Week 9 was something else. We saw some very strange results and some bizarre fantasy performances. If your team disappointed this past week, don’t panic because that may have meant they/you are actually pretty good. We usually get one or two weeks each year similar to this past Sunday so don’t take it as an indicator of your fantasy team’s true value. 

As for Tuesday’s NFL Seasonal Discord meet-up. I will do my very best to make it later this evening. I am working overnight so I’ll be on my phone if I am able to take questions and even then I won’t consistently be in there for the window I try to commit to every week. So if I do not get to your question(s), please read this through for FAAB recommendations and my thoughts on each player.

Quarterbacks

Carson Wentz (IND; FAAB Bid: 5-6%) When you roster and start Carson Wentz in fantasy football, it can get pretty frustrating. Overall, you may end up pleased with the end result. Getting to that point is a little stressful because he does make some boneheaded plays. But he’s thrown multiple touchdowns in six straight games including scoring three touchdowns in three straight games. Sometimes the volume is a bit of a concern and that could be the case against the Jaguars. Despite shutting down Josh Allen and the Bills in Week 9, the Jaguars are still a secondary we can target and the Colts will have the benefit of playing at home.

Matt Ryan (ATL; FAAB Bid: 5-6%) Life is like a box of chocolates with Matt Ryan. You never know what you’re going to get. One week, Ryan and the Falcons are shut down by the Panthers and the next week Ryan’s throwing for 340+ yards and recording three touchdowns. Hopefully we get the same production next week against the Cowboys, who had a rough Week 9, similar to most of the league. This game opened with the over/under settling in around 50.5 but it’s already been bet up to 53.5 on some sportsbooks.

Derek Carr (LV; FAAB Bid: 4-5%) I know he was a bust this past week. Hey, a lot of quarterbacks were a bust in Week 9. But Carr is still available in some shallow leagues and he gets the Chiefs at home in primetime next Sunday night. The Chiefs defense is awful and against Kansas City in 2020, Carr totaled 622 passing yards, six touchdowns and a pair of picks. The Chiefs are currently favored by just a point-and-a-half and Vegas expects plenty of scoring. It could be the kind of night where Carr tosses three or more touchdowns.

Running Backs 

D'Ernest Johnson (CLE; FAAB Bid: 20%) With news breaking that Nick Chubb and Demetric Felton tested positive for COVID, Johnson becomes a priority on waivers. However, Chubb and Felton are both vaccinated so if they can yield negative tests ahead of Sunday's game against New England then they can play. It's a fluid situation that we won't have clarity on until later in the week so use your best judgment. Johnson should, at the very least, be rostered in the event Chubb and/or Felton are out.

Devin Singletary (BUF; FAAB Bid: 20%) The recommended FAAB bid is contingent on Zack Moss’ status, but if Moss is forced to miss time then Singletary could be the most popular running back on waivers this week. Unfortunately, he’s only available in about 30-40% of leagues so all you deep leaguers are probably skipping over him right now. While he was abysmal running the ball on Sunday (six carries for 16 yards) he was efficient in the passing game after he caught seven of his eight targets and on the season he’s averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Touchdowns have been hard to come by, but again, Moss’ absence could aid that aspect of his game. Next week’s matchup against the Jets is ripe for the picking as New York is allowing 133.2 rushing yards per game, good for sixth-worst in the league.

Jordan Howard (PHI; FAAB Bid: 15-18%) My greatest fears were confirmed on Sunday: the Eagles like Howard as their lead back while Sanders is out. And even when Sanders returns, we could still see multiple running backs touching the ball. Here is the good news, the Eagles are not letting Jalen Hurts throw the ball at the moment. He has just 31 pass attempts in his last two games so he’s not even a must start based on passing volume. The Birds have attempted 85 rushing attempts in their last two games. Yes, you read that right. So while we may not know who to trust every week going forward, it looks like there are an ample amount of touches to go around. Unfortunately, Hurts will also eat into those carries as well. A concern worth monitoring is that Howard and the Eagles have had success running against the Lions and Chargers. Tougher matchups will come.

