Quarterbacks

Joe Flacco – (18.2% Owned)

Joe Flacco has officially become a viable fantasy option at the quarterback position. Yes, we are still in 2023 which makes that statement even more baffling but the stats speak for themselves. Flacco has finished no worse than QB13 in his three games with the Cleveland Browns. He is still very much a gunslinger which means there will be mistakes but the production will be there. If you have Trevor Lawrence and are worried about his concussion you should pick up Flacco as a safety option.

Running Backs

Clyde Edwards-Helaire – (36.5% Owned)

Fellow running back Jerick McKinnon may be getting the buzz this week but Edwards-Helaire is the better option going forward. Edwards-Helaire out-touched McKinnon 17 to 7 and had 101 total yards in Sunday’s win over the Patriots. If you’re stuck deciding between the two just remember that Edwards-Helaire can also be a threat in the passing game.

Wide Receivers

Curtis Samuel – (39.7% Owned)

Playing any wide receiver in the Commanders offense is risky at this point but Samuel has been the most consistent this season. He grabbed another 2 receiving touchdowns on Sunday on 9 targets for Washington. As of now, it looks like quarterback Sam Howell will finish the season as the starter (which is the right move). If that’s the case Howell has developed a nice chemistry with Samuel and I see that continuing.

Tight Ends

Hunter Henry – (20.8% Owned)

There aren’t many options at the tight end position on the waiver wire but Henry is the best option if available. Henry has now finished back-to-back weeks inside the top 5 for tight ends including 3 receiving touchdowns in that span. He also has an excellent matchup this week with the Broncos who are giving up an average of 10.6 fantasy points per game to tight ends. If you’re thin at tight end go and grab Henry.

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Quarterbacks

Jordan Love – (23.9% Owned)

One of the biggest surprises of week 1 was how good Jordan Love looked. Most including myself were skeptical about how well Love would perform as the main man for Green Bay. Safe to say he blew away expectations and finished as QB3 on the week. Love threw for 245 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day. Most importantly he was only sacked 1 time which is encouraging for a young quarterback.

Running Backs

Kenneth Gainwell – (34.3% Owned)

You were smart if you stayed away from any Philadelphia Eagles running back during draft season. We did however get an indication that Gainwell could end up being the lead back when the season started. That was very much the case on Sunday as Gainwell had 18 touches compared to just 2 for D’Andre Swift. If you’re thin at the running back position grab Gainwell but I still have concerns about his full-season value.

Gus Edwards – (20.7% Owned)

Another year and another unfortunate injury for J.K. Dobbins. This time it’s a torn Achilles that will cause Dobbins to miss the entire season. In his place will once again be Gus Edwards but Justice Hill may sneak some goal line carries. Hill had 2 touchdowns on Sunday on just 9 yards rushing.

Wide Receivers

Puka Nacua – (5.3% Owned)

He’s much more than just a name. Nacua is Matthew Stafford‘s new favorite in LA as the rookie had a whopping 15 targets on Sunday. Perhaps we should’ve seen this coming as Nacua was the 2nd highest-graded college WR last season according to PFF. Nacua will have value until Cooper Kupp returns.

Curtis Samuel – (13.5% Owned)

Samuel was one of our fantasy football sleepers coming into this season. While Jahan Dotson and Terry McLaurin received the majority of the buzz most forgot about Samuel. He led the Commanders on Sunday with 54 yards on 5 targets. Samuel also had 1 carry for 6 yards as he will continue to be used in the backfield.

Tight Ends

Adam Trautman (0.1% Owned)

Trautman led the Denver Broncos with 5 receptions on Sunday as it appears he will be the TE1 for some time. We received word today that Greg Dulcich is set to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury. Trautman is still a risky play in this offense but the usage is encouraging.

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Alec Pierce (Colts – WR) | ADP – 167.7 | WR67

Alec Pierce had a somewhat quiet 2022. You can say that about the Indianapolis Colts offense overall. Jonathon Taylor was a letdown and Michael Pittman couldn’t build on his breakout 2021 season. You could partially blame that on bad quarterback play and offensive play calling. Matt Ryan and Frank Reich are no longer there and Anthony Richardson looks poised to take over the QB1 role.

If you go back and watch the tape, Pierce showed flashes of talent, especially as a down-the-field threat. He averaged 11.8% air yards per reception and had a 13.5% target share. He was clearly the #2 wide receiver behind Pittman. In steps Richardson and new coach Shane Steichen to try and help revive the stagnant offense. The Colts also drafted Josh Downs and recently signed journey receiver Breshad Perriman. I am not too worried about these two jumping ahead of Pierce as the WR2. Expect some early lumps from Richardson but once the offense revs up Pierce will benefit.

