Even when Curtis returns, Maclin should still be the starter. As evidenced by their use of DeSean Jackson last season, the Eagles aren’t afraid to give rookie WRs a lot of snaps. Maclin torched the Bucs last week and should be a decent start going forward even though Donovan McNabb will surely distribute the targets more evenly in the future.
Steelers won’t determine who is the starter until gametime. Complicating matters, Rashard Mendenhall is recovering from “flu-like symptoms” and Willie Parker is practicing fully, so the Steelers aren’t sure who will be best suited to carry the workload in Sunday. Given his recent performance, Mendenhall is clearly the better player, but the Steelers have been stingy about giving him the starting job. It’s entirely possible that this is a time share on Sunday.
Cotchery probably isn’t going to play. The Bills are pretty good against the pass, so he wasn’t going to be a good play anyway. David Clowney deserves some consideration in really deep PPR leagues, and Braylon Edwards should be a decent start (assuming he still has Mark Sanchez’s eye).
Polamalu should face the Browns. This is bad news for the entire league, but in the short-term, downgrade Derek Anderson and Mohamed Massaquoi, who were looking to have a bounce-back game after a miserable outing against the Bills. It may not happen if Polamalu is back at full strength.
Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford both miss practice. Both players are listed as questionable, but Johnson was seen hobbling earlier in the week and Stafford wasn’t even on the sidelines for Thursday’s practice. Fantasy owners that are desperate for WR help could try Bryant Johnson and/or Dennis Northcutt. Northcutt had a nice game last week and could post a solid line in PPR formats. Johnson is a deep threat and should get lots of targets against a Packers defense that has struggled against the pass (and will probably be playing with a lead).
The biggest obstacle for the Lakers this season is Ron Artest. This may sound odd, but the franchise is rolling the dice that Ron-Ron can behave for another season. They gave up on the quietly improving Trevor Ariza and made a big move to add the unruly Artest to the roster. This is risky, especially for a team coming off an impressive title run. Why fiddle with your chemistry like that? Well, GM Mitch Kupchak is well aware that the Lakers aren’t getting by on chemistry. They are a group of very talented players, held together loosely by Phil Jackson’s thoughtful approach and Kobe Bryant’s will to win. In other words, chemistry may not matter to the Lakers, because it’s a by-product of winning. (For most teams, it’s the other way around.) There’s no doubt that Artest brings a lot to the table, but he’s the biggest change from last season, so if the Lakers take a step back, he’ll probably get the blame. Meanwhile, it appears that the big lineup question surrounds the Lamar Odom/Andrew Bynum quandary, but the truth is that Bynum’s game has not developed enough to demand that he be on the floor in crunch time. Odom can shoot (albeit, only a little) and is a terrific ball handler/passer, so Jackson knows that he can better space the court than Bynum can. When both Bynum and Pau Gasol are on the floor, the lane gets clogged and Kobe can’t find driving lanes, so look for Odom to get the edge in minutes again this year. But back to Artest — assuming he accepts a reduction in his offensive role, the Lakers are the odds-on favorites to once again represent the West in the Finals.