We’re about to enter the throes of Week 9 of the NFL
and Fantasy Football season, and at this point should have a good sense of
where all the various players we have examined sit.
Or we did until about half of them got hurt last
weekend. At least, it seemed like half of them got hurt, though the biggest and
most immediate player to end up on Injured Reserve was Le’Veon Bell. We also
lost Steve Smith, lost Keenan Allen, the Miami Dolphins defense lost Cameron
Wake and Colin Kaepernick got benched.
They like to keep us on our toes, the NFL does.
The Footballguys staff shook all that off and got
right back to work though. They’ve compiled their Thursday cash picks for you
and I’ve pulled out some of the choice bits worthy of discussion. You can find all
the lineups here.
Staff
Trends
Heavy on the Brady
Normally we’re talking about the lack of top
quarterbacks getting use on a Thursday lineup but not today, as Tom Brady was
in four out of ten lineups. The matchup is choice of course, as Washington
continues to have issues and while the $9500 price is a bit steep, he’s close
to a sure thing at this point. We’d also point out that the Interactive Value
Chart loves him (link
for subscribers) and while there are strong values elsewhere at
quarterback, the price/value combo is worth a look.
Alshon Abounds
Eight out of ten staff members added Alshon Jeffery
into their lineups. That’s a pretty string statement of support. Jeffery is
facing a banged up Chargers defense, potentially without Eric Weddle and it’s vulnerable.
$7900 isn’t cheap but for a guy who could put up WR1 numbers, it’s worth it. As
Chad Parsons points out in the
Value article, “Alshon Jeffery has seen 11, 11, and 15 targets
in his three games this season. The Bears have an optimistic matchup against
San Diego and Jeffery, outside of Martellus Bennett, is the only weapon of note
in Chicago's passing game.”
Crabtree
You know who got as much love as Alshon? Michael
Crabtree. He’s had more targets than Amari Cooper so far and with the rookie
getting plenty of attention, he’s taking advantage of single coverage and
matchup advantages. At $5800 he’s a good bargain and against a poor Steelers
defense I can see the appeal. For myself I went with Cooper, as there isn’t
anyone to stop him in the Steelers secondary, but Crabtree is equally
appealing.
Glaring
Omissions
I’m a little surprised at the lack of Todd Gurley,
who has high value and a solid matchup, but the $9000 is turning people off.
Also, while Brady got some love, everyone is fading Rob Gronkowski. At
$8500, he’s $1900 more than the next guy up, Gary Barnidge. Antonio
Gates ($6000), Greg Olsen ($6400) and Barnidge are all as appealing
for a lot less money.
Diamonds
in the Rough
Darren
McFadden is getting some love with Joseph Randle released.
He seems to be healthy (a rarity) and is proving to be quite the workhorse
behind a great offensive line and at $6500 he is a nice value in a solid
matchup against the Eagles.
We also liked Steve Johnson as Allen is now on
injured reserve. Johnson did leave the Week 8 game with a shoulder injury, but
his $5400 salary and the lack of Allen could put Johnson in line for some big
production. In the
Value article, Danny Tuccitto said that “given his salary and projected
points, Johnson has a 55.4% chance of achieving cash game value, which ranks third
among wide receivers.”
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