Jon Kitna is the living embodiment of a replacement level starter, and he is now 38 years old and two years removed from playing.  He is a testament to something that I cannot completely get my head around, as he has thrown over 4,000 passes in the NFL and put up more mediocre seasons than Travis Henry has kids.  Can he help your fantasy team?  Probably not long term, as old replacement type quarterback plus bad offensive line and poor running game is not a good combo, but for at least one week, he can be a viable starter against Jacksonville, who can make any quarterback look good.

It’s a tighter week this week with six teams on bye.  Let’s get to the rest of the moves:

Quarterback: With the Favre ankle injury news, I think Tarvaris Jackson is the better long term play.  He has thrown 10 td’s and 3 int’s in limited action over the last two years, and will be playing with Randy Moss and Percy Harvin.  It’s always difficult to go against Brett Favre playing (not as difficult to go against him playing well), but I think Jackson is worth a pickup and is a matchup start this week if Favre cannot go.  Other good platoon matchups:  Matthew Stafford should be playing, and Washington has given up yards at will this season.  Matt Cassel, just like he has been the last two weeks, is a favorable matchup against Buffalo.

Running Back: There is a possibility that Donald Brown has slipped into irrelevance and is on your waiver list, and then the Colts were off last week.  Joseph Addai is out, so Brown will have his chance to make some noise, and is a good starting option if he is ready to go.  If Brown is not cleared to play for Monday night, Mike Hart becomes a one week fill in as a flex start.  LeGarrett Blount got carries in the second half last week, and is a guy to monitor.  Both he and Cadillac are deep options at Arizona.   Other good flex starts:  Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones vs. Buffalo, Marshawn Lynch at Oakland, Ryan Torain at Detroit.

Wide Receiver: Panthers rookie David Gettis had a breakout two touchdown performance with Matt Moore back at quarterback.  He’s worth a roll of the dice.  James Jones has stepped up his production the last two games with Finley out, and has a pretty good matchup as the third receiver against the Jets, who will have to focus on Jennings and Driver.   Other good matchup starts: Again, Dwayne Bowe against Buffalo (and I picked him up and have practiced what I preached the last two weeks), Pierre Garcon against Houston, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant vs. Jacksonville.

Tight End:  Jacob Tamme will get a chance to fill in for the loss of Dallas Clark, and has a great matchup.  Tony Scheffler also has a pretty good matchup against Washington.  Other starts based on matchup: Visanthe Shiancoe at New England, Andrew Quarless at NY Jets, Tony Moeaki vs. Buffalo.

Defenses/Special Teams: If you can stomach it, go with Denver coming off their beat down if David Carr is the starter in place of Alex Smith, especially if you get points for sacks.  St. Louis at home against Carolina is another good matchup option.

[photo via Getty]