The Wire
Introducing “The Wire” report! This week 5 report takes a look at our frequently visited waiver wire. Who capitalized? Who flunked? Who got bailed out? This report tells all in three segments:
- The Price Is Right 🤑
- That’s Too Much! 💸
- Hole In One 🏌️
“The Price Is Right” FAAB segment applauds the times some of us got it right with FAAB. Bidding has always occupied a place of ambiguity, and it can take weeks to figure out whether the bid was truly worth it. These guys got it right:
- Kong’s Mike Davis $176 (Est. Current Value: $185)
Enterprise Platinum pickup! In weeks 3–5, Mike Davis has been the 2nd highest scoring running back, averaging 25 points per game. Even if Davis is a rental, you pay up for that kind of production that earned Kong three wins. - AA’s Devonta Freeman $129 (Est. Current Value: $140)
Someone always needs RB points in our 14-team league, and AA found one. Freeman has locked up the backfield snaps, and even for such a terrible Giants team, that role is worth the hefty investment. - Benny’s Myles Gaskin $33 (Est. Current Value: $140)
Benny drafted a ton of RB’s to play roulette, but his gambling habits extended to FAAB. And the roulette ball landed on his dozen. Now a full-fledged featured back, Gaskin handled 21 total touches and was on the field for all of the Dolphins’ goal-to-go downs in Week 5. ✌️ Jordan Howard. - Jesse’s Mike Williams $5 (Est. Current Value: $55)
Killer Mike! He seems to play his best when left on fantasy benches. That habit is reflected in his current value, but so is his ceiling with Keenan Allen having back issues. At minimum, he is an upside WR3 with Herbert throwing deep shot dimes!
“Thats Too Much” reads out the times some of us misjudged the demand. We locked in on a player early, and as the days, hours, and minutes lead up to waivers, we increase the bid.
$1 increase becomes $20. $20 becomes $40. $40 becomes $140. For better or worse.
- Theo’s D’ernest Johnson $100 (Closest Bid: Josh at $70)
Both Theo and Josh misjudged the market, but it was Theo who bailed Josh out at the end of the day. $100 is a hefty price to pay for Chubb’s backup’s handcuff. Understandable in this RB climate, but even in the Browns run-heavy offense, 75% of Johnson’s carries came on the Browns’ final drive. - Bode’s Nyheim Hines $141 (Closest Bid: AA at $100)
This is like the time Bill Gates guessed grocery prices on The Ellen Show, estimating Totino’s Pizza Rolls to be $22. - Ramon’s Rex Burkhead $87 (Closest Bid: Caleb at $40)
Plano Wildcat exploded for a TD turkey in week 3 (each TD via red zone touches). Both Ramon and Caleb saw the potential ceiling of a Pats red zone playmaker, but it turned out to be an outlier. Ramon bailed Caleb out, as Bill notoriously shifted gears and opted for another Pats running back to lead his backfield. - Jesse’s Quintez Cephus $31 (Closest Bid: No one)
On Quintez, Jesse will build his church, but nobody ended up attending. More of a DFS punt in weeks Golladay was out, Cephus looked like a promising sleeper (10 targets in Week 1) that nobody in our league was giving attention. He is now dust, like AJ Green.
“Hole in One” stands for the players that were acquired for literally nothing and ended up paying out big time:
- Caleb’s Chase Claypool (now Theo’s)
Deadpool is switching hands to Theo in a trade. Diontae’s injury opened up snaps for Chase to score four times! Tomlin can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Curious to see whether Diontae and Claypool are both startable in the Steelers offense. - Jesse’s Laviska Shenault
Initially a gadget player, Laviska is now a full-time WR. And in weeks with Chark back from injury, Shenault has 14 targets for a team-high 15.7% target share. - Caleb’s Damien Harris (now Theo’s)
Caleb shows up twice in this segment after going dumpster diving, discovering Sony Michel’s successor. Bill funneled 17 carries over to the promising sophomore, and that is enough to merit a starting spot on our rosters. If he truly inherits the goal-line work, Harris will be paydirty for Theo. - Danny’s Jerick McKinnon
Nasty, nasty pickup. In weeks 1–4, McKinnon was RB10 overall, averaging 16.6 points per game. His role changed drastically with Mostert’s recent return, but we now know he is a legit handcuff and potential FLEX most weeks.
