Positive Covid tests and more injury carnage. Fantasy football is starting to almost be as stressful as following current events. “I thought fantasy football was an escape!” I yelled at the clouds. Immediately, lightning struck a tree branch and took out my ACL. It is a short sample size, but the major injuries to running backs have all happened on even numbered weeks. We had Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffery get injured in week 2 and week 4 gave us injuries to Nick Chubb and Austin Ekeler. Oh, the horror of even numbered NFL schedule weeks. But there is good news! We are entering an odd numbered week. That means any running back taken in the first two rounds of fantasy drafts is safe from injury on Sunday. Wait. Are there any healthy running backs left? Meh, a few. Certainly not enough.
Speaking of “healthy” running backs, what the hell is Kenyan Drake’s deal? He’s seemingly allergic to fantasy points. This was something that I missed in my diagnosis from week 4, but this certainly makes sense in theory. Sometimes the buy lows stay low, but it’s all in the gamble. On the bright side, there is (hopefully) a lot of season to be played and if you ended up trading for Drake, may he pay off sometime soon.
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Stealin’
Emmanuel Sanders
You should be able to get Emmanuel Sanders for dirt cheap even after he is coming off of a 6 catch and 93 yard performance. Michael Thomas is coming back soon so there will not be much mounting excitement for the savvy veteran. Even when Michael Thomas is back on the field, I view Sanders as a pretty high upside WR3 as the season rolls along. Sanders struggled with Brees early due to lack of familiarity and now it seems like they are clicking and Sanders has a lot of swagger in his step. Jared Cook is a declining older player that now has a soft tissue injury. Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara are touch vacuums but there is room for a third wheel. With a little touchdown luck, this could be a great buy.
Jonathan Taylor
Kenyan Drake is failing me, so let’s see if Jonathan Taylor can pay off. Once Marlon Mack bit the dust, expectations for JT skyrocketed. I guess you could say that he lived up to those expectations in week 2 while gaining over 100 yards on the ground and finding pay dirt. But in weeks 3 and 4, he left something to be desired. Fantasy points. More fantasy points. He averaged 16 touches per week after getting 26 carries in week 2 which is quite a drop off, but it’s also a conversation starter. Another conversation starter is the fact that the Colts face the Browns on Sunday which could lead to another frustrating week. Cleveland has been pretty solid against the run so far this year. But following the game against Cleveland, Indy plays Cincinnati and Detroit with a bye week in between. This is the part of the season where I expect JT to hit his stride. JT won’t be cheap, but now is probably going to be one of the last chances to get fair market value on him. If you have some depth at wide receiver, I would put it to good use and get Taylor while you can.
Dealin’
Joshua Kelley
The dream may be dead, but there is still hope for you to make a deal after Austin Ekeler went down with a serious hamstring injury and a knee hyperextension. I think Kelley has a lot of talent, but he is green and it is showing. I believe week 4 was Kelley’s second straight week with a lost fumble and now the Chargers have wandering eyes for grizzled veteran Justin Jackson. Also, with Justin Herbert under center, this squad is airing it out. Especially since the Charger’s D can’t stop a nose bleed after losing a key pass rushing piece in Melvin Ingram.
Miles Sanders
Miles started slow in 2019 as he tried to find his footing and now he has started slow again in 2020 while the entire offense tries to find it’s footing. Sanders scored in week 2 (his first game) but he has been quiet since. With so many starters on the injury report, I’m not convinced that one of my favorite RBs ever gets it going this year. Lane Johnson’s lingering injury is huge. I don’t know if there is a good enough O line in Philly to support consistency. I’d try and grab a nice piece for Sanders based on team need, and I’m okay getting $0.75 on the dollar while you can.
