It’s one of my favorite times of the year. We find ourselves at the convergence of yoga pants season and “classy” costume party season. What a time to be alive. There’s also the struggle in finding time to check out all the new video game releases while relentlessly grinding MUT solos on Madden. Heck, this article may contain traces of pumpkin spice for all you know. But teams are loading up for fantasy playoff runs, fire sales have begun in dynasty leagues, and every matchup has the weight of heightened stakes. Now these times can be frustrating and have you fluctuating up and down faster than a Midwest thermostat (regional humor always kills, right?) but we’re not going to leave you hanging. Because we’re going streaming! As always, I look at guys owned in less than 65% of Yahoo leagues after waivers run on Thursday mornings. Grab your green hat Snoop-a-loop!
Josh McCown – For the record, Andy Dalton’s stupid face should probably be headlining this article again. And yes, his ownership percentage is right on the cusp at 65%. But let’s go beyond, shall we? I don’t get the Jets this year. I mean I was dead on about McCown not finding a guy for consistent yardage (receiving leaders last week for the Jets were Matt Forte and Bilal Powell with 41 and 40 yards respectively), but he’s still putting TDs on the board. And while I may not have supreme confidence in McCown, it’s hard to think this Falcons D can do anything positive it seems. Three straight poor performances for the Falcons, you’d think they come out a little heated. But I think it’s more of the same and McCown could once again be a good play for fantasy squads this week.
Tyrod Taylor – Another bad week for streaming QBs means we get to talk more Mafia. Tyrod lived up to expectations last week after you factor in his work with his legs. While the gameplan should call for a bunch of Lesean McCoy, I’m doubling down on the same prediction I had for Tyrod last week. The Raiders are keeping RBs out of the end zone well (4 rushing TDs against on the year), so they play calling in between the 20s may need to be spiced up a little. Hopefully we look to see continued contributions from guys like Deonte Thompson and Nick O’Leary. I would love to see Jordan Matthews do something in this game, but you know what they say about sh*tting in one hand and wishing in the other. Say it with me now – “TyGod”.
Tyler Kroft – OK, well if Andy Dalton can’t get some real estate in this space, we should at least highlight a great Colts matchup for the Bengals. Kroft is one of 3 Bengals that have double digit targets over the last 3 games and while he falls just barely behind Brandon LaFell in that category, Kroft is the better option to score a touchdown with 3 on the year. You’ve seen the name here before, you know the game.
Jared Cook – After the show we were treated to last Thursday night, there’s positive Raiders buzz in the air again. No reason for Marshawn Lynch to even stand up off the bench after the anthem as he is serving his suspension. I don’t really see a reason to even try in this backfield. While I don’t expect 100 yards again from Cook probably at all this season, he has been a steady part of this offense. Cook only has one game this year with under 5 targets and we can’t expect Amari Cooper to be scoring long TDs every week. Give me Cook or give me… well, give me Kroft because there’s not a ton to love on the TE front unless you’re looking to take a Nick O’Leary gamble.
Browns D/ST – This Browns/Vikings matchup isn’t going to be the most exciting thing you’ve ever seen. The Vikings D is going to terrorize the Browns offensive line all game. But I don’t think on the opposite side of things that you are going to see offensive fireworks from the Vikings. Do they need to score more than 17 offensive points really? The Browns have actually been a productive D play and London does different things to different teams. The one wildcard factor for me in these game is going to be the field. The turf at Twickenham was a mess last week with players sliding all over the field. Field conditions can either play to hinder offenses or make it harder for D players to make plays, thus providing large gains. It will be interesting to see which plays out, but if you are looking to replace the Jags or the Rams this week, it could be fun to play Cleveland.
Saints D/ST – The Saints D has been on the rise over the past couple of weeks. A defensive feast against Detroit off the bye, Brett Hundley last week, this week they get Mitchell Trubisky and DA BEARS. Jordan Howard is obviously going to be the workhorse here, but the offense around Trubisky is still very vanilla. Aftere throwing 25 passes in his debut against Minnesota, he’s combined for 23 attempts in his past two games against Baltimore and Carolina. Mitchell has been kissing more turf than titties lately, being sacked 8 times in the past 2 games and it might be a good time to ride this Saints train. They get the Buccaneers next week at home (Jameis has only thrown over 200 yards against the Saints one time in his career) and then a Buffalo matchup that could be playable as well.
In lieu of talking kickers, shameless plug to light it up in the comment section. Until next week!
