Well, that makes two intriguing, shockingly efficient weeks from J.J. McCarthy as a New York Giant. And he may be pulling a rookie wideout to the surface of fantasy relevance – and even season-saving grace – alongside him.
Malachi Fields rose up as Isaiah Likely plodded through a rough day, helping provide the firepower needed to keep New York comfortable atop the NFC East and providing more evidence McCarthymight just be the answer the Giants didn’t know they even had on its multiple choice test.
He wasn’t the only recent second round draft pick to thrive for a New York team in Week 7. Mason Taylor went out and mossed the Miami Dolphins for a touchdown, then added another as the Jets’ comeback effort fell short at home. With the tight end market
simultaneously deep and volatile, he’s a viable addition for a playoff run. The fake kind, obviously, because it’s abundantly clear the Jets aren’t getting there.
For the second straight week, we’re talking about two young prospects thriving for not-quite-trustworthy offenses in northern New Jersey. Does that mean you should pick up either of these young prospects to plug roster holes in a season defined by injury and disappointment? Let’s talk about it.
I'm joined by fantasy expert and Rhode Island Scumbag Mike "Yaj" Boyajian to break down the players who’ll be thrust into a larger role in Week 7, either thanks to their own skill or an opportunity created by departures elsewhere on the depth chart. We'll talk about those players, as well as the guys rostered around their level and reasonably higher, to figure out if you should add Fields or Taylor to your rosters -- and who you should drop to bring them aboard.
The rules? There's pretty much only one; players have to be 33 percent owned or less in Yahoo! fantasy football leagues. Who's going to spark a bidding war on your waiver wire this week – and who should you drop to pick him up?
WR Malachi Fields, New York Giants (Four percent owned in Yahoo! leagues)
Fields looked like he could benefit from New York’s lack of proven wideouts coming into the season. Instead, he had a minimal impact with Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston behind center. That changed Sunday, as J.J. McCarthy targeted him five times, resulting in career highs of four catches and 83 yards.
Does that make Fields a better roster option than…
Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins (10 percent owned)
Christian: Douglas. Look, neither rookie is playing with a trustworthy quarterback. But the Giants have a useful run game. The Dolphins do not. The Giants have the talent to lead late in games. Week 7 aside (can’t play the Jets every Sunday), the Dolphins do not. Malik Willis is going to be throwing the ball more often than J.J. McCarthy, and Douglas can match Fields’ big play ability while stacking more targets.
Yaj: Douglas. Even though Fields looks to have a real role, especially with JJ McCarthy under center, Douglas has produced when healthy. He had a great Week 1 (seven targets, five catches and 95 yards), got hurt in Week 2 but three targets, two catches and 19 yards before exiting) then came back in Week 7 and scores two touchdowns on three targets.
If I have Douglas, I’m holding onto him and seeing what he looks like after a healthy stretch of football. His bye has already passed as well, unlike Fields.
Tank Dell, Houston Texans (20 percent owned)
Christian: Fields. I love the Tank Dell redemption arc. But, suddenly, Houston has a wealth of targets in its wideout room thanks to the emergence of Jaylin Noel (shunted to the backseat against New York Sunday) and trade for Marvin Harrison Jr.. Even though C.J. Stroud is playing the best football of his career and the Texans’ shocking defensive decline suggest Dell could still get five or six targets in a WR3/4 role, I’d rather roll with Fields’ upside.
Yaj: Fields. There are way more mouths to feed in the Houston WR room. All seem capable of doing spreading the wealth. The Jaylin Noel injury does give me pause here, but if he ends up being fine, I have to lean Fields. He’s clearly building a rapport with McCarthy and has the benefit of lining up opposite Malik Nabers, making things easier for him. Dell simply has too many receivers to compete with in his own offense.
Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers (34 percent owned)
Christian: Fields. Oh, brother. This is a tricky one, just because the Chargers really should be sellers at the trade deadline, no matter what Jim Harbaugh thinks about his team’s turnaround chances. That makes an already volatile wideout’s future even less predictable. Johnston could turn it around or continue to flatline in Los Angeles. He could rise to the occasion with a new team or be a wasted late-round draft pick for whomever acquires him.
Fields, with WR2 status, is more stable while providing useful upside. You’re signing up for painful weeks either way, but I’ll be swearing a lot less at my roster with the Giants’ wideout on it rather than the one stuck on an eternally cursed Chargers team.
Yaj: Fields. I’m not hopeful at all the Chargers can turn their season around after the bye. They just look completely broken. I don’t know if a month bye would be enough to get things right, never mind a week. At this rate, I will gladly take the wideout playing in the functioning offense. Plus, Fields actually holds onto the ball when it hits his hands.
TE Mason Taylor, New York Jets (10 percent owned)
Taylor’s role was thrown into question this offseason after New York used a first round pick on Kenyon Sadiq – a move tight end whose skillset doesn’t quite overlap with Taylor’s but could still have chipped away at his targets. Indeed, he started slowly before missing a pair of games due to injury, but has 12 targets over the last two weeks. More importantly, he rose up as a playmaker who can thrive in Geno Smith’s circle of trust and turn 50/50 balls into big plays.
Does he belong on your roster over…
Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets (17 percent owned)
Christian: Sadiq. This is a coin flip. Geno Smith can’t commit to a single top target on a weekly basis. We’ve seen Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Sadiq, Omar Cooper Jr. and then Taylor rise up to have big fantasy impacts. But those performances fluctuate wildly, which is great for the New York offense when it comes to confusing opposing defensive coordinators but absolutely brutal for fantasy owners. Just roll with whichever guy you personally prefer, because divining what the Jets’ passing game will look like on any given Sunday is a fool’s errand.
Yaj: Taylor. Geno Smith seems to have a type when it comes to pass catcher. That type being “open”. It doesn’t seem to matter if that's a WR or TE, they just can’t be close to defenders.
Unfortunately for Garrett Wilson, that means never seeing the ball again because defenses pay attention to him. If Taylor continues to get open, he will continue to produce. Sadiq popped one week, and has basically done nothing since. Then again, so has Taylor. Ugh, this is a gross debate.
Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders (17 percent owned)
Christian: Okonkwo. The Commanders are a bad team and lack viable targets after losing Terry McLaurin for the rest of the season. Okonkwo had season highs of 38 routes and seven targets in Week 6 before Washington’s bye. Even though that resulted in a whopping -23 yards after catch over expected (YACOE), his volume should make him the safer play in PPR leagues.
Yaj: Okonkwo. I know we are all supposed to be enamored with Antonio Williams at this point, but if you really want to grab the second passing option in the Washington offense, it’s Okonkwo. He had seven catches on seven targets last time out and Scary Terry is done for the season.
Okonkwo shouldn’t be on waiver wires in deeper leagues moving forward. Don’t make the mistake of dumping him to chase a Jet’s production.
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (45 percent owned)
Christian: Taylor. You never know who’ll stand up from the five-man tight end corps in Los Angeles. You do know Taylor can be Geno Smith’s huckleberry. He’s got a17.6 catch rate over expected (CROE) and had three red zone targets last week. The Jets are volatile, but even with a compromised Puka Nacua and an injured Davante Adams, I can’t recommend any of the Rams tight ends.
Yaj: Taylor. Can I just go with Okonkwo again? Seriously, I really want nothing to do with either of these two if I can help it. If I have to ABSOLUTELY pick one, I guess it would be Taylor. He has fewer fellow tight ends to deal with in his offense. As we saw yesterday, the Rams are a complete crapshoot when it comes to their offense. I’m all set with trying to figure out which of the five tights ends the Rams will lean on week to week.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Fantasy football waiver wire Week 8: Is Malachi Fields a season saver?
