Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants

Date/Time: Sunday October 24, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Panthers -3
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 43 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Panthers 23, Giants 20

Quarterback

Sam Darnold: Panthers head coach Matt Rhule talked about wanting to re-establish the run after Carolina’s Week 6 loss to Minnesota, which isn’t the sort of thing Darnold investors want to hear. We knew Darnold was living a charmed life over the first month of the season. Through the first four weeks of the season, he was averaging 297.3 passing yards a game, had five TD runs and was the QB5 in fantasy scoring. Over the last two weeks, he’s thrown two TD passes and four interceptions while averaging 192.0 passing yards. Week 7 could be a get-well spot for Darnold, who’ll be facing a Giants defense that’s yielding 22.1 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, sixth-highest in the league. The Giants rank 28th in opponent passer rating and have allowed 24 TD passes. Darnold is a low-end QB1 this week. With his new willingness to run, Darnold is an intriguing DraftKings value at $5,900.

Daniel Jones: He’s the QB15 in fantasy scoring, but Jones’ weekly fantasy finishes have been all over the map. Here’s how he’s fared over the first six weeks: QB14, QB4, QB20, QB6, QB34, QB28. Jones sustained a concussion in that QB34 game in Week 5, and maybe he shouldn’t have been cleared for the QB28 game in Week 6. But it’s clear that consistency isn’t Jones’ calling card, especially in light of his propensity for turnovers. He’s a midrange QB2 this week against a respectable Carolina pass defense. With his running ability, Jones is an intriguing $5,400 option in GPPs, though I want a quarterback with a safer floor for cash games.

Running Backs

Chuba Hubbard: In the three games Christian McCaffrey has missed so far, Hubbard’s fantasy finishes in half-point PPR scoring have been RB36, RB18 and RB21. Not great, but the usage over that three-game span is encouraging: 17.7 carries per game and 3.7 targets per game. That sort of workload could pay off this week against a Giants defense that gave up 24.2 fantasy points to Ezekiel Elliott in Week 5 and 23.7 to Darrell Henderson in Week 6. He’s a low-end RB1 this week and a good DraftKings value at $6,100.

Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker: Barkley continues to be out with a low-ankle sprain, leaving Booker as the Giants’ primary RB against a Carolina defense that’s been decent against the run overall but has given up big games to the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott and the Vikings’ Dalvin Cook over the last three weeks. Booker wasn’t able to fully cash in on a 72% snap share vs. the Rams in Week 6, with only 12-41-0 rushing and 4-28-0 receiving. He’s a midrange RB2 this week.

Wide Receivers

D.J. Moore: The Panthers’ passing slump over the last two weeks has affected Moore. He had been off to a blistering start, ranking as the WR4 through four games with 30-398-3 on 43 targets. Over the last two weeks, Moore has 10-115-0 on 20 targets. Still, he has a robust 29.4% target share so far and ranks fifth in the league in air yards per game, so Moore’s usage is attractive. He ranks as the WR5 against a Giants defense that has allowed the 10th-highest fantasy point total to opposing wide receivers.

Robby Anderson: The good news is that Anderson has been targeted 29 times over his last three games. The bad news is that he’s caught just 10 of those passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. That works out to 3.0 yards per target over his last three games. Ouch. Anderson was terrible in Week 6, catching 3 of 11 passes for only 11 yards and dropping multiple passes. His saving grace was a late TD catch. The targets keep Anderson on the fantasy radar, but just barely. He’s the WR41 this week and not a worthwhile DFS investment.

Sterling Shepard: Shepard’s fantasy value could deteriorate once Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay are both healthy again, but with those two out this week, it could be an all-you-can-eat target smorgasbord for Shep. With Golladay out last week and Toney leaving early after reinjuring a bad ankle, Shepard was targeted 14 times and had 10 catches for 76 yards. The only other options QB Daniel Jones has at wide receiver are Dante Pettis, Collin Johnson and John Ross, and it’s possible that RB Saquon Barley won’t be back from an ankle injury this week either, possibly setting up Shepard to be a focal point of the Giants offense. I have Shepard at WR21 this week, and that may be too conservative. He’s a terrific DraftKings option at $5,600.

