A Game Plan For The Best Road Trip Playlist (#FantasyFootball)

It’s @TheBLeagueSays here with this week’s ‘Game Plan, where I give you plays to make for seasonal and daily roster construction, prop bets, and dynasty evaluations. Before you make any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings also.

They’re always sayin’ to me “why don’t you act, why don’t you just act your age…”

Alright, if you have been living under a rock, this is what you have missed in the space of 10 days:

• Derrick Henry was taking souls.
• Derrick Henry is in the ‘M.V.P.’ conversation.
• Shitty click-bait mass-media outlets were talking about how he is more important to his team than some/most teams quarterbacks are to theirs.
• Everyone revolted against the premise of it.
• Derrick Henry guts out a game while hurt – we have a name for the problem – the Jones fracture.
• We did a show on it, and that show slapped – check it out!
• He went from ‘out for the rest of the season’, to 10 weeks out, to 6 weeks out, to maybe back for the playoffs – no one will say the obvious thing (Doc will though) which is ‘we just don’t know’.
• The Titans add the evergreen Adrian Peterson and former (super important thing to note is that he is a former player) D’Onta Foreman.
• Everyone blew their FAAB on Peterson and not Jeremy McNichols.

To me, Peterson’s arrival doesn’t hurt McNichols, it hurts Darrynton Evans because we have seen this year that McNichols is super capable of receiving work.

And banking on a guy – no matter how much of a freak he is – that has not only got older but been out of the game for some time now seems like a bad process to me.

So what do I recommend?

I recommend the following: (I’m guessing that McNichols and Peterson were swooped up in your league’s waivers this week)

Firstly, leaning on a backfield that (if I’m being honest) is anyone’s guess can leave you a tad vulnerable because no running back will fill the hole Derrick Henry leaves behind, and assuming that one can and hold the same volume to me is outright delusional.

So I would go and get one of their receivers instead – who won’t break your FAAB budget and could be a nice move to pivot to.

So in deep leagues, getting a guy like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine could be a savvy move. He has flashed at times for the Titans and they may be more inclined to pass it instead of the run.

Secondly, if you want someone from that backfield: D’Onta Foreman would be the next guy to get if you want a piece of this backfield and are playing the lottery.

We saw with the Eagles last week that it was anyone (Jordan Howard / Boston Scott) that toed the line other than the obvious play (Kenny Gainwell) that got the work, so taking a punt on the guy that’s been in their system before isn’t a bad shout either.

That’s it. Those two things are plays I’d make.

But everybody’s gone, and I’ve been here for too long – to face this on my own – well, I guess this is growing up…

Dammit.

I hate Taysom Hill.

In my opinion, he is a terrible, terrible quarterback.

I don’t even rank him as a quarterback in our weekly rankings because he is that terrible.

If we had rankings for fullbacks or wildcats then maybe I’d reconsider, because that’s what he is.

But as a quarterback?

No.

Because if I’m being blunt, open, and honest – he’s brutal to watch.

He looks like a 10-year old took his parents’ car keys and took them for a joy ride.

Sure, he’s driving the car but even he doesn’t know how he’s getting away with it…

But if he isn’t the first waiver pickup you made this week then he is probably a guy I would… trade for if you are a team on the brink of your league’s playoffs.

Look, you can’t deny what he has done as a fantasy asset in 2020 – the numbers are all there – he was right there at the top of the pile in the short sample we have.

He has the rushing upside that stifles Alvin Kamara’s production.

He doesn’t need 350 passing yards and 3 touchdowns for him to put up massive points because his floor of 60 rushing yards and a touchdown is going you a safe enough floor per week – any passing numbers on top only pads his stats at the end of the week.

And banking on Trevor Siemian? Nah, I’m good.

I hate myself so much for saying all this.

(sigh.)

But I don’t wanna be left out so will you take me, too…?

For those that missed out on Jeremy McNichols, Adrian Peterson, and Taysom Hill?

I have been trying to add as much Jaret Patterson to my dynasty squads as possible.

And I feel like he may have gone slightly unnoticed this week due to Washington being on the bye, the trade deadline happening, and with the obvious news about Derrick Henry and the Titans backup circus taking center stage.

And that’s great because the assumption that Antonio Gibson’s health will be optimal when they return for week ten is – to me – likely being a tad naive.

Last week, Patterson had a career-high in carries as he punched 11-for-46 on the ground.

I’m a believer in grabbing good backup running backs who have an opportunity at volume, and with Gibson dinging up, Patterson showed that he is that guy to fulfill that role if called upon.

Patterson is more than worth the stash now, with nice matchups against Seattle, Las Vegas, with both Philadelphia (twice) and Dallas (twice) coming during the fantasy playoffs.

