Week 8 – Buy Cheap
This is written if you are in dynasty PPR league with a 5 round rookie draft year to year.
At this point in the fantasy season your leagues are starting to separate playoff teams from teams that are 1-6 and done. If you are 5-2, 4-3, or even 3-4 and ready to take that risk that will hopefully make you a top team in your league. Have a look at the following players.
Arizona Cardinals
Bryon Leftwich takes over as OC and hopefully can get this offence going. You hope that he will make David Johnson a dominant running back again and get him in the passing game. See who has him in your league. If they have a losing record, i would defiantly send a feeler offer. Use a running back in 20-30 rank, Collins or Clement like, even go youthful if you’ve been holding Jones or Mack, take one of these running backs and add a 2nd round pick. It doesn’t hurt to have the conversation. DJ at 70% of his 2016 productivity can take an average team and make them a force. Sticking with the Cardinals, i would look for the Larry Fitzgerald owner. Check their past weeks and see if they are even playing hm week to week. If he’s sitting on their bench, you can almost the blood. They are probably willing to get anything they can in return. Offer any WR you are haven’t been paying, If you have Coutee or Sanu or any WR that is under 25. Chances are the owner will bite just out of frustration of owning Fitz this season.
Week 8 – Sell
Armi Copper, WR Cowboys
Find that Cowboys fan in your league and see if he will bite. Managers will wonder what kind of output they can get from Cooper in a new spot. Wide Receivers who are traded midseason do not have a good track record the rest of the season. You also have to remember the drops. Cooper sits in the top 10 for WR drops, it won’t get any better with Prescott throwing him the ball. See if you can get a 2019 second. The 2nd will help you next season and not getting a player in return will free up a roster spot to help cover with the bye teams the ext few weeks.
Week 8 – Waiver Wire
The Waiver wire is pretty slim this week. Hopefully you don’t have a team with Fournette and Cook on it. Or a team full of Falcons.
Chris Ivory, RB Bills
McCoy doesn’t look like he will pass the concussion protocol this week and Ivory will start. It’s still a hard play to start Ivory against the Patriots, who will probably be leading this game by 20 in the 2nd quarter. But of you need to start someone.
Ronald Jones, RB Bucs
Everyone is waiting and hoping Jones will break out. Barber has a high ankle sprain and probably won’t play. Chances are Jones has been picked up and dropped by multiple teams and now sits on the wire. If you pick up Jones you’re probably desperate, you hope is gets the volume and falls into the end zone.
Kapri Bibbs, RB Redskins
Thompson is out and it seems that the redskins will just insert Bibbs in all 3rd down passing down plays. He could have 5-7 PPR points this week.
Martavis Bryant, WR Raiders
Bryant moves up the depth chart with the departure of Cooper. He is under 10% owned in almost every league and format. If you have a roster spot open, you could stash him this week and see how he is utilized this week before starting him.
Danny Amendola, WR Dolphins
Seems like every receiver on the Dolphins is hurt in one way or another. Drake lined up as a receiver last week. Wilson is done for the year. Amendola had 7 targets last week and found the end zone. 2 weeks ago against the Bears he found the end zone.
Chris Herndon, TE Jets
Wouldn’t be a weekly waiver write up with the token tight end. He saw a season high 7 targets last week. The bears are not very good against tight ends. But he is a boom or bust play.
Week 7 – Waiver Pick Ups
Marlon Mack, RB Colts
I’m surprised to see this, but on some websites he is as low as 55% owned. Go have a look on your waiver. Chances are the owner who drafted him might have given up on him for an injury replacement pick up. The Colts are going to force feed Mack no matter how he performs. Wilkins and Hines haven’t done much to show that they deserve to take carries away from Mack. Mack healthy, stands to see 15+ touches a game.
Jermaine Kearse, WR Jets
He might be the number one target Sunday by default. Anderson, Enunwa, and Pryor are all banged up and all 3 are questionable for Sunday. You have to figure someone will have to catch passes from Sam Darnold. You also have to figure the jets will be playing from behind vs the Vikings.
Peyton Barber, RB TB
Another one that could have been picked and dropped multiple times in your league and sits on the wire. He is clearly the Bucs #1 back and a 3 down back at that. Jones just isn’t NFL ready and isn’t really a treat to take carries away.
Albert Wilson, WR MIA
The wide receiver position all of a sudden got very top heavy and then tailors off. Parker is invisible in Miami. He’s battle a finger issue most of the season and now when healthy finds himself on the outside looking in on the depth chart. Brock will get another start this week and we all know how much Brock loves to air it out. There hasn’t been a receiver in double coverage Brock didn’t think he could hit. The Dolphins play the Lions this week and the Lions will score their points and the Dolphins will have to keep up. Look for Wilson to have another 6-70 maybe 1 type of day.
