If your team has suffered some rough injuries or has not performed to standard, you have stumbled across the right article. The Dollaboys will be giving you weekly waiver wire targets to pickup and stash on your roster. If you have been listening to the weekly podcast you know that we quickly highlight the main pickups of the week. This article is meant to go into a little more depth on each player and will give you the fantasy edge over your league mates.
The Main Pickup of the Week
Michael Carter NYJ Rostered in 68% of ESPN Leagues
Yes, the New York Jets just acquired James Robinson for a conditional 6th round pick but Carter is still poised to take over this backfield. James Robinsons production has been going down since his impressive game against the Chargers in week 3. In full point PPR scoring he has yet to score over 7 points since that game. The change of uniforms will not automatically translate to a change in production. No player in the history of NFL Football has been fantasy relevant for a full year after coming off a torn achilles. Yes, he has had a few good weeks but I will bet on history when it comes to the Jets backfield. Speaking of history, second year players tend to break out at a very high rate when it comes to fantasy football. People forget how well Michael Carter was last year, particularly in his pass catching which is essential to fantasy. If you’re one of the lucky few to have him available in your league, go pick him up now.
Quarterback’s
Daniel Jones NYG Rostered in 29% of ESPN Leagues
Daniel Jones is now ranked quarterback 10 in standard scoring leagues. The Giants offense has been impressive lately and some of that credit must be given to Daniel Jones. Jones is quietly a dual threat quarterback with his rushing ability. He has 343 yards rushing which is more rushing yards than Najee Harris has this year. 343 rushing yards equates to 49 yards a game, which is an extra 4.9 points per game. In standard scoring that is more points than a passing touchdown. Add Daniel Jones before your league mates do.
Justin Fields CHI Rostered in 23.2% of ESPN Leagues
The same arguments that have been made for Daniel Jones can be made for Justin Fields. In the past 3 weeks Justin Fields has put up performances in the top 12. His most recent performance was top 5 and against a solid New England Defense. This week is a tough matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, but Justin Fields is definitely worth a stash if you have quarterback trouble.
Sam Ehlinger IND Rostered in less than 1% of ESPN Leagues
This waiver wire target is obviously geared toward 2 quarterback leagues. If you are not a part of a 2QB league you don’t have to worry about this name for now, but you also should join one of these leagues immediately. They are a lot of fun and more challenging than your typical single quarterback league. With that said, Matt Ryan has recently been “benched” and will be warming that bench for the remainder of the year. There are some reports that this is only due to an injury but either way Ehlinger is worth a stash. We have seen Matt Ryan put up some impressive numbers with this Colts offense this year and Ehlinger can do the same. With weapons like Michael Pittman, Jonathan Taylor and the rookie Alec Pierce it shouldn’t be too hard to be fantasy relevant. Ehlinger is a priority pickup in 2QB leagues but don’t sleep on him in your standard leagues, he may become a viable streamer during bye weeks.
Running Backs
Gus Edwards BAL Rostered in 16.3% of ESPN Leagues
The Gus Bus almost stole the crown from Michael Carter for the Main Pickup of The Week. With JK Dobbins out and Kenyan Drake’s awful performance of 11 carries for 5 yards, Gus is an obvious pickup. I have some concerns though. Although Gus Edwards final stat line was good for fantasy, his underlying metrics were concerning. Gus saw under a 40% snap share and it is clear that Baltimore wants to run a committee. Then there is Lamar Jackson who will also steal some rushes and touchdowns. Now Gus is coming off an injury and it is possible Baltimore’s plan was to ease him into playing. Also running backs are hard to come by off the waiver wire so he is still worth a pickup. I just want our listeners/readers to limit their expectations when adding The Gus Bus to the squad.
CAROLINA PANTHERS BACKFIELD
Chuba Hubbard CAR Rostered in 25.9% of ESPN Leagues
D’Onta Foreman CAR Rostered in 35.4% of ESPN Leagues
The Carolina Panthers have traded away their star running back Christian McCaffrey and now the fantasy community is trying to decide what to do with the Panthers backfield. Side note, I am 99% sure that Sean Gancarz wrote about CMC in his Buy/Sell article so go check that out if you want to see the Dollaboyz opinion of CMC’s new fantasy value. Now this backfield is a little hard to figure out. With the small sample size it seems that Chuba has the advantage. Before his injury at the start of the 4th quarter he was clearly the starter. According to Adam Schefter the injury was very minor, and he could have gone back in the game if needed. With that said it still seems to be a 50/50 shot when deciding which RB to go after. I lean the pass catcher side in Chuba because those are higher valued targets but it really is a coin flip. We also have to remember that Carolina’s offense is normally not good and I don’t think anyone is projecting for this last Sunday to be the new norm. Either way these RB’s are worth a shot on your bench for the meantime.
