Dynasty Analysis
Week 7’s “starts” brought you the QB1, QB11, RB12, WR4, WR18, and TE3. I also helped you to avoid duds from Sam Darnold, Tyler Lockett, and Tyler Boyd. So, let’s focus on that rather than my advice to play Allen Robinson or bench Joe Burrow and D’Ernest Johnson… Anyway, with just two teams on bye this week, we have more fun players to choose from in Week 8. So, I’ve decided to add some “honorable mentions” to the mix this week. As always, I’ll be bringing you names at every position that I believe will exceed expectations or fall flat.Let’s get into the picks.
Playing on just over 50% of the offensive snaps for the season, tight end Mo Alie-Cox may be a decent pick up in a position that is so hit or miss. Scoring touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, Alie-Cox is a big target who can pose as a real red-zone threat. This past week, Alie-Cox played fewer snaps and ran fewer routes than fellow tight end Jack Doyle. However, he drew more targets and produced better fantasy numbers than him. Alie-Cox he yet to log more than three catches in a game and has recorded over 30 yards in just two contests. Most likely, he will be a touchdown-dependent player.
It’s now Week 8, which means we are about halfway through the fantasy season. For those off to a good start, time flies when you’re winning. For others who haven’t, this may be a “must-win” type of week. Nonetheless, you need to key in on streaming options this week. We can all use the extra advice now that the fantasy postseason is inching closer. Throughout this series, we will provide the best weekly options to stream at quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. Keep in mind, each streaming option will be below 50% owned, according to ESPN leagues.
We know how valuable starting quarterbacks are in Superflex fantasy football because there are just so few of them, especially when the injuries and bye weeks start to pile up. Joe Flacco just got traded to the Jets after it appears that Zach Wilson is going to be down for a few weeks. Flacco isn’t as great of an option as Newton and Geno because his rushing ability simply does not exist, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be putting some FAAB to acquire a starting quarterback.
“Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire” is written for fantasy football gamers in leagues that require a full complement of 11 defensive starters in leagues of 12 to 16 teams. Recommendations rely on scoring settings from FantasyPros.com, even though their value for passes defensed is a bit low. We’ll look for options at both conventional and true defensive positions as they arise. Players qualifying for this column are those rostered in no more than a third of IDP leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL). These recommendations further assume you, the manager, have finite roster space with challenging cut decisions to add new names.
Wow, what a crazy week! The Kansas City Chiefs continue to struggle, as Patrick Mahomes leads the league in turnovers, losing to the Titans 27-3 this weekend. With that being said, let’s see how my weekly DFS picks played out!
A slow start to Zach Wilson’s rookie career will now be delayed entirely. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the news, stating, “An MRI confirmed a sprained PCL for Jets’ QB Zach Wilson, who now is expected to be sidelined 2-4 weeks, per source.” The Jets presently sit in third place in the AFC East with a 1-5 record after being battered by the Patriots 54-13 in Week 7. The Jets were coming out of their bye in Week 6, meaning Wilson will be afforded no free weeks to recover without missing games. The outlook for the Jets in the meantime is not a positive one.
Go ahead and take a quick look to see if Ja’Marr Chase is available in your leagues…sheesh, he put on a show this week and is looking like a potential top 5 dynasty wide receiver already! Unfortunately, Chase will not be available. So, keep reading to see who you can look to add to your roster in hopes of making your team more well-rounded as we move into the second half of the season.
With six weeks in the books, we are starting to see some positive trends. Although new information always causes us to reconsider things, we now have enough information to drive decision-making. As we discover trends through the season we will be able to make more determined analyses on specific picks. To go along with matchups and trends, we will look at key fantasy players who have the most beneficial or detrimental matchups.
Below I am going to highlight some of the best plays for this Sunday’s main slate. I have broken these plays down by position and by “Top Price”, “Middle Price”, and “Low Price”. Then, I list the players’ respective prices, projected points, and projected ownership in tournaments. Projected ownership is important to keep in mind for tournament plays as opposed to a regular cash play. In the “Notes,” I have given my thoughts about each player. I have also color-coded the quality level of each play. Green stands for a top-tier play, yellow is a middle-tier play, and red is a fade play. (I only note players predicted over 8% ownership.)
Philadelphia’s game against Tampa Bay was strange all-around and DeVonta Smith had one of his worst games of the season. The Eagles have a banged-up offensive line and all but abandoned the run game and pass inefficiently without it complimenting the play-action. It should also be noted that Zack Ertz, who lead the team in targets for the game, is now gone. DeVonta Smith should arguably be in the ‘To the Moon’ category, but the rookie’s value may be cheaper as we head into byes and his bad game. Teams will be evaluating if they’re ready to win or not and may want to sell for something more certain.
