Las Vegas Raiders vs Cleveland Browns

Date/Time: November 1, 1:00pm ET
Odds: Browns -141
Over/Under: 51.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Browns 27, Raiders 24.5

Las Vegas Raiders

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Cleveland Browns

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Quarterback

Las Vegas: Carr’s been solid for fantasy football recently. If you’ve taken the shot on him in your starting lineup, he hasn’t crushed your lineup and he’s also delivered some top-tier performances. Over his past three games, Carr has finished as the QB16, QB9, and QB12. Now, Carr gets to take on the Cleveland Browns defense that is currently the 7th easiest matchup for opposing fantasy QBs. Carr lands squarely in the streaming conversation this week and should be viewed as a high-end QB2 with upside.

Cleveland: Mayfield put on a show last week and he now gets to go up against a defense that is allowing the 4th most fantasy points to opposing QBs. While OBJ’s absence certainly puts a damper on Mayfield’s fantasy outlook, he showed that he can produce even with him out of the lineup. If you’re looking for a streaming option this week, Mayfield’s a fine option to plug into your lineup.

Running Backs

Las Vegas: Jacobs had a rough game last week. However, that was against a defense that is absolutely suffocating opposing RBs. Jacobs should get back to seeing his 15+ carries in this game against a Browns defense that is currently middle-of-the-pack in terms of fantasy points per game. Fire up Jacobs as a solid RB1 with upside in this matchup.

Cleveland: Hunt has a prime matchup this week against a Raiders defense that is currently allowing 25.4 fantasy points per game to the RB position. Hunt has No. 1 overall RB upside in this game.

Wide Receivers

Las Vegas: With Bryan Edwards sidelined, Agholor has stepped up nicely and has been putting together some solid performances for fantasy football. It’s hard to fully trust him in your lineup, but as long as Edwards is out, he should be viewed as a solid FLEX play with upside. Renfrow hasn’t done much the past few weeks, but he’s still seeing enough targets to be plugged into your lineup as a bye week fill-in option in Full PPR leagues. Ruggs hasn’t been able to do much in this offense recently, which bumps him down my rankings this week. He always has the potential to break off a huge play, but he’s nothing more than a FLEX play due to his wide range of outcomes.

Cleveland: Landry should assume a larger workload in this offense with Odell Beckham out for the season with a torn ACL. He was merely a FLEX play previously, but he now gets a boost up to a high-end WR3 with upside in this matchup. The Raiders are currently the 9th easiest matchup for opposing WRs and Landry should put together a fine performance. Higgins is the next man up in this offense and he’s shown previously that he can be an effective fantasy asset when he’s given an opportunity. He should be viewed as a low-end WR3 this week due to the matchup.

Tight Ends

Las Vegas: Waller’s one of the best TEs in fantasy football right now. Continue to plug him into your lineup every single week as a top-5 option.

Cleveland: Bryant stepped up admirably in Austin Hooper‘s absence last week. With Hooper almost certainly sidelined again for this game, Bryant should continue to see opportunities in this offense as the main receiving tight end. He’ll need to score again to be viewed as a top-10 option this week, but it’s certainly in the realm of possibilities. If you’re hurting at TE, Bryant’s almost certainly on your waiver wire and can be picked up and streamed this week.

FantasyProjection Buster: Bryant stepped up nicely in Hooper’s absence last week, but can he find the end zone again? If he doesn’t, he’ll fall short of my optimistic projection total.

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Los Angeles Chargers vs Denver Broncos

Date/Time: November 1, 4:05pm ET
Odds: Chargers -175
Over/Under: 44.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Chargers 24, Broncos 20.5

Los Angeles Chargers

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Denver Broncos

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Quarterback

Los Angeles: Herbert’s on fire recently. Continue to plug him into your lineup without hesitation. He’s a solid QB1 with No. 1 overall QB upside yet again.

Denver: Lock hasn’t looked great coming off of his injury. He can be avoided for fantasy purposes.

Running Backs

Los Angeles: We assumed that we had clarity on what this backfield was going to look like last week, but both options fell flat in a great matchup. Jackson’s a safe bet every single week due to his involvement in the receiving game, but we cannot be confident in how the carry splits are going to break down between the two options in this backfield. Jackson can be viewed as a low-end RB2 this week. Kelley’s continuing to see enough work in this backfield to be considered for fantasy football, but it’s not amount to much production at all. Kelley’s a mid-range RB3 that will need to find the end zone to finish much higher than that.

