10-Team Leagues
Baker Mayfield (QB - Cleveland Browns; FAAB Bid: 18-22%) - Odds are that in this shallow of a league you may have another backup quarterback on your roster. But with bye weeks starting to pile up Mayfield is an intriguing grab to get you through next week in case your starter has the week off. Mayfield hasn’t been great by any means recently. He has four touchdowns and seven turnovers over his last three games. But next week the Browns travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Bucs who have one of the worst secondaries in the league. Every quarterback that has faced Tampa Bay this year has thrown for at least 330 yards and four of five opposing quarterbacks have thrown at least three touchdowns against them. Mayfield’s definitely worth a streaming option this week with top 12 potential.
Peyton Barber (RB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers; FAAB Bid: 22%) - It turns out all Barber needed was a little competition from Ronald Jones . Jones led the way between the two a couple weeks back against the Bears, but Barber started for Tampa Bay and saw the first 13 offensive snaps. Barber finished with 13 carries for 82 yards and four catches for 24 yards and a touchdown. All in all Barber finished with 41 snaps compared to Jones’ 12. The running back position is so frustrating because for guys on the waiver wire a lot of their value is dependent on opportunity. Both Barber and Jones still have plenty of opportunity. Keep in mind, Jones led the team in carries against one of the best defenses in the league and then Barber led the way against one of the weaker defenses in the league. But the offense clicked with Barber in the backfield so for now he looks to be the guy.
Wendell Smallwood (RB - Philadelphia Eagles; FAAB Bid: 15-20%) - Corey Clement had the better game between the two Philly running backs, but Smallwood had more touches. Clement carries more ownership so he doesn’t qualify for the waiver article, but Smallwood is still in play and should be picked up. Smallwood had more touches (19) and a higher percentage of offensive snaps (62%) than Clement (14 and 37% respectively). Clement had the better fantasy day because he found the end zone, but Smallwood is the more aggressive runner and there’s still reason to believe he’ll be the better fantasy option as the season progresses.
Chris Godwin (WR - Tampa Bay Buccaneers; FAAB Bid: 15-18%) - Godwin’s fantasy value seemed to take a bit of a hit when Jameis Winston took over as the starting quarterback. In the team’s previous game before their bye week Godwin had just two catches on two targets and he failed to find the end zone for the first time this season. Fortunately for Godwin owners he found the end zone once again Sunday for his fourth score of the season and had six catches on nine targets. Tampa Bay’s awful defense will put the offense in position to chase points. The only downside with Godwin is that his target share is never consistent and he is averaging just five per game. But he has a big frame and is proving to be a touchdown threat once again despite the benching of Ryan Fitzpatrick .
Marquise Goodwin (WR - San Francisco 49ers; FAAB BID: 20-22%) - Monday night saw Goodwin flash what he’s capable of doing when healthy. The wideout led the 49ers with 126 yards. The other four San Francisco pass catchers combined for just 119. Goodwin has flashed big play potential in the past and Monday night was no different. The downside with Goodwin is that San Francisco may not be throwing it very much. Even in a game where the 49ers were competitive and could’ve won, C.J. Beathard only attempted 23 pass attempts after attempting 54 passes in their last game against Arizona. That kind of fluctuation doesn’t bode well for the receivers, but Goodwin looked healthy finally and that’s what fantasy owners need most from him.
O.J. Howard (TE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers; FAAB Bid: 20-25%) - If you’re desperate for tight end help then O.J. Howard should be on your radar. Howard’s likely available in 10-team leagues and there’s a decent chance he’s there in 12-team leagues. There was concern as to how the Bucs would integrate both Cameron Brate and Howard with Winston under center. An early touchdown to Brate on Sunday spelled doom for Howard. Fortunately that was Brate’s only catch and Howard went on to finish with four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown as well. Howard was also on the field for 55% of Tampa Bay’s offensive snaps while Brate saw just 33%. Brate may have history with Winston that’ll still see him get some use, but Howard’s the more talented of the two and should be an important piece of the offense going forward.
