San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) prepares to pass against the Dallas Cowboys in the first half of Sunday's game in Arlington. The Last Action Heroes made a trade early Saturday morning to secure this man's services for the rest of the season. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

I do some of my best work after midnight when it comes to fantasy transactions. Maybe it’s because I am finally through with the job and have a little time to dive into players on the waiver wire or players I want to acquire in trades.

Regardless, after midnight is go time for my team — the Last Action Heroes.

One year I acquired Arian Foster (back when he was a force) in a late-night trade and that helped me pair Foster with Adrian Peterson and take me all the way to the Super Bowl. I lost, but that is not important to this discussion.

What is important is I was basically forced to draft a quarterback I did not want. Eli Manning was thrust upon me in the later rounds, but I had a few blue-chip receivers (A.J. Green, Roddy White, Andre Johnson, Jeremy Maclin) that could be used as possible trade bait to nab a more respectable quarterback.

So as soon as Thursday’s game was in the books, I began to look at the other rosters in my league. Now, first things first, I would not recommend trading your quarterback (unless it’s Eli Manning or Joe Flacco) before the first week is played, or even after the first week, but I was desperate to get rid of the other Manning.

I focused on rosters with quality starters, but who also had strong backups. That left several good options because our league owners hoarded quarterbacks during the draft just to have trade options.

It began with Dez, the Dereliction League’s newest team and owner, who had Carson Palmer backing up Tony Romo. Other options included: Goodfellas (Russell Wilson was backing up Ben Roethlisberger), Kool & The Gang (Andy Dalton was backing up Nick Foles), Sideliners (Colin Kaepernick was backing up Matt Stafford), Under Construction (Ryan Tannehill backing up Jay Cutler), Van Vleck Vertigo (Cam Newton backing up Drew Brees) and White Lines (Jake Locker backing up Matt Ryan).

My first instinct was to test the waters with Under Construction because I really liked Jay Cutler. That was the QB I wanted to draft in the first place.

So Thursday afternoon I sent out a trade offer.

And waited …

And waited …

The owner of UC is notorious for not answering trade offers in a timely fashion.

I even sent this owner an email about the trade to try and speed up the accept/decline process.

I waited 24 hours and still no response, so I cancelled the offer. I wasn’t going to waste any more time. I had visions of Eli with that blank expression after his second interception of the day haunting me and wanted to get something done sooner rather than later.

Sometime on Friday, I decided to test the waters with Sideliners. He needed another receiver and had a stud in Stafford as his starter. I was interested in Kaepernick, so I offered him Andre Johnson and Eli for Kaepernick and his third receiver, the ageless Steve Smith of Baltimore.

I figured it was a fair offer and we both get what we want. Well, at 1:37 a.m. on Saturday, Sideliners countered with Kaepernick and Smith for Eli and Roddy.

Yes, I wanted to keep Roddy, but I wanted Kaepernick more.

I accepted and watched this week as Kaepernick put up solid numbers against Dallas while Eli struggled as always. Even Smith, who was left on my bench — opting to move Maclin into the third receiver spot to replace Roddy — did well and I won my opener.

I do my best work after midnight.

 

Players to target

My philosophy of ABW (Always be working) the waiver wire and trading block gets going this week. If you won your first week’s game, congratulations, but always be working to make your team better.

If you have a chance to get Baltimore RB Bernard Pierce or Cleveland RB Terrance West off your waiver wire, leave this column right now and go add them. Both are slated to start this week. Pierce is better than West because he has been named the No. 1 running back for the foreseeable future following Ray Rice being cut.

Other RBs to look for: Ahmad Bradshaw, Indianapolis; Stepfan Taylor, Arizona; Khiry Robinson, New Orleans and Benny Cunningham, St. Louis.

There are not that many appealing waiver-wire receiver options, but guys like Kendall Wright of Tennessee and Malcom Floyd of San Diego should be owned.

As for quarterbacks, depending on the size of your league, I would recommend Jacksonville’s Chad Henne, Houston’s Ryan Fitzpatrick or even Minnesota’s Matt Cassel. All are OK if you are in a bind.

 

Starts of the Week

Note: These are not the obvious choices. Anyone can tell you to play Peyton Manning or Adrian Peterson as the start of the week each week.

Quarterback: Joe Flacco, Ravens (vs. Steelers on Thursday) — Flacco is coming off a 345-yard effort against the Bengals, considered to be a stout defense. Now Flacco faces a Steelers secondary that allowed Bryan Hoyer and the Bengals to pass for 230 yards a week ago. I would pencil in 250 and two touchdowns at least for Flacco in this one.

Running Back: Arian Foster, Texans (vs. Raiders) — Foster may not be at the top of everyone’s list, but the guy showed he still has some gas in the tank last week with a 103-yard effort against Washington. Now he faces a Raiders defense that gave up 170 yards and a touchdown to Jets tandem Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson. I say take triple digits and at least a touchdown for Foster.

Wide Receiver: Steve Smith, Ravens (vs. Steelers on Thursday) — Is it obvious I am all in on the Ravens passing game this week! Smith showed he and Flacco (who loves to throw it deep) can make some magic last week with 118 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. I say Smith gets at least 75 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers.

 

How did I do last weekwith Starts?: Quarterback Nick Foles, Eagles — Finished with 322 yards passing and two touchdowns with one interception. Wide Receiver Percy Harvin, Seahawks — Missed the boat on this one. He finished with four catches for 41 yards and seven rushes for 59 yards, Not bad, but I expected more. Some dude named Larry Donnell (TE, Giants) scored more than Harvin in our league. Running Back(s) Frank Gore/Carlos Hyde, 49ers — This pick would’ve worked out better had Tony Romo not thrown three interceptions in the first half and make it a non contest. Hyde still finished with seven carries for 50 yards and a touchdown with Gore 66 yards on 16 rushes. Hyde is going to be a factor for the 49ers, and if he is available for you to pick up, do it right now.

Good Luck in Week 2!