By Dan O’Shea
The New York Jets looked so good in Week 1 that some of us were moved to re-assess the fantasy stock value of the team’s core members, including QB Mark Sanchez, RB Shonn Greene, and WRs Santonio Holmes and Stephen Hill. We didn’t talk much about the wildcat wildcard of the Jets, Tim Tebow, mainly because the Jets’ use of him to start the season was less frequent and less inspired than we had hoped.
Looking back at the just-completed Week 5, things have changed. The Jets are 2-3, but are playing like – and seem to be regarded as – a winless team with little hope but to land the top draft pick next year; Holmes is injured and out for the season. Hill has been injured since Week 1 and completely off-the-radar fantasy-wise; Greene had fewer than 10 rushing attempts in Week 5 and hasn’t scored a TD since Week 1; and Sanchez has only three TDs since Week 1 against 5 INTs.
None of these players has fantasy value right now, and only one Jet’s value is ticking upward at the moment. That would be Tebow, who almost scored a rushing TD in Week 5 against the vaunted Houston defense, nabbed a first down on a fake-punt snapped directly to him, and threw a perfect 30-yard pass that was dropped by the targeted receiver. That isn’t much to go on, but given the Jets’ apparent decline and Sanchez’ ongoing problems (in addition to INTs, just plain throwing wide of targets), the growing noise you may hear is the choir calling for Tebow.
So is it time to pick him up?
If you are in a league where you can have at least two QBs active (one to start at QB, and one in a flex slot), now is definitely a good time to pick up Tebow and at least hold him until further notice.
Don’t activate him just yet though. One of two things has to happen first: Either the Jets have to decide to bench Sanchez and give the starting job to Tebow, which I don’t think will happen until the Jets are out of the playoff hunt; or the Jets need to realize their offense is far more dangerous if they have Tebow on the field once they get into enemy territory, whether he is lined up at QB, RB, WR or even fullback with Greene trailing him.
The latter strategy would give Tebow enough snaps to have fantasy relevance, and might even help Sanchez re-gain some value.
Expert Wire
* Fantasy Knuckleheads says Pittsburgh RB Rashard Mendenhall’s time has come.
* The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel heralds an unknown Packer to pick up while Cedric Benson is out.
* Bleacher Report says Kansas City WR Dwayne Bowe’s fantasy value drops with Matt Cassel hurt.
* SB Nation notes rookie sensation Robert Griffin III is questionable for Week 6.
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Dan O’Shea is our man in fantasyland. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on October 10, 2012