Brown, RB, Dolphins – Miami just lost their RG for the season, but Brown is too talented of a RB not to run for 100 yards and a score against a beat up, bad Tennessee defense.
Edgerrin James, RB, Cardinals – Edge has been in a slump lately, with a 3.1 ypc. His runs aren’t looking that bad, especially considering the state of his OL. Against St. Louis, who gave up 127 yards to Frank Gore last week (without Larry Allen and with an injured Jonas Jennings), Edge should top the 100 yard mark and put down a score.
Clinton Portis, RB, Redskins – Portis should be ready to go this week and should run all over a Texans defense. Expect him to play sparingly, since Betts has done pretty well in a starting role, but whenever Portis is in the game, he’s always a threat.
Antonio Bryant, WR, 49ers – Bryant has been huge this season. He was a good pickup for the Niners, but who knew he’d have so many huge plays? The Eagles haven’t done that well against the pass this season, giving up an average of two TDs through the air. Alex Smith should ride the pine, but Bryant should produce a score.
Donald Driver, WR, Packers – Driver puts up impressive numbers week in and week out. It’s partially because he’s the only WR who could actually be #1 someplace else, but Favre and Driver are practically best friends. Expect Driver to torch a beat up Lions defense.
Chris Chambers, WR, Dolphins – After an average outing last week, expect Chamber to have a big day against a terrible Tennessee team that was torched through the air last week. This is a no-brainer.
Desmond Clark, TE, Bears – Clark has been one of the hottest TEs in the league the first two weeks. Where he’s been the past couple years, I have no idea, but he’s a must start on a weekly basis, especially considering that the Bears run game will be relied upon more this week to help the passing game. The Vikings haven’t played the run that well this year and their linebackers are merely average, especially in coverage.
Randy McMichael, TE, Dolphins – McMichael is a top TE in the league, but he’s not getting many looks from Culpepper. McMichael has a great matchup this week and should have see around 4 catches for 50 yards and a score (he has been getting a lot of red zone looks so far).
Jason Hanson, K, Lions – Green Bay has been pretty good in the redzone this season and the Lions offense has stalled before getting to the redzone. The Lions should move the ball quite easily, but Hanson should get more than a couple FG opportunities. He’s a reliable kicker who should net around 10 points this week.
Washington, DEF – Washington faces a Texans team that is weak at RB and has a terrible OL. David Carr has been extremely accurate (75.5%, 4 TDs, 0 INTs), but he’s been sacked 9 times. Carr should throw for 1 TD, but the offense is going to fall on his shoulders because the Redskins should score early and often, leaving Carr to play catch up.

Bench
Drew Brees, QB, Saints – New Orleans looks to light it up at the Superdome for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. However, Monday night won’t be that night. The Falcons will torch the Saints on the ground and force the Saints to play catch up all night long. Atlanta has a pretty good secondary (4 INTs through 2 games).
Rex Grossman, QB, Bears – Grossman faces a much better defense this week in the Vikings. The Vikes, however, have been poor at rushing the passer, with only 2 sacks on the season. Erasmus James is out and the Bears OL is excellent. The Vikes have done very well on third downs and have kept offenses out of the endzone. Grossman confuses Bears fans with an average 220 yard, 1 TD, 1 INT performance after his “superman” type performance last week.
Cadillac Williams, RB, Buccaneers – Davin Joseph out has been starting at RG this season and is out, which hurts an already shady ground game for the Bucs. Williams has been averaging 2.6 ypc, which is aweful, especially for those who drafted him in the first two rounds. This week, Cadillac will look to improve against a Carolina run defense that has forced teams to run and given up huge yardage. Look for Carolina to turn the corner and their run defense to improve this week.
Dominic Rhodes & Joseph Addai, RB, Colts – Until this ‘running back by committee’ approach is over, keep these guys on the bench when the Colts are playing very good defenses such as the Jaguars, who have an excellent run defense.
Jamal Lewis, RB, Ravens – Lewis has a thigh injury and Jon Ogden has a knee injury. Add those together and you have Lewis riding the pine this week. Musa Smith and Mike Anderson should get a good number of carries in this game as well.
Ahman Green, RB, Packers – Green is going against a front four who are very good at stopping the run. Jason Spitz is questionable with a thigh injury, which won’t help matters either, since he’s one of the Packers two starting rookie gaurds. It’s rumored that Morency could be starting week 3 anyway with Green hurt.
Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles – The Eagles defense should have a good day against a young, inexperienced offense, leaving their offense with less to live up to. Westbrook should get some rest as this won’t be a close game. Expect Buckhalter to get more time, especially with Westbrook being listed as questionable.
Laveranues Coles , WR, Jets – Coles is limited in practice due to a calf injury, so keep him on the bench for this game. Start Jericho Cotchery instead as he should have another big day. The Jets go against a pretty good Buffalo defense, but Pennington is a good QB and he’s smart. He’ll limit the mistakes, but he won’t hit the 300 yard mark today.
Nate Burleson, WR, Seahawks – Burleson will be splitting time with Branch this week and Branch looks to prove himself, he definitely wants to start. Burleson hasn’t been worth his $49 million contract thus far and Branch has tons of talent.
Joey Galloway, WR, Buccaneers – He had an excellent week last week, but don’t expect him to put up anywhere near those numbers against Carolina. Simms won’t throw the ball 53 times every week and Galloway won’t get as many looks as he did (somewhere around 15).
Matt Jones, WR, Jaguars – Jones has missed practice all week with a groin injury. He’ll most likely be inactive this week, so expect Reggie Williams and Ernest Wilford to be big players on the fantasy charts this week against a banged up Indy secondary.
Vernon Davis, TE, 49ers – Davis has done very well so far as a rookie, especially with the offense surrounding him. However, the Eagles are much better than the Cardinals and the Rams and will shut down Davis like they did last week to Jeremy Shockey.
Adam Vinatieri, K, Colts – The Colts ruled him out for week 3, so don’t even bother.
Buffalo, DEF – Buffalo has a good defense and proved it after holding Miami, with a potent offense, to a mere 6 points. The Jets have a good aerial game, but have nothing on the ground. Buffalo has very good corners in Clements and McGee and should provide tough days for Cotchery and Coles.

Waiver
Jericho Cotchery, WR, Jets
Owen Daniels, TE, Texans
Desmond Clark, TE, Bears
Marques Colston, WR/TE, Saints
Verand Morency, RB, Packers