NBA Best Bets of the Day (12/2)
Alex Christenson
Things finally looked to be turning around in fantasy football over the last few weeks with offensive scoring on the rise. Unfortunately, Week 7 was a return to the poor offensive play that plagued the NFL to start the season.
Still, there were some bright moments and big performances to get excited about moving forward. Week 8 is a reprieve from bye weeks, giving us a full slate of games for the first time in weeks. Fantasy managers will need to utilize the waiver wire now to set up for future bye weeks (or to offset some injuries that happened in Week 7).
Risers
Dolphins Skill Players
It has been a brutal four weeks (plus a bye) for the Dolphins skill players (and for fantasy managers who roster them).
Tyreek Hill has just 17 catches for 160 yards since Tua Tagovailoa got injured (including one reception for eight yards in a matchup against a bad Colts defense). Jaylen Waddle also has 17 receptions for 160 yards in the same span.
Thankfully, Tagovailoa is targeting his return in Week 8. That can only mean good things for his primary weapons in the offense. In his one complete game, Tagovailoa helped generate 338 passing yards and a touchdown.
The arrow is pointing up for the offense in Miami as long as Tagovailoa is under center.
Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Tank Bigsby has played well as a complement to Travis Etienne Jr. the entire season. In Week 8, we got to see what his production would look like dominating the backfield.
The results were very good.
Bigsby carried the ball 26 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots in London. He didn’t factor at all in the passing game, but he didn’t need to with his typical efficiency on the ground expanding to a full-time role.
The second-year running back is averaging 6.6 yards per carry over his last five games. This backfield will inevitably remain split when Etienne returns, but Bigsby keeps proving that he is worthy of touches this season.
His role will stay consistent, if not expand to more early-down work, as long as he stays healthy.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
There was a lot of speculation about how the Chiefs backfield would shake out after Isiah Pacheco’s injury. Over the last two weeks, we have received a definitive answer.
Kareem Hunt is back in Kansas City and is once again dominating touches in the backfield. Over the last two weeks, the veteran running back has 49 carries for 180 yards and three touchdowns while adding three receptions for 20 yards. Hunt is thriving behind the best interior offensive line as a rusher.
Pacheco will return at some point this season, but fantasy managers who took a flier on Hunt while was on the waiver wire can confidently start him until Pacheco returns to full speed.
Cedric Tillman, WR, Cleveland Browns
Truly, the entire Browns offense stands to benefit from Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury. However, the biggest beneficiary from the past week is second-year wide receiver Cedric Tillman.
Tillman failed to log a snap share above 37% in the first six games of the season and was seldom used when he was on the field (three receptions on five targets for nine yards).
With Amari Cooper gone, Tillman immediately saw his role in the offense grow to an 82% snap share. He translated being on the field into eight receptions (on 12 targets) for 81 yards. It wouldn’t be wise to assume that Tillman can repeat that performance every week, but it does show that the team is confident in utilizing him going forward.
Tillman is worth a waiver add in fantasy leagues, especially with the pass-happy Jameis Winston set to take over the passing attack.
Noah Fant, TE, Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks are one of the pass-happiest offenses in the NFL, which has been good for Noah Fant as a tight end in fantasy. Over the last two weeks, Fant has caught all 10 of his targets for 128 yards. He has now hit four targets and 60+ receiving yards in three of the last five games.
Fant’s production over the last two weeks has made him a top-10 finisher.
The veteran tight end is TE19 in fantasy points per game (7.2), but he’s just two points away from being a top-12 option in fantasy. That isn’t a ringing endorsement for the tight end position, but it does make Fant viable going forward as a fantasy option.
Fallers
C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
This was a brutal performance for C.J. Stroud The second-year quarterback completed just 47.6% of his passes for 86 yards against the Packers. This game will get a lot of social media buzz from fantasy football analysts as a bad game, but it’s just another example of a concerning trend this season.
After seven weeks, Stroud is QB17 in fantasy in points per game (15.7). Stroud has just two top-10 finishes this season. They came against two of the worst defenses in the league (Indianapolis and Jacksonville). He has just two 300-yard passing performances and three games with two or more touchdown passes.
Stroud was universally drafted as a top-7 quarterback in fantasy after a historic rookie season. While he’s been good as an NFL quarterback this season, his success on the field has not translated into fantasy football.
Devin Singletary, RB, New York Giants
Brian Daboll wasn’t kidding when he said that Tyrone Tracy Jr. earned a bigger role in the offense after an excellent start in Week 6. That was bad news for Devin Singletary, who returned from that injury in Week 7.
Tracy handled 39 of New York’s 58 snaps, ran 27 of 40 routes and led the backfield in carries (6) and targets (3). Conversely, Singletary was on the field for just 12 snaps and handled just five carries.
Neither player was especially productive running behind a depleted Giants offensive line against the Eagles defense. But what matters is that Singletary will be taking a backseat to Tracy going forward.
Singletary becomes a desperation play in fantasy going forward with bye week streaming appeal as a FLEX.
Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, New England Patriots
It was a brutal game for Ja'Lynn Polk against Jacksonville. New England entered the game intending to feature its first two picks of the 2024 draft. Polk was not up to the task.
The rookie receiver had two drops on his three targets during the game. That led to the first zero-reception game of his career. Eventually, Polk was ruled out with a head injury.
Polk has struggled to get any traction in a New England passing attack starving for talent. The rookie receiver has caught just 10 of his 26 targets for 78 yards and a touchdown this season. Things have been especially bad over the last four weeks (five receptions on 20 targets).
New England is certainly not expecting to win many games this year, so Polk will continue to have a long leash. But at a certain point, New England may begin to feature other young players (Kayshon Boutte and Javon Baker) to establish any core pieces to pair with Drake Maye going forward.
Tank Dell, WR, Houston Texans
It has been a rough year for Tank Dell on the football field. The second-year receiver has just 20 receptions on 34 targets for 194 yards and a touchdown. Dell failed to catch any of his four targets against the Packers in Week 7.
Dell has been struggling to get separation this season, which in hindsight, shouldn’t be surprising given his offseason. The receiver not only had to recover from a brutal leg injury that ended his rookie season, but he also overcame a gunshot wound.
The Texans passing attack as a whole has been less efficient this season, but Dell should continue to get opportunities to produce with Nico Collins out of the lineup. Dell will have a few more chances to earn a bigger role with Stefon Diggs and Collins (when he returns).
Things aren’t lost yet, but they aren’t looking good unless Dell can bounce back.
Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants
Darius Slayton had an enjoyable two-game run as a fantasy-relevant wide receiver with Malik Nabers out of the lineup. In Weeks 5 and 6, Slayton caught 14 of 22 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.
Nabers returned in Week 7, which put Slayton back into a wind sprint runner in the Giants passing attack. Slayton led the Giants in snaps (58) and routes run (40), but finished third on the team in targets (3). He had just one reception for 11 yards.
New York will continue to funnel targets to Nabers when healthy, and Wan’Dale Robinson has earned a consistent WR2 role in the target hierarchy. That leaves Slayton as the odd man out with the occasional boom week if a deep shot hits.
