Clarity Is a Beautiful Thing In Fantasy Football

Don’t you just love it when things start making sense the farther along we get during the fantasy football season? NFL teams are starting to find their identity and as a result, fantasy managers are starting to make wiser and wiser decisions each week as to who to insert into their starting lineup. More importantly, however, fantasy managers are starting to understand the importance of building proper bench depth. While it’s one thing to know who to start based on how NFL teams are performing, it’s equally important to know who to KEEP on your fantasy roster for that very same reason.

You see we’re getting to that point in the season where proper bench depth is a critical necessity, especially for those looking to make a run at a fantasy football title, or as we call them #4EYEDchampionships (t-shirts are on the way)! Preparing for factors such as matchup difficulty, potential injuries, and playing keep away from other managers in your league can go a long way in setting your team up for success down the home stretch of the season.

But how do you know which players to acquire in order to be ready for the latter half of the season?

The answer to that question has multiple answers:

1. Start handcuffing your top running backs with their respective backups just in case one of your top running backs gets injured.
2. For the wide receiver position, scout upcoming matchups and target players in a trade or who are on your waiver wire that are not the primary receiving targets for their respective teams, particularly those teams with difficult receiving matchups on the horizon. In other words, build depth at wide receiver with the role players who will be leaned on more heavily in difficult matchups. They won’t cost you as much and could provide you high upside down the road.
3. Study your league mate’s habits. This means to check to see the players who are getting dropped and are available weekly by members of your league and snatch up the high-value ones before someone else does.
4. Analyze player performances in terms of trends. That means don’t just look at what a player has averaged over the course of the season but rather what they have done each quarter of the season. This gives you a better idea of how players are performing as the season progresses.

In this week’s 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS I’m going to emphasize players who performed well this past week that fit the mold of what I’m talking about in order to help you gain a better grasp of what I’m trying to get across.

**DISCLAIMER**

As always when discussing fantasy point production we’re referring to 0.5 PPR scoring.  IDP fantasy point scoring is solely based on our very own IDP scoring rubric which will be presented to you when we discuss IDPs later on in the article.

Here are my 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS from Week 8!

Quarterback: Drew Brees is just simply uncanny.

• 2nd in yards thrown for with 373
• 2nd in TDs with 3
• 3rd in completion % with 79.1
• 4th in fantasy points among QBs with 24.9

After missing the past five games, recovering from thumb surgery, Drew Brees returned to the Saints starting lineup against the Cardinals in week 8 and put together a dominant performance. In one of my leagues, I noticed that Drew Brees had been dropped by the person who drafted him a few weeks ago and I immediately submitted a FAAB bid hoping to win his services for the rest of the season. Clearly, his previous fantasy manager didn’t understand the word patience and it’s that person’s loss because over the next four weeks Brees will have two matchups against Atlanta, one against Tampa Bay, and one against Carolina. All of which (with the exception of Carolina) are cakewalks for quarterbacks, especially quarterbacks the caliber of Drew Brees.

By week 8 in the fantasy football season, I already had my quarterback position squared away. However, had I not been diligent and checked who was added or dropped in my leagues a few weeks ago I would have never stumbled upon this gold mine of a player.

Lesson Learned: Always check who is available in your leagues!

Running Backs: Is the next great running back tandem emerging in Green Bay?

When you think of great running back tandems in recent memory you think of pairs like:

Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram.

But Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams?

In week 8, against Kansas City, Jones was the RB1 posting 38.1 fantasy points on 67 yards rushing, 159 yards receiving, on 7 receptions, and 2 TDs. Williams in that very same game was the RB11 with 17.1 fantasy points 36 total yards, 3 receptions, and 2 total touchdowns. In terms of fantasy point production in games played this past quarter of the season (4 games for Jones and 3 for Williams) both players stat lines are as follows:

Aaron Jones: Averaging 26.5 fpts/game, 137.8 total yards per game, and 19.3 total touches per game

Jamaal Williams: Averaging 12.6 fpts/game, 67.7 total yards per game, and 11.7 total touches per game

While these two haven’t reached an elite level as far as overall production is concerned compared to the tandems listed earlier, they ARE certainly starting to become the focal point of this Packers offense with the team missing the presence of Davante Adams in the receiving game. That being said reports, when Matt LaFleur became head coach, stated that he wanted this offense to be more balanced than it had been in previous years. La Fleur, also, said early on that he wanted to lean on both Jones and Williams in the running game, a notion that was scoffed at by all of us in the fantasy community. Yet here we are. Two fantasy viable running back options on one team. One as your RB1 and the other as a flex candidate. AND if one was to go down due to injury then the other would automatically be thrust into the RB1 conversation.

