Though week 10 has no bye weeks, that doesn’t mean we are done with them yet. The NFL takes a brief break from making our fantasy football lives a living hell. Four more teams will be off on week 11. It was the labor dispute and fear of games being missed that had the League juggle the bye weeks the way they have. If your team is hurting in a particular position, your buddies still have Hot Waiver Wire Pick-ups for Week 10 At QB, the guys love Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton (available in 77% of leagues) who is averaging 15 points per game. At RB, the Bears, Marion Barber has been dropped by most owners, is available in 95% of leagues, and has become a TD vulture getting plenty of goal-line carries. He’s averaging 10 points per week the past 3 weeks. For WR help we like another Bear, Earl Bennett (available in 99%). Bennett is back, healthy, and has become Cutler’s go to guy in the revised Mike Martz offense. Another option would be Cowboys, Laurent Robinson (available in 98%), who is averaging over 9 points per game the past 4 weeks. At TE, the Eagles Brent Celek (available in 85%) is still out there and coming off of back to back weeks with 7 catches and 31 FF points over last 3 weeks. Jake Ballard is also out there (available in 73%) and has become the hot go to guy for Eli Manning and the resurgent Giants with 12 catches and 25 points over last 3 weeks. In Fantasy Football for James, we make the very hypothetical case of James being in the playoff hunt. The guys encourage owners in playoff situations to make your final moves and trades. Take a look at NFL teams week 14, 15 & 16 schedules and finalize roster if you can with those match-ups in mind. Look for players on your team that can help you get into the playoffs based on match-ups.

Week 9 has a temporary reduction in the bye weeks from six teams to four, but those four hurt a ton. With Jacksonville, Detroit, Minnesota, & Carolina all off, you have some of the most productive players of the 2011 fantasy season. No Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson, or Cam Newton. Plan accordingly. Your hot waiver wire pick-ups for Week 9 are truly scraping the barrel of desperation. You really should have your team sorted by this point in the season. But, enough scolding and here’s what we can find. The Raiders turning to Carson Palmer might get you out of a jam. Back in the day, Palmer was a regular top 10 fantasy guy. Who knows what he has left to prove in the silver and black. Ignore the week one outing — he was told he would not play and then only knew a handful of plays. On the WR front, Michael Crabtree is healthy and starting to realize Alex Smith is not going anywhere so he has stepped it up a bit and seems to be acting like the number one guy he was supposed to be. Javon Ringer seems certain to usurp CJ as the number one running back in Tennessee. At TE, we like Brent Celek of the Eagles, who has 2 TDs over the past 2 games. The guys hand out some hardware with their mid season fantasy MVPs. Should not surprise anyone to learn that at QB, Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers (who has had his bye), remains the big dog — leading the pack by 10 pts. Our WR, is no surprise with MEGATRON leading Wes Welker by 25 pts. RB, Adrian Peterson holds a slight lead over Shady McCoy and Fred Jackson for mid-season stud. And on the TE side, Jimmy Graham holds a 23 point lead on the field! Fantasy Football for James reminds people to know your league’s trade deadline. That is the point at which your roster cannot be improved via trade with another owner in your league. An all to important little part of team management. Good luck!

Steven and Jeff are back it getting you ready for Week 6 Bye. They take a look at how bye might affect your fantasy teams over the next two weeks, especially next week when you will not have players available for the Bills, Bengals, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, 49ers. To get you ready, the guys give you their Hot Waiver Wire picks-ups for Week 6. Those players include Tim Tebow, who will be the starter in Denver in two weeks and Matt Cassell who is starting to find his stride. At wide receiver, the guys like Victor Cruz, Doug Baldwin and even Darius Hayward-Bey who is coming off solid back to back weeks. At running back, the guys look at Delone Carter who looks to get more touched with the injury to Joseph Addai and the Chiefs Jackie Battle. Finally in Fantasy Football for James, the guys talk about how to structure a trade proposal and how to approach another owner about making a trade by letting go a player at your strength position for a player at a position you might be struggling with.

The guys give their fantasy football musings from the 1/4 poll off the season and ask, who would have thunk it? CJ2K would S-U-C-K. Darren McFadden and Matt Forte would be your leading backs? Wes Welker would have 20 points more than the next best WR? Tom Brady’s MVP season would be followed up by an even better season? Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl MVP would hang-over in a good way? 100 points no longer gives you a good chance of winning? In the Hot Waiver Wire Pick-ups for Week 5, the guys still like Titans QB, Matt Hasselbeck (74%). He is the 8th ranked QB at 22 PPW. Redskins RB, Jabar Gaffney (94%) is averaging 8 PPW and might throw a TD pass. 49er, Josh Morgan (99.8%) is seeing consistent targets and with Alex Smith not favoring the constantly double-teamed Michael Crabtree he is looking very good. Staying with RBs, Patriots, Stevan Ridley (97%) is seeing an increase coinciding with the decrease of the Law Firm. Redskins, Ryan Torain (60%) is getting lots of carries at the expense of Tim Hightower and Roy Helu. And finally as a bonus Steelers RB, Isaac Redman (98%) is seeing a big increase due to injuries to Reshard Mendenhall. At TE, we like Browns, Benjamin Watson (92%) who’s averaging 8 PPW with targets going up. In Fantasy Football for James, we look at bye weeks. New players must understand that they happen every year and that they should have planned ahead. Never leave a roster spot open and be prepared to settle for less points if you have not done your homework.

