Monday Night Football brought us another double header! Starting with the better, more exciting game, the Detroit Lions took on the undefeated Seattle Seahawks. I don’t know if the black and blue uniforms had the Lions feeling some type of way but they looked damn near unstoppable on offense. Not only did Jared Goff have a historic night by throwing an NFL record 18 consecutive completed passes without an incompletion but he also caught his first touchdown from Amon-Ra St. Brown. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs also looked unstoppable combining for 3 TDs and 118 yards on the ground. Not to be outdone as an RB, Kenneth Walker rushed for 80 yards and 3 TDs. He also performed an insane judo flip out of a tackle to keep the run alive. Lions win 42-29.
Now onto the game I think many turned off after the first quarter. Nothing like watching 2 0-3 teams face off in prime time am I right? With Tyler “Snoop” Huntley at the helm, I think many Dolphins fans were optimistic about their chances against a mistake-prone Will Levis. I think the optimism rose (for a very short time) when Levis exited the game due to a shoulder injury. Mason Rudolph would come in and put together multiple drives powered mostly by the Tennessee run game. Aside from Tyreek yelling at McDaniels and Wes Welker, the Dolphins had no fight in them and got demolished up front. Crazy to think what this team might have looked like with a healthy Tua. Titans win 31-12.
It’s that time of the season again. Injuries are piling up and BYE weeks are starting leaving many managers with massive holes in their lineups. This is where those of you who drafted poorly or whose whole team seems to be on IR already can make your mark and push for a playoff spot. Here are some notable injuries and my top waiver wire targets heading into week 5.
Notable Injuries:
- Jonathan Taylor (High ankle sprain)
- Could miss a few weeks
- Joe Mixon (Ankle)
- Day to day
- Tyler Badie (Back)
- TBD on injury timeline
- Rashee Rice (Knee)
- TBD on return but potentially season ending
- Davante Adams (Hamstring)
- Week to week
- Cooper Kupp
- Eyeing a week 7 return
- Malik Nabers (Concussion)
- In the concussion protocol
- Christian Watson (High ankle sprain)
- Will miss at least a week.
- Khalil Shakir (Ankle)
- Day to day
- Taysom Hill (Rib)
- Keep an eye out, still TBD on if missing time
- Anthony Richardson (hip)
- Expected to be ok for week 5
Teams on a BYE week:
- Detroit Lions
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Tennessee Titans
Waiver Wire Targets:
Bucky Irving (Rostered in 51.7% of ESPN leagues)
Been saying it all year, Bucky Irving needs to be on rosters. Every week he is catching up to Rachaad White from a usage perspective. In week 4, Irving saw 41% of the offensive snaps to White’s 59%. However, Irving had 39% of the rushing attempts compared to White’s 43%. Irving also scored more fantasy points thanks to a rushing touchdown. Irving is still available in just under half of ESPN leagues. This may be your last week to add him to your rosters.
Kareem Hunt (Rostered in 21.4% of ESPN leagues)
The Kareem Hunt experience is back in Kansas City. Although Carson Steele technically started the game, a fumble on his part saw Hunt take over most of the run game duties. Hunt saw the majority of the carries (14) and even chipped in a little in the passing game with 2 catches for 16 yards. Perine did snipe a goal line attempt from Hunt but if Steele got benched so quickly, Hunt may be the guy to have.
Tyler Allegier (Rostered in 41.7% of ESPN leagues) and Braelon Allen (Rostered in 45.4% of ESPN leagues)
Top handcuff options with RB1 potential if starters miss time.
Wandale Robinson (Rostered in 27.1% of ESPN leagues)
It’s always nice when a waiver wire target hits. Nothing is ever guaranteed but damn Robinson is starting to feel like it. In a fairly boring Thursday night game against the Cowboys, Robinson saw a season high 14 targets. It feels like this team is going to be playing from behind a lot this year which usually means a high passing volume offense to try and catch up. To top it all off, Malik Nabers left the game early due to a head injury which was later ruled a concussion. Rostered in a low amount of leagues, you better snag Robinson off the waivers while you can.
Last week’s entry:
“Malik Nabers this, Malik Nabers that. What if I told you there might be a viable wide receiver in an offense no one cares about unless you happen to be a Nabers owner. Wandale Robinson is not a flashy pick and has not really put up crazy points so far. However, what I do like is the amount of targets he has seen. Through 3 games he has seen 12, 4 and 8 targets. That averages out to 8 targets a game. He has also just about put up double digit points in each week so far (9.8 in week 2). If you are in a full PPR league and are in need of a nice flex play, Robinson could be your guy based purely off the amount of targets going his way.”
Dontayvion Wicks (Rostered in 9.5% of ESPN leagues) Genius Pick of the Week
Wicks delivered after Christian Watson exited the game against the Vikings bringing in 5 of 13 targets for 78 yards and two touchdowns. In games where Wicks had over 70% route participation, he scored double digit fantasy points each time. He has also led the team in target share when on the field. Thanks to the Fantasy Life guys for those 2 stats! As long as Watson misses time, I like Wicks as a flex play moving forward.
Tre Tucker (Rostered in 10.2% of ESPN leagues)
Tucker has had back to back double digit fantasy point outings. A lot of this could point to Davante Adams and his hamstring injury but the target share is encouraging. 9 targets in week 3 and 6 targets in week 4. If Adams sits in this week’s matchup against the Broncos, I like Tucker as a potential flex play.
Xavier Legette
I talked a little last week about how after Adam Thielen went down with a hamstring injury that Legette would see an increased workload and may be fantasy relevant. That proved to be true in a fairly high scoring game against the Bengals. The rookie was targeted 10 times and caught 6 passes for 66 yards and his first career TD. Good for 19.6 fantasy points on the day. Legette is a flex play moving forward.
Tyler Conklin (Rostered in 33.5% of ESPN leagues)
What a dismal performance the Jets and Broncos game was. The one bright spot for fantasy? Tyler Conklin and his 8 targets. The tight end position can be such a barren wasteland at times but give me a TE who is involved on offense and sees meaningful targets any day of the week.
Sam Darnold (Rostered in 43.6% of ESPN leagues)
Sam Darnold is proving the haters wrong (including myself) this year and is dominating in a way that not many thought he would. Against the Packers, he threw for 275 yards 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Admittedly, the Packers were missing their top 2 cornerbacks but not much else has slowed him down this year and he has faced some decent defense. As the current QB 4, there is no reason Darnold should not be on rosters
Geno Smith (Rostered in 29.1% of ESPN leagues)
Smith made this list a couple weeks ago and the reasoning still stands. He is a decent QB with above average weapons and a quality defense. It is also worth mentioning that Smith is top 10 in passing attempts so far this year averaging 39 attempts a game. He is also pretty accurate with an average passing completion rate of roughly 73.3%. His floor seems to be somewhere around 17 points as he has scored just about that in all but 1 game so far. He may not be a sexy pick this week but an inviting match up against the Giants makes him a bit more attractive.
Andy Dalton (Rostered in 8.8% of ESPN leagues)
Aside from a tipped interception, Dalton had a fairly productive day throwing for 220 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. The Panthers have a fairly easy schedule over the next couple of weeks. Slot in Dalton if you need a QB
Joe Flaco (Rostered in 0.2% of ESPN leagues)
Oh boy, here we go again. Joe Flaco came in for an injured Anthony Richardson and came in clutch throwing for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns. This feels like a similar situation to what happened with the Browns last year. If AR misses extended time, I don’t hate the idea of slotting Flaco. I think Flaco is purely an insurance policy for Richardson.
*Point totals mentioned assume full point PPR scoring
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