Cordarrelle Patterson (Falcons – RB) | ADP – 209.3 | RB63

If you drafted Cordarrelle Patterson last year you are probably screaming at your screen right now. Before his knee injury, Patterson had two 20+ fantasy point outings including rushing for 141 yards in week 3. He was not able to replicate the early success post-injury. Patterson has become the forgotten man with the arrival of Bijan Robinson and the emergence of Tyler Allgeier.

I am not yet ready to give up on Patterson despite the now crowded backfield. He is a true position flex player which many teams are now coveting. Robinson is still a rookie and the gadget role will be Patterson’s for the foreseeable future.

Curtis Samuel (Commanders – WR) | ADP – 198.3 | WR75

We recently brought up Curtis Samuel in our latest best ball rankings and it’s worth bringing up again. Samuel has a similar type of role to Patterson where you will see him lining up in the backfield a good amount. Last year, he had 92 targets and 68 of those were catchable. Sam Howell although raw will be an upgrade over Taylor Heinicke. On top of better quarterback play, the Commanders now have Eric Bieniemy who will find creative ways to get him the ball.

Tank Bigsby (Jaguars – RB) | ADP – 159.3 | RB51

When the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Tank Bigsby in the 3rd round of the 2023 NFL Draft it got our attention. Travis Etienne is clearly the lead back and James Robinson was no longer there. The Jaguars brought in Jamycal Hasty and D’Ernest Johnson this offseason and they now have a crowded RB room. I am not worried about those two backs jumping Bigsby for the #2 role. Bigsby will get his chances in the red zone for reasons we pointed out in this article. At this current ADP, he is worth grabbing late in your draft as the upside is too big to ignore.

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Trending Up

Curtis Samuel (Commanders – WR) | Have we forgotten about Curtis Samuel? Samuel bounced back last year after a nagging groin injury kept him out for much of the 2021-2022 season. Despite mediocre quarterback play, Samuel was still able to produce 5 total touchdowns and 144.3 FP (Half PPR). He had a target share of 17.3% and 9 red zone targets which were only 2 behind Terry McLaurin. Best ball is all about taking risks. Draft Samuel in the late rounds and profit.

Trending Down

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (Cardinals – WR) | The Arizona Cardinals look to be in full tank mode. They recently released DeAndre Hopkins which propels Brown to the WR #1 role. In theory, that sounds great but the Cardinals offense will be stuck in the mud for most of the season. Brown will receive a majority of the defensive coverage and I am not sure he is built to be a #1.

Looking for more rankings? Check out our fantasy football rankings section.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Baltimore Ravens don’t have the sexiest wide receiver group without Hollywood Brown heading into the 2022 season. If Rashod Bateman can prove to be a quality WR1 leading up to the season, LJ should still have modest passing production w/ him and TE Mark Andrews. Nonetheless, Jackson could certainly benefit from the arrival of a proven and electric wideout. Hence, I’m going to untwine 5 WR trade targets for the Baltimore Ravens right now.

Curtis Samuel

The explosive wideout Curtis Samuel recorded 851 yds in 2020 and then fell off the end of the earth last season (27 receiving yds in five games). Samuel is certainly a unique athlete, but he clearly doesn’t jell well in the Washington offense. Samuel is still 25 years old and he can be a dynamite profile for many years to come in the right scheme. It would be quite intriguing to see Samuel involved in the Ravens diverse offense, to say the least.

Denzel Mims

Denzel Mims is certainly a polarizing wideout that sits among a talented and crowded WR room. Mims stands behind Elijah Moore, Corey Davis, Garrett Wilson, and Braxton Berrios at this point in time. Mims actually had a strong opening day of mini-camp – as reported by Brian Costello of the New York Post. Yet, it may be quite difficult for Mims to come close to unleashing his full potential in the Big Apple. The Giants should be aggressive to acquire Mim’s talent.

Marquez Callaway

The Saints completely changed their WR position this off-season — as they brought in Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave. They also retained the gifted Michael Thomas. They still have the exceptional KR/WR Deonte Harris and the speed-demon Marquez Callaway. With that enunciated, the Saints may be tempted to ship away the WR4/WR5 Callaway — after he ousted 698 yds and 6 TDs last season. The Ravens lost the juice from Brown, so they could help heal the wound by acquiring the young, deep-threat in Callaway.

