Empty the Bench

Playing fantasy sports and playing the stock market have a lot in common. In both, you’re always trying to buy low and sell high. The smart man always needs to keep his finger on the pulse of the market. You never want to pay market value or above, and getting in on the ground floor with a player can absolutely make your portfolio. Everybody is searching for that penny stock that could explode and make your year. This time of year there are wild swings in value that you need to capitalize on. Always remember though, preseason stats are generally meaningless but there are significant developments this time of year that you need to be aware of. With that in mind, ETB sorts through the recent news and takes a look at a few of the players who have seen the biggest gains and losses in their value over the last couple of weeks.

Big Gainers:

Vincent Jackson, WR, San Diego: I pegged Vincent as one of my two breakout WRs in our August 14th Prediction-O-Rama, and I’m feeling pretty good about it. He’s come out on fire so far and looks like Philip River’s obvious go-to WR (After Antonio Gates, of course). In his first two preseason games he caught three TDs and had 92 yards in the all-important third contest. His large frame and hands make Jackson an ideal red-zone threat.

James Jones, WR, Green Bay: Even before the Donald Driver injury (Below) James Jones stock was on the rise due to an extremely strong camp and preseason. Favre seems very comfortable with the young man and has looked to him often so far, much more than incumbent starter Greg Jennings. There has even been talk that Jones is poised to snag the starting job, an extremely lucrative fantasy commodity, from Jennings. He’s worth an add in all 12-team leagues right now.

Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis: Addai is poised for a huge season, one where I think he’ll flirt with 2,000 total yards and find pay dirt 12+ times. The fact that the Colts don’t have any reasonable options to divvy up the carries with is going to be big, and Peyton Manning seems to think the young man is going to be touching the ball 25+ times a game. Manning recently told the NFL Network, “This year Joseph Addai is ready to carry that load and be that one back starter and be able to come out whenever he wants to come out . . . He deserves that chance to be the featured back, to be in there on the goal-line drives, the red zone situations, the key two-minute drills . . . he’ll be on the field.” Owners have to love it. He’s now third overall on my cheat sheet.

Brandon Jacobs, RB, New York Giants: Once upon a time (Well, a month ago at least) Brandon Jacobs could be expected to fall into the early part of the third round. There was some concern that he wouldn’t be able to handle the workload and that the Giants had plans for a time share with Rueben Droughns. No longer. First word came out that Giants coordinator Kevin Gilbride was committed to giving Frankenstein “20 to 25″ carries a game. Then we heard that Jacobs was now running forties in the 4.4 range this year, even faster than his 4.5 range from the scouting combine. And before that, he had spent the offseason working with Eddie George on keeping low to the ground and staying healthy as a taller running back. Now this week we learned that Reuben Droughns will consistently be playing FB again instead of RB. We already knew Jacobs was the goal-line back and the man between the 20s. What else do you want?

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