Andre Johnson, Santana Moss and Pierre Garcon all saw a ton of targets in Kyle Shanahan's offense. But that doesn't mean their high-volume seasons were because of Kyle Shanahan.

After the utter insanity of last week, the fantasy landscape of Week 4 looked much more like what we were expecting. The list of the week's top receivers is largely populated with players who were actually drafted to be starters. Adrian Peterson was the top running back while first-round picks Arian Foster , Jamaal Charles and Marshawn Lynch hit the top-10. Peyton Manning , Tom Brady , Drew Brees and Matt Ryan were all in the top-six among quarterbacks. Tony Gonzalez , Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates topped the tight end charts. Out of the nine largely unowned wide receivers who were in the top-20 at the position in Week 3, only one repeated that feat in Week 4. The moral of the story is an insultingly simple one that still bears repeating; start your starters. For every time you look really smart for benching Ryan Mathews in favor of Nate Washington, there will be five times that you look bad because the match-up and injury compelled you to bench Andre Johnson in favor of Santana Moss (somebody in my money league did this). So let's analyze this week's outlier performances with this in mind; be boring. Making the right lineup calls with your non-studs and picking up the right free agents is a big part of winning championships, but so is letting your best players do what they do. Quarterbacks Matt Cassel (Week 4 vs. Pittsburgh: 248 yards, 2 TD) NFL teams would rather punch a kitten than admit that a quarterback they drafted in the first round hasn't panned out. The result is young quarterbacks who clearly aren't the answer getting way more starts than they deserve (See also: Rex Grossman and Blaine Gabbert ). Despite that, Cassel's largely mistake-free piloting of the Minnesota Vikings to their first win of the season made a compelling case for the benching of Christian Ponder . But still, with so many quality quarterbacks out there, the likelihood that Ponder will get another crack at the starting gig because he was drafted 12th overall and Cassel wasn't, the quality of Vikings receivers, and Cassel's own history, he's impossible to recommend as a waiver add, but keep an eye on him. Watch Closely Michael Vick (Week 4 at Denver: 248 yards, 0 TDs, 41 yards rushing) I know Denver has a good defense, but it's disheartening to see Vick put up such a pedestrian 13 standard league fantasy points in a game between two warp speed offenses where he played from behind the whole time. The stars should have aligned for way more offense, including multiple...

St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons Jared Cook - If the Rams' tight end can string together a set of highly productive games he'll quickly become one of the best options at the position. Atlanta is very capable of running up the score, especially with Steven Jackson playing with a little extra something to prove. This could force St. Louis to throw to stay in the game. Cook could finally live up to the hype that's surrounded him for the last couple of seasons and would benefit greatly by finding consistency. Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens Jordan Cameron - Much like the Rams' Cook, Cameron could become a top-five option at the position if he can put together back to back good outings. Brandon Weeden is looking for someone to trust and Greg Little certainly doesn't fit that mold. If the Ravens trip up Trent Richardson and Weeden needs to air it out, Cameron would be in for another big fantasy day. If not, he could fall back down into the rest of the pack of hit and miss tight ends. Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills E.J. Manuel - The Bills' rookie quarterback didn't look half bad last week. Granted, the Patriots defense isn't exactly top of the class, but they do offer exotic looks and can get pressure on the quarterback. The effectiveness of Manuel was even more evident as fellow rookie Geno Smith got smashed by that same Patriots defense four days later. If Manuel can finish the week with 200 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers he'll find himself climbing toward the head of the QB2 rankings. Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears Greg Jennings - There was a big fantasy day for a Minnesota wide receiver last week, but unfortunately it wasn't Jennings. Jerome Simpson went off, helping no one in fantasy. Christian Ponder looked a little better than expected as he was able to compile more stats than his talent would leave you to believe, so not all is lost for Jennings, just yet. If Ponder can just be an average NFL quarterback, which will be tough for him, there is still a chance for production. This week against the mighty Bears defense likely leads to two bad games in a row, leaving Jennings' value at an all-time low if he doesn't show something. Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers Leonard Hankerson - We've been looking for someone not named Pierre Garcon to step up and become a viable fantasy option out of the Redskins receiving corps. We could finally have that answer as Hankerson is coming off a multi-touchdown game in ...

