If you haven’t been paying attention to this column, then you’ve been making a grave mistake. So far, my two waiver wire claims-of-the-week (Michael Vick and Mark Sanchez) have accounted for 7 total TDs since I gave them this distinguished position. I also recently profiled Kyle Orton, who promptly went out and passed for 476 yards.

Basically, having me write about a player is the complete opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Madden.

Of course, this is all with a limited sample size, so I guess you’re just going to have to keep checking back to see if I can keep it up (I will). Enough tooting of my own horn (that just sounds weird); it’s time to get down to business.

As usual, let’s review the highs, the lows and the just plain mediocre from the weekend that was.

Top Performer

That’s more like it, Anquan Boldin. If there is one WR worth owning on the Ravens this year, it is clearly Boldin, as him and Joe Flacco have already hooked up 20 times for 287 yards and 3 TDs; though those TDs were all scored on Sunday.

Keep in mind that this was against the Browns, though, and that next week he has the ridiculously good Steelers defense to go against. I have a sneaky feeling that we won’t see the same production out of him…so enjoy it this week, Boldin owners. I wasn’t able to, as I benched him from being my flex option in favor of Ahmad Bradshaw (my starting WRs are Roddy White and Miles Austin by the way), but luckily, I was still able to enjoy a sizable victory.

The ‘Quan is clearly a top WR three weeks into the season, though if I had a better option, I wouldn’t start him next week.

Studs

Michael Vick/Mark Sanchez–Thanks for making me look smart, guys. Vick continues to be a fantasy monster while Sanchez just keeps making plays. Both threw for 3 TDs while Vick added a rushing score (Sanchez had one as well that was called back due to penalty) and generally looked like two of the top five QBs playing in the league right now. Sanchez probably won’t be able to keep up this blistering pace, but I don’t really see Vick slowing down while he still plays in the NFC East/WEAK (take that east coast/Texas (?)).

And to think that I actually LOL-ed (I hated typing it out as much as you hated reading it) when my colleague picked Sanchez for having a big year. My bad, Tony.

Adrian Peterson–One more week like this and he’ll join Peyton Manning on the banned list (players I won’t discuss because they are so consistently great). I was watching ESPN’s First Take show this morning and heard the chronically wrong-headed debater Skip Bayless once again rip into Adrian Peterson for…well I didn’t really know what he was ripping into him for. I guess for not playing for Bayless’ Cowboys.

Consider the fact that in his four years in the NFL, Peterson has never had as good of a first three games as he is having this year (70 carries for 392 yards and 3 TDs). Of course, Peterson wasn’t able to get the ball into the end zone in the Vikings’ second game against the Miami Dolphins—a score which probably would have won that game—but it’s not really his fault that everyone was stacked at the line because Brett Favre is playing like a shell of himself.

I’m calling you out, Bayless, have me on your little show and let’s have ourselves a good old fashioned throwdown.

Lance Moore–A prime example of why you can’t trust any Saints WR in fantasy. Out of nowhere, Moore caught 6 passes for 149 yards and 2 TDs, this coming a week after he failed to manage to even catch ONE pass. I doubt that any sensible owner started Moore, and if I were you, I wouldn’t start him in the future unless he continues to play like this. He won’t, though.

Peyton Hillis–Another player I benched from a flex spot at the last second. Against a formidable Ravens D, Hillis rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries for 1 TD. He’s the clear cut starter in Cleveland and receives the majority of the carries and virtually all of the goal line ones as well. You really can’t afford to not start him (unless you have a great team, in which case you should trade him while his value is high). He’s also scored in every game so far this season.

Underachievers

Ahmad Bradshaw–C’mon Bradshaw, this is now two straight weeks on this list. Sure, you had a pretty good game (15 carries, 88 yards, 5 catches, 33 yards and a TD) but you also fumbled in the red zone. You left a lot of points out of the field. Now, I like you a lot, and it’s clear that the Giants like you a lot, if for no other reason than they really dislike Brandon Jacobs, but you could be doing so much better. Next week, let’s really get going, OK? I’d love to have you on my studs list. Thanks for listening, bud.

