Deeper Pickup of the Week

Looking for a player that's likely to make an impact? Are you in a keeper or dynasty league?

I have a pickup for you. Try Pierre Thomas of the Saints. Aaron Stecker is not the answer for your waiver wire needs. If you remember last year, the main thing that made the offense work for the Saints was big Deuce.

-He picked up the dirty yards.
-He led the team in rushing for 12 of their 16 games.
-He was the part of the offense that kept the finesse part (Bush and Colston) clicking.

The Saints are going to miss him, that's for sure. A number of fantasy experts and football columnists called for the team to get back to pounding the ball with Deuce prior to his injury in week 4 - so what's changed now?

Do we really expect Reggie Bush to carry the entire offense? I don't. He's not ready to be an every down back yet - and that's what makes the next part interesting.

Remember 2005 - when Deuce hurt his other knee? Stecker came in and filled in nicely - but he has the same skill set as Bush - and they're paying him a whole more money to play.

Saints 2005 rushing stats -

Aaron Stecker 95 attempts 363 yards 0 TDs 35 catches 281 yards 0 TDs
Antowain Smith 166 attempts 659 yards 3 TDs 12 catches 46 yards 0 TDs


Long term - Deuce might not be able to come back from another ACL injury, and he's 29 in December. Might be worth a gamble to pick up Pierre Thomas, who beat out the Saints 4th round pick in training camp to make the team. He's not a bruiser, but he fits the "tough yards" guy mold better than Stecker does.

And I don't think the Saints will be this bad on offense all year - it can only get better.

Wacky Year in the NFL (so far).

How about that? McNabb fools us into thinking that he's going to have a difficult year. Then he goes out and has a great game - and according to this report without his knee brace. Don't tell me it was something in the water this week folks...McNabb looked pretty good and worry free moving around the pocket.

Rudi Johnson? Rudi? Hello - paging Mr. Johnson! I didn't see this game in progress, but Rudi's final line was 17 carries for 9 yards? What? And then one of the most durable backs in the league goes ahead and injures his hamstring. According to this report on eight run plays called by the Bengals - they were tackled for a loss. It may be that we'll be seeing more of Kenny Watson based on his performance late in the game. (This the part of the program where I tell you to drop Glenn Holt! who was targeted only once in Sunday's game. Johnson likely won't miss the next game, but I would consider adding Watson.)

Tony Romo - is he who we think he is? The second half of the Week 3 game made Dallas look like a completely different team (probably losing 3 key Bears defensive players didn't hurt either).

Matt Leinart - is it time to be concerned (like we were - for different reasons - after the Bears game last year)? I understand that Leinart was going to be ineffective (that's why I benched him in favor of Jason Campbell in one of my leagues). On the other hand, what is supremely interesting is that Kurt Warner came in and diced up the Baltimore D. According to this report, Leinart might be lucky Arizona didn't end up winning that game.

Can Randy Moss keep this up? Peter King refers to a point made by Cris Carter in this report. You can never underestimate the importance of a stable relationship with your QB.

Did you see the Jags shut down Travis Henry? If anyone saw this coming, I'd like to know where you got your crystal ball. OK, this game was all about defense - but after the Titans put a lot of yards on the ground against the Jags - I thought the Broncos were in for a big day. What is even more mystifying...they were playing IN DENVER!