Underlined players are on bye. Only notable fantasy assets are mentioned.
QB: Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson
Eli Manning(face) squares off with Washington's trash pass defense this week, and has looked surprisingly sharp over the past few games. Maybe the team is finally buying into Ben McAdoo's offense. Thursday games aren't usually a great fallback for backup options, but this game features two of the better-looking offenses in the league and should provide a serviceable plug-in.
Ryan Tannehill draws Oakland this week, which should provide a fantastic opportunity for the young signal-caller to get back on track after struggling last week. Expect slightly-above-game-manager numbers as the Fins' game plan should focus on feeding Lamar Miller.
Teddy Bridgewater gets his first career start on his new home turf against an Atlanta team that just plunked 56 on Tampa. Their defense looked much better than it is against two backups, a rookie, and 31-year-old Vincent Jackson, but the Vikes just lost one of their best offensive linemen and their rising young tight end. Still, in a major pinch, rolling the dice on Teddy Time can yield useful stats.
RB: Montee Ball, Marshawn Lynch, Giovani Bernard, Zac Stacy, Andre Ellington, Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell
Donald Brown has only a rookie RB behind him and gets the Jags this week. He will be a hungry man no longer. Enough said.
Similarly, Khiry Robinson faces off with Dallas' still-depleted run defense after they were gashed by Zac Stacy for over 110 total yards. As a Dallas fan, nightmarish memories of last year's tilt with the Saints still drench me in cold sweat late at night; make sure all your Saints skill players start this week.
Toby Gerhart's time may have come with the burning of Blake Bortles' red shirt. If last week is anything to go by, defenses must respect Bortles more as a passer than they did Chad Henne, allowing Toby to run against boxes that *gasp* aren't stacked! Plus, he gets the San Diego SuperSoftChargers, so as long as the game doesn't completely escape the Jags, he'll have some room to gallop. Chances are, as I previously mentioned, you can buy him for a song or pluck him off the free-agency pile.
Matt Asiata just lost his best road-grader in Brandon Fusco and will most likely be leaned on now that the clock has finally rung "Teddy Time." Still, Atlanta continues to suffer problems stopping the run, so the volume and matchup are there for the molasses fullback.
Steven Jackson rose from his grave in the televised murder of Tampa Bay, getting a touchdown plunge and showing some vintage second and third efforts. Minnesota has been above-average against the run this season, but against a truly high-flying Falcons offense and potentially missing MLB Chad Greenway, the pass will be sold out to allow Jackson to beat them on the ground. Another double-digit effort looms.
As a real gamble, looking into Kyle Jusczcyk might tickle your fantasy fancy. K-Juice slides in as the de-facto #2 TE after the loss of Dennis Pitta, and has the tools to continue his hybrid H-back role in the new position. He's listed as an RB for now on most sites, and could see some red-zone and zig-route targets. Again, though, he's a last-resort, huge-money gamble.
WR: Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, A.J. Green, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Percy Harvin, Brian Quick
I hope you all bought up Keenan Allen shares when I told you to, because this week will be his coming-out party. Finally fully healthy and out of the bad-matchup woods, Allen gets to do "battle," if you can call it that, with the scoff-worthy Jaguars, a team allowing some of the best WR scores in the league. This week, he can truly replicate any of your elite WR1 absentees with little worry.
Cecil Shorts and Allen Robinson, on the other side of the field, may have re-entered the WR3 conversation now that Bortles snagged the QB job. Both put up respectable numbers last week, albeit in garbage time, and showed decent rapport with their new leader. Against a middle-of-the-road Chargers defense and expected to be trailing again, both wideouts can pick up some of the slack on your rosters.
Justin Hunter: the invisible man. Over the past few weeks, Hunter's been expected to torch a few of the defenses he's faced, only to be let down by a combination of drops and Jake Locker-isms. He draws another good matchup this week with Indy, and Locker may sit due to a wrist injury, meaning the more accurate rookie Zach Mettenberger would be slinging to Hunter. Almost wholly an upside play, Hunter is worth plugging in if your corps hurts for production.
Update: looks like Clipboard Charlie is going to get the nod over Mettenberger this week. That downgrades Hunter hugely if it happens, but should bolster Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker a bunch. Swap them out as the news becomes clearer.
TE: Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron
Garret Graham, a guest appearance on the Waiver Watch this week, may have it in him to support your roster if you're missing Julius Thomas (Cameron owners already have a replacement thanks to his past few weeks battling a shoulder sprain). Houston hosts the Bills this week, who haven't been very strong against TE thus far, and Ryan FitzMagic historically loves throwing to his safety blankets. Graham's production so far isn't too encouraging, but he's gradually becoming more involved in the offense, and should Fitz see more of the pass rush that rattled him in New Jersey last week, he'll look for the big receiver early and often.
