Motoring in Motor City

In case you haven't noticed, the Detroit Lions are pretty good. And for once in a long time, I'm not just talking about Megatron.

The cat is out of the bag on these cats. If you were smart enough to draft Matt Stafford as your backup quarterback in the mid-to-late rounds, you've hit the jackpot on fantasy's newest every-week QB1. Jahvid Best has still not broken off a trademark big run, but it hasn't mattered. (And he hasn't suffered any injuries.... yet.) It's not Calvin Johnson with the most receptions or receiving yards - that would be Nate Burleson. In Week 2, rookie Titus Young emerged as a threat to put up similar numbers in this multi-pronged attack, which is a lock to go three-wide on a regular basis. Brandon Pettigrew has gotten off to a quiet start, but his time will come, and Tony Scheffler has two TD receptions in the meantime. Keiland Williams even got into the act with a short TD run, and not all of them in the future will come in garbage time. Even Jerome Harrison would possibly be a viable fantasy play if he were to start garnering a few more snaps.

There is no shortage of options here, much like Green Bay and New Orleans, so I'm going all-in for the duration. Get whatever Lions you can while they're still affordable, because they're only going to get better. Megatron was a bonafide first-rounder, and you may have missed any window on Stafford and Best. But Burleson can probably still be had relatively cheaply, and Pettigrew and Young may even be on your waiver wire.

Granted, they put up a horde of great stats against Kansas City, a team that looks like it's handing out touchdowns like promotional T-shirts. So technically the jury is still out. But with a healthy Stafford at the helm, it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities. Last Sunday was just a sampling.

Stafford is emblematic of what so far is clearly a quarterback's year, with a handful of elite WRs as the prime beneficiaries (or benefactors, depending on how you view it.) The season is very young, obviously, but through two weeks you have seven quarterbacks averaging better than 20 fantasy points per game in a standard settings league, and two others just short of that. And that's not including Michael Vick, Philip Rivers or Peyton Manning. Last year, Vick was the only one, with a dominating average near 25. (Aaron Rodgers just missed it, and probably would have gotten there if not for missing a game and a half due to injury.) Last year, the average of the top 12 was 17.11. This year, it's five points better at 22.00. There's no way that holds up for the season, but there sure are a lot of points being provided from that money position so far. The problem is, everyone's got one of those guys now, so your high pick on Rodgers or Vick hasn't exactly made much of a difference yet. Sure, perennial gunslinger Tom Brady is not surprisingly leading the way with a robust 31, but Stafford, Cam Newton and Ryan Fitzpatrick are new names among the top five.

Rivers will have a pretty good shot to try to crack that after this week, as the Chargers are hosting a reeling Kansas City Chiefs team that allowed four passing TDs each to Stafford and Fitzpatrick. (Only two other teams have allowed more than four passing TDs over the first two games combined.) This will be perhaps the most intriguing game for fantasy owners this week for a variety of reasons. Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert are both legitimate starts, especially as receivers out of the backfield and as clock-killers with a big lead. Mathews has a very real chance to have a huge game and grab the lion's share of the carries going forward as he has been the far more effective rusher of the two. One more game like that and the true timeshare may be done and my vision of Mike Tolbert as the dream RB3 / upstart RB2 will be done. For the receivers, Malcom Floyd is out, and Patrick Crayton is in. Antonio Gates is a giant question mark after not practicing all week, leaving Crayton's arrow pointing even higher. On the other side, we'll get the answer to what's going to happen in the backfield post-Jamaal-Charles. As you know, I like Dexter McCluster. A lot. But the more I think about it, the more I respect Thomas Jones, although probably still not as a fantasy asset. This is a guy that has always been a champion among his peers, a motivated hard-worker that stays in great shape and leads by word and by example. His offensive line may give that little extra push for him now that he needs their support more than ever as the default lead back. I still say this is tough sledding for anyone on that team, and I still think McCluster has the bigger upside, but a motivated Jones is not someone to underestimate. He may surprise us all and end up with a season akin to Fred Jackson's 2010 (over 1000 yards-from-scrimmage to go with seven TDs.)

