Scouting Notebook: Do not bench DeSean

“I will not bench DeSean Jackson again in 2013” is my assignment for the blackboard tonight, at least 500 times. Yeah, I ran away from Darrelle Revis, just like Jackson did a couple of times. I know he beat zone coverage on the second TD, but DJax’s speed isn’t just game-breaking vertically but horizontally, too.

I don’t think Michael Vick will start a game for a healthy Nick Foles until/unless Foles folds.

Vincent Jackson: Back in the circle of trust. Mike Glennon is good enough.

It’s ironic that the Saints-Patriots game ended so thrillingly given that neither Drew Brees or Tom Brady looked sharp most of the day. No surprise, really, given that Brady has such mediocre weapons now and Brees looks ordinary when Jimmy Graham is locked down and/or injured.

Stevan Ridley owners can breathe easily now. He’s back in good graces, getting a true feature-back workload.

Danny Amendola just isn’t built to play NFL football, like 99 percent of us. No shame in it. Hope he recovers from his latest setback fully but you can’t rely on him, clearly.

All the Saints running backs usually look good, except Mark Ingram, because it’s easy to gain ground when teams are conceding the run. It’s why I like Eddie Lacy so much. Talk about running downhill. And like I said earlier in the week (because it’s so obvious, not because I’m some kind of savant), the matchup against a tough running defense (like Baltimore) usually doesn’t even matter. It would matter if they were crazy enough to still insist on stuffing the run. But most coaches aren’t suicidal enough to think like that for long.

Carson Palmer was missing wide open receivers all day, high mostly. Larry Fitzgerald could have had 200 yards easy with better passing.

Vernon Davis is not looking remotely like a tight end on these scoring plays the past couple of weeks, which raises questions regarding why Davis is so frequently deployed with a hand on the ground. Entering the week, his slot percentage of 39.6 was 18th among TEs. Granted, this is not including plays where he’s lined up outside as conventional receiver. But I don’t see this often (he had his hand on the ground on the 61-yarder and was flanked wide on the 35-yarder).

The most shocking thing of the season to me is Colin Kaepernick not running. Just 17 yards on Sunday and now just 171 on the season -- less than 30 per week. I thought 800-plus was very bettable. Of course, there are other things wrong with Kaepernick. Between him and Davis, it’s safe to say that Jim Harbaugh, while clearly a good coach, is far from an offensive guru.

Yes, get Justin Blackmon if you can. Receivers on terrible teams are good.

The Venn diagram for Russell Wilson is all screwy. Great in reality is supposed to overlap great in fantasy a lot more than it does with him. One problem is the poor ratio this year of rushing yards to touchdowns. Wilson is crazy fast though, way faster on the field than he timed pre-draft.

We don’t deal with injuries much in the Scouting Notebook because you know so much more when you’re reading this than I know at 8:30 EST Sunday night. But obviously, the Packers wide receiver situation needs close monitoring.

The Ravens’ running game is a disaster. I hesitate to pin it on some long-term decline by Ray Rice, who has enough miles to at least consider it, because Bernard Pierce has been terrible, too.

So much for the continued Chris Johnson bounce back.

This was a mixed day for Giovani Bernard backers. He struggles running, BenJarvus Green-Ellis looks good and the Bengals win. But he shines as a receiver and does get 21 touches. To me, that’s the big number (the touches).

Calvin Johnson right now is a disaster. I have no answers. You can’t sell for 70 cents or less on the dollar. Do I trade Megatron for Josh Gordon? Yes, I do. And, yes, that’s more than 70 cents on the dollar, too.

The Rams scored 38 points on 216 yards. Translation: The Rams still stink. Zac Stacy is serviceable but the Rams get a rushing touchdown only in leap years, it seems.

Stephen Hill is so close. He was phased out of the offense at Atlanta because he couldn’t practice the script. The prior week, he gets knocked out, literally, on second play. This week, he has everyone beat by five yards for a 77-yard TD and Geno Smith overthrows him by a yard. I stubbornly maintain he will help people before this season is over.

Ben Roethlisberger: Hall of Famer. People don’t say that enough. In fact, I can’t remember ever hearing it (but I don’t hang around in Pittsburgh).

Denarius Moore should be started every week in every format, even the obscenely stupid full-PPR (#killtheppr). Moore was jet-propelled on that touchdown. Al “Speed Kills” Davis would have smiled watching that highlight.

If Andy Reid can’t help you achieve fantasy viability as a quarterback, Alex Smith, you are pointless to own. And 3-48-0 is a breakout for Dwayne Bowe.

Cam Newton being so good in games the Panthers win big and bad in the games they lose is hardly a surprise. Extreme splits like this are true of most QBs. I don’t know what to make of the rest of the Panthers’ offense.

Remember to check back on Wednesday for all the numbers you can stand in my “Splitsville” column. Now, I’m taking a break with the walking dead, meaning, of course, Redskins vs. Cowboys.