Wide Receivers

Must Start:

Antwaan Randle El v. DET: If Santana Moss sits, expect a good day for Randle El. Jason Campbell isn’t yet a great quarterback, but Detroit certainly isn’t a great defense, having given up eight touchdown passes already this season. Detroit likes to score points in bunches, so Washington will have to keep pace somehow and there aren’t a lot of great receiving options on the Redskin roster after Randle El.

Bryant Johnson @ STL: This is another guy who will be filling a gap in his team’s receiving corps. Assuming Anquan Boldin can’t play again this week, Johnson makes for a solid start against the almost non-existent St. Louis secondary. If Boldin comes back, disregard all this. As long as the Cardinals can keep their quarterback situation together, they should light up the Rams with whatever receivers they throw out onto the field.

Greg Jennings v. CHI: The Packers can’t run the ball, so they pass a lot. The Bears cover guys got abused last week. Jennings has a touchdown in both games he has played since returning from injury. There isn’t a middling receiver with a better situation this week.

Santonio Holmes v. SEA: We saw last week what Holmes can do as the main target in the passing game when he racked up 128 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle has a better pass defense, but the Steelers will be looking to avenge last week’s loss. Fast Willie Parker will do the bulk of the work while Holmes gets enough looks to make his owners happy. Ward’s status for this week is still up in the air but don’t hesitate to plug Holmes in as Ward will be limited.

Brandon Marshall v. SD: Who expected the San Diego defense to be a good match up for opposing receivers? Through four games they are allowing an average of two receiving touchdowns a game. I wonder if any second guessing is going on in the Chargers organization over the firing of Marty Schottenheimer. Either way, Marshall has been taking up the slack for the missing Javon Walker and should continue to be successful this week.

Grab Some Pine:

Dwayne Bowe v. JAX: Bowe is making a claim to be this year’s Marques Colston, tearing things up in his rookie year. He has clearly emerged as Kansas City’s most explosive receiver, although his upside will continue to be limited by his teammates. Unfortunately, Jacksonville is not going to be very receptive to the youngster in what will be a lower scoring bout.

Bernard Berrian @ GB: He surprised me last week with his adequate yardage totals. Facing the Green Bay secondary is a little different than squaring off against the Detroit patsies. Griese doesn’t have the arm strength to get Berrian the long ball and the Packers won’t allow him to rack up much yardage. It wouldn’t hurt if he would learn to catch the ball rather than watch it clunk off his chest regularly. Quarterbacks appreciate little things like that.

Michael Jenkins @ TEN: Two touchdowns last week were nice. However, counting on the Atlanta Falcon slot receiver isn’t smart. Many owners jumped on Jenkins after last week’s performance and they were wasting their time. He just had his best performance of the year. Trade him before he disappoints everyone this week against the Titans, who have only allowed two touchdown passes this season.

Braylon Edwards @ NE: He has had some impressive games over the last few weeks and the Patriots know that. If you expect New England to bewilder Derek Anderson, expectations can’t be high for his favorite target. Unless he gets lucky in junk time, Edwards will put up poor stats against a very smart and talented Patriot secondary. I just can’t see Anderson figuring out the New England defense when so many other quarterbacks have failed in that endeavor.

Isaac Bruce v. ARI: Bruce is remaining on starting rosters solely due to past years of performance. He has been held to under 25 receiving yards in three of four games this year, just saw his offensive coordinator get canned, witnessed his talented quarterback being benched, and is battling a hamstring injury to boot. Torry Holt is the only St. Louis receiver that should be in starting lineups and even that is coming into question.