Welcome back for another round of fantasy ramblings. This week will be short, as it’s not a particularly inspired set of waiver wire options by this point in the season.
But one point, in addition to the usual list: Now is the point of the season to start handcuffing your best players. I tend to advise against handcuffing earlier in the season because having a more diverse bench means more opportunities to cash in on breakout players around the league. But as the fantasy regular season hits its stretch run, and teams in real-life midseason form have generally figured out what they have in their rosters, the most likely breakouts at this point come from unfortunate injuries. So if you are sitting in playoff position, it is time to insure the top two or three players on your roster that you expect to rely on in Weeks 15-17 by grabbing the backups that would suddenly have value if they went down.
**Aaron Rodgers – 6/10** Nothing spectacular, but another pair of usable outings.
**Kyle Monangai – 10/10** D’Andre Swift’s health concerns may well turn Monangai into a fantasy star down the stretch.
**Brashard Smith – 5/10** Pacheco’s injury also makes this recommendation look timely, though Smith hasn’t necessarily responded with much production yet, as Kareem Hunt seems to have the lead role in Kansas City now.
**Jaylin Noel – 2/10** The talent is there, but Nico Collins’ return took the wind out of his sails.
**Chimere Dike – 4/10** There’s still upside, but the Titans offense has a low floor, too.
**Jaylin Lane – 1/10** Washington, sadly, is a mess.
**Cade Otton – 3/10** Replacement level.
**Oronde Gadsden II – 7/10** Week 7 was the high mark, but Weeks 8 and 9 weren’t awful, either.
**Bills, Bucs and Falcons DST – Incomplete** Suggested as playoff week stashes.
**Sam Darnold –** Somehow rostered in less than 50% of leagues, his destruction of Washington’s defense unfortunately showed him at his best in Week 9. He’s not displacing top-end starters, but on a week-to-week basis he’ll be matchup worthy when compared with the Daniel Jones’s and Jared Goff’s of the fantasy world.
**Joe Flacco –** I can’t say I’d feel particularly comfortable starting him, but if the Bengals defense is going to continue refusing to tackle anyone, Cincinnati is going to play a lot more games where Flacco sends 20 targets each to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins trying to keep up. There’s value in that volume.
**Bhayshul Tuten –** Etienne remains RB1 in Jacksonville, but here’s the latest rookie from the stellar ’25 class to start to emerge in greater rotation.
**Emari Demercado –** Spent Monday night frustrating Bam Knight stockholders who believed they had the latest RB1 in the Cardinals banged-up backfield. Temper expectations, but he’ll at least get opportunities.
**Christian Watson –** Back from injury with two 50+ yard games despite low target numbers. Needs to see more targets to feel confident playing him, but he should ramp up with each succeeding week.
**DeMario Douglas –** If Kayshon Boutte misses any time with injury, here’s the beneficiary Drake Maye will look to.
**Theo Johnson –** Has scored in 4 of his past 6 games and seems to be somewhat of a safety blanket for the Giants rookie QB.
**Colston Loveland –** Dropped by large numbers of fantasy teams early in the year while struggling with injuries, he re-arrived with a vengeance in a 2 TD outing in Cincinnati. With Cole Kmet ailing, expect more targets to come.
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