Cam Skattebo
11.9 projected
The start/sit call of the week. Hamstring, questionable.
No games were played last night. Week 9 kicks off Thursday, November 5 at 8:15 PM ET with the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Baltimore Ravens, and nothing on your roster is locked in yet. You are a 3-point underdog in a game you need, and the fix is sitting on your own bench.
LordHaveMRSA (3-5)
108.6
honeybadgerr1 (3-5)
111.4
Projected, not played. Kickoff Thursday 8:15 PM ET.
DJ Moore
12.9 projected
Shoulder and knee, and he plays Monday night. A trap.
Austin Ekeler
Free agent
Top waiver target. Bid $7 of your remaining $34.
Where the matchup stands
| Slot | Player | Projected |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) | 21.3 |
| Running Back | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) | 18.8 |
| Running Back | Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) | 6.5 - replace him |
| Wide Receiver | Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) | 11.0 |
| Wide Receiver | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) | 23.1 |
| Tight End | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) | 15.1 |
| Flex | DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) | 12.9 - questionable |
You are 3-5, ninth of twelve, with 819.22 points scored. Six teams make the playoffs, and the 4-4 pack - Heisenberg, Injury bug and vargy - is a single game ahead of you. The trade deadline is week 13 and the playoffs start week 15, so the margin for a wasted week is gone.
Week 9 is honeybadgerr1, also 3-5 but with 865.60 points scored, so they have been slightly unluckier than you. Projections have them 111.4 to your 108.6. That is a coin flip, and a coin flip is decided by your lineup rather than by your roster.
Byes this week are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans. You own nobody on either team, so no forced substitutions. Last week you lost 100.06 to 112.80 against WhoottieBoys.
The start / sit calls before kickoff
Start Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) over Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals)
This is the whole report. Samaje Perine ran four times for ten yards last week and scored 2.90 points; he has cleared 8 points once in four games. Cam Skattebo is on your bench projected for 11.9 and went for 19.1 two weeks ago before the New York Giants' bye. He tweaked a hamstring late in that game, worked off to the side at Monday's practice, and is being described as day to day and a possible game-time decision - meaning the team may not announce him until shortly before the 1:00 PM ET Sunday kickoff at the Philadelphia Eagles. Check the inactive list at 11:30 AM ET Sunday. If he is active, he starts. That one swap is worth about 5 points, which is more than the 2.8 points you are projected to lose by.
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) is a Monday-night injury question, which is the worst kind
He caught 4 of 7 targets for 82 yards and a touchdown last week - 16.60 points - in his first game back since week 4, then left with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder on top of a knee issue. He is questionable. The problem is the schedule: the Buffalo Bills play at the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, November 9 at 8:15 PM ET, so by the time you learn whether he is playing, every other receiver you own has already finished. Decide early. If he is not clearly cleared by Sunday around noon ET, start Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) in the flex instead - he projects for 10.3 and plays at 1:00 PM ET against the New York Jets. Giving up 2 projected points to remove a zero-risk is the right trade.
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) keeps his spot, but hold your breath
He was handed one target last week and finished with no catches and 0.00 points. That came immediately after 26.7 and 21.3 in weeks 6 and 7, which tells you exactly what he is: a boom-or-bust deep threat whose week depends on whether one long ball connects. He still projects for 11.0 at the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET, better than anything else you could flex, so he plays. Just do not be surprised by another egg.
No change at quarterback, running back one, receiver or tight end
Drake Maye (New England Patriots) was ruthlessly efficient last week - 16 of 20 for 199 yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, 22.46 points - and hosts the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET. Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) caught 11 of 12 targets for 25.00 points and is your highest projection of the week at the Washington Commanders. Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) went 7 of 8 for 72 yards and a touchdown. Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) was mediocre on the ground - 16 carries for 56 yards, a weak 3.5 yards a carry - and only reached 12.90 because he fell in for a touchdown, but he is your clear second-best back.
Your bench outscored your starters
DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) sat on your bench and put up 16.60 points on three targets - three catches, 76 yards and a touchdown, including a 48-yard strike - while Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders), a wide receiver in your starting lineup, scored 0.00. That is a 16.6-point mistake in a week you lost by 12.74. You lost last week on your bench, not on your roster.
