Bye Weeks: Carolina, Chicago, Jacksonville, New Orleans

Grab a Helmet

Donnie Avery or T.Y. Hilton @ NYJ: The Colts “won one for the Gipper” last Sunday (in this case, head man, Chuck Pagano), climbing back from an early three-score deficit to shock Aaron Rodgers and his Pack at Lucas Oil Stadium. They did it by throwing the ball literally all over the yard, an unsurprising development considering who replaced Pagano as head ball coach on this particular day. Bruce Arians loves the forward pass and it clearly shows through five weeks of action as his rookie QB trails only Drew Brees with 44+ passing attempts/game. Though most of them are aimed in Reggie Wayne’s direction (be honest: you didn’t see that coming), there are plenty more delivered in the general vicinity of his #2 and #3 guys, Avery and Hilton. We’d like to see them convert more of those targets into receptions, sure, but it’s hard to take issue with how many looks this pair has received so far. I’ll be starting Hilton on Sunday to cover some bye weeks and you should feel confident doing the same if the need exists.

The Titans have allowed the most FPts to tight ends this year.

Grab Some Wood

Greg Jennings @ HOU: Yeah, I’m cheating a bit here since he’s looking like the dreaded game-time decision for the Sunday night showdown in Space City. Here’s the thing, though: I’m not sure I’d start him even if he WERE to make a surprising recovery…and I might very well be in that predicament if he does since I own him in several leagues. Jennings clearly isn’t himself through five weeks and this balky groin he’s dealing with is probably the main issue. On the other hand, Jordy Nelson’s not exactly setting the world on fire in his absence. Is it possible (gulp) there’s something wrong with the guy who regularly zings these guys those pretty spirals? That guy seemed to indicate as much this week though he certainly didn’t mention any physical problems. I suspect the Pack’s problems are between their ears (and probably between their shaky tackles) but until they square things away, their usually reliable fantasy options become a little less reliable. Jennings, in particular, becomes a LOT less reliable until he gets healthier.

Torrey Smith v. DAL: Smith went absolutely bananas in Weeks 4 and 5, racking up 10 targets per tilt and tallying over 300 yards and three scores during that two-game stretch. A receiving star was seemingly born in Baltimore, right? Unfortunately, he’s totaled only 12 targets, half as many yards, and zero touchdowns in his other three matchups. Hmmm. So which Torrey Smith do we get in Week 6? Here’s my guess: that second, crummier one. Smith’s mini-explosion came at the expense of the Patriots (in a Sunday night shootout) and the Joe Haden-less Browns a week later. This week, he draws a Dallas defense that’s only ranked #1 against the pass so far in 2012. You can’t always draw a straight line from bad matchup to bad production, granted, but the Cowboys’ corners, Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne, are ideally equipped to prevent those over-the-top howitzers Smith specializes in. Expect only modest totals from the former Terrapin this Sunday.

Antonio Gates v. DEN: There hasn’t been a bigger disappointment at the tight end position to date…and it’s not even close. I just went and looked at one of my league’s waiver wires, in fact, and discovered there are 12 free agent tight ends who have outperformed him so far. TWELVE! We’re talking real luminaries here, too: Kellen Davis, Jeff Cumberland, Marcedes Lewis, Craig Stevens, etc. If you can judge a man by the company he keeps…. To be fair, Gates did sit Week 2 and he was only targeted three times in the blowout win over the Chiefs. However, he’s been the intended recipient of no fewer than seven Philip Rivers passes in each of his other three starts and has yet to tally more than 43 yards in any of them. Nope, no touchdown catches either. You shouldn’t drop him just yet but go find a suitable replacement if you’ve got the roster space.

Good luck, folks!

Quarterbacks