Roschon Johnson
1.30 pts
Ten snaps, two carries, zero targets in Week 7. He is your biggest problem.
No games have been played since Monday night, so this one is all forward-looking: your Week 8 matchup is the softest one left on your schedule, and the only thing standing between you and 4-4 is the running back slot you currently have Roschon Johnson in. Updated after DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) was ruled out - the flex call is now Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills).
LordHaveMRSA (3-4)
0.00
WhoottieBoys (1-6)
0.00
Week 8 has not kicked off. First game is Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers, Thursday 8:15 PM ET - no one on either roster plays in it. Your matchup effectively starts Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
Keon Coleman
Your flex
DJ Moore is out. Coleman ran 94% of routes the last time Moore sat.
Xavier Worthy
4.10 pts
Three catches, eleven yards. A consensus must-sit at Denver this week.
1. Where the matchup stands
You are 3-4 and sitting eighth, one game out of the sixth and final playoff spot. This week you draw WhoottieBoys, who are 1-6 and have scored 585.20 points - dead last in the league and 78 points behind the next-lowest-scoring team. There is no opponent left on your schedule you should feel better about.
The one number you should be angry about: you have scored 719.16 points but your best possible lineups would have scored 841.56. That is 122.40 points left on your own bench across seven weeks - roughly a win and a half. Three of your four losses are inside that margin.
Nobody on your roster plays Thursday night, and only Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) is on a bye. Your Monday-night exposure is Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) at Seattle, which matters below.
2. Your lineup as it sits - and the two changes to make
| Slot | Player | Call |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) at Miami Dolphins | Lock. 20.9 points per game, 28.44 last week. |
| RB | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) vs Los Angeles Chargers | Lock. 19.6 per game, home, no injury. |
| RB | Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) at Seattle Seahawks | CHANGE. See section 3. |
| WR | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) vs Los Angeles Chargers | Lock. 22.7 per game, your best player. |
| WR | Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) at New York Jets | Start. 26.7 and 21.3 the last two weeks. |
| TE | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) at Dallas Cowboys | Lock. 18.6 per game, 27.1 last week. |
| FLEX | Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) vs Baltimore Ravens | Started here after DJ Moore was ruled out. Bench Xavier Worthy. |
Bench Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs), start Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills)
Worthy caught three of six targets for eleven yards against Seattle - 4.10 points - and he is 8.6 per game on the season with one touchdown all year. He now goes to Denver, which allows the fifth-fewest yards per target to wide receivers and held him to a near-identical line in Week 1, and Rashee Rice (Kansas City Chiefs) is expected back from a hamstring injury to take targets off him. Multiple outlets have him as a flat-out must-sit. DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) is out with the shoulder, so the flex is Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) at home against Baltimore. Buffalo also ruled out Joshua Palmer, which leaves Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid to absorb almost everything. The last time Moore sat, in Week 6 at Las Vegas, Coleman played 58 of 68 snaps - 85% - and ran 94% of the routes, finishing as the WR15 on only 29 team pass attempts. He has three touchdowns on 24 targets this season and one drop all year; Josh Allen's passer rating when throwing to him is 138.0. With Lamar Jackson expected back from an ankle injury for Baltimore, this should be the highest-scoring game on your slate.
Do not get clever anywhere else
Geno Smith (New York Jets) put up 24.48 last week and that is tempting, but Drake Maye (New England Patriots) is 20.9 per game to Smith's 15.3 and has a better matchup at Miami. Leave the quarterback alone. Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Cooper Kupp (Seattle Seahawks) and DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) are all sub-10-per-game and Godwin and Douglas both appear on must-sit lists this week - none of them is the answer at flex.
3. The running back hole - this is the whole report
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles) | 15.00 and 11.80 the last two weeks. Saquon Barkley's back 'froze up' Sunday and he did not return; if Barkley sits, Pierce leads this backfield Sunday night at Washington. He did leave Week 7 on a kick return himself and is questionable, so this is not risk-free. | $8 |
| Elijah Mitchell (Philadelphia Eagles) | The lottery ticket on the same backfield. If Barkley AND Pierce are both out, Mitchell is the only Eagles running back standing and finished Week 7 for them. Cheap insurance that pairs with the Pierce claim - claim both and you own the Philadelphia backfield whoever is healthy. | $5 |
| Dylan Sampson (Cleveland Browns) | 10.70 in Week 7 and free. Lower ceiling, no injury cloud. The fallback if both Eagles claims lose. | $3 |
What to do if every claim fails
Then you start Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) and accept roughly four points from the slot. Even that probably wins this week - WhoottieBoys are averaging 83.6 points per game and your floor with the other six slots is comfortably above that. But do not plan around it. Get the claims in tonight, and watch the Philadelphia practice reports Wednesday and Thursday before you set the final bid.
Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) played ten offensive snaps in Week 7, down from 27 and 31 the two weeks before, took two carries for thirteen yards, and was not thrown to once. He scored 1.30 points. D'Andre Swift (Chicago Bears) took 26 touches in the same game, including 22 carries. Johnson is not splitting that backfield any more; he is the change-of-pace back on a team that does not need one. He is averaging 4.0 points per game and now he draws Seattle, which allows the fewest fantasy points in the league to receivers and is a bad run matchup too - on Monday night, meaning if he busts you cannot react.
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) is your natural fill-in and he is on a bye. He also tweaked a hamstring in the overtime win over Houston, though the reporting says he should be fine. Hold him; he is your RB2 from Week 9 on.
So you need to add a running back before Sunday. You have $39 of your $100 season waiver budget left - the money used to bid on waiver pickups - which is enough to do this properly and still have something for the stretch run.
4. Injuries and byes on your roster
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - hamstring, questionable, on bye
Felt something in his hamstring during the overtime win over Houston, in which he ran 17 times for 124 yards and a touchdown. NFL Network reported all indications are he should be okay. The Giants are on a bye in Week 8 regardless, so this costs you nothing this week. Do not drop him.
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) - shoulder - OUT
Ruled out for Sunday against Baltimore. This is the AC joint sprain he re-aggravated on October 4 - a third missed game, and the optimism coming out of the bye did not hold up. Buffalo also ruled out wide receiver Joshua Palmer and defensive tackle Ed Oliver. There is nothing to do about Moore but hold him; he has been a 9.1-per-game player when he plays and the shoulder has cost you more than his scoring has. Revisit in Week 10 if he misses again.
One zero that was not anyone's fault
Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) shows 0.00 for Week 7. That was Buffalo's bye week, not a bad game. He is 10.9 per game on the season and went for 15.9 in Week 6 - the game he played without DJ Moore.
Everyone else is clean
Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams), Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams), Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals), Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders), Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs), Geno Smith (New York Jets), Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Cooper Kupp (Seattle Seahawks) and DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) carry no injury designation.
5. Big games by players you do not own
Mason Taylor (New York Jets) - 25.20 points in Week 7, and he is a free agent in your league
The best unowned performance of the weekend in your league, and nobody has claimed him. He went 5.4, 7.3, 25.2 over the last three weeks as the Jets passing game came alive - Geno Smith (New York Jets) threw for 24.48 fantasy points in the same game and Omar Cooper Jr. (New York Jets) went over 22 for the second straight week. You do not need a tight end with Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) on your roster, so this is not a claim to spend on. Mentioning it because he is the kind of player a 1-6 team should have grabbed and did not.
Worth knowing about your opponent
WhoottieBoys start Jonah Coleman (Denver Broncos), the week's most-recommended running back add, and Rashee Rice (Kansas City Chiefs), who is questionable with a hamstring injury. Their quarterback is Aaron Rodgers (Pittsburgh Steelers) against a Cleveland Browns defense in Pittsburgh. They have $17 of waiver budget left. Their ceiling is real but their floor is the worst in the league.
Week 8 schedule for your players (US Eastern)
| Day and time | Game | Your players |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct 29, 8:15 PM | Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers | None |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 1:00 PM | Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills | Keon Coleman (DJ Moore out) |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 1:00 PM | Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys | Trey McBride |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 1:00 PM | Las Vegas Raiders at New York Jets | Tre Tucker, Geno Smith |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 1:00 PM | Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Chris Godwin Jr. |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 4:05 PM | Los Angeles Chargers at Los Angeles Rams | Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 4:25 PM | Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos | Xavier Worthy |
| Sunday, Nov 1, 4:25 PM | New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins | Drake Maye, DeMario Douglas |
| Monday, Nov 2, 8:15 PM | Chicago Bears at Seattle Seahawks | Roschon Johnson, Cooper Kupp |
Note: clocks fall back at 2:00 AM ET on Sunday, November 1, so Sunday's late games are an hour later on the clock than usual relative to this week.