The Bye Week Blues, Volume II

Phew, we made it through the first wave, boys and girls. Thankfully for us fantasy GMs, week four looks to have been one of the worst byes this season, potentially only topped by week nine (Atlanta, Tennessee, Buffalo, and most of the NFC North will be off that week ... it gives me chills). Hence, while we aren't out of the woods just yet, the underbrush has cleared for the time being. Last week, we clobbered some home runs, but piddled in a few sad little sac-bunts too. Eli, Teddy, and Tannehill all ruined the curve for other quarterbacks; Gerhart, Asiata, and Walker found the end zone; and Keenan and Khiry piled on over 200 combined yards. Unfortunately, Steven Jackson was robbed at the goal line, Cecil Shorts' paper-mache hamstring sidelined once again, and Garrett Graham had the usage but also the dropsies. A respectable but cautious pat on the back to myself and Alex for our record last week. But this isn't about fantasy-prediction autofellatio, it's about helping you plug the holes in your team ship so it doesn't go Titanic on you. Hence, we soldier on through volume two of the Bye Week Blues.


QB: Ryan Tannehill, Derek Carr

Oh, please, like you were starting either of them anyway (outside of streaming QBs or leagues with a jumbo flex). Well, Carr is out for a sizable chunk of time due to an MCL sprain, so if you're truly desperate, you could grab either of the Matts, McGloin or Schaub, to plug in. Vomitous.

Big Ben Roethlisberger just had himself a day against Tampa's pride-leaking defense, putting up over 25 points in standard scoring leagues. He draws the Jaguars next, a team that just let Philip Rivers paste them for 377/3 despite the Charger's dearth of a run game (dammit, Donald!) and loss of mainstay center Nick Hardwick. Ben's got himself a ton of weapons, with Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell in the midst of elite seasons, and Markus Wheaton/Heath Miller getting up to speed. For some reason, Ben constantly ends up in free-agency piles while owners take shots on wild-card rookies or system-baby journeymen. Pittsburgh will square off with a few QB-friendly defenses in the coming weeks as well, so acquiring Ben may be prudent to your squad's solidity.

Mike Glennon finally has the Tampa offense's reins once again, after Lovie Smith pulled a Raiders and traded for now-benched bust Josh McCown. Glennon's starts last year, with only one competent receiver and a running game constantly in flux at his disposal, encouraged many fans and beat writers; he stands tall (literally) in the pocket and wields all the cliche-worthy "tools" of the game to be decent at his job. This weekend, he goes to the Superdome to take on a struggling Saints team that just got spayed by the Cowboys. Mike Evans' absence will hurt for a few weeks, but as long as Glennon keeps forcing jump balls to his other towering catchers Vincent Jackson and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, he'll accumulate decent fantasy stats.

Biggest QB surprise so far this year? To me, it'd have to be Austin Davis, the third-string-turned-starting signal caller in St. Louis. Davis' performances in weeks two and three inspire some confidence in his game, as he threw for almost 250 yards against Tampa and put up 300/3/2 on Dallas. His place on any roster purely depends on matchups, but the Rams trek to Philly this weekend, who sport a hugely overrated defense missing one of their premier linebackers and are coming off a horrific loss to San Francisco. Davis' weapons include the emerging Brian Quick, recently unsuspended sticky-fingered Stedman Bailey, my mancrush Zac Stacy, and on-again-off-again TE Jared Cook; all in all, the potential exists for him to remain serviceable. Perhaps my faith is misplaced, but expecting something like 15 standard-league points from Davis this week seems within reach.

RB: Lamar Miller, Knowshon Moreno, Darren McFadden, Maurice Jones-Drew

So, this section pretty much only applies to Lamar Miller owners.

Chris Ivory is running at the most efficient rate of any fantasy back thus far per touch, and has left CJ?K to wallow in the subway tunnels under the Barclays Center. He gets a Chargers team that's been middling against the run so far, and should see a ton of carries due to Geno's most recent obscenity-laced struggles against Detroit.

Even in the wake of Ben Tate's return to practice, I'm rolling with Isaiah Crowell as a mid-RB2 this week. The Browns are coming out of a bye and currently own the best fantasy backfield in terms of points per touch; their opponents, the Titans, just let Trent Richardson stomp them for over 100 total yards and a score. Crowell's fantastic production thus far should put him in line to get some change-of-pace carries and goal-line looks.

Hopefully LeGarrette Blount's awful fantasy day against the Bucs forced owners to drop him for some end-of-roster gambles, because he may come into some real usefulness this week. Jacksonville's defense, as I've mentioned time and again, plays opposing run games as if they had Sock'em Boppers on. If (when) the Steelers go way up on them early, Blount will be tasked with mop-up duty. Remember, kids, garbage-time points are still points.

Jeremy Hill returns from his first NFL bye week to visit lovely Foxboro, a city most likely burning to cinders after Monday night's meltdown in Arrowhead. Hill's opportunities have increased as the year has picked up, and he's proven his worth as a between-the-tackles complement to the Nard Dog. The Pats just gave up 107 yards to similar downhill power-runner Knile Davis and have not been clicking on either side of the ball with any consistency. Plug Hill in if you can get him.

WR: Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, James Jones

Rueben Randle finally had his time in the light on Thursday, turning 10 targets (the same amount as Victor Cruz and more than breakout TE Larry Donnell) into 89 yards and what absolutely should have been a TD, if the referees understood how this "foot ball" game worked. The reborn-looking Giants host the Falcons this week, who return from a stinging yet still high-scoring loss to Teddy Throwsevelt and the Skol defense. Randle most likely shuffled to the waiver wire earlier this season in many leagues, and if not, his owners may still have doubts about his potential. Scoop him up and let him dance.

Marvin Jones should see his first action of the season coming off a broken foot, and Hue Jackson's high praise of the young WR still echoes in my cavernous dome. After watching American Horror Story: New England on Monday night, and assuming Darrelle Revis plans to host AJ Green on his island, I'd feel pretty confident starting Jones in a tight spot right out of the gate.

For deeper reachers, Stedman Bailey returns this week from a PED suspension, and should immediately step in as the Rams' number-two wideout. As I mentioned, Austin Davis has done good things so far for Brian Quick, but it remains to be seen if this offense can support another fantasy-relevant pass catcher. However, as bottom-of-the-barrel options go, Bailey's chances are about as good as Marvin Jones' this week.

TE: Charles Clay

If you own and are starting Chuck Clay, you already have claims staked in one or two other streamer TEs. Deeper-league replacements can be found in ASJ, Garrett Graham (yes, I still believe in him, because he plays the Cowboys this week), Jermaine Gresham, Jace Amaro/Jeff Cumberland, and Eric Ebron.

 --Lucio Leone
@TheThirdEsquire