John Ross: If Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney are both out this week as anticipated, Sterling Shepard will be the only trustworthy Giants receiver, but it’s at least worth mentioning because of his big-play potential. Ross played fewer snaps than fellow Giants WRs Dante Pettis and Collin Johnson last week, but Ross has the kind of freakish track speed that could conceivably help him meet or exceed his fantasy quota in just one play.

Tight Ends

Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas: They’re splitting work, and between them they have 13-162-1 this season. Pass.

Evan Engram: Even with Kenny Golladay out last week and Kadarius Toney forced to make an early exit due to an ankle injury, Engram had only three catches for 24 yards on five targets. Through four games he has 14-127-0. Even in a week with six teams on bye, I’m avoiding him like the plague. He’s the TE15 this week and not worth your consideration in DFS.

__________

Atlanta Falcons vs Miami Dolphins

Date/Time: Sunday October 24, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Falcons -2.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 47.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Falcons 25, Dolphins 22.5

Quarterback

Matt Ryan: After opening the season with nightmarish games against the Eagles and Buccaneers, Ryan strung together solid performances against the Giants, Buccaneers and Jets before Atlanta’s Week 6 bye, ranking as the QB10 over that three-week span. With nothing to add as a runner, low-end QB1 value is pretty much the ceiling for Ryan, but he has a solid chance to reach it this week against a Miami defense that was without respected CBs Xavien Howard and Byron Jones in Week 6 and may be without them again. Falcons WR Calvin Ridley missed the Week 5 win over the Jets in London due to a personal issue but should be back for this one, WR Russell Gage is due back from an ankle injury, and rookie TE Kyle Pitts is coming off a breakout game, so Ryan’s armory is full. He’s a low-end QB1 this week with six teams on bye.

Tua Tagovailoa: Trade rumors swirled around Tua on Wednesday, but as of Thursday morning, the young quarterback was still with the Dolphins. Tua played well against the Jaguars in London last week after missing the previous three games with fractured ribs, completing 33 of 47 passes for 329 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and rushing three times for 22 yards. That was without WR DeVante Parker, who’s expected to return from shoulder and hamstring injuries this week. Will the trade rumors weigh on Tua? Can he build on last week’s solid performance? And will the Dolphins be on their game just seven days after playing a game on the other side of the Atlantic? I have Tua ranked QB15, and he’s only ranked that high because the Dolphins aren’t bothering to run the ball much. I’m avoiding him in DraftKings contests.

Running Backs

Cordarrelle Patterson and Mike Davis: Patterson played a season-high 46 snaps in the Falcons’ Week 5 win over the Jets in London – 20 more than his previous high this season. Is that a sign that the Falcons are all in on Paterson as a major driver of their offense? Perhaps they should be. Patterson has been terrific as a pass-catcher, lining up all over the formation – in the backfield, in the slot, out wide – and catching 25 of 31 targets for 295 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also been solid as a runner, with 41 carries for 173 yards and a touchdown. He’s currently the RB3 in fantasy scoring on a per-game basis, and while it’s probably unrealistic to expect that pace to continue, C-Patt is an automatic start in all season-long leagues. He checks in as the RB7 in this week’s rankings (and as the WR14 if your league only grants him WR eligibility). Davis is also a solid play against a Miami run defense allowing 26.5 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, tied for the league-high with the Chargers. He’s a high-end RB2. Patterson is $6,300 on DraftKings, Davis is $5,200, and I find both to be strong values. If forced to pick just one, I’m continuing to ride the C-Patt Express.

