The Wolfe Man

With recent reports indicating Cedric Benson’s season is over, conventional wisdom suggests you pick up Chicago’s Adrian Peterson, who just became a starter. I like Peterson and completely agree with that advice, but he isn’t the only player who will benefit from Benson’s absence.

Garrett Wolfe, who has been relegated to mainly spot duty on third downs, will get more opportunities. As someone who has seen Wolfe in person while playing for Northern Illinois, I can tell you Wolfe is a serious talent.

I generally hate when people give themselves more evaluating credibility when they’ve seen someone play in person, but in this case the live view gave me so much respect for Wolfe’s speed, which made opposing safeties look like they had on 20 extra pounds of equipment. On that day Wolfe rushed for more than 350 yards against Ball State, and I’ll never forget saying to myself, “If this guy gets an opportunity in the NFL, he’s going to be dangerous.” Wolfe now has that opportunity with Benson going down.

I don’t think Wolfe will have much of an impact this week, but he’s definitely a must-have in keeper leagues and he’s a sleeper candidate for this season’s playoffs.