Keeping it Real with Fantasy- Week 9
Helping NVOT with their fantasy football problems
It’s the day after halloween but the frights are not over. Six teams are on bye this week leaving the fantasy landscape very scary. Also, the Browns are still doing Browns things which is never good.
Injuries/News-
Browns head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley have both been fired. Defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, has been named the interim head coach. We would be cautious with playing Browns next week.
Fitzmagic is back after coming in Jameis Winston was benched and Fitzpatrick almost lead the Buccaneers to a miraculous comeback over the Bengals. Fitzpatrick was named the starter for week nine and this looks good for the immediate future of the Buccaneers.
Tyreek Hill hurt his groin in the fourth quarter of the win against the Broncos. The injury is not expected to be serious but Hill is not a guarantee to play next week.
C.J. Beathard has a wrist injury and is questionable for Thursday night. If he cannot play Nick Mullens will make his NFL debut against the Raiders.
Demaryius Thomas has been traded to the Texans, Golden Tate has been traded to the Eagles. Tate will have a bye week to learn the new offense but Thomas has a game this week. He is not a guarantee to play but he would be playing the team that just traded him, Denver, so we would not be surprised for him to suit up.
Deep Waiver Wire Pickups Week 9-
David Moore: No QB in this spot this week, but instead we are going with someone you wouldn’t expect and that would be Seahawks’ wide receiver David Moore. Moore has been fantastic his last with at least one touchdown in each game and this past Sunday flirted with his first 100 yard game of the season. The second year player has done better than #1 WR Doug Baldwin in in all but one game since Baldwin returned from injury. We think Moore would be a fantasy steal to take off of waivers as his role in the seahawks offense is getting bigger with each game.
Jalen Richard: Marshawn Lynch going on injured reserve for the year has opened up the door for backup running back Doug Martin and third string Jalen Richard. Martin got the most carries out of the two but ended up fumbling at a very crucial point in the game which will definitely hurt his touch count, and that could open up more to Richard. Even before Martin’s mistake, Richard was heavily used in the passing game as he lead the team in receptions with 9 catches and had 55 yards through the air. We believe Richard may even see more touches on the ground in the next few games, so even in a non P.P.R. league, Richard could be a possible flex starter just sitting on waivers.
D.J. Moore: Panthers’ rookie D.J. Moore is becoming a bigger part of the Panthers offense every single week of the season. Moore has been used in the passing game well and is now being used on running plays which makes him more valuable to the Carolina attack. Moore had 5 catches for 90 yards against Baltimore this past Sunday as well as 2 rushes for 39 yards. Moore should have plenty of chances to get the ball in his hands in the upcoming weeks. We believe there is a lot of upside for the rookie and that you should scoop him up from waivers now before he becomes more known.
Ed Dickson: The Seattle tight end duo of Nick Vannett and Ed Dickson worked very well this past Sunday against the Lions. Dickson played the bigger role however as he caught just one more reception than Vanett as well as put up 54 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks’ dominating win. Dickson should become a bigger part of the Seattle offense as he missed time due to injury and as he recovers, his numbers should be similar to the ones he put up on Sunday and may even get throughout the rest of the season. We think Ed Dickson will do very well in the upcoming weeks as he gets healthier and is definitely a solid waiver wire pick up.
Start/Sit-
QB-
Start- Derek Carr and Alex Smith
Carr looked much better last week even after losing Amari Cooper. Carr is on a short week but he gets to play San Francisco and should be a streaming option with a lot of teams on bye. Smith also is a streaming option going up against the Falcons, in a game that may end up being a shootout.
Sit- Case Keenum and Brock Osweiler
Keenum has not played well this year and now he goes up against Houston. Even though there are not many options for quarterbacks this week we would try to avoid Keenum. The Dolphins have named a starter Osweiler the starter because Tannehil is still not ready to play. Osweiler plays the Jets which is not a very good team but there defense has played well. After the hot start, Osweiler has struggled since then and that should continue.
RB-
Start- Lamar Miller and James Conner
This week Miller gets to play the Broncos, who have struggled stopping running backs this season. They did stop David Johnson but that was because of the Cardinals bad play calling and this week Miller should continue his success. It looks like Le’Veon may be returning to the Steelers this week. That is no guarantee though and even if he does show up he will not get a huge workload in his first game meaning Conner is still safe to play.
Sit- Tevin Coleman and LeSean McCoy
Both these players are playing against top run defenses in the NFL. Washington has stopped running backs very well and last week even Saquon could not run against them. McCoy has admitted this year he has not played well and even if Josh Allen comes back Buffalo will probably struggle against Chicago.
WR-
Start- DeSean Jackson and Kenny Golladay
Last week, we said to sit Desean Jackson. He caught Jameis Winston’s only good pass of the day for a 60 yard score and that saved his week. We are saying to start him this week because Fitzmagic is back so the entire Buccaneers offense gets a boost. Golladay has struggled after a hot start but going up against Minnesota means Xavier Rhodes will cover Marvin Jones Jr. leaving Golladay with a better matchup and a chance at a bounce back week.
Sit- Amari Cooper and Doug Baldwin
Cooper is playing this week after two straight bye weeks. This is his debut for Dallas and they gave up a first round pick to get him so in the future he will be heavily used but he will probably need time to get accustomed to the Dallas offense. Baldwin has been disappointing this year because he has been hurt. With David Moore and Tyler Lockett playing well we do not expect Baldwin to turn his season around.
TE-
Start- Greg Olsen and George Kittle
Olsen and the Panthers play Tampa Bay in a game that the Buccaneers could score a lot meaning the Panthers will have to score. Olsen should have plenty of opportunities against a poor Tampa defense. Kittle plays on Sunday and is the top target on the team. C.J. Beathard is hurt but even if he does not play Kittle should have a good week.
Sit- David Njoku and Cameron Brate
Njoku scored no points last week and even with a good matchup this week against Kansas City may be an opportunity to rebound the head coach and offensive coordinator were just fired so we do not have much faith in there offense. Brate is Winston’s favorite target but Fitzpatrick does not use him as much as Winston