Sterling Shepard

The Ravens should make a sneaky move by acquiring Sterling Shepard — who has slowly fallen out of the Giants WR picture in the past two seasons. He will be a FA in 2023, so the GMEN may wish to ship him out. The 29-year-old wideout that wouldn’t cost the house (to say the least) could be a fine slot weapon for LJ for 2-3 more seasons.

Jalen Reagor

It’s safe to say that Jalen Reagor (21st pick in the 2020 draft) isn’t as near as scary as Justin Jefferson (22nd pick in the 2020 draft), but he still has some potential. Reagor may not show up in Philly in 2022, but he could be a nice value-pickup and more involved wideout in Baltimore.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Green Bay Packers surprisingly traded away their long-time lead wide receiver Davante Adams. It’s true that Aaron Rodgers will miss his brother and the Packers don’t possess the NFL’s top QB-WR duo at this moment. Nonetheless, it’s not time for A-Rod, Matt LaFleur, and cheeseheads across the globe to abandon the ship.

I believe the 2020 and 2021 MVP Rodgers will still have a chip on his shoulder and championship goals in 2022. I really believe the Packers will acquire a stout WR in the 2022 draft, but I also believe they could bring in a proven wideout to help Rodgers return to the Super Bowl in the remaining years of his career. With that said, here are a few WRs that the Packers should trade for.

• DeVante Parker

The Miami Dolphins have been strongly rumored to trade away their beloved wideout DeVante Parker in recent years. With the rise of Jaylen Waddle and the potential draft selection of a WR from Mike McDaniel in 2022, the Dolphins could be open to shipping out their 29-year-old WR.

Parker posted a very impressive stat-line of 72-1,202-9 in 2019 and I believe he could reach similar heights with the Packers future Hall of Fame QB next season. Parker can run any route in the playbook and be a physical WR on the outside of contested catches from the Packers utterly accurate and smart QB.

• Curtis Samuel

I still believe Curtis Samuel has plenty of juice in this league. He looked like Percy Harvin 2.0 in 2020, but he didn’t blossom in a lackluster Washington offense last season. Samuel could be a fantastic value pickup in the Packers creative offense. It may be wise for Washington to move on from him this offseason and acquire some value for him if they believe they don’t have a superb plan for him for the second season in a row.

• Michael Thomas

The Saints top gun WR Michael Thomas is the perfect wildcard trade candidate for the Packers. The Saints may be more open to ditching MT after they failed to bring in Deshaun Watson. The Saints could elect to move on from MT for excellent draft compensation, so they can move up to select a young QB or use multiple high draft picks to replace LT Terron Armstead.

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By Jesse Moeller (Twitter: @jmoeller05)

With the NFL season 78 days away, I figured it was time to dive in and find some value plays for the upcoming year. Where I wanted to start my search is at the wide receiver position. It is a position chalked full of talent that you can randomly pick a player and say they are top twenty-four in fantasy or a WR2. Or it at least would seem that way. I wanted to pick one player, each valued as a WR3, WR4, and WR5, who will outperform that ADP this year, and become a flex player or better this season. I will list my preferred options in each range and select a winner for each group. We will be using Fantasy Pros ADP as of June 22nd, 2021.

The WR3 (25-36) candidates: Tee Higgins (25), Chase Claypool (26), Brandon Aiyuk (27), D.J. Chark (29), Courtland Sutton (32), Ja’Marr Chase (33), Robby Anderson (35), Brandin Cooks (36)

My WR3 is Tee Higgins

I have been pounding the table for Higgins this entire offseason, so it should come as no surprise I would take him here. Higgins had a fantastic rookie year that was interrupted by a Joe Burrow injury in week 11. Higgins was having a remarkable season up until that point. While Higgins did not put up similar stats when Burrow was out, his target share jumped up to 24%. Closing out the year Higgins out-snapped and received more targets per game than Boyd.

As we moved into the offseason, Higgins hype went into overdrive. He reached the WR12 rankings in dynasty circles in March as the community was foaming at the mouth, thinking of the possibility of Burrow throwing to Higgins for the next decade. But, instead, the Bengals passed on Sewell and drafted super prospect Ja’Marr Chase Burrow’s partner at LSU. As a result, Higgins value took quite the dive as we are unsure how the pecking order would sort out in Cincy.

