As we creep closer to the end of the fantasy season, now is the time to make the moves that can help push you to a championship. I’ve put an emphasis on players you should be looking to buy, as well as a few who are good starts this week. Dont miss “Thursday War Room Live” every Thursday night from 7-8 pm eastern. @EagleDanFF, @Matthodical1, and myself answer viewer questions, discuss this article more in-depth, Dan’s rookie rankings, and much more. Tune in and check us out! Â
1. Buy JK Dobbins.
It may be too late but if you’re still able, acquire J.K. Dobbins immediately. Mark Ingram missed Week 8 due to injury which lead to Dobbins playing season-high 66% of snaps. Although Gus Edwards had more rushing attempts (16 to 15), Dobbins outrushed Edwards (113 to 85) and had his first career game over 100 rushing yards. Edwards got the goal-line work and scored a touchdown, but Dobbins looked explosive and showed why he’s the future of this backfield. Raven’s Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman said this week that Dobbins’ role will “evolve as the year goes on”. Take that for what you will, but to me, it sounds like the takeover has begun. While I don’t think he will get the backfield all to himself this year, I do think he gets more work as the season progresses. After a tough matchup against the Colts in Week 9 the schedule opens up nicely, including semifinal and finals matchups against the Jaguars and Giants, who give up fifth and tenth-most fantasy points to running backs respectively. If he has a good game against the Colts, your slim window may be slammed shut. Make the move now. Embed from Getty Images2. Don’t give up on Jonathan Taylor.
Fantasy managers can be way too reactionary week to week, and Jonathan Taylor is a perfect example. Although he hasn’t been the stud RB1 that many anticipated he would be when Marlon Mack went down and he’s coming off his worst game of the season, don’t give up on him just yet. First of all, he was apparently dealing with an ankle injury that was slowing him down. JT has still scored double digits fantasy points in five of seven games and scored 15 or more in over half those games (one was 14.9, close enough). Indianapolis has of the best offensive lines in football, after a tough Baltimore matchup this week, he has a great ROS schedule. Matchups include TEN(21st against RB in fantasy), GB(32), TEN(21), HOU(30), LV(27), HOU(30), PIT(1)). Other than Pittsburg in the Championship week, that’s about as appetizing of a schedule you can get for a fantasy running back. He’s someone I’m looking to buy on the cheap in both redraft in dynasty if an owner is panicking. It’s way too early to label him a bust.Â3. Dallas is a Dumpster fire, but offers a buying opportunity.
Things couldn’t get much worse for Dallas this season. Since Dak Prescott went down with a gruesome ankle injury, this offense has been simply awful. Unsurprisingly all four of the Cowboys’ main offensive weapons (CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Ezekiel Elliott) have seen their production significantly drop since Dak went down. PPR points per game w/ Prescott: (Lamb 17.1, Cooper 17.8, Gallup 11.6, Zeke 23.1)Â PPR points per game w/o Prescott: (Lamb 7.4, Cooper 12.6, Gallup 5.8, Zeke 10.1) In redraft, Cooper might be a worthwhile trade target. His production has gone down the least (5 ppg) and he can still win you a week on one or two plays. Dynasty wise, a small buying opportunity may have presented itself with Lamb and Zeke. The way the Dallas offense looked with Dak early in the season, there was zero chance you’d be able to deal for Lamb. See if the Lamb owner is looking to win now, you just might be able to pry him away. Zeke and Gallup are also solid dynasty targets who you may be able to buy low. Embed from Getty Images4. TJ Hockenson is for real.
Although he hasn’t quite had a huge breakout game yet, TJ Hockenson has been one of the best fantasy tight ends this season. He’s scored double digits fantasy points in five of seven games, and the other two were over 9. Hockenson is coming off a season-high ten targets last game, and he should continue to command plenty of targets with Kenny Golladay out for the foreseeable future. Thanks to consistent production and a solid floor, Hockenson ranks as the TE4 overall in average points per game, only behind Travis Kelce, George Kittle (get well soon), and Darren Waller. The blowup game is coming, but Hockenson has already arrived. Hold him if you have him, and try to acquire if at all possible. He’s going to be a force for the rest of the season and years to come.5. Lamar Jackson hasn’t been as bad as you think.
