Quick Hits: Forte, Johnson & Johnson

The fantasy Gods appear to be restoring order to fantasy football leagues around the world over last few weeks. First draft sleeper-turned-stud Fred Jackson went down for the year, and now his successor to the throne, Matt Forte, looks like he will miss 2-6 weeks with a Grade-2 MCL sprain, meaning he is likely done for the remainder of the fantasy season. Run to pick up Marion Barber if you can.

But don't worry, folks, at least Chris Johnson is finally producing for his owners! With a second consecutive monster game, and his third 100 yard rushing game in 4 weeks, he's returned to old form just in time to mock the owners who have already watched their seasons spiral into oblivion.

Elsewhere in Johnson-land, Andre Johnson injured his left hamstring after finally returning from a right hamstring injury that lead him to miss 11 games. The Texans are calling the injury "mild" and his status for Sunday in Cincinnati is questionable.

Big week ahead, as this is the last week of the regular season for most fantasy owners. Pick that waiver wire clean, and good luck!

Quick Hits: Harvin, Green, Maclin

It's a wide receiver league, we're all just living in it. In the final stretch before fantasy playoffs begin, key wideout injuries may decide your fate. Here's three situations of note in week 12.

- Percy Harvin has returned to relevancy since Christian Ponder took charge of the offense, and an injured Adrian Peterson means he could see as many as 10 touches at RB as well. It's tempting to play him, but he's listed as questionable with the rib injury that has caused him to leave a few games already this season. It's risky, but if you have no better option, roll the dice.

- A.J. Green is listed as probable after missing last week's game and should be a must start as the Red Rocket's first look in the endzone.

- Jeremy Maclin is listed as doubtful, which is good news for DeSean Jackson (and Riley Cooper in deeper leagues), who barring another skipped meeting should have his second straight big game with the help of backup QB Vince Young.

Quick Hits: Nicks, Jones, Johnson

So how are your top wideouts doing this week?

- Giants' Hakeem Nicks' MRI revealed that his hamstring injury was not serious, so feel free to breathe a huge sigh of relief owners. He is listed as day to day. If he does not play, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham are must starts against the Patriots.

- Flacons' Julio Jones returned to practice after getting plenty of rest nursing his hamstring injury over the bye week. It's possible he plays in a very favorable matchup against the Colts on Sunday.

-Texans' Andre Johnson has begun limited practice, but is no certainty for this Sunday. My guess is they're going to hold him until after the bye week to assure he's healthy for the end of the season and hopeful playoff run. His teammate Kevin Walter is worth a pickup in deep leagues in you're desperate.

What to Do With Matthew Stafford on Your Bench

This summer, quarterback Matthew Stafford was a mid- to late-round pick in most fantasy football drafts, a far cry from where he was actually drafted back in 2009. For those of you who ignored his injury history and snagged him as your starter, enjoy reaping the benefits. For the rest who ended up drafting him as a backup in standard leagues and now have two elite quarterbacks, you are left with three options. You can trade Stafford, trade your other top quarterback, or keep them both. It is, after all, a long season, and Stafford’s an injury-prone player. At the very least you’ll have a solid backup and great bye week option.

I only condone trading Stafford if you have Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Michael Vick, or Aaron Rodgers on your team as well. If this is the case, trading Stafford is the best option, assuming you can get value for him. Stafford warrants a running back or receiver that will start on your team every week, so don’t settle for anything less. If nobody wants to make a deal, then keep your team intact and enjoy your depth at quarterback.

Trading your non-Stafford quarterback is a much bigger risk. Of the five elite quarterbacks I mentioned above, hold onto Rodgers, Brees, and Brady at all cost. With Vick and Rivers, it really comes down to what you can get in your particular league. There is undoubtedly an owner or two in your league struggling at the QB position. If you own Stafford along with either Vick or Rivers, the owner would probably be delighted to take one of them off your hands. The key is to find out which one he loves, and make him pay dearly.

Syracuse University sport management major and “fantasy guru” Kevin Hall thinks that good owners to target for a trade are those that have Ben Rothlisberger or Matt Schaub starting for their team. “Schaub is considerably less valuable without Andre Johnson and Rothlisberger’s injury on top of his poor play makes their owners the best to try to make a deal with,” explains Hall.

Of course if you decide to stick with Stafford as your QB option, keep his injury history in mind. There’s a reason he wasn’t drafted higher in fantasy leagues. Both of his first two seasons in the NFL ended early due to injury. In his rookie 2009 season he was only healthy enough to play 10 of 16 games. Last year, he took the field in just three. This year’s injury could be right around the corner, which makes trading him at peak value or keeping both quarterbacks the smart moves.

