(Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire)
We have made it to the halfway point of the fantasy season (unless your league goes until week 17, which should be illegal). It is amazing how it flies and at this point in the season, things are ratcheting up. Teams are making moves for their postseason run, while others are clawing just to claim a spot. The player pools are dwindling and there are fewer streamers that can give you that winning advantage. Unlike previous entries, I will only give one streamer for each position moving forward. Do not fear, I will do my best to make sure these players give you the best possible chance to win your week. With that being said, let us take a look back at week seven, before hitting this week’s streamers.
Week 7: Bad Call
RB Peyton Barber– Coming off of a big game against the Atlanta Falcons, Barber seemed primed to take advantage of the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, Barber averaged a putrid three yards-per-carry on 11 totes. He also failed to haul in either of his targets in the passing game. To make matters worse, he injured his ankle late in the game in overtime. Barber has yet to record a rushing touchdown, and it seems inevitable that he will relinquish the job to rookie RB Ronald Jones II.
Week 7: Good Call
QB Eli Manning– Manning fell one yard short of reaching 400 passing yards on Monday Night Football. He recorded a lone touchdown in the waning minutes of the game but should have had a much bigger night. The Giants sputtered many times in the red zone, ruining Manning’s best yardage total of the year. Manning will look to keep it rolling, and hope to find the end zone more often, against the Washington Redskins this week.
Teams on Bye in Week 8
Atlanta Falcons
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Chargers
Tennessee Titans
*All players under 50% owned according to Yahoo Fantasy Football
QB
QB Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns (@ Pittsburgh Steelers, 43% owned)- Baker fell short of what could have been a monster day last week against the Tampa Bay Bucs. However, he still managed to score twice and tacked on four rushes for 43 yards. QB Ben Roethlisberger always plays well at home and the Steelers are fresh off a bye. Mayfield will need to have perhaps his best game of the season if the Browns are to have a chance. The Steelers have also given up the fourth-most points per game to QBs. Look for Mayfield to heave it all over Heinz Field on Sunday.
RB
RB Raheem Mostert, San Francisco 49ers (@ Arizona Cardinals, 43% owned)- Colonel Mostert has seemingly come out of nowhere. With RB Matt Breida constantly banged up and the plodding Morris ineffective, Mostert has emerged as the guy in this backfield. He has a juicy matchup against the Arizona Cardinals this week, that has given up the most fantasy points to RBs on the season.
WR
WR Geronimo Allison, Green Bay Packers (@ Los Angeles Rams, 45% owned)- Allison got in a limited practice on Wednesday and looks on track to play this Sunday. It comes at a good time because the Packers are facing one of the top offenses in the NFL. Before the injury, Allison was one of Rodgers’ favorite red zone targets. The Rams have given up 10 touchdowns to receivers on the year. Allison has a good chance to snag a score in what should be a high scoring game.
TE
TE Benjamin Watson, New Orleans Saints (@ Minnesota Vikings, 47% owned)- Watson caught Brees’ 500th passing touchdown last week and had one of his best games of the season. He caught six passes for 43 yards and a score. He will be facing a Minnesota defense that has allowed 504 yards to the position this season.
Defense
Arizona Cardinals (vs San Francisco 49ers, 37% owned)- As bad as the run defense has been, the passing defense has been pretty solid. The Cardinals fell off a cliff last week against the Denver Broncos in primetime, but I like them to rebound against QB C.J. Beathard, who turned the ball over three times at home last week. The bonus is that Arizona will be at home in this one.
Rader’s Radar: Super Deep Sleeper Pick
WR Chester Rogers, Indianapolis Colts (@ Oakland Raiders, 15% owned)- The Colts offense rolled last week. Unfortunately, Rogers did not play a big part in it. However, he had multiple games with double-digit targets before last week and WR Ryan Grant is looking likely to miss. Oakland is not an imposing defense and I like Roger’s chances to get involved in the action this week.