Buy – Sell – Hold
Rashad Jennings – BUY
There’s not much time to make a deal for Rashad Jennings so you need to be aggressive and get a deal done before his game starts this week. Jennings currently ranks 7th among RBs in fantasy scoring but still seems to be undervalued. Perhaps it’s because he didn’t do much in week 4, but whatever the reason turn it into an advantage for your fantasy team. This week he gets a Falcons team that surrendered a combined 47.2 fantasy points to Matt Asiata (31 pts) and Jerick McKinnon (16.2 pts). Yes, I’m looking for a big game from Jennings and if that happens his “buy” window will have closed. Matchup wise he has a few tough ones but there’s plenty of favorable ones that should help lead you to a fantasy championship. When you look at these matchups I think you’ll agree.
| Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run | Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Atlanta | 28 | 11 | San Francisco | 2 |
| 6 | @ Philadelphia | 26 | 12 | Dallas | 14 |
| 7 | @ Dallas | 14 | 13 | @ Jacksonville | 25 |
| 8 | BYE | n/a | 14 | @ Tennessee | 22 |
| 9 | Indianapolis | 11 | 15 | Washington | 8 |
| 10 | @ Seattle | 5 | 16 | @ St. Louis | 30 |
Red=Bad Matchup, Green=Good Matchup
Granted he does have some tough matchups, especially from week 8 thru 11, but he closes out the fantasy season with a plush run.
Jamaal Charles – SELL
If you are a Jamaal Charles owner you have to be ecstatic over his 31.8 point fantasy explosion. Anytime your RB goes off for 3 TDs…oh, wait, I almost forgot, we go beyond TDs here. Let’s just leave it at; when your RB goes off for a 30+ point game it’s hard to contain your enthusiasm. You know what’s even harder? Selling that player after he just delivered you to the Promised Land. Earlier this year, on The BLITZED Podcast, I talked about how I wasn’t as high on Charles coming into the season due to concerns with his OL. On the show I stated that if and when Charles had a big game you should look into selling him off and maximizing the value you can get from him. Granted the OL has played better than expected but I still have concerns and I am still advocating to sell Charles. Why? For starters, Knile Davis has shown that he can effectively relieve Charles and that could cost him valuable touches going forward. Of course there’s the ankle (which does seem fine) that could always be an issue at a later date. I know he averaged 5.11 YPC on Monday against the Patriots but looking at those carries deeper reveals some concerning numbers. He had 18 carries but one was a 2 yard TD, since he couldn’t run for more than 2 yards on that play I will be referring to his other 17 carries. Of those 17 carries, only 29% of them went for more than 5 yards, and he averaged 10.8 YPC on those carries. 53% of his carries were for less than 5 yards resulting in a YPC average of 2.22. I know you can’t “throw out” carries because they did happen, however, this exercise does add perspective beyond just looking at the box score and seeing 18-92. If you want another reason look no further than the brutal schedule he has the rest of this season.
| Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run | Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | @ San Francisco | 2 | 11 | Seattle | 5 |
| 6 | BYE | n/a | 12 | @ Oakland | 31 |
| 7 | @ San Diego | 9 | 13 | Denver | 12 |
| 8 | St. Louis | 30 | 14 | @ Arizona | 4 |
| 9 | New York Jets | 1 | 15 | Oakland | 31 |
| 10 | @ Buffalo | 3 | 16 | @ Pittsburgh | 15 |
Red=Bad Matchup, Green=Good Matchup
You might want to argue that Denver isn’t a “bad” matchup, but even if you do, that’s still a lot of RED in Charles’ future.
LeSean McCoy – HOLD
McCoy has put up just 3.9 total fantasy points the last two weeks combined. Yes, his lack of production is concerning but it’s also not surprising considering the Eagles OL was down to just one starter. Getting Lane Johnson back this week will be a plus for the Eagles and McCoy. Center Jason Kelce is expected by week 10. I know that’s still a way off but unlike Charles, I see McCoy having nice value late in the season and that’s when a player of his caliber can lead you to a fantasy championship. A glance at his schedule shows why he’s a hold for me. Well that and the fact that if you were to sell him you’d be selling far to low.
| Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run | Week | Matchup | Rank vs Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | St. Louis | 30 | 11 | @ Green Bay | 32* |
| 6 | New York Giants | 10 | 12 | @Tennessee | 22 |
| 7 | BYE | n/a | 13 | @ Dallas | 14 |
| 8 | @ Arizona | 4 | 14 | Seattle | 5 |
| 9 | @ Houston | 24 | 15 | Dallas | 14 |
| 10 | Carolina | 27 | 16 | @ Washington | 8 |
Red=Bad Matchup, Green=Good Matchup *Prior to week 5
The Cowboys don’t present as a great matchup, but I still think that before all is said and done we see the poor Cowboys defense that everyone expected to see before the season started.
Steve’s Seven Sleepers
With only two teams on a bye this week there won’t be as many players on a bye but if you need bye week help here are my seven sleepers of the week (one at each fantasy position) that can finish top-24* at their position for the week. To qualify the player can’t rank in the top-36** at their respective position based on the season long rankings in the Huddle IDP Expert League. I thought it’d be nice to show how my sleepers did the previous week so you’ll also find last week’s sleepers with the amount of points that they scored. I also want to add that I’m trying to target players that should be available on waivers.
*Top-12 for QB & TE. **Top-15 for QB & TE.
| Week 5 | Week 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Sleeper | Position | Sleeper | FPts |
| QB | Austin Davis | QB | Ryan Tannehill | 22.62 |
| RB | Bishop Sankey | RB | Donald Brown | 9.40 |
| WR | Rueben Randle | WR | Mike Evans | 16.50 |
| TE | Garrett Graham | TE | Brandon Myers | 0.00 |
| DL | Wallace Gilberry | DL | Akiem Hicks | 4.00 |
| LB | Jerrell Freeman* | LB | Sam Barrington | 0.00 |
| DB | Kemal Ishmael | DB | Kenny Vaccaro | 17.00 |
Yes, my IDP sleepers once again weren’t very good. Don’t quit on me yet!
* Freeman is due back from injury so it will be important to make sure he doesn’t have any setbacks and is active before you plug him into your lineup.
Trench Warfare?
Here’s a matchup that will be interesting to see how it unfolds. The fact that the Chargers keep plugging away on runs up the middle is astonishing in and of itself. If they are going to get it going on those runs facing a Jaguars team that is giving up nearly 5 YPC on those runs could be just what the doctor ordered to revive some life into Donald Brown’s YPC average.
Chargers
Jaguars