Up until last week, Jamaal Williams was still just rostered in only 55% of ESPN leagues. That is unacceptable. His role in this offense should Aaron Jones go down is too valuable for you to leave him on the waiver wire.

Lesson Learned: Start the process of handcuffing elite running backs on good offenses NOW!

Receiver: Volume and success are rising for one receiver in the Motor City!

Danny Amendola. I bet that wasn’t the player you were expecting me to mention, and why would you?! IF I mention the Lions receiving game your first thoughts should naturally gravitate towards players like Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones. Hell, I bet you T.J. Hockenson pops into your head before you remember that Ammendola is on the same roster as those other players.

In week 8, Amendola was the WR19 posting 13.5 fantasy points on 8 receptions and 95 yards receiving. When Amendola has been targeted 8 times or more this season he has averaged 16 fantasy points per game. Over the past four games played he’s led the team in receptions per game, completion percentage, and is second in receiving yards per game. Slowly but surely, as the running game for Detroit has become more and more non-existent, Amendola has become the beneficiary of those vacated targets that Kerryon Johnson would have had in that offense, and NOW is becoming a valuable role player from a fantasy perspective.

Lesson Learned: Try to roster role-players at the wide receiver position on pass-heavy offenses as the season progresses. Quarterbacks, generally, like throwing to the open receiver during a game. Chances are in tough defensive matchups it’s THOSE wide receivers that will pay dividends from a fantasy perspective.

Defensive Back: Pick up Roderic Teamer….now.

When I mention the Chargers defense two players should normally pop into your head: Joey Bosa and Derwin James. Truth be told when James was placed on IR the very last place I looked for IDP defensive backs in my drafts was the Chargers secondary. Flash forward 8 weeks and now Roderic Teamer is the strong safety I’m most interested in acquiring going forward this season.

Over the past four weeks, he’s averaged 5.5 solo tackles per game, 1.5 assisted tackles per game, and in most balanced IDP scoring settings, like the one listed above, Teamer has averaged 12.4 fantasy points per game. On the season, he has the best solo to assisted tackle ratio in the Chargers secondary with 30 solo tackles to 9 assisted tackles, and he is only rostered in 7.2% of ESPN IDP leagues.

Lesson Learned: Study who is on that waiver-wire relentlessly. You never know who might get overlooked by other members of your fantasy league. Outsmart your competition.

Defensive Linemen: If you’re playing against either Bosa brother anytime soon….I’m sorry.

When I say “Bosa”, you say “Sack”!

“Bosa”

“SACK”

“Bosa”

“SACK”

Yeah, so I’ll make this brief. Over the past quarter of the season the Bosa brothers have compiled similar stat lines:

Joey Bosa: 22 total tackles, 5 sacks, and 14.5 fantasy points per game

Nick Bosa: 16 total tackles, 6 sacks, and 16.0 fantasy points per game; still available in 77.9% of leagues

This past week Joey accumulated 2 sacks and 22.5 fantasy points. Nick tallied 3 sacks and 24.5 fantasy points.

Lesson Learned: Be smarter than your league-mates. If a Bosa is available in your league GET HIM ON YOUR ROSTER NOW!

Linebacker: Rashaan Evans is the emerging as the more consistent linebacker to roster in Tennessee.

Week 5: 8 total tackles and 13.3 fantasy points

Week 6: 10 total tackles and 12 fantasy points

Week 7: 10 total tackles and 15.5 fantasy points

Week 8: 12 total tackles and 17 fantasy points

Rashaan Evans is only rostered in 8.1% of IDP leagues on ESPN. Over the past four weeks, he has tallied 29 solo tackles to 11 assisted tackles and is evolving into the IDP stud he was draft to be by the Titans.

Lesson Learned: Looking at player trends and availability will go a long way to providing you with the best talent on your fantasy roster.

That wraps up my 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS from WEEK 8! Hopefully, you understood the message I was trying to convey using those player examples, and perhaps gave you a few ideas of who to submit FAAB or waiver claims for this week!

Be sure to read our 4-EYED PREVIEW for WEEK 9 on Wednesday, our 4-EYED ASSESSMENT on Thursday, and our HEROES & VILLAINS from the previous week’s action on Friday!

ALSO, our Week 9 Fantasy Preview podcast will be dropping this Friday morning as well!

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Thanks for visiting Fantasy In Frames!

*Stats provided by FantasyData.com and ProFootballFocus.com