Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

One quarter of the way through the fantasy season has us trying to determine what's real and what's not. Dave and I take a dive into some big Week 4 performances and try to determine if what we're seeing is fantasy fact or fiction. Later on, we talked about some guys returning to the lineup, and who to use as replacements for guys who have made a sudden departure from your lineup. To wrap up the show, we talk about some players to stash on your bench who have breakout potential in the coming weeks. Who are they? Just listen to find out!

Listen to the Fantasy Finish Line, 10/03/2018: Fantasy Fact or Fiction

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Week 10 is in the books in the NFL, so it’s time to take stock of what you have left on your team for the playoff run. This week’s injuries weren’t too bad, with only a couple of high profile players going down. This is the final week of byes, so just one more week to get through until your team is back at full strength for the stretch run.

Sam Bradford went down with a concussion AND a shoulder sprain to his non-throwing arm. He will likely be out for at least a week as Mark Sanchez butt-fumbles his way into the starting job. Other backups getting the nod in week 11 will be Johnny Manziel, officially starting the rest of the season for a perpetually banged up Josh McCown. Case Keenum will also take over for Nick Foles, who, while not injured, probably wishes he had that as an excuse for his poor play.

Landry Jones suffered an ankle injury early in the game, leading to Ben Roethlisberger coming in and throwing for 293 yards and 3 td, just a record for a non-starting QB. Big Ben will return to the starting lineup following the team’s Week 11 bye. Peyton Manning was yanked in favor of Brock Osweiler after throwing for about 35 yards and 4 INT. After the game, it was reported that Manning has plantar fasciitits and a rib injury and will not be starting Week 11. Brock Osweiler gets his first career start against a Bears team that has suddenly been playing well.

Texans QB Brian Hoyer was pulled from the game on Monday night after a possible concussion and did not return to the game. This is the first time I can remember watching a game and having a sideline observer pull a starting QB out of the game when he displayed no symptoms, just based on what had been seen during replay. The Texans hope that Hoyer can be cleared to play the Jets in Week 11, if not, look for T.J. Yates to start for Houston once again.

Ryan Mathews left the game with a concussion and will have to be cleared by NFL protocol before he can return to the field. This should benefit DeMarco Murray, but only a little. Don’t expect a lot more work for Darren Sproles, who seems to have settled into a very minor role in the Eagles’ offense.

Julian Edelman might be the biggest fantasy player to go down win Week 10. Edelman suffered a Jones fracture in his foot, the same injury that Dez Bryant suffered earlier this year, and Julio Jones has dealt with in the past. Edelman is expected to have surgery and this means he’ll be done for the fantasy football season, but may return for the Patriots playoff push. I’m sure he’d hate to miss the final act of the Tom Brady Middle Finger Tour. Look for Danny Amendola to be the main beneficiary of this injury, and the guy to pick up on the waivers this week.

Emmanuel Sanders exited his game on Sunday, right about the time that Manning did. Sanders was iffy at best to play in this game, and had 4 targets and zero receptions. Perhaps if healthy he reels in a pass or two, but his performance has a lot to do with his QB struggling. Sanders, if healthy, should be a WR2/3 against the Bears, who could find themselves overmatched if both Thomas and Sanders are 100%. If Sanders does not play, Osweiler will likely look for one of the targets he’s been practicing with, it’s just tough to guess which one!

Justin Hunter is done for the season after fracturing his ankle against Carolina. With Hunter gone and Kendall Wright still injured, it’s time for Dorial Green-Beckham to shine. Hell, it’s time for anyone to shine on the Tennessee offense, which has been anemic all season.

Week 8 is upon us, and this is the first week with some major byes. Six teams are taking the week off: Ravens, Steelers, Giants, 49ers, Rams and the Dolphins. We're not losing tons of fantasy players, and really a lot of them could use a week off - see Odell Beckham and Ben Roethlisberger. But I digress, we're here for Week 8! This week, look for Derek Carr to have a big day capping off his Florida vacation. Matt Jones, Julian Edelman and Vernon Davis (if there's no Jordan Reed) all deserve to be in your lineup as well.

For more in-depth analysis and discussion of these injury scenarios, tune in to the Fantasy Finish Line Podcast, Week 4 Preview: Say-Say, What?

QUARTERBACKS

Case Keenum (foot) – Keenum did not practice today, and according to ESPN beat reporter John Keim, he is in a walking boot for precautionary measures. The expectation ‘as of now’ is that he will play but that is clearly questionable. Whether or not Dwayne Haskins (2% owned) ends up making his first NFL start this week, Keenum is banged up and coming off of his worst game of the season against the Bears, who managed 5 forced turnovers including 2 fumbles from Keenum. It’s looking rough in Washington.

