Fantasy lesson No. 2: buying high and selling low

There is no better time than early in the season to shake up your fantasy football roster. The… There is no better time than early in the season to shake up your fantasy football roster. The first few weeks are the optimal time to maximize the value of players off to a fast start and, adversely, dump guys that have uncharacteristically jumped out to blazing starts. Do your best Scott Boras impression. Try to trick the managers in your league and: Sell Ben Roethlisberger ‘mdash; The Steelers are 2-0. That’s all the matters to them. Roethlisberger is a highly efficient 25 of 33 on the season (75 percent). That’s, perhaps, all that matters to him. But it has nothing to do with what matters to me. For Roethlisberger owners, it’s painstaking to watch the Steelers offense. Run on first down, run on second down, run on third down and kick on fourth down. The most frustrating thing about watching Big Ben and the Steelers offense operate is that it seems blatantly obvious that if they wanted to, the Steelers could open up their offense and throw all over teams. Yet Big Ben has not attempted 20 passes in either of the Steelers’ first two games. Sell Big Ben high before it’s too late. He had 32 touchdown passes last year. An incredible total for anyone not named Brady, Manning or Romo. After the aforementioned three, Roethlisberger seemed to be the guy to draft. Then it happened. Willie Parker scored more touchdowns in one game (three) than he did all last season. So far Pittsburgh has run the ball 70 times and thrown it just 37. That’s not a quarterback-friendly distribution rate. If the first two games are any indication of the Steelers’ offensive game plan for the year, Roethlisberger won’t do enough statistically to carry your fantasy team. Remember when Rothlisberger’s 9-for-21, 123-yard, no-touchdown, two-interception performance was good enough to win the Super Bowl? Managing an offense can win football games but not fantasy matchups. Not to mention the likes of Jason Campbell, Trent Edwards and J.T. O’Sullivan all scored more points than Big Ben through the first two weeks and are probably available on the waiver wire. Oh yeah, and then there’s that separated shoulder thing. Sell Matt Hasselbeck ‘mdash; It might be too late, but if he still holds value in your league, dish him off. Hasselbeck is headed for a disastrous season. In the preseason, his own brother, Tim, said that Hasselbeck would not have a good fantasy year. Looks like he got it right. So far Hasselbeck has completed just 45 percent of his passes with just one touchdown and three interceptions. Hasselbeck hasn’t eclipsed 200 yards passing in either of his first two games against two defenses (Buffalo and San Francisco) that gave up more than 240 yards passing per game last year. Like Roethlisberger, Hasselbeck has an injury (bulging disk) that nobody seems to know much about. To combat that, Seattle is playing without its three best wide receivers for at least another three weeks. Hasselbeck had a fine year last season. Perhaps you can find somebody who believes Hasselbeck’s slow start is an enigma. If you can, exploit that manager. It doesn’t look good for Hasselbeck. Sell Lendale White ‘mdash; White owners should be thrilled that they have gotten a touchdown out of White in each of the first two games because now he has some value that really isn’t there. Yes, White rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored seven touchdowns last year, but he didn’t have Chris Johnson to worry about. Johnson, a rookie from East Carolina, ran a 4.24 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine, which tied the record for the fastest time ever recorded at the combine in Indianapolis. White might, and I stress the might, still get goal-line carries for Tennessee, but even that won’t be enough for him to remain a formidable option at running back. Johnson already has games of 93 and 109 yards. With Vince Young out indefinitely, it’s going to be hard for Tennessee to keep Johnson’s explosiveness off the field. It’s hard to imagine that White will have any legitimate fantasy worth by the end of the year. Buy Maurice Jones-Drew ‘mdash; Perhaps only Tom Brady owners have second-guessed themselves more. Jones-Drew was typically drafted in the second or third round in fantasy drafts. When he’s actually gotten and opportunity so far, Jones-Drew has looked awful carrying the ball. Through two games, he has just 12 carries for 30 yards. However, Jones-Drew has already scored a touchdown, something he hadn’t done in the first three games of the last two seasons. There are deterrents. Jacksonville’s offensive line has been decimated by injuries, and as a team the Jaguars are averaging a pathetic 65.5 yards rushing per game this year. That could be a major concern since Jones-Drew has to split touches with Fred Taylor. But Jones-Drew has big play potential, and if Jacksonville can’t get its intermediate running game going, it will have to put Jones-Drew and his big play potential on the field as much as possible. It might take a couple weeks, but expect Jones-Drew to see more and more touches. Strike now while Jones-Drew owners are still mulling over selecting him early in the draft. Buy Anthony Gonzalez ‘mdash; I highlighted Gonzalez as a preseason sleeper a few weeks ago, and I’m sticking with him. With the absence of Dallas Clark, Gonzalez took over as the Colts focal point from the slot, catching nine balls for 137 yards. Although Clark’s knee injury isn’t being viewed as serious, his absence Sunday gave Gonzalez the opportunity to showcase his ability. Gonzalez won’t score a ton of touchdowns this year, but, especially in leagues that count receptions, his value is good enough to be your third wide receiver or your wr/rb flex. Buy Roy Williams ‘mdash; It doesn’t look like there’s much doubt that Calvin Johnson has emerged as Jon Kitna’s go-to guy in Detroit. Not to mention the Lions drafted Johnson second overall and gave him $27 million guaranteed, so they have no choice but to throw him the ball. However, Williams (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) is unbelievably gifted athletically, and he’s also in his ever-enticing contract year. You can’t ignore the fact that Detroit fell behind big in both of its first two games and was forced to throw the ball for the majority. Even with Johnson as the guy in Detroit, there will be more than enough balls to go around. Williams, who is averaging three catches and just 47.5 yards after the first two weeks, should be relatively cheap. Buy Isaac Bruce ‘mdash; That’s right, buy the soon to be 37-year-old that didn’t catch a single pass in San Francisco’s opener. Mike Martz is calling the plays in San Francisco, and who could forget the majestic passing game that St. Louis and Bruce had under the tutelage of Martz at the turn of the century. After being shutout in week one, Bruce caught four passes for 153 yards in San Francisco’s week two win over Seattle. J.T. O’Sullivan looked formidable, and, for lack of a better option, Bruce could see enough balls to garner consideration.