Fantasy Football Saturday Mailbag for Week 10
Good Morning, FootClan, and a very warm welcome to Week 10 of The Fantasy Footballers’ Saturday Morning Mailbag! It’s Saturday, it’s early, and as always, I am here to select a handful of your questions from The Fantasy Footballers’ Discord server, answer some of the hot topics that didn’t quite make it to that week’s edition of The Footcast. The Ballers’ Discord is home to the biggest and best online fantasy football community in the world, and is your go-to if you’re looking to talk about all things fantasy football. Head over today and get involved with thousands of members across dozens of dedicated channels for start/sit questions, trade advice, and waiver wire insights, as well as exclusive areas which are only available to members of the Footclan.
The NFL trade deadline has come and gone – and if, like me, you stashed Isaiah Davis everywhere in the hope that Breece Hall would be moved on to a contending team, then I feel your pain. Despite a flurry of activity late on Tuesday afternoon, arguably the biggest move for fantasy purposes was the 11th-hour deal, which saw now-former Raider Jakobi Meyers go coast-to-coast after being dealt to a Jacksonville Jaguars team seeking an immediate replacement for the injured rookie Travis Hunter. Drake London and Brock Bowers (remember him?) both scored a hat-trick of TDs to lead the scoring for WRs and TEs respectively, and – as has been the case almost every other week this season – Christian McCaffrey sat alone as the RB king following another triple-digit yardage and multi-TD performance…please stay healthy, Christian!
In this week’s mailbag, we are going all in on TEs, looking at the trade value of George Kittle, how good could Colston Loveland potentially be, and just how do you replace a stud like Tucker Kraft at the position – we may sneak in some RB chat as well…so without further ado, let’s dive in!
Question #1 – Trade Advice (Tucker Kraft Replacement)
Dan Powers-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Baller! Another one bites the dust. After losing Malik Nabers and Omarion Hampton…I just lost Tucker Kraft! Who do you think would be a good trade-for target at the TE position? I’m currently 6-2 and Zach Ertz is my starter now – coachohoulihan
Answer: Coach O’Houlihan, it sounds like your squad needs to remember the 5 Ds of fantasy football – Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Dodge again…wait, that’s Dodgeball, but with all those injuries, it sure sounds like it would have been sound advice!
Losing that number of players can be the death knell for any roster – but to be sitting pretty at 6-2 after sustaining such a hit is mightily impressive – maybe this is your year! That said, you probably aren’t going to be bringing home a #FootClanTitle with Zach Ertz as your leading TE…so who should you be looking at adding to your championship squad in waiting?
Let’s look at the trade-for candidates. It goes without saying that if you can get Trey McBride, Tyler Warren or George Kittle for a depth piece at RB or WR, then you should make that deal…but if we are looking a little further down the list of potential Kraft fill-ins, who would be a realistic acquisition that won’t cost an arm and a leg (heaven knows you’ve sacrificed enough of those already this season). One player I would definitely test the temperature of the trade market on is Philadelphia Eagles veteran Dallas Goedert. Sure, he may be starting to age out a little, and Jalen Hurts isn’t exactly a model of consistency when it comes to passing volume (Philly rank 31st in total pass attempts on the season so far) – but Goedert continues to be targeted enough (21% of team targets) week-to-week to consider him a must start…and we haven’t even mentioned the TDs! With seven scores on the year – Goedert leads the league at the TE position in total TDs – and with more RedZone targets than either A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith, the 6’5” veteran looks a safe bet to build upon his already career-high numbers.
If the Goedert manager isn’t willing to sell up, I would turn my attention to a pair of TEs who seem to have risen like phoenix from the proverbial ashes of the fantasy underworld and back into our lineups – Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, and Buffalo’s Dalton Kincaid. The Bills and Falcons have the 3rd and 5th best strength-of-schedule rest-of-season at the TE position and are both ranked within the top two receivers on their respective teams (Pitts sits behind only Drake London, and Kincaid stands alone as Josh Allen’s favourite weapon). I prefer Kincaid ROS, but Pitts may be a little easier to acquire in a trade.
Should you struggle to finalize a deal for any of the TEs above, then your best bet may just be to head to the waiver wire and try your luck with some dart throws. Provided he isn’t already rostered, cat-lover’s favourite Mason Taylor provides an interesting upside heading towards the playoffs, and if you want to get really nasty…Weird Al doppelganger Greg Dulcich (that’s Miami Dolphins’ Greg Dulcich) has an excellent run of games between now and Week 17.
Question #2 – Trade Advice #2 (League Winning TE Edition)
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Wise Pokeballers! Would you trade away George Kittle plus another piece for Trey McBride? I have solid WR depth and also roster his 49er team-mate Christian McCaffrey…so trying to both upgrade and diversify – It’s Pukachu!