I will be changing my column up a little bit for the rest of the season. "The Feeding Frenzy" has been a trading column up until now, focusing on players I've advised to sell high and buy low on every week. However, now that trade deadlines have passed in a majority of leagues, I wanted to keep things relevant. So instead of my usual "buy low" and "sell high," I'll just look at players to buy and sell at this point. Let's be honest, after Thanksgiving there's no more buying low and selling high. You either like a player by now or you don't. If you still think Ryan Mathews is a stud running back, God bless you. Every league needs someone to finish in last place. Here are the players I'm advising to buy and sell after Week 12: Buy Pierre Garcon, WR, Washington -- A couple of weeks ago I traded for Garcon in my dynasty league, and, to be honest, it was a move for next season. I didn't think we would see Garcon return in 2012, and when he did return I thought it would be as more of a decoy. That was until I saw him pull away from the Dallas secondary on Thanksgiving Day like he was running the 100-meter dash in the Olympics. If that's a guy with a bad toe, sign me up for a bad toe. After watching Garcon on that 59-yard touchdown reception, I'm going to go ahead and insert him back into my starting lineup. The Redskins are playing as well as they've been all year long, and if Garcon is healthy that now opens up a whole new dimension for Robert Griffin III and Washington's offense. Don't forget, Griffin III is putting up big numbers as a rookie without much at the receiver position. Santana Moss still has some life in him, but Garcon has been hurt and even starting tight end Fred Davis was lost for the season in Week 7. If you want to get even more excited about Garcon, take a look at who the Redskins have coming up. Garcon gets to go up against the secondaries of the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys in his final five games. That's a pretty receiver-friendly schedule to close out the season. As long as Garcon can stay healthy, he could be one of the top-scoring receivers during fantasy playoffs. Defenses will still need to try and stop Griffin from running and that will open up opportunities for Garcon to make plays down the field. If you held out hope of Garcon coming back this season, you may get rewarded big-time. Marcedes Lewis, TE, Jacksonville -- I've been a big ...

Andre Johnson went off again. Johnson followed up last week's dominant performance against Jacksonville with another big game, catching nine balls for 188 yards. That makes 23 receptions, 461 yards, and a touchdown in the past two weeks. He's clearly healthy, and the Houston running game provides enough of a threat to keep opposing defenses honest. Matt Schaub will continue to look for him going forward, and I anticipate we'll see Johnson maintain his current production, provided he can stay healthy. The Washington offense is better than advertised. Robert Griffin III started off strong, but seemed to fade for a few weeks there. In the past two weeks, he's thrown for 511 yards, eight touchdowns, and just one interception, while running for another 113 yards. Add to that fellow rookie running back Alfred Morris and his stunning rookie campaign, and there's a youth movement in Washington. Santana Moss has returned to fantasy relevance, and Pierre Garcon is finally getting healthy. Add to it the raw speed of another rookie, Aldrick Robinson, and the Redskins offense is shaping up midseason. The Redskins will end up playing spoiler in the NFL over the next few weeks, and Griffin III and company will provide a similar boost to fantasy teams. Michael Bush may take over for an injured Matt Forte. Forte and Bush have combined to be a decent running back this season. But Forte has been slowed by injuries and Bush has vultured touchdowns. Bush is stuck, once again, behind a more talented, but injury-prone back. On Sunday, Forte ran for 42 yards on 14 carries before re-injuring an ankle, forcing Bush into the lead role once again. Bush ran 21 times for 60 yards and a pair of short touchdowns on the day. He's more than capable of carrying the load, and he'll be a volume play with touchdown potential going forward, but don't expect big rushing totals. Andy Dalton is a fringe QB1. This is tough for me, because I'm not a huge Dalton believer, but his numbers have been really good lately. On Sunday, against an admittedly poor Oakland defense, he threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns. In his last three games, he has 639 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. While A.J. Green didn't score for the first time since Week 1, Dalton spread the ball around effectively. He's no Tom Brady or Drew Brees, but Dalton is a decent alternative if your starter has a tough matchup. Knowshon Moreno is back on the fantasy map. Moreno hadn't been active for a single game this ...