Larry Fitzgerald–He had a bad matchup against the Oakland Raiders (Nnamdi Asomugha), but still. Fitzgerald should be putting up more points that this (2 catches for 26 yards and a TD). I anticipated Derek Anderson being bad, but I had no clue that he was going to so negatively affect Fitz’s numbers. If you’re his owner, you might be tempted to trade him, but honestly, I don’t think you’d get much in return right now. My advice is to hold onto him for as long as you can; hopefully you have enough depth to win some games while Fitz starts to put it together. Fitzgerald IS going to breakout this season, it’s just a matter of when (Derek Anderson gets benched). Wait it out.

LeSean McCoy/Jahvid Best–The top two performers of last week fell back down to earth on Sunday. Best didn’t help his owners at all and was forced to exit the game with a toe injury (no word as of this writing on its severity) while McCoy wasn’t able to convert his limited touches into big plays. Both will have their weeks that make them virtually impossible to bench, but then they’ll also have flat ones like this. Watch their matchups closely.

Duds

The Steve Smiths—Yikes. Carolina’s Steve Smith caught only 3 passes for 22 yards with rookie QB Jimmy Clausen starting his first game, while the New York Giant’s Steve Smith managed to put up 9 catches for 103 yards, but failed to score again. Hakeem Nicks is the No. 1 WR in NY, and Mario Manningham has developed as the big play threat on that offense. Eli Manning still trusts Smith, but his lack of TDs makes him a hindrance for your team.

The other Steve Smith managed to have a solid first two weeks of the season by putting up around 70 yards and scoring a TD in each, but he’s really the only threat on that Panthers offense. I’m wary of both.

The Jacksonville Jaguars–The third pick in most fantasy drafts, Maurice Jones-Drew, certainly isn’t playing like it. David Garrard was terrible once again and the WR corps played Jacksonville Jaguars football, also known as not very good football. You have to figure that such a talented back as MJD will eventually breakout, but Garrard looks like he’ll be benched by midseason and Mike Sims-Walker suffers from being on such a bad team. Unless they can somehow magically turn this season around, it looks like the Jags are heading straight towards a Top 5 pick in next year’s draft.

Waiver Claim of the Week—Justin Forsett

I wrote a glowing preview of his season back in the summer (oh so long ago) and thus far he has largely been a disappointment. I’m sure that if you drafted Forsett, you probably dropped him by now, but JF, I want you to know that I never did. You’ve sat on my bench in two of my leagues, and next week, you’re going to get your chance to start.

Why am I so high on him this week? Well if you check the box score from the Seahawks/Chargers game you’ll notice that Forsett received virtually all the touches for the Seahawks backfield. You’ll also notice that he put up 90 total yards. In a week which will see such high profile players as Adrian Peterson on bye, you could do a lot worse than starting JF in your flex spot. I predict Forsett’s first game of fantasy relevance this weekend…

Players I Love/Hate Score-Tracker

Jamaal Charles: +1
Arian Foster: +1 (solid 100 yard game)
Kevin Kolb: +1 (yes, I will continue to give myself a point for every week he doesn’t play)
Larry Fitzgerald: 0 (not very good, not bad again)
Brandon Marshall: -1 (he really broke out, but I don’t really mind as he did it on one of my fantasy teams)
Chris Johnson: -1
Justin Forsett: 0 (90 yards)
The Rams: -1 (they won a game, something I was skeptical of them doing AT ALL this season. When you’re wrong, you’re wrong.)
Joe Flacco: +1
Tom Brady: -1

Last week’s score: +1
Current standing: +1

Stayed in the positives by breaking even, hurrah!

Check out all the articles from the Players I Love/Hate series. Players I Love: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V. Players I Hate: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V.