Week 6 – Waiver Pick Ups
Alfred Morris, RB 49ers
Is Alf a thing again? He might be, a little, well at least for the 1st quarter. It’s tough when you are looking at a questionable situation on a Monday night game. Alf will be a MUST own if you already roaster Matt Breida. You will want to monitor the situation closely as the week progresses. I expect Breida to miss MNF and Alf to get the bulk of the work out of the gate. The issue with this matchup is they are in Green Bay and if they fall behind early, how long will stick with the run? Juszczyk will get a majority of the snaps in the passing game. I would not bother picking up Juszczyk, there are other options out there with more upside.
Wendell Smallwood / Corey Clement, RB Eagles
I put these 2 together for this week with Ajayi going on the IR. Clement is going to practice in full prior to the Thursday night game which he has already been upgraded to questionable for. I would prefer Clement to Smallwood after this week, this week they probably will do the dreaded 50/50 split against the Giants. If Clement is unavailable and you need a running back, Smallwood is a player you could start. No Sproles for Thursday night’s game make these 2 good starts for week 6.
D’Onta Foreman, RB Texans
Have a look on your waiver wire and see if Foreman is available. D’Onta is set to return from the PUP nest week, week 7. Miller has been anything but effective this year and his snaps are defiantly in jeopardy. You might want to get ahead of your league and grab him this week, especially if Miller splits carries with Blue this week. If this is the case, look at the Texans to work Foreman in quick and transfer Millers carries to Foreman. Foreman could easily be the starting back in Houston by week 9, even week 8.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR Packers
The infirmary that in the packers wide receiver core, see Adams, Cobb and Alison on the injury report in one status or another. MVS went 7/68/1 with 2 (Cobb, Alison) of the three out of the lineup. The often over rated Richard Serman will probably follow Adams around the field, thus freeing up MVS for even more against the 49ers on Monday Night football.
Christian Kirk, WR Cardinals
Kirk caught his first career touchdown pass last week against the niners and is starting to look like the wide receiver 2 in Arizona. He’s starting to emerge as Josh Rosen’s favorite target amongst the wide receiver group. This could be a great sign for a young wide receiver to have great chemistry with a young quarterback. Kirk is the definition of a ‘stash’ for week 6 if you can afford the roster spot.
C.J. Uzomah, TE Bengals
Every week there seems to be a tight end on my list that no one has ever heard of. I think that just shows the state of the position outside the top 5. Eifert done for the year, now Kroft is hurt. Dalton loves throwing to his tight ends, Uzomah should garner 6-10 targets a game and 1/3 of these being red zone targets.
Week 5 – Waiver Pick Ups
Jeff Heuerman TE Broncos
I drafted almost every team with the expectation of streaming tight ends. Last weekend I went deep down the list with Rhett Ellison. 5.9 PPR points, wasn’t the best, wasn’t the worst. After watching Monday Night football, it is easy to see that Case will not throw to Thomas. Heuerman was targeted 7 times and caught 4 for 47 yards. This week the broncos play the jets and should be strongly considered to start on your fantasy team if you are streaming week to week.
Ronald Jones II RB Buccaneers
Have a quick look and see if he is available on your waiver wire. He’s ownership sits anywhere from 22-28% depending on the site you use. He probably won’t be looked at this week, seeing he’s on a bye and all. There have been rumblings that he hasn’t played much as he spent most his off season learning the offence with Winston. With the struggles of Barber, one has to believe the second round pick will start to see the field more and more.
Keke Coutee WR Texans
With my stash pick up of the week, i will use it on Coutee. With Fuller limping around with hamstring issues, Coutee will see himself across from Hopkins more and more. Hopkins is guaranteed to have some type of double team coverage on him every snap. This will free up Keke. He is a great player to stash if Fuller missed significant time. Watson has shown there are enough fantasy points to go around in Houston.
Week 4 – The 49ers Offense, Patriots Running Backs, The Wild Start to the Season
After three weeks, Ryan Fitzpatrick (ADP – Undrafted) leads in passing yards and Matt Brieda (ADP-126) leads in rushing yards, we all called this right? The wide receiver position seems to be the most consistent. Michael Thomas leads in receiving followed closely by Adam Thielen, JuJu, Brown and OBj. Patrick Mahomes has thrown for 13 TD passes already. The Patriots are 1-2, the Dolphins 3-0, but i digress.
The 49ers offence had so much promise as training camp open. Kyle Shanahan was going to get the most out of Jimmy G, McKinnon was going to be a break out RB1, Goodwin was going to line up all over the field, even Kittle was going to pose to break out, and the 49er offence was going to be unstoppable. Then…. McKinnon got hurt just before the season started and put on IR, ending his year. Goodwin started the season missing the first 2 games with an injury. Week 3, Jimmy G tears his left ACL and his season comes to an end. Now what to do with the rest of the offence? Garcon is basically unrosterable with Beathard under centre. Goodwin is a flex during week replacements. The tight end position isnt anything special this season after Ertz (TE3/4), so i would still start Kittle week to week. Brieda looked really hurt last week, but managed to come back in the second half and finish with 117 total yards. He should be in the RB2 consideration and defiantly flex worthy.
