As we cross past the halfway point of the regular season, we are entering one of the most important parts of the fantasy football season. At this point, you should already have a decent idea of where your team stands.
If you are in a good position to make the playoffs, make sure you continue to get wins no matter what. This means you need to have plans for bye weeks and potential injuries to your top players. You should look at matchups a couple weeks out to make sure that you have players available for your starting lineup.
If you are sitting on the outside of the playoffs, it is time to make some big changes. In the past, I have traded some big name players for multiple starters to help me get much needed wins. This is a risky fantasy football strategy, but if you are outside looking in, you need to take some risks.
One thing is common for both types of teams. You need to make sure that you have the roster space required to make the necessary moves. The first thing I always look for is the easy cuts. If I do not have any of those, I look for my roster cloggers. Getting rid of the roster cloggers allows me to get bench players that I can use in my starting lineup if I need to. It also serves a secondary purpose. It forces my league mates to add them to their own rosters. This forces them to use a bench spot on a player that is not startable, but also prevents them from adding the players that I am targeting.
Quarterbacks
Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers (47.5% Rostered, 32.6% Started)
After a hot start to the season, Sam Darnold has been on a bit of a cold streak the past few weeks. Darnold started the season with four straight games with over 275 passing yards and completing at least 66% of his passes. However, over the last three weeks, he has not completed more than 60% of his pass attempts once. He has also not surpassed 210 yards in any of the last three games.
Sam Darnold @PFF passing grades & ranks:
Weeks 1-3: 80.1 (10th)
Weeks 4-7: 44.2 (30th)
— Austin Gayle (@PFF_AustinGayle) October 25, 2021
Darnold was not only hot in the passing game, but was also a strong rusher. Darnold had five rushing touchdowns in his first four games of the season. Unfortunately, in the last three games, he has not found the end zone.
Sam Darnold is still going to be an option as a streamer this season, but can’t be considered a starting option until he starts performing better. Unless you play in a superflex league and roster multiple QBs, you should consider dropping Darnold for a better streaming option or position player that could help your team even more.
Running Backs
Mike Davis, Atlanta Falcons (86.5% Rostered, 50.8% Started)
Davis was featured on the roster clogger watch list last week. He has taken the step up to roster clogger this week due to another poor showing. In Week 7, Mike Davis played on only 60% of the snaps. That was a season low for him. Not only that, but he had a season low carries, rushing yards, and targets.
Mike Davis has seen a decrease in usage and production while Cordarrelle Patterson has seen an increase. Patterson had season highs in snap percentage, carries, and rushing yards. Unless there is a drastic change in usage in the coming weeks, Mike Davis is unplayable in fantasy football.
Damien Williams, Chicago Bears (52.6% Rostered, 11.8% Started)
After David Montgomery went on the IR, it appeared that Damien Williams was going to become the workhorse for the Bears. I put bids on him in multiple leagues. I also made sure to put claims on Khalil Herbert, because I thought that he was the better back. In the first week they were both on the field, they had similar opportunities and production. Williams was placed on the COVID list in Week 6, opening the door for Herbert who did not disappoint.
Williams was active in Week 7, but was not used very much. This could be because he was being eased back in. Or, because the job is now in the grasp of Khalil Herbert until Montgomery returns.
#Bears RB Khalil Herbert's carry chart from Week 7:
Still just two carries on the season where he's been stopped behind the LOS. Both in Week 7. pic.twitter.com/yTGqfrywxU
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 25, 2021
At this point, you can not put Williams into your starting lineup. Damien Williams will be pushed down the depth chart once Montgomery returns from IR.
Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts (48.6% Rostered, 13.9% Started)
After Nyheim Hines was on the watchlist last week, I wanted to discuss him again even though he is rostered in fewer than 50% of leagues. Last week, I had him on the watch list due to his decrease in usage on a weekly basis. In Week 7, Hines saw a slight increase in snap share, but it was not very significant. Hines also had an increase in rushing attempts in Week 7, but he was not very productive with them.
I personally had to cut Hines this week in order to add a TE to replace Darren Waller. Now Hines is on the waiver wire for my opponents to bid on. If he takes away even a little of my opponents FAAB to sit on their bench, it is worth it. I will also add that I added Zach Ertz to replace Waller – which was a pretty sweet pickup.
Wide Receivers
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (52.6% Rostered, 13.9% Started)
After starting the season in the dog house, there was hope that Brandon Aiyuk would be able to climb out. In some aspects, Aiyuk seems to be improving, but it has not been enough to be the slightest bit relevant in fantasy football. Aiyuk has been improving in snap share and routes run as the season has progressed. But his targets in general are decreasing.
Deebo Samuel is the clear WR1 for the 49ers, and Aiyuk has a long way to go to surpass him. I do not expect that to happen at any time this season, but I do expect some flash weeks. Unfortunately for fantasy football managers, these flash weeks are likely to occur while Aiyuk is on your bench. If you are going to miss out on the big weeks, why not let your opponents take up a roster spot and miss them instead.
Tight Ends
Jonnu Smith, New England Patriots (46% Rostered, 23% Started)
Jonnu Smith has been on this list for a few weeks now, so I am not going to go into too much depth. He played in a season low 22% of the snaps in Week 7. The interesting thing about Week 7 though, is that he ran routes on nearly half of his 17 snaps. He caught 5 of his 8 targets for 52 yards. Smith also had a rushing attempt in this game. The Patriots were using Smith a lot to start the game, but an injury forced his usage to stop.
Smith’s usage is still not steady enough to get him into your starting lineup, and in general there are not many reasons to carry two tight ends. The only reason I can imagine is having one of the top TE on bye or injured and needing a replacement.
Roster Clogger Watch
Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears (91.2% Rostered, 56% Started)
It hurts to put Allen Robinson on the watch list, but his usage this season has been pretty alarming. Robinson is running a decent number of routes, but is not getting the targets that we need for him to be fantasy relevant. So far this season, Robinson is averaging 5.7 targets and 3.3 receptions per game. Until Justin Fields gets more confident and improves as an NFL QB, Robinson does not belong in any starting lineups. If we do not see improvements in production from Robinson, he will have to be in drop consideration for bye week or injury replacements.
Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles (94.4% Rostered, 71.8% Started)
Miles Sanders has been fairly disappointing for fantasy football this season. Through seven weeks, Sanders only has three games with more than 50 rushing yards. To be fair though, Sanders left fairly early in Week 7 due to an ankle injury. On just six carries, Sanders had 30 rushing yards to start the Week 7 matchup. We currently do not know if Sanders will miss any games due to his injury, but we do need to monitor the situation.
Miles Sanders week to week with ankle injury. https://t.co/GsSOK1rfaL
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 26, 2021
Now is not the time to drop Sanders. If you can trade him now, it might be worth it. Using a roster spot to stash an injured player that was already underperforming is not very optimal.
