Many fantasy owners took a haymaker to the face this week due to the immense amount of key players out on their BYE week.
It was possibly the worst week for owners that have Roddy White, Dwyane Bowe, Jamaal Charles, Matt Ryan, and Peyton Manning. Those guys have been making tremendous impacts for fantasy owners this season.
The most impressive one is Jamaal Charles, who has shown no signs of slowing down during his bounce-back campaign.
The problem this past weekend was when Maurice Jones-Drew owners received a goose egg, after their first round running back when down with an injury. Luckily, he’ll only be out for a week.
Owners were investing a lot of stock in Rashad Jennings going into drafts, but now he’s become a realistic option as a starter.
In the season opener, Jennings started the game, but MJD made him an afterthought in a matter of minutes.
This is a similar situation to last week’s rental system with Felix Jones. The only difference is that Jones’ value could actually last longer than just one week.
As we approach the heart of this fantasy football season, owners are starting to invest in sub par names from the waivers.
We all knew what kind of talent Josh Gordon had coming out of his troubled college career, but Brandon Gibson of the Rams is actually one of the top options to own this week.
Ever since Danny Amendola went down with an injury against the Cardinals, Gibson has become Bradford’s favorite target in St. Louis. Even in the event that Amendola returns, Gibson should maintain decent value.
If you’ve been following the Packers’ wide receiver situation, you’ve already bought on the James Jones and Randall Cobb bandwagons as long as Greg Jennings is out.
We all knew that Cobb was fast, but we didn’t know that he and Jones could develop into reliable options.
Up until this past game, James Jones hadn’t dropped a single pass on the season. That’s on top of going into St. Louis with a three week streak of scoring two touchdowns per game.
By Week 8, you’re going to see a lot of recycled waiver players, it’s just going to be a matter of who is worth keeping for the long haul.
Let’s take a look at some of the more reliable names to invest in this week…
Rashad Jennings (13% owned) The Jags lost Gabbert and MJD last week, so it’s going to be the Chad Henne and Rashad Jennings show in Green Bay this weekend. Luckily for MJD owners, he’s only out for week, so they can either choose to rent Jennings this week or owners that are desperate at running back might want to rent him. What can Jennings do for you? Simply just be an average running back. Why would you want him? For a couple of reasons: he doesn’t have any competition for carries in the backfield, the Jags offense isn’t exactly a stellar passing attack, and he’s a dual threat-back. I’m just saying, you could do worse out there fishing in waivers for the likes of LaRod Stephens-Howling and Jonathan Dwyer. The Packers defense isn’t exactly a sure things on a weekly basis, Jennings will have to play a big role in any type of productive offense that the Jags attempt to have, and he’s simply a one-week rental. If you’re fishing for help at your second RB spot or FLEX, you may want to consider him.
Stephen Hill (15% owned) We saw Hill in our post-draft recommendations, but owners chose to jump off that bandwagon as soon as he went down with an injury. He’s healthy and has assumed a larger role than what he expected coming into the season. Now that Santonio Holmes is out, Hill is the top target in the Jets’ mediocre offense. He’s caught seven passes since returning from injury, including a touchdown in New York’s blowout win against the Colts. They’re back home against the Dolphins this week and Hill will be called upon early and often. Miami will be looking to shut down Shonn Greene and the running game, forcing Sanchez to throw the ball more. Hill has had two weeks to warm back up, so expect a big day from him at home against the Dolphins.
Brandon Gibson (30% owned) Someone in your league might of already picked him up by now, but there’s a chance that Gibson could be available. He’s caught 12 passes in the past two games, against Miami and Green Bay, which is great news for fantasy owners. Gibson isn’t going to be your top receiver, but he can be an effective one. Danny Amendola is going to be out for another four weeks, including their upcoming BYE week, which should be enough time to use him as a reliable option. Once Amendola comes back, it could be a toss up on whether or not Gibson can stay productive. As long as he is Sam Bradford’s top target and rumors of Steven Jackson being trading are going around, invest in him while you can.
WATCHLIST
Daryl Richardson (11% owned) I know he’s been here before, but there are rumors swirling around the league about the Rams shopping five players before the trade deadline in two weeks. How does this affect Richardson? Steven Jackson happens to be one of those players. If you’re a Steven Jackson owner, you can expect him to be decreased to a third down back. Daryl Richardson has the ability to be a solid option, it’s just a matter of getting carries. The Rams are looking to invest in him and so should you.
