Drake Maye
28.44 pts
24 of 31, 321 yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown on Thursday night. Your highest-scoring starter.
Sunday went about as well as it could have. You put up 122.14 and Gridiron Guru 23 managed 69.62, so win number three is in the bag before tonight's kickoff. The uncomfortable part: your two worst starters cost you 36 points of ceiling, and one of them has no business being in the lineup again.
LordHaveMRSA
122.14
Gridiron Guru 23
69.62
Decided. Every one of your starters is finished for Week 7. Gridiron Guru 23 has exactly one player left - Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles), tonight at the Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 PM Eastern - and Goedert would need 52.53 points to catch you. The single best tight-end game in NFL history is roughly 40. You are 3-4.
Roschon Johnson
1.30 pts
Two carries, 13 yards, ten offensive snaps. A wasted lineup slot and the single worst start of your season.
Samaje Perine
Top waiver add
The fix for Week 8, when Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) is on bye and you have no startable second running back.
Your starters who played
Drake Maye (New England Patriots) - 28.44 points
Thursday night against the Chicago Bears: 24 completions on 31 attempts for 321 yards, two passing touchdowns, one interception, plus four carries for 26 yards and a rushing touchdown. New England lost 30-24, which is exactly the game script you want from a fantasy quarterback - game script means whether his team was ahead or behind, and a team playing from behind throws. Nothing to complain about.
Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) - 27.10 points
Ten catches on thirteen targets for 111 yards and a touchdown in a 30-16 loss at the Denver Broncos. Thirteen targets is a wide receiver's workload at tight end. He is the most reliable player on your roster and he is not close to being replaced.
Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) - 21.80 points
Eight catches on ten targets for 68 yards and a touchdown, plus two carries for ten yards in a 35-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The yardage was modest; the eighty-percent catch rate and the touchdown carried it. This is his floor game and his floor is a good week.
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) - 21.30 points
Five catches on twelve targets for 103 yards and a touchdown. Read that again: twelve targets, five catches. He is being fed heavily and he is dropping or missing more than half of it. The result was excellent and the process is a coin flip. Keep starting him, but do not be shocked by a 4-point week.
Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) - 18.10 points
Sixteen carries for 99 yards and a touchdown, plus two catches for 22 yards. Workmanlike, exactly what you drafted him for, and the only running back on your roster you can trust.
Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) - 4.10 points
Three catches on six targets for eleven yards. Eleven. The Kansas City Chiefs were strangled 20-3 by the Seattle Seahawks and Patrick Mahomes himself scored 7.00 fantasy points, so this was an offense-wide collapse rather than a Worthy problem - but a bad outing is a bad outing, and two of your bench wide receivers beat him. He stays in the flex because the alternatives are no better, not because he earned it.
Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) - 1.30 points
Two carries for thirteen yards on ten offensive snaps. Snap share means the percentage of his team's offensive plays he was on the field for, and his was ten snaps against 59 for D'Andre Swift, who took 22 carries and 78 yards. Johnson had 15 touches in Week 6 while Kyle Monangai was out with a toe injury; that window is shut. He is not a Week 8 starter, he is not a Week 9 starter, and he is the first name you cut.
Five of seven did their job. Two were the reason this was not a 150-point week.
Bench versus starters
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) 19.10 on the bench, Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) 1.30 in the lineup
A 17.80-point error. Skattebo was listed Questionable with a hamstring injury and ran seventeen times for 124 yards and a touchdown anyway. The lesson is not subtle: a Questionable back with a real workload beats a healthy back with ten snaps every time. The matchup was never in danger, so it cost you nothing this week - it would have cost you a close one.
Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) 6.70 and DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) 5.30 beat Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) 4.10
Technically a miss, practically noise - nobody on your bench was going to save that flex slot. Godwin caught four of five targets for 27 yards; Douglas caught three of four for 23. Everyone involved was bad.
Geno Smith (New York Jets) 24.48 on the bench - you got this one right
23 of 30 for 287 yards and three touchdowns is a strong week, and Drake Maye (New England Patriots) still beat him by 3.96. Correct call. No change at quarterback.
One real mistake, and it was the obvious one.