Myles Gaskin, Malcolm Brown and Salvon Ahmed: The Dolphins’ RB situation has become a fantasy swamp. It seemed as if Gaskin might have regained control of this backfield in Week 5, when he played 69% of the offensive snaps and had 10 catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns. That now appears to have been either a mirage or an opponent-specific gameplan against a Buccaneers defense that’s impregnable against the run but can be had through the air. Last week, Gaskin played the same number of snaps as Brown (a 36% snap share for each) and had 5-9-0 rushing and 2-5-0 receiving. Woof. Even with six teams on bye, Gaskin is just a high-end RB3 this week. Ahmed, who at times looks like he has the most juice of anyone in this backfield, played 27% of the snaps in Week 6 and had a season-high seven carries. He’s the RB44. Brown has had at least five carries in all five of the games he’s played this year, but never more than eight. He’s the RB45. I’m not touching any of these guys in DFS.

Wide Receivers

Calvin Ridley: It seems only a matter of time before the runway is clear for Ridley to take off. He’s averaged 10.5 targets in his four games, but he’s averaging just 6.1 yards per target, well below his career average of 9.0. There’s a correction coming, and it could happen this week, particularly if Dolphins CBs Xavien Howard and Byron Jones remain sidelined after being out with injuries last week. He’s my WR7, though I’ll probably drop him a spot or two if Howard and Jones both play. I wish Ridley were a bit cheaper than $6,600 on DraftKings, but I may very well throw him into one of my lineups even without a discount.

Russell Gage: Gage is due back from an ankle injury, and I expect he’ll find his way into some season-long lineups in a bye-heavy week. A lot of fantasy managers seemed to fall in love with Gage during his 72-786-4 season in 2020. Those numbers just barely made Gage fantasy-relevant, but I suspect that relevance is going to evaporate now that Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson have become major contributors to the Atlanta passing game. I have Gage ranked WR54 this week and have zero interest in him in DFS.

Jaylen Waddle: Waddle and Tua Tagovailoa re-established their chemistry in London last week, with Waddle catching 10 of 13 targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns. That works out to an unimpressive 5.38 yards per target, but Waddle investors are nonetheless thrilled with that sort of target count and don’t mind that his average depth of target this season is just 5.4 yards. The anticipated return of DeVante Parker from shoulder and hamstring injuries could siphon a few targets away from Waddle, but that’s no reason to shy away from Waddle. The rookie has an appealing matchup against Falcons slot corner Richie Grant and should again be a favorite Tua target. He checks in at WR20 in the rankings. Waddle is $5,600 on DraftKings, a solid value in both cash games and GPPs.

DeVante Parker: Parker practiced on Wednesday after missing Weeks 5-6 with shoulder and ankle injuries. He’s had at least four catches and 42 yards in all four of his games this year, so there’s a fairly sturdy floor here, but we haven’t seen much of a ceiling yet, with Parker topping out at a tie for WR14 in Week 4. I have him ranked conservatively at WR39, and even though he’s a very affordable $5,000 in DraftKings, I probably won’t look his way when piecing lineups together.

Tight Ends

Mike Gesicki: Gesicki’s weekly fantasy finishes since Week 3: TE3, TE7, TE17, TE2. He’s the TE8 on the season but the TE4 since Week 3. Gesicki’s average depth of target is 9.8 yards, which is 2.0 yards deeper than Travis Kelce‘s aDOT and notably deep for any tight end. Yet Gesicki still has a 69.8% catch rate, so he’s cashing in on those high-value targets. I’m slightly nervous about what might happen to Gesicki’s target count once WRs Jaylen Waddle, DeVante Parker and Will Fuller are all active at the same time, but the best approach is to just keep riding Gesicki until there’s a good reason to stop. I have him at TE6 this week. Gesicki also looks like one of the best values on the board, if not the best, at a price of $4,700 on DraftKings.

Kyle Pitts: It took a while for Pitts to finally pop, but the highly touted rookie turned in his first big NFL game in Week 5, catching 9 of 10 targets for 119 yards and a touchdown. It’s worth noting that the Pitts breakout game came in a game that Calvin Ridley missed, but there should be room for both players to produce simultaneously, even if Cordarrelle Patterson continues to take his cut of the passing game, too. Pitts is the TE4 against a Falcons defense giving up 10.0 fantasy points per game to tight ends, though I’m not especially interested in him at a price of $5,900 on DraftKings.

