Welcome back to another weekly edition of “The Wire”. In this series, I review three players each week that you should target on the waiver wire for your Dynasty teams. To keep the information in this series consistent, I will only refer to players with an ownership percentage of less than 50%, according to Sleeper Dynasty leagues. I’ll do my best to provide you with players that have a more long-term upside rather than a one-week ceiling, seeing that this is a Dynasty series and not Redraft. So, sit back, relax, and let me find you some diamonds in the rough!
Aidan O’Connell | QB | Las Vegas Raiders
49% Rostered
Aidan O’Connell may be the QB2 in Las Vegas by default after that performance by Brian Hoyer this past Sunday. Most of us weren’t expecting any miraculous performance from the 15-year journeyman, but 1.16 fantasy points on the day is pretty egregious, to say the least. After going 17-32 for 129 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions, Hoyer was benched for Aidan O’Connell, who looked significantly better, in my opinion.
The rookie from Purdue came in and threw a quick interception but stopped the bleeding quickly and finished the evening 10-13 for 75 yards, throwing a touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers as well. Following the 12-30 loss to the one-win Chicago Bears, HC Josh McDaniel was asked why he didn’t just start O’Connell over Hoyer from the get-go. He defended his original decision, saying, “This isn’t the preseason anymore.”
This may suggest Hoyer will continue as Jimmy Garoppolo‘s primary backup moving forward, but it’s tough to ignore how bad Hoyer truly was in this outing. Rookie and former D2 quarterback Tyson Bagent outperformed the veteran by a good margin. Raiders fans will likely give McDaniel a lot of grief if he continues to limit AOC’s opportunities. He was a fan favorite after a successful preseason, and many will argue it would have made more sense to put your promising rookie QB out there to get some exposure rather than a 15-year veteran who has never shown us anything to be excited about.
Tre Tucker | WR | Las Vegas Raiders
33% Rostered
The rookie WR from Cincinnati had a fairly disappointing start to his 2023 campaign, rarely seeing the field and failing to haul a reception through the first five weeks. Since Week 6, however, Tucker has seen his role begin to expand, seeing a snap percentage of 31% in Week 6 and 49% in Week 7. The speedster has flashed in several moments in the past two contests, proving his ability as a legitimate deep-threat option.
He’s collected a modest four receptions in that span, but things are trending in the right direction for Tucker. He’s seeing the field more than teammate Hunter Renfrow and appears to be cementing himself as the WR3 on this Las Vegas team. Tucker’s elite quickness and speed have allowed him to get some looks in the run game as well. He may never be more than a gadget guy at the NFL level, but his big-play potential makes him a great pickup in Best Ball leagues. And the Raiders’ front office clearly thinks highly of the man, as they traded away TE Darren Waller for a 3rd round pick and used said pick on Tre.
Jake Bobo | WR | Seattle Seahawks
29% Rostered
Jake Bobo is one of the better underdog stories in the 2023 season and continues to give us something to talk about in-season. This past Sunday was the best game of his young career, catching four passes on five targets, including one of the more impressive touchdown grabs we’ve seen all year.
Bobo was an undrafted wide receiver who played at Duke and UCLA and surprised many by making Seattle’s 53-man roster period. Athleticism is not necessarily Bobo’s strong suit, running nearly a 5-second 40-yard dash. But what he lacks in speed, he more than makes up for with his route-running, size, hands, and body control. This guy is certainly no scrub and is worth the waiver pickup in all Dynasty leagues at this point. As it stands today, he has his fair share of competition in this wide receiver room, but it may be thinning out a bit after this season. Tyler Lockett is 31, and Seattle has a potential out after this year. Bobo could slowly work his way up to being an every-down player over the next year or so.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
