NFL Football - Buy/Sell

With Week 1 now behind us, we can now filter through player performances that may have propelled your fantasy team to a win or may have helped you to an 0-1 start. The ability to figure out which performances may have been a fluke and which performances present a "buy-low" opportunity can be a big key to success down the road.

Here is the first edition of "Buy and Sell" for the 2010 fantasy football season.

Buy

Shonn Greene, RB, New York Jets- Greene had a disappointing Week 1 against Baltimore, as he struggled with fumbles and dropped passes on his way to 18 rushing yards on just five carries along with one reception for nine yards.  The Ravens' defense has made plenty of running backs look bad through the years, but the fact LaDainian Tomlinson looked pretty good in his Jets' debut may make the owner in your league who has Greene look to trade him.   That could present what I feel is a very good "buy-low" opportunity if you find yourself in a league with an owner willing to deal Greene after one rough week.

Mike Sims-Walker, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars- Sims-Walker was held without a catch in Week 1, but that can be chalked to facing the excellent coverage of Broncos' CB Champ Bailey all day long.   Every week won't be like that, and Jacksonville QB David Garrard is not going to ignore his top target. Consider last week Sims-Walker's low point (which should be obvious) and he has nowhere to go but up.

Brett Favre, QB, Minnesota Vikings- Favre looked a little bit off-kilter in Week 1 against the Saints, as his late arrival to the Vikings and issues in the receiving corp (Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin) during the preseason robbed him of valuable practice time with many of his top pass targets from last season.  As long as the questionable Minnesota offensive line can keep the soon to be 41-year old upright and relatively healthy, expect Favre to get on the same page with his receivers fairly soon and see improvement in his numbers.

Steve Breaston, WR, Arizona Cardinals- Breaston had seven receptions for 132 yards in Week 1 against St. Louis as he appeared to be on the same page with QB Derek Anderson.  The news that fellow wide receiver Early Doucet may need sports hernia surgery may cement his status as a starter opposite Larry Fitzgerald.  That is good news for his fantasy potential, as he should see plenty of single coverage and should see plenty of targets.

Sell

Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans- Foster had 231 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Colts in Week 1 as the Texans leaned on the running game to beat Indianapolis for the second time in their franchise history.  Foster had 33 carries in the game, a number that is unlikely to be repeated given the talent Houston has in the passing game and behind Foster on the depth chart. If you own him, it's unlikely you want to trade him.  But if you have good running back depth and have other holes on your team, it may be the perfect time to sell high.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, New York Giants- Nicks had four catches for 75 yards and three touchdowns against Carolina in Week 1.  He is obviously unlikely to score that much in one game again in his career, let alone again this season.  Nicks is a nice fantasy option as a WR2 of WR3, but if you own him and someone makes you a significant trade offer it may be hard to turn it down.

Mark Clayton, WR, St. Louis Rams- Clayton had 10 receptions for 119 yards against Arizona in Week 1, less than a week after being acquired from the Ravens.  Clayton struggled with injuries and inconsistency during his tenure in Baltimore, and became expendable with the signing of T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  It's nice to see such a a good performance from Clayton, but to me it reeks of "one-week wonder."

Matt Hasselbeck, QB, Seattle Seahawks- Hasselbeck had three total touchdowns (one rushing) against the 49ers in Week 1 as he helped lead the Seahawks to a convincing in new head coach Pete Carroll's debut.  Hasselbeck had not had a rushing touchdown since 2005, and the soon to be 35-year old has played all 16 games just once (2007) in the last four seasons.  Given the fact Seattle's offensive line is not very good and rookie offensive tackle Russell Okung is banged up, Hasselbeck is a fairly significant injury risk as the season progresses. If you were able to capitalize on his strong Week 1 performance, now is the time to sell high.

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