With week 7 under our belts, fantasy football owners are past the midpoint of their regular season. The playoffs are still in sight for most, and decisions are being made to prepare for the playoffs.

If you are rocking along strong at 7-0, 6-1, or 5-2 then keep doing what you are doing, and start keeping an eye on week 14, 15, and 16 matchups. You want to be careful and not mess up a winning strategy, but if you have a starter with a horrible matchup in the playoffs, then start looking for a trade that gets you someone with a great matchup. Fantasy championships are won by paying attention to weeks 14-16.

If you are mid pack at 4-3 or 3-4, then continue to battle and tweak your team as needed, but the mantra here is “just win”. You have to keep battling because with these records you will be on the playoff bubble either just in or just out. Don’t take your eye off the future weeks, but you can’t afford a loss right now. Remember-Just win now.

If you are 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7 (I hope not 0-7 for sure) then you are in trouble. In all honesty, unless you have had horrible luck, then your team is probably pretty bad or you have a lot of injuries. If you are 1-6 or 0-7, then you are probably done. Even running the table doesn’t do a lot, but can put you back in play for a final playoff spot by week 13. If you are 2-5, it isn’t quite over, but you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is an oncoming train. If you are 2-5, then with the right breaks you can still have playoff hopes. Closing out 5-1 or maybe 4-2 gives you a shot at a final seed playoff spot. Even if it looks bad though, don’t give up and don’t stop submitting a lineup. There is an etiquette to fantasy football and starting the best team possible is one unbreakable rule.

Whatever your current fortunes, keep on fighting, and keep on reading. Good luck this week.

Week 8 Starts and Sits

Starts:

Chad Henne – Start Henne this week against Cincinatti. Many teams have Henne as a backup and with all the byes this week, then this is the week to use him. Matt Ryan just had a great game against the Bengals and Henne should also see success.

Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones – Facing the Bills this week, expect the dynamic duo of Charles and Jones to continue to have success. Owners of both will continue to hope that their back will get more carries, but the timeshare appears in place until one back falters.

Frank Gore – This probably goes without saying, but Gore looks like a super start against Denver. Look for a big game here.

Randy Moss – Something makes me think he is going to want to have a big game against the Patriots. Roll the dice.

Sits:

Michael Crabtree – With Alex Smith out, and the weak Denver rush defense on tap, expect to see a lot of running and not as much passing. Crabtree will not show as much progress this week as recent weeks.

Drew Brees – With some rough recent games under his belt, and the stout Steelers defense on tap I would be putting Brees on the bench. I know that you aren’t supposed to do this, but this week all things look bad.

That is all for now. As always, send in via comments or Twitter with your fantasy football start or sit questions.

With six teams on a bye in week 8 and injuries starting to stack up even higher finding some good value on the waiver wire is becoming more and more important each week. We have two solid WR’s and two good QB pickups for those of you who either lost Romo to injury, or just lost one of the solid QB’s on bye this week (Ryan, Flacco, Eli Manning, Vick/Kolb).

Teams with a Week 8 Bye: Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Browns, Giants, Eagles

Steve Johnson, WR, Bills – A hot WR pickup on the wire, Johnson has caught TD passes in each of his last 4 games. With improved QB play for the Bills in recent weeks, Johnson has become a serviceable starter for fantasy owners. He is starting for The Legend this week as a bye week fill in who has the capability to take over a spot in the lineup.

Kenny Brit, WR, Titans – Wow. After that performance last week who can argue with this one. Anytime a WR puts up an over 200 yard performance, then he should be owned in all leagues. Put him on your team for a spot starter.

Matt Cassel, QB, Chiefs – Lose Romo? Need a solid backup or starter? Then get Cassel. He isn’t a superstar, but is solid and the Chiefs appear to be for real. He has a solid running game to support him and he is starting to connect with Bowe.

Jon Kitna, QB, Cowboys – Another lose Romo candidate. Kitna is going to take the helm of an offense with a lot of talent that is fighting for its life. He could be a mid season fantasy gem of a pickup and if not, then is at least a good bye week pickup.

Now get out there and work the wire! Get your team ready to win in week 8.

Questions about who to pickup? Who to trade? Comment on this post or send me a message on Twitter.

The pickings on the waiver wire seems slimmer this week than in past weeks. I am finding it hard to recommend many pickups this week especially for immediate help. As the bye weeks keep coming and the injuries keep piling up then digging deep on the wire is important, so let’s see if we can find a few waiver wire gems for our fantasy football team.
Teams with a Week 5 Bye: Dolphins, Patriots, Steelers, Seahawks
Sam Bradford – If bye weeks or injuries have left you with a hole at QB, then Bradford could help your team. While a rookie QB isn’t what you hope to be left with, Bradford has played well in his last few starts and faces a 49ers defense that is [...]

Last week we discussed being 0-2. This week we will try to give hope, inspiration, and fantasy football advice to those who have been unlucky enough to start the season at 0-3.
Let’s get it out there upfront. If you are 0-3, then you are in a big hole. In most leagues, this means that you need to go 7-3 and at worst, 6-4 for the balance of the season to make the playoffs. That is a tough task in any case, and especially with a team that has started off 0-3.
For an 0-2 team, the counsel is patience and thorough evaluation. The same holds true for an 0-3 team of course, but the situation is more urgent and some action needs to be taken whether [...]

A few solid guys feature on the week 4 pickups list. No laundry lists here or the top ten best pickups with 5 or 6 who are just not that good at all. Just the solid adds to help your team.
Peyton Hillis – What a monster game against the Ravens and their stout defense. Having earned the starter role and relegating Harrison to backup duty, Hillis is a good add who can be used to help out in bye weeks or as an injury fill in and with one more performance like that, even a RB2. He will be a hot commodity on the waiver wire and should become owned in all leagues.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis – Do we finally have a solid #1 RB [...]

Ok, let’s talk about it. If it has happened to you then you may be embarrassed and ashamed and do something rash and irresponsible. Don’t do it. Stop and think. Read this post.
What is it? Why starting 0-2 in your fantasy football league. For the serious fantasy player this is a horrible way to spend the first two games of a season you have looked forward to for months. After hours of research and preparing for and having the perfect fantasy draft it has all come crashing down on you. Or that is what you think. It seems like the season is over and all those hopes of the Fantasy Super Bowl have been replaced with just hoping you don’t get the [...]