When I was a kid, we used to work the neighborhood until we had fat sacks of candy. There would be lots of mediocre candy like Lemon Heads, Hot Tamales, Good -n- Plenty, Mike and Ike and raisins. I mean what kind of sick and twisted person gives raisins to kids? My friends and I were looking for the good stuff like Reese's, Nerds, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Baby Ruth, Bottle Caps and Razzles. As we grew older, the thought was that quality outweighed quantity. That's where this week's Audibles and Halloween meet. You aren't going to get volume from me, but I am going to give you a few things to think about. Let's get started on what I think is important. Treat ( Bottle Caps) Ronnie Hillman's emergence is not out of nowhere. The Denver Broncos have been bringing him along slowly, and I think they have done a great job with him. Willis McGahee has been running so well that you may believe that he is the only one who has value. Hillman doesn't take from McGahee's value, he adds to it. Based on the numbers to date, McGahee is touching the ball close to 20 times on the ground. In order to keep him fresh, there's lots of room for Hillman. The Broncos won't play from behind much with weaker opponents upcoming. Peyton Manning has proved that he is more than capable of carving up most defenses. While Manning goes to work, he inspires the Denver defenders to play their best to get him the ball back. There is nothing more powerful than the belief in your team. It truly gets the best production out of everyone. Take a look at the game this week against a Cincinnati defense that ranks poorly against opposing running backs. Yeah, insert McGahee and Hillman here. It's going to be a game that when Denver grabs the lead you'll get a dose of both backs. It's time to buy Hillman because the Broncos will need the ground game to sustain leads against weaker opponents. Trick ( Raisins) Don't get too excited over the Detroit Lions acquiring Mike Thomas. I bet it's more of a special teams play, anyhow. They have had problems previously on returns and Thomas fits that bill. His best season was in 2010 when he pulled in a whopping four touchdowns. This is hardly a scenario to be excited about. Treat ( Reese's) Pierre Garcon has been injury riddled all season after what looked like immediate chemistry with Robert Griffin III. Santana Moss has taken over that role, but it's time that you move him as Garcon is very close to seeing the field. I'm not ...

Injuries to starting running backs in Arizona, Buffalo and Miami are sure to cause a bit of a frenzy on the waiver wire this week, though none appear to be serious. A couple of wideouts make the highest list this week, including the much-anticipated return from suspension of a player for the Minnesota Vikings. We even list a kicker in this week's hot list, a justified selection as he's gone from passed over on fantasy draft day to Top 3 at his position. On to this week's waiver wire wonders ... Smokin' Hot WR Jerome Simpson, Minnesota The suspension is over, so this will be the last waiver wire period to pick Simpson up before he steps onto the field this week. We mentioned Simpson in our post-draft review, and we're putting him at the top of this week's list as we see him stepping directly onto the field and having the impact of a top fantasy wideout. Michael Jenkins and Devin Aromashodu will be pushed to the bench as Simpson assumes the No. 1 role for the Vikings. Grab him now before the stats start piling up. WR Leonard Hankerson, Washington All fantasy owners should be wary of reading between the lines when coach Mike Shanahan speaks, so when he tells us that Hankerson will be the full-time starter, we should take a close look at the stats (or tea leaves!) for confirmation. With Pierre Garcon out, Hankerson had a positive impact on this week's game, grabbing four passes for 56 yards. He is outplaying both Josh Morgan and Santana Moss, so we see him getting consistent playing time even when Garcon returns. RB Ryan Williams, Arizona Chris ‘Beanie' Wells left last week's game with turf toe, an injury that can linger on for several weeks. Williams filled in admirably, picking up 95 yards in total offense though most of it was in garbage time as the Cardinals salted away the game. Full-time running backs are extremely rare on the waiver wire, which is why Williams lands in the top echelon of this week's story. He carries some injury risk - Arizona has made an effort to limit his touches to take care of his sore knee. For the time being, Wells' injury pushes Williams into the role of lead back for the Cardinals. K Justin Tucker, Baltimore Despite only connecting on one field goal in Week 3, Tucker finds himself as one of the most sought-after players on the waiver wire. He hasn't missed yet this season, booting three field goals in each of the first two weeks, two of which were more than 50 yards long. The Ravens are the kind of...

