Waiver View: Week Sev-THE BYE WEEK FROM HELL

Week 7 of the 2012-2013 NFL season. Or, as many of you will come to call it, the BYE WEEK FROM HELL.

Six (the most of any 2012 bye week) teams that are off this week: Falcons, Broncos, Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, Chargers. For fantasy, that's four auto-start QBs, six (SIX!) startable RBs, at least eight top-25 WRs and four of the top 20 TEs. Have fun with that.

Below are several options to help you. They won't keep you completely safe from the Bye Week From Hell, but they'll be nice company as you dredge through it. This is a bigger installment of Waiver View than usual, but fittingly so. Read, agree, brace yourselves. Godspeed.

Josh Freeman, QB - Tamp Bay Buccaneers - Josh Freeman just had his first career set of back-to-back 300-yards games. Now, he gets the porous Saints defense to work with. He's built chemistry with both Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, both of whom are serious downfield threats. Don't overthink it. Freeman has disappointed before, but this is an open invitation to spring a great season and he's playing very well so far.
Ownership: 65% ESPN, 41% Yahoo!, 62% NFL

Matt Hasselbeck, QB - Tennessee Titans - He looked great last week and led the Titans to a fairly large upset over the Steelers. Now he gets the Bills, who give up the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and as their defense allows more and more points, Hasselbeck will have to throw to keep pace. Washington is dependable, Britt and Cook are getting healthier, and Kendall Wright is developing quickly. Hasselbeck will have a great week as a fill-in.
Ownership: 6.7% ESPN, 7% Yahoo!, 0.7% NFL

Felix Jones, RB, Dallas Cowboys - With DeMarco Murray out at least this week, Jones will likely be the consensus top waiver commodity this week and for good reason. The Panthers are sixth-worst against runningbacks, and give up the most receiving yards per game to opposing runningbacks as well. Felix Jones made his name as a deadly weapon in screen schemes and is highly utilized in swing passes. Also, since the Cowboys' offense line sucks as bad as it does, he'll be the beneficiary of several dumpoffs.
Ownership: 51.3% ESPN, 26% Yahoo!, 11.5% NFL

Alex Green, RB - Green Bay Packers - He looked damn good last week against a very good Texans defense. This week, the Packers get the middle-of-the-pack Rams. Assuming Rodgers-of-old (if we can really even call him that) is "back," even though I've been telling you nothing was wrong with him for weeks, we can safely say this will be one-sided. Green will be utilized hevaily during garbage time, as the team will still be assessing his in-game capabilities with Benson out for another seven weeks.

Ownership: 28.4% ESPN, 51% Yahoo!, 25.8% NFL

William Powell, RB - Arizona Cardinals - I was wrong. One of the few times this season. LaRod Stephens Howling, unfortunately, was not the Sproles-in-New-Orleans prototype I had envisioned (actually ended up being a Sproles-in-San-Diego, but still). Powell impressed me. I know he has the tough Vikings run defense this week, but let's face it, the Vikes aren't running away with it and it's not like Skelton is going to command a pass-heavy game. Minnesota's a stingy D, but so many opportunities have to yield some sort of production.

Ownership: 3.2% ESPN, 32% Yahoo!, 24.8% NFL

Mike Williams, WR - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - He's racking up the yardage and just looks great to me. I'm high on Freeman this week and Williams is one of the reasons. They truly go hand-in-hand actually. He's a huge threat down the field and going up against that Saints offense, he should get plenty of looks to maintain a close game (also, Aqib Talib, Tampa's best corner, is suspended, so expect a monster game from the Saints offense).

Ownership: 54.7% ESPN, 67% Yahoo!, 14% NFL

James Jones, WR - Green Bay Packers - I've written about him before, but he seems to still be available in a TON of leagues. With Jennings perpetually sidelined, Jones has come in and shredded defenses with multiple highlight-reel catches. The guy just had his third-straight multi-touchdown game. You can't ignore that.

Ownership: 84.8% ESPN, 83% Yahoo!, 68.8% NFL

Josh Gordon, WR - Cleveland Browns - A Browns receiver in fantasy football?!?!?!???! Gordon has been phenomenal considering he only averages like two catches per game. Weeden loves hitting him deep and it's really all they can do since they're usually playing from behind. With Greg Little becoming more and more notorious for his dropped passes, Weeden and the Browns have started relying more heavily on Gordon and because of that, both his targets, and his fantasy value, should go up.

Ownership: 2.5% ESPN, 7% Yahoo!, 2.6% NFL

Dustin Keller, TE - New York Jets - The Patriots are the second-worst team in the league at defending TEs. They give up a healthy 60 yards per game and Keller has be involved in the passing attack for the Jets to have any chance in this game.
Ownership: 14.8% ESPN, 24% Yahoo!, 52.4% NFL

Guys I'm Not As High On, Though Others Seem To Be

Carson Palmer, QB - Oakland Raiders - I usually love the guy for fantasy football but this week, even with his fairly-high projections, I just don't see a game with Jacksonville turning out to be anything but a massacre for anyone who gets in Darren McFadden's way. I really don't see the need for Palmer to throw all that much. Yeah the Raiders defense is terrible, too, but  that's how bad the Jaguars are. All McFadden, all game.

Ownership: 56.1% ESPN, 43% Yahoo!, 53.4% NFL


Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB - Buffalo Bills - I just don't see him getting much opportunity considering they have a two-headed monster of a rushing attack and while the Titans are terrible against fantasy QBs, they're especially awful against RBs. Also, Fitzpatrick is especially awful at making smart football decisions, such as not throwing to the other team. Did you know he went to Harvard!?

Ownership: 53% ESPN, 53% Yahoo!, 27.8% NFL