Welcome to the first post of The Fantasy Football Recovery!
If you tanked the draft, have been decimated by injuries, or if your team is underperforming then you have come to the right place! I am here with the advice to get you back on track before the season is lost. I hate long intros so let’s just get right to it!
Week 3 Waiver Wire Grabs.
Zach Miller- TE, Chicago Bears
He came on at the end of last season and was a popular late round sleeper pick at the position during the draft period, but he started very slow the first two weeks with Jay Cutler under center. Cutler is out for at least a few weeks with a thumb injury and in his absence Brian Hoyer will be under center. Hoyer looked for Miller often this week and Miller reeled in 8 of 9 targets for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. He is only owned in 42% of ESPN leagues and should be a solid play as long as Cutler is sidelined.
Kyle Rudolph- TE, Minnesota Vikings
Is it finally here? Is it really time? Maybe. Maybe we will finally see the breakout season of Kyle Rudolph that we have been waiting for since he entered the league in 2011. Has it really been that long? Geez, time flies when you are waiting for someone to breakout. Anyway, Rudolph is off to a hot start with Sam Bradford. He has gotten 18 targets in the two games with Bradford and has touchdown catches in both of them. This is also the first time he has had 30+ yards in three straight games since 2012. Pretty much everyone outside the top five at tight end are touchdown dependent dart throws that you are hoping get into the endzone; Rudolph (who is owned in just 40% of leagues) looks like a pretty good dart right now.
Jordan Howard- RB, Chicago Bears
This is going to be the hottest name on the wire and the probably the largest expenditure of FAAB so far this season, but I am not exactly sold on the idea. Take away his first carry of the night and his night on the ground was 8 carries for 9 yards. I would certainly like to have him because he is going to be the only game in town if Langford can’t go, but I wouldn’t break the bank for a rookie who is counting on Hoyer to clear out the box for him.
Terrelle Pryor- WR/QB, Cleveland Browns
If you watched the Browns’ game on Sunday you saw Pryor score fantasy points with his arm, legs, and hands as he racked up 200 total yards and 1 touchdown. As long as Kessler continues to struggle, Hue Jackson is going to continue moving his most dangerous player all around the field. Pryor is owned in just 28% of ESPN leagues and even when Corey Coleman and Josh Gordon return; Pryor looks to be a very integral part of this offense.
Orleans Darkwa- RB, New York Giants
This one is pretty simple; Shane Vereen is done for the season and Rashad Jennings has a cast on his hand. Someone is going to have to carry the ball between Eli Manning’s 50 pass attempts per game and Darkwa is the last man standing.
Kenneth Dixon- RB, Baltimore Ravens
If you are running low on running backs then Dixon is worth a stash. He was running as the RB1 for the Ravens before he went down with an injury, but now he is poised to return to the field and with the utter lack of any production in the run game so far he is also set to take over the position.
Alfred Morris- RB, Dallas Cowboys
If you own Ezekiel Elliott then you MUST own Morris. There are a few backfields where there is a clear backup who will become instantly top ten at the position if the starter goes down and this is one of them.
Buy Low Targets.
Week 3 marks the first week where you can really open the buy low market. I know we saw a lot of selling of guys early, but if you sold off the likes of Todd Gurley or Allen Robinson you probably didn’t have the greatest day on Sunday as they each found the end zone twice. Their buy low windows closed, but after three weeks there are still a handful of top tier players that are costing their owners wins. Here are the guys where the market is still open.
Lamar Miller- RB, Houston Texans
He has yet to find the endzone despite his 84 touches in the first three games. His point output has been fine, but not the door busting numbers expected going into the season. I bet he finally finds the endzone this week and his price will skyrocket. He isn’t a traditional buy low, but I think his value is as low as we see it this season right now.
Cam Newton- QB, Carolina Panthers
Cam has had a very rough start to the season. He has been sacked 12 times already which is on pace for 64 on the season. Last season the Titans led the league in times sacked with 54. He has 5 interceptions already after just 10 all of last season. He even took a safety this week. His fantasy numbers don’t reflect it, but if his owner has been watching his games and seen the punishment he has been taking it might be pretty easy to take him off their hands. As long as Cam can stay upright he will be a solid fantasy play.
Jordan Reed- TE, Washington Redskins
He has just 18 points through three weeks. He has yet to score and his output has been far short of what people were expecting when they drafted him as the second tight end off the board. He does have 25 targets so far and they are going to try to get him more involved in the offense going forward. If his owner is struggling at another position, like say running back, throw in a TE swap into a trade offer and see if you can snag him on the cheap.
Jonathan Stewart- RB, Carolina Panthers
I know he is hurt and won’t return for a couple more weeks, but if you have the room to stash him and his current owner doesn’t then you could grab yourself someone who will return to bell cow duties. The Panthers’ roster setup just isn’t conducive to splitting up the load because they want to have Whittaker play special teams and have Mike Tolbert active which forces them to make Artis-Payne a healthy scratch.
Randall Cobb- WR, Green Bay Packers
Cobb has followed up a very disappointing 2015 season with three consecutive bad games in 2016. The Packers’ offense finally got to clicking and outside of one catch for 33 yards Cobb was invisible. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the production though. Cobb was still second in receiving yards this game and Aaron Rodgers only threw the ball 24 times. Expect Cobb to be more heavily involved following the Week 4 bye.
Amari Cooper- WR, Oakland Raiders
Cooper was looking to join that elite tier of wide out this season and his draft stock reflected it. But, he has been far from spectacular so far with point outputs of 15, 7, and 6. He has yet to have more than 6 catches in a game this season and he has yet to find the end zone. Cooper is going to get better this season. Derek Carr has thrown the ball at least 35 times in every game this season and that should continue. Cooper is going to get the targets to be productive and if you want him, you need to get him before he blows up.
Time to Drop
Adrian Peterson- RB, Minnesota Vikings
His own percentage still hovers around 78% on ESPN. I know it’s difficult to give up hope on your first round pick, but even if he manages to come back by the end of the season he isn’t going to be effective behind the dreadful offensive line that lead him to average just 1.6 yards per carry before going down. Holding onto him is only going to hurt you going forward; it’s time to move on.
Bilal Powell- RB, New York Jets
Owned in 42% of leagues still, Powell has only scored 9 total points this season. The forecasted backfield split between Powell and Forte hasn’t developed and with the rash of injuries at the position there are better speculative adds to make.
Vincent Jackson- WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Fun fact: Jameis Winston threw the ball 142 times so far this season and Vincent Jackson has just 9 receptions. He has fallen behind Adam Humphries in the pecking order and has just 8 points on the season. Dumped.
Streaming D/ST for Week 4
Jets D/ST
If Russell Wilson sits this week then there are going to have a rookie signal caller in Trevone Boykin traveling across the country to play at 1 PM relying on the running game against a fearsome front seven of the Jets.
Ravens D/ST
The Ravens have played decent D/ST so far this season with scores of 8, 8, and 15 so far this season. The Oakland offense isn't the most inviting opponent, but they were stymied by the first real defense they played in the Titans this week. The Raiders also travel across the country to play at 1 PM.
Thanks for reading! Good Luck on the wire!