I believe he could be a potential league winner if called upon – he’s more than worth the stash right now.

I can’t take no loss, you better call back up…

Just outside the top 12 tight end leaders for the year is Minnesota Vikin, Tyler Conklin.

He has been a pretty good surprise for fantasy football this year, as he has filled the potential that Irv Smith had left behind after being ruled out this year with an injury.

Still, Conklin has three games with over 50 receiving yards and only one game with less than four targets which is encouraging too.

And it’s also good to know that amongst tight ends with at least four red-zone targets, he is currently the second most efficient tight end in that area of the field with a 75% successful play rate too.

Which is fantastic for this week, as the Vikings get Baltimore, who is still the best matchup for opposing tight ends, coughing up 20.4 DK PTS per week.

And with the appetizing price of $3000, he is a great cheap option to help you run back in stacks in that particular matchup, who are higher priced on the menu.

Is the city I live in, the city of angels…

I can’t say I’m overly pumped about the L.A. Chargers’ recent form.

A couple of losses with the bye in between seems to have stunted their form and that kinda sucks because when they are on, there aren’t many more electric teams to watch.

And on top of that, they and the rest of their division have allowed the Chiefs to catch up to them. It’s been a minute since the Chiefs have struggled, and the chance to run away with the west was there for the taking, and no one has stood up to do so.

Either way.

They get to go on the road to Philadelphia this week, who iced out the Lions in week eight.

I can see that teams have been tough on opposing quarterbacks this year, and considering that they’ve both played some of the best in the NFL (Brady, Mahomes, Jackson, Prescott for example) that’s no mean feat.

This game has one of the highest implied totals of the week (currently at 49.5) and the Chargers have an 0-3 record hitting the unders as the road team also.

I’d feel better about this game going over if Philadelphia weren’t 1-2 going under at home as well.

It’s going under!

I’m hopin’ that I, that I can live and let go, so I can live with this…

Something about Derek Carr has bothered me for a long time.

And I’ve never known what it is.

Maybe his brother pandering to the crowd by saying he is in the M.V.P. conversation every year – it’s ok you love your brother but jeez man… Tom Brady and Pat Mahomes are guys who might pinch a vote or two from him each year…

And that sucks because he’s pretty good at what he does for a living.

But over the past few years, I’ve started to respect the man that he is.

Every year he gets told he is about to lose his job… but he does pretty good while on a team that’s never got over the next hurdle, or the next hurdle.

I think maybe it’s that he’s fallen short a few times, and I think he can do more… maybe that’s it…

But I won’t question the person or man that he is.

How he handled the Antonio Brown debacle a year or so ago was pretty impressive.

And a few weeks back with everything that unfolded with John Gruden? That’s not easy to do, to stand up on stage and carry a franchise on your shoulders when it’s getting dragged through the mud.

And when you think it’s over…

Everything that happened this week (I won’t mention the player – but prayers out to the poor girl and her family) and he’s probably thinking ‘here we go again’, Carr is front and center one more time wearing his heart on his sleeve, bearing his soul with his faith answering questions he probably doesn’t want to with an answer he may not be sure about too, about things that are furthest from what he does for a living.

The dude is pretty admirable. And I think I’m done not giving him the credit he deserves as a leader.

The Raiders are gonna earn a hard win this week on the road to the New York Giants, and Carr will be the force that drags them up – I’ll take the under 46.5 and Las Vegas with the Moneyline.

You can find me on a table full of vodka and tequilla, surrounded by some bunnies – and it ain’t even Easter…

Houston.

Really?

Rex Burkhead?

Really?

Not Phillip Lindsay, not David Johnson – who you traded for to make up for the DeAndre Hopkins move.

Rex Burkhead?!?!

Really?

I’m starting the life out of everything Miami in this one.

Tua Tagovailoa ($5800), with Myles Gaskin ($5800), Jaylen Waddle ($5600), and Mike Gesicki ($4900) – and if you want to run it back with Brandin Cooks ($6100) you can.

it doesn’t feel like many will want a part of this game because no one trusts the Texans – and that’s fine.

And only half the people will trust Tua and the 1-6 Dolphins as well – and that’s understandable too.

But Miami has over 400 total yards in two of their last three games, and over 260 passing yards in three of their last four – as well as two or more passing touchdowns in three of their last four outings as well – I feel like this game is a way to load up on cheaper options to come up elsewhere.

You’re welcome.

I want to thank you for checking this article out! As always you can follow me at @TheBLeagueSays and feel free to check out my @GothamCity_STR podcast out (Linktree) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.

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