Week 8 Upgrades & Downgrades
Week 7 was a humbling reminder that even those of us who think we know what’s going on the NFL have no freakin’ clue. I was totally in on the Atlanta players last week and was rewarded with 7 points from that offense and a 2nd half that viewers couldn’t even see. I still had a lot of good calls, especially in my downgrades, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about it.
As I’ve said before, with the new setup, keep in mind that for players I have listed as “downgrades”, I simply mean you should expect less than their statistical average given the current matchup. They may still start for you and of course, they may still have a good week, but you shouldn’t expect as much from them. For “upgrades”, you can expect them to score more than they typically do, but they may not be a starter in your league or for your team. Let’s get started!
Position: Quarterback
Upgrades –
- Carson Wentz, Be wary about the weather for this game, but there aren’t many better matchups out there and he has really shown he can ball lately.
- Kirk Cousins, That’s Captain Kirk to you, and a matchup against Dallas is exactly what the Captain needs to score big.
- Philip Rivers, Last week was the 1st week the Patriots haven’t allowed a 300 yard game to the opposing QB, in other words, good matchup.
- Cam Newton, Remember when he used to be the NFL’s darling and now it seems he has just buried himself into a hole emotionally, regardless, playing at Tampa will keep him relevant for fantasy purposes.
- Andy Dalton, Been very up and down this year but a game against the Colts should be one of those up weeks.
Downgrades –
- Derek Carr, Went bonkers last week but Buffalo has been stingy to opposing QBs so far this year.
- Jameis Winston, He’s had moderate success against them in his career but their defense is much improved from last year.
- Matthew Stafford, Steelers D isn’t just improved, they’re nasty. He may also be without his best weapon in Tate.
- Alex Smith, Seems like the KC train is starting to slow and the Denver defense might just apply the E-brake for them.
- Deshawn Watson, He’s been running wild but his success has been with TDs, his best yardage in a single game to date is 301, that will even out eventually. Seattle’s pass D is daunting.
Position: Running Back
Upgrades –
- Le’Veon Bell, A RB who gets 35 touches a game is an incredible asset to have and he is going to be used early and often on the road in Detroit.
- Joe Mixon, He isn’t being used quite like he wants to be, but gameflow should be in his favor against Indy.
- Jordan Howard, He’s being fed the rock and the Bears are certainly easing in their franchise QB slowly. Ride the hot hand.
- Christian McCaffrey, Amazing catch last week for those of you who didn’t see it; beyond that I see the Panthers coming out with fire this week after an embarrassing loss last week.
- LeGarrette Blount, If you have him and are looking for a chance to use him, that time is now. Frisco’s D might just be the worst in the league and crappy weather favors the run game. A sort of perfect storm if you will…I’ll see myself out.
- Alvin Kamara, Ingram has been getting the rock which hasn’t happened to this point in his career in New Orleans, but if they get down and are forced to pass, this guy gets the call
- Jerick McKinnon, Murray went off last week, but that is the exception, not the norm. McKinnon catches passes and the Browns are stingy against the run.
- DeAndre Washington/Jalen Richard, With Beast Mode out, this is your chance to use them and they are a talented duo, trust me on that.
Downgrades –
- Kareem Hunt, He’s come back down to Earth the last few games and Denver’s defense is as good as it’s ever been.
- Mark Ingram, Even though he seems to be getting the rock a ton the Bears D is actually pretty good and he’s not their primary passing-down back.
- Carlos Hyde, Philly gives up 2.5 YPC to opposing running backs. Yup, 2.5.
- Doug Martin, Got a lot of carries last week, but so did Jordan Howard and he churned out a 3.1 YPC against THIS defense, not a great matchup.
- Latavius Murray, Went off last week but the Browns are stingy against the run and McKinnon will see more usage and better success this week.
- Lamar Miller, Seattle is good against the run as well, not just the pass.
- Giovani Bernard, Mixon is the future of this offense and after getting a commanding lead Bernard won’t be seeing the field this week.
- Theo Riddick, You can actually run with some success against the Steelers, but not quite so much passing. Riddick catches passes, it’s what he does.
Position: Wide Receiver
Upgrades –
- AJ Green, As good of a matchup as he’s going to see all year.
- Kelvin Benjamin, You think Cam is happy with 3 points against the Bears? You think Cam is going to be happy running the ball this week? No, and Benjamin is his best target.
- Doug Baldwin, Plus matchup against Houston and if they can score some points themselves this could be a fun game to watch, not just for fantasy purposes.
- Demaryius Thomas, Just missed an 80 yard TD catch last week and KC is giving up a lot of air yards so far this season.
- Keenan Allen, Pats played well defensively last week but I doubt that’s a new trend.
- Adam Thielen, Actually plays better when Diggs is on the field and the Browns are weak over the top despite what the numbers say.
- Ted Ginn Jr., Exact same thing with the Bears, they are still weak over the top even though the numbers don’t indicate that. Plus Thomas is Hurt and Snead missed last week.
- All Philadelphia WRs, Yup, I’m doing this again, all of them. It’s going to work out this time for me though, just wait (unless the weather sucks).
Downgrades –
- Amari Cooper, Went from averaging under 5 points a game to over 10 in 1 week. Despite what the person in your league who owns him thinks, he’s not “back” just yet.
- Antonio Brown, Obviously you are still going to play him and obviously he is still going to produce, but Bell is getting the ball 35 times this game.
- Dez Bryant, He’s actually done well in tough matchups so far and has success against them in the past, but Washington is good against the pass if Norman plays. Will be fun to watch though with all those commercials between them in the offseason.
- Tyreek Hill, Putting together quite the year, but Denver has the speed to slow him down, but not to stop him.
- DeAndre Hopkins/Will Fuller V, Again, Watson has been very successful, but TDs aren’t reliable in fantasy and the Legion will be all over these guys.
- Michael Thomas, IF he plays (which he may not, check his status Sunday morning) he won’t be 100% and the Bears have been decent against the pass by the numbers.
- TY Hilton, Has been dreadful recently and even though he can go off at any moment the Bengals secondary has been downright good.
- Golden Tate, Another IF. If he does play he will likely be a decoy and on top of that he gets the Steelers who have also been darn good against the pass this season.
Position: Tight End
Upgrades –
- Travis Kelce, Denver’s soft spot is against the TE, expect double-digit targets and maybe even catches.
- Jordan Reed, There’s no one else in this offense to trust for Cousins and he’s done some damage to Dallas in the past.
- Jimmy Graham, Houstin is also soft against TEs to start the year and he’s starting to come along.
- Kyle Rudolph, This offense wanted nothing to do with him early, but he’s carved out his own role anyway. Cleveland is bottom of the league in defending opposing TEs also.
- Hunter Henry, Snaps, targets, and catches are all on the rise. He gets the Pats D this week and it could become a shootout; yes, please.
Downgrades –
- Zach Ertz, I mean you’re obviously playing him if you have him, but Frisco has been good against opposing TEs (11.1 points per game). It may be an aberration of a stat, but it’s there.
- Rob Gronkowski, They only give up 8.7 per game to opposing TEs and again, you’re not sitting him, but keep it in mind.
- OJ Howard, Went off last week, but he was still out-targeted by Brate who is the TE to have in this offense.
- Austin Hooper, He apparently only does well when there is a WR injured and as far as I know there isn’t one for Atlanta this week.
- AJ Derby, I picked him last week to be here and he caught 6 balls for 66 yards, need to redeem myself this week.
