Welcome to the latest installment of the fantasy football therapy and complaint desk. In this article, I will address inquiries from the AMA channel (general-AMA) in our Discord server.
These issues reflect many of the common themes that fantasy football managers are trying to navigate. These include trade proposals, waiver wire adds and start/sit decisions. Here are my thoughts on several of these topics this week.
- Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Advice & Help
Trade Advice
Should I buy low on Emeka Egbuka?
Perception equals reality in fantasy football. Having said that, I chuckled to think of the idea of buying low on Emeka Egbuka when he enters Week 9 as the overall WR6 in half-PPR leagues. But your point is duly noted. He has only scored 16.2 total fantasy points across his last three games.
Still, I am buying if someone is selling. Egbuka has earned 21 targets over his last two games. That is elite volume for anyone not named Ja’Marr Chase. Egbuka was overperforming early, scoring five times in his first five games. Now he is underperforming. As long as the volume is there, he should be a top-15 fantasy wide receiver moving forward.
Should I trade Rome Odunze & Josh Jacobs for Jaxon Smith-Njigba & D’Andre Swift? I have Omarion Hampton (IR), Quinshon Judkins & Isiah Pacheco. My wide receivers are Ja’Marr Chase & Drake London.
In a vacuum, I would rather have the Jaxon Smith-Njigba and D’Andre Swift side of this trade. The gap between Smith-Njigba and Rome Odunze (especially in PPR formats) is greater than the gap between Josh Jacobs and D’Andre Swift. One caveat is that, based on how you phrased your question, I assume you are starting two running backs and two wide receivers.
If that is the case, your wide receivers are already the strength of your team. Pacheco is a distant third behind Josh Jacobs and Quinshon Judkins, while Odunze is an elite WR3 behind Ja’Marr Chase and Drake London. I prefer to deal from a place of strength to bolster your running back room. But if you are confident that you can start all three wideouts and keep Pacheco on the bench, I would make this trade.
Aaron Rodgers & Jaylen Warren for Trey McBride? I can also throw in Dalton Kincaid.
I cannot imagine many scenarios where Aaron Rodgers has any tangible trade value. He is not a reliable starter in standard leagues. He has only finished two out of seven games as a top-14 fantasy quarterback.
Unless the team you are trading to is in terrible shape at quarterback, I cannot see them making this deal. Of course, it never hurts to ask. If they are willing to do it, go for it. I do like Jaylen Warren a lot, but as long as you are replacing him with a suitable running back, I would make this trade. Trey McBride is a sizeable upgrade over Dalton Kincaid in terms of volume.
Waiver Wire & Lineup Advice
David Montgomery or Jordan Mason rest of season?
It’s not a super strong lean to be honest, but I am going with David Montgomery here. I don’t know how much stock I want to put into Minnesota’s game last week. But I was somewhat discouraged by Jordan Mason playing only 17 snaps and getting only five opportunities last week. Aaron Jones Sr. was coming off a month-long layoff and had 26 snaps and nine opportunities. Of course, Montgomery is playing second fiddle to Jahmyr Gibbs these days. However, if both backs are going to be taking backseats to their respective starters, give me the player on the team that ranks fifth in offensive DVOA, rather than the team that ranks 29th and has a rookie quarterback.
Half-PPR: Who would you rather have rest of season? Bhayshul Tuten or Blake Corum?
I am going with Blake Corum over Bhayshul Tuten for a couple of reasons. First, the same reasoning applies to why I prefer David Montgomery to Jordan Mason. Give me the player on the better offense. The Rams are third in the NFL in offensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average), while the Jaguars are 19th.
Both teams rank inside the top 10 in rushing offense DVOA. Tuten has been somewhat disappointing thus far. He has yet to have a 10-yard run this season despite Jacksonville’s offensive line ranking sixth in the NFL in adjusted line yards. Corum has had at least one 10-yard run in five out of seven games this season.
Rather have Travis Etienne, Rico Dowdle, Kimani Vidal or Jordan Mason rest of season?
Your inclusion of Rico Dowdle and Kimani Vidal speaks to how quickly things change in fantasy football. Both players were on waivers in shallow leagues a month ago. Dowdle is intriguing if Carolina decides to commit to him as the team’s lead back. He blew up in the two games Chuba Hubbard missed. He has looked better than Hubbard in the two games since the latter’s return.
Hubbard has carried the ball 26 times in the last two games and has one carry longer than five yards. Dowdle has carried the ball 25 times in the last two games and has averaged 5.3 yards per carry. But until Carolina gives Dowdle the keys, my answer is Travis Etienne. Give me the back with 16+ touches in every game played, outside of a Week 7 blowout loss.
Who should I add for Jerry Jeudy & Calvin Ridley? (Half-PPR Flex)
The top options are:
- Josh Downs vs. PIT
- Alec Pierce vs. PIT
- Chimere Dike vs. LAC
- Darnell Mooney vs. NE
I like this because I dropped Jerry Jeudy and Calvin Ridley in two different leagues last week. I didn’t feel great about it, but I felt like it had to be done. I give you props for taking a similar leap. If you are only looking for a one-week replacement, it might very well be Chimere Dike. He has been much more productive than fellow Titans rookie receiver Elic Ayomanor since Ridley went down.
Ayomanor has caught six of his 13 targets for 81 yards across Tennessee’s last two games. Meanwhile, Dike has caught 11 out of 12 targets for 163 yards and a touchdown. Dike can be a solid Flex play in a game where the Titans are likely to be playing catch-up against the Los Angeles Chargers.
If you are looking for more of a home run threat, consider Alec Pierce. He has the highest aDOT (average depth of target) among 62 NFL wide receivers with at least 30 targets this season. Interestingly enough, Josh Downs has the sixth-lowest aDOT. If you are looking for more of a high-floor play, Downs is a solid bet as well. Pittsburgh’s defense is not anything like the dominant Steelers defenses we have grown accustomed to over the years. I wish I had a better read on Darnell Mooney. But at this stage, I cannot trust him until he has at least one good game first.
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