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Arian Foster:  The hamstring needs to heal. The Texans are best to sit him out and let Tate do the work. I wouldn’t consider using him this week.
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Antonio Gates:  I didn’t draft Gates in any league because of his recent injury history. He’s gives your opponents nightmares when he plays, but all to often it’s you that’s worrying about his status. Sounds like he should go despite missing practice all week, but he likely won’t have to play the entire game since the Chiefs are terrible. If you are a gambler play him. Otherwise go for a safer bet.
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Beanie Wells:  It didn’t take long for Beanie (hamstring) to get nicked up. He’s not a tough runner when he’s banged up. That’s if he plays. I’d look elsewhere.
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Dallas Clark:  Clark’s foot is giving him issues. Given how bad the Colts have been and the fact that they’re playing Pittsburgh, I’d look elsewhere.
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Dez Bryant:  He’s playing on Monday Night Football so make sure you’re ready to add a Cowboys or Redskins receiver if he can’t go.
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Felix Jones:  This one is tough. They don’t play until Monday so you’re going out on a limb. If you have another solid option, I’d go that route.
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Marcedes Lewis:  Looks like he’ll play, but how effective will he be? Especially considering the Jags turned to Blaine Gabbert.
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Michael Vick:  You knew this would be an issue when you drafted him. He looks like a go so you have to play him.
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Percy Harvin:  Thankfully he wasn’t dealing with a migraine. Percy returned to practice and is a go against Detroit.
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Peyton Hills:  So much for giving Hillis a reduced role. The Browns are working him into the ground again. That said, he should be good to go this week and should be in your fantasy lineup.
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Tony Romo:  The lung is healed. The ribs will be shot up and protected with special equipment. Looks safe to start.
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Also check out:

• Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Advice
• Week 3 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football TE Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football K Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football DEF Rankings
• Week 3 Fantasy Football Sit/Start Advice
• Week 3 Fantasy Football Sleepers

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Both Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates are inactive for tonight’s game. Vincent Jackson suddenly is a must start. Make sure you set your lineups to get Floyd and/or Gates out of them. Good luck if you have anybody playing tonight.

Image courtesy of Icon SMI

With each passing day the likelihood that Vincent Jackson will play a down for the Chargers this season worsens. Even with their new rookie RB Ryan Mathews figuring to provide more balance on offense, this is still Philip Rivers team, meaning they will be throwing the football early and often.

Antonio Gates will likely lead the Chargers in targets, but Floyd will be counted on to use his big frame (6’5″, 225 lbs) similar to the way Vincent Jackson did.

Floyd showed big play potential last year catching 45 passes for 776 yards (17.2 yards per catch). His career ypc is 16.5. He’ll have to improve on his one TD though. However, with Vincent Jackson (6’5″, 230) out of the mix, Floyd will be more likely to get them. Legedu Naanee (6/2″, 220) just doesn’t have the size Floyd does.

Assuming V-Jax doesn’t play for the Chargers Floyd could be a steal in fantasy drafts. His current Mock Draft Central ADP is 69th (25th WR). It’s a little bit of a risk going with a somewhat unknown commodity, but sometimes you need to take risks to win. In all likelihood you can get the number one WR on a pass-first team as a WR3. What’s not to like about that scenario?

What are your thoughts on Malcom Floyd? Would you want him as your WR3?

The biggest concern the Chargers are facing is the possible holdouts of Vincent Jackson and Tackle Marcus McNeill and not LaDainian Tomlinson’s departure. It appears unlikely that they will have the services of these two key players any time soon.

Fantasy Playoffs Schedule:  Moderate
The Chargers should start the fantasy playoffs with a bang in a Week 14 match-up with Kansas City at home. Next they face the Niners at home before playing the Bengals in Cincinnati in the fantasy championship.

Five Star Fantasy Options
Philip Rivers – Losing Vincent Jackson would hurt, but Rivers would make do. He would still have Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee have potential. Plus, Darren Sproles is effective catching the ball out of the backfield.

Antonio Gates – Despite his decline, LT still scored12 TDs. It’s hard to imagine rookie Ryan Matthews will punch in that many. Gates should get plenty of looks in the red zone and a return to double-digit TDs is highly likely. If V-Jax does holdout, Gates will get more looks. He could easily be the top scoring TE in 2010.