This season, the Primer is presented by Pristine Auction. They are going to be providing giveaways throughout the season. See below for how to win a signed Jonathan Taylor jersey!

New York Jets vs New England Patriots

Date/Time: Sunday October 24, 1:00pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Patriots -7
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 42.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Patriots 24.75, Jets 17.75

Quarterback

Zach Wilson: We’re now through six weeks of the 2021 NFL season and Wilson has only played in five games, yet Wilson still leads the entire NFL in interceptions. It’s been a rough start to Wilson’s career and it might not get any better here in this one. Four of Wilson’s nine interceptions up to this point came in the last game these two teams played earlier this year, which means that there’s no format in which we can comfortably start Wilson.

Mac Jones: Jones has been fine from an NFL QB perspective as he gets acclimated to the next level and he’s doing enough to keep the Patriots competitive in some tough games. However, it’s nowhere near translating to relevant fantasy production. Jones is averaging just 1.1 passing touchdowns per game to one interception and just over 245 passing yards per contest. With little to no mobility to his game to provide any sort of extra boost on top of that, Jones has a very small percentage chance of cracking the top-20 QBs any given week. Through six weeks, he’s now the QB26 on the year and there’s very little reason to look his way this week, despite the plus matchup. He’s a low-end QB2 at best.

Running Backs

Michael Carter: Before New York’s week six bye, these are Carter’s opportunities (targets+ carries) per game: 6, 14, 12, 16, and 13. While the state of the offense around him prevents him from being incredibly efficient with those opportunities, he’s getting enough work to be on the redraft radar consistently. In a week where so many other starting options at the RB position are unavailable due to bye weeks and injuries, Carter has to be in consideration for starting fantasy lineups. The Patriots are only allowing 14.7 fantasy points per game so far this season to opposing RBs, so the upside might no be there with Carter, but we know that he’s going to see anywhere between 12-18 touches here. He can be viewed as a high-end RB3.

Damien Harris: At the time of writing, there’s no clarity as to whether or not Harris is going to even suit up for this game. He’s been battling a rib injury over the past couple of weeks, but he has been able to fight through it up to this point. Even with this injury, Harris remains a special player. There are some runs that he has where he looks like he’s shot out of a cannon and he’s clearly the best RB that the Patriots have on their roster. If Harris suits up in this matchup, he’s absolutely worth playing as a potential high-end RB2 simply based on the other available options this week. The Jets are allowing the second most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season and Harris has already found the end zone once against them this year. There’s a high likelihood that he can do it again in this one if he’s healthy. We’ll continue to update as we get more injury news.

Rhamondre Stevenson: Stevenson hasn’t exactly been the model of efficiency so far this season. He’s averaging just 2.8 Yards Per Attempt on 17 carries, but he’s now starting to see his usage increase as the season goes along. The rookie RB only had five rush attempts last week against the Cowboys – one which he converted for a touchdown at the goal line – but he was actually the Patriots RB that ran the most routes out of the backfield. Up to this point of the season, Brandon Bolden had been stepping in as the receiving back for the Patriots in James White‘s absence, but he only ran seven routes and saw one target last week. Stevenson ran nine routes and had three targets. Unless something happens to Harris to cause him to miss this game against the Jets, Stevenson’s probably not worth playing as anything more than a low-end FLEX option. However, it’s worth monitoring moving forward to see if the receiving usage last week was a fluke or not. If it’s not, we could see him move up rest-of-season rankings into a weekly high-end RB3.

Wide Receivers

Corey Davis: It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season so far from Davis in New York. His production has risen and fallen based on what version of Zach Wilson we see on the field that week, but he has remained a key focal point of the offense. He’s seen 24 targets over his past three games, which keeps him at least in the low-end WR3 discussion moving forward. In a matchup where he put up just 2-8-0 the last time these two teams played it’s probably best to not expect much from him here, but the volume should be there enough to start him this week against New England. He can be viewed as a low-end WR3/high-end FLEX option for week seven.

