The Way This Works...
Late-week injuries, suspensions, and unexpected coaching decisions with personnel can upend a fantasy lineup.
We developed this feature to give you resources to help weather the potential loss of players and get ahead of free-agent bidding wars by getting an early shot at the future fantasy flavor of the week.
As the author of the most comprehensive scouting analysis of skill players since 2006, I'm one of those resources—especially for players at the bottom of depth charts, practice squad hopefuls, and even the occasional case of the guy training at home with dreams of that phone call from an NFL team.
Every week, I'll walk you through the shortlist of players who will get their shot to contribute as replacements for players falling victim to unexpected late-week events.
I won't be updating this piece over the weekend, but you'll get the goods on players worth consideration, and based on the past three years, this column offered a lot of quality short-term and long-term options — many of them as preemptive picks.
This is a partial list, but you get the point.
We'll examine three types of replacements:
- Players who get immediate playing time.
- Preemptive additions from your league's waiver wire.
- Options worth monitoring in case the established backup eventually misses time.
Many of these players are late-round picks and street-free agents. I'm not giving you obvious waiver candidates that will command a large percentage of your FAAB dollars. These are options you'll often find in your First-Come, First-Served section during the latter part of the week prior to kickoff.
If you think street-free agents won't be factors, talk to Jordan Mason last year. James Robinson would like to tell you about his 2020 campaign. And Raheem Mostert has time on his hands if you need a deeper consultation.
Add Now: Bhayshul Tuten
The Skinny on Tuten: The Tank Bigsby trade is just as much about Travis Etienne Jr. solidifying his value as a starter as it is Tuten and fellow rookie, LeQuint Allen Jr., solidifying their value as contributors off the bench.
Allen has the most refined passing-down chops between the two rookies, but Tuten has speed to burn, above-average contact balance, and excellent agility. It showed this preseason and in limited time during Week 1.
Recommendation: If Etienne were to falter, Tuten offers the greatest fantasy ceiling. He's likely a notable free agent addition in some leagues. If he wasn't for yours, consider him as a stash for the next 3-4 weeks as you have the luxury to hold a player who isn't delivering on-field fantasy value at this time.
Add Now: Casey Washington
The Skinny on Washington: An acrobatic ball-winner, Washington lacks great speed, but he can find open zones and make contested plays. Washington only caught half of his six targets last week; two of them were third-down conversions and two were contested.
If not for a Michael Penix Jr. pass that forced Washington to turn behind his break path and gave Antoine Winfield Jr. a window to defend it, Washington likely would have earned a game-winning TD catch. He would have gained attention in early-week waiver-wire pieces.
With Darnell Mooney likely out for Week 2, Washington will remain in the mix as a contributor who earns 4-6 targets. Penix trusts Washington, and Penix made mature decisions in difficult pre-snap circumstances in Week 1.
Recommendation: If your waiver wire got picked clean of the starting receivers who were on it, like Kayshon Boutte, Quentin Johnston, Marquise Brown, and Calvin Austin III, Washington could be a sneaky play who will at least get you some PPR points. A TD could be coming based on how and where he was targeted last week.