Bijan Robinson and More Fantasy Football Halloween Tricks and Treats for Week 9
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Xfinity, we have Halloween tricks and treats for Week 9, starts and sits, and late-week waiver wire help.
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Xfinity.com:
Would you like to play a game? Welcome, boils and ghouls, to a little Fantasy Life Halloween fun with your unnaturally cheerful narrator—emerging from his stat-soaked crypt with a pumpkin-shaped bucket full of fantasy trick and treats, sure to rattle those bones.
In my line of work, you make a real killing!
Trick
Boo! Oh, I do love a good fright! Bijan Robinson played the razor blade in fantasy gamers’ apples last week with an all-time chalk flop against Mike McDaniel’s hapless Dolphins.
Time for another tale of terror … this one’s a real killer if you ask me. The Cowboys can’t get caught napping in the bone-dry desert as their defensive Nightmare on Elm Street continues. But beware the dream-dwelling madmen, slaughtering unsuspecting travelers to Arizona. One, two, Marvin’s comin’ for you …
Toes are tagged nationwide with excitement over the perennial conference championship matchup between rivals Buffalo and Kansas City. Fully equipped with a +51-point game total, my advice, ladies and germs? Don’t lose your head! If your opponents have Bills or Chiefs … the morgue, the merrier!
The living expect a party by Camp Crystal Lake, but we specters know it’s a defensive dogfight on deck. And like most old-school Jason movies, it’s more likely to bore you to death than anything.
Like all the Friday the 13th sequels, Lamar Jackson’s return to the field turned into Tight End Day II. Jackson threw daggers into the Miami secondary, connecting with tight ends on three of his four TD passes in a 28-6 victory over the Dolphins on Thursday night.
Hello again, Kiddies!! It’s time now for Tales From The Editors, a ghoulish delight not for the weak of spirit. In this segment, we highlight some players who may be GORED, some receivers to fade, and a Bear who might be walking into a trap. I call this one: Click … or be sickaaaahahahahhahhhhaaaaahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
It's Week 9 in these fantasy football streets, and it is a great time to remind you of the famous quote made popular by one of the greatest movies ever made, The Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living or get busy dying!”
Let’s get into Gene Clemons’ and John Laghezza’s starts and sits …
🎃 START: Alec Pierce, WR, IND
LAGHEZZA: As long as Indianapolis keeps steamrolling its opposition on offense, it’s at least a little bit of a surprise the NFL’s top-scoring team boasts just two top-10 WR finishes on the season. Yes, my personal MVP Jonathan Taylor looks like Jim Brown and Barry Sanders rolled into one right now, but still IND’s sixth in passing yards/game, and it’s got to be going somewhere.
The Colts will look to keep things rolling in the Steel City this weekend with a surprisingly high 50-point game total on the board. Pittsburgh’s projected to score +23 on its own—and Indy’s shown a propensity to air the ball out when getting pushed.
Since returning from injury, Alec Pierce leads all Colts’ pass catchers in routes run (93), receiving yards (215) and yards/route (2.15) on a ridiculous +158 air yards/game—second to only superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba in that timeframe.
Pierce’s archetype matches up well against the Steelers as well—whose typically man-heavy, Cover-1 approach lends itself to one-on-one matchups on the outside. As the Colts’ team leader in targets (11) and weighted opportunity (69.7%) versus man coverage, we’re in line for a few deep shots that can move the needle in one play.
🎃 SIT: Dalton Kincaid, TE, BUF
CLEMONS: This would not register as a bold sit, but it is a sit nonetheless. Kincaid has been slumping in fantasy lately despite playing against subpar competition. He started the season up and down, scoring double digits in PPR formats Weeks 1, 3 and 5, but only single digits in Weeks 2 and 4.
He missed Week 6 and had a bye in Week 7, but returned in Week 8 only to score 3.3 points against a Panthers squad that surrenders over 10 points per game in fantasy on average this season. There is no alpha receiver on this team, so any one of the pass catchers could be teed up for a good game. The problem seems to be that Kincaid does not participate in many routes. In the first five weeks, he participated in 55.5% of routes, and in Week 8, he took only 13 offensive snaps. It is probably best to see what the deal is before putting him back in your lineup. Even when he was scoring points, he was dependent on touchdown passes, and those have seemed to dry up.
We are essentially halfway through the fantasy football season. It's cliché, but the time really does fly. The fantasy playoffs are coming into focus, and in most leagues, you have only six weeks remaining to solidify your spot, which means it is time to get your roster in order.
This makes for a great dynamic on waivers, where some teams are playing a weekly game and doing whatever it takes to win and stay in the playoff hunt. Other teams have the luxury of planning ahead and targeting ascending players without being worried about their Week 9 production. Regardless of what you are looking for, Jonathan Fuller has you covered with some late-week waiver adds to improve your team for Week 9 and beyond ...
I am willing to admit that Travis Etienne has been better than I expected this season, but I still believe Bhayshul Tuten is one of the better RBs to stash right now. The rookie has shown flashes of playmaking ability this season, but hasn't had a consistent role. There is a chance that could change coming out of Jacksonville's bye if the coaching staff wants to get the players they selected more involved.
The Jaguars also traded away Tank Bigsby, which made Tuten the clear backup in Jacksonville and was a vote of confidence in their depth at the position. Rookie breakouts can happen quickly, so I want to be ahead of the curve by already rostering a player like Tuten before we see a big game from him.
» For more late-week players to add that may have slipped through the waiver cracks, click below! ⬇️
