Fantasy Player Projections

Andrew Luck

It's easy to fall in love with a rookie who is on pace to break first-year passing records and lift the Colts back up to a level of respectability. But fantasy owners must stop to see the whole picture: Luck has tossed one or zero touchdowns in five of his last seven games. He'll get you yards, just not the big points.

Vick Ballard

Call Ballard the starter and Donald Brown the finisher. The Colts seem fine having the two backs share the workload, and fantasy owners should be fine letting both stay put on the waiver wire.

Donald Brown

Brown has caught just seven passes all year and hasn't found the end zone since Week 1. The Colts have limited his touches, in part, because rookie Vick Ballard has out-performed Brown.

Reggie Wayne

There may be better fantasy receivers, but there's no one more consistent than Wayne. His yardage total has not dipped below 70 yet this season and he has caught seven or eight passes in each of the past five weeks.

Donnie Avery

There isn't much to like about Avery right now. He's Andrew Luck's second-favorite target, but those looks have produced just one score and very little fantasy excitement.

T.Y. Hilton

Hilton flashed his versatility in last week's win over Buffalo, with a touchdown catch and a punt return for a score, but we're still hesitant to give him a thumbs up: Through 11 games he has fewer catches than rookie tight end Dwayne Allen.

Dwayne Allen

The Colts expect to get Coby Fleener back this week, but fantasy owners should keep Allen atop the depth chart for now. He's healthy and has been productive in Fleener's absence.

Adam Vinatieri

Vinatieri ranks in the middle of all fantasy kickers at 7.6 points per game. The good news is that his average is on the rise -- 8.5 points over the past four games, a total that would rank him in the top 10.

The Detroit offense has been difficult to stop lately, and it's possible the Colts could get entangled in a shootout similar to the one Houston got into with the Lions last week. That's not fantasy friendly.

Matthew Stafford

The Lions aren't winning, but Stafford has been one of fantasy's hottest quarterbacks in recent weeks. Over the last five games he's thrown nine touchdowns and averaged 334.6 yards. Any fantasy owner would be happy with those results.

Mikel Leshoure

Leshoure will appreciate a date with a Colts team allowing opposing backs 4.8 yards per carry -- the most of any opponent he has faced this year. He just might reach the 20-carry mark for the first time since his season debut.

Joique Bell

For a while it looked as though Bell might push Mikel Leshoure for reps. Now he's just trying to hold off Kevin Smith to keep his backup job.

Calvin Johnson

After the past month, Johnson is now on pace to approach Jerry Rice's single-season record for receiving yards (1,848). And to think there were fantasy owners questioning whether he had fallen from elite status only a couple months ago …

Ryan Broyles

By the end of Detroit's game with Houston on Thanksgiving, Broyles had eliminated any doubt as to whether he could be the No. 2 receiver Titus Young has failed to be. Fantasy owners should find a place for Broyles each week moving forward.

Brandon Pettigrew

Pettigrew was targeted 15 times last week, but that amounted to less than 25 percent of Matthew Stafford's 61 attempts. And in a game featuring a combined 65 points he didn't catch a touchdown. It's OK, fantasy owners with Pettigrew have learned to live without.

Jason Hanson

Hanson has done well this season, especially considering what he's been given to work with: 16 of his 24 attempts have come from 40 yards or beyond. He's a safe play for fantasy owners.

The attention paid to Ndamukong Suh this week has masked a bigger issue: the fact that Detroit allowed more than 200 rushing yards and more than 300 passing yards in last week's loss. Fantasy owners should keep a safe distance from the Lions.