RUNNING BACKS

LeSean McCoy (ankle) & Damien Williams (knee) – Darrel Williams (109-total-yards) led the Chiefs’ backfield in touches Week 3 against the Ravens, but McCoy was still out there and productive (80-total-yards, 38% of the snaps, 2 TDs). The info to know for now is that Darrel Williams (40% owned) is definitely in front of Darwin Thompson (19% owned) on the depth chart, which is why he was a big waiver pickup this week with all of the prolonged injury concerns with Damien Williams (who is still not practicing and doesn’t figure to suit up in Week 4), and that LeSean McCoy tweaked his injured ankle in that game, and didn’t touch the ball in the 4^th quarter – he is currently limited in practice. Williams will continue to have an impact.

Devin Singletary (hamstring) – According to the humorously named website ‘Buffalo Rumblings’, Singletary (78% owned) is still not practicing after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 2. There is not much indicating that things will change for the Bills’ backfield – leaving Frank Gore (57% owned) to continue as the unchallenged starter. In Week 3, Gore put up 76 yards on 14 rushes and 1 TD.

Ito Smith (concussion) – Smith’s (15% owned) absence after leaving in Week 3 because of a concussion only helps the underperforming Devonta Freeman. We’re finally able to look at trends, and here we see Freeman’s carries going up from 8 to 11 to 16 from Weeks 1 to 3 and putting up 88-yards on 16 rushes and 7 yards on 3 receptions in the game last week was a good sign. Not explosive, but enough work to be an every-week starter if this pattern continues. This guy needs a TD!

Rashaad Penny (hamstring) – Penny (60% owned) injured his hamstring during the walkthrough before the game last week, but the word from Pete Carroll is that he should be ok to practice on Thursday. With Chris Carson having already lost 3 fumbles this year, it’s possible that Seattle could start to give Penny the majority of the carries but all of the talk from Carroll has continued to back up Carson as the starter so I wouldn’t count on anything changing just yet in that backfield. C. J. Prosise (1% owned) is also a RB on the Seattle Seahawks.

Saquon Barkley (high-ankle sprain) – Oh gosh. Big news for fantasy football team managers, and every year you have one of the top guys go down – this year it’s Saquon. Although he’s getting a second opinion on the ankle, these kinds of sprains don’t fully heal for months. It’s my opinion that we don’t get Barkley back as himself for the remainder of the fantasy season. The interesting thing here is that some other opportunities may arise for fantasy points in New York, either from backup Wayne Gallman (71% owned), or from elsewhere (Kenyan Drake (58% owned), or free agents like Jay Ajayi (2% owned), CJ Anderson (5% owned), and Spencer Ware (0% owned)). Although Gallman was arguably at the top of waiver wire adds this week, I just don’t see the upside. He’s never averaged more than 4.3-yards per rush, and never scored more than 1 TD in a season. I think the Giants must obtain someone else, at least for short yardage.

WIDE RECEIVERS

T.Y Hilton (quad) – Hilton was already nursing a quad injury when he suited up and played in Week 3 (8 receptions for 65 yards and 1 TD), and he had to leave the game after aggravating the same injury before halftime. He’s not practicing this week and looks to be a game-time decision against the Raiders in Week 4. Not good for the Colts but look at Deon Cain (0% owned) and Parris Campbell (4% owned) to start getting a little more spotlight if Hilton has an extended absence.

Desean Jackson (abdomen) – Already ruled out as of today, Jackson is not ready to get back into the game just yet on this short week (Thursday night game against the Packers). Although most of the experts thought that J.J. Arcega Whiteside (4% owned, 1 catch for 10 yards) would benefit from Jackson being off the field, it turns out that Mack Hollins (1% owned, 3^rd year receiver, 4 catches for 62-yards) ended up being the guy in the stat book last weekend.

Julian Edelman (ribs) – After coming off the field in week 3, Edelman was taken for chest X-rays in the locker room, but everything came back negative. Both Edelman and Josh Gordon (hip/finger) should be good to go in a match-up against the Bills this week, but it’s a situation to monitor. In the meantime, Phillip Dorsett (50% owned) is again on the radar with Antonio Brown outta town, and he made the most of his playing time last week with 6 catches for 53 yards and 1 TD. He also rushed twice for 12 yards.

TIGHT ENDS

Vance McDonald (shoulder) – Earlier in the week it looked like McDonald (84% owned) may have suffered a major injury and some were reporting that Nick Vannett was traded to the Steelers from the Seahawks because of those injury concerns. Turns out, though, that it’s Xavier Grimble (calf) that has been put on injured reserve – the Steelers were just looking for another big-bodied blocking tight end to replace Grimble’s production. It’s not 100%, but there’s a good chance that McDonald ends up playing against the Bengals for Monday Night Football.