Fantasy Football Saturday Mailbag for Week 7 (Fantasy Football)
Good morning, FootClan, and welcome to Week 7 of The Fantasy Footballers’ Saturday Morning Mailbag! As always on Saturday morning, I am here to pick a few questions from The Fantasy Footballers’ Discord server and tackle some hot topics that didn’t quite make it into 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 it’s your go-to place to talk about all things fantasy football. Head over today and join thousands of members across dozens of dedicated channels for start/sit questions, trade advice, and waiver wire insights, plus exclusive areas available only to FootClan members.
Bonjour la FootClan! Bienvenue dans la septième semaine de la saison de fantasy football! Another week, another International Series game, and for the first time ever, the National Football League touches down in France! While the Saints and Steelers battle under the shadow of la Tour Eiffel, it’s business as usual Stateside…and by that I mean another laundry list of injuries to contend with, none bigger than Rams star WR (and current ROS WR1) Puka Nacua. Pre-Hernia Puka is now fully post-calf and will be a true Game Time Decision on Sunday afternoon for what would be a tasty match-up in Sin City against the Raiders. Jeremiyah Love will sit for another week, as will Colts TE Tyler Warren. Mixed news for the Bucs with Laser Mayfield coming back, but Emeka Egbegboo set to miss out. So many injuries, so many byes. As usual, we’ve got a lot to cover…so let’s dive right in!
Question #1 – Trade Talk (Stud Onesie vs Depth Edition)
Hey Ballers! I’m currently 1-5, and I need a more reliable WR2. Do I trade away Brock Bowers for an upgrade at WR? Something like Bowers & Jordyn Tyson for George Kittle & Chris Olave or Zay Flowers – Heyhey!
Answer: It is always difficult when you have a superstar at one position, but lack in another…and there is no bigger stud at TE than the man that is currently on your roster: Mr. Brock Bowers.
The third-year former Georgia Bulldog may have only played four games this season after missing the opening two weeks following a rather untimely meniscus trim, but since his return he has been absolutely unstoppable, with three top-3 finishes at the position in his first three contests…dawg. If there is a statistically relevant category, you can bet that the Raiders’ #89 is right at the tippy-top of the TE list:
- Fantasy Points Per Game – 17.1 (TE1)
- Targets Per Game – 11 (TE1)
- Receiving Yards Per Game – 95 (TE1)
- 20+ Yard Receptions – 6 (TE1)
- Receptions Per Game – 7 (TE2 – Trey McBride leads with 8.2)
- Yards Per Reception – 13.6 (TE2 – Travis Kelce leads with 15)
- TDs Per Game – 0.75 (=TE3 – George Kittle & Isaiah Likely have 0.8)
Simply put…Bowers is a machine – so why would you ever even consider trading him? Well, it sounds like you are in desperate need of depth, and as much as it would pain me to send Big Brock to another manager, I could live with myself if I was getting Kittle and one of those WRs you mentioned in return for my prize TE.
Let’s state the obvious: George Kittle is not Brock Bowers, and as much as I love the guy, it is highly unlikely you’ll get the week-to-week upside of the 49ers’ main man that you would get with Bowers. The nicest guy in professional football is currently the TE4 on the year in FPPG, his 12.8 someway short of Bowers’ 17.1; however, Kittle has finished as a top-6 TE in four of his six starts this year, and after a slow start to the season, has seen both his snap count and target share steadily rise as the weeks go by. Since Week 3, the charismatic founder of National TE Day has been on the field for a whopping 90% of the 49ers’ offensive plays, commanding 24% of looks from Brock Purdy in that same time period. Kittle is essential to this offense, and with Mike Evans looking set to join Deebo Samuel and Ricky Pearsall on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, George may see his workload grow even larger.
I would hate to see Bowers lining up on another roster; we know he is elite…but we have absolutely no idea what Saints’ rookie WR Jordyn Tyson is going to be when he gets on the field…or when indeed that will ever be. Tyson is an unknown, and in the words of Jason Randall Moore, “he was drafted to be great”…but without seeing it so far, and Tyson not suiting up in Paris this weekend, we have to start considering that perhaps this is a lost rookie year for the No.8 overall draft pick out of Arizona State. While there are a number of question marks surrounding Tyson, the only ones hanging over teammate Chris Olave and Ravens’ No. 1 guy Zay Flowers are how high they will finish in the WR rankings by the end of the season. Averaging 15.2 and 15.7 FPPG respectively, we can be sure that either of these wideouts would be a fine WR2 for your team, if not your new WR1. Sure, there are worries about Lamar Jackson’s health, but Flowers should be fine with Tyler Huntley until LJ8’s return, so he is my top target. Olave will finish the year as a top-12 WR, but his value may take a dent if and when Tyson returns. Go for Flowers, but don’t be disappointed if you only get Olave.