Answer: Any trainer knows that the key to a successful squad is balance and diversity – after all, you wouldn’t want a team full of electric types each and every week, would you?
As tempting as it may be to roster a team full of San Francisco 49ers (at one point, fantasy football’s equivalent to the GOATED Psychic type in Pokémon), diversity is the right call here, particularly considering just how poor most of the men from Santa Clara have been this year, both on the field and for your fantasy squad. Heading into Week 10, George Kittle ranks as the overall TE36 on the season – yes, he missed five games with a hamstring strain – but if we look only at the games he has actually played, he still sits at a lowly TE20 in FPPG…not the return we all paid that 4th round draft cost for. As much as it pains me to say (particularly as he is my League of Record TE)…George Kittle needs Brock Purdy to be an elite option at the position – and unfortunately, that doesn’t look like happening in Week 10 with the former Mr. Irrelevant still limited in practice with a toe injury that has seen him miss almost the entire season.
With Kyler Murray now on the IR and Jacoby Brissett steering the ship in Arizona, Trey McBride is arguably the number one TE rest-of-season – so if you can land him for Kittle plus a WR3 caliber player…you are laughing all the way to a #FootClanTitle. In Kyler’s absence through injury (definitely not a benching), Beef Brissett has thrown for over 250 yards in each of his three starts, as well as a pair of TDs – in that same time, Trey McBride has finished as the TE2, TE3, and TE6, seeing 33 total targets…we like that, we like that a lot.
This 49ers team will continue to run through Christian McCaffrey as long as Mac Jones is under center, and even when (nay if) Purdy is back in the starting lineup, we could see Ricky Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk (remember him?) returning from injury to steal further targets from Kittle and Jauan Jennings. As if you needed any more encouragement – Arizona has the 4th best strength-of-schedule rest-of-season at the TE position? Don’t overthink this trainer – get that link-cable dusted off and make some trades.
Question #3 – Waiver Wire (Sabotage TE Special)
Am I a big ol’ idiot? I picked up Colston Loveland to block my opponent, who is desperate for a TE. Our league’s waiver wire was very thin, and I really need a win to overtake him in the standings. Was this a smart or a dumb move? – disneylandcropduster
Answer: First of all, one of the most hilarious usernames I’ve seen on here…kudos to you. Secondly, don’t be so hard on yourself – that level of strategic thinking just shows that you’re out here playing chess while all your league mates are stuck playing checkers.
It may not be the case for every manager, but we are reaching that point of the season where every week counts, and there will be some teams that need to win out to stand any chance of making the fantasy playoffs. For them (and it sounds like this includes you), every matchup has to be treated as a must-win…and sometimes that means playing a little dirty.
Fundamentally, picking up a onesie position player (that’s QB or TE) to block an opponent in need, maybe isn’t the best tactical decision, given that each team only needs to start one of these player types. That said, if your waiver wire is as thin as you claim, there is a greater than 0% chance that maybe, just maybe, that there are no startable TEs left for them to pick up…but I doubt it. Already this season, 34 different TEs have scored a TD, and at a position that is so volatile from week-to-week, sometimes that’s all it takes to be a top-12 finisher at the position come the end of the Monday Night games – so there is a good chance your opponent can just grab a one-week rental and hope for the best.
Now, while your intentions may not have been the most strategically sound, the end result is one that could see you walking away with a championship come Week 17. I can only speculate why Colston Loveland was still sitting on your waiver wire at this stage in the season, but you, my friend, have hit the TE jackpot as we enter the business end of the year. The No.10 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft is coming off the best game of his young career, with six receptions for 118 yards and two TDs in Chicago’s shootout victory over Cincinnati last weekend. Whilst we can’t expect Caleb Williams to be throwing for almost 300 yards and three TDs every week, we can forecast Loveland’s usage in this passing offense to be sustainable at the levels we saw in the 47-42 victory – particularly with fellow TE Cole Kmet banged up and in the league’s concussion protocol. Without Kmet for most of the game, Week 9 saw Loveland record a season-high 81% of snaps and a very healthy 21% share of the team’s total targets.
Mr Bigglesworth’s future in the Windy City is looking very rosy – he has legit top-10 upside from here on in.
Question #4 – Trade Advice #3 (Trust The Rookie)
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Yo diggity, Ballers! I have both ‘Ferg Daddy’ Jake Ferguson and Oronde Gadsden on my roster. Would you trade one away for depth, or hold on to both of them through their upcoming bye weeks? – Jason’s Impounded Car
Answer: This is a tough one, especially after Ferguson’s back-to-back stinkers and upcoming bye-week have totally tanked his trade value in re-draft leagues. It may be a controversial choice given the expected resurgence of the Dallas Cowboys following their week off…but I would stick it out with the rookie and find a one-week rental when the Chargers get a rest in Week 12.