As Bleacher Report’s Ryan Campbell says, Stafford’s numbers don’t lie; he deserves to be a starter on someone’s team every week he’s healthy. So start fielding offers from the rest of your league. My guess is you will find something you like.

The Vick Dilemma

Michael Vick is the most fascinating player in football. Capable of earning your fantasy team 50 points in a single afternoon, he was pegged as a number one overall fantasy player by many, a position historically reserved for running backs. If you drafted him, you knew the risk that you took. Vick is a running quarterback, which makes him an injury concern as he is in constant danger of taking massive hits while he scrambles down the sidelines. Every hit would make you cringe, hoping he would shake it off and get up. You accepted this, though you may not have expected him to take this many hits so early in the season. He is untradeable; if another owner wanted him, they would have made an offer already and they’re likely steering clear after all these injuries. He is unbenchable, though he will likely hobble into every start with that dreaded “questionable” tag. You’re committed to sticking with Vick, even though he hasn’t been able to play a 4^th quarter since week one. So what do you do when your fantasy superstar reminds you a little too much of The Walking Dead? Let’s try and solve the Vick dilemma.

In week two against his former team, the Falcons, Vick suffered a concussion and had to miss the final quarter of the game, leaving a large number of potential fantasy points on the table and leading to many losing fantasy weeks. In week three against division rival Giants, he missed the final quarter again, with what initial x-rays revealed to be a broken right hand (he throws with his left hand). Further testing revealed that his hand wasn’t broken, but rather severely bruised, leaving his status for the following week’s game up in the air. Of course, he did play, and finally rewarded his owners with a great fantasy performance. Still, the Eagles are 0-2 this season when Vick misses the final quarter, and his fantasy owners likely reflect that record. With his injury concerns looming every week, his he even worth starting if you have a capable backup like Stafford or Fitzpatrick? I say yes.

Vick has been under a lot pressure from opposing defenses and following the Giants game, he criticized the NFL referees for not properly protecting him. Whether that statement is true or not, I agree with Washington Post sports columnist Richard Boadu who said that calling out the refs was a great move for Vick. Regardless of whether or not the comment holds merit, refs now have no choice but to better protect him. If they don’t, it will look like what he claimed was true. As week four showed, as long as Michael Vick is starting under center, play him. He should continue to be safer than he was in the first three weeks.

Kenny Britt Torn ACL, Out For Season

It's official. Sorry for all of those smart enough to draft WR Kenny Britt and were riding his massive upside in the first two weeks of the season, but the former-Scarlet Knight has torn ligaments in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season.

If you're looking for someone that may capitalize on this injury it would have to be Nate Washington, but he will never be the player that Britt is. Perhaps with even more pressure on Chris Johnson's back now, he will finally preform for his struggling owners.

Scour the waiver wire and pick up who you can. I'm still high on Jordy Nelson if he is available, and Sidney Rice had a great first game back from a shoulder injury in his debut with the Seahawks.

The Art of the "Handcuff"

Steven Jackson’s fantasy owners got to watch the St. Louis running back burst through the Philadelphia defense on a 49-yard touchdown pass on his first run of the season. Instead of happily cheering and texting all their friends that passed on drafting him, they watched him hobble off the field with an injured quad. He returned for just one more play and is out for at least a week. Former Tampa Bay running back Cadillac Williams took his place and produced 140 total yards from scrimmage, though few fantasy owners likely profited from it.

At least Jackson got owners 50 yards and a touchdown before he left the game. Arian Foster, the 2010 top fantasy football player, didn’t even play the first game of the season. He was sidelined with a hamstring injury. This was reported early enough on Sunday morning for owners to start his substitute, Ben Tate, who ran for 116 yards and a touchdown.

Coming into the season Tate was a highly coveted “handcuff” for Foster owners. A handcuff is a matter of insurance for a top draft pick. If he goes down with an injury and you have his handcuff, then you wont have to panic and scour the waiver wire looking for a replacement.

This season, handcuffing top running backs may be essential to success. Maurice Jones-Drew, Darren McFadden, and Frank Gore are all top-drafted injury-prone running backs that join Jackson and Foster as players needing to be handcuffed.

