I’m up in the woods, I’m down on my mind
I’m building a sill to slow down the time.
Bon Iver penned the words and performed it first, then Kanye West went and blewed it all up with a dope remix for his ‘Lost in the World’ track a few years ago. Now, when I’m in the woods, I’m not sure that I pull Chris Pine in Into The Woods like you see above (sorry for that?), but I know it’s definitely a place to reset your thoughts and re-aim your efforts.
Nine weeks into the fantasy football season we could all probably take a little trip up in the woods. Whether it’s readying yourself for a playoff push, climbing out of the middle…
Note: The threshold for appearing as one of the targets is <25% ownership on either Yahoo or ESPN as of Monday. 
= BURN NOTICE…it’s worth burning your waiver for the player.
- Robert Woods, WR – BUF (ESPN 15.0%, Yahoo 11%) – The Bills wide receiving corps is relegated to essentially Robert Woods and…Percy Harvin? Haha, I mean, seriously…it was so bad that they brought Percy Harvin out of retirement to fill in their gaps. Woods, however, continues to impress, with a 10/162/0 effort against the stout Seattle secondary. I don’t expect Woods to develop an incredible ceiling, but he has solid potential. Tyron Taylor’s gonna throw the ball around, and tosses a good deep ball, but he’s not worth the burn. If he can give you at least 8 targets for 5-6 catches with 60 yards as a floor he’s worth the roster. If only he could find the end zone a few times. It’ll be interesting to see how Woods value changes if/when Sammy Watkins returns in a few weeks.
- Marqise Lee, WR – JAX (ESPN 3.3%, Yahoo 4%) – Yet another game with 7+ targets for Lee as the Jags continue to throw the ball for days, this time producing a 4/84/0 line. With Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson in tow he won’t receive the most targets in a game, but running across the middle from the slot there will be plenty of opportunities for him to repeat this. If you got a 4/84/0 line from your WR2 you’d likely be ok with that. Often times the difficult part of gauging value for waiver options is that it takes far more for them to impress and change perception than those already deemed great. Like Woods above him, if he added a touchdown he’d look so much better, but read through the stats, assess the consistent amount of targets and volume, and Lee gives you a borderline WR3.
- Paul Perkins, RB – BUF (ESPN 4.3%, Yahoo 6%) – I didn’t think it would take nine weeks, but we saw in Week 9 the rookie Perkins finally split time with Rashad Jennings. Through all the Giants RB injuries and horrible play, Perkins never really got a shot. Until now. Well, most likely. Perkins has great speed, and flashed the ability to carry a heavy load in his time at UCLA, but this offense rests on the shoulder and right arm of Eli Manning. Don’t expect more than 15 carries per game, but if Jennings gets hurt again (which is bound to happen) and Perkins can establish himself in the passing game enough, 20+ touches may be in the forecast for him (11/32/0 rush., 3/15/0 rec. in Week 9). He’s a better candidate than the next two RB’s for his potential shelf life, but still not worth the burn.
- Peyton Barber, RB – TB (ESPN 12.1%, Yahoo 19%) – Third week in a row mentioning Barber here. He’s no Jamison Crowder (gosh, y’all remember that run of highlights to start the year?), but Barber still holds value for another week in the Tampa backfield. Well, as of Tuesday he does. With Jazquizz Rogers and Doug Martin nursing injuries, Barber was serviceable last Thursday night against the Falcons. No more than a decent flex play, especially in PPR formats, but with BYE weeks that may be just what you’re looking for.
- Kapri Bibbs, RB – DEN (ESPN 4.5%, Yahoo 6%) – The new backup in Denver saw his ownership go up a tick leading into this past weekend. Somehow. Devonte Booker didn’t exactly take the world by storm in Week 9, but he’s the lead horse of this pack still, making Bibbs nothing more than speculative add in the event of a Booker injury. He may get a few touches per game right now, but really you’re targeting him for the potential of his influence come playoff time if Booker’s hurt.
- Lance Kendricks, TE – LA (ESPN 19.1%, Yahoo 15%) – When a TE gets 12 targets it should turn heads. Similar to the Marqise Lee mention above, if this was Jimmy Graham instead of Lance Kendricks you’d just call him elite. However, Kendricks is no Graham, so when he gets 12 targets it’s more of the anomaly than the norm. Still, 7/90/0 after going 7/55/0 right before the BYE may mean Kendricks is emerging as a viable threat for the Rams anemic offense. It should come to no one’s surprise to no one, but Case Keenum’s still poop, haha, so temper the expectations a little. If you’re looking for a TE because of BYEs or injury, though, you can do a lot worse than a guy stringing together 7-catch performances.
- Colin Kaepernick, QB – SF (ESPN 22.0%, Yahoo 19%) – I targeted him in a few dynasty leagues just waiting for games like this to come along. Facing the Saints on Sunday, Kaepernick reminded us of what he can do in the fantasy game. Throwing for 398 yards and two scores, while rushing for another 23 yards, Kaepernick finished as a QB1 in Week 9. Again, it was against the Saints, but Kaepernick brings the potential to put up numbers as impressive as this any given week. As he gets more comfortable in the Chip Kelly system and continues to recover to full strength from his offseason surgeries, there’s an outside shot he’s a top 10 QB the rest of the way. He won’t repeat in Week 10 against the Cardinals, but he has some tempting matchups as the fantasy playoffs approach if you’re looking for a stream.
Now…DROP THOSE COMMENTS! Good luck in Week 10! No players on Burn Notice this week, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll find some gems to set on fire next week. Check back on Tuesday!
