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Fantasy Football Rookie Report: Calvin Ridley, Nick Chubb, Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Fantasy Football Rookie Report: Calvin Ridley, Nick Chubb, Marquez Valdes-Scantling

At this point in the fantasy season, it can be tough to find value. The waiver wire gets pretty bare at this point, barring any major injuries.

At the beginning of the year, we usually turn to rookies to find value in drafts, but by now, all of the major players have been picked up as they continue to carve out roles.

As you fine-tune your rosters during the second half of the season, I’m here for another week of rookie breakdowns to tell you which first-year players are worth keeping around, and who you should try to pick up on the waiver wire (if they’re still available).

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Stock up

Nick Chubb (RB – CLE)
Chubb, yet again, proved that he is a no-brainer weekly start, and could even be a rest-of-season RB1. The rookie out of Georgia got 22 carries against the Chiefs on Sunday (a game in which the Browns trailed most of the time) and racked up 85 yards and a touchdown.

Since the Browns traded Carlos Hyde, Chubb has had at least 18 touches in every game and is averaging more than 76 yards per game. Some owners may be scared away by the fact that Duke Johnson Jr. caught nine passes last week, but it’s clear that new offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens views Johnson as a primary receiving threat (often lining up outside of the backfield), with Chubb serving as the primary runner.

It helped that the Browns’ offense actually looked competent too under the new coaching staff, so Chubb could see more touchdown opportunities going forward.

Calvin Ridley (WR – ATL)
I know I’ve flip-flopped 100 times on Ridley, but at least for this week, owners should feel good about where he’s at. He just set a new season high with nine targets Sunday against Washington and found the end zone for the first time since Week 4.

Consistent volume is still a concern, but he is poised to have a big Week 10 against the Browns. Cleveland has the 27th worst pass defense in the league (based on average yards per game allowed) and just put cornerback E.J. Gaines on the injured reserve, while standout rookie Denzel Ward deals with a hip injury. Safety Damarious Randle is also dealing with an injury.

If the Browns defense comes into this matchup banged up, with Matt Ryan as hot is he is, Ridley could finish as a top 20 fantasy receiver this week.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR – GB)
There’s no question now that MVS is Aaron Rodgers‘ second-favorite target. The fifth-round pick out of South Florida recorded his second 100-yard game in three weeks against the Patriots, including hauling in a 51-yard bomb.

Valdes-Scantling is tied for sixth in the league in yards after the catch (7.8 yards per reception), according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and is getting the 12th most separation of any receiver. This means that he’s getting open and has plenty of room to run once he gets his hands on the ball. Geronimo Allison was also just placed on injured reserve, so Valdes-Scantling’s path to touches is even clearer now. He should be everyone’s No. 1 waiver wire priority this week.

Stock down

Sam Darnold (QB – NYJ)
Darnold’s owned in fewer than 10 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues, so it’s unlikely he had much of a fantasy impact in Week 9. But anyone who did own him (or was eyeing him in dynasty format) has to be disappointed by what they’ve seen recently.

Darnold had his worst game of the year against the struggling Dolphins, throwing four interceptions and taking four sacks. Over the past three games, the No. 3 overall pick is completing just 47 percent of his passes and has a 1:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

He was also spotted at practice today in a walking boot, which is never good news. The Jets could be looking to get him out of the limelight for a few weeks after this terrible stretch, and even a minor injury could give them an excuse to take him out for a few weeks and turn to Josh McCown, who was serviceable last season.

Tre’Quan Smith (WR – NO)
Smith would have landed on this list even before the Dez Bryant signing, but that certainly doesn’t make anything easier for him, either. The rookie out of UCF’s ownership went up after Ted Ginn Jr. was put on injured reserve, and he is now owned in 28 percent of Yahoo! leagues. However, it may be time to move on in non-dynasty formats.

Smith did score against the Rams, but he only caught two of his targets for 23 yards.

His production won’t improve, either, with the Saints’ addition of Bryant. With the Cowboys last year, Bryant was targeted 20 times in the red zone, the 10th most out of any player in the league. From inside the 10, he was targeted 10 times, accounting for 35.7 percent of his team’s targets from inside that part of the field, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Between Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, Michael Thomas and now Dez, there are just too many mouths to feed in New Orleans to make Smith relevant.

Kerryon Johnson (RB – DET)
Johnson looked like an every-week starter after he racked up 179 total yards against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 (the second time he had rushed for 100 yards that month). But over the past two weeks, Johnson’s fantasy value has tanked, along with the Lions’ performance.

While his matchups were admittedly against tough opponents (the Seahawks and Vikings have allowed the 11th and seventh fewest points to fantasy running backs this year, respectively, according to our rankings), he still let down fantasy owners. His past two outings saw him average just 2.9 yards per carry while failing to find the end zone.

Things don’t get much easier, either. He has to face the Chicago Bears (who have allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs) twice in the next three weeks, and he plays the Vikings again in Week 16. Any owners hoping to count on him in the fantasy playoffs may want to rethink that strategy.

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Jon Munshaw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @jon_munshaw.

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