Injuries and byes on your roster
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) - Out, AC joint sprain in the shoulder
He has not played in weeks, Buffalo was on bye in Week 7, and he is still carrying an Out designation heading into Sunday's home game against the Baltimore Ravens. That is a dead roster spot on a team that needs a running back. Cut him for your waiver claim unless he practices in full this week.
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - Questionable, hamstring, and on bye in Week 8
He played through it for 124 yards, which is the only injury news that matters. The New York Giants are on bye in Week 8, so he gets a free rest week - and that is precisely why your Week 8 running back problem is urgent.
Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) - 0.00, and that is fine
A bye-week zero, not an injury. Buffalo returns Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
Week 8 - the running back hole and how to fill it
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) | The clear second running back behind Chase Brown, with goal-line and passing-down work and a touchdown in each of his last two games. Cincinnati hosts the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at 1:00 PM Eastern as a double-digit favorite - the best scoring environment of any available back. | $8 |
| Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) | The most-added free agent in the league pool over the last 48 hours. He is the receiving back in Baltimore and Derrick Henry just ground out 45 yards on seventeen carries, which is how a committee becomes a rotation. At the Buffalo Bills, Sunday 1:00 PM Eastern. | $4 |
| Kimani Vidal (Los Angeles Chargers) | Cheap insurance. The Chargers are off a bye and at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at 4:05 PM Eastern. Only worth it if the first two get outbid. | $2 |
| Devin Singletary (New York Giants) | Do not bother. 14.50 points on Sunday looks tempting, but the Giants are on bye in Week 8 - the same bye that created your problem. | $0 |
Your Week 8 opponent is WhoottieBoys, 1-5 and the lowest-scoring team in the league at 514.32 points. This is the most winnable game left on your schedule and you should not hand it away with an empty lineup slot.
The problem: your lineup needs two running backs. Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) hosts the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at 4:05 PM Eastern and is locked in. Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) is on bye. That leaves Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears), who just posted 1.30 points on ten snaps. You have to add a running back - this is not optional.
You have $39 of your $100 FAAB budget left - FAAB is the season-long bidding budget for waiver pickups - which is enough for one real claim and change. Spend it.
The best game you did not have
Mason Taylor (New York Jets) - 25.20 points, unowned in your league
Five catches on six targets for 62 yards and two touchdowns. He is the loudest unclaimed performance from Sunday and he will be gone by Wednesday. You have Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals), so this is not your claim - but if someone in your league is starting a replacement-level tight end, expect Taylor to be the reason their Week 8 looks better.
Malik Willis (Miami Dolphins) - 26.02 points, also unowned
Eight carries for 37 yards and a rushing touchdown on top of his passing line. A quarterback with legs is the cheapest fantasy edge there is, and Miami is expected to trail often. Not your need - you have Drake Maye (New England Patriots) and Geno Smith (New York Jets) - but worth knowing who is on the board.
Your Week 8 lineup as it stands
| Slot | Player | Status |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) | At the Miami Dolphins, Sun 4:25 PM ET. Start. |
| RB | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) | Vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, Sun 4:05 PM ET. Start. |
| RB | Waiver addition - Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) preferred | Vs. the Tennessee Titans, Sun 1:00 PM ET. Must be filled. |
| WR | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) | Vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, Sun 4:05 PM ET. Start. |
| WR | Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) | At the New York Jets, Sun 1:00 PM ET. Start, and brace yourself. |
| TE | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) | At the Dallas Cowboys, Sun 1:00 PM ET. Start. |
| FLEX | Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) | At the Denver Broncos, Sun 4:25 PM ET. Start by default - Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) is the alternative if Worthy's practice reports sour. |
| BYE | Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) | New York Giants on bye. Unavailable. |
| CUT | Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) or DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) | One of these two is the roster spot for your waiver claim. |
Assumes you land a running back on waivers. Daylight saving time ends early Sunday morning, so all Sunday kickoffs shift an hour later on the clock than last week.
Where you sit
Tonight's win moves you to 3-4 and ties you with Gridiron Guru 23, The Daddies and vargy at 3-3 or 3-4 in the fight for the last playoff spots - six teams make the playoffs and the trade deadline is Week 13. Your 597.02 points scored is ninth, but it is only 46 points behind sixth-place Gridiron Guru 23, and you have scored more than three teams sitting above you in the standings. This has been a bad-luck season, not a bad roster - with one exception, which is that you have one real running back and the schedule is about to make you prove it.