Waiver Claim Carousel

I mentioned in my column earlier this week that it was a deep one for waiver claims, and it got a lot deeper with some late-breaking news. Roy Helu was the big RB pickup alongside McCluster and Jones, and there was definitely widespread speculation on both Demarco Murray (the wiser investment) and Tashard Choice. Thursday evening, there was a mad rush for free agent Bernard Scott on the news that Cedric Benson would be likely to miss Weeks 4-6 via suspension, and it's an excellent speculative pickup given his talent and the schedule. We might actually see a changing of the guard in real time with advance warning. But Scott will have to prove something significant during his audition, or else it will be quickly back to CedBen. With Peyton Hillis missing practice Friday with illness, Montario Hardesty popped back up on the radar, and he's another guy that may just need one full-game look to be relevant. He's not vanishing Hillis, mind you, but a more consistent change-of-pace role going forward could be in the works regardless of whether or not Hillis suits up Sunday. Ditto Javon Ringer. Jerious Norwood? Not so much. Steven Jackson and Cadillac Williams may both miss Sunday's home game, but Norwood is not an option against the Ravens. I'm lukewarm on Chester Taylor if Beanie Wells sits. It's hard not to like anyone against the Seahawks, but it is Chester Taylor after all. That ship sailed a while ago. Nevertheless, that brings the overall total to nine options for this week at RB. And here I thought it was the WR waiver that was deep.

Titus Young is my personal favorite of the Class of Week 2, but I believe Buffalo's David Nelson has the best chance to shine on this particular weekend against a New England secondary that was performing poorly even WITH starting safety Patrick Chung, who's potentially out for this game with a broken finger. Denarius Moore and Eric Decker were the other high-end claims, and I like their respective chances going forward, certainly more so than most of the RBs listed above. None of these guys can be considered sneaky plays just a week after coming out, but for the record, I like each of them for 70+ yards and at least two scores among the foursome. Count on Nelson for one of those, as well as triple-digit yardage.

Sneaky Plays

Patrick Crayton: 100+ yards and a touchdown. Even more if Gates sits. Great opportunity for the Chargers to get his feet really wet with a win almost assured. They'll throw it to him the whole game, even with a good lead, while Gates and Jackson take the second half off. A dark dark darkhorse for the same kind of opportunity is rookie wideout Vincent Brown, if he's active. Actually, pretty much any active Charger is a good play this week.

Victor Cruz: Close to 100 yards as the default possession receiver. Unfortunately, Brandon Stokley is also a good candidate for this kind of line, and if so, saps Cruz' value. Cruz does bring a unique playmaking and deep threat ability that Stokley lacks, so he could conceivably have a giant day. (Pun intended.) I'd excitedly start him if I was in a real pinch.

Lance Moore: Over 100 yards on 8+ receptions. He's close to 100 percent, Colston is still out, this will likely be a shootout, and Drew Brees loves him. If he's available in your pool, this is the last chance to get him for nothing.

Chad Ochocinco: 75+ yards and a TD. This one may come back to bite me, but he's due, and the Patriots are motivated to get him involved. Like everyone else, he gets a bump with Hernandez out

Outside of my prediction for the big four WR waiver wire pickups, that's all I've got for you this week, guys. All wideouts. I've got a good feeling about Demarco Murray for some reason, but I'm not going to bet on it.

P.S. A couple of conflicting indicators on my Nate Solder TD-reception watch. After releasing Dan, the lesser of the two Gronkowskis, the Patriots are now down to one tight end on the roster, and eyeing Solder for at least spot duty there seems to make sense. But they also declared starting tackle Sebastian Vollmer out for this week, so they'll probably need Solder much more at his natural position on a full-time basis. My gut says he’ll still see a handful of eligible snaps this week, but won’t have more than one target. Probably not in the end zone, but you just never know.