Denver: Gordon should receive the majority of the touches in this game if Lindsay is not able to suit up. Due to the volume, Gordon should be viewed as a mid-range RB2. Freeman gets a slight bump up in touches if Lindsay misses this game, but he shouldn’t be someone that you’re looking at for fantasy purposes.

Wide Receivers

Los Angeles: Allen continues to soak up targets with Herbert behind center. He’s absolutely worth plugging into your lineup every single week as a high-end WR2. Rostering Williams has been a rollercoaster this season. He’s had great games in matchups where we’ve sat him and then has disappointed mightily in matchups where we rolled him into our starting lineup. In this offense, it’s appearing like Allen is the main target and Williams is a complete afterthought. He can remain on your bench this week.

Denver: With the way Lock is playing right now, Patrick is the only Broncos receiver that you can look at for fantasy football. Even then, it’s hard to trust him as anything more than a FLEX play. At the time of writing, it’s unknown whether or not Patrick will be suiting up for this game against LA, but it might be best to sit him even if he does. The Chargers are neutralizing opposing WRs from a fantasy perspective, which makes Patrick a risky play. Jeudy is simply not someone that you can trust right now with the way that this offense is looking in Denver. He’s not seeing enough targets to be relevant and he’s being outproduced by Patrick. If Patrick misses this game with his injury, Jeudy gets a slight boost, but it’s not going to be enough to view him as anything more than a low-end FLEX play.

Tight Ends

Los Angeles: Henry continues to see enough targets in this offense to be viewed as a low-end TE1 every single week.

Denver: Fant saw plenty of targets last week, but the efficiency simply wasn’t there. With that being said, he’s still a good option to plug into your lineup as a low-end TE1 in this matchup.

FantasyProjection Buster: Projecting the Chargers RBs right now is extremely difficult. There’s simply no way of knowing what exactly this backfield will look like right now, so either of these backs could finish much higher – or lower – than where I have them projected.

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New Orleans Saints vs Chicago Bears

Date/Time: Novermber 1, 4:25pm ET
Odds: Saints -215
Over/Under: 43.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Saints 23.75, Bears 19.75

New Orleans Saints

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Chicago Bears

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Quarterback

New Orleans: Brees was able to put up a solid fantasy performance last week on the back of a QB sneak at the goal line. For this week, Brees should be viewed as a low-end QB2 against the Bears pass defense. There’s just not much of a ceiling here for Brees in this matchup.

Chicago: This offense is horrendous in Chicago. Hopefully the Bears can get things figured out, but Foles is completely off the redraft radar until that happens.

Running Backs

New Orleans: Kamara’s matchup proof. He can be started every single week as a top-3 option. Murray continues to see around 11 carries per game and he’s putting up fine numbers on the ground. However, he hasn’t been finding the end zone recently, which makes him an average fantasy play. He’s simply a bye week fill-in option at this point that you’re hoping is able to find the end zone. He can be viewed as a mid-range RB3 this week.

Chicago: Playing Montgomery in fantasy football isn’t going to be pretty if you end up watching the game. However, he’s getting too many touches in this offense to hurt your fantasy roster. Last week, even though Montgomery did next to nothing, he still finished as the RB24 on the week. With his work in the receiving game, he’s a safe option to roll out as a low-end RB2 in this matchup against the Saints defense.

Wide Receivers

New Orleans: As of right now, it appears that only Tre’Quan Smith is going to be suiting up for the Saints on Sunday. Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and Marquez Callaway are all trending towards being out. He becomes a WR3 just based on target volume, but the matchup against the Bears defense prevents him from moving up much higher than that. (Side note: The Saints do not have any additional WRs listed on their active roster. Callaway is in the projections above merely as a placeholder. I do not expect him to play.)

Chicago: With the offense performing the way it is and refusing to feature ARob, it’s hard to trust him as anything more than a high-end WR2. Hopefully the Bears realize that targeting Robinson frequently is a recipe to success and we can cease having these questions regarding his fantasy outlook, but until that happens, we need to move him down our rankings slightly. He still belongs in your starting lineup, assuming that he clears concussion protocol in time, but he can’t be viewed as a locked-in WR1 anymore.