Devonta Freeman (BAL; FAAB Bid: 12-14%) As annoying as the Baltimore backfield has been, Freeman truly hasn’t looked awful when he’s been given the ball. The workload over the last few games has been light (26 carries), but he is averaging 5.6 yards per carry in that span and he’s scored in each of his last three games. It’s helped that Latavius Murray has been inactive, but Murray wasn’t even that good when he found his way onto the field. Freeman’s looked like the best running back of late and the team is aware of it as well. Freeman led the backfield yesterday with 58% of the snaps compared to Le’Veon Bell’s 23% and Ty’Son Williams’ 18%. When Murray comes back, Williams will likely be a healthy scratch, but I’d be stunned if they took a significant workload away from Freeman.

Brandon Bolden (NE; FAAB Bid: 7-8%) Both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson suffered injuries in Sunday’s win against Carolina. So naturally we flock back to Bolden but hopefully we hear news of the injuries regarding the other players before we place our waiver claims. Bolden’s been a better weapon in the passing game, but if the other two are out for Week 10’s game against Cleveland then Bolden is stepping into an increased workload and could see 12-15 touches. Again, it’s early and this isn’t a guarantee and the matchup against Cleveland would be tough as well. The opportunity and workload would be tremendous and he’s available in plenty of leagues. I’ll also note that Stevenson has looked very good as well as a pure running back. If he’s healthy and good to go this week, I think he’s worth looking at as well especially in standard leagues.

Eno Benjamin (ARI; FAAB Bid: 2-3%) Benjamin doesn’t garner a ton of excitement, nor should he. But Chase Edmonds sprained his ankle and he’s likely to miss some time. Benjamin is now the number two running back in Arizona behind James Conner. Do I think Benjamin gets a significant workload? Not really. I doubt Conner gets 20+ touches like he did last week since we know he has an injury history. But if Conner’s getting 15-17 then I could see a potential game script where Benjamin maybe sees eight-to-ten touches. He did scamper into the end zone on Sunday for a nice 21-yard score. Benjamin’s basically a must add in deeper formats.

Wide Receivers

Brandon Aiyuk (SF; FAAB Bid: 12-15%) Aiyuk might actually be back and out of the doghouse. He’s only seen about 31 targets on the season but about half have come in the last two weeks. The downside is that he’s still probably the third pass catching option behind George Kittle and Deebo Samuel when the latter is fully healthy. But four of his six catches on Sunday were contested and overall he looked very impressive when given an opportunity to make a play. He’s not quite trustworthy as a WR2 just yet, but he’s becoming a flex-worthy player once again. The 49ers host the Rams next Monday night in primetime and they could be chasing points in that matchup.

Rashod Bateman (BAL; FAAB Bid: 10-15%) A breakout game for Rashod Bateman is coming. He’s seen 20 targets through his first three games including eight on Sunday. He caught five passes for 52 yards and it’s refreshing to see Lamar Jackson utilize the rookie so quickly. The Ravens draw Miami on a short week this week and it’s a prime spot for him to find the end zone for the first time in his career.

Elijah Moore (NYJ; FAAB Bid: 10-12%) Similar to Bateman, Moore has 20 targets over his last three games, but he found the end zone twice last week against the Colts. The bad news for Moore is that the Jets draw the Bills who just lost to the Jaguars this past week. The matchup isn’t great but following the game against Buffalo the Jets will play Miami, Houston, and Philadelphia so we could see some decent games there. Corey Davis’ return is also looming, but that may hurt Moore’s targets slightly. I imagine the Jets understand they need to get their young star wide receiver more looks.

Van Jefferson (LAR; FAAB Bid: 6-7%) On paper, this looks like a great add. You get a young player on an explosive offense, but the production may not always be there. We have a better shot trying to predict workload and opportunity rather than touchdowns. Jefferson has seen 20 targets in his last three games including Sunday’s game where he caught three of his seven targets. He’s typically looked at down field and has big play potential. Sure, it’s not ideal that he doesn’t get the looks that Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, or Tyler Higbee get. But he’s an inexpensive way to get exposure to this offense and with DeSean Jackson now out of the picture, he is seeing the field a lot more.