Handcuffing one’s own players isn’t the only way to utilize this technique though. “In my drafts, I stole other people’s handcuffs,” says senior Syracuse University communication and rhetorical studies major John Griffin. “James Starks, Delone Carter, I know the value of having the backup to injury prone players.” Green Bay’s Starks, backs up the oft-injured Ryan Grant and actually led the team in carries in their first game. Indianapolis’s Carter is second on the depth chart to Joseph Addai, who hasn’t played a full season since his rookie year in ’06. “If you have an injury-prone guy then you should have a backup. It keeps you away from the waiver wire,” continues Griffin, who plans to start Starks next week.

With week one in mind, here are five handcuffs worth picking up if they are still available (starter in parentheses):

1. Ben Tate (Arian Foster)

2. Cadillac Williams (Steven Jackson)

3. James Starks (Ryan Grant)

4. Michael Bush (Darren McFadden)

5. Pierre Thomas (Mark Ingram)

Note: Brandon Jacobs (Ahmad Bradshaw), Jonathan Stewart (Deangelo Williams), and Mike Tolbert (Ryan Matthews) are not on this list because they have value without being a handcuff.

For a more comprehensive list of handcuffs, check out the fantasy sports website, Rotoworld.

Jamaal Charles Out for the Season

And you thought Peyton Manning was bad. High first round draft pick (#1 in some leagues) Jamaal Charles is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Owners may be quick to pick up Cheifs backup RB Thomas Jones, but I would recommend the other available RB, Dexter McCluster, an up-and-coming player who can be slotted in both RB and WR in most leagues. In just 12 carries this season he is averaging 7.8 yards per carry, and looks to get around that many touches per game with Charles now out. This guy has Charles-like upside.

Other notable injuries: Michael Vick suffered a concussion Sunday night in Atlanta and may miss next week's game against the division rival Giants. Owners may want to look into picking up Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatick, who is likely still available, but with the way he's been playing (7 TD 1 INT), won't be for long.

Week 1 Fantasy Leaders (Standard Leagues)

QB

Tom Brady - 42

Chad Henne - 37

Drew Brees - 34

Cam Newton - 33

Ryan Fitzpatrick - 32

(I'm guessing nobody benefitted from three of those)

RB

Ray Rice - 26

Mike Tolbert - 26

LeSean McCoy - 25

Matt Forte - 21

Cedric Benson - 18

WR

Steve Smith - 29

Wes Welker - 28

Kenny Brit - 25

Calvin Johnson - 20

DeSean Jackson, Reggie Wayne, Early Doucet, Devery Henderson - 16

TE

Scott Chandler - 18

Aaron Hernandez - 16

Rob Gronkowski - 14

Jeff King - 12

Dustin Keller - 12

What we've learned: Newton and Fitzpatrick are viable backups in any league, Steve Smith should once again be a starter, and Scott Chandler is a great TE pickup.

Note: San Diego kicker Nate Kaeding injured his knee and is out for the season. This is one of many reasons not to reach on a kicker in drafts.

Quick Hits: Foster, Colston

Saints WR Marques Colston broke his collar bone in Thursday's game against the Packers. He is expected to miss at least a month.

RB Arian Foster, once the consensus #1 fantasy pick this year, is out for week 1 with a hamstring injury. Derrick Ward will start for the Texans, but Ben Tate looks to be the Houston RB worth picking up if still available.

Manning Out 2-3 Months

EPSN 's Chris Mortensen is reporting that Peyton Manning had a 3rd neck surgery today and will be out 2-3 months. So any fantasy owners hoping he would be starting for their teams in a few weeks should hit the waiver wire as soon as possible. If you're lucky Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco or even Josh Freeman may still be available. In deep 1QB leagues, look for Jay Cutler or even new Colts starter Kerry Collins.

Any specific questions suited to your team? Post them in the comments and I'll be happy to answer them.

Week 1 Has Finally Arrived!

We almost didn't have a season, which makes Opening Day even more special this year. Enjoy the game (I'm picking the Packers) and let's hope Rodgers can avoid another concussion on his way to another productive fantasy football season.

Welcome!

Welcome to “Red Zone Audible,” the place to go when your fantasy football team gets hit with a devastating injury. I’ll do the research so you don’t have to, and find out the best move to make. Maybe there’s a hot waiver pickup, or a trade that your friend just can’t refuse. Together, we will get teams back on track.

What makes me qualified to run this blog? I have played in dozens of fantasy football leagues over the years, and nearly every single league had a critical injury that decided the champion. I have won some, and lost some too, but firmly believe that any team can make it to the playoffs with good in-season management. Injuries are a part of the game and sometimes it takes a big play, a red zone audible, to get ahead.