Welcome back for another round of fantasy football ramblings. This week, the Byepocalypse, and looking down the road at the playoffs.
Last session’s grades:
Bryce Young – 6/10 A good spot start against Dallas, and a salvageable
start against the Jets cut short by injury.
Hassan Haskins – 1/10 Lost the open gig to Kimani Vidal, but…
Kimani Vidal – 10/10
I did call Vidal the better player of the two shots in the dark!Michael Carter – 2/10 Getting touches, but not doing much with them.
Kendre Miller – IR Tore his ACL on Sunday
Troy Franklin – 7/10 As expected, uninspired but a solid floor.
Isaiah Bond – 1/10 Nine yards in two weeks. Yuck.
Ryan Flournoy – Incomplete His recommendation assumed CeeDee Lamb’s continued absence, which did not come to pass.
Kendrick Bourne/Jake Tonges – 4/10 Tonges usage is back down with Kittle returning, but Bourne appears to have survived Jauan Jennings’ tentative comeback.
Mason Taylor – 3/10 Not much looks good in this Jets offense right now, but Taylor does show flashes.
A.J. Barner – 4/10 Replacement level.
Patriots DST – 10/10 Big Week 7 and plenty of friendly schedule still to come.
Packers DST – 6/10 Serviceable, and also with some manageable matchups ahead.
Week 8 is going to be a rough one in a lot of leagues. There are six NFL teams on a bye. In superflex leagues, that probably means a team or two is without a second usable quarterback (and might overpay for one depending on how desperately they need a win). And even in traditional formats, plenty of teams will struggle to navigate a week where names like Puka Nacua (even if healthy), Kyren Williams, Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon Ra St. Brown, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ashton Jeanty, Travis Etienne, and Trey McBride are all unavailable. Hopefully you’ve been planning ahead.
But what’s done is done, and you need usable players in your lineup, especially if you are sitting at 3-4 or 4-3 and teetering on the brink of playoff qualification. Meanwhile, if you are 5-2 or better, never too early to start to scope the NFL’s Week 15-17 schedule for defenses to stash or spot starts to stream against weak opposition.
Week 8 names to watch:
Aaron Rodgers – Yes he’s plainly past his prime. But we’re halfway through the fantasy regular season and he’s still QB14 on the year. If you were a buyer on the just-benched Justin Fields, or you have the uncertainty of Jayden Daniels’ hamstring to consider this week, you could do worse.
Kyle Monangai – Monangai had his biggest game of the year in Week 7, and the rookie figures to regularly spell D’Andre Swift moving forward.
Brashard Smith – The definition of a bye-week relevant player, Smith is not going to out-carry Pacheco or Kareem Hunt, but will get a rotation of work and some scattered pass-catching opportunities. That’s enough to keep a zero out of your lineup if you are stuck in bye week hell.
Jaylin Noel – If Nico Collins can’t play in Week 8 while going through the concussion protocol, Noel will get a lot of targets on a team bad enough to be throwing from behind frequently.
Chimere Dike – Temper expectations in the Titans’ offense, but the rookie is starting to emerge, aided by Calvin Ridley’s injury woes.
Jaylin Lane – Sensing a theme? It’s an upside play with a low floor, but if McLaurin and Deebo can’t stay healthy, there will be more opportunities for another rookie emergence.
Cade Otton – The Bucs’ receiving corps is beat up, and Ott0n will get more touches as a result.
Oronde Gadsden II – Probably a week too late with this one, but kick the tires after a big Week 7.
Bills DST – Going to have some unusable matchups in the next few weeks; the play here is the stash for the Playoff Semifinals start against the Cleveland Browns.
Buccaneers DST – Same idea: Panthers and Dolphins in Weeks 16 and 17.
Falcons DST – Same idea: Cardinals in Week 16. Also, they’re the most commonly unrostered Top 10 defense and getting a decent number of sacks.