Russell Gage (ATL; FAAB Bid: 4-5%) Gage is going to have performances like Week 8 where he gives you nothing. And then he’ll have games like Week 9 where you get seven catches for 64 yards. The oscillating production will be hard to read, but he’s been more involved, and he’s been on the field more with Calvin Ridley away. There’s no set timetable for Ridley’s return as he deals with some personal mental health problems. The Falcons visit the Cowboys this week and that could be a game script that benefits Gage, but I’d much rather stash one of the younger, high upside players listed above.

Tight Ends

Logan Thomas (WFT; FAAB Bid: 7-9%) By all accounts it sounds like Thomas could return this week. That’s not a guarantee, but he did test out the hamstring in a series of workouts on Monday and if all goes well and he practices this week then he could play against the Bucs. And that’s the downside here because Tampa will be coming off a Bye and Thomas is still at risk of re-injury. But Washington is also coming back from their week off and we know he has touchdown upside at a touchdown-dependent position. He does have a slightly favorable schedule down the road in a few weeks.

Dan Arnold (JAC; FAAB Bid: 7-8%) It’s a little crazy that ownership is so light on Arnold at the moment because since his arrival in Jacksonville, they’ve been letting him run routes and he’s been getting targets. Over the last two weeks he has a dozen catches on 17 targets. He just hasn’t found the end zone at all this year. It’ll happen in time, but for now you have to feel good that he’s running a decent amount of routes and lining up at wide receiver a fair amount as well.

Pat Freiermuth (PIT; FAAB Bid: 7-8%) Freiermuth’s ownership is steadily on the rise and for good reason. His involvement and production has increased over the past few weeks so this could very well be last call on Pittsburgh’s rookie tight end. A matchup against the Lions in Week 10 could mean we see him find the end zone, and he found the end zone multiple times Monday night. Recency bias is in his favor.

Tyler Conklin (MIN; FAAB Bid: 7-8%) We should probably come to terms with the fact that Conklin is just going to give DFS players that relatively safe floor of maybe four-to-five catches for 50 yards roughly. And from the tight end position, you should take that production and run. Conklin did need to block a little more yesterday but still ran a route on over 60% of Kirk Cousins’ drop backs and he still managed to see seven targets. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has similar production next week against Denver.

Adam Trautman (NO; FAAB Bid: 5%) Whenever Andrew Cooper (@CoopAFiasco on Twitter) speaks on tight ends, we should all be listening… 

Naturally the quarterback position could play a role in how we view Trautman going forward. But Siemian does seem to like looking his way and he’s been getting more involved and seeing more snaps out wide.

Defense/Special Teams

Tennessee Titans – The Titans, known for a mediocre pass rush and horrible secondary, have actually been fantastic the past few weeks on the defensive side of the ball. From Weeks 1-6 they totaled just 14 points for fantasy. However, over their last three games they’ve posted double-digit points in each game and 42 points total over that span. They might also be a D/ST worth stashing in the coming weeks. Their next two games are against the Saints and Texans. This defense has held Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, and Matthew Stafford in check the last few weeks and should have no problem doing the same to Trevor Siemian and TyRod Taylor. Double-digit points aren’t always a guarantee but we’re starting to put a little faith into this group and they’re certainly streamable in the short-term.

Las Vegas Raiders – It hasn’t been the easiest season for Vegas. They’ve lost their head coach, then a promising, young wide receiver and on Monday the team cut Damon Arnette after plenty of off-field issues. It’s bad when you have to cut one first-round pick from the year prior, let alone two. However, the Raiders still tout one of the best pass rushes in the league. The Kansas City Chiefs have looked pretty awful by their standards on offense. Travis Kelce is dropping passes, Patrick Mahomes is making uncharacteristic mistakes, and they haven’t been running the ball well of late. Perhaps it’s a “get right” game for the Chiefs who will travel to Vegas for this contest. But at the moment, this seems like a streamable matchup if the Raiders can get ample pressure on Mahomes.