Week 9 Green Bay fantasy profile: Bye week pick-ups edition

Oct 26, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker

III (52) attempts to tackle Miami Dolphins tight end

(80) at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

Behind kickers, this is the second-most high-variance position in fantasy football, and the only one that fantasy players will hope doesn’t face garbage-time situations in games.

It is also probably the hardest one to find a replacement for beyond quarterbacks. I’ll attempt to give you a few worth a quick pick-up anyway; hopefully you catch them on a good week.

Despite their record, Jacksonville has actually been surprisingly good as a fantasy defense lately.

They have garnered 10, 4, 16, and 6 in the past four weeks behind a strong pass rush (13 sacks over that time) and causing key turnovers (2 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries). Against a Cincinnati team that hasn’t been impressive lately, they could foreseeably put up another good effort and reward the few who pick them up.

Pittsburgh is as high variance as fantasy defenses come. Here are the fantasy point totals this year: 3, 0, 14, 3, 15, 2, 7, 13. They jump all around the board, so playing them you are banking on catching them on a good week.

Joe Flacco has been a bad matchup for them in recent contests, but the Pittsburgh-Baltimore games have a history of being rough-and-tumble affairs. Win or lose, that could give the Steelers a few sacks and turnovers that help boost their fantasy score.

Washington hasn’t been good most of the season, but during their two-game winning streak they’ve picked up a bit in all aspects and given the few fantasy owners of their defense out there a decent output.

Against an offense in Minnesota that isn’t exactly breathtaking, they could conceivably turn in another good week.

Potential ick-ups: Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Washington

Predictions:

Jacksonville – 4 sacks, 2 turnovers (1 INT, 1 Fumble Recovery), 23 points allowed; about 8 fantasy points

Pittsburgh – 3 sacks, 3 turnover (2 INT, 1 Fumble Recovery), 17 points allowed; about 10 fantasy points

Washington – 5 sacks, 3 turnovers (1 INT, 2 Fumble Recoveries), 13 points allowed; about 12 fantasy points