While scoring continues to remain up so do injuries to key players. The guys tackle the tough question of whether it is time for Fantasy owners to part ways with Michael Vick? Kind of a YES/NO answer from the guys. Steven thinks you sell while he still has perceived value. Jeff suggests waiting one more week since he has a favorable match-up against the San Francisco 49ers. Significant injuries coming out of Week 4: Titans, WR, Kenny Britt is the biggest blow as he is now out for the season. Jets, QB, and GQ cover boy Mark Sanchez has a newly broken nose which is not expected to affect his play. Speaking of Eagles, QB Mike Vick, this week’s injury is to his right hand. Cardinals, RB, Beanie Wells was a surprise late scratch due to a hamstring injury. And in Houston, RB, Arian Foster is still nursing his hamstring and needs to be watched closely. In our HOT Waiver Wire PickUps for Week 4 we start with the quarterback position and note that Matt Hasselbeck has been a top QB all season with some of the most consistent numbers. Don’t be scared off by the loss of Kenny Brit. In the running back department the guys call out KC’s Thomas Jones as a guy to get carries in the absence of Jamaal Charles. Redskins, RB Roy Helu became relevant in last night’s game against the Cowboys as Skins coach, Mike Shanahan stopped giving the ball to Hightower for stretches of time. On the wide-out front your buddies tell you that Titans, WR, Nate Washington should have already been owned, but especially now that Kenny Britt is injured. Also interesting is Ravens rookie Torrey Smith who had a monster break-out game before injuring his hamstring. Keep an eye on him. In Fantasy Football for James bye weeks and playing out tough seasons are talked about. Bye weeks start next in week 5 so it’s time to start thinking ahead and getting ready. Don’t be the guy to wait until the last minute. If there is a move you can make now. Do it. Jeff confesses that he has a horrible team that is 0-3, in 12th place and has zero chance of making the playoffs. Fantasy football etiquette states you play hard in your league until the end.

Week 2 is done and injuries are already causing fantasy problems. Jeff feel that the Lockout and new CBA, where players do not have to practice as much, are responsible for all the injuries. The guys feel your pain with all the injury and disappointment for fantasy owners of QBs Tony Romo, Mike Vick and Ben Roethlisberger. Those three QBs might play in Week 3, but you must monitor their situation. RB Jamaal Charles is out for the season with a torn ACL, and RBs Knowshon Moreno and Arian Foster continue to deal with nagging hamstring injuries. Wide receiver Miles Austin will be out several weeks with his hamstring injury while Mario Manningham of the Giants suffered a concussion and is questionable for Week 3. TE Aaron Hernandez is out 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL and Eagles TE Brent Celek suffered a lower back injury. With all the injuries, the guys give you their Week 3 HOT free agency pick-ups which include guys like Jason Campbell, Dexter McCluster, Roy Helu and Eric Decker. Finally in Fantasy Football for James, the guys tell you know your scoring system before you go any further!

With week 2 is approaching rapidly you don’t want to get tagged with an unnecessary loss so make sure you watch! We start with the ever-improtant injury update from all over the league. Some people’s big dogs are on this list including Arian Foster and Steven Jackson. The guys bounce you around their Start-em and Sit-ems and have some sage advice for fantasy owners. We really like Matthew Stafford this week given what Ryan Fitzpatrick did to the Chiefs last week and think Tim Hightower has revenge on his mind as he goes up against his former Cardinals team. We throw out a big note of caution against sitting a big-dog who had a pedestrian week one. Vincent Jackson will surely get back on track this week and another strong WR play. The caution flag is thrown on those who are drinking the Cam Newton kool-aid. Sneaky, sneaky Bill Belachick seems to have made owning the Law Firm look more promising than it will actually be. Ochocinco also looks like he will need more time to get acquainted with his new offense.

Week one is in the past, and just like those points you left on the bench it is time to move on and get over the first week of Fantasy Football. The guys feel your pain if you are the owners of guys like Arian Foster and Peyton Manning that did not even play, Chris Johnson that only put up 24 yards. WRs Dwayne Bowe and Vincent Jackson had very little points and the Steelers Defense lost you points. Steven says he has no sympathies for owners that drafted a kicker early and went out and grabbed San Diego’s Nate Kaeding, who is going to miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL. The guys give you some players you can target in HOT free agency pick-ups. Guys like Chad Henne, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ben Tate and Cadillac Williams are still available in many leagues and these guys should remain hot over the next few weeks. In Fantasy Football for James, the guys warn new players not to chase points looking to claim players that might have had a strong game Week 1, but will most likely not continue playing that well.

The guys take a look at what you should do if your “big dog” goes down. Good advice for when to trade or look at the waiver wire since Peyton Manning may miss a week or two, you need to make sure you have a backup plan. They also discuss the Arian Foster situation. In Fantasy Football for James, the guys tell noobs that they need to follow news on their players and they let you know how. By finding out teams beat writers and scouring the internet. Finally, with Week 1 quickly approaching, the guys give you the Week 1 players that you may want to consider should you need a week 1 filler at QB, RB, WR or TE. Good Luck with Week 1.

Good news for Chris Johnson owners – he’s back, as the Titans gave him a 4 year extension worth $53 million making CJ once again, safe to draft in the top of Round 1 – just in time for the biggest fantasy draft weekend! Today, the buddies give you their Supper Sleepers. We are talking about guys who likely went undrafted and are sitting on the free agency list just waiting to be picked up. They include guys like Kyle Orton, Colt McCoy, Antonio Brown and Nate Burleson. In Fantasy Football for James the guys tell new fantasy players to know your limits and not to take on too many team. Plus, the guys answer the first listener question regarding team defenses.