Week 7 is in the books and there were quite a few interesting narratives to take away. Peyton Manning is by far the greatest regular season QB of all time, and at his advanced age, looks better than ever. CJ Spiller must be cursed by the fantasy gods or something because the second he looks like he’s going to start getting the bulk of carries in Buffalo, he breaks a 53 yard run, and then breaks his collarbone. He’s out for the year. Some players like Tre Mason and Denard Robinson earned their playing time the old fashioned way by beating the man in front of them with better play on the field. Not to mention that the defending super bowl champs decided to trade away their #1 WR in the middle of their repeat campaign. One of the over-arching themes of NFL football is “Next man up” and the same thing applies to fantasy football. Add these names to the list of potential contributors going forward, and let them be the “next man up” for your respective squads.
Quarterbacks to Add
1. Ryan Tannhehill, Dolphins: Tannehill is finally coming into his own as NFL QB during his 3rd campaign leading the Dolphins. This is arguably his best 3 game stretch of his career, as he has gone for 20, 17, and 23 fantasy points the last 3 Sundays. Tannehill is averaging 260 yards per game through the air and 42 yards on the ground. The added bonus of rushing yards for Tannehill definitely boosts his stock. The Dolphins have been running more and more zone read plays for Tanehill and he keeps converting them. As long as Tannehill can keep his TD to INT ratio down he might need to be considered a QB1 going forward this season. Tannehill comes into week 8 only being owned in 12.1% of ESPN leagues, but is averaging 16.2 ppg. Tannheill has already had his bye week, so you can plug and play him for the rest of the season.
2. Kyle Orton, Bills: Orton is not going to wow you with his style of play, but over his first 3 starts in Buffalo he has surprisingly been effective. Orton has produced at least 14 fantasy points in all 3 of his starts, and seems to have developed a great chemistry with rookie WR Sammy Watkins. Orton has been an immense upgrade over EJ Manuel, purely based on the fact that he throws the ball in the vicinity of his WR’s hands. Orton is only owned 0.4% of ESPN leagues, and is a low-end QB2. He should be added only in 2 QB leagues.
3. Robert Griffin. Redskins: RG3 could be coming back any week, and now that there is absolutely no controversy on who is the starting QB in Washington, Griffin should be owned in 100% of leagues going forward. The Redskins QB will have almost a half of a season to prove to new head coach Jay Gruden that he is worthy of being the starter going forward. RG3 may not run like he did during his rookie campaign, but the Redskins WR is vastly improved from the past 2 seasons. Griffin should be able to exploit an easy second half schedule and get Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon the ball down the field.
Running backs to add
1. Tre Mason, Rams: Tre Mason took a few weeks to adjust to the NFL game and speed, but now that he has gotten his feet wet a little bit, the sky is the limit for this former Auburn Tiger. Mason has the vision and cat-like quickness to make defenders miss in the hole, and despite his small stature, Mason has figured out a way to be a physical between the tackles runner. The ineffectiveness of Zac Stacy has opened the door for Mason to become a viable fantasy starter. Mason toted the rock 18 times for 85 yards and a TD in St. Louis’ big upset win over Seattle. Mason is only owned in 2.1% of leagues and should be added in all leagues and formats.
2. Denard Robinson, Jaguars: The former Michigan QB has finally gotten his chance to show what he can do as an NFL RB, and he did not disappoint. Robinson finished last week’s game with 22 carries for 127 yards and a TD. The Jaguars offense may be a little inconsistent to rely on Robinson on a weekly basis going forward, but there is immense value in being a starting RB in the NFL. Robinson is only owned in 0.5% of ESPN leagues, and is worth a speculative add. Hold off on inserting him into your lineup just yet, we should wait to see another week of production and usage rate in Jax, because just last week they had us all fooled thinking Storm Johnson was up next.
3. Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown, Bills: Dixon and Brown are both worth waiver consideration for this week based on the fact that Buffalo lost both of their lead back in Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller. Dixon is a plotting style RB in the mold of a Shonn Greene, but he has been effective this season averaging more than 5 yards per carry. Bryce Brown has yet to be on the active roster for a game yet this season, but by all accounts in Buffalo will have a role going forward as long as Fred Jackson is out. If you need a safe steady option, you should consider adding Dixon and hope that he vultures a few TDs going forward, if you need a potential homerun threat, then add Brown who should be the change of pace back in the Buffalo offense.
Wide Receivers to Add
1. Doug Baldwin, Seahawks: Doug Baldwin is only owned in 19% of leagues and this may be the best chance that fantasy owners will have of adding a top 20 impact WR for the rest of the season. Baldwin is afforded a great opportunity to be the leading pass catcher in the Seattle offense after the Seahawks traded away Percy Harvin last Friday. Baldwin led Seattle with 7 catches for 123 yards in a TD in their loss to St. Louis, and this production should be similar going forward. Russell Wilson has always had a connection with Baldwin, and now that he’s one of the only veteran receivers they have, expect Wilson to depend heavily on him.
2. Mike Evans, Buccaneers: Evans can be a very sneaky pickup for this week since the Bucs were on a bye last week and most of the hot names on the waiver wire had big games in week 7. Evans broke out in week 6 with 4 catches for 55 yards and a TD after his surprising comeback from a groin injury after only 2 weeks. Bucs QB Mike Glennon is very effective throwing the deep ball, which Evans excels at going up attacking in the air. The Bucs will probably be down in a lot of games going forward and will afford Evans a lot of targets and opportunities to make the most out of his rookie campaign.
3. Martavis Bryant, Steeler: Bryant made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football and had 2 catches for 40 yards and a TD. Bryant is only owned in 0.4% of leagues and may not be worthy of being inserted in your lineup just yet, but all signs point towards him emerging in that Steelers offense who is desperate for a #2 WR. Second year player Markus Wheaton has been borderline terrible, and if the Steelers want to win, they will continue to give Bryant snaps over Wheaton. We should monitor this situation going forward and when Bryant really breaks out, you can dust him off the bench.
Tight Ends to Add
1. Charles Clay, Dolphins: Clay finished last season as a top 10 TE, and has been very disappointing to owners who spent a mid-round draft pick on him this year expecting similar production. Clay has apparently been suffering from a training camp knee injury for the majority of the season and is finally getting healthy. Clay showed the explosiveness that fantasy owners remember from last season in the Dolphins beat down of the Chicago Bears. The way that Tannehill is playing right now, Clay is worth an add to TE desperate owners.
2. Cooper Helfet, Seahawks: The Seahawks are in dire need of TE production with Zach Miller out and Luke Wilson had his chance to seize an opportunity and just did not get the job done. Helfet had 3 catches for 61 yards and a TD Sunday and looked good while doing it. With the Seahawks looking to fill a void in their passing game left by the departing Percy Harvin, Helfet could see more playing time and targets going forward.