Even though there aren't a lot of players to get excited about this week, scanning the waiver wire is always worth the time and effort. We've got a trio of players in our top categories this week, players that will have an immediate fantasy impact. We are still very high on players like Zac Stacy , Andre Ellington , Chris Ogbonnaya and Terrance Williams so if they are available in your league, they are worth picking up before the players listed here. We make up for the lack of depth at the top with some extra selections in our speculative categories, players that may have a fantasy impact in the upcoming weeks as their roles becomes more defined. Some major bye weeks are coming up very soon across the league, with six teams on a bye during the same week, so stock up and prepare for a couple weeks down the road. On to this week's wonders ... Smokin' Hot RB Joseph Randle, Dallas For the second week in a row, fantasy owners can look to the waiver wire and find a starting running back worthy of being a fantasy starter. The Dallas Cowboys are waiting to hear how long starter DeMarco Murray will be out, and in the meantime it will be Randle that will handle the ball for Dallas. Lance Dunbar is battling a hamstring issue, and that clears the path for Randle to enjoy some very favorable rushing matchups on the Cowboys' schedule (Philadelphia, Detroit, Minnesota, etc.). Randle will be a very hot commodity on this weeks' waiver wire. Solid Pickups WR Jarret Boykin, Green Bay This is a speculative add, but in the prolific Green Bay passing attack, Boykin will be pressed into immediate service. Early reports indicate that Randall Cobb will miss a significant amount of time, and no timetable has been set regarding James Jones . Someone will need to fill in for those two players, and Boykin is next on the depth chart for the Packers. WR Kris Durham, Detroit After an eight-catch, 83-yard performance against Cleveland, Durham gets a bump up from our lowest category in last week's listing. With Calvin Johnson hurting, Durham was targeted 13 times and he has quickly moved past Ryan Broyles on the depth chart. Matthew Stafford has a lot of confidence in Durham already. He has the potential to stick as the No. 2 wide out for the Lions. On the Radar WR Tandon Doss, Baltimore The yardage totals keep going up, from 47 two weeks ago, to 58 last week, to 99 yards on four catches this week against Green Bay. Joe Flacco is spreading the ball around,...

Week 5 Fantasy Headlines: Cowboys Lose Despite 506 Passing Yards & 5 TDs from Tony Romo Denver Slips Past Dallas Thanks to 414 Passing Yards & 4 TDs from Peyton Manning Drew Brees & Jimmy Graham Lead Saints to 5-0 Jamaal Charles Helps Lift Chiefs to 5-0 No TD Passes for Tom Brady in Loss to the Bengals Justin Blackmon Has Monster 2013 Debut Ray Rice Regains Stud Form A.J. Green Disappoints Again Trent Richardson Disappoints Again Cam Newton & the Panthers Wilt in the Desert Heat Giants Fall to 0-5 Despite Monster Games from Eli Manning & Hakeem Nicks Game Summaries & Fantasy Commentary: Bye week: Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. Note: The San Diego Chargers/Oakland Raiders game ran very late, which is why it's not included in the game summaries. Thursday Night Game: BUFFALO BILLS 24 (2-3) CLEVELAND BROWNS 37 (3-2) Final Fantasy Focus -- Buffalo Bills: Fred Jackson (17-53-2 rushing and 4-40-0 receiving) got the start and carried the offense. C.J. Spiller (8-66-1 rushing) played sparingly on a bum ankle (no touches in the first quarter) and wasn't targeted in the passing game. Spiller rolled up most of his yardage on a 54-yard touchdown scamper. The passing game fizzled quickly after Stevie Johnson (2-19-0 on three targets) left in the first quarter due to a back injury. E.J. Manuel (129 passing yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs; 1-14-0 scrambling) was knocked out in the third quarter with a knee injury. Backup Jeff Tuel (80 passing yards) couldn't move the offense and tossed a pick-six. Rookie Robert Woods (5-64-0 on 13 targets) and Scott Chandler (4-49-0 on six targets) were the leading receivers. Fantasy Focus -- Cleveland Browns: Hometown guy Brian Hoyer (25 passing yards) left the game early in the first quarter with a season-ending torn ACL. Brandon Weeden (197 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs) was rusty in the early going, because he had missed two games with a thumb injury. Josh Gordon (4-86-1 on six targets) hauled in Weeden's only touchdown pass. Jordan Cameron (3-36-0 on five targets) failed to score or amass 90-plus receiving yards in a game for the first time this season. Thirty-one-year-old Willis McGahee (26-71-1 rushing and 0-0-0 receiving) averaged just 2.8 yards per carry, but he is clearly the lead dog in the backfield. Backups Chris Ogbonnaya and Bobby Rainey touched the ball a combined four times. Cleveland scored on a 79-yard Travis Benjamin punt return and a 44-...

