Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 9

As you probably have already seen in your league, this week's batch of potential Waiver Wire pickups are pretty poor. Nonetheless, here are this week's players:

QUARTERBACKS
J.P. Losman, BUF, Slightly Recommended – Losman replaced rookie Trent Edwards (sprained wrist) in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Jets and tossed an 85-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans late in the game to seal the win for Buffalo. Coach Dick Jauron has yet to name a starter for this week’s juicy matchup against Cincinnati, but Losman could start even if Edwards is available. Edwards looks like he might be a decent quarterback in the future with some nice intangibles, but Losman probably gives the team the best chance to win now. Losman had a lot of success at the end of last year so there were high expectations for him heading into this season. He struggled in the first couple of games and then injured his knee in a Week 3 loss at New England, opening the door for Edwards. Losman has a strong arm, is very mobile and has a knack for making big plays, especially to the speedy Lee Evans. Losman would fall in the recommended category in deeper leagues if we knew for sure that he was the starter for this week. But since Jauron has yet to make an official announcement, he is only slightly recommended. Keep in mind the Bills face four lousy defenses over their remaining nine games.

Alex Smith, SF, Slightly Recommended – In his first start since September 30, Smith was forced to throw 43 passes as the 49ers were blown out by the Saints, 31-10. Smith’s completion percentage was low (51 percent) and he finished with just 190 yards and a touchdown, although he did manage to rush four times for 16 yards. Frank Gore (ankle) is gimpy, Darrell Jackson (quad) missed Sunday’s game and has been MIA all season, the team lacks speed on the outside and the offensive line has underachieved. So while Smith’s return can be seen as a good thing, the 49ers have a lot of work to do in order to turn things around. One of the big positives from Sunday’s game was Smith’s work with his talented tight end Vernon Davis, who caught six passes for a team-high 71 yards and scored a touchdown. The schedule does get easier for San Francisco with at least four favorable matchups over its final nine games. Smith is only slightly recommended in deeper leagues, but if Gore can get healthy and the team solves its offensive line problems, Smith might be a nice player down the stretch facing some weak defenses.

David Carr, CAR, Not Recommended – Carr took over for Vinny Testaverde (Achillies) in the second half of Sunday’s loss to Indianapolis and did not play well, throwing a lot of short passes and finishing with 103 yards on 16-of-23 attempts. Carr did add some value as a runner with five carries for 21 yards, but failed to lead the team to any points in the second half. Carr will probably start this week because Testaverde was seen hobbling around in a protective boot on Monday, but that doesn’t mean you should pick up Carr. It appears that Carr has never really gotten over the beating he took for five seasons in Houston. He simply doesn’t trust his instincts and has terrible pocket presence. Even with Steve Smith playing wide receiver for the Panthers, Carr is not someone you want to use unless you are completely desperate.

Joey Harrington, ATL, Not Recommended – Harrington will start the next few games while Byron Leftwich recovers from a high ankle sprain. Harrington began the season as the starter and did not look all that bad, but he did not make many plays either. Much like David Carr, Harrington seems to be negatively affected from his days in Detroit where he was sacked a lot and did not have much help around him. Harrington is a better quarterback than Carr, however, but he is not recommended at this point for a few reasons. First, Atlanta’s offensive line is a disaster right now with injuries and its running game is non-existent. The other key reason to avoid Harrington is the fact that he probably won’t have the starting job once Leftwich is healthy. The Falcons like Leftwich and seem willing to give him a chance to be their quarterback of the future so Harrington does not have much value unless you need him for a bye week replacement.

RUNNING BACKS
Ryan Grant, GB, Slightly Recommended – Grant exploded for a career-high 104 yards on 22 carries in Monday’s 19-13 overtime win at Denver. Grant, who also caught three passes for seven yards, took over after DeShawn Wynn injured his shoulder in the first quarter. THIMD advised benching all the Green Bay running backs for the game at Denver, not realizing how truly awful the Broncos’ rush defense has become. Only Miami has allowed more rushing yards this season, but that is because the Dolphins have played one more game than Denver. Grant will start next week’s game according to coach Mike McCarthy, but Grant is still an unknown commodity because he entered the game with just six career carries. Grant is only slightly recommended because the Packers have three other running backs in the mix and his career game came against one of the worst rush defenses in the league. But if you are in need of a running back, he is definitely worth a flier.

