Pickups of the Week- 

Roy Helu, RB, Redskins (33.0 percent)
Week 12 stats: 23 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD, 7 rec, 54 yards
Roy Helu is the "for sure" starting running back according to Mike Shanahan. That's like one of those Tim Allen jokes, right? It's so funny I forgot to laugh. Never in the history of ever has the term "for sure" meant less. The Jets run defense is allowing 2.74 yards per carry over the last 3 games and has allowed zero touchdowns over that same span. That being said the Seahawks are one of the toughest teams against the run and Helu dropped 108 yards on them. Play him at your peril.

Maurice Morris, RB, Lions (38.2 percent owned in ESPN Standard 10-Man Leagues)
Week 12 stats: 7 carries, 39 yards, 9 rec, 81 yards
Apparently high ankle sprains are the new hammy pull. Smith is very generously listed as questionable for the Saints on December 4th. Keep in mind Adrian Peterson's suffered the most bearable type of ankle sprain (grade 1) and still missed the next game. As for Morris, if the Saints are able to do what they did to the Giants, Stafford will find himself dumping off quite a few passes to him.

Shane Vereen, RB, Patriots (0.2 percent)
Week 12 stats: 7 carries, 18 yards
Purely a desperation play if there is absolutely no one else available, but the Patriots will be up early on Indianapolis next week and Vereen could see extended garbage time action.

Patriots D/ST (57.7 percent)
It doesn't matter how poorly the defense performed against the Eagles because there is no better remedy than a matchup with the Indianapolis defense. 5 of the last 6 defenses they've played have scored at least 10 points in ESPN standard-scoring leagues.

Speaking of Defenses

Think long-term. Think playoffs. Think favorable fantasy-football match-ups. Now is a good time to cut that extra receiver and pick up defenses that will help win playoff match-ups, especially if your current defense is trash. Fantasy owners would be wise to pick up defenses playing Indianapolis, St. Louis, Arizona, Jacksonville or Kansas City in the next few weeks.

Team	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17
Indianapolis	New England	Baltimore	Tennessee	Houston	Jacksonville
St. Louis	San Francisco	Seattle	Cincinnati	Pittsburgh	San Francisco

The second-worst thing about not having cable growing up besides having to watch Bob Ross is the Home Improvement re-runs. That being said watching the St. Louis and Indianapolis offenses take the field is almost worse. These two offenses give up the most fantasy points to opposing defenses by a significant margin. 

Arizona	Dallas	San Francisco	Cleveland	Cincinnati	Seattle
Kansas City	Chicago	New York Jets	Green Bay	Oakland	Denver
Jacksonville	San Diego	Tampa Bay	Atlanta	Tennessee	Indianapolis

                                                                                 *Teams Bolded are owned in <60% of leagues.
Arizona-John Skelton/Kevin Kolb take your pick, you win either way.
Kansas City- Tyler Palko looks like that guy who picked on other kids in 5th grade and now is mad as hell that he has become the biggest joke in the NFL.
Jacksonville- I'd rather watch Bob Ross paint on PBS than watch a Blaine Gabbert highlight tape. C.J. Spiller, RB, Bills (74.8 percent)
Week 12 stats: 19 carries, 55 yards, 3 rec, 15 yards
Was a late-week pickup last week but still valuable enough to worth mentioning now in case he's still available in your league. Spiller ran much better than his stat-line would indicate and his next matchup against the Titans is a very favorable one.

Riley Cooper, WR, Eagles (0.4 percent)
Week 11 stats:   5 rec, 75 yards, 1 TD, 12 Targets
Week 12 stats: 3 rec, 71 yards, 5 Targets
As long as Vince Young is the quarterback and Jeremy Maclin is out, Cooper has #3WR/flex potential.

Matt Moore, QB, Dolphins (3.7 percent)
Week 11 stats:   14-20, 160 yards, 3 TDs
Week 12 stats: 19-32, 288 yards, 1 TD
Seven touchdowns and only one interception the last four games. You could do worse. 

Rex Grossman, QB, Redskins (8.5 percent)
Week 11 stats:   25-38, 289 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 Rushing TD
Week 12 stats: 26-38, 314 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
For as risky as Washington Redskin running backs are, Grossman is even riskier. There's always that 10% chance he goes for negative points. Against a top-5 New York Jets pass defense that chance rises to about 30%, do you really want to risk it?

Toby Gerhart, RB, Vikings (21.4 percent)
Week 11 stats:    7 carries, 18 yards, 1 rec, 7 yards
Week 12 stats: 17 carries, 44 yards, 1 TD, 2 rec, 19 yards
His fantasy day was saved by a fluky 3rd quarter, 1-yard touchdown run. Don't expect much from Gerhart against a surprisingly tough Denver run defense.  

Laurent Robinson, WR, Cowboys (56.2 percent)
Week 10 stats:   3 rec, 72 yards, 3 Targets, 2 TDs
Week 11 stats:   4 rec, 34 yards, 11 Targets, 1 TD
Week 12 stats: 7 rec, 79 yards, 12 Targets, 2 TDs
Robinson's 12 targets were 6 more than #1 wide receiver Dez Bryant. He is officially a high #2 WR.

Carson Palmer, QB, Raiders (60.5 percent)
Week 10 stats:   14-20, 299 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Week 11 stats:   17-23, 164 yards, 1 TD
Week 12 stats:  21-37, 301 yards, 1 INT
If Jacoby Ford or Denarius Moore can play, Palmer is a much better option against the Dolphins who are the 9th most forgiving defense to opposing quarterbacks. His next matchup against Green Bay (30th against QBs) is favorable as well. 

Ben Tate, RB, Texans (84.2 percent)
Week 9 stats:     12 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD
Week 10 stats:  13 carries, 62 yards, 1 TD
Week 12 stats:  5 carries, 26 yards
Disregard carries, acquire favorable fantasy football match-ups. Just hold onto him for the week 15 and week 16 match-ups against Carolina and Indianapolis. Great flex play there.

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