Championship Week: Try Not To Get Cute

For most of us, this week is Championship Week for fantasy football players. In my opinion, this year championship week is a bit different than previously because there seems to be a lot of injuries and players getting benched that have come with last week's results. This may cause fantasy players to try to get "cute" with their lineups by picking players off of waivers based upon last week's performance and these unfortunate injuries and benchings. As my man Matt Berry said at the beginning of the playoffs, this is not the time to get cute. At the same point though depending on the situation you may have to look at alternative options to fill out your roster if you're playing in a championship matchup this week, or even if you're trying to place well overall. I'm going to discuss just a few interesting scenarios that you may have come across due to injuries or players getting benched.

Of course I have to start off with my boy Cam Newton. There's a good chance that if you have Newton you're not playing in the championships unless the rest of your squad is full of studs, like my squad in Coast2Coast Ballers. Because of the way the positions are in this league, I had been starting 3 quarterbacks, one at starting quarterback and the other two at the "offensive player" position. Anyway, as of writing this, it's still unclear if Newton is going to play or not. He did throw the ball in practice on Wednesday and the Panthers' camp are saying that the situation is similar to when he missed week 1 and came back week 2. However, if he doesn't come back, Derek Anderson has actually been a reliable replacement for Newton this season. I used him last week and he didn't put up super numbers, but he got me about average fantasy points, and he got the victory for the Panthers.

Sticking with the quarterback position, on Wednesday the Chicago Bears decided to bench Jay Cutler for Jimmy Clausen. This is exactly what Matt Berry and I are talking about with don't get cute. If you have Jay Cutler you already know he wasn't putting up stellar numbers, and putting in Clausen is not going to make a difference at all. Personally, I didn't know Clausen was still in the NFL, but apparently he is and he's getting the start. I don't intentionally give advice on who to start or who to sit, but in this case I implore you not to start Clausen. Even if he does have a decent game, I'm steering away from Clausen at all cause. Do you remember when he was the starter at Carolina before Cam Newton got there? He didn't do anything, and most will say he didn't have any talent around him. I'm not buying that excuse at all because he had Steve Smith Sr. Also if that was the case he would be starting right?

Somehow, DeMarco Murray broke his hand last week against the Philadelphia Eagles and had surgery on Monday. Amazingly he was back on the practice field on Wednesday, but it is still uncertain if he'll start. Should he not start, the next best option probably would be Joseph Randle, who took first-team snaps at practice on Wednesday. My boy Victor like Lance Dunbar, but to me Dunbar hasn't done enough for me to consider him. You can say that starting Dunbar is another example of getting cute. I know that Dallas has an impressive offensive line that has allowed Murray to go crazy, but out of the two back ups, Randle will be the more reliable of the two.

In San Diego, Keenan Allen is out all of a sudden, I'm not quite sure what the injury is as he's been dealing with a groin and a hamstring for most of the season, but he's out. I think the biggest beneficiary from Allen's injury will be Eddie Royal. Even though Phillip Rivers will most likely be looking for Antonio Gates, don't sleep on Royal. He has been a sneaky play all year. If it doesn't go to Gates or Allen, 9 times out of 10 it's going to Royal. He has a few touchdowns this season and should see more targets with Allen out. There's a similar situation going on in Indianapolis with TY Hilton. He should be out this week but I'm not sure who is going to step up. They still have Reggie Wayne, but it gets interesting when it comes to Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief. Nicks and Moncrief have been competing for snaps over the last month. Nicks has had the upside over the last two weeks, but with Hilton out Moncrief should see some additional snaps. I have Moncrief on the team I have playing in the championship this week, but I'm not sure about starting him, I'm trying not to get cute.

I could say something about Johnny Manziel and RGIII, in which both players are starting this week for players who have been benched. However, we all know what RGIII has done this season, and we definitely know what Manziel did last week. Bernie Kosar ripped the Browns' coaching staff and front office this week, pretty much saying that the coaches and front office personnel have failed to do their jobs thus setting up Manziel for failure. He also mentioned that previous quarterbacks from Tim Couch to Brady Quinn had this same problem while they were quarterbacks for Cleveland. I believe this to be true and I also believe that RGIII is dealing with the same situation in Washington. Manziel and RGIII both are athletic guys with the potential to be deadly at the quarterback position, but things just hasn't gone as planned for either. Some fantasy players may have gotten cute last week and started Manziel which resulted in those players crying with their tail between their legs. The question is, do you risk being cute again this week starting Manziel or RGIII?