Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity

By this time in the fantasy football season you are starting to know who these players are this year.  You are also getting a feel for roles and how pecking orders have changed as well as the health status of different players.

For example, the injury to Peyton Hillis this year has given Shaun Draughn a chance to amass a decent number of fantasy points in every game this year.  Would you believe that he is the #33 running back in fantasy?  Crazy, right?  This year he has had weekly fantasy points of:  11, 8, 8, 9, 8, and 5.

Clearly Jamaal Charles is a stud #1 RB for your squad, but what do you do if you own him?  Charles has had serious injury problems in the past and he needs to be handcuffed.  It is my contention that even when Hillis returns, he won't be the backup.  In my opinion, Hillis will be the #3 Chiefs running back because Draughn has earned the backup job.  If you own Charles, please roster Draughn.

There's been a significant change in the WR corps in Green Bay, too, which is significant since it is one of the best aerial attacks in the NFL.  With Jennings' injury we've seen James Jones have some great games.  For now, Jordy Nelson is the #1 but he can be a boom or bust player.  Jones has value until Jennings comes back around week 13, but the real breakout has been Randall Cobb.  Cobb has turned himself into a viable WR2 for almost any fantasy squad.  He was a fashionable waiver wire pickup after week 1, but he followed up with 5 and 3 points in weeks 2 and 3, respectively.  Kudos to you if you held on to him or picked him up during those lean weeks.  His past four games have been 16, 20, 21, and 29 points in standard scoring.  And he catches balls in bunches so he is a PPR monster, too.  Most industry experts see his production continuing even when Jennings returns.

There are a lot of situations in the league like this.  There are still some great buy-low and sell-high opportunities out there if you look at the trends.  Pay attention and get some steals as you drive toward the playoffs.