Quarterback
Drake Maye, Patriots (6% rostered in Yahoo leagues)
Was Maye perfect in his first start? Of course not. Did he do what we needed him to from a fantasy perspective? He did indeed. The big man threw far and ran with the football.
Drake Maye DIME for his first career touchdown pass!
— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
📺: #HOUvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/psTLjZvOoK
He had three gains of 30+ yards, two of which were touchdowns, and ran five times for 38 yards. He gets a Jacksonville defense that has allowed three 300-yard passers this year. Half of their opponents have topped 30 points.
Bo Nix, Broncos (11%)
Nix will keep getting away with it until morale improves. He is averaging 30 rushing yards per game and has scored three times on the ground. That’s equivalent to 125 passing yards in terms of fantasy points. Nix has also tossed five touchdowns over his past three games after throwing no touchdowns in his first three games. Nix is stuck in QB2 purgatory, but his rushing output is enough to keep him on the streaming radar.
Matthew Stafford, Rams (%)
Stafford is far from the most exciting fantasy quarterback, but you should have thought of that before you decided to stream the position in Week 7. Get it together.
Anyway, Stafford faces a Las Vegas defense that has given up the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this year and is slightly below league-average in EPA per play allowed. The Rams may also get Cooper Kupp back this week.
Others receiving votes: Andy Dalton, Daniel Jones
Running Back
Kimani Vidal, Chargers (11%)
The Chargers placed Gus Edwards on injured reserve with an ankle injury before Sunday. As a result, Kimani Vidal was active for the first time this year and left no doubt that he should’ve been playing over Edwards all along.
kimani vidal's first nfl touch is a td
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 13, 2024
📺 | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/D8GD2ZOroo
Vidal operated as a distant RB2 to J.K. Dobbins, who ran 25 times to Vidal’s four but made the case to see more work going forward. Dobbins is also struggling in the efficiency metrics, averaging 3.2 yards per attempt over his past three games, exacerbating the need for LA to find a back to spell him on occasion.
Tyrone Tracy, Giants (45%)
Tracy wasn’t as explosive in Week 6, rushing for a measly 50 yards on 17 attempts, but he took off as a pass-catcher. He caught all six of his targets for 57 yards. Tracy dominated the backfield touches, out-carrying Eric Gray 17-3. Gray was not targeted. Tracy will rank as a high-end RB2 until Devin Singletary returns and could start over Singletary even when the veteran is healthy.
Tyler Allgeier, Falcons (30%)
Allgeier’s role doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He ran 18 times for 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 6. Bijan Robinson only ran 15 times for 95 yards with two touchdowns. Allgeier was the Falcons’ primary back as they put the Panthers out of their misery. He ran 10 times for 67 yards on their final two drives. These are his duties as the “heavy back.”
#Falcons HC Raheem Morris on the decision to roll with Tyler Allgeier:
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 29, 2024
“He got a couple runs in there and he was able to tote that thing, and you just keep feeding him. And he got a couple really good runs, he was critical for us. He’s the heavy back, and he was heavy for us… pic.twitter.com/BTwBcXTQsS
The Falcons are three-point favorites this week and are not projected to lose by more than a point for the remainder of the season.
Isaac Guerendo, 49ers (4%)
Jordan Mason is considered day-to-day after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 6. The 49ers played on Thursday, so Mason gets the “mini-bye” to recover and looks like a good bet to suit up in Week 7. Fantasy managers should still take shots on Guerendo, the 49ers’ fourth-round rookie. Guerendo is a freak athlete who registered a 9.98 RAS at the combine.
He is one of just four running backs with combine data who ran under a 4.4-Forty while weighing over 220 pounds. Guerendo made his elite athleticism apparent with a 76-yard run to functionally ice the Seahawks. He would be a high-end RB2 as the starter, though that isn’t awfully likely to happen this week.
Sean Tucker, Bucs (1%)
Tucker backed up Bucky Irving with Rachaad White out for Week 6 and stole the show. Tucker played some on passing downs early in the game and took a screen 36 yards to the house in the first half. That alone was enough to get him a spot in the waiver wire column. He then closed out the game with six consecutive carries for 64 yards and a touchdown on the Bucs’ final drive. Tucker was strictly a backup but did enough to keep his part-time role heading into Week 7 if Rachaad White is out again.
Trey Sermon, Colts (50%)
Sermon has been largely ineffective as the Colts’ starter, averaging a dismal 2.4 YPC on 28 attempts. He also went from six receptions in Week 5 to zero last week. Still, Sermon has 34 touches across two starts. He will be a volume-based RB3 if Jonathan Taylor remains sidelined.