DST to Stream - The Denver Broncos have a nice matchup against Arizona Thursday night. Unfortunately it is a road game for Denver. However, the game opened with an expected scoring total of 40 and the Broncos are slight 2.5-point favorites. Denver’s run defense has been a struggle to watch as they’ve given up over 160 yards per game so David Johnson owners will like seeing that. Regardless, they might be able to take advantage of a rookie quarterback who has never had to prepare for a NFL game on a short week.
12-Team Leagues
Mitchell Trubisky (QB - Chicago Bears; FAAB Bid: 15%) - In two-quarterback leagues, Trubisky is likely owned at this point. But in 12-team leagues, and maybe even 10-team leagues Trubisky could be on waivers. Next week Aaron Rodgers , Derek Carr , Russell Wilson , and Ben Roethlisberger will be on bye. So there’s obviously a need to stream a quarterback if you don’t carry a backup. Trubisky gets a very tasty matchup at home against the New England Patriots. Trubisky has 670 passing yards and nine touchdowns over his last two games and this coming Sunday could be another big performance. The Patriots secondary tends to bleed yards to opposing quarterbacks. Trubisky could be a top 12 quarterback in Week 7, and he might cause fits on your roster if he does well because he may be hard to drop after next week. This game opened with an over/under set at 50, so Vegas expects a good amount of scoring in this matchup.
Marlon Mack (RB - Indianapolis Colts; FAAB Bid: 30-35%) - Now that he’s healthy Marlon Mack decided to show fantasy owners that he’s the lead running back for the Colts and it’s not even close. Don’t go and drop Nyheim Hines just yet because he still has PPR appeal. And if the Colts fall behind as much as we think they will, then Hines will still get worked into the game. But Mack had a very nice return appearing in 35% of the offensive snaps and collecting 89 rushing yards on 12 carries. Imagine what he could do with more reps. For what it’s worth, Hines was on the field for 44% of the snaps, but had just five carries. The Colts seemingly phased him out after he dropped an early touchdown pass. Mack was a commodity heading into draft season as his ADP saw him go in the eighth round of most drafts. If you held on to him you could see some solid value in return because Mack should be the lead back rest of season.
Ito Smith (RB - Atlanta Falcons; FAAB Bid: 10-15%) - There should be some hesitancy in bidding more FAAB for Smith because in an ideal world for the Falcons, he’s still third on the depth chart behind Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman . But Freeman’s put up a goose egg in four games so far this year due to being hurt and it’s opened the door for Smith, especially as of late. He’s not padding the stat sheet by any means, but he’s found the end zone in three straight games despite posting minimal yardage numbers. He may be better suited for deeper league formats. In a 12-team league hopefully you have a better option to put in at your flex, but he’s still worth a stash.
Taylor Gabriel (WR - Chicago Bears; FAAB Bid: 12-20%) - Gabriel’s developing a rapport with Trubisky that has seen the fifth-year wideout collect 18 catches on 22 targets over the last three weeks. Most notably he has back-to-back 100-yard games with a pair of touchdowns over his last two contests. Chicago has a tough matchup next week against New England. The Bears defense just got carved up by Brock Osweiler so what will happen when Tom Brady and company come to town to put up some points on the Bears? Hopefully it’s a game script that requires Chicago to throw the ball quite a bit. Gabriel’s definitely a flex play in Week 7.
Chester Rogers (WR - Indianapolis Colts; FAAB Bid: 10-18%) - Sure his target share will likely take a hit if and when T.Y. Hilton returns to action, but in the short-term Rogers is worth picking up. He has double-digit targets in three straight games with 20 catches over that span. He also found the end zone on Sunday for the first time this season. The Colts offense is actually finding its groove, even though they’ve lost three straight games they’ve scored 92 points. This might benefit Rogers’ fantasy prospects if the Colts are constantly trailing their opponents because it could lead to more opportunities for Rogers.
C.J. Uzomah (TE - Cincinnati Bengals; FAAB Bid: 12-15%) - Uzomah’s coming off a really nice outing against the Steelers that saw him catch six passes for 54 yards. From the tight end position you’ll take that kind of production despite the fact he didn’t find the end zone. What’s great for Uzomah is that he’ll face the Chiefs next week who are one of the worst defenses in the league against tight ends. The Chiefs have surrendered at least 12 fantasy points in PPR formats to opposing tight ends in five straight games. Uzomah should be picked up for this week’s matchup and he may be worth hanging on to as the season progresses.
