Puka Nacua
35.00 pts
14 catches on 19 targets, 150 yards, 1 touchdown. Then a knee injury and a Monday MRI.
Week 9 is already won. honeybadgerr1 is finished at 84.30 and you sit on 90.46 with DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) still to play tonight, so the win is mathematically locked and you go to 4-5. The problem is what it cost: Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) put up the best fantasy game anyone on your roster has had all year and then had his knee sent for an MRI.
LordHaveMRSA
90.46
honeybadgerr1
84.30
Clinched. All seven of honeybadgerr1's starters are done. DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) is your only player left, tonight at Minnesota, 8:15 PM Eastern.
J.K. Dobbins
3.20 pts
Four carries for 18 yards. Rookie Jonah Coleman took 17 carries and the touchdown.
Audric Estime
14.70 pts
15 carries, 72 yards, 1 touchdown - and he out-carried Alvin Kamara 15 to 6. Free agent.
Where the matchup stands
You lead 90.46 to 84.30 and your opponent has nobody left to play. Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys), Blake Corum (Los Angeles Rams), D'Andre Swift (Chicago Bears), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seattle Seahawks), Drake London (Atlanta Falcons), Kyle Pitts Sr. (Atlanta Falcons) and Luther Burden III (Chicago Bears) are all final. He cannot score another point. The win is in the bank whatever DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) does tonight.
That moves you to 4-5 and, with honeybadgerr1 dropping to 3-6, it pulls you up the table in a league where sixth place makes the playoffs. The uncomfortable number is the gap between what you have scored (819.22) and what your best possible lineups would have scored (958.22) - 139 points left on your own bench across nine weeks, and this week added to it.
Your starters, one by one
Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams), Wide Receiver - 35.00 points
An enormous game and the reason you won. Fourteen catches on nineteen targets for 150 yards and a touchdown, plus two carries for 20 yards, in the Rams' 20-13 win at Washington. With Davante Adams (Los Angeles Rams) out after hamstring surgery, the whole offense ran through him - nineteen targets is a workload almost nobody in the league sees. He did lose a fumble, and he left with a knee problem. See the injury section; this is the single most important thing on your roster today.
Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Quarterback - 21.26 points
The box score flatters him. Twenty-one of thirty-eight for 299 yards and three touchdowns is a fine fantasy day, but he also threw three interceptions, took four sacks, and posted a 32.0 QBR in a 45-27 beating by Green Bay. He is throwing to a receiving corps without A.J. Brown (New England Patriots, knee) and Romeo Doubs (New England Patriots, injured reserve, shoulder), which is both why the volume is there and why the turnovers are. Keep starting him.
Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals), Tight End - 12.40 points
Seven catches on eight targets for 54 yards in a 17-3 loss at Seattle. That is his floor showing up rather than a bad game - he caught nearly everything thrown at him, there was just nothing downfield. Arizona traded Jacoby Brissett to Baltimore, so he is now catching passes from Gardner Minshew, and this was his fourth-fewest receiving yards of the season and the fourth time in nine games he has not reached the end zone. Still an every-week starter, but the ceiling has quietly dropped.
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders), Wide Receiver - 9.50 points
Four catches on eight targets for 55 yards in a 38-17 loss at San Francisco. Replacement-level, but not a stinker: he tied Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders) for the team lead in targets and has now hit five or more targets in five of the last six games. He is what he is - a volume-dependent third wide receiver you start because the alternatives are worse.
Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams), Running Back - 9.10 points
Bad. Fifteen carries for 45 yards is 3.0 yards a carry, plus three catches for 16 yards, and no touchdown for only the third time this season. Worse, Blake Corum (Los Angeles Rams) was the more effective back on the day - eleven carries, 58 yards and the touchdown. One game is not a job loss, but Corum eating the goal-line work is exactly how it starts, and Williams has essentially no pass-game role to fall back on.
J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos), Running Back - 3.20 points
A disaster, and not a fluke. Four carries for 18 yards and one catch, while rookie Jonah Coleman (Denver Broncos) ran it seventeen times for 57 yards and the touchdown in Denver's 26-21 win at Carolina. Four carries is Dobbins' season low and thirteen fewer than Coleman's. He is now the clear number two in that backfield and projects to stay there. Denver is on bye in Week 10 anyway, so you have two weeks before you have to start him again - use them to replace him.
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills), Wide Receiver - yet to play
He plays tonight at Minnesota, 8:15 PM Eastern. He practiced on a limited basis three times in a red no-contact jersey with the AC joint sprain - a shoulder-joint sprain - that he has been carrying since Week 2, but he has been cleared. He has 16 catches for 260 yards and two touchdowns on 27 targets since returning. His points are gravy now that the matchup is clinched.