The honest caveat: Douglas got there on three targets, which is not a volume profile you can count on. He projects for just 7.0 this week. He becomes genuinely startable only if A.J. Brown misses a sixth game for the New England Patriots - his status is still unclear and the coaching staff said only "we'll see" on Monday. Watch Friday's practice report.
Geno Smith (New York Jets) also threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns off your bench for 19.00 points, but Drake Maye beat him anyway. Your quarterback slot is fine. Carrying two startable quarterbacks on a 14-man roster while running Samaje Perine out at running back is the real inefficiency, and Geno Smith is your most tradeable asset before the week 13 deadline.
Injuries on your roster
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - questionable, hamstring
Day to day, off to the side at Monday's practice, possible game-time decision Sunday at 1:00 PM ET. Your week hinges on this one. If he is ruled out, Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) is the fallback by default and plays early - the Cincinnati Bengals meet the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) - questionable, shoulder AC joint sprain and knee
See the start/sit section. Monday night, so decide by Sunday noon.
Zonovan Knight (Arizona Cardinals) - concussion protocol
Taken out of week 8 after a hit. Concussion protocol has no fixed timetable and he is irrelevant to your lineup either way at 4.9 projected. Hold him this week only because the Arizona Cardinals backfield is in flux - Jeremiyah Love re-injured an ankle and was ruled out at halftime last week - but he is your second drop candidate if a better name clears waivers.
Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles) - injured reserve
He has no path back to your lineup and is occupying a roster spot. He is being dropped across Sleeper. Drop him to make room for a waiver claim.
Waivers - $34 of your $100 season budget remains
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Ekeler (Washington Commanders), Running Back | Jeremy McNichols has a mid-foot injury that head coach Dan Quinn said may be serious. Rachaad White is rostered elsewhere in your league, which leaves Austin Ekeler as the next body in a Washington backfield hosting the Los Angeles Rams. Projects 7.3 before any McNichols news, and more if he is ruled out. | $7 |
| Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears), Running Back | Kyle Monangai was ruled out Monday with toe and thumb injuries and has not played since week 4, leaving only D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson in a Chicago Bears offense that just scored 34 points. Johnson posted 14.5 in week 6 the last time he had a real share of the work. | $4 |
| Courtland Sutton (Denver Broncos), Wide Receiver | Deeply boring: 9.8, 3.9, 7.5 and 9.3 over his last four games. But that floor is a better bench receiver than Chris Godwin Jr., and the Denver Broncos play the Carolina Panthers. | $5 |
FAAB is your $100 season-long budget for bidding on waiver pickups; you have spent $66 of it. Spend carefully but do spend - a bench full of wide receivers you will not start is worth less than one running back who beats 6.5 projected points. Your two roster spots come from dropping Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles) and, if needed, Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), who was given one target for 0.00 points last week and is one of the most-dropped players in Sleeper leagues right now.
The waiver name everyone else is chasing
Nobody you do not own had a genuinely monster week 8 at a position you need, and you should be skeptical of anyone who tells you otherwise. The biggest available scores belonged to Cam Ward (Tennessee Titans, 26.3 points) and Chimere Dike (Tennessee Titans, 18.1) - both on bye this week - and to Gardner Minshew II (Arizona Cardinals, 19.5), who is the single most-added free agent in Sleeper leagues over the last 48 hours with roughly 1.4 million adds, on the back of Kyler Murray's hamstring trouble in Minnesota. He is useless to you. You start Drake Maye and already carry Geno Smith; a third quarterback is the last thing this roster needs.
One name worth a dollar of curiosity rather than a real bid: J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos) is unowned in your league and still projects 9.9, which is better than Samaje Perine. The reason he is free is that he got seven touches in week 8 and Jonah Coleman has taken over the lead role in Denver. That is a fading asset, not a bargain. Austin Ekeler is the better use of the same money.
Two names to keep an eye on for next week rather than claim today: Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Quentin Johnston (Los Angeles Chargers) are both unowned wide receivers with real draft pedigree who have produced almost nothing - Thomas has 0.0, 0.0 and 8.2 in his last three games. If either breaks out, he will still be there.