Targeting weekly waiver picks is a completely subjective business,
but this column hopes to point out some obvious and not-so-obvious
selections to help your team from week to week while you strive
to collect fantasy wins, reach your league playoffs, and win the
elusive title that your friends say is out of your grasp. While
I’m a big proponent of making trades to bolster your roster,
the waiver wire can be an almost limitless resource when it comes
to discovering fantasy value in strange places. Each week, I’ll
highlight some of the popular (and not-so-popular) players who can
help your squad and may still be available in your league. I’ll
also provide a brief update on the players I covered the previous
week.
Daniel
Jones, NYG – Jones (28% rostered in
Yahoo! leagues) is barely hanging on to QB2 value but does have
a date with forgiving Chiefs defense in Week 8 before playing at
home against the Raiders in Week 9. KC has given up the second most
fantasy points to quarterbacks and is having trouble righting the
ship on defense. Jones becomes a better play if he can get at least
one of Kenny Golladay (knee), Sterling Shepard (hamstring) or Kadarius
Toney (ankle) back on the field.
Trey Lance,
SF – Lance (sprained knee) was Inactive in Week 7 and
may have been dropped (21% owned in Yahoo! leagues) as fantasy
owners were scrambling to fill a starting lineup. In difficult
conditions, Jimmy Garoppolo was underwhelming against the Colts
finishing with a 181-2-2 line and HC Kyle Shanahan seems to be
hedging on Garoppolo as the starter. The 49ers travel to Chicago
in Week 8 which is a middling matchup, but if you have the bench
space, it won’t be surprising if hear Lance named the starting
quarterback sooner rather than later.
Trevor
Lawrence, JAX – Lawrence (41% owned)
has thrown more than 1 TD in a game just once this season (Wk1)
and has more INTs (8) than TDs (7) which quite frankly isn’t great.
He does provides some value with his legs (2 rush TDs) and does
get a middle of the road matchup @SEA in Week 8. He’s a desperation
option this week for Lamar (bye) or Carr (bye) owners.
Tyrod
Taylor, HOU –UPDATE:
Taylor is expected to practice Wednesday and could play this week,
albeit in a slightly difficult matchup against the Rams. It’s
difficult to expect him to be at full strength coming off a serious
hamstring injury but QB2 value is realistic.
Matt Ryan,
ATL – Ryan posted 336-2-1 against the Dolphins and sits
as the QB11 heading into Monday night. With Calvin Ridley, Kyle
Pitts and RB/WR Cordarrelle Patterson in the mix, Ryan has three
legitimate playmakers to help bolster his fantasy totals. The
Falcons’ quarterback gets CAR and @NO the next two weeks.
Tua
Tagovailoa, MIA – Without DeVante
Parker and Will Fuller, Tua has 6 TD passes and 620 passing yards
the last two weeks. He’s not pushing the ball downfield as much
as we would like, but the short and intermediate passing game
works just fine for Jaylen Waddle and Mike Gesicki in PPR leagues.
With @BUF, HOU, BAL and @NYJ on the upcoming schedule Tua will
be a viable low-end QB1 over the next four weeks.
Jameis
Winston, NO –UPDATE:
Winston went 19-of-35 for 222 yards, 1 TD but did add 40 rushing
yards on 8 attempts to push him into mid-range QB2 territory for
the week. He seemed out of sync with his wide receivers and spent
most of the night dumping off to Alvin Kamara who had a monster
game through the air (10-128-1). He’ll get Tampa Bay in
Week 8 which on paper is a decent matchup but given the lack of
playmakers on the outside, Winston isn’t trustworthy.
Running Backs
Kenneth
Gainwell / Boston
Scott, PHI – Miles Sanders was taken off in a cart
yesterday with an ankle injury. We’re still waiting on MRI results
but it appears he’s going to miss some time. In his absence, we
can expect Gainwell to be used in the majority of passing situations
with Scott receiving some early-down work. Gainwell (21% owned)
is the priority add, especially in PPR leagues. He saw 8 targets
yesterday as the Eagles were in comeback mode. The Eagles travel
to Detroit this week who are giving up the 5th most fantasy points
to RBs.
