Waiver Wired | Week 9: Mr. October

My weekly "Waiver Wired" column is up at Rotoworld for Week 9. Summary is below, but click here for the full article. Keep in mind this article is through Rotoworld and is intended for more shallow redraft leagues as opposed to a deeper roster Dynasty league.

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With baseball's World Series hanging in the balance and Halloween just around the corner, it's time to conjure up the ghosts of Mr. October past. Reggie Jackson first earned the nickname from a combination of Thurman Munson's disgust and Jackson's heroics against the Dodgers in the 1977 Series.

Upon being approached for an interview during the '77 World Series, the acerbic Munson sarcastically suggested that the scribe should "Go ask Mr. October" because of Jackson's past post-season performances. When "the straw that stirs the drink" put on a clinic with a three-home-run performance to seal the championship in Game 6, the Mr. October nickname became Jackson's for life. The moniker took on a life of its own by the time the Yanks signed Dave Winfield to a monster contract in 1981, and a Seinfeld-esque George Steinbrenner allegedly quipped, "I let Mr. October get away and I got Mr. May."

Waiver Wired's Mr. October has been the sprightly 5'11", 190-pound rookie speedster, Donnie Avery. A waiver wire suggestion for all of this month, Avery has averaged 97 yards in three October games. As the first receiver off the board in April, the University of Houston wideout was widely panned as one of the draft's biggest reaches. For three straight games, though, opposing defenses have been unable to handle his speed, and Avery has made plays deep down the field with increasing regularity.

Avery's October prowess began with a clutch one-handed bomb to put the Rams in position for the game-winning field goal against the Redskins in Week 6. That catch got the Rams into the win column for the first time all year, but Avery was even more impressive the following week against the Cowboys. Though he finished with a relatively modest four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, Avery could have easily made waves with a 3-touchdown performance -- he had one touchdown overturned, and Marc Bulger overthrew him on play that would have gone for 90 yards. His arrival on the fantasy scene was inevitable, though, as he torched the Patriots' outclassed secondary for 163 yards and a touchdown on six catches in Week 8. With Torry Holt struggling to get open and showing nothing after the catch, Avery has emerged as the Rams most reliable weapon in the passing game. If he's still sitting on your league's waiver wire, the 4.25 playmaker is the no-brainer choice for the top waiver selection.

On to the waiver wire. Here's how I rank the likely targets at each position. Full writeups of each player are below.


QUARTERBACKS
1. Chad Pennington
2. Shaun Hill
3. Marc Bulger
4. Dan Orlovsky
5. Seneca Wallace
6. Tyler Thigpen

RUNNINGBACKS
1. Kevin Faulk
2. Ryan Torain
3. Cedric Benson
4. Derrick Ward
5. Kolby Smith
6. Maurice Morris
7. Ray Rice
8. Fred Jackson

WIDE RECEIVERS
1. Donnie Avery
2. Ted Ginn
3. Joey Galloway
4. Mike Walker
5. James Hardy

TIGHT ENDS
1. Bo Scaife
2. Billy Miller
3. Martellus Bennett

DEFENSES
1. Jaguars
2. Browns
3. Falcons