Everyone knows the Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016. Not everyone knows that yours truly did as well. And no, I did not follow the team to LA. I’m no Rams fan; for that matter neither were most of my friends and associates in St. Louis, and even if they were, it wasn’t like the love they showed for the Cardinals. The Rams didn’t have a good setup in the Lou; no tailgating, crappy stadium, bad location, terrible team. I’m not at all surprised they moved, and I doubt many have noticed in that baseball town.
Not surprisingly an embarrassing first season in LA led to poor fan support at games however things are looking up this season. Funnily enough, in either market, if the Rams put a good product out on the field people will go, and people are going now, to see the Goff and Gurley show. But before we get to the fun let’s just reiterate the rules: This is Free Agent Auction Bidding. Or FAAB for the faabulous ones, and we started the season with $100. By now we should have less. How much? I have an average of $25…
Well, hello my lovelies! Have you missed me over the past two weeks? I know I missed all of you. Being an international sex symbol and all around catch has been exhausting. My Sugar Daddy decided to fly me all over the world for the past two weeks and hence, no time to pay attention to any of you. Well, not really, but it sounded good in my head as I was writing it. How are we faring? It seems none of us can escape a week without the loss of one of our beloved on our rosters and right now our teams are so ugly you wouldn’t even f**k it with your buddy’s d*ck. It’s understandable. Eventually, the lights have to come on after last call and no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you are looking at a winner, there isn’t enough tequila in the world to make that team look sexy enough to bang. Well, that’s where I come in. Let me be your bartender and slip you a roofie or two as we journey into Week 9 of the 2017 season. Ladies and gentlemen, convicts and perverts, I give you Hit it or Quit it, Week 9!
Happy Halloween fantasy football team owners! Hopefully this week’s bye week teams won’t haunt you for the rest of the season. The league’s third-highest scoring QB (Tom Brady), best WR (Antonio Brown), two of the league’s best RBs (Le’Veon Bell and Melvin Gordon) and the league’s 2nd best TE (Rob Gronkowski) are all out this week so you’ll need to make smart adds to stay floating down here!
Speaking of Tom Brady — I need your help to solve an argument. I was discussing with some of my friends about who is the best player of all time in each of the four major sports. Hockey is obviously Wayne Gretzky, basketball is Michael Jordan (for now), baseball could be Barry Bonds, but who is the best NFL player of all time? I’m leaning towards Brady, but was told to “chill” on that assessment. What do you all think?
If you hadn’t noticed from the alerts that you are getting on your phone that are annoying your wife or girlfriend, the trade deadline is upon us and we had a busy Monday night. We have two trades that have big impacts on three offenses so far. Since the trade deadline isn’t officially over until 4 P.M. Est on Tuesday, you may be hearing from me twice.
There are reportedly two teams that are showing interest in Frank Gore. As if that is not a big enough clue that the Colts are tanking for the season, Indianapolis is also reportedly fielding calls for T.Y. Hilton as well. It would be surprising to me, but maybe Martavis Bryant gets moved to a contender who needs some burst in their receiving corps. Earlier today, it was reported that the Eagles are kicking the tires on the possibility of the Detroit Lions trading them the rights to Calvin Johnson. But this morning, we are focusing So, let’s get this started before you make your waiver wire claims this evening.
The fantasy football season is rolling along and teams need to start their playoff push. Bye weeks make that difficult as many players will need a substitute. This is fairly easily addressed at some positions. With that in mind, here are the week 9 streaming picks for kicker, team defense and quarterback.
The last thing that most people want to do is roll Stanton out as their quarterback. By “most people”, I mean the Arizona Cardinals of course. Like the Cardinals though, tough situations call for unsavory decisions. Stanton has never measured up as a quarterback, but he is facing a VERY soft defense. The 49ers give up yards to everyone and Stanton does have some pieces to work with. Adrian Peterson should take some pressure off the passing game. In turn, that should free up some play action and I would not be surprised to see a pair of touchdown passes here.
Can Siemian come up with a decent week for those brave enough to start him?
It has been an up and down season for Siemian. So far the “down” has outweighed the “up” by a fair margin. There are still some premier playmakers in Denver and they are facing a soft pass defense. The main problem here is going to be the pass rush of the Eagles. If the Broncos line can keep Siemian on his feet for a couple of seconds, there will be plays to be made. On the whole, I would not want to own the Broncos QB but things are looking up for week 9.
