Quarterback

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

It seems like every year Big Ben gets hurt and every year he powers through his injury and gets back on the field in a reasonable amount of time. It’d be nice if he didn’t get injured; Eli Manning hasn’t missed a game since 2004—the year he was drafted (along with Roethlisberger.) The fact is, though, he does. You can call him a risk or injury prone, but at the end of the day, when he is on the field, few can match his fantasy numbers on a week-to-week basis.

The Steelers are on a bye this week, giving Roethlisberger an extra week to recover from a torn meniscus. There are no guarantees that he will return Week 9 against the Ravens, but knowing his history, there is at least a 50 percent chance. Assuming he returns against Baltimore, he immediately becomes a top fantasy option given the weapons he has at his disposal.

There are certainly owners that are down on Big Ben that would be inclined to move him because of his injury history and this makes a great buy opportunity. Keep in mind; Roethlisberger has thrown 16 touchdowns in six games. Sure, he’s had two clunkers, but given his track record, I am willing to write those games off. With four games left at home and one on the road against Cleveland, Roethlisberger should have some of the best statistics at quarterback going forward.

Verdict: BUY. It’s easy to be down on Roethlisberger due to his injury history, but you cannot take away the fact that he anchors one of the most lethal offenses in the NFL.

Running Back

Devontae Booker, Broncos

For those of you who stashed Devontae Booker away early in the year, your wise move is about to pay off. We constantly see running backs get injured in the NFL and another one has gone down—this time in Denver. C.J. Anderson is currently dealing with a knee injury and will be out for at least a few weeks and possibly longer. This vaults Booker into a starting role in one of the most run heavy offenses in the league. This situation could not be any better.

Prior to Anderson’s injury, Booker was seeing touches out of the backfield as a change of pace and even carried the ball 17 times for 83 yards and a touchdown on Monday night against Houston. His workload is going to increase in a big way on Sunday against San Diego and he should be a focal point of the offense. There are leagues where Booker will be available on the waiver wire and in that case, I would dump a hefty amount of my FAAB money into him as he has a chance to lead Denver’s offense going forward. But, if you currently own him, don’t even think about letting him go.

Verdict: HOLD. There is so much to love about Booker: a run based offense, clear RB1, and an extremely high ceiling. If Anderson were to miss an extended period of time, Booker is the kind of player that you could ride to a championship.

Jeremy Hill, Bengals

So, if you missed it, Jeremy Hill ran wild against the Browns on Sunday. He ran through holes that would make Moses’ parting of the Red Sea look like the hard part on the left side of my head after a fresh cut. On just nine carries, Hill rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown. Let’s take away his monster game against Cleveland and look at his overall numbers. Minus the Cleveland game, Hill is averaging 3.6 YPC, which isn’t all that good. He does have a solid matchup this week against Washington, but after that things will get a lot tougher. You can hold on for one more game, but if you can hammer out a deal too good to refuse, pull that trigger.

Verdict: SELL. Hill is a north to south runner and he clearly needs big holes to be successful. The Browns are the equivalent to playing a community college, so you can’t really gauge Hill’s success after he pounded them last week. Feel free to trade Hill now that he’s reached his in-season peak.

Wide Receiver

Tavon Austin, Rams

If you woke up early on Sunday and watched the Giants and Rams in London, you saw Tavon Austin doing Tavon Austin things. By that I mean a ton of five-yard gains—literally. Austin had 10 receptions for 57 yards with a touchdown. He scored over 20 fantasy points this week even though his numbers were somewhat comical. What does it say about Los Angeles’ offense that Austin average 5.7 yards per catch? Not a lot.

During his four-year career, Austin has just one 100-yard game and that came during his rookie season back in 2013. Though he’s been more consistent this season, he’s a WR3 on his very best day and that’s only in PPR leagues. The Rams offense is anemic. At some point, Todd Gurley is going to get into gear, but with Case Keenum under center, the passing game will continue to be atrocious. For Austin to actually have value in a possible deal, all he needed to do was deliver a game like he did against the Giants. He’s done his part, now do yours and get rid of him.

Verdict: SELL. Austin had a solid game against the Giants, but digging deeper into the numbers shows us very little to be excited about. He is a great piece to put in a package deal to upgrade elsewhere.

Tight End

Hunter Henry, Chargers

After two straight weeks of looking like he was kicking Antonio Gates to the curb, Hunter Henry was curb stomped himself on Sunday against the Falcons. While Gates was on the shelf, Henry recorded 12 receptions for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Even during Gates’ return game last week, Henry hauled in six receptions on eight targets for 83 yards and a score. This week—one reception for 16 yards. Yikes.

This is the game that you play owning a Chargers tight end. Half the time Gates is hurt and when he is in the game, he is gobbling up targets from a much younger, more athletic player. Don’t get it twisted; Gates is probably Philip Rivers’ all-time favorite target. Because of that, he is going to see the field regularly. Against the Falcons, Gates was on the field for 48 snaps while Henry played just 30 offensive snaps. It’d be easy to write this game off for Henry, but as long as Gates is healthy, he is going to be a focal point of the San Diego offense. This makes Henry a great piece of trade bait.

Verdict: SELL. This may sound crazy to some, but Henry is going to play second fiddle to Antonio Gates so long as the latter is healthy. You have four strong games from Henry to fall back on prior to his clunker this week, so his trade value is still relatively high.