Fantasy football: Waiver wire secrets
Waiver wire can have big impact
Making wise pickups off the waiver wire during the fantasy football season can mean the difference between a postseason berth and being ridiculed by friends, family and co-workers.
Here are some players who went mostly undrafted, but will make an impact for your team at some point this season:
Jake Locker, Titans, QB: This is a make-or-break season for Locker (pictured below). Luckily for him, new head coach Ken Whisenhunt has chosen him as his latest reclamation project (see: Kurt Warner and Philip Rivers). A healthy season could mean more than 3,500 total yards and 30 total touchdowns.
Michael Vick, Jets, QB: Unlike Locker, I don’t believe Vick is in for a big season, but who among us believes in Geno Smith? See, no one. Vick will start this season, and when he does, he will look spectacular. Then he will get hurt, but what a difference he will make in those few games.
Joseph Randle, Cowboys, RB: I know Lance Dunbar is DeMarco Murray’s backup, but Randle has the higher ceiling. Keep an eye out for him in the second half of the season.
Harry Douglas, Falcons, WR: You know this guy caught 85 passes for more than 1,000 yards last year, right? How is he not being drafted in more leagues? Tony Gonzalez’s retirement will create more opportunities in the offense even though Julio Jones is back.
Davante Adams, Packers, WR: Adams will be the third WR soon enough, and no team uses three wide receiver sets more. Remember James Jones once caught 14 touchdowns in this offense.
One special season
It would take a massive collapse for Clayton Kershaw not to win the National League MVP.
A pitcher hasn’t won the NL MVP award since Bob Gibson in 1968, which tells you how special of a season a pitcher has to have to take home the hardware.
Kershaw personifies special. Despite missing six starts early in the year with a back injury, he currently leads the NL in ERA (1.84), WHIP (0.84), opponent OPS (.519), strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) and victories (16).
He actually leads the majors in all those categories, except for running second to the Rangers’ Yu Darvish (11.35) in strikeouts per nine innings.
In fact, if it wasn’t for an early meltdown in the desert -- literally his only bad start of the season -- where he gave up six hits, two walks and seven earned runs in just under two innings of work, he’d have an almost nonexistent 1.35 ERA.
Look here: Grab bag
• If only Ray Rice (above) had been smoking marijuana in the elevator with his fiancee-now-wife, maybe then Commissioner Roger Goodell would have taken a tougher stance, instead of needing a public’s outcry to take domestic violence seriously.
• I came across someone on the radio advocating for a preseason in college football Sunday afternoon. Apparently, this week’s opening games didn’t meet his standard. That’s the last thing I want to see in college football. I love that every game counts.
Indeed, if the NFL decided to get rid of all preseason games, there would be no need for an Ice Bucket Challenge. All would be right with the world.
• E-Sports is a thing now. People are actually willing to fork over real cash to watch other people play video games. It’s almost a billion-dollar industry, where the winners win millions, and arenas across the world are easily sold out. You know, like real sports.
If only my prime Tetris-playing days weren’t behind me.
• After being released by the Rams last Saturday, Michael Sam went unclaimed through the waiver process. Which is odd, considering I count four teams who could use a boost in depth on their defensive line: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Oakland. I imagine Sam could even start for the Cowboys or Raiders. Fortunately for the NFL, a majority of teams use a 3-4 alignment for their base defense, which means they have a built-in excuse for not considering Sam.
2 things you missed ...
- Thursday: Jobs across all sports-related industries are up 12.6 percent since 2010 — more than double the growth in the national job market, according to a report by CareerBuilder.
- Friday: Six cyclists preparing to start a race in Norway were hospitalized after they all drank laundry detergent, believing it to be some kind of sports drink.
...And 2 things you can’t
- Today: Two of the top three strikeout pitchers in MLB face off when David Price (1st, 224 Ks) and Corey Kluber (3rd, 213 Ks) take the mound in Cleveland.
- Thursday: Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers hope to get revenge for the “Fail Mary” as they kick off the NFL season against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Seattle. (Ch. 7/5:30 p.m.)