Week 6 was another solid week across the board, but Week 7 waits for nobody! This has long been expected to be one of the toughest bye weeks of the season as so many premier players are out. To say nothing of injuries. I have had to really ball out to fill lineups and make sensible waiver claims.
On Wednesday, Baker Mayfield was ruled out of the Thursday Night Football game in which the Cleveland Browns defeated the Denver Broncos 17-14. Mayfield was ruled out after suffering his second dislocation of the season on his non-throwing left shoulder. However, it was what Mayfield said before the Thursday Night game that spoke to the seriousness of his injury.
It was only a matter of time before this Wisconsin Alum made it into the top performers list. Coming off of his worst game of the year, Watt made up for his poor week five in a big way against Seattle Sunday. The fifth-year veteran produced seven total tackles, a TFL, a forced fumble, two sacks, and three defended passes in the game. Watt continues to be a strong IDP option, especially in sack premium leagues, so start him every week with confidence.
Hello, fellow fantasy managers. My name is Matt Ward, and I will be substituting for the Draft Director, Chris Miles, in this week’s edition of Redraft: Buy/Sell. Chris begins every Buy/Sell article with a personal disclaimer that I felt would be pertinent to quote.
“If someone’s value is too high, I might tell you to sell or if I think their value will decrease soon, he could also be a sell. I will give my reasoning for why each player falls in a certain category. I will attempt to have the format consistently be a buy and sell for each position, but that may increase or decrease depending on the week. I do not want to put a QB or TE on my list just to fill the space if they do not truly deserve it. So, you can trust that all of the players I will talk about are relevant.”
I want to add to that by saying I would never advise a reader to make a move I would not personally make myself. My intentions will always be to provide actionable reasoning behind my evaluations. Now let’s make some trades.
The Antonio Gibson stress fracture injury has been weighing on me lately. Originally, I felt like this was a pain management injury (which it is) but Gibson’s decline in both production and usage as well as his post-game MRI report, and DNP this Wednesday has me going back to the literature.
Some of our readers may remember this week’s dynasty sleeper when he played a different position altogether. Transitioning from one position to another, mainly tight end, is becoming a more common trend with each year that passes. This edition of dynasty sleeper of the week features a player who was just activated off of IR and may still be flying under the radar. Tyree Jackson wasn’t quite relevant last week but as always, changes can happen quickly in the NFL.
I’m not going to lie, the “starts” were brutal in Week 6. Taylor Heinicke, Chase Edmonds, Kenny Gainwell, Tee Higgins, and Michael Pittman failed to provide average performances, let alone exceed expectations. I refuse to take the L on Kadarius Toney, though, who had three receptions for 36 yards before being injured in the first […]
Texans wide receiver, Nico Collins made his return from injury on Sunday. In this game, he caught four of his six targets for 44 yards. Nothing earth-shattering, however, it was encouraging to see him on the field getting substantial looks. Despite playing on just 57% of snaps, Collins was second on the team in targets.
We are already approaching the halfway point in the fantasy football season. It doesn’t matter what your record is; you MUST look into streaming options every week. Throughout this series, we will provide the best weekly options to stream at quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. Keep in mind, each streaming option will be below 50% owned, according to ESPN leagues.
Man, the free market is getting beyond thin. Just peeking through waivers in my leagues it was hard to find very much intrigue that exists. But that’s the nature of the beast, as we get deeper into the season the overlooked productive players have already been swiped and were now on the search for any sort of opportunity, we can get our free hands-on.
Unless we’re analyzing workhorse running backs or alpha wide receivers, a player’s usage can fluctuate from week to week. Some will shine and some will ruin your week. Remember, targets and opportunities are earned. In this series, I will provide weekly target shares, rushing attempt shares, and snap shares of SIX players (or group of players) to help you understand the value of each of them and decide whether to start ‘em, roster ‘em, or trade ‘em.
“Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire” is written for fantasy football gamers in leagues that require a full complement of 11 defensive starters in leagues of 12 to 16 teams. Recommendations rely on scoring settings from FantasyPros.com, even though their value for passes defensed is a bit low. We’ll look for options at both conventional and true defensive positions as they arise. Players qualifying for this column are those rostered in no more than a third of IDP leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL). These recommendations further assume you, the manager, have finite roster space with challenging cut decisions to add new names.
Another week of unpredictable football is behind us! Players who were highly owned like Kareem Hunt, at 33% ownership, failed to live up to the hype by posting an unimpressive 10.8 DK points. With that being said, let’s see how my weekly DFS picks played out!
The Seahawks have lost four of their last five games after a closely contested overtime loss against the Steelers on SNF. Their fourth loss of the season moves the Seahawks into last place in the toughest division in the NFC. The season goal in Seattle is ‘playoffs or bust’. Multiple significant injuries to the Seahawks offensive core have left the team at the back of the race. There are many games left to play, but the outlook for the Seahawks playoff contention is darkened without two of their offensive leaders.