LaBrandon Toefield, JAC, Slightly Recommended – Toefield was used extensively in short yardage situations during last week’s win at Tampa Bay and even scored on a one-yard touchdown. In fact, Toefield, was used twice on a fourth down and one situation, making it in the first quarter and getting stuffed in the second half. Maurice Jones-Drew (knee) played but was not 100 percent so that could help explain Toefield’s increased role. Toefield has been in the league for five years and has never really done much outside of scoring four touchdowns on 36 carries in 2005. He does have nice size (5-11, 235) and runs with some power, but there is nothing special about him. Toefield is worth a speculative pick in deep leagues because if he did take over the goal line role, he would probably score a bunch of short touchdowns in Jacksonville’s run-heavy offense.

Andre Hall, DEN, Not Recommended – Travis Henry (ribs) missed Monday’s game against Green Bay so Selvin Young started and Hall backed him up, finishing with only three carries for 10 yards. Hall almost scored twice, however, running down to the one yard line on a six-yard scamper and catching a nifty 10-yard pass inside the 10 that was called back because of penalty. With Henry hurt and facing a possible suspension, Hall could have some value in Mike Shanahan’s running back friendly system. However, Young looked pretty good on Monday, running 18 times for 71 yards and catching six passes for 49 yards. Not to say Hall isn’t a good runner, he led the Big East in rushing at South Florida, but Young appears to be a better fit for the Broncos’ offense if Henry were to miss any significant time. Hall is not recommended at this point, although you should pay close attention to the Henry situation.

Adimchinobe Echemandu, HOU, Not Recommended – Echemandu ran for a team-high 62 yards on just 10 carries in Sunday’s 35-10 loss at San Diego. Ahman Green (knee) missed the game and the team is starting to get concerned with what seems to be a chronic problem. Ron Dayne started in Green’s place and recorded a team-high 17 carries, but he totaled just 47 yards and has limited upside. The Titans cut Samkon Gado last week so they appear to be high on Echemandu, who hadn’t received a carry since 2004. Despite his anonymity, Echemandu would have gotten a recommendation based on Green’s health concerns and Dayne’s general ineffectiveness. However, Echemandu suffered a hamstring injury in the game on Sunday and is scheduled to have an MRI this week. Hamstring injuries tend to linger and with the Texans playing so poorly on offense, it’s probably best to pass on Echemandu.

WIDE RECEIVER
Reggie Brown, PHI - Highly Recommended. Brown had a big game against the Vikes on Sunday, with 8 catches for 105 yards, giving him 17 receptions in his past 3 games. Brown owners may have dropped him earlier in the year. If he is on your WW, you know what to do....

Anthony Gonzalez, INDY - Not Recommended. Gonzalez once again started in place of Marvin Harrison, but he was not able to duplicate the numbers he put up in his last game, with only 1 catch for 16 yards. With Harrison almost definitely back this week for the showdown against the Pats, I wouldn't bother with Gonzalez...

Isaac Bruce, STL - Slighly Recommended. While I wouldn't necessarily put a claim in for Bruce, seeing that the Rams are on a bye this week, I do think he has a few more decent games left in him this season. If you have an empty spot on your bench and want some veteran depth, pick him up and stash him away for next week...

Jacoby Jones, HOU - Not Recommended. Jones has a decent game against the Bolts on Sunday, but with Andre Johnson due back either this week or Week 11 following the bye, I don't believe he'll be getting many looks after Johnson/Walter/Davis...

TIGHT END
Visanthe Shiancoe, MINN - Recommended. Shiancoe had a nice game last week against the Eagles, with 5 catches, 50 yards, and a TD. I wouldn't recommend him as anything more than a #2 TE, but he could be a decent bye week fill-in...

Justin Peelle, MIA - Slightly Recommended. Depending on the status of David Martin's groin injury, Peelle is also a decent bye week fill in after catching 6 passes for 42 yards against the Giants last week. Look for Lemon to focus a lot on his TE's the rest of the year...

Joel Dreessen, HOU - Not Recommended. Even though Dreessen caught a 28 yard TD pass last week, that was only his 2nd reception of the season. If Daniels is out this week (high ankle sprain), Dreessen may get more looks, but there should be better options for your team...

Mike Vrabel, NE - Recommended. Just making sure you were still reading! When is he going to be TE eligible in fantasy leagues? 10 career receptions, 10 career TD's. Could there be another one against the Colts this week???