Hot Pickups – Week Nine
Andre Brown – Available in 80 percent of Yahoo! leagues, once healthy, Brown will immediately slide in as the Giants feature back. It is true that David Wilson is more of a gamebreaker with his elite speed but Brown is the more reliable option at this stage of their careers. Brown is a perfect fit for the Giants offense and has every-down skills which means he will rarely leave the field until Wilson is healthy. Brown will return as an upside RB2 so add him wherever available.
Jonathan Stewart – Stewart is the lead back in Carolina and he will assume that role when he returns to the team, possibly this week. Despite being the larger and more powerful back Stewart is actually preferred on passing downs in Carolina as the teams most complete back. Stewart should immediately see 15 plus touches a week and will rank in as a RB2 option most weeks once he returns. Stewart is still available in 90 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Shane Vereen – The Patriots backfield is still in a state of flux and is in prime position for the incredibly talented yet brittle Shane Vereen to assume the feature back role. Vereen has impressed as both a runner and a receiver thus far in his career and is the player that can take the Patriots offense who is sorely missing Danny Woodhead to the next level. Vereen will return as an RB2 with weekly RB1 upside. Vereen is still available in 61 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Marvin Jones – Jones has been on a mini tear as of late and this past Sunday despite playing in less than 25 percent of the snaps he somehow managed an insane four touchdowns off of 122 yards and a perfect eight of eight receptions. Jones is still available in 76 percent of Yahoo! leagues and should be scooped up by those in deeper leagues. The snap percentage seems to indicate that Jones is not officially the number two in Cincy but we expect that to change by this week. Potential owners should be aware that Andrew Hawkins is returning this week and that the target distribution behind A.J Green may change from week to week as the Bengals have the aforementioned Andrew Hawkins, Mohamed Sanu, Jermaine Gresham, Tyler Eifert and Giovani Bernard all vying for targets, all of whom are above average talents.
Kenny Stills – Stills had a monster 129 yard, two touchdown day versus the Bills this past Sunday but he had only three receptions and his big day may have been aided by the fact that Jimmy Graham only played limited snaps. With that said however Stills has likely earned Brees’ trust and will get to assume the Devery Henderson/Robert Meachem role of old. Stills will remain inconsistent this year but his ceiling is sky high in dynasty leagues and he will be a boom or bust WR4 option going forward. Stills is available in 90 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Tim Wright – With Mike Williams out for the year Wright is destined to see his role increase, so kudos to you if you held on to him after his slow week seven. Wright bounced back with five receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown in week eight and has emerged as a reliable fantasy option. Wright is a solid bye week filler and an emerging TE2 candidate and should be owned in more than five percent of Yahoo! leagues. Make the add where needed.
Dexter McCluster – Available in 95 percent of Yahoo! leagues Dexter was a PPR darling this past weekend racking up a touchdown and 67 yards off of seven receptions and taking one carry for five yards. McCluster will continue to be an inconsistent fantasy option but he needs to be owned in more than only five percent of leagues. McCluster is no more than a bye week filler due to Alex Smith but he flashed his upside this week which should put him back on the deep league radar.
David Nelson – Nelson managed eight receptions for 80 yards in week eight and should be on the radar for those in 14 and 16 team leagues as well as 12 teamers with ocean deep rosters. Nelson has emerged as a bit of a Geno Smith favorite and should be in lineups until further notice after amassing twelve receptions on nineteen targets over the past two weeks. Santonio Holmes is looking shaky for week nine so Nelson should have a least one more week of bye week filler value left in him.
Daniel Thomas – Though many failed to heed the Dolphins coaching staffs warnings that this would be a timeshare Thomas has made some strides this year in his own right. He has improved patience as a runner and has improved in pass protection as well as a receiver out of the backfield. It appears that Miller is still the lead back in this committee but Thomas can splash in some big weeks amongst his inconsistent ones. Thomas is a serviceable bye-week filler that also has some standalone value in deeper formats. Thomas is available in 84 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Montee Ball – With Hillman inactive due to constant fumbles Ball got some playing time last week and responded with a touchdown and 37 yards rushing managing only 3.4 yards per carry, a number still higher than Knowshon Moreno’s for week eight. Ball should continue to earn more snaps going forward and is a superior goal-line, short yardage and clock-killing back which should help him maintain some sort of flex2 value going forward for those in deeper leagues. Ball was one of our favorite rookies this pre-season due to the fact that he is the best runner on the team; he also has some receiving skills but will not see the starting job until Peyton Manning and the coaching staff are confident in his pass protection skills.
Kendall Wright – With Kenny Britt being phased out of the Titans offense Wright is now the teams most talented wideout. Locker has improved this season to the point where his top two receivers are WR4 consideration worthy at the very least. Wright is still available in 67 percent of leagues which is quite ridiculous considering Nate Washington is on more rosters than his more talented teammate. Route wise in standard leagues Washington is the more recognizable name but in PPR formats Wright has significantly more upside than Washington. Wright should continue to put up WR3 numbers the rest of the way and should be owned in all competitive leagues.
Drew Davis – Davis finally made his way into the box score after being shut down by Darrelle Revis in week seven. Davis hauled in five receptions for 77 yards and a score and will continue to start opposite Douglas until Roddy White returns from injury. There is a school of thought that since Davis is playing Julio’s position that he may stick in the starting lineup opposite Roddy when he returns but that is just speculation for now. Add Davis in deeper leagues until we see how this situation plays out, for now Davis is a solid bye week filler with the potential to emerge as a WR3/WR4 option. Davis is available in 99 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