Antonio Gibson, Patriots (50%)
Rhamondre Stevenson missed Week 6 with a foot injury. Gibson drew the start and handled the bulk of the carries until the fourth quarter when New England started mixing in their backups. He saw 10-of-12 backfield carries in the first three frames. The Pats’ offense has hope under Maye, making the backfield more enticing going forward.
Others receiving votes: Dameon Pierce, Roschon Johnson, D’Ernest Johnson
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Wide Receiver
Josh Downs, Colts (48%)
The eventual return of Anthony Richardson will hurt Downs’ fantasy value, but he’s a baller. And we want ballers on our fantasy teams. Advanced stuff, I know. His current pace of 6.8 receptions for 59.8 yards would be good for 115 receptions and just over 1,000 yards across 17 games. He has a 29 percent target share compared to a 20 percent target share for Michael Pittman since Downs returned in Week 3. Downs is currently the PPR WR15 by points per game.
Romeo Doubs, Packers (35%)
Doubs missed Week 5 for personal reasons but returned to action in Week 6. Dontayvion Wicks left the game early and did not return, clearing the way for Green Bay’s usual receiver rotation. Doubs led the Packers with 30 routes. Jordan Love only targeted him four times, but he made good on those looks with three grabs for 49 yards and two scores. When he’s not beefing with his team over seeing too few targets, Doubs runs nearly every route on an offense we want pieces of. That’s enough to get him in the FLEX conversation.
Christian Watson also retook the field versus Arizona. He ran a route on 72 percent of Love’s dropbacks which was second among the receivers. Watson got home with a 44-yard score on one of his three targets. Watson hasn’t earned targets at a high clip this year but makes the most of his looks with big plays and touchdowns at high frequencies. He is available in just over half of all Yahoo leagues.
Demario Douglas, Patriots (7%)
“Pop” was completely uninvolved in New England’s offense over the first two weeks of the year. He had two targets despite running plenty of routes. The Patriots have since realized he is easily their best receiver and have been treating him as such. Douglas has a 26 percent target share and has been targeted on nearly a third of his routes in his past four appearances. He is averaging 13.1 PPR points during that stretch.
Bubs Means, Saints (0%)
Chris Olave suffered a concussion in Week 6 and did not return. It isn’t his first concussion in the NFL and the Saints play on Thursday, making it nearly impossible for him to clear the league’s concussion protocol in time to suit up versus the Broncos. Means ran a route on 71 percent of Spencer Rattler’s dropbacks, was targeted on nearly a quarter of his routes, and earned a 23 percent target share. He scored his and Rattler’s first career touchdown. Even with Olave sidelined, Rashid Shaheed was stuck in a deep-threat role, leaving a true No. 1 job up for grabs.
Devaughn Vele, Broncos (0%)
The Broncos lost Josh Reynolds to a finger injury before Week 6. He was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least three more weeks. Sans Reynolds, the Broncos gave some of their young receivers a crack at the starting rotation. Vele and fellow rookie Troy Franklin hovered around 70 percent route rates. Vele tied Courtland Sutton and Javonte Williams for a team-high in targets at six. He caught four for 78 yards.
Vele has been strangely absent from the lineup as a healthy scratch in recent weeks but gets the ball whenever he is out there. The rookie has appeared in two games and has led the Broncos in receptions two times. Both he and Franklin, who caught his first career touchdown in Week 6, are worth adding as end-of-the-bench stashes.
Others receiving votes: Allen Lazard, Jalen Tolbert, Xavier Legette, Rashod Bateman
Tight End
Hunter Henry, Patriots (26%)
Henry is back on the menu with Drake Maye at the helm. Jacoby Brissett peaked at 19 completions for 168 yards over the first five weeks. Maye threw for 243 yards on 20 completions in his first start. He was more aggressive at pushing the ball downfield, giving his team a chance to make plays and score points. Henry is top-10 in route rate and target share among tight ends, putting him on the TE1 periphery as bye weeks hit.
Zach Ertz, Commanders (25%)
Please, my lovely readers, go out into the world and add Zach Ertz to your fantasy teams so I can stop writing about him. His target share and route rate are identical to those of Hunter Henry, but his quarterback is already on the fast track to superstardom. Ertz is currently the PPR TE13 despite scoring zero touchdowns.
Cade Otton, Bucs (36%)
Otton is our route-running king. He finished second in total routes last year and is on pace to do so in 2024. Otton caught one pass over the first two weeks of the season but has since become more involved in the offense. He is averaging 6.8 targets per game over his past four appearances. His quarterback leads the league in passing touchdowns and is eighth in yards.
Others receiving votes: Noah Fant, J’Tavion Sanders