Waiver Wire

The problem is the Falcons would rather not throw the ball ever to anyone. They take forever to snap the ball (No. 30 in Pace of Play), and when do eventually snap it, they run it (No. 3 in Team Run Plays per Game, No. 30 in Pass Attempts). This has been the case even when Cordarrelle Patterson is on the sidelines. On the season, they’ve chosen to hand to the ball to plodding backup rookie back Tyler Allgeier twice as many times as they’ve thrown to Pitts.

In an NFL week filled with fantasy joy (Justin Jefferson is a KING) and fantasy tragedy (Cooper Kupp), Watson put his stamp on the week and potentially the season moving forward. This is why we constantly grind the waiver wire. Change happens in this league, and it happens quickly. All it takes is one Sunday, and the outlook for a player can rise and fall more sharply than in any other sport. How do Rachaad White managers feel on Monday morning? How heavy of a weight was lifted off the backs of Jonathan Taylor dynasty managers? Meanwhile, Kupp managers are entirely gutted.

Welcome in to the Week 10 edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to RB! No special intro today, just some cold hard running-back talk. IF you are new to the column, this is the place we talk all things running back streaming. Each week we discuss running back usage, matchups, and waiver opportunities to convert the least amount of capital into a playable running back position on your fantasy teams.

Fantasy managers can breathe a sigh of relief at the end of Byemaggedon. Six teams on byes made for some genuinely disgusting start-sit choices. Week 10 will be less painful with only four teams set to miss. Week 11 will have four more teams out with byes (Jacksonville, Miami, Seattle, and Tampa Bay). Plan accordingly and be a week ahead. 

This is not a great week of impactful waiver wire additions, but check your league for players not listed in this column who could have been cut last week. Take extra time to comb through your league’s list of available players because the finish line is in sight and the fantasy playoffs are just around the corner. 

Welcome to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to RB for Week 9! Normally, I start this column off with the same introduction each week. I talk about what this column covers, and frankly attempt to get out of my own way given each edition typically stretches 4,000-5,000 words. However, this week I can do no such thing. Fantasy Football is at times a remarkably frustrating game. You’re taking large stands at thin margins which often go awry. Even when you hit big on a talent profile, you can still come away fruitless due to team circumstance, bad luck, or injury. Therefore, I think we all deserve to breathe in the air when the winds are favorable.

If not for Elliott’s contract, and Jerry Jones’s unwillingness to admit a mistake, Pollard would be Dallas’s lead back. To Elliott’s dismay, he sat out Week 8 against the run sieve known as the Chicago Bears while Pollard exploded for 131 rushing yards and three scores on just 14 carries. That’s 9.4 Yards per Carry, folks. Elliott has never put up 9.4 Yards per Carry in 99 career regular-season or playoff starts. In the 19 career games, when Pollard has been given 10 or more carries, he averages 5.9 Yards per Carry. Only two backs this year, Khalil Herbert and Travis Etienne, are averaging more. Only Rashaad Penny did better last year.

Welcome to the Waiver Wire Week 9! Chalk up Week 8 as a positive one for the fantasy community. The day started with Travis Etienne gashing the Broncos and looking like a rest-of-season strong RB1. A.J. Brown smashed with a three-TD outburst. Kyler Murray showed signs of life as a high-end QB1 play moving forward. Tyreek Hill AND Jaylen Waddle smashed. Kyle Pitts saw nine targets and posted a 5-80-1 line, a stat line we expected to be a regular occurrence in the preseason but is now a call for celebration in mid-season. “Tony Pollard Week,” was a smashing success as Pollard went nuts in Zeke Elliott’s absence with a three-TD, 131-yard smash game. And in a happy turn of events, D.K. Metcalf not only did not miss this week with an injury but found the end zone in an important Seattle win.

Gus Edwards returned to the Ravens lineup just as J.K. Dobbins exited. He immediately made his presence felt with an RB1 performance.

I would exercise caution in all directions here. On one hand, Edwards’ production was much better than his role. Edwards played just 36-percent of snaps and ceded a significant portion of work in all situations, including short yardage and goal line, to both Justice Hill and Kenyan Drake. He received a carry on 70-percent of his snaps.

Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs surprised many in the NFL and fantasy world this week, naming seventh-round rookie Isiah Pacheco as their starting running back. Thus, supplanting 2020 first-rounder Clyde Edwards-Helaire. After fantasy managers spent the following days getting Pacheco onto rosters and starting lineups, on Sunday, despite the Chiefs putting up 44 points, Pacheco laid an egg: eight rushes for 43 yards, no scores, and no targets.

This is the Waiver Wire Week 8, and wow, yesterday was a tumultuous day for Breece Hall managers. Maybe you drafted him in dynasty as the 1.01 in all formats- even Superflex. Perhaps you drafted him in redraft as a fifth-round steal. Either way, you played it perfectly. You filtered out all of the noise, the “bad landing spot” narrative, and the hilarious “crowded backfield,” arguments. Through six weeks, and despite a mediocre Jets offense, Hall was RB7 overall and the focal point of a winning team. He had league winner written all over him. This past Sunday, he ripped off a 62-yard TD run on the road in Denver. Things were going great, and then disaster fell- a knee injury.