Hello and welcome to the first post of The Fantasy Hangover. This will be a weekly article, where I focus on breaking news, hot topics, weekly recaps, and top waiver wire pickups in the fantasy football world (or sometimes it may just be my biased opinion). So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
Patience is a virtue. That’s the phrase I remember hearing ever since I was a wee lad. And I hated it. Being patient sucked. I wanted the new GameBoy now, I didn’t want to wait until Christmas!
But in the game of fantasy football, patience is a good thing. When that one player that you drafted and kept starting, even though he wasn’t putting up many points, finally explodes and helps you win your fantasy matchup, it makes the wait worth it. Here are three “patient performers” that paid off for their owners this week.
PATIENT PERFORMERS
Lamar Miller After failing to find the end zone the first five weeks, Lamar Miller finally hit pay dirt, and rewarded his faithful fantasy owners with a big outing. On an offense that is struggling to win games, Miller looks like the only bright spot, and they are relying on him a lot. Congrats to all of you who stuck with Miller through the hard times (myself included) and finally saw that patience pay off.
Odell Beckham Jr. & The Net – A True Love Story
For those of you who have been following the ongoing saga of Odell vs. The Net, the drama continued this week after Odell’s two mouth-dropping touchdowns, a 75-yarder and a 66-yarder. After his first touchdown, he went and cuddled with The Net, and after the second touchdown, he went for it all and proposed to The Net (he/she said yes!). Now that’s love. After an on and off again relationship with The Net (Net punched Odell, Odell hugged Net) it looks like it’s happily ever after. On a more serious note, Odell’s season has officially taken off after a slow start the first five weeks. After a career day, Odell is looking even better than last year (and it looks like he’s having fun now).
Jay Ajayi (Yes, he’s a thing now)
I was hesitant to put Jay Ajayi in here, but he deserves it after a 204-yard, two touchdown day. For the few that held on to him and believed (the 30 percent that owned him in Yahoo), he just validated your faith. I don’t think he’s going to come anywhere near these stats again next week against the Bills, but there’s a chance he may remain the lead back, even with Arian Foster healthy. Time will tell with Ajayi, but there’s no doubt that he showed up in a big way for the Dolphins.
WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
RUNNING BACKS 1. Jay Ajayi, Dolphins – Like I just mentioned, even though he most likely won’t have a repeat performance of last week, he’s still a top waiver wire add based on the lack of available running backs. Ajayi has scored four touchdowns in his last three games, and is averaging more than four yards-per-carry. It’s looking like he will be the lead back against the Bills, but be wary of Arian Foster coming into the mix this week.
2. Devontae Booker, Broncos – Booker is owned in only 27 percent of Yahoo leagues, and even though he is only worth a spot on your bench right now, he out-ran C.J. Anderson last week, taking 15 of the carries. While this isn’t a full-blown RBBC, he has looked promising and coach Kubiak has promised to get him more involved.
3. Jacquizz Rodgers, Buccaneers – If Doug Martin plays, Rodgers’ value drops way down, but if Martin is out, then Rodgers is a RB2 in a dream matchup against what is probably the league’s worst run defense (the 49ers).
WIDE RECEIVERS 1. Cameron Meredith, Bears – The past two games, Meredith has 27 targets, 20 catches, 243 yards, and a touchdown. With Hoyer starting, he has more targets than any other Bears receiver. He is worthy of a start this week against Green Bay, but then has a tough matchup against the Vikings in Week 8.
2. Kenny Britt, Rams – After his breakout game (136 yards and two touchdowns), Britt is a high waiver wire add (and almost made it on the “Patient Performers” list). Britt now has at least 75 yards in four of the last five games. Like Ajayi, Britt is unlikely to repeat last week, but he is the top-performing Rams receiver right now and is a good pickup if you’re wide receiver needy.
3. Ty Montgomery, Packers – With Starks and Lacy both hurt and not playing on Thursday, Montgomery seems like the likely candidate to benefit (along with Knile Davis).
Bonus pickup: Cole Beasley, Cowboys
TIGHT ENDS 1. Hunter Henry, Chargers – Henry should be your #1 waiver priority this week, as he seems like the real deal. He now has a touchdown or 70+ yards four games in a row, even with Antonio Gates active.
2. Jack Doyle, Colts – With Dwayne Allen out, Doyle is the lone tight end for the Colts, and should see plenty of targets this week. If you need a tight end, he is a good streaming option.
3. C.J. Fiedorowicz, Texans – Even though the Texans offense has looked like hot garbage so far, Fiedorowicz (former Iowa Hawkeye – woot woot!) has at least five targets and two touchdowns in his last three games. This week, he gets the Broncos, who have actually let tight ends put up quite a few points (see Hunter Henry).
Bonus pickup: Charles Clay, Bills
QUARTERBACKS 1. Brian Hoyer, Bears – For Big Ben owners, Hoyer is a good plug-and-play this week against the Packers. Hoyer has thrown for at least 300 yards in four games in a row, and faces a Packers defense that has allowed at least 23 fantasy points to quarterbacks three out of the last four games. He’s looking better than Jay Cutler, and is a solid week 7 streaming option.
2. Alex Smith, Chiefs – If you are desperate for a QB, consider Smith. Even though it’s hard to trust Smith these days, he’s going against the Saints, which means he’s guaranteed at least two touchdowns. Am I right?!
3. Trevor Siemian, Broncos – He’s looked decent so far this year, and now he gets the banged-up Houston secondary. Siemian is worthy of a pickup in two quarterback leagues, or if you have no other options.
That’s going to do it for this week’s Fantasy Hangover. If you have any questions or comments (or hate mail), tweet us at @frontlineff.