Four Star Fantasy Options
Ryan Matthews – I know he’s only a rookie, but he is in a good situation. If McNeill does hold out, bump him down to a three star. Matthews should get plenty of carries between the 20s. He could yield some red zone carries to Darren Sproles because of Sproles’ versatility, but the one-yard plunges should belong to Matthews.

Three Star Fantasy Options
Darren Sproles – Sproles did not have the season many expected him to, but still finished with 840 total yards and 7 TDs. He should be able to at least match those numbers, and even top them if Matthews struggles to adjust to the speed of the NFL.

Vincent Jackson – If he doesn’t hold out, you can easily move him up to the five star level. He’s that talented. He’s big, he’s fast, and is a good bet for 1000+ yards and 10+ TD if, and it’s a big if, he can come to terms with the front office.

Malcom Floyd – If Jackson holds out, you can move Floyd up to at least a 3.5 star rating. He’s a big play threat averaging 17.2 yards per catch the past two seasons. He could produce a 1000 yards season if given enough looks.

Chargers Defense/Special Teams – They aren’t the force they once were, but the do play the Chiefs twice (Weeks 1, 14), Raiders twice (5, 13), Seahawks (3), and Rams (6).

Two Star Fantasy Options
Legedu Naanee – Naanee could add a star if V-Jax sits out. He has good size (6’2″, 220), but has yet been given the opportunity to show what he can do. There is a bit of risk in drafting Naanee, but do remember who his QB is.

Click here for additional 2010 NFL Team Previews.

I’m interested to see whether or not T.O.’s departure will hinder Jason Witten’s production.  Love him or loathe him, T.O. did make life easier for Witten when he wasn’t making his buddy Tony Romo nuts.  Despite turning in a solid season with 81 catches for 952 yards 4 TDs, Witten’s numbers were way off his outstanding 96-1145-7 2007 performance.  Of course Tony Romo missed Weeks 7-9 where Witten had just 7 catches for 52 yards.  The Cowboys at least brought in Jon Kitna to be Romo’s backup, which is a major upgrade over Brad Johnson.  With a healthy and happy Romo, who not only got rid of the T.O. headache, but the Jessica one as well, and a good insurance policy, I see Jason Witten as the top Tight End again in 2009.  He’ll likely go in the 4th round of fantasy drafts, and should be the first one off the board.  As Romo’s most reliable weapon I expect Witten to catch 100 passes for 1150 yards and 8 TDs. 

Considering the season Philip Rivers had, it’s amazing that Antonio Gates had “just” 60 catches for 704 yards and 8 TDs.  While they are impressive numbers for a TE, they are far below the 79-993-10 he averaged the previous four years.  He battled through foot and ankle injuries that took away his leaping ability, which is one of Gates’ best assets.  Gates committed to working harder on his conditioning in the offseason and is in great shape.  With his explosiveness back, Gates can make a run at reclaiming his title of best fantasy TE.  Gates will be anywhere from the 2nd to 4th TE selected in fantasy drafts, most likely in the late fourth/early fifth round.  He should be good for 80 catches for 1000 yards and 10 TDs.

Tony Gonzalez made the move from Kansas City to Atlanta.  While he goes to an offense with more weapons (Roddy White, Michael Turner, Michael Jenkins, Jerious Norwood), he also goes to a team with a much better QB.  Matt Ryan had a solid Rookie season, and with the addition of Gonzo, he should take the next step towards fantasy greatness.  Atlanta will run more than KC did so I look for his numbers to drop a little.  I know he played for KC when they ran a lot an still produced, but he was younger and that was a better offense.  I still expect Gonzo to be a top three TE so it’s not like I don’t value him.  He’s going in the 5th Round of fantasy drafts.  I’m putting him on a 70 catch, 900 yard, 7 TD season.

Dallas Clark is the low end of the elite TE, but there is a drop off after he goes off the board (likely in the late 5th/early 6th round).  Clark put together another solid season with 77 catches for 848 yards and 6 TDs, showing the 58-616-11 he put up in 2007 wasn’t a fluke.  With Marvin Harrison gone, Clark should consider to be one of Peyton Manning’s primary targets.  I actually expect him to take a little step back this year simply because he was so productive last year.  I’m looking for him to have 65 catches for 850 yards, and 7 TDs.