DST’s to Stream - You can really pick your poison between the Cowboys and Redskins next week. They face off against each other in a game with an expected scoring total of 41.5 currently and the game is virtually a pick ‘em right now. Washington actually has a pretty good defense, they’ve scored at least seven points in four of their five games this year. Dallas had an impressive showing against Jacksonville last week. Sean Lee wasn’t active, however, Chidobe Awuzie , David Irving , and Maliek Collins were and they limited the Jaguars to just seven points. If given the choice, Washington might be the better play between the two with home field advantage, but don’t write off the Cowboys in this game.
Deeper League Options
Raheem Mostert (RB - San Francisco 49ers; FAAB Bid: 5-6%) - Well at this point in the season there won’t be much on waivers at the running back position so you might as well roll the dice on a few guys. Matt Breida and Mostert dominated the running back touches on Monday night and Alfred Morris was relegated to milk carton status. Kyle Shanahan was quoted on Saturday saying he was confident that Mostert would bounce back after a bad outing against the Cardinals. Will Mostert likely see double-digit carries going forward? No, at least not consistently. But it was surprising how much Mostert was involved and how Morris was an afterthought. In deeper leagues, you have to throw out some prayers for running back depth and this week’s gem seems to be Mostert.
Jalen Richard (RB - Oakland Raiders; FAAB Bid: 6-12%) - Richard cracked the waiver article a few weeks back following a nine-catch performance in Week 1. He made me look like a fool the following week with a zero-catch performance but look at his game log over the last four weeks because he’s practically been a Flex option in deeper leagues. Since Week 3 Richard has 22 catches for 198 yards. He really needs a negative game script in order to be relevant, but luckily the Raiders are really bad and have been trailing a lot lately and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR - Green Bay Packers; FAAB Bid: 12-14%) - If you’re desperate for wide receiver help then get your bids in for MVS. He’s really making a name for himself and building trust with Aaron Rodgers . Over the last two weeks MVS has ten catches on 16 targets for 171 yards and a touchdown. Even on a night where Davante Adams and Jimmy Graham also had 100-yard receiving games, MVS still had some nice value. The WR2 spot for the Packers is an open competition because Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison can’t stay healthy, and there’s the possibility it could remain a revolving door once those two come back. However, in deeper leagues, MVS can make some noise.
Albert Wilson (WR - Miami Dolphins; FAAB Bid: 10-13%) - Congrats to the guy brave enough to stack Brock Osweiler and Albert Wilson together in Sunday’s Millionaire Maker contest to win the whole thing. You gotta get a little weird in those contests and he most certainly did and it paid off. Wilson may require the big play to pay off, but over his last three games he has 15 catches on 21 targets and he now has four touchdowns on the year. How does Kenny Stills , the presumed top wideout in Miami heading into 2018, stack up by comparison? Stills has just 21 targets on the year with 11 catches and just one touchdown. Wilson’s stock is on the rise, but he’ll have a pretty tough matchup next week against the Lions who are coming off their bye week.
Christian Kirk (WR - Arizona Cardinals; FAAB Bid: 10-12%) - Christian Kirk is proving to be the best receiving option on the Cardinals despite the fact Larry Fitzgerald is still alive. Fitzgerald’s been hurt most of the season and Kirk has taken advantage despite less-than-ideal quarterback play from Sam Bradford and Josh Rosen . Kirk as at least 75 receiving yards in three of his last four games, with 20 catches on 24 targets over that span. That’s a pretty nice catch rate right there. Touchdowns will be hard to come by for Arizona, but they’ll host the Broncos Thursday night in what could be a bit of a sloppy game as both teams prepare on a short week.
DST to Stream - The Indianapolis Colts get a phenomenal matchup at home against the Buffalo Bills this week. The Bills might be without Josh Allen who suffered an injury to his UCL in his elbow on Sunday. This means Buffalo may have to roll with Nathan Peterman who has just three career touchdowns passes to go with nine interceptions. He has an outrageous 11.4% career interception rate. Basically one out of every nine pass attempts is an interception. Even if Josh Allen suits up Sunday this is a great matchup for the Colts defense. Currently the Colts are 6.5-point favorites and the over/under is set at 42.5.