The full fallout from the Trent Richardson trade has not been felt yet, neither on the Cleveland Browns or the Indianapolis Colts. Without Ahmad Bradshaw, Richardson only ran for 60 yards on 20 carries. Yes, he found the end zone, but will this become another time-sharing situation when Bradshaw returns? Willis McGahee looked OK against the Cincinnati Bengals, but his absence in the passing game is going to keep his value down. Chris Ogbonnaya is the clear passing option; as long as both are healthy neither is going to have that much fantasy value. Looking to the waivers, players like Justin Blackmon (back from suspension), Coby Fleener, Alshon Jeffery and the Kansas City defense/special teams are definitely worth a look but in the majority of leagues they are already owned. Make sure they are rostered, as they would be above all the players listed here. We are bringing back our top category for a couple of players this week, but otherwise the landscape for waiver wire additions is largely speculative. A handful of wide receivers and running backs that are both solid and on the radar, plus a quarterback in the mix but nothing to get overly excited about. With injuries starting to mount around the league, there is something for everyone to take a look at and put at the bottom of their roster. On to the weekly wonders! Smokin' Hot WR Robert Woods, Buffalo We open this week with a guy that never seems to leave the field of play. With Stevie Johnson nursing a sore hamstring, the rookie has stepped in and performed admirably. An official's reversal kept him from a two-touchdown day, but in the end he finished with four receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens. The Bills have little behind Johnson and Woods, so those two will be on the field as long as they are healthy and able. Woods should be owned in all formats, and we'd go so far to project him as a WR3 or WR4 and worth a spot start to cover a bye week. RB Rashad Jennings, Oakland The Raiders are being mum on the status of Darren McFadden, with early reports speculating that the starter will miss this week's tilt against San Diego. Jennings lit up the Washington Redskins for eight catches and 71 yards in the air and 15 carries for 45 yards on the ground. As McFadden's backup, he will carry the load in his absence as there is no one else in Oakland capable of carrying the rock. He's worth adding in all formats as we await the announced length of McFadden's ...

I hope you all took my advice last week. In the initial installment of this series I informed you to try and get Giovani Bernard , Tavon Austin and DeAndre Hopkins . Together, all they did was get 237 total yards with five touchdowns. Five touchdowns! Now hopefully I have gotten your attention for the rest of the year. Let's get on to the review. Quarterbacks Geno Smith -- The Thursday night game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots was ugly in about 19 different ways. Let us just say that Smith took a giant step back from his Week 1 performance. Smith ended the evening 15-of-35 for 214 yards and three interceptions. Combine that with four more sacks and you can understand what I mean with a giant step back. That is now nine sacks, four interceptions and one fumble in two games. There are already rumblings in New York that a quarterback change may be needed. As it stands right now, Smith is the 32nd rated QB (out of 32 teams). E.J. Manuel -- The Buffalo Bills may be better than we all thought. They played the New England Patriots tough in Game 1 and came away with a last-minute victory over Carolina in Week 2. Manual spear-headed a late drive and threw the game winning touchdown to Stevie Johnson with :02 left on the clock. Manuel has shown composure under pressure and you can tell he is gaining confidence. His line for the game was 27-for-39, 296 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also completed a two-point conversion. I'll say it once again, Manuel should be on your radar. If and when he starts running, you will not be sorry. Running Backs Eddie Lacy -- Everybody in Green Bay had to have their mouths watering for what Lacy was going to do in the home opener. After all, they were playing the Washington Redskins on a short week after having been gutted by Philadelphia's rushing attack. But, it was a sorry sight when Lacy went down with a concussion on his very first carry. A timetable for his return has yet to be announced. A good guess would be around Week 5 or 6 (Green Bay has a Week 4 bye). Giovani Bernard -- One of the guys I told you to try and get, Bernard took the Monday Night spotlight with two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). Once again, the Cincinnati Bengals used BenJarvus Green-Ellis more, with 50 snaps to 29 for Bernard. Green-Ellis averaged just better than 3.0 yards per carry compared to 4.75 yards per carry for Bernard. Giovoni is also the better receiver; when will the ...