Question #2 – Season-long Strategy (Oldest Sophomore QB Ever Edition)
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
BOYS! Tyler Shough is currently my QB1. I have Christian Watson, Garrett Wilson, and Chris Olave at WR. D’Andre Swift and James Cook are my RBs. How important is a consistent QB in order to make a fantasy playoff run? Any trade suggestions? – CropTuten
Answer: Speaking of the Saints! Mike Wright favorite Tyler Shough bounced back to relative normality last week after his disastrous Week 5 performance against the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a big enough kick in the crotch when a player goose-eggs and puts up a zero, but to put up a minus…that is just not fair. Shough’s -0.2 was unsurprisingly a season low and the worst QB fantasy performance of the year so far…including the guys who are brought in to kneel out games – Kenny Pickett, I am looking at you! We have to take this one for what it is: an anomaly, an outlier, a freak occurrence…after all, Minnesota is currently the worst matchup for fantasy QBs, and Shough is the overall QB7 through the opening six weeks.
Removing that sub-100-yard passing performance against the Vikes, Shough is averaging 270 yards through the air each week for almost 2.5 TDs…not too shabby. Where the 27-year-old sophomore’s (no, that wasn’t a typo – he turned 27 in September) strength truly lies, however, is in his rushing ability – tagging on an average of 21 yards on the ground, and a score in almost half of his games. Add it all up, and we are looking at essentially 300/3 each week from a guy whose ADP was in the early 16th round, aka undrafted…what a bargain.
Is the oldest player ever drafted over-performing (ok, Shough isn’t the oldest player ever drafted…but he’s not far off) – undoubtedly, do we care as fantasy managers – absolutely not. Sure, there is an unnerving thought in the back of my head that things are going to go south for the former Louisville Cardinal, but there is also the possibility that the addition of currently injured rookie Jordyn Tyson gives Shough even more upside than he has been showing as the QB7…after all, Tyson was the second WR off the board back in April.
Following New Orleans’ Week 8 bye, they have the 12th-best strength of schedule from there on in, with five matchups against bottom-10 defenses against fantasy QBs. That puts Shough as the overall QB16 in the Rest of Season Rankings over on The Ultimate Dashboard. Am I happy with that as a Shough manager in my main League of Record? No, but I am pretty sure I can find a workable solution with the other talent on my roster, and you should be able to too.
You have elite options at both WR and RB, and honestly, I wouldn’t trade any of them for a QB unless that man’s name was Josh Allen. Keep using Shough in his plus matchups and pick up a streaming QB to fill in when confidence in the Saints’ starter isn’t quite as high. Sam Darnold, Kyler Murray, and the returning Baker Mayfield all have some pretty favorable matchups during Shough’s tougher weeks – grab one of those guys for free and plug them in when needed.
Question #3 – Trade Talk (Stud RB/WR Swap Special)
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
What’s up, Ballers! Would y’all trade Bijan Robinson and Nico Collins for Chuba Hubbard and Ja’Marr Chase? – Finale551
Answer: The immediate and short answer here is…no. The longer and more convoluted answer is…also no – but let me at least explain.
On paper, this seems a fair trade, certainly not one that would be vetoed or potentially screen-grabbed and posted to fantasy Twitter to trade-shame anyone involved…but it just doesn’t feel good. I will be up front and honest: I have zero Bijan shares and never have, so I do not feel like I pay as much attention to what he is doing on the field as I should, but that said, it still feels as if he has been very boom/bust so far this year, with his weekly fantasy finishes backing those claims up. The more gifted of the B. Robinsons on the Atlanta roster has finished inside the top-7 on three occasions already this year, eclipsing 25 points in each of those contests…but in his other three outings he has failed to crack double digits twice, and despite racking up 118-scoreless yards against the Ravens in week 5, his 13.8 fantasy points were only good enough to finish the week as the RB18. Don’t hear what I’m not saying…Bijan is a stud, and with the return of Michael Penix, things should only get better for the fourth-year back from here on out.