It has been a great season for the Texans kicker as far as accuracy. He is a perfect 11 for 11 so far, which is great. The only downside (and this is only a downside for the kicker) is that Deshaun Watson finishes drives. There have not been a ton of field goal chances because Watson gets the team into the end zone so much. It is safe to say that there will be a lot of visits to the red zone however. The Colts are not exactly stonewalling the opposition this year. If a couple of drives fizzle out, Fairbairn could have a big day. Especially since he will likely kick 7 or 8 extra points.
The Seahawks offense is heating up in a big way. It seems like every season they come on down the stretch…and here it comes again. The ‘Hawks are riding high after surviving a shootout with the Texans and phenom Deshaun Watson. Next week brings a matchup with the Redskins and Russell Wilson will likely be dealing again. That should mean tons of opportunities for points by Blair Walsh. Field Goals and extra points should both be easy to come by in this one.
D/ST
The Ravens should not present much of a challenge to the Titans D in week 9.
Tennessee Titans
The last few games have been like fantasy football Christmas for the Titans defense. They have faced the Dolphins, Colts and Browns before getting a bye. Now freshly rested, they will have an inept Ravens offense stumbling into town. This one seems like a no brainer for anyone streaming defenses. I know that I will be picking up the Titans for some week 9 matchups.
Atlanta Falcons
There has not really been a signature game for the Falcons defense this year. They are decent against the run and have a couple of playmakers. On the season, the Falcons are yet to give up more than 23 points in a game. Keeping the score down is the first step for a fantasy defense. They will be playing a mistake prone Panthers team. There is a good chance that this will lead to a turnover or two. If the Falcons can force some mistakes, it could be their first double digit fantasy game of the year.
Hold onto your FAAB and waiver priorities, because the waiver wire picks are coming tomorrow. I have some SCARY good picks (sorry) for my Halloween edition of week 9 waivers. Check back all week for more help with locking up your fantasy title. As always, follow us on Twitter for some extras: @_knuckleheads and @brendancole16.
We had some weather on Sunday as the East Coast got slammed with rain and it made for a dreary day of football. It was certainly not the best thing for the kickers as rookie sensation missed a rare two extra points and one of the best kickers in football missed a couple of gimmes in New England. Football is played rain or shine whether or not it throws off our projections. We will start with the game in London, where it always seems to be dreary.
I’ll be honest, generally I have no idea what the Sunday morning post lede will be until the night before when I peruse all the NFL content that drove the week. Kind of like a short synopsis, even though most women think it’s slightly above average. We’ve covered Ezekiel Elliot ad nauseam, injuries galore, all that kneeling, and I’ve even been able to sneak in a few legitimate barbs at Dean Spanos here and there. Why do I bring this all up now? Probably because literally nothing happened this week, yet I still need to type letters that hopefully form words here and there. One of my proudest aspirations as a writer. And this isn’t hyperbole. The Browns were forced to evacuate a London Hotel early. Anthony Barr had his own hot take to combat Aaron Rodgers hot take, because bro-stuff I guess. And we found out the top three quarterbacks with the most passes completed over 20 yards are Tom Brady (not surprising at all), Carson Wentz (kinda surprising), and Alex Smith (WTF?). That’s. About. It. And if you tell me that Alex Smith throwing even two passes over 20 yards is big news, I’d say to you that the trauma from that revelation isn’t news, it’s abuse.
Here’s your updated Razzball Fantasy Football Rankings for Week 8 (STD, Half-PPR, PPR, IDP) including our updated Staff Consensus, Player Status Updates, and an opportunity to ask those all so important roster questions to myself, MB, and Zach in the commentary section!
Is there a better time to be a sports fan? Everyone rooting for the Astros to beat the Dodgers in the World Series, everyone overreacting to every NBA game, fantasy football owners starting to turn their attention to playoff season, the NHL still existing.
Up here in the northeast the leaves are starting to fall just like your fantasy playoff chances if you don’t use Razzball to get you over the hump. If you’ve got league-specific questions — post them below and I will get to them Saturday afternoon/evening.
Each week of fantasy football is defined by certain issues. Injuries and playing time are some of the most important things to team owners and five questions for week 8 will look at these things. Odds are most fantasy teams will be affected by at least one of the issues addressed here. If not, the methods of making decisions can still be applied to many situations.
What Running Back Is Most Likely To Break Out In Week 8?