Initiallybuilt by NASA to set lines for the Las Vegas casinos in the late 1950's (Who doyou think funded the Apollo missions? The government? It was the mob ...), TheSin City Betbot 6000 calculated lines for more than 30 years. The Betbot wasgiven various upgrades through the years, not always with the best equipment,but he was very good at setting lines, and living the good life. TheBetbot was decommissioned in 1990 after San Francisco destroyed Denver in theSuper Bowl. The 45-point spread simply fried a number of the Betbot's wires andhe retired. The Betbot was discovered by Fantasysharks.com and retooled to givefantasy advice. He lives now to give his own unique, well-cultured take on theNFL. The Sin City Betbot 6000 Presents is transcribed by Joe Petrizzi and TomWalls, because, "typing ... BZZT... is a dame's job." You know, for a robot likemyself that is built to gamble, and especially on football, the long off-seasonis ... BZZT ... bleepin' torture. While I am well-equipped to handicapsports of all types, and even some elections, I don't really enjoy betting onany sports other than pro football. I hate to say it, because some of mybest friends are great baseball handicappers, just to name one sport. Still,this summer I was at a book to dropoff some chocolate-covered strawberries tothis lady friend working a shift shuttling drinks. It was her mother'sbirthday, and, of course, her mom loves that stuff. All moms love thatstuff. And if you want to impress a young lady, make her mother happy. ButI digress. I saw some real degenerates at this book, betting on golf of allthings. Golf! Can you imagine? This is what people become when football is notin season. Disgusting. And now that footballseason is back, I'm here to spoil it for you by explaining exactly what isgoing to happen this year. Don't hate me because I'm right. AFC East New England -- 11-5 --Lost in New England's dominant run with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is thefact that there hasn't been another really good quarterback in this divisionsince Dan Marino retired. Think about that. Sure, there's not much here ondefense, and 90 percent of the passing game production left town since 2012,but the Patriots have another ridiculously easy in-division schedule and one ofthe best quarterbacks in all of football. Sure it's fun to talk about how theystiffed Wes Welker while dropping a pile ofcash on two tight ends that are currently injured and incarcerated. Butultimately, I think Brady can ...

While there may be a few stragglers, most leagues have held their drafts and are now poised for Week 1. I, for one, have been waiting quite impatiently for this week and I have no idea to delay things any longer. Let's move right into some final thoughts from the preseason. Following a season in which Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson put up three of the top rookie seasons by a quarterback in league history, what can we expect from this year's freshman class? The quarterbacks will be represented by E.J. Manuel (Buffalo) and Geno Smith (New York Jets). Manuel will most likely start for Buffalo from Week 1 on, providing a dual threat for a Buffalo offense that figures to run quite a bit. Smith, on the other hand, has looked shaky, at best, this preseason and has very little offensive talent around him. Both have running ability, which can only boost their fantasy value, but I don't think I'm comfortable having either, even as a backup. Manuel is a better bet, with C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson, but he's a reach. Avoid Smith like the plague. The running back position is one that can often produce value in a rookie class. This season is no different, with Giovani Bernard (Cincinnati), Le'Veon Bell (Pittsburgh), Montee Ball (Denver) and Eddie Lacy (Green Bay). Bernard will compete with the plodding BenJarvus Green-Ellis in the Bengals backfield, and should ultimately provide more value. If he weren't in a timeshare, I'd be more excited, obviously, but he should be a solid flex guy most of the year and flirt with RB2 value. Bell injured his foot in the preseason and is expected to be out early this year, but the waiving of Jonathan Dwyer and recent reports from the Steelers indicate that Bell may be back earlier than expected. Ball will be in a three-way timeshare, and it's anyone's guess how the split goes. Remember that coach John Fox once presided over the Carolina Panthers' backfield, with the Jonathan Stewart-DeAngelo Williams headache. Lacy may be in the best position, in a starting role for a high-powered Green Bay offense. He'll finally be the battering ram the Packers have been looking for. I rank them Lacy, Bernard, Bell, Ball. The fantasy-relevant wideouts this year look to be Tavon Austin (St. Louis), DeAndre Hopkins (Houston), Cordarrelle Patterson (Minnesota), Aaron Dobson (New England) and Kenbrell Thompkins (New England). Austin will be a slot receiver and specialist for St. Louis. He has the speed to be a true game ...