--Lucio Leone
QB: Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson
Eli Manning(face) squares off with Washington's trash pass defense this week, and has looked surprisingly sharp over the past few games. Maybe the team is finally buying into Ben McAdoo's offense. Thursday games aren't usually a great fallback for backup options, but this game features two of the better-looking offenses in the league and should provide a serviceable plug-in.
Ryan Tannehill draws Oakland this week, which should provide a fantastic opportunity for the young signal-caller to get back on track after struggling last week. Expect slightly-above-game-manager numbers as the Fins' game plan should focus on feeding Lamar Miller.
Teddy Bridgewater gets his first career start on his new home turf against an Atlanta team that just plunked 56 on Tampa. Their defense looked much better than it is against two backups, a rookie, and 31-year-old Vincent Jackson, but the Vikes just lost one of their best offensive linemen and their rising young tight end. Still, in a major pinch, rolling the dice on Teddy Time can yield useful stats.
RB: Montee Ball, Marshawn Lynch, Giovani Bernard, Zac Stacy, Andre Ellington, Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell
Donald Brown has only a rookie RB behind him and gets the Jags this week. He will be a hungry man no longer. Enough said.
Similarly, Khiry Robinson faces off with Dallas' still-depleted run defense after they were gashed by Zac Stacy for over 110 total yards. As a Dallas fan, nightmarish memories of last year's tilt with the Saints still drench me in cold sweat late at night; make sure all your Saints skill players start this week.
Toby Gerhart's time may have come with the burning of Blake Bortles' red shirt. If last week is anything to go by, defenses must respect Bortles more as a passer than they did Chad Henne, allowing Toby to run against boxes that *gasp* aren't stacked! Plus, he gets the San Diego SuperSoftChargers, so as long as the game doesn't completely escape the Jags, he'll have some room to gallop. Chances are, as I previously mentioned, you can buy him for a song or pluck him off the free-agency pile.
Matt Asiata just lost his best road-grader in Brandon Fusco and will most likely be leaned on now that the clock has finally rung "Teddy Time." Still, Atlanta continues to suffer problems stopping the run, so the volume and matchup are there for the molasses fullback.
Steven Jackson rose from his grave in the televised murder of Tampa Bay, getting a touchdown plunge and showing some vintage second and third efforts. Minnesota has been above-average against the run this season, but against a truly high-flying Falcons offense and potentially missing MLB Chad Greenway, the pass will be sold out to allow Jackson to beat them on the ground. Another double-digit effort looms.
As a real gamble, looking into Kyle Jusczcyk might tickle your fantasy fancy. K-Juice slides in as the de-facto #2 TE after the loss of Dennis Pitta, and has the tools to continue his hybrid H-back role in the new position. He's listed as an RB for now on most sites, and could see some red-zone and zig-route targets. Again, though, he's a last-resort, huge-money gamble.
WR: Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, A.J. Green, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Percy Harvin, Brian Quick
I hope you all bought up Keenan Allen shares when I told you to, because this week will be his coming-out party. Finally fully healthy and out of the bad-matchup woods, Allen gets to do "battle," if you can call it that, with the scoff-worthy Jaguars, a team allowing some of the best WR scores in the league. This week, he can truly replicate any of your elite WR1 absentees with little worry.
Cecil Shorts and Allen Robinson, on the other side of the field, may have re-entered the WR3 conversation now that Bortles snagged the QB job. Both put up respectable numbers last week, albeit in garbage time, and showed decent rapport with their new leader. Against a middle-of-the-road Chargers defense and expected to be trailing again, both wideouts can pick up some of the slack on your rosters.
Justin Hunter: the invisible man. Over the past few weeks, Hunter's been expected to torch a few of the defenses he's faced, only to be let down by a combination of drops and Jake Locker-isms. He draws another good matchup this week with Indy, and Locker may sit due to a wrist injury, meaning the more accurate rookie Zach Mettenberger would be slinging to Hunter. Almost wholly an upside play, Hunter is worth plugging in if your corps hurts for production.
Update: looks like Clipboard Charlie is going to get the nod over Mettenberger this week. That downgrades Hunter hugely if it happens, but should bolster Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker a bunch. Swap them out as the news becomes clearer.
TE: Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron
Garret Graham, a guest appearance on the Waiver Watch this week, may have it in him to support your roster if you're missing Julius Thomas (Cameron owners already have a replacement thanks to his past few weeks battling a shoulder sprain). Houston hosts the Bills this week, who haven't been very strong against TE thus far, and Ryan FitzMagic historically loves throwing to his safety blankets. Graham's production so far isn't too encouraging, but he's gradually becoming more involved in the offense, and should Fitz see more of the pass rush that rattled him in New Jersey last week, he'll look for the big receiver early and often.
--Lucio Leone
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