By Marcus Drake
The bye weeks are finally over!
Alas, Week 11 still presented some problems/opportunities for fantasy teams, thus giving us another week of waiver wire relevance. If you were one of the poor souls with Kelvin Benjamin/Chris Thompson on your roster, you have my condolences. Losing any starting caliber player this late in the season is like having to flush your pet goldfish down the toilet. All that love you felt for it and that promising future just swirling down the drain. But don’t you worry. We here at 5th Down Fantasy can help you fill the void.
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Samaje Perine (WAS) — This guy should be the absolute number one waiver pick up of the week in every single fantasy league. We knew an expanded role was in store for Perine, with Rob Kelley out with a high ankle sprain and a MCl sprain, but now Chris Thompson is out as well for the year. With their two best backs both lost for the year they had to sign someone and that person was Byron Marshall off the Eagles practice squad. Marshall had a decorated career at Oregon, rushing for a thousand yards and even becoming the first player in conference History to rush for 1000 yards and have 1000 yards receiving in a season. I expect Perine to still get 15-25 touches a game going forward despite the addition of Marshall. Its truly rare for a back with this volume and upside to be available in as many leagues as he is this late in the season, so grab him while you can.
Josh Doctson (WAS) – My fingers are crossed regarding the injuries that have plagued the TCU product from discovering himself. The talent was never in question with this guy and now that the Redskins have given him priority over Pryor, his value will only increase as the season continues. Doctson now has tied his career high with 7 targets in back to back weeks, this time with a career best 81 yards, and that was against the budding shutdown corner duo of Marshon Lattimore and Ken Crawley. He will match up next against the Giants, who have given up the 4th most passing yards to opposing QBs this season. A breakout game is on the horizon.
Devontae Booker (DEN) — In a tightly contested game this past week, Booker emerged as the leader in carries (14) rushing yards (44) and tied for the lead in receptions (5). The Broncos backfield has been a bit of a shell game all season, but Book is no doubt worth an add this deep in the season as a low end flex play with potential to separate himself from the pack in Denver. An especially favorable matchup for pass-catching backs is on tap against the Raiders, who just gave up eight receptions to Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead. Not to mention they have given up over 500 receiving yards to running backs this season to go along with 4 touchdowns in the same fashion. Booker should stay busy next week and beyond.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (TB) — This guy just isn’t getting enough respect for what he’s doing in relief of Winston, with back to back wins on the resume; one coming in large part to the defense but still impressive none the less. Week 11 left him with a line of 22/37 with 2 touchdowns and no picks. That’s a very nice day for a QB that’s available in 65% of leagues. Winston is likely to miss next week’s game at Atlanta and teams desperate for a QB could do worse then Fitzpatrick, who seems to have the Bucs offense clicking.
J.D. McKissic (SEA) –– With CJ Prosise on IR, McKissic appears to have been handed the keys to Russell Wilson’s get away car. We all know Wilson likes to get out of the pocket and make plays with his legs and his arm. When a play looks doomed, that’s the moment he’s looking for a guy like McKissic. He got 9 touches last Thursday and on Monday he added 7 carries for 30 yards and 5 catches for 23 against the Falcons. This upward trend should only continue based off the way Wilson plays and the fact there simply hasn’t been any consistently good showing from any Seattle back this season. I expect more work coming for McKissic as the combination of Lacy and Rawls continues to leave the organization gasping for air.