Tight Ends

New Orleans: Cook is barely targeted in this offense, but he gets the targets that matter in the key area of the field. Cook’s a touchdown-or-bust TE2 that gets a boost this week with all the injuries to the WRs. He’s a top-10 option at the TE position this week.

Chicago: Graham’s hard to trust in your fantasy lineup right now with the offense barely being able to move the ball. He has the potential to soak up targets if the offense can stay on the field, but that’s simply not happening right now. With that in mind, he’s a touchdown-or-bust TE2 this week.

FantasyProjection Buster: Graham’s starting to lose targets and work to Demetrius Harris and Cole Kmet. While it makes sense to lose work to Kmet – Harris is a whole other conversation – Graham’s no longer in the top-12 conversation based on his target volume and scoring upside. He could be replaced by Kmet here as early as this game.

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San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks

Date/Time: November 1, 4:25pm ET
Odds: Seahawks -148
Over/Under: 54 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Seahawks 28.25, 49ers 25.75

San Francisco 49ers

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Seattle Seahawks

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Quarterback

San Francisco: Garoppolo’s going to be down a few weapons in this game, but the matchup is simply too good to not consider him as a streaming candidate this week. The Seahawks cannot slow down anyone on defense and Jimmy G should do enough to be a fine fill-in option. He should be viewed as a high-end QB2 this week.

Seattle: Wilson made a few uncharacteristic mistakes in week seven, but he’s still one of the best fantasy QBs out there. He’s an automatic start every single week.

Running Backs

San Francisco: This backfield is an absolute mystery to try and project week in and week out. However, it gets a bit easier this week with Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson all out of the picture. Hasty should see the majority of the work on the ground, but this is a tough matchup for opposing RBs. He should be viewed as a high-end RB3. McKinnon should be involved in this offense, but Kyle Shanahan has simply ignored him the past couple of weeks. This makes McKinnon a risky RB3 play. He could receive all of the touches in this one or he could see four total touches. We simply just have no way of knowing what Shanahan is going to do.

Seattle: At this point, Carson has to be considered superhuman, right? Carson is now considered a game-time decision against the 49ers after reportedly being out for 1-2 weeks. Sound familiar? Carson’s a risky RB2 play, especially when you factor in the late afternoon game timing, but he’s better than some of the other options in this range. We’ll need to see if he practices Thursday or Friday, but this is a situation to keep monitoring. Hyde was set to take on a large workload if Carson missed this game, but he’s also been dealing with some hamstring tightness. With the news that Carson might play, Hyde’s nothing more than a mid-range RB3 if he suits up.

Wide Receivers

San Francisco: With Samuel out for this game, Aiyuk gets a huge bump up in my weekly rankings. He’s in line for a large workload here and can be viewed as a solid start against a terrible pass defense. Aiyuk should be viewed as a low-end WR2 this week with upside. If you’re in need of a WR due to bye weeks or injuries, Bourne can be scooped up off of waivers and plugged into your lineup as a solid FLEX play in a fantastic matchup.

Seattle: Are all of our concerns about Lockett’s fantasy outlook put to rest after last week? I would venture to say so due to 20 targets going Lockett’s way against the Cardinals. There are going to be some games where the targets go Metcalf’s way and then there are going to be some games where they all go to Lockett. We just need to keep viewing Lockett as a low-end WR1 every single week and deal with the potential range of outcomes. Metcalf took a back seat to Lockett’s nuclear performance in week seven, but he should be plugged right back in as a low-end WR1 with upside.

Tight Ends

San Francisco: Kittle could see 15+ targets in this game and that’s only a slight hyperbole. He’s been up-and-down so far this season, but he belongs in your lineup every single week as a top-2 option.

Seattle: Olsen’s only worth looking at as a high-end TE2 in Full PPR formats. Otherwise, his usage is too sporadic to rely on as anything more than that.

FantasyProjection Buster: Carson has to be the answer here. We just simply have no way of knowing what his workload’s going to be like coming off of this injury or even if he’ll play. A close second would be McKinnon on the 49ers.