Fantasy Stock: Week 8 — A Game of Throws
I think of fantasy football a lot like Game of Thrones. Aside from my being addicted to both of them, they both involve the tracking of a seemingly innumerable cast of characters, each of which has a storyline that waxes and wanes. The trouble with fantasy football, in comparison to Game of Thrones, is that the ascents and descents of characters are often far more subtle. While Game of Thrones might let you know that someone is not worth paying attention to, they might get stabbed in the face or burned at the stake, whereas fantasy football players generally send more subtle clues.
We tend to get attached to the characters that we know, making it difficult to embrace the new ones that are walking through the door each week. (spoiler alert!) Whether it’s Joffery Baratheon getting poisoned or Matt Jones fumbling twice, we need to recognize the comings and goings of the characters we love, while diligently searching for the next guy to come around and Circe Lannister your opponents all to hell. You know what I mean.
Give: Odell Beckham Jr.
I drafted Eli Manning in each of my 3 leagues. The Manning pedigree, juxtaposed alongside a bevy of talented wide receivers and a dearth of talented running backs lead me to believe that there was potential for huge performance. It turns out that this is not the case. Despite being 6th in team pass yards per game, the Giants seem to have become incapable of producing consistent value for any of their WR’s. This is, perhaps, due to their affinity to spreading the ball out against weaker passing defenses, which would explain Odell Beckham Jr.’s mediocre performance against the shorthanded Packers in week 5, or the Saints in week 2. Despite his astounding physical talents, Beckham’s inconsistency is going to continue despite a favorable schedule. If you can get WR1 or RB1 value for him coming into the Giant’s bye week, you should do it.
Give: Jay Ajayi
I should preface this with the fact that I’m a Dolphins fan, and years of watching Chad Henne, Matt Moore, and Dante Culpepper attempt to lead the hapless Phins out of the shadow of the red, white, and blue menace that is the Patriots has left me hardened to a certain degree. It’s true, Ajayi is only the 4th running back to reach 200 rushing yards in consecutive games, but Steelers and Bills are both in the bottom third of rushing defenses so far this season. 4 of the Dolphins 9 remaining games are against top 10 rushing defenses, so expect to see Ajayi’s production drop off.
Honorable mention Gives: Golden Tate has shown an uptick in production over the past couple weeks, and the Lions even seem to be scheming a little bit in his favor, but I don’t buy that it’s a sign of things to come. CJ Anderson is the latest victim of a Denver Broncos offense that is not afraid to change out starting RB’s, he’s not going to be the top-tier RB that you’ve had, get rid of him. I mentioned Matt Jones in my opening, but seriously, his fumbling issues are not new, and I would not be surprised for last week’s performance to represent the door through which Robert Kelley bursts.
Get: Ty Montgomery
Last week I wrote about how Eddie Lacy gave me the heedie-jeebies. The same day that I published that article he was put on IR. The Packers like to run the ball, and Ty Montgomery is going to be the guy to pick up the gauntlet. He’s officially a RB/WR in ESPN leagues, which means that he’s basically twice as likely to be a useful gap-filler. Pick him up off waivers if you can, but otherwise you should be trying to trade for him. Don’t let the fact that whomever you’re trading with likely got him for free last week, just think about the production that you’re going to get.
Get: Frank Gore
Frank Gore is the undying man, and nothing he does seems to be sexy. His owner in your league might not even realize that Gore’s the number 15 RB in fantasy right now, due to the relatively pedestrian way that he’s gone about it. In standard scoring, he has yet to score over 20 points in a week, but he also has only scored under 10 twice. Gore is the proverbial tortoise, and when the dust settles on this season he’ll still be sitting there.
Honorable mention Gets: Devontae Booker and Bilal Powell continue to earn RB shares on their respective teams. Willie Snead is going to be one of the primary beneficiaries of the Saints #1 ranked passing offense. With Russel Wilson seemingly hobbled by injury, I don’t think that Jimmy Graham’s bump in performance is an aberration.
Hello! My name is Jack Moore. I love writing, fantasy football, and writing about fantasy football. Thanks for reading!