Yes, Lamar Jackson has been a huge disappointment based on what he did last year and where he was drafted this year. Jackson still holds his sky high upside, he just hasn’t had to be the force he was last year. He’s got a few things working against him from a fantasy perspective. He’s dealt with a knee injury for one. It wasn’t serious enough for him to miss a game, but it definitely affected him. Second, the defense has been lights out. The Ravens defense has allowed the second fewest points(132) and third fewest yards (2164) in the entire league. Third, teams have somewhat figured him out, and he hasn’t adjusted. Jackson still needs to improve passing the ball. He’s missing wide open receivers, and simply hasn’t take the next step in his game when it comes to throwing the ball. But there is hope. As “bad” as he’s been, Jackson still ranks as the QB11 on the season in ppg, and has a solid schedule for the rest of the season, including a mouthwatering fantasy playoff schedule of Dallas, Cleveland, and the New York Giants. He tied his season high with 16 rushes last week, and I expect the Ravens to do everything they can to get him going. He’ll be just fine. Embed from Getty Images6. AJ Brown is a WR1, that’s bad news for Jonnu Smith.
Offseason darling Jonnu Smith seemed to be paying off in a big way earlier this season. has played well without AJ Brown. Smith caught five touchdowns in his first four games and was averaging 17.5 points per game. 5 games w/ AJ Brown avg 4 targets, 3 catches, 25 yards 8.7 PPR points 2 games w/o AJ Brown avg 7 targets, 5 catches, 73 yards, 17.8 PPR points AJ Brown is the alpha in this offense and ranks as WR8 overall in ppg this season. When he’s playing, Jonnu is an afterthought in the passing attack and nothing more than a touchdown dependent option for fantasy purposes.7. DeeJay Dallas is a solid start.
Although he didn’t impress with productivity, DeeJay Dallas got the job done with volume. Dallas was only able to gain 41 yards on 18 carries Week 8 against the 49ers, but he was still able to score 22.8 fantasy points thanks to being involved in the passing game (5 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown) as well as getting the red-zone work with a rushing touchdown. Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde are both out again in Week 9, and up next for Seattle is a Bills defense that is allowing 4.5 yards per carry to opposing running backs. The Bills allowed Patriots running back Damien Harris to rush for 102 yards and a touchdown in Week 8. Dallas is nothing more than a back-end RB2, but with the state of the running back position this season, that is more than enough to be worth starting, especially with byes. Fire him up with confidence. Embed from Getty Images8. Gronk is back.
After a slow start to the season that had many concerned (including me) that Rob Gronkowski was simply a shell of his former self, it appears that Gronk is back. Since Week 3, he’s averaged six targets, four catches, 52 yards, and has caught a touchdown in three consecutive games. Gronk is averaging 16.7 fantasy points over the past three games and has once again become a favorite target of Tom Brady. I’m not concerned with Antonio Brown taking away looks for Gronk, there are still too many question marks surrounding AB to know what kind of effect he will have on this offense. But I believe that Mike Evans will be the one who tumbling target share gets knocked down even further. The Brady-to-Gronk connection is as strong as ever, and Gronk is locked in as TE1 for the foreseeable future.9. Until Ekelers return, Justin Jackson is the LAC back you want.
When Austin Ekeler went down with a hamstring injury in Week 4, it was assumed that Joshua Kelley would be the main beneficiary in the Chargers backfield. But Justin Jackson has outperformed in literally every possible way. Justin Jackson: 37 attempts, 172 ru yards, 21 targets, 13 catches, 119 rec yards, 14 ppg Joshua Kelley: 30 attempts, 90 ru yards, 7 targets, 7 catches, 22 rec yards, 6.2 ppg It’s clear the early season production Kelley had is gone, and Jackson is the lead in the backfield until Ekeler returns. Up this week is a Raiders defense that gives up the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs and is tied with the Panthers for giving up the most rushing touchdowns in the league with 12. Jackson is locked in as an RB2 as long as Ekeler is out, and could easily wind up a top 12 RB this week.10. It’s time for plan for the fantasy playoffs.
It’s really hard to believe that we’re coming up to the end of the regular season in fantasy football already. If you’re in a good enough position to do so, now is the time to get a step ahead of your opponents and start looking at playoff matchups. Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Tennessee are a few teams I’m looking to acquire players from, as they have favorable playoff schedules. As byes are coming to an end (other than the random Week 13 for the Panthers and Bucs), make sure you have your running backs handcuffs. Put yourself in a position that you don’t have to fight for them if an injury occurs. Guys who are a dime a dozen on the wire do you no good on your bench if you don’t have to use them for bye week fill-ins.ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.
