A few deep sleepers for Week 9

By: Malcolm McMillan

Good thing this week was a quiet week in the NFL right?

All joking aside, Week 9 is shaping up to be interesting. No Aaron Rodgers. No Calvin Ridley. No Saquon Barkley or David Montgomery still, though they seem to be turning the corner. Jeff Wilson Jr. may finally be back for the San Francisco 49ers, though his likelihood of playing seems directly tied to Elijah Mitchell’s injury status. At any rate, none of those players matter for this article””well, one does””because too many people already have them on their fantasy football rosters. That’s not why people read this article. They read it for the deep cuts. Luckily for them, there are still a few players out there that merit consideration in the deepest of redraft leagues and dynasty fantasy football leagues.

Tajae Sharpe: WR, Atlanta Falcons

So remember that part about Calvin Ridley’s absence not mattering?

Well, that was a bit of a lie. While Ridley is not someone that fantasy football managers can pick up off of waivers, his potential replacement is still widely available. Per the Atlanta Falcons latest depth chart, Tajae Sharpe is now the “backup” to Calvin Ridley as the team’s primary wide receiver. As Ridley is not out, that makes Sharpe (theoretically) the Falcons new top wide receiver. While Sharpe has been a bit of a journeyman in his career, he started as a wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans while Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was the Titans tight ends coach. That familiarity is what likely led to Sharpe being signed by the Falcons this year, and is also giving him a leg up against the competition on the Falcons roster. At 26, it is not too late for Sharpe to establish himself as a target in the Falcons offense, and that could translate to fantasy football production this year and beyond.

Jamal Agnew: WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Herms NFL (my partner at The Lateral) recently wrote an article over at Football Absurdity on Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jamal Agnew. Agnew was not a player that anyone was keeping an eye on going into this season unless they played in a league where return yards count as fantasy football points. Even then his involvement in the offense has historically been so low, that Pro Football Reference lists Agnew’s kick and punt return stats ahead of his receiving and rushing stats on his player page. This is in no small part because Agnew was a cornerback for most of his career. However, as Herms highlights, that all changed in Week 5 when Agnew’s targets skyrocketed. He is now averaging over eight targets per game and is a key part of the Jaguars offense.

In reality, Agnew is more of a deeper redraft league pickup than a dynasty league pickup in fantasy football, though he is relevant in both. The Jaguars situation is messy, and they are still clearly rebuilding. Approaching 27 years old, Agnew may not be part of those plans, especially if head coach Urban Meyer is not given a second season. While Agnew is under contract till the end of 2023, there is a potential out for the Jaguars after this season. Despite this uncertainty, Agnew’s current production makes him worth stashing on fantasy football rosters.

Foster Moreau: TE, Las Vegas Raiders

Full disclosure, this is a deep stash. It will not pay off this year unless Darren Waller is injured. However, if Darren Waller is injured, Moreau has shown as recently as Week 7 that he can be an adequate replacement. Given Waller’s valuable role in the Las Vegas Raiders offense, Moreau is arguably a tight end handcuff in fantasy football.

But Moreau’s value becomes even more interesting next year. This past off-season, there were rumors that Waller was unhappy with his contract. While currently unsubstantiated, there is a chance these same rumors could pop up again this upcoming off-season. Even if they do not though, the Las Vegas Raiders are in a state of flux. Their head coach just resigned. Their first-round pick from 2020 was just arrested and released from the team. They are a team on the precipice of contending, while simultaneously teetering on a rebuild. Waller has no dead cap hit in 2022, and if this team shifts into rebuild mode or Waller wants out, Moreau is almost certainly Waller’s replacement.