The 2012 NFL Draft has come and gone, and the rookie class has begun their initiation into their new jobs as mini-camps have been underway throughout the land. It is no longer necessary to wonder what NFL team certain college stud players may land on as we now get to turn our attention to what fantasy value the rookies have moving forward. Predicting a successful rookie fantasy campaign is a tricky undertaking indeed, especially in mid-May, but it keeps the fantasy juices flowing and they certainly aren't going to rank themselves, right? Who will be the A.J. Green, DeMarco Murray or Cam Newton of 2012? Rookie fantasy drafts are underway in earnest, and it is time to start ranking the NFL newbies and keep rolling towards the kickoff of the 2012 fantasy football season. 1.) Trent Richardson, RB, Cleveland: Richardson steps in right away as the No. 1 running back for a team that averaged a meager 3.7 yards per carry last season and had only four rushing touchdowns. He is a three down running back who has drawn favorable comparisons to one Adrian Peterson. However, he will likely accumulate most of his fantasy points by sheer volume of touches as the Browns lack the passing game to draw defenders out of the box. The fourth round of re-draft leagues is where Richardson should come off the board on draft day but rest assured that he will be taken a lot higher than that. 2.) Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington: The Redskins jumped up in the draft to lock up their quarterback of the future and made multiple moves to surround the rookie with weapons. The signings of Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan will bolster the receiving options for Griffin, as will tight end Fred Davis, Leonard Hankerson and veteran wide out Santana Moss. Don't overlook the resigning of Tim Hightower as an excellent pass protecting running back as well as a superb receiving option for the rookie. Look for Washington to utilize plenty of roll out passing plays where Griffin can press defenses with his rocket arm and maintain the threat of tucking the ball and gouging defenses with his legs as well. He is a dynasty stud and should be the second or third player drafted in that format and start looking his way in the ninth round of redraft leagues as a solid No. 2 fantasy quarterback option. 3.) Doug Martin, RB, Tampa Bay: Martin is the complete package -- able to pass protect, soft hands out of the backfield and a hard driving low center of gravity running threat. He will be the bell cow ...

Washington Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss has a difficult opponent coming up - and we're not talking about Sunday's game against the NFC East rival New York Giants.

As you prepare for your league's playoffs there are a few important things you have to remember so that you are best positioned to claim the championship. Whether you managed an undefeated regular season or snuck in the playoffs on the heels of some crazy tiebreaker, the playoffs are a whole new season. Every team is one hot streak or one tragic hiccup from a championship or a first round exit. The most important thing that you can do now is to not try to get cute with your starting lineup. By now you have settled in with your core starters and key fill ins. Some NFL teams who are out of contention may use the last several weeks of the season to audition players for next year; you should NOT! A lot of times you may be tempted to get creative and play a touted matchup over an established player. Ninety percent of the time over thinking your matchups and getting cute will cost you. Stick with the guys who put your team in the position to make this championship run! Another important thing to remember is to keep working the waiver wire. I know that it may sound contradicting to what I just said about your starters, but what I am talking about here is never stopping improving your team. Your starters are not immune to injuries just because you are in the playoffs, just ask owners of Matt Forte. Do your research and put in claims for guys. If you are thin at running back you should add Khalil Bell or Marion Barber just like you likely would if it were week four. Maybe one of them pans out and gives your team options if one of your established starters goes down. Even if you have better options and never plug the guys in, you may be keeping one of your opponents from filling a glaring hole on their roster. If you have question marks at wide receiver adding Santana Moss should be a no brainer for you this week. The Redskins will be without Fred Davis and have been making a habit of targeting Moss since his return. Add all that to the fact that the Skins face off with the generous Patriots pass defense in week 14 and you may have found a nice fill in for your lineup woes. Do you have Frank Gore? A savvy fantasy owner would be sure to grab Kendall Hunter right now if they have a droppable player. Yeah I know that Hunter has struggled to make the impact that many thought he would entering the season, but with the 49ERs creeping up on solidifying their playoff seed they may consider resting Gore to keep him fresh for the playoffs. If the Packers ...