The waiver wire landscape following Week 6 didn’t offer too many top-flight options to fantasy managers. Because of this, we need to dig a bit deeper to find players who likely weren’t picked up during the waiver run. This week, I’m keying in on a handful of players who are not quite getting the job done from a production standpoint but whose roles look to be expanding and pointing their arrow in the right direction. Some of these are simply younger players with upside starting to earn their opportunities, while others are primed to make the most of injuries ahead of them on the depth chart.
Jordan Whittington | WR – LAR | 4% Rostered
The fantasy football world collectively held its breath when Puka Nacua came up clutching his ankle shortly before halftime in last week’s game against the Ravens. While he attempted to get back out there in the 2nd half, he didn’t see more than a smattering of plays, and now his availability for Week 7 (and beyond) is in doubt. This clears the way for someone to step up in one of the league’s most-concentrated offenses, and for my money, I think it’ll be Jordan Whittington. Whittington was already playing a fair amount of snaps, but his share spiked up to 92%, the most among the Rams last week, with Puka sidelined. This opened the door for Whittington to set season high marks in both targets and receptions as he finished with 3 catches for 23 yards playing mostly in the 2nd half. The game script didn’t call for much passing, but that likely won’t be the case this week against a Jacksonville team that’s currently allowing the 6th-most passing yards per game this season. It’s unclear if Puka’s injury will hamper him past the Rams’ Week 8 bye, but I think the case can be made for holding Whittington either way. Unlike the others in the Rams’ receiving corps, Whittington offers a more versatile skill set that would allow him to step in if either Nacua or Davante Adams were to miss time. Handcuffing at wide receiver is a rare occurrence, but Whittington profiles to be the exception to the rule and is worth a stash in deeper leagues or for any Nacua or Adams manager.
Isaac TeSlaa | WR – DET | 3% Rostered
I’ve detailed in previous articles just how exciting the athletic profile is for Isaac TeSlaa and how much upside he offers if he can break into the Lions’ lineup. Week 6 may have brought some hope in that regard. Ultimately, TeSlaa was skunked on the day, being held without a catch while mostly running in the coverage of Jaylen Watson. Obviously, that isn’t the signal we’re hoping for, but a closer look reveals something more promising. TeSlaa has set season-high marks in back-to-back weeks for both snap share and route participation, topping out last week by running a route on 70% of Goff’s dropbacks. It would seem that Teslaa is right on the verge of, if not already, being the preferred option in three-receiver sets for the Lions. He is still firmly in the “speculative stash” category, but he offers a profile that is very likely to deliver spike weeks if he sees routine playing time, and it appears we’re moving in that direction.
Kaleb Johnson | RB – PIT | 26% Rostered
A similar case to TeSlaa’s is the one to make for Kaleb Johnson. Johnson was all but left for dead after a boneheaded special teams play earned him a stretch in the Tomlin doghouse. The talented 3rd-rounder hitting the pine paved the way for both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell to establish nice roles for themselves in this offense. Last week, however, we saw Johnson play his highest number of snaps with all three runners healthy, and he pulled even with Gainwell as both carried the ball 6 times. Johnson didn’t necessarily do anything to dazzle Steelers fans or fantasy managers with those carries, but this uptick is the proverbial cracking open of the door to more playing time. We’re still a long way away from him being considered a potential starter for fantasy managers, but I have to believe the Steelers won’t allow this talented a prospect to rot on the sideline for long. He’s a perfect target for those who are suddenly thin at running back and need to grasp at any straw available to them, or those who are willing to be patient with a bench player who could offer some upside for the stretch run.
Noah Fant | TE – CIN | 3% Rostered
This is a bit more of a programming note than anything else. The Bengals of recent years have been taking swings at “move” Tight Ends to act as a counterbalance to their vertical offense. This has often resulted in a logjam of talented receiving types who often nullify the fantasy viability of each other. That was looking to be the case this season when Cincinnati added Noah Fant to a room that already included Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson. Entering Week 7, however, the latter two have been placed on IR, and suddenly, Noah Fant is the last man standing in the rotation. While it’s hard to envision a world where Fant surpasses Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins in the pecking order, he could see enough volume to ping onto the fantasy radar in the right matchups. Better still, new quarterback Joe Flacco is targeting Tight Ends on nearly 25% of his throws this season, both as a Bengal and a Brown. Noah Fant has the makings of a nice bye-week fill-in or a potential starter in deeper formats.
Photo by John Rivera | Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)