Overall 250 ROS Rankings: Week 8

Welcome to our weekly set of rankings of our top-250 overall players for the rest of the season. I should note that I’m not personally a big fan of massive, position-combining lists and I think positional lists are more useful, however, take this and use it in whatever way you wish. Thanks to this widget from FantasyPros, you can break it down by position as well.

Notes:

• Alright, we’ll start off with the major injuries. Obviously, DeShaun Watson, Pierre Garcon, and Zach Miller have all fallen off this list, as they’ll be out the rest of the season. In keeper leagues, I’d probably still hang onto Watson (depending on how your keeper rules are set up), but in every other league, obviously you’re dropping these guys.

• I like what I’ve seen from Tyrod Taylor, and he’s jumped up a bit in the ranks because of it. He has a high floor thanks to his running ability, and now that the Bills have acquired Kelvin Benjamin, I like the potential deep ball connection there. As for Benjamin’s value coming into Buffalo, I think it’s about the same as it was in Carolina, a WR2 with upside.
• Right when I started regaining confidence in Cam Newton, he starts being bad again. Cam has all the potential in the world, but if he has trouble getting it done against the Bears and the Bucs, then I don’t know how you can trust him week in and week out. He’s still a QB1 for me because he has the chance to go off on any given week, but I’m having trouble trusting him.
• Jacoby Brissett has actually been not terrible this year, posting double-digit fantasy points every week since Week 3. I’m not saying he’s a top-10 or even top-15 quarterback or anything, but you could do much worse as a bye week fill-in or in two-quarterback leagues.
• Trevor Siemian, on the other hand, has been terrible, and it seems like he’s getting benched for Brock Osweiler. Now, I don’t think Brock is going to set the world on fire or anything, but there’s the possibility that Siemian has lost his job, and even if he hasn’t, he’s just bad.
• Alright, Ezekiel Elliott. It looks like his suspension is going to stick starting in Week 10, and if that’s the case, he’s virtually useless in re-draft leagues, as he’ll be out through the majority of the playoffs. If you’re sitting at 8-0 and you want to see if someone will give him to you for cheap because you’re confident that you’ll be in for a deep playoff run, then go for it, but otherwise, he’s not going to be of much use. That is, unless somehow he dodges the suspension, anything is possible.
• In relations to that, there have been reports that the depth chart for the Cowboys’ backfield will be Alfred Morris up top, Rod Smith second, and Darren McFadden last. My rankings reflect that, and until we see something that suggests the depth chart is different, then I’m going to stick with that.
• I like the move to Philadelphia for Jay Ajayi, he hasn’t been very good this year and part of that has been because of the bad offensive line in Miami. Now moving to the Eagles, he gets a much better offensive line. His running style is very similar to LeGarrette Blount’s, so we’ll see how that timeshare will work out, but I’m pretty sure it’ll work in Ajayi’s favor, which is bad news for Blount owners.
• I don’t really like what I’ve seen from C.J. Anderson, and the fact that his snaps are going down are a bad sign. The Broncos seem to like working Jamaal Charles and Devontae Booker into the running game, and as long as that’s happening, Anderson’s value will be very limited. He’s an RB2 for me.
• Alex Collins leads the league in yards per carry and is top-10 in total yards, despite having fewer carries than everyone else on that list. He’s been the most explosive player on the Ravens’ offense and I think he’s going to stay the starter, even once Terrance West and Danny Woodhead come back, making him a solid RB2. Speaking of Woodhead, he’s back at practice and will be eligible to return soon. We’ll see how the Ravens balance his workload with Javorius Allen’s, but I think Woodhead will go right back to his receiving back role, making him pretty valuable in PPR leagues (assuming he stays healthy).
• With the move of Jay Ajayi to Philadelphia, the Miami battle for carries will be between Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams. I’m of the belief that Drake will get the majority of the work with Williams in as a receiving back. I like Drake’s talent, and as of now, he’s an interesting flex play with upside once we see how this situation shakes out. Williams has some decent value in PPR as well.
• The loss of DeShaun Watson will hurt both DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, though I think it will hurt Fuller more. Hopkins will stay a WR1, but Fuller moves from a low-end WR2 to a flex play, because I just don’t think the touchdowns are going to be there with Tom Savage or Matt McGloin as they were with Watson.
• If you have Terrelle Pryor, I’m not quite sure what else you’re waiting to see. If you’re in a really deep league, I guess I can understand hanging onto him, but he’s just not a factor in the Redskins’ passing offense anymore sadly. Kirk Cousins seems to like Josh Doctson and Chris Thompson a lot more.
• I’ve been a fan of JuJu Schuster-Smith since college and now that he’s very obviously supplanted Martavis Bryant as the number two wide receiver in the Steelers’ offense, he’s earned his way into solid flex territory with the upside for more. We’ve seen number two receivers be useful in a Todd Haley offense, and I think Schuster-Smith will be pretty useful.
• With the trade of Kelvin Benjamin, it seems that Devin Funchess is the top guy in Carolina now. I don’t think he has the talent that Benjamin does, and with Cam’s inconsistency, his upside is somewhat limited, but being a number one receiver in an NFL offense has value, and Funchess is a solid WR3 for now.
• Speaking of which, Curtis Samuel should get some more work in Carolina now that Benjamin is gone. Funchess was having value as the second receiver in that offense and now Samuel should fill that role. Samuel’s a talented player and I think that he could be somewhat interesting going forward.
• Charles Clay seems to be getting healthier, so he’s worth looking at if he’s available in your league. If he’s fully healthy next week (and he might be), then he’s worth a shot based on potential alone.