There are multiple running backs that look like they are trending in the direction of fantasy starter. Joe Mixon of the Bengals has seen more opportunities since week 3, but not much has come of it. Colts rookie Marlon Mack has displayed elite explosiveness, but his touches have been severely limited. Dion Lewis has seen his carries increase each week over the last 4 contests for the Patriots. His production has increased with the workload, but has he plateaued?
I think that the best bet for a big week is Mixon, but the Bengals have dashed my hopes before. He is facing a bad defense with a workload that seems fairly steady for the moment. Mack is getting more carries and I would start him at the flex. I do have some concern that the game script could take the Colts away from the run game. There is a solid chance that Dion Lewis tops 100 total yards. There is also a chance that Belichick suddenly features Rex Burkhead or James White; relying on a Patriots back is risky business.
Is There A Safe Redskins Receiver To Start?
The short answer here is, not really. The closest thing to a “safe” Redskins receiver is Chris Thompson and he is a running back. The wide receivers are deployed with seemingly no regard to common sense. Coach Gruden says that he will ride the “hot hand”. Maybe that means the guy with friction burn from dropping passes? It cannot mean the best production because there has been little of that. If I were to choose a receiver to own it would be Josh Doctson, but it would be hard to start him. If you expand the possibilities to all pass catchers, Jordan Reed has the best track record. Still, he has one good game this season and a long injury history. Despite all of this, Kirk Cousins has managed to maintain a nice level of production. For now, keep the ‘Skins wide receivers on the bench.
Can the Seahawks D keep the explosive rookie quarterback under wraps?
Should Deshaun Watson Be Started Vs. The Seahawks?
It has been a rookie season for the ages for Deshaun Watson. He has thrown for 14 touchdown passes in the last four weeks and is a top five fantasy quarterback. He has also not faced an elite defense yet and still turned the ball over four times in those four games.
The Seahawks have given up more than 20 points only one time this season. It was against a mobile quarterback in Marcus Mariota, but his stats were not huge in that game (225 yards 2 touchdowns). I think that Watson will likely put up around 15 points in this matchup. If you do not have a viable backup then go with the upside play in Watson. Just realize that this is probably not a 30 point week for the rookie.
Who Is The Number One Out-Of-Nowhere Pick For Week 8?
There is an innate likelihood that this type of pick will not pan out. If the odds were great that a player would have a big game, they would not be out of nowhere. My favorite guy to produce suddenly this week is Mike Williams of the Chargers. Injury kept Williams out for almost half the season and he has not gotten many chances. He should be starting to grasp the offense and the Chargers are facing a bad Patriots defense. Watch for Rivers taking a couple of shots downfield to the first round rookie.
As rookies go, Hunt is in a class by himself. He faces his biggest challenge to date against the Broncos defense.
What Top Player Has Bust Written All Over Him?
The early part of the season has been amazing for Kareem Hunt. Odds are he is going to stumble at some point and the Broncos are the logical stumbling block. A “bust”week for Hunt might still be 10 fantasy points based on his involvement in the passing game. He was held to 21 yards on the ground versus Pittsburgh and still scored 11 points in standard scoring leagues. Still, the Broncos have elite defensive personnel that will make it a tough week for Hunt and the Broncos. Of course, I would still have Hunt in my lineup. Just realize that this could be the only time this season that he is in single digits.
If you missed it earlier in the week, check out this feature from Jake Trowbridge on finding the right fantasy “expert”. Check back each day for more exclusive content from Fantasy Knuckleheads. Be sure to check us out on Twitter for more insight and analysis: @_knuckleheads and @brendancole16.
Tired of clicking multiple links just to look up where one of our writers ranked Gerald Everett? Wondering who Gerald Everett is? Good, because I’m with you on both counts! With MB and Zach providing the Razzball readers with their own rankings (a contrarian consensus, as I like to say, to pretend I’m clever), we’re going to provide our 2017 Fantasy Football Staff Rankings for the first time ever, a place where you can find all of our weekly rankings in one spot! The players will be sorted by our average ranking, providing you a great way to see how the Razzball Staff feels (questions posted in our comment section will be answered by all ranking writers!), and it’ll also provide our specific rankings so you know how each of us feel about a player. So many feels, so little time. Follow us after the jump for your Official 2017 Razzball Staff Rankings for Week 8!
Ultimate Football Fantasy 