Your bench outscored your lineup again
DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots), Wide Receiver - 15.20 points on your bench
He beat two of your three starting wide receivers while sitting. Five catches on nine targets for 102 yards, including a 36-yard grab, and he led New England in targets and receiving yards. That is not noise: with A.J. Brown (knee) out and Romeo Doubs on injured reserve, Douglas is Drake Maye's number one target, and Maye is throwing 38 times a game. He should be in your lineup over Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) going forward, and New England plays Detroit in Week 10.
Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs), Wide Receiver - 10.80 points on your bench
Six catches on six targets for 48 yards in Kansas City's 35-12 win over the Jets before he pulled up with a hamstring injury. Also outscored Tre Tucker. See below - he may not be available to start for a while.
This is the recurring problem. For the second straight week your optimal lineup was on your bench, and across the season you have left 139 points there. The fix is not better luck; it is starting DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) over Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) while Douglas is New England's top target.
Injuries - and what to do about each
Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) - Questionable, knee. MRI results due today.
The Rams do not believe it is a torn ACL, but the MRI will determine what the damage actually is, and his listed return date is November 15. Do nothing drastic until the result is public - but understand the stakes. He is your best player by a wide margin, Davante Adams (Los Angeles Rams) is already out after hamstring surgery, and if this is multi-week your season is in real trouble. Watch for the report today and be ready to spend FAAB - the $100 season-long budget you bid waiver claims with - on a wide receiver tomorrow. You have $34 of it left.
Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) - Questionable, hamstring. Return date November 15.
He grabbed his hamstring, could not put weight on the leg, and was ruled out for the rest of Sunday's game immediately - which is a bad sign for a soft-tissue injury. Kansas City plays at Atlanta in Week 10. Hold him on your bench for now; he is a bench player either way, and dropping a hamstring with a one-week timeline is how you lose him for nothing.
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - Out, hamstring. Return date November 12.
He pushed to play Sunday and the Giants ruled him out anyway, with Devin Singletary (New York Giants) taking the work in the 19-11 win at Philadelphia. The November 12 date means he could be back for Week 10 against Washington, but a running back who was held out after pushing to play is not someone to count on. Keep the bench spot.
Week 10 byes hit your running backs - Denver and Tampa Bay are off.
J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos) and Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) do not play in Week 10. Chicago and Philadelphia are also on bye. With Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) unreliable, that leaves you Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) and Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) as your only healthy, playing running backs next week. You need a running back off waivers this week, not next.
Drop candidate: Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
He has not caught three passes in either of the last two weeks, has not exceeded 50 receiving yards in a single game this season, and has not scored a touchdown in nine games. He is on bye in Week 10. He is the roster spot you use to add a running back.
Waiver targets - claims are due before Week 10
| Player | Why | Suggested bid |
|---|---|---|
| Audric Estime (New Orleans Saints), Running Back | 15 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown against Cleveland, out-carrying Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints) 15 to 6. New Orleans hosts Carolina in Week 10. This is the fix for a backfield that has Denver on bye and Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) hurt. | $14 of your $34 |
| Kayshon Boutte (Houston Texans), Wide Receiver | The week's biggest free-agent game: four catches on five targets for 125 yards and two touchdowns, 28.50 points, in Houston's 44-22 win at the Chargers. C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans) threw five touchdowns. Insurance if Puka Nacua's MRI comes back badly. | $10, or $20 if Nacua is out |
| Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens), Running Back | 18.20 points on Thursday night in Baltimore's 33-10 win over Jacksonville. Cheaper second shot at the same running-back problem if Audric Estime draws a bigger bid than you want to pay. | $5 |
| Darren Waller (Carolina Panthers), Tight End | 23.00 points. Only worth a claim if Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) gets hurt - do not spend here otherwise. | Watch list, $0 |
You have spent $66 of your $100 FAAB and sit eighth in waiver priority, so you cannot win a bidding war on the top name. Spend on the running back - that is the hole that actually costs you a game in Week 10. Hold back at least $10 in case the Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) news is bad.
Week 10 - and the thing to decide
You face markc1281 (3-5, 779.94 points) in Week 10, one of the weakest-scoring teams in the league and a game you should win. Your starting lineup for that week has one obvious change already: DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) in for Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders). The rest depends on the Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) MRI and on whether you land a running back.
Note the Week 10 start times. New England plays Detroit at 9:30 AM Eastern on Sunday, November 15 - an international game - so Drake Maye (New England Patriots) and DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) lock before every other game. Set that lineup Saturday night, not Sunday morning.