Jamison Crowder: Crowder emerged as a viable fantasy asset in his first game back this seson with the Jets in week four, but he fell flat on his face against the Falcons in week five with just a 4-24-0 stat line. His production is completely dependent upon the level of QB play here in New York and things aren’t looking very promising for this week against the Patriots. Wilson’s probably going to struggle yet again here and Crowder becomes a very risky play because of it. He can be viewed as a low-end FLEX play in Full PPR formats at best.

Elijah Moore: Moore’s the WR3 at best on this team right now and the Jets are doing next to nothing offensively. At this point, it’s probably time to drop Moore to your waiver wire if you haven’t already.

Jakobi Meyers: Well, Meyers finally scored a touchdown last week against the Cowboys! Unfortunately, it was called back due to a penalty, so the streak now continues for the talented receiver where he simply can’t find the end zone. Meyers now has 121 career receptions without a touchdown and it’s hard to project that he’s suddenly going to break through and starting scoring with regularity with the way this offense is looking. There’s the potential that he has a solid outing here against the Jets secondary, but we could also see New England lean into their run game significantly. Meyers remains a low-upside FLEX play every single week and he can be viewed in that range again in week seven.

Nelson Agholor: Agholor continues to be involved in this Patriots offense, but the pass volume simply isn’t enough to lead to consistent production from the veteran receiver. In another offense, we could be talking about Agholor as a valuable FLEX play week in and week out, but it’s simply not happening here in New England. He can be dropped to your waiver wire if there’s a player with more upside available.

Kendrick Bourne: Bourne was able to reel in a big catch for New England last week that resulted in a 75-yard touchdown, but that was his only catch of the game. There’s not enough volume in this Patriots offense for us to consider Bourne in our redraft leagues. He’s only worth rostering in deep Dynasty leagues currently.

Tight Ends

Hunter Henry: Henry and Jonnu continue to be essentially near-even from a snap count perspective in this offense, but Henry has established himself as the reliable receiving option. Henry ran 19 routes last week to Smith’s 10 and, while he was only given two targets on the day, he was able to find the end zone for the third game in a row. Will Henry ever see enough volume to push his way into the top-5 at the position? Most likely not, but he has as good a chance of finding the end zone as many of the other TEs in his range of rankings. He can be viewed as a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 in this matchup against the Jets.

Jonnu Smith: Did you know that Smith actually saw more snaps last week for the Patriots against the Cowboys? Smith led the team at the position with 39 snaps, but he ran only 10 receiving routes to Henry’s 19. The Patriots are content to let Smith stay in as a blocking option versus getting him out in space and letting him create after the catch, which is where he’s at his best. Until we see the philosophy change for the Patriots, which is unlikely to happen at this point, Smith should remain on your league’s waiver wire.

__________

Philadelphia Eagles vs Las Vegas Raiders

Date/Time: Sunday October 24, 4:05pm ET
BettingPros Consensus Spread: Raiders -3.5
BettingPros Consensus Over/Under: 49 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Raiders 26.25, Washington 22.75

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: In a matchup last week where Hurts was supposed to be able to throw all over the Buccaneers, he was downright terrible as a passer in nearly every metric. He had just a 4.4 Yards Per Attempt, he completed just 46% of his passes, he was credited with 3 Turnover Worthy Plays by PFF, and he had just a 55.8 Passer Rating in week six. However, what did that mean for fantasy purposes? Absolutely nothing because of his rushing ability. Hurts finished as the QB5 on the week due solely to the fact that he had 10 rush attempts for 44 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. On the season now, Hurts has 300 rushing yards – which trails only Lamar Jackson at the QB position – and five rushing touchdowns, which is tied for the second-most in the entire league behind only Derrick Henry. Hurts is going to continue to struggle as a passer moving forward and the chance that he’s the Eagles starting QB in 2022 is very slim because of it. However, it doesn’t matter much for fantasy football purposes when he continues to get the job done with his legs. Against the Raiders this week, we should view Hurts as a mid-range/low-end QB1 yet again.