Wide Receivers
Wan’Dale Robinson NYG Rostered in 13.8% of ESPN Leagues
Wan’Dale Robinson is very likely to be the Giants WR 1 for the rest of the season. If you have been listening to the podcast you would have picked this guy up a couple of weeks ago. The Giants wide receiver room is vacant, and the opportunity is completely there for this emerging rookie. Historically rookies have a better production for fantasy in the second half of the year. This makes sense due to the rookie getting adjusted to the NFL. Look at Amon-Ra St. Brown last year, or even Justin Jefferson a couple years ago. I am not projecting for this to be his outcome, but the opportunity is right in front of Wan’Dale for the taking.
Jameson Williams DET Rostered in 22% of ESPN Leagues
Here is another rookie that is poised to help win you some championships. This transaction is especially for leagues with an IR slot. Jameson Williams may have been the most talented wide receiver in the class but his draft capital dropped due to his injury. The Detroit Lions offense has surprised us at times, so we know they are more than capable of supporting some weapons. The best part about the Lions is that their defense is one of the worst in the league. This means they will have to throw a lot and when Jameson Williams is healthy he will immediately impact fantasy. Also who doesn’t want a guy with a name like Jameson on the squad.
Parris Campbell IND Rostered in 2.9% of ESPN Leagues
This transaction is more for your deeper leagues. Campbell has stung himself an impressive past two weeks. He has captured a 24% target share and with that he has scored more than 18 points in each of those games in PPR scoring. The main reason behind this production is the offensive line. As previously stated in this article their offensive line has been awful. This has forced Matt Ryan to throw the ball quickly which has resulted in a lot of targets for Campbell. Now there is the question of the new quarterback and what that means for this offense. Who will his favorite target be? Will the Colts allow this new quarterback to air it out? Now the favorite target will more likely than not be Michael Pittman, but Campbell can still be productive and there is a small chance that he will continue to out target Pittman. If Alec Pierce is still out there on your wire, he is worth a pickup as well. The change of a new quarterback brings a lot of variance and variance is great for trying to find a stock to hit big in the market.
Tight Ends
Greg Dulcich DEN Rostered in 7.8% of ESPN Leagues
This rookie tight end has only had two starts so far and he finished in the top 12 both weeks. That is quite impressive for a rookie on the least scoring offense in the league. These are the two main concerns with this addition though. Rookie tight ends normally do not perform that well when it comes to fantasy football. It usually takes at least a full year for tight ends to become fantasy relevant. Then he is also a part of one of the worst offenses in the league. This limits his touchdown upside which is very important for most tight ends. Now he had 9 targets in his matchup against the Jets, which was the same amount as Cortland Sutton. There is some risk to this pickup but there is also some upside. Plus how can you not route for a rookie with that killer moustache.
Hayden Hurst CIN Rostered in 47.5% of ESPN Leagues
The Cincinnati Bengals have finally let Joe Burrow and the offense unleash. They have been passing at a very high rate and this is resulting in great things for this offense. Hayden Hurst is a great way to get a piece of this offense. We have seen Hurst put up numbers this season and he is the 11th ranked TE on the year in PPR formats. Yet he is still on more than half of the league’s waiver wires. Go pick him up now before he is gone.
Defense
Washington Commanders Rostered in 19.5% of ESPN Leagues
Indianapolis Colts Rostered in 43.7% of ESPN Leagues
Normally we will be giving you one defense to pickup and start for the week but since these defenses are in the same game, we are giving you two this week. Vegas has this game’s over under at a whopping 40.5 and there are two backup quarterbacks playing in this game. Either side of the ball looks to be a good pickup but if you have the option I would lean towards the Colts. Their defense has been performing better and Heinicke likes to chuck the ball, sometimes into triple coverage. This game looks like it should belong on Thursday Night Football.