Up until Week 7, Ferguson looked unstoppable – he was the TE1 for fantasy, and led the league at the position in both receptions and TDs…then it all went a little pear-shaped. A big ol’ gooser against the Broncos in Week 8, followed up with 50 scoreless yards in Week 9, saw Ferg Daddy finish as the TE80 and TE25 – only the second and third times he’s been outside the top-10 all season. With CeeDee Lamb now back to full health – and George Pickens continuing his strong showing in search of a bumper contract – Ferguson could be taking a back seat to the talented WR pairing from here on in. This increase in hungry mouths to feed, coupled with the 2nd-worst strength-of-schedule rest-of-season at the TE position, makes him hard to trust as an every-week starter…especially compared to the new hotness that is the Chargers’ breakout rookie sensation, Oronde Gadsden.
Since bursting onto the scene in L.A.’s Week 6 victory over Miami, Gadsden leads the team in receiving yards and is just two receptions short of Ladd McConkey’s 26 grabs in that same time period – not bad rookie, not bad at all. We’ve heard Andy, Mike, and Jason talk about how each week there will be one (possibly two) guys catching passes from Justin Herbert that are likely to be irrelevant for fantasy, but when it’s his turn to feast, there are very few TEs in the league that have the upside Gadsden possesses. Both Ferguson and the 5th round pick out of Syracuse are top-8 options from here on in, but if you can move Dak’s former favorite target in favor of some depth at the RB or WR position, I am confident enough in Oronde to be the solitary TE on my roster…good luck!
Question #5 – Season-long Strategy (AFC North RB Special)
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Hey Ballers! Who would you rather have Rest-of-Season in a Full-PPR league – Quinshon Judkins or Jaylen Warren? – AllDaySon03
Answer: We may not truly know the full extent of his recent shoulder injury until he (hopefully) returns to the field on Sunday…but give me Quinshon Judkins rest-of-season over Jaylen Warren.
Don’t hear what I’m not saying – this is super close…but if both of these RBs are healthy, I want the one who has game-winning upside – even if he is on one of the worst teams in the league. Judkins’ 12.9 FPPG is enough to rank him as the RB22 in Full-PPR formats – exactly one spot and 0.3 FPPG behind Aaron Rodgers’ new best friend in Pittsburgh – but the Cleveland back is still the one I want out of these two guys moving forward. Sure, Warren has the pass-catching upside which is so valuable in this scoring format – out-catching the rookie at almost a 2:1 ratio with 24 receptions on the season compared to Judkins’ 15 – but in his four-year career, the versatile UDFA has only ever scored more than 20 fantasy points in a game on one occasion…Judkins has already matched that in just seven weeks.
Warren is by far the safer play week-to-week, but at this stage of the season, I’m not playing for safety; I’m playing to win. Judkins’ three TD performance against Miami showed just why Kevin Stefanski and his Front Office were willing to spend a high second-round pick on the former Buckeye – he is their offense, especially with Dillon Gabriel under center. At 5-2, the Steelers may have the better team, but therein lies the problem for Jaylen Warren and his upside. Aaron Rodgers can win a game in so many ways – and can lean on D.K. Metcalf, Pat Freiermuth, and Jonnu Smith as well as Warren and his running-mate Kenneth Gainwell – if the Browns want to win, they have to do so through their run game…and that’s all Quinshon Judkins.
It’s time for Rapid Round…
Can I drop Chris Godwin? – Sharknado
Answer: I had this penciled in earlier in the week, and at that time my answer would have been a solid “no way!’ – but with news that the near-30-year-old veteran will most likely be held out of footballing activity until early December, he is 100% droppable in all formats.
Permission to drop Brian Thomas Jr? – Immaculate Interception
Answer: Permission denied! It’s been absolutely brutal so far this year for the overall WR39, and the addition of this latest ankle injury certainly doesn’t help matters. That said, he’s simply too talented to let go, and with the recent acquisition of Jakobi Meyers, we may see some space free up for last season’s WR4. As the saying goes here at Ballers’ HQ…you can’t cut that guy!
Holla holla Ballas! Did Tory Horton do enough to carve out a consistent role with the Seahawks? – FIFTY PERCENT
Answer: He 100% did…and then the Seattle front office, making a deadline day trade for Rashid Shaheed, went and blew that possibility out of the water. Horton is a talented player, and he should have an elevated role on this team moving forward…but the upside disappeared as soon as it emerged.
Currently trying to replace Tucker Kraft, would you start Mason Taylor or Juwan Johnson in a Full-PPR league? – TruffleShuffle
Answer: I like chicken, I like liver, Meowson Meowson, please deliver! I am all in on Mason Taylor over Juwan this week, particularly with Tyler Shough calling the shots in New Orleans. It will be stinky, but let’s hope Taylor finds his inner cat as well as the end zone for the second time in as many games.
That will do it for this week FootClan – good luck in Week 10!