Nov 24 6:30p by Matt O'Brien
While Rock Cartwright has gotten most of the add love in fantasy circles this week, Yahoo!’s Brad Evans digs a little deeper to find some widely available free agents on fantasy waiver wires who could make a big impact this Turkey Week:
Lex Hilliard (RB) Miami Dolphins
The Montana product, promoted from the practice squad due to catastrophic injuries suffered by Ronnie Brown(notes) and Patrick Cobbs(notes), impressed in limited action against Carolina, averaging 6.0 yards on four totes. Ricky Williams(notes) is the undisputed choice at running back for the Fins, but, in order to ensure his long-term health, Hilliard will be worked into the offense. This week, look for the former Grizzly’s role to expand. The Bills are a disaster defensively in the trenches. On the season, they’ve yielded 4.9 yards per carry, 195.6 total yards per game and 16 touchdowns to rushers, equal to the most fantasy points allowed. Miami, the league’s best rushing offense, will undoubtedly run Ricky and Hilliard ragged. Expect the second-year back to rack roughly 10-12 carries with 50-plus yards. Consider him a suitable flex option in very deep leagues.
While the Bills did stiffen against the run last week, holding dynamo Maurice Jones-Drew to only 66 rushing yards on 25 carries, expect the Dolphins to punish Buffalo on the ground, giving Hilliard a decent shot to rack up the garbage time yards. If you’re desperate, he could be your man.
As for pass-catchers, Evans picks another potential diamond out of the rough in…St. Louis?:
Brandon Gibson (WR) St. Louis Rams
If targets were a scoring category in fantasy, Gibson would be the ultimate leviathan. Lined up in the crosshairs a week-high 17 times in Week 11, the rookie, who was acquired from Philadelphia for Will Witherspoon(notes) in October, will remain an integral part of the Rams’ offense going forward. With Keenan Burton(notes) out for the remainder of the season and Donnie Avery(notes) drawing ample attention, the youngster could average roughly 7-9 looks down the stretch, especially with St. Louis continuously playing from behind. He obviously needs more polish – poor route-running and dropped passes plagued him versus Arizona – but the talent is there. This week, the Rams host a Seattle defense that has been pounded vertically. Since Week 7 no secondary has allowed more fantasy points to wideouts. Because of the matchup and his expanded role, Gibson is prime Shocker Special material in Week 12.
Marc Bulger’s absence figures to hamper the Rams passing attack, but against a vulnerable Seahawks secondary, someone will put up yards for the Rams. And Gibson could very be the guy who does it. Expect 60-70 yards, and maybe a touchdown.
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