Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Always start your studs: Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Roddy White, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson, Hakeem Nicks, and Brandon Lloyd to this list.

Start 'Em:
Receivers Who Will Outperform Relative To Their Draft Position And Recent Hype

Santonio Holmes vs. HOU
We’re back on the good ol’ 32nd-ranked pass defense of the Houston Texans (see the write-up for starting QB Mark Sanchez above). The Texans defense is so bad it’s difficult to identify which WR won’t have a break-out game and isn’t worth starting. The short answer is to start any healthy Jets WR you have. But for those who might have more than one Jets WR on their team, Santonio Holmes would be my pick. Over the last three weeks Holmes has outperformed Edwards in catches and yards, and they have the same number of TDs. Right now Holmes is 27th in the league with 64 yards per game, but that average should get a nice bump after this week’s game against Houston.

Randy Moss vs. WAS
Moss’ debut in Tennessee was not great. He had 1 catch for 26 yards, saw his (current) starting quarterback get injured, and lost to the Dolphins and their third-string signal caller. But Miami has the sixth-best pass defense; the Redskins are ranked 31st in that category. Overall, Moss has been a bust this year—in New England, in Minnesota, and after one week in Tennessee—but Washington’s defense gets abused every single week, so Moss has a real shot here to make some noise and perhaps kick a little butt for the rest of the season. He should be able to cash in on the 287 yards and 2 TDs per game the Redskins give away, making him a nice play this week.

Marques Colston vs. SEA
Here’s what Saints WR Marques Colston is facing this week: 272, 1, 5, and 1. That’s 272 yards, 1 TD, 5 big plays, and 1 pass play of 40 or more yards allowed per game; this is what an average week in the Seahawks secondary is like. Drew Brees and his contingent of explosive WRs should be licking their lips in anticipation of this week’s game. Colston should improve on his “devilish” average game stats of 6 catches for 66 yards (that’s a very corny 666 reference). He has only 2 TDs this year, but against the Seahawks pass defense he could match that total in this one game.

Pierre Garcon @ NE
Garcon is clearly overshadowed by Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie, and he’s missed a couple of games this year. He’s still only good for 4 catches for 49 yards a game, and has just 1 TD in seven games played. However, this week he faces a pretty bad New England secondary that is ranked 30th in the league (although the Steelers sure made them look better than that last week). The Patriots give up 278 yards and 2 TDs a game and allow quarterbacks to complete a league-high 69 percent of their passes. So Peyton Manning should have a big game (what else is new?), and some of those stats could trickle down past Wayne and Collie to Garcon, making him a better-than-usual start this week.

Bench 'Em:
Receivers Who Will Under Perform Relative To Their Draft Position And Recent Hype

Mike Williams (SEA) @ NO
On the year, Williams is averaging a very respectable 6 catches for 61 yards per start, but he has only 1 TD. And although he did explode last week for 11 catches and 145 yards, it was against the lowly (27th-ranked) Cardinals. In his two games before last week, he totaled just 3 catches for 52 yards against the pass defenses of the Raiders and the Giants, which are both ranked in the top 5. This week he faces another top 5 pass defense—in fact, the #1 pass defense of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints allow just 166 yards per game and have only given up 6 TDs over nine games. So don’t get excited about last week’s performance; Williams will likely be right back to the 2 catches for 25 yards he’d given you in the couple weeks before that.

Johnny Knox @ MIA
Knox continues to be one of the best deep threats in the league. His 19.3 yards per catch ranks sixth among starting wide receivers. He’s good for 69 yards per game, which ranks him 18th in the league, but he only has 1 TD; so even on big plays, which he gets about once a game, he’s not scoring. Miami comes in with the sixth-best pass defense, giving up just 204 yards and just over 1 TD per game. One of the biggest things to keep in mind here is that the Dolphins have a very good pass rush and are 10th in the league in sacks—and we all know how Jay Cutler loves to get sacked. He’ll probably still get his one big play, but other than that, it could be a long day for Knox.

Derrick Mason @ CAR
Mason took a backseat to Anquan Boldin this year, but the ageless receiver is still cranking out 50 yards a game and has been scoring lately, too (2 of his 3 TDs this year have come in the past two weeks). But during last week’s touchdown catch he re-injured his finger, which could prove to be a nagging problem going forward. This week he faces Carolina, who has the league’s fifth-best pass defense, giving up just 195 yards a game. The Panthers are third in the league in yards per completion (6.4), number of big plays allowed (25), and number of pass plays over 40 yards (2)—not that Mason is a deep threat or anything. Sure, the Ravens should beat this horrible team, but look for most of the damage to be done by the running game and the defense.

Steve Smith vs. BAL
The once-deadly Steve Smith is doing all he can to just make it through another year—a year that could be his worst since his 2001 rookie season (not counting 2004 when he missed 15 games to injury). He’s averaging just 46 yards a game and has as many fumbles as he has TDs (2). Baltimore’s pass defense is just average, giving up 217 yards and a TD per game, but when your quarterback options are a post-concussed Jimmy Clausen (who hasn’t practiced yet this week), wet-behind-the-ears rookie Tony Pike, or Brian St. Pierre (who was just promoted from the practice squad on Wednesday), you really need to start looking for other options.