As much as we all will be complaining about the preseason a few weeks from now when we can smell the arrival of that first Thursday night game, we do love Week 1 of the preseason. So many games! Replayed so many times! It's overwhelming to the senses and can make it hard to focus as game after game and highlight after highlight come at us. What is a person to do? Well, I like to jot down notes as I watch every replay and then spend the next few hours after the game trying to figure out what exactly it was I had scribbled down. I should actually peek down from time to time as I write to make sure things are legible and not written on top of each other. I'm thinking my note pad must resemble what is going on in Bernie Kosar's mind as he babbles incoherently during Cleveland Browns preseason games. He shouldn't quit his day job! Wait, he does have a day job, right? Gosh, I hope so. What stood out to me from Week 1 one of the preseason, you ask? Why, you don't even need to ask as I was intending to let you know anyway. Here are some names and what came to mind regarding them after countless hours of ruminating and a lot of Red Bull. Marcus Easley, WR, Buffalo: After posting 94 yards on seven receptions catching passes from Jeff Tuel in the Bills preseason opener, keep an eye on Easley. Injuries have hampered him from making any impact in his first three seasons and this could be his final kick at the can. He is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and has the speed to make an impact if he can stay healthy as a receiver and return man. Monitor the snaps he receives moving forward in the preseason to see if he gets on the field with E.J. Manuel. The wide receiver depth chart in Buffalo is littered with rookies (Robert Woods, Da'Rick Rogers, Marquise Goodwin) and injury concerns (Stevie Johnson's hamstring) so Easley could sneak on to the roster even though he wasn't selected by this regime. Kenjon Barner, RB, Carolina: After fumbling the ball on his first touch Barner settled down and flashed the moves that have impressed coaches and teammates during the preseason. He finished his first pro game with 54 total yards and a touchdown. With Jonathan Stewart's foot problems and father time knocking on DeAngelo Williams' door, Barner is an excellent dynasty pick with a chance to offer some limited immediate value. He's a shifty back with above-average receiving skills that could see the Panthers utilize him in the passing game sooner rather than later. Worth a late round...

August is finally here. I wrote back in May that summer was almost over. My reasoning might have sounded crazy then, but guess what? Summer is basically over and it didn't take long just like I said it wouldn't. You just have to believe. So long summer. You won't be missed. Football is right around the corner and fantasy drafts are in full swing. In my last " Fire Sale," I mentioned a product I tried and really liked by Advanced Sports Logic called The Machine. It's a software system that gives you a blended pre-draft ranking system from Fantasy Sharks and a couple of other respected fantasy sites, as well as help during the season. Some of you gave me feedback on Twitter and said you liked using The Machine as well. The one question I got a lot, though, was can you customize the rankings to your league's scoring system? The answer is yes. The Machine actually pulls your league's information on its own and ranks the players accordingly based on your scoring system. I have four leagues currently hooked up to it and not all of my rankings are the same. Because I spoke so highly of the product and that was the one question most people asked me on Twitter I thought I would clarify it for everyone. Last week I gave out my top 20 quarterbacks and top 30 running backs. In this edition of The Fire Sale I'll finish off my rankings by unveiling my top 40 wide receivers and top 20 tight ends. I don't claim to be a rankings guru, so you can always check out the Fantasy Sharks official rankings as well, but this is how I see things heading into the season. Now on with " The Fire Sale ..." Top 40 Wide Receivers 1. Calvin Johnson, Detroit 2. A.J. Green, Cincinnati 3. Dez Bryant, Dallas 4. Julio Jones, Atlanta 5. Brandon Marshall, Chicago 6. Demaryius Thomas, Denver 7. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona 8. Roddy White, Atlanta 9. Randall Cobb, Green Bay 10. Andre Johnson, Houston 11. Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis 12. Victor Cruz, New York Giants 13. Wes Welker, Denver 14. Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay 15. Marques Colston, New Orleans 16. Danny Amendola, New England 17. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants 18. Eric Decker, Denver 19. Jordy Nelson, Green Bay 20. Torrey Smith, Baltimore 21. Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City 22. Pierre Garcon, Washington 23. Mike Wallace, Miami 24. Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh 25. Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 26. Stevie Johnson, Buffalo 27. Alshon Jeffery...

As the summer progresses, the RotoViz Staff is moving closer to a consensus on some of the most underrated fantasy players for 2013. While the RotoViz calling card may be stockpiling value, these guys also sport ridiculous upside at their current ADPs. After all, cheaper isn't always better. You want your roster stacked with stars....

Last week Mr. Revlis Football himself, James Goldstein, compiled a very innovative stat called the wide receiver upside ratio, which essentially takes into account a receiver's similarity score high and their average draft position (ADP) and predicts to what extent the receiver is going to live up to his draft position. In this article, I look at the value opportunity presented by Bills' WR Steve Johnson. ...