Chris Sweet – Senior Fantasy Analyst: The Wagner Wire
Week 8 was a whirlwind. The bye weeks are in full swing and Week 9 is especially brutal. Let’s get right down to it. 69 things, thoughts, and anecdotes from Week 8….
That was the original open. The days that have passed since then have brought turmoil and pain as well as new hope to many Fantasy Owners. Some comments have been edited but I included the original comment.
- Original comment: You can’t stop Deshaun Watson. You can only hope to contain him. Edit…Dear God Why??? DeShaun Watson tore his ACL in practice and is out for the season.
- Original comment: Will Fuller has 7 TDs on just 22 targets. Very Efficient. Edit…Glad he got those TDs while he could. Tom Savage is coming.
- Original Comment: DeAndre Hopkins also has 7 TDs. He showed he is still deadly against the Seahawks. Edit…I have 3 shares of Hopkins. See Image at top for my feelings.
- The complete lack of a running game in Seattle has forced Russell Wilson to throw a ton. Great news for his fantasy owners.
- Paul Richardson finally lived up to his potential. I wouldn’t expect consistency.
- Doug Baldwin didn’t get a big piece of the action but I still like him going forward.
- Golden Tate didn’t miss any time. I’m still trusting Marvin Jones.
- Ameer Abdullah is not an impact player.
- Juju Smith-Schuster had the game that Martavis Bryant owners have waited for all season.
- The Steelers bye could be interesting. There’s a chance Martavis Bryant isn’t a Steeler when its over.
- It’s hard to trust any Patriots RB right now.
- The Patriots are another high powered offense on Bye in Week 9.
- Keenan Allen has seen his targets decrease each of the last 3 weeks.
- The Chargers passing game as a whole is tough to figure out ever since Mike Williams debuted. 8 players saw targets on Sunday.
- Melvin Gordon continues to be a bell cow RB.
- The Chargers are also on bye in Week 9.
- Alex Collins rushed for 113 yards last week. He only out touched Buck Allen 20-18 however.
- Pick Danny Woodhead up now.
- The idea of Matt Moore playing QB for the Dolphins was better than Matt Moore actually playing QB for the Dolphins.
- Larry Fitzgerald may struggle without Carson Palmer. It will be hard to bench him this week with so many better options on bye.
- This matchup with the 49ers is a good opportunity for Adrian Peterson to bounce back.
- The Falcons offense continues to be a huge let down from last season’s production.
- Julio Jones is having a very pedestrian year.
- The Jets passing game has been surprisingly consistent for Fantasy owners.
- Bilal Powell continues to be tough to start.
- Buffalo is starting to get LeSean McCoy rolling.
- There isn’t a high ceiling but Tyrod Taylor is a solid QB option most weeks.
- The Oakland offense regressed in Week 8.
- DeAndre Washington is worth picking up in PPR Leagues.
- Remember when Cam Newton was back? I think he left again.
- Carolina has won some of the ugliest games this year.
- Doug Martin is starting to look like Jonathan Stewart.
- Man, this is not the Jameis Winston I was expecting in his third year.
- Original comment: As I’m typing this Zeke Elliott is Suspended again. He appears to be out of options. Edit…Just Kidding. Zeke gets yet another break and will play this week.
- Overlook Dak’s small Fantasy outpoint against the Redskins and fire him up for the stretch run.
- Original comment: Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden will be picked up for the third time this year. Edit…And you can drop those guys again. Sheesh.
- The WRs in Washington continue to be a train wreck.
- Chris Thompson is putting together an RB1 season in a bad situation.
- How about this trade deadline?
- The Eagles did not acquire Jay Ajayi to watch LeGarrette Blount fall down inside the red zone.
- If I were choosing between Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams, I would choose Williams for the ppr upside.
- Tyrod Taylor should throw to Kelvin Benjamin a lot. He loved Charles Clay and KB is basically a TE that plays WR.
- Original Comment: With Zeke out for 6 weeks, the question is Alf or Run DMC? I wouldn’t be shocked if the answer is Rod Smith. Edit…Rod Smith may still be the one to take a flyer on out of these 3.
- Josh Gordon has been tentatively reinstated. I need to learn more before I get my hopes up.
- Carolina should start using Curtis Samuel and Russell Shepard more in the passing game.
- Jordan Howard is quietly on pace for over 1300 yards rushing. He rarely gets mentioned with the top RBs and is only in his second year.
- The success of the Saints run game is limiting Drew Brees’s fantasy upside.
- Mark Ingram needs to take better care of the football.
- Joe Mixon had over 100 yards from scrimmage on Sunday. He only rushed for 18 yards on 11 carries, however.
- The Bengals offense underwhelmed against the Colts. Next up is the fearsome Jaguars Defense.
- Jack Doyle has seen at least 7 targets in each of his last 4 games.
- TY Hilton is really hard to put in fantasy lineups right now.
- Hopefully, the Packers installed a better gameplan for Brett Hundley during the bye.
- The Packers should continue to lean on Aaron Jones running the ball.
- Isaiah Crowell had a solid game on Sunday. Maybe he can get things going the 2nd half of the year.
- The Denver Broncos are starting Brock Osweiler at Philadelphia on Sunday. This is not a joke.
- Devontae Booker is getting more involved.
- Travis Kelce absolutely owns the Broncos.
- Kareem Hunt has cooled off considerably. A matchup with the Cowboys run Defense should get him back rolling.
- The Jaguars should waste no time getting Leonard Fournette going after the bye.
- Original comment: Sammy Watkins has yet another tough Corner covering him this week with Janoris Jenkins. Edit: Janoris Jenkins has been suspended indefinitely.
- Jerick McKinnon continues to be the better RB in Minnesota even though the split is still about 50/50. The bye week would be a good time to decide to give McKinnon a bigger share of the workload.
- Adam Thielen continues to be a top Fantasy WR.
- Zach Ertz should be able to exploit the Broncos LBs this weekend.
- The 49ers plan to let Jimmy Garoppolo learn the Offense before he takes over the starting QB job.
- Original Comment: Pierre Garcon and the other WRs should see an uptick in production when Jimmy G finally takes over. Edit: Pierre Garcon is out for the season.
- Top 5 draft pick Corey Davis should have a big impact on the 2nd half of the season.
- Marcus Mariota has been very disappointing so far. Davis returning should help his fantasy value.
- We have 5 weeks left to get our squads in the playoffs in most leagues. The fun starts now.
Another week, another 69 in the books. Catch you on the flip Suckas!
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