Nico Collins is THE WR1 and will be treated accordingly. We have seen nothing but dominance from Nico. It does not matter that Mixon is out. It does not matter that Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell are in the receiver room. And it does not matter that Stroud has just been OK for fantasy. Nico Collins is THE DUDE right now, and will be going forward. If you are an owner do not trade him for anything.
Dontayvion Wicks could be huge in the coming weeks while Christian Watson deals with his ankle injury. We called him a sleeper breakout this offseason and the opportunity has finally presented itself. Christian Watson likely misses multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain, and we are anticipating Wicks takes full advantage of his absence. After Watson went out this past Sunday, Wicks saw 13 targets from Love. If Love continues to play at an elite level (we believe he will) then Wicks could turn into a weekly WR2 threat in future weeks. We definitely want him to prove it again before we are confident in starting him, but this was exciting to watch unfold this past week.
BTJ is here to stay. Brian Thomas Jr has flashed his elite prospect profile all year. He is currently the WR13 in half-PPR in spite of playing for this measly Jaguars offense. The Jaguars are about to go into desperation mode, and when that happens to teams they tend to rely more and more on their top playmakers via volume. BTJ will be the #1 target for the Jags for the rest of the season, barring injury, and we are very excited about his rest-of-season outlook.
Pickens needs to be moved after this past week. We have no confidence in Steelers QBs moving forward. For the first half of this past week, it looked like Fields was on pace to be benched by next week. But he proceeded to play an incredible second half. Whether it's Russ or Fields, we do not trust Pickens in our lineup on a weekly basis. The reasoning is the lack of TD opportunities he will see moving forward. If the Steelers are in the red zone the rush rate is ridiculous. And the lack of TD opportunity moving forward for Pickens will push him into fantasy mediocrity, unable to win you matchups.
If you can package Chris Olave for a true elite fantasy option, do it. We were screaming the Olave warnings all offseason. He simply does not contribute to winning weeks. He does not possess the 30+ point ability of other receivers in his tier. If you can upgrade Olave via a trade package or a lateral move for a receiver with a higher BOOM rate, we suggest you do so.
Kenneth Walker returns in a MASSIVE way. When Kenneth Walker plays, he has been truly elite. The problem going into a season is KWIII always misses a few weeks with an injury. We are expecting that to be behind us, and Kenneth will be a weekly top-10 RB option in a great offense.
Go get Rico Dowdle. He is quietly increasing his usage rate each week, and is actively making his case for more touches in this prolific offense. He’s averaged over 4 yards per carry for the third week in a row, and the Cowboys are starting to realize the need to slightly balance their pass-run rate in order to have consistency in this offense. With more touches, and potentially a weekly TD upside, Dowdle could be a very interesting FLEX option moving forward.
Hold onto Josh Jacobs. We still believe in his ability. It’s been an odd start to the season. He had two games without Jordan Love, and when Love returned the game script made it so Love had 50+ pass attempts. They simply could not run the ball, not because it was ineffective, but because they were down by a significant margin. We think the likely playoff-caliber Packers exemplify a balanced attack moving forward, keeping Jacobs involved weekly and an every-week touchdown threat.
Play the TE with the highest upside every week. This year’s tight ends are horrific. None of them are reliable. Mark Andrews is the best example, oddly not recording a catch each of the last two weeks. Kyle Pitts for no reason didn’t record a catch as well this past week. While we care about a baseline for our lineups, that simply cannot be relied upon for any tight end this year, so play who you think has the ability to BOOM any given week
If you have the ability to get De’Von Achane, and can afford another week or so stash, do it! This Dolphins offense is HORRIFIC without Tua. But Tua is symptom-free and looking for a return to play in a week or two. With Tua, Achane saw 7 receptions per game and showed the explosive ability we all saw last year. He’s a top 5 fantasy player with Tua under center.
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