Now the concern is how much volume is available in an offense due to the receiving talent the Bengals currently possess in Higgins, Chase, and Boyd. There have been various teams in the last few seasons to support multiple top 24 receiving options. As the best passing attacks in the NFL support numerous players. Here is a list of each team in the last four years to support two top 24 WR.

2020: (4) Seahawks, Vikings, Cowboys, Steelers
2019: (3) Buccaneers, Rams, Cowboys
2018: (5) Falcons, Buccaneers, Steelers, Vikings, Rams
2017: (3) Steelers, Lions, Eagles

You might notice teams showing up multiple times, which makes sense as the best passing attacks allow two and sometimes three wide receivers to be relevant in fantasy. You have little to worry about from Higgins this year, as the Bengals will be amongst the league leaders in pass attempts in 2021. Higgins is an integral part of this offense and will command targets throughout the season. Do not let the name of Chase scare you off of upside Higgins presents in 2021. If you are curious where I stand on the two I will let my tweet below clear it up

The WR4 (37-48) candidates: Will Fuller (39), DeVonta Smith (40), Curtis Samuel (41), Jerry Jeudy (42), Michael Pittman (46), Laviska Shenault (47), Jaylen Waddle (48)

My WR4 is Curtis Samuel

The Washington Football team had a very condensed passing attack in 2020, with Terry Mclaurin, J.D. McKissic, and Logan Thomas accounting for 354 targets out of a possible 573. That’s a whopping 61.7% of the attempts going to three players. The most interesting statistic is how involved McKissic was in the passing game with Alex Smith compared to the other quarterbacks on the roster last year. In the eight games with Smith, Mckissic had a 22.9% Target Share. In the games without Smith, his Target Share dropped to 13.8%! That is a monumental change based on the play of the quarterback.

Enter Curtis Samuel and Ryan Fitzpatrick. The offense should look drastically different in 2021, with Fitz as the wheel. While Fitzpatrick is not the gunslinger, so many of us believed him to be. Fitzpatrick does not check down to the running back the way Smith did last year. Instead, his skills complement Samuel flawlessly. Fitzpatrick has one of the lower average depth of target during his career in the NFL, where Samuel disrupts a defense. Samuel in space underneath is how to use his talents best. Samuel is the type of guy you want to generate YAC, and those underneath throws create openings allowing Samuel to obliterate defenses.

An often misunderstood part of Samuel’s game is how dynamic of a player he is. In 2019 he was given 27 deep attempts (>20 yards downfield), best for eight in the NFL. Which, to anyone outside Carolina, may come as a severe surprise. Carolina corrected previous mistakes this last year, increased his slot snap share > 50%, gave him 41 rushing attempts, and cut his deep targets in half. Giving a player with his skillset the majority of slot snaps has the same goal as increasing his rushing attempts. Letting Samuel in space, allowing him to use his speed, which is why Samuel could put together the season he did.

The WR5 (49-60) candidates: Corey Davis (49), Antonio Brown (50), Michael Gallup (51), Cole Beasley (52), Darnell Mooney (55), John Brown (58)

My WR5 is Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown is someone I am grabbing everywhere I can, as I expect big things from him this year. However, one of our generation’s most transcendent wide receivers will be catching passes from Tom Brady, AKA The Goat, in 2021. I scratch my head, wondering what I am missing, with almost everyone fading Brown to the later rounds of drafts.

Brown did miss a good chunk of the season last year, but that should not be a reason to fade A.B., as when he was on the field for Tampa, Brown was heavily involved. He trailed only Davante Adams in Hog Rate last season. Hog Rate is a metric designed to tell you how much a player is featured on the field. The simple version is that it is Targets Per Snap. For Brown not playing until week 9, coming in and immediately establishing himself is remarkable considering how the year started. It shows us that Brady truly has eyes for Brown, and I would expect that to lead into the 2021 season.

Brown had a more significant target share than Evans and Godwin in the games he played last year. So I see it as a mess for Evans and Godwin, going six rounds earlier, as Brown will push both for the lead in team targets. Don’t miss out on the best sleeper wide receiver in your draft this season. Grab Brown everywhere you can.

Even outside the top 60, there are some promising dart throws for your fantasy team this season. The names Elijah Moore, Nelson Agholor, John Brown, Parris Campbell, Emmanuel Sanders, and Rondale Moore are ones I expect to outproduce their current ADP. Grab these players late in your draft. You will enjoy having them on your rosters for this year. All of these players are in offenses either needing an alpha or are lacking multiple threats. There is an obvious path for them to come in and be relevant early and often in 2021.

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