Derek Carr: Coming into last week, there were certainly questions surrounding this Raiders offense and how they would respond with Jon Gruden out of the picture. We didn’t know what the play-calling would look like or what the morale of the team would be, but they responded in a big way and Carr captained this team to a resounding victory. Carr had a fantastic individual performance as he threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns to zero interceptions. He continued to push the ball deep downfield – as evidenced by his 11.8 ADOT – and he’s now second in the league in passing yards with 1,946, only behind Tom Brady. The Eagles defense is middle-of-the-pack from a fantasy points allowed perspective to opposing QBs, but they’ve benefited from playing some mediocre QBs this season. In the two games Philadelphia has played against Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott, they’ve been gashed for 505 combined yards and eight touchdowns. Carr’s shown that he belongs closer to that tier versus Sam Darnold and Jimmy Garoppolo, so we should see enough production here to view Carr as a high-end QB2 in week seven.

Running Backs

Miles Sanders: Through six games this season, this is what Sanders is currently averaging per game from a usage standpoint: 9.5 carries, 45 rushing yards, zero touchdowns, three receptions, 20.16 receiving yards, and zero receiving touchdowns. He is now the RB38 on the season from a Fantasy Points Per Game perspective and is behind players like Myles Gaskin, Mike Davis, and Jd Mckissic to just name a few. There is absolutely no upside with Sanders whatsoever this season and it’s never a guarantee that he’s going to walk out of any game with more than five carries, but he absolutely belongs in starting lineups this week due to the barren RB landscape. The Raiders are allowing over 100 rushing yards per contest so far this season, so there’s the possibility that Sanders has plenty of room to run here in this one. The question becomes whether or not he’s going to get the workload. He can be viewed as a high-end RB3.

Kenneth Gainwell: After week four, it looked like Gainwell might be heading towards a massive role in this offense and that he could potentially take over the starting role from Sanders in this backfield. He had 11 total opportunities (carries + targets) against Kansas City and he performed well with that workload. Since that game, Gainwell has seen just seven total opportunities over the past two weeks and he has just 25 total yards to show for it. This offense in Philadelphia is abysmal at times and we simply can’t trust the play-calling or usage of their most talented players. If you need to move on from Gainwell for a RB option that’s seeing consistent usage, it’s fine to drop him to your waiver wire. Otherwise, we can’t consider him in our starting lineups for this week.

Josh Jacobs: Jacobs has continued with his struggles last season with efficiency – he has just a 3.2 Yards Per Attempt on the season – but he’s continued to find the end zone at an impressive rate. Jacobs is now tied for the third-most rushing TDs in the NFL despite having only played four games this year. He’s bringing a safe floor with his guaranteed volume each week and then is also bringing plenty of upside with his propensity for crossing over the goal line. In a matchup against the Eagles defense that is allowing the 7th-most fantasy points to opposing RBs, Jacobs should be viewed as a rock-solid low-end RB1/high-end RB2.

Kenyan Drake: Drake’s fantasy point total from week six certainly makes it appear as though we should go chasing after him and start him in our lineup against the Eagles, but it’s important to note that he scored two touchdowns against the Broncos on just six total touches. Additionally, Drake only played 12 total snaps in week six, which was only four more than Jalen Richard in this same backfield. This usage is too limited for us to comfortably predict that Drake is going to be a fantasy relevant option again in week seven. The matchup is enticing, but until we see Drake’s usage tick up we can’t view him as a trustworthy play. He’s worth considering if you’re absolutely desperate at the RB position, but we shouldn’t view him as anything more than a dart throw play that you’re hoping finds the end zone.