JaMycal
Hasty, SF – Fresh off the IR list,
Hasty (4% owned) played in front of Trey Sermon and was thrown
into a backup role behind Elijah Mitchell on Sunday night. He
was mostly used on passing downs (6 targets) and in the two-minute
drill. We know the 49ers running back room is a revolving door
but Hasty is worth considering in PPR leagues with deep benches.
The 49ers get the Bears in Week 8.
Rashaad
Penny, SEA –UPDATE:
Penny (6 carries, 9 yards) got some run in the first half but
gave way to Alex Collins (16 carries, 35 yards) in the second
half. Seattle couldn’t run the ball in this game…
actually, they couldn’t do much of anything outside of a
big play to DK Metcalf in the first quarter. Penny remains a bench
stash in case Collins gets injured. This entire offense needs
Russell Wilson back soon.
Rhamondre
Stevenson, NE – We know to expect
the unexpected from a Belichik backfield and so it should be no
surprise that Stevenson (healthy) was Inactive in Week 7. That
allowed for J.J. Taylor (9 carries, 21 yards) to get some run
and Brandon Bolden (6 rec, 79 yds) to operate as the pass-catching
back. The only semi-sure thing we can count in is Damien Harris
handling early-down work in most contests. Stevenson remains a
deep league bench stash if you have the room.
Demetric
Felton, CLE – It was the D’Ernest
Johnson show (22 carries, 146 yds, 1 TD) on Thursday night against
the Broncos which left nothing but scraps for Felton (2 carries,
13 yds; 3 rec, 21 yds). Felton is best suited for a James White
type of role and with the Browns playing from in front, there
was little opportunity for Felton to shine. There’s a good chance
Nick Chubb will return in Week 8 which means Felton will have
little to no fantasy value in the near future.
Wide Receivers / Tight Ends
Kalif
Raymond, DET – Raymond (3% owned)
has seen 15 targets the last two weeks and is fresh off a 6-115
day against the Rams. The Detroit passing game isn’t desirable but
he’s a full time starter that can work in a pinch. The Lions face
the Eagles in Week 8.
TE Foster
Moreau, LV – I’ll mention Moreau (3% owned) here even
though the Raiders are on Bye this week. He got the start for the
injured Darren Waller (ankle) and delivered 6-60-1 on 6 targets
against the Eagles for a top five TE finish in Week 7. If Waller
is out for an extended period of time, Moreau will be very viable
in a weak position group with games upcoming against the Giants
and Chiefs.
Michael
Gallup, DAL – In case Gallup (40%
owned) is still floating around as a free agent in your league,
he’s worth a speculative add as he gets closer to returning from
the IR.
Donovan
Peoples-Jones, CLE – DPJ (0 targets)
suffered a pre-game groin injury and had his value sucked dry
by the return of Jarvis Landry (8 targets) and Odell Beckham Jr.
(6 targets) who gutted out Week 7 despite a shoulder injury. In
a run-heavy offense, the Browns can really only support one fantasy
receiver. As a result, DPJ can be moved to the end of your bench
or dropped.
TE Hunter
Henry, NE – Henry only saw 4 targets (2-23) in Week
7 but did find the enzone on his way to TE13 finish in PPR leagues.
Fellow tight end Jonnu Smith left the game with a shoulder injury.
If he misses time, Henry will remain a viable starter in Week
8 against his former team, the Chargers.
Kendrick
Bourne, NE – Bourne saw 4 targets
against the Jets and caught all of them for 68 yards and also
tossed a TD pass on trick play. He delivered WR2 value if you
were forced to start him in the bye-heavy Week 7.
A.J. Green,
ARI – Green only saw 3 targets but did catch all of them
for 66 yards as the Cardinals cruised by the Texans 31-5. His
firmly entrenched as a starter in this offense but sits on WR3/4
line given the amount of weapons (including Zach Ertz) Kyler Murray
has to choose from.
Rashod
Bateman, BAL – Bateman delivered
3-80 on 6 targets in a blowout loss to the Bengals. He’s clearly
the No.2 receiver on this team with Sammy Watkins out and is a
weekly Flex consideration.
TE Ricky
Seals-Jones, WAS – Another solid outing from RSJ
(6-51) on 7 targets, finishing the week as the TE9 as he’s become
a full-time player with Logan Thomas (hamstring) on the IR. Thomas
could come of the IR in Week 8 so pay attention to Football Team
reports as the week progresses.
