Wow, sometimes you get those weeks in Fantasy Football that reminds you that you know nothing about Fantasy Football. Unfortunately, we ultimately have no idea what is going to happen and even I, myself, am wrong for a huge chunk of the time.
I was almost certain that Redskins running back Samaje Perine would be the new hot target from the waiver wire. After getting the nod in Washington, Perine went on to suffer a bruised hand by taking a nasty helmet hit to his ball-carrying appendage. Worse than that, Perine fumbled the football on this hit, and if there’s one thing head coach Jay Gruden does not forgive, it is fumbles. Besides, it sounds like Rob Kelley has in fact not broken any ribs, and should be returning to the helm of the backfield shortly.
In what continues to be a crap shoot of a run game, Arizona has tried their hand at Kerwynn Williams, Andre Ellington and Chris Johnson. Ellington has stood out as the obvious best runner, with five carries for 22 yards on the ground and had five receptions for 59 yards through the air on Monday against Dallas. My enthusiasm is shot considering how much I supported CJ2K after David Johnson went down, but Ellington has looked the best out of these three candidates. Despite of this, the Cardinals have a backfield I do not entirely want to be part of as they still have Chris Johnson listed as the starting running back. If you have to own someone, Ellington is the most talented player, but be cautious in giving him anything higher than a flex role. To add to the damage, two linemen are out next week in what’s already a struggling O-Line.
Matt Forte is considered week-to-week with a toe injury. This should mean a larger workload for Bilal Powell, especially considering Elijah McGuire lost a bad fumble on Sunday.
Darren Sproles of Philadelphia suffered a gut-wrenching broken arm and torn ACL on the same play. Ouch! He is safe to drop and I’d look to pick up Wendell Smallwood who had 12 carries for 71 yards on the ground in Sproles’s absence. Smallwood will however be competing for touches with LeGarrette Blount so be wary of starting him as anything more than a flex play for now.
Andrew Luck is reportedly set to return to practice next week. The general rule is you can expect to see a quarterback on the field two to three weeks after he starts practicing. So if you’re hurting at the QB position, hold on just a bit longer and you should expect to see Luck back in action around Week 6.
Moving on from injuries, it’s about that time of the season where you’ve given players three weeks to earn your trust. Some have reminded you why you drafted them in the first place, while others have fallen flat on their face. One of the players for me is Cam Newton. The guy has barely shown anything through the air and just doesn’t have the same ground threat that we’re used to seeing. Plus, I am not convinced his arm is 100 percent and am therefore looking to stream a new QB from the waiver wire, of which there are plenty of.
To update the ever changing, ever frustrating Ezekiel Elliott situation: I bare not good news for his fantasy owners. The Cowboy running back is to have another hearing in early October at which point his suspension could start. In the meantime, he’s at least good for these next two weeks.
I really like Joe Mixon going forward and he’s someone you should look at trying to trade for. With the revamped Bengals offense, A.J. Green is back to his old self and Mixon’s carries per game has since doubled, while also seeing some action through the air.
Start: DeAndre Hopkins has a notorious record over the Titans, scoring 19.3 or more PPR points in four of their last six matchups. And he happens to be Deshaun Watson’s favorite target, tallying up the most targets by a wide out in the league. Tennessee has also surrendered the third-most PPR points to wide receivers this season.
Start: This Bengals defense is for real. They scored 14 fantasy points against the Packers on the road. This week they have a juicy matchup against the Browns and DeShone Kizer. Defenses are averaging 13 fantasy points against the Browns.
Start: Leonard Fournette has received an enormous workload since entering the NFL. Despite his sub-par yards per carry, he’s an absolute workhorse and should fare well against a Jets team that the Jaguars are likely to be up on. Plus, he’s got a touchdown in every game and will continue to see an increase in the passing game with the absence of Allen Robinson.
Start: I know I just told you to dump his quarterback, but Christian McCaffrey is seeing some serious passing action that you can’t overlook. His carries have been declining each week, and he’s yet to find the end zone, but the young rookie out of Stanford reeled in 9 catches for 101 yards last weekend. Plus, with Greg Olsen out and Kelvin Benjamin possibly sidelined, who else is Cam going to throw to?
Start: I know Trevor Siemian pooped in his big boy pants last weekend, but now he’s back at Mile High Stadium where he’s averaging 22.65 fantasy points per game. He’s facing Oakland who’s allowed 21 points on average this season. Start Siemian if you’ve got him, and if you’re in a Cam Newton situation, he’s still available on the waiver wire in 30% of ESPN leagues.
Pro Tip: A great way to use waivers to your advantage is to wait until after your league mates have made their claims. Let them overreact and then jump onto the activities page of your fantasy league website and take a look at who your buddies dumped onto the waiver wire. You may be able to find a hidden jewel that someone gave up on too early.
More Fantasy Football questions? Tweet and follow me @kevin_roark for fantasy updates!