Week 13 Flash In The Pan Alert: Jermichael Finley

This might have been my most successful bit all season. If you had been paying attention to this column, you would have gotten the jump on: Justin Forsett, Pierre Garcon, Rock Cartwright, Steve Breaston--all when they were most likely available on your league's waiver wire, and all at least one week ahead of any major fantasy impact.

I have talked about my tight end strategy ad nauseum this season I feel, but a week ahead of the playoffs is the time to make sure you have a tight end you can believe in. If you don't have one of the stud tight ends (Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, or Tony Gonzalez) chances are you might have a guy who could be upgraded for the playoff run.

My suggestion: Jermichael Finley of the Green Bay Packers. In his second season with the Packers, Finley has come on strong. He overtook Donald Lee as the top receiving tight end during the preseason, and having covered the Green Bay Packers team extensively this past August, I was very impressed with his abilities (I am not a Packers fan either in case that matters to you.)

He is an exceptionally gifted athlete and at 6'5"/250 lbs he is a huge target. For someone as big as he is, his speed surprises. When he gets his hands on the ball and turns up field, you are most assured of yards after the catch. He took quite a lick against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, but made it back into the game. With a few added days of rest thanks to a Thanksgiving Day game followed by a Monday Night Football matchup, I would expect him to be as fresh as anyone could ever be at the Week 13 point.

Also, keep in mind that almost every year a tight end that does not start the season on almost anyone's roster blows up in the fantasy playoffs. Guys like Antonio Gates, Dustin Keller and Kevin Boss are each examples of tight ends that arrived on the scene and bloomed after the season started. Based on a cursory look around the internet, it appears that Finley is owned in only about half of all leagues. This week he faces the Ravens, so in leagues where he is available, there may not too much competition to grab him.

The reasons why I like Finley so much this playoff season are simple: The Green Bay Packers are in the playoff chase with an offense that is fueled by Aaron Rodgers arm. Each week, Rodgers gets more and more comfortable with Finley, and thanks to receiving threats like Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, opposing defenses are forced to leave the middle of the field open underneath. Down the stretch, I expect the Packers to lean on Finley at times to move the ball, and I expect him to also be the recipient of a few of Rodgers' extremely pretty deep balls. If this is true, you would get a couple very sweet days out of your tight end spot. In the fantasy playoffs, all it takes is one of those blow-up days to propel you to cash winnings.