The committee that is the patriots back field. White, Rex, and Sony, would have been a cool 70’s R&B band, but today it’s just a mess and a headache Sunday mornings. If you find yourself with a core of Collins, Cook, Brieda, Rex and looking to a free up a roster spot for a waiver pick up, i would defiantly move Rex. Dropping Rex for the likes of Alf, Ekeler, Clement is something that one should be considering at this time. Sony is the between the tackles guy and White is the pass catcher, Rex is slowly finding his way out of the mix in New England. Don’t hold on to Rex, if the waiver wire in your league is looking tempting, go for it. Take the could be upside on the wire than sit on Rex.
Rhett Ellison – Tight end on the Giants. Here is a player who is 5% owned and $2,700 on draft kings. Defiantly a stash candidate with Engram looking to miss upwards of 4 weeks and defiantly worth a flyer in DFS. Manning has been known to throw to his TE’s in the past and even if you consider Ellison just a blocker, he will get an increased amount of targets his way no matter what. In a year where the tight end position seems to be a crap shoot on the best of the weeks, why not add Ellison to the mix. There is no lower risk guy in the position than him.
Week 3 – Waiver Wire
Austin Ekeler
The man is actually available in over 30% leagues. He is the second in line right behind Gordon and there are whispers all over on how serious Gordon’s injury is. Right now it’s not considered serious or expecting him to miss any time. The fact that people think Gordon is already banged up and playing hurt in week 3, Most say it was just cramps, either way Ekeler is the definition of must own. Last week he had 11 carries in a blow out win against Arizona.
Corey Grant
Who? The third string in Jacksonville. The Jaguars are looking at a depth chart that has a hurt Fournette who missed last week and a Yeldon who appears to be missing this week. If you own Fournette, Grant deserves a hard look. If you are in need of an RB2, Grant is worth that hard look. I would spend 10% of your FAAB. It’s a number that makes him valuable and doesn’t break the bank. It’s also a number that if you miss on, you can pivot and move on to week 4.
Mark Walton
Moving up on the depth chart after Mixon’s injury, Walton now finds himself behind Gio and eyeing a bigger piece of the Bengals offence. He is much more of a lower risk and lower cost than anyone else this week. He would be more of a stash play and more for the Gio owner. I would only be looking this way if I had a roster spot available, I would be making him a stash play.
Week 2 Starts
One has to wonder if the Buccaneers and Fitz-Magic can do it again. This week mind you they get to play their first game at home against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. The Eagles bend but don’t break defence managed to keep Matty Ice and the Falcons to just 12 points in a wet season opener. Before running out and over paying for Chris Godwin or sitting the likes of a Jarod Goff for Fitpatrick, I would proceed with caution. On teams I have Godwin I will most likely start him, where I have Barber and he is my RB2 at best, I will keep him on the bench. I need another week to believe what happened last week in New Orleans wasn’t a complete fluke.
What to do with the mess of the Indianapolis Colts running backs? Simple, Sit them. There is no reason to think Wilkins can top his performance last week with the possible return of Marlon Mack. Mack returning, will decrease Wilkins touches, Hines touches, Michael will remain relevant on passing down plays, with the addition of a 4th mouth to feed, Mack won’t get the necessary touches to start this week. I wouldn’t drop Wilkins unless you must to fill a Fournette like injury spot. I would use the wait and see approach and watch this unit in action when all 4 dress for at least 2 games.
Week 1 Starts
In a nutshell, start your saints, all of them. Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Ben Watson, even the DST. The Saints at home, against anyone are good fantasy starters, this week they are GREAT. The Buccaneers have an average defence and are looking for Ryan Fitzpatrick to keep pace with Drew Brees, this means the saints might have the ball in their hands even more often.
There will be some teams out there who have a mixture of Kerryon Johnson, Jordan Wilkins, Peyton Barber and Matt Brieda and looking for a RB2 or Flex to start this week. Barber and Wilkins would be strictly volume plays. But looking at the Bucs to be behind most of the game, how effective will Barber be. Wilkins will most likely be playing first and second downs if Mack can not suit up and possible third. Can Christine Michael carry a full load? and the team has very little faith in Hines to handle the ball. Kerryon Johnson will get a lot of the run touches for the lions, although the goal line carries immediately come into question with LaGarrette Blount lurking on the sidelines. Matt Brieda is banged up and there are rumblings of Morris get more and more reps with the first team. Although not an ideal situation, I would start Jordan Wilkins.