Fantasy football: Pick-up Terrance West, Marion Grice, Donte Moncrief

If you’ve been reading this column since July, you’ve made the playoffs and are now just hoping your players don’t get hurt while you’re on a playoff bye. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Don’t let the sting of the champagne in your eyes blind you for a week, though. There are still moves to be made that can put us in the best position to win our semifinal matchup.

On the defensive

The time to map out a plan for your D/ST is now. All that matters is matchups, so even if you’ve been riding a good one like Seattle or New England all year, it’s OK to move on. Jumping ahead a week to Week 15, the Chiefs host the Raiders and the Ravens host the Jaguars. Sell out to get them on your roster immediately. Other quality options include the Rams (home against Drew Stanton) and the Titans (home against Geno Smith).

Handcuffs

Fantasy teams that are good enough to earn byes usually have a stacked starting lineup. The only way we’re going to need our bench is if an injury strikes – so handcuffing is more profitable than a mediocre reserve like Larry Fitzgerald or Fred Jackson. The running back handcuffs are obvious – Knile Davis to Jamaal Charles, Joseph Randle to DeMarco Murray etc. But Demaryius Thomas/Emmanuel Sanders owners should also stash Cody Latimer and Rob Gronkowski owners should have Tim Wright. Prepare for the worst in terms of injuries and hope for the best.

Wag the finger

Once we have all our D/ST streamers and handcuffs in order, we can turn our attention to blockers. This means adding players that could help our opponents even though we don’t intend to use them. So scoop up all the aforementioned defenses, leaving nothing of quality available. If you see that the enemy’s running backs have terrible matchups in Week 15, add any running backs that have good matchups. Steal his handcuffs. Take no prisoners.

Pickups of the Week

Terrance West, RB, Browns – Last week’s fumble got West in the doghouse, but the Browns will have to turn back to him if Isaiah Crowell (hip) is out.

Marion Grice, RB, Cardinals – If Andre Ellington (hip) can’t go, Grice will step in for 10-14 touches against the Chiefs Sunday.

Donte Moncrief, WR, Colts — Snap count is rising steadily as Colts finally realize that Hakeem Nicks is completely done.

NFL Matchups

Fire up these borderline wide receivers in Week 14

1. Charles Johnson vs. NYJ – Brush off last week’s disappointment and fire up Johnson against a Jets’ no-name secondary primed for a letdown off MNF.

2. Reggie Wayne at CLE – Wayne has lost a step or three, but that’s OK as he’ll see Buster Skrine while Joe Haden locks up T.Y. Hilton.

3. Stedman Bailey at WAS – This Redskins secondary loves to give up big plays in the passing game and Bailey is white hot right now.

NFL News

Dwayne Allen (ankle) is expected to return to action this week. While he’s only a low-volume, TD-dependent TE1, he will throw a bit of a wrench into the production of Coby Fleener. We can no longer count on the 6.0 targets per game Fleener has seen over the last few weeks, a number that briefly vaulted him into the top-five tight ends. In terms of the running game, Allen’s return does help Boom Herron. Fleener is averse to contact while Allen has the physical ability to open holes in the run game.