Week 7 was the worst bye week situation fantasy football managers will have to navigate this season. But through Week 8, only 12 teams have had their bye weeks. Meaning, it is still very important to pay attention to bye weeks and how we structure our rosters.
At this point in the season, I like to trade away some of my high value players that have an upcoming bye for players of similar value that have already had their byes. If you can package two lower valued players for one higher valued player past his bye, that is even better. This type of move in essence helps you to navigate the bye weeks a bit easier.
No matter what kind of moves you are trying to make, it is still important to manage your roster spots appropriately. One way to do that is to cut the dead weight. Roster cloggers are the guys that you have on your fantasy football roster, but you just don’t want to put in your starting lineup no matter how badly you need a starter. If you can’t plug a player in during bye weeks then they likely are just taking up a roster spot.
As we get closer to the end of the season, these roster cloggers need to be dropped. You need to ensure that you have depth that can help sustain injuries as you make a playoff push. This could mean dropping the clogger to get a handcuff. Or dare I say it get a second defense that may have a good playoff schedule. For example, the Cowboys play the Giants and the Washington Football Team in Weeks 15 and 16, respectively. You should not be adding your playoff matchups now, but it is something that you should be paying attention to over the next few weeks.
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons (55.6 Rostered, 21.1% Started)
This article previously featured Matt Ryan following his Week 1 matchup. Since then, he has had several good games with over 300 passing yards and multiple touchdowns. Unfortunately, Week 8 against the Panthers was not one of them. In addition to coming off a bad week, Ryan is losing his favorite target for the rest of the season.
After being a surprise inactive on Sunday, it came out that Calvin Ridley was stepping away from football for the remainder of the season to focus on his mental health. First of all I hope that Ridley is able to get whatever help he needs to get through whatever he is struggling with. I hope that Ridley making this decision helps anyone else struggling with their mental health seek the help that they need.
While Ridley is out the only significant pass-catcher still remaining on the team is Kyle Pitts. I am expecting Ryan to still have decent weeks, but he should really just be a streaming option at this point. If you play in superflex or two QB leagues, Ryan should still be rostered, but otherwise he does not need to be rostered anywhere.
Running Backs
Mike Davis, Atlanta Falcons (75.5% Rostered, 16.2% Started)
Mike Davis has been a decent fantasy football running back all season. But he is not getting enough usage to be a reliable fantasy starter most weeks. In Week 8, Davis played on 64% of the offensive snaps. However, he was still the 2nd most productive RB on the team. The emergence of Cordarrelle Patterson has really taken away nearly all of the value from Mike Davis.
In Week 8, Davis led the team in RB snaps, but him and Patterson had the same exact number of touches. One encouraging thing about Davis is that he was actually involved in the passing game. This could continue to be true, with Ridley missing the remainder of the season. But i think I would prefer to let someone else roster Davis and get nine points out of a starting RB each week.
Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills (58.3% Rostered, 13.1% Started)
Zack Moss is the clear RB1 for the Buffalo Bills. In his last three games, Devin Singletary has only played 26%, 45%, and 34% of the snaps. In addition, he has only 26 touches over that same span for just 95 total yards and no touchdowns.
Zack Moss ran more routes (28) than Devin Singletary (12), handled all three "passing situation RB targets", and both two-minute drill RB targets in Week 8.
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) November 1, 2021
With this lack of usage and production Singletary just can not be started in most situations. If Moss is to miss time Singletary would immediately have fantasy relevance. But if you need to make a drop in the meantime, Singletary is droppable.
Wide Receivers
Robby Anderson, Carolina Panthers (67.2% Rostered, 19.9% Started)
Robby Anderson has been one of the most frustrating fantasy football WRs this season. Not only has Anderson played on the majority of snaps, but he is also running a ton of routes and getting a lot of targets. The problem is that he just is not producing enough. This is in part due to his career-high drop rate. Anderson has dropped 12% of his targets compared to his previous career high of 4.4%.
Anderson is currently on pace for over 100 targets this season. He is only on pace for 434 receiving yards. Until Anderson starts to catch more of his targets, he is not startable in any fantasy format. If you are able to trade Anderson for a more productive player based on his draft capital, now is the time to do it.
Laviska Shenault Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (60% Rostered, 8.3% Started)
Prior to the season, I was pretty high on Laviska Shenault. However, he has been one of my bigger disappointments. I am ready to finally move on in redraft leagues. I was hopeful that the Jaguars would find more creative ways to get Shenault involved, but that just has not happened enough to make him relevant.
Prior to the Chark injury, I considered putting Shenault on this list, but I wanted to hold onto hope. Following the injury there was an uptick in air yards, so I thought his role may be changing. But in Week 8, Shenault fell below Jamal Agnew in snaps, routes, catches, and receiving yards.
As the 3rd receiving option on the team, I am ready to move on from Shenault now. He is not going to have enough predictable usage to be plugged into my lineup as long as he is on the Jaguars. Maybe in eight years or so he will start to be used in a more efficient way like Cordarrelle Patterson has been this season.
Laviska Shenault is just fancy Cordarrelle Patterson
— Thomas Christopher (@ThomasCP_NFL) November 1, 2021
Tight Ends
Jared Cook, Los Angeles Chargers (57.9% Rostered, 24.8% Started)
The New England Patriots have been one of the most difficult matchups in fantasy football for tight ends this season. They were able to hold Jared Cook to just 25 yards on two receptions in Week 8. I do not want to hold this against Cook too much. He is one of the best TEs that the Patriots have faced and he was held in check.
This was one of Cook’s worst fantasy performances of the season and he burned a lot of managers. It does not take a lot to be a usable TE in fantasy football, but Cook missed the mark by a lot. He’s had several decent fantasy weeks, but it is very sporadic this season. If you are currently starting Cook you may be better off streaming the position based off of matchups. Some weeks Cook will be the best streaming option, but he should still be available off waivers if you need him.
Roster Clogger Watch
Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles (57.7% Rostered, 31.5% Started)
With no Miles Sanders in the lineup, people expected Gainwell to see a big jump in workload and have a big game in Week 8. But the Eagles had different plans. Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Jordan Howard had nearly identical touches. Scott was the clear leader in snaps, followed by Gainwell and then Howard. Even though Gainwell was 2nd in snap share, he was the least productive of the three RBs.
Miles Sanders out. Eagles finally decide to run the football. And not with Kenneth Gainwell. pic.twitter.com/VMaAuc7XzE
— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) October 31, 2021
This is in part due to the fact that both Scott and Howard had two touchdowns each. Kenneth Gainwell was held to under 30 yards, Boston Scott and Jordan Howard both had over 50 rushing yards. I am not sure if this usage was related to the fact that this game got out of hand or not. If Gainwell does not improve in Week 9, we need to consider dropping him.
Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers (91.5% Rostered, 70.6% Started)
Hubbard has been a pretty solid waiver wire pickup in the absence of Christian McCaffrey. With CMC eligible to return from IR as early as this week, Hubbard is in line for a big decrease in usage in the coming weeks. Hubbard has shown that he will have value if CMC is to miss any more time. But if McCaffrey stays healthy, you will not be able to start Hubbard anymore.
There is still a trade window for Hubbard. If you have the opportunity to trade Hubbard in the coming weeks as CMC gets back to full strength I would be trying to do so. We should be watching for his usage these next few weeks to see mainly how quickly this trade window will close.
