Fantasy Football Week 8 Buy Low / Sell High

Can you guess which category Plaxico falls into this week? I will give you a hint, its not buy low... (Getty Images)

Buy Low

Darren McFadden, RB Oakland-  And the injury bug bites.  McFadden left this last week’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs with a sprained foot, after carrying the ball only twice for four yards.  While this is not super positive news for McFadden owners, it could certainly be a lot worse.  Oakland goes into their bye this week, and McFadden is expected to be on the field when the Raiders get back to action in week 9.  As any injury goes of course this is no guarantee, but the injury does not appear to be major.  McFadden’s week 5,6, and 7 outtings have netted him only 22.8 points over the three week period, or an average of just 7.6 points per game.  This is not the kind of output that McFadden will be producing going forward, as Oakland is going to lean heavily on their run game while Carson Palmer gets adjusted to the new offensive system.  The risk here is whether or not McFadden is going to be able to stay healthy as the season wears on, but it is a risk certainly worth taking.  McFadden’s value may not be this low for the rest of the season, so if he is a guy you have had your eye on, now is the time to pounce.

Miles Austin, WR Dallas Cowboys-  Miles Austin has been back in action now for two weeks, after missing the previous two to injury, and his return has been unspectacular.  He has posted up just 90 yards combined in the last two games, with no touchdowns.  This includes his pathetic two catch 16 yards performance this last week.  Now as far as last week goes, let’s not hold this against Austin.  Dallas was having too much fun playing with their newly discovered toy in Demarco Murray, crushing Emmitt Smith’s single game rushing record for a Dallas Cowboy.  But believe it or not this is actually going to be quite a good thing for Austin going forward.  Dallas has struggled the last couple of years getting a consistent run game going, and Demarco Murray may be the answer to their prayers.  And if he is, expect that Tony Romo is going to experience a good degree of single coverage with his wide receivers, as defenses now have to plan around a legitimate rushing attack.  And while Dez Bryant has outscored Miles Austin over the last two weeks, I do not expect that trend to continue for the remainer of the season.  Miles Austin is still a top tier talent and Romo’s favorite deep threat, so expect him to rebound this coming week against Philadelphia.

Vincent Jackson, WR San Diego Chargers-  V Jack is another guy who has had his fair share of struggles lately.  Jackson has had a lot of things going against him the last few weeks.  He has been battling a hamstring injury, as well as a torso injury.  He has also had to face double coverage frequently, as he has been the only real legitimate receiving threat on the field in the absence of future HOF tight end Antonio Gates.  Well Gates made it back into the lineup last week in a limited role, and he should be seeing the field more going forward.  In addition, this week is the first week in a while where Jackson has not shown up on the injury report, so he is seemly fully healthy.  One thing is for sure, Phillip Rivers is certainly not helping this situation, as he has had one of the worst starts to his career.  But expect Rivers to get his groove back, and Jackson will certainly be one of the primary beneficiaries.

Jahvid Best, RB Detroit Lions-  I have a lot of love for Jahvid, but at this point he is a very large question mark.  After exiting week 6 with a concussion, he missed week 7 and is looking to miss week 8 as well.  Some reports are now saying that Best is going to be out until at least week 10 when the Lions return from their bye.  Whenever it is going to be, Jahvid owners are certainly in a pinch in the coming weeks and should be open to some pretty talent-lopsided trade offers.  If you possess a strong team and can afford to use up a bench spot to house the injured Best in the coming weeks, you should be able to add him to your roster at great value.

Sell High

Chris Johnson, RB Tennessee Titans-  The time has officially come my friends- the point where there appears to be little to no hope that Chris Johnson is going to regain any semblance of his former self.  This is ultimately an incredibly frustrating moment for Chris Johnson owners, as your first round pick is now probably worth something around 3^rd to 4^th round value (if you are lucky).  There will be people in your league who believe that CJ can still get things turned around, and you need to exploit this.  These people see CJ as a buy low opportunity (and not long ago I listed him on here as such), so for them they feel they will be getting value trading a top 15-20 ranked player.  This is a good deal for a Chris Johnson owner at this point.  I think that Johnson probably has at least one impressive game or two still in him for the season, but to think at this point that he is going to somehow turn things around completely would be fairly naïve.  His performances are not getting any better, and he is showing very few signs of life these days short of some work in the passing game.

DeMarco Murray, RB Dallas Cowboys-  This one is really just a formality, folks.  I think that DeMarco actually has a ton of upside, and I expect him to contribute some very respectable fantasy numbers going forward.  But there are still several unknowns that need to be addressed when it comes to DeMarco- is Dallas going to move forward with a run first game plan?  What happens when Felix Jones returns from injury, do things move to a committee or has Murray locked down a featured role?  These questions are still very much up in the air, and only time will tell how the situation is going to unfold.  But one thing is known- Murray lit St. Louis up, and looked all-world doing it.  Few things are as great in the fantasy world as the allure of what could be.  And right now, I would bet there is at least one person in your league that wants to buy into that allure, and will pay a hefty price tag for it.

Plaxico Burress, WR New York Jets-  Plaxico Burress is having somewhat of a career resurgence going on right now in New York.  He was targeted eight times and was able to come down with four catches, three of which for touchdowns.  Still, he only amassed 25 yards in the process, following games of 16, 42, and 33 yards (and zero scores over that three game stretch).  Santonio Holmes is still the receiver to own in New York, but after this last week Plaxico is actually the leading fantasy wide receiver on this roster.  He certainly has some value going forward, but is not likely to see the same kind of single coverage looks that he got in the endzone this last Sunday.  I think that in all honesty right now Plaxico has little more than flex play value, but you may be able to convince your leaguemates that he is closer to WR2, and you should trade him accordingly.