If it feels like Robinson is meddling, the same cannot be said for Carolina Panthers lead-rusher, and overall RB11 on the year – Chuba Hubbard. The six-year veteran may be at the fringes of RB1 territory on total points, but as the Panthers have already had their bye, Hubba Chubbard (as we like to call him in my League of Record) has played one game less than almost all other RBs at the top of the scoring charts, and actually ranks T5th on a FPPG basis…hot stuff. Chuba’s 18.5 FPPG in 0.5 PPR formats is only 1.2 points per game behind Bijan, but just how good can it get for the undisputed leader of the Panthers backfield?
I do not want to be overly pessimistic, but I think Chuba is performing well above his ceiling, while Bijan is hovering just above his floor. They may be close in the scoring charts, but there is a huge gulf in talent between these two players that I think will show as the season progresses.
Looking at the WRs in this trade, Nico Collins is currently the WR21 on the season, with Chase at WR18…both relatively disappointing given their draft capital. However, Nico sat out Weeks 2 and 3 with a hamstring strain, so he should be applauded for still hanging around in the top-24 at the position given his absence. The Bengals, as is tradition, are going through the motions early in the season, and as a result, Ja’Marr Chase is once again disappointing early on given his lofty ADP. Through six weeks, Nico is showing out at a full 2.3 FPPG better than Chase, despite both averaging just over five targets each week from their respective QBs.
Technically, you already own the two higher-scoring players on either side of this potential trade, so why would you want to give them up? Chase is the better of the two receivers for sure, but the gap between him and Collins is way smaller than the gap between Bijan and Chubba…so I wouldn’t make this deal. Better days are ahead for three of these players; I don’t want the side that has the guy punching above his weight…sorry, Chuba.
It’s time for Rapid Round…
Is Travis Etienne Jr. a must pick-up? He’s getting dropped in a few leagues I am in – mexicanbeefcake
Answer: Absolutely! Have you seen the Saints’ running game since he went on IR? Kamara has flashed, and his 31-yard receiving TD in the 34-27 victory over the New York Giants last weekend was a thing of beauty – but that was more “right place, right time” than Alvin truly rolling back the years. Etienne got paid a boatload of money in the off-season and will resume lead-rusher duties for this team as soon as he returns from injury. You are starting at a free RB2 on your waivers…please go grab him.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Bonjour! With all the chaos in Paris, is it possible that the game gets delayed? Are you doing anything to prepare for this, or hedge against rostering players in that game? – Trogdor
Answer: A fitting bonjour with the NFL set to play its first-ever game in France, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints square off at the Stade de France on Sunday. Unfortunately, there are other events in Paris this week that have been taking center stage, and with the relative civil unrest going on in the streets of the city of love…who knows what’s in store come Sunday afternoon. The soccer match between Paris St. Germain and Lyon has already been moved to Monday due to the rioting, but with no word on Sunday’s gridiron clash as of yet, we have to assume it is going ahead as planned. Keep your eyes on the news and have a pivot option ready just in case. It’s a very early KO in Paris at 08:30 am EST…so be sure to set those alarm clocks!
Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Is Chase Brown a better trade-for or trade-away candidate? I currently have him on my team and would like to trade him before things get any worse. Can it actually get better? – blueboy9120
Answer: It feels like the Bengals do this every year. Start slow, then inevitably ramp up as the season rolls on. They may be fourth in the AFC North, but at 3-2, they are still very much in the hunt for playoff places. Their schedule isn’t ideal for Brown, fourth-hardest against the run…, but he is good enough to overcome that. They have had their bye and should be ready for the run-in. He is a hold for me, and an excellent buy-low target if the manager who has him is getting a little hot under the collar.
Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Is National TE Day international? – General Tsoreness Chicken
Answer: It’s National TE Day; the clue is in the name, General. If you’ve got Juwan Johnson or Pat Freiermuth in your lineup, you better start looking at the waivers for a one-week replacement playing on U.S. soil. I don’t make the rules.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Germie Bernard or Josh Jacobs this week? – CantCutThatGuy
Answer: Josh Jacobs may have looked like a later-career Eddie Lacy in some of those practice videos this week…but this Green Bay offense is too good not to get plenty of red zone opportunities, so I lean Jacobs. The Germ should see plenty of targets in Paris, but with a less-than-ideal weather forecast and international games tending to throw up some pretty torrid affairs, I’ll roll the dice on Jacobs falling into the end zone at some point.