Wide Receivers

DeVonta Smith: Smith obviously has the talent to be a consistent fantasy asset, but he’s going to be inconsistent each week due to the QB play. With Hurts struggling to move the offense as a passer, Smith’s fantasy stock is going to live and die by what version of Hurts we see on the field any given week. There are going to be some games where Hurts puts together a solid outing – like in week four against Kansas City – and that is going to mean a big performance from Smith as this team’s WR1. However, we’re going to have to be prepared for the fact that Hurts may only throw for 115 yards like he did in week six against the Bucs and Smith could disappoint. Moving forward, Smith should remain in starting lineups. However, we simply have to view him as a mid-range/low-end WR3 every single week due to his QB. He comes with a massive range of outcomes every single game and there’s simply no predicting what we’re going to get out of him.

Quez Watkins: Watkins was actually relevant last week in a game where Hurts only threw for 115 yards, but it’s still not enough consistent production for us to buy in from a redraft perspective. For the time being, Watkins is merely just a hold in Dynasty leagues and he shouldn’t be considered for starting lineups in redraft leagues.

Jalen Reagor: We’re six games through this season and Reagor is now currently on pace for just 48 receptions, 397 yards, and 2.8 receiving touchdowns. In an offense that is sputtering and failing to put Reagor in the best places to succeed, there’s no reason why we should continue to roster Reagor in redraft leagues. He can be dropped everywhere.

Henry Ruggs: Is it time that we start discussing Ruggs as one of the best values from draft season? He was consistently drafted in the WR45-WR55 range in drafts and he has continued to provide massive upside each and every week. Through six weeks, Ruggs is now the WR27 on the season and he’s currently 11th in the NFL at the WR position in Yards Per Route Run (min. 30 targets). He has an impressive ADOT of 18.6 this year and he’s making big play after big play. We need to start viewing Ruggs as a mid-range WR3 each week that comes with upside if he can find the end zone. In this matchup against the Eagles defense that allowed several big plays to Tyreek Hill earlier this year, Ruggs could pop off for a big reception multiple times. He’s a solid play this week as a mid-range WR3 with upside.

Hunter Renfrow: So far this season, Renfrow has been one of fantasy football’s most consistent WRs. He’s provided some big fantasy performances this year when he’s been able to find the end zone and he has yet to completely crush your lineup this year, which has not been the case for many other fantasy assets. While he had just a 3-36-0 stat line last week against the Broncos, the Raiders were up big in that game and didn’t necessarily need him a ton. This week against Philadelphia, Renfrow should be back in your lineup as a high-end FLEX play that’s going to bring plenty of stability to your roster.

Bryan Edwards: Edwards has plenty of talent and he’s showcased that on multiple occasions so far this year, but he’s not seeing enough volume in this Raiders offense to be a viable fantasy asset week after week. Over his past three games combined, Edwards has just five total receptions. Unfortunately, unless something happens to Ruggs or Renfrow in this offense, we’re unlikely to be talking about Edwards as a FLEX option at any point this season. He can remain on your bench in deeper leagues or on the waiver wire if you need to make room for another option.

Tight Ends

Dallas Goedert: For years now, we’ve wondered what Goedert’s fantasy production could be if Zach Ertz wasn’t in the picture in Philadelphia. We’re about to find out, folks! With Ertz now in Arizona after a trade, Goedert has this TE room all to himself and he’s going to be able to prove that he’s worth a big contract extension for the Eagles. While the production might not be as consistent as we would like each game due to the QB play, Goedert should bring a safe floor each and every week. The Raiders are currently allowing the 6th-most fantasy points to opposing TEs, so the opportunity is there for Goedert to have a big game. We’ll see if Hurts is able to come through. He can be viewed as a mid-range/low-end TE1 for week seven.

Darren Waller: Are we getting the upside from Waller that we thought we had in week one where he saw 19 targets? Absolutely not. However, there’s a lot to be said for consistency at the TE position in fantasy right now. Waller has yet to finish a game with less than 45 receiving yards and he’s averaging 6.8 targets per contest after removing week one from the equation. The week-winning upside might not be there most weeks, but he still belongs in the top-tier of fantasy TEs due to the high floor he brings week after week. Against the Eagles defense that is allowing 9.7 fantasy points on average to opposing TEs, Waller’s a top-5 option yet again.