Pierre Garcon, Washington Redskins

Garcon gets plenty of targets and receptions and is pretty consistent in that category.  What makes me worry about him, surprisingly, is his performance at home.  He has yet to have a touchdown at home and only once did he have a huge receiving game in Week 9 against the Chargers.  The lowest amount of yards Garcon has had this year was 46 and the lowest amount of receptions was six.  In a PPR league he is a must start because of these numbers but in any standard league, he needs to be questioned.  Garcon has the ability every week to do big things but with only three touchdowns this season it gives room to worry.  In standard leagues it is all about touchdowns and against this 49ers defense this week, that is not likely to happen.

Projection: Six receptions, 50 yards, zero touchdowns

Keenan Allen, San Diego Chargers

Allen has been a good commodity this year and has fantasy owners pretty happy with what he has done as a rookie.  It has been three weeks since his last big game where he had eight catches for over 100 yards and a touchdown.  The two games since, he has only seven catches for 86 yards and no touchdowns.  It doesn’t help when the Chargers go to Kansas City for the first time this season to take on that defense.  Since Allen has been cold the past two weeks I expect that trend to roll into this week against the Chiefs.

Projection: Three receptions, 38 yards, zero touchdowns

Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers

Smith is in the same boat as Garcon.  He has a healthy amount of receptions but no touchdowns.  Smith has three touchdowns all season and his last one was in Week 7 against the Rams.  Carolina is clearly the hot team in the NFL but Smith is not the hot receiver.  This week they travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins who surprisingly are very good in the secondary.  They have only given up one touchdown pass all season to opposing wide receivers and that was in Week 8 against the Patriots.  With Smiths’s production over the season, the Dolphins should not have too much trouble shutting him down.  Because of this I believe that Smith needs to be sitting on your bench for this week.

Projection: Four receptions, 43 yards, zero touchdowns

Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants

Week after week I have Nicks on this list.  How can you not?  After starting 0-6, the Giants have now won four games in a row and Nicks has barely played a role in that stretch.  He has yet to have a receiving touchdown this year and hasn’t had double digit fantasy points since he was up against the Eagles in Week 5.  You have to think that Nicks will eventually find the end zone at some point this season.  This week he is up against a weak Cowboys defense but Nicks has been up against planet of weak defenses and hasn’t done anything special.  I wouldn’t suggest starting him until he does.  Once again Nicks is on the bench.

Projection: Five receptions, 55 yards, zero touchdowns

Eric Decker, Denver Broncos

Last week I had Decker on my sit list for decent reasons but he still had himself a respectable game of five catches of 71 yards against a good Chiefs defense.  It’s nothing special but it is enough to help any team.  This week will be like last week where he plays an important role but a smaller one.  Fellow wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has been getting all of the love in the end zone and deep down the field and takes away from Decker.  Also this week, Wes Welker returns to New England so he will do his best to show the Patriots that they made a mistake letting him go.  All of this plays into Decker’s fantasy stock so this week will be another sit-em week.

Projection: Four receptions, 58 yards, zero touchdowns