The Sunday Stash Report continues ahead of Week 8 after the lightest injury week of the season. Last week’s Stash Report advised the pickups of Marlon Mack and Dion Lewis and may end up hitting on Jamaal Charles as well. Time will tell.
Fantasy owners are fresh off another week of injuries, and more underperformance from guys we thought might finally produce (looking at you Terrelle Pryor). The goal here is to put a guy or two on the back of your roster that isn’t necessarily going to help you this week but instead next week or shortly after that.
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Samaje Perine (RB – WAS)
This one is admittedly a long shot. Sure, Rob Kelley could get hurt again, and that would immediately establish Samaje Perine as a volume-based RB3. But more so this is placing unwarranted and undeserved faith in Jay Gruden, whom I do not believe is particularly good at his job. Gruden is supposed to be this offensive wizard, yet it took him almost three-quarters of football last week to realize that throwing to Jordan Reed is a good idea.
I want to believe that Gruden can’t watch Kelley play football and think he has any business being in the NFL. Kelley has no NFL level abilities. None. The nicest thing I can say about him is that he’s not Paul Perkins.
Perine has not been great either, but Perine is also a rookie and has displayed talent and ability in the past – something we cannot say about Kelley. The reality is this would take a full commitment from Gruden to make the switch over to Perine.
Chris Thompson is still the primary back, but he will never be a feature back nor a goal-line back so if Perine can get the full support of the coaching staff behind him, he could have RB3 value with about a 50% snap share on a high powered offense. He is worth a stab, but don’t go out of your way to pick him up.
Corey Davis (WR – TEN)
I feel like Corey Davis is owned in most leagues, but the numbers say otherwise. With the Titans on a bye and Eric Decker looking all sorts of done, the Titans’ rookie WR could immediately find himself in the mix for significant snaps upon his expected return from his hamstring injury following the Titans’ Week 8 Bye. Davis is a mega talent.
He’s like a better version of vintage Dez Bryant. Rishard Matthews will remain the number one, but there’s no reason Davis can’t quickly usurp Decker. Davis has league winning upside.
Corey Coleman (WR – CLE)
The second Corey on this list is also one who will be returning from injury over the next few weeks. Corey Coleman broke his hand in Week 2 and is reaching the part of his recovery where we can expect to start hearing some news about his return to the field. After this week’s game across the pond, the Browns have a week off, and then it is not impossible that we see Coleman return.
With the complete mess that is the Browns’ QB situation, it is fair to keep expectations low for Coleman, but with the complete mess that is also the Browns’ WR situation, it is also fair to expect Coleman to immediately assume his role at the number one option in the passing game. For teams confident in their playoff prospects, this is the type of pickup to make.
Vernon Davis (TE – WAS)
Jordan Reed broke out last week, but Vernon Davis still played 45% of the snaps. The week before, with Reed active, Davis played 65% of the snaps. With Terrelle Pryor and Jamison Crowder being completely worthless in both fantasy and reality, Davis has been used in tandem with Reed a decent amount, including lining up in the slot on occasion.
It is entirely possible that the Redskins start deploying Reed and Davis together more with Josh Doctson as the lone WR. There’s also the incredibly likely scenario that Reed misses more games at some point. There are multiple reasons to roster Vernon Davis.
Vance McDonald (TE – PIT)
I don’t necessarily expect Vance McDonald to break out, but I do expect him to steadily push Jesse James into less and less of a role. VMD will be the Steelers’ primary TE sooner rather than later. He may already be there.
Finding a TE is a weekly challenge for most. McDonald has talent and athleticism, and with the Steelers severely lacking in receiving options behind Antonio Brown, it can’t hurt to throw a dart at McDonald if you have the room.
Austin Ekeler (RB – LAC)
The Chargers are moving away from having every down be Melvin Gordon. Last week, Austin Ekeler played a season-high 31% of the snaps. He is being used more and more in the satellite back role.
There are two reasons to stash Ekeler. He could have standalone RB4 value, which is more useful than you think with bye weeks and injuries piling up. And he stands to inherit a significant workload should something happen to the seemingly always questionable Melvin Gordon. Ekeler has tremendous workout metrics and would likely thrive if he found his way into more opportunity.
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Jason Katz is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive or follow him @jasonkatz13.
