1145: 15 Transactions for Week 7

JJ Zachariason (0:02)

This is The Late-Round Podcast with your host, JJ Zachariason.

What's up, everyone? It's JJ Zachariason. In this episode 1145 of The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast, thanks for tuning in. Before I get to the 15 transactions this week, I want to remind you guys about the Data Dump Show on The Late-Round Fantasy Football YouTube channel. Every Monday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern, Brandon Gidula and David Kitchen, they're going to be live on the channel talking about all the week's major injuries, usage trends, and more. It's exclusively on YouTube, so make sure to subscribe to the channel, youtube.com/atlateroundff.

Add Jacoby Lane.

A little behind the scenes, I record these episodes on Monday before Monday Night Football. But right now today, this is probably the weakest waver wire of the season. That's assuming that players like Jeremy Bernard or Jordan Tyson, they're not available in your league. That's the assumption. And if you've listened to this show, there's almost no chance that Tyson and Bernard are available in your league, because they'd be on your roster.

So a lot of the transactions this week are about looking ahead. And that's where we're going to start right now with Jacoby Lane. He returned from injury in week six. He didn't have the most productive day in the world, but he should be on your radar. He had a 58% route share and a 16% target share. He got four passes for 40 yards. But it's just his second career game. And in that game, Rashad Bateman got hurt. He hurt his shoulder. And as we know, Snoop Huntley was under center. If Rashad Bateman is out, and if Lamar Jackson comes back from his injury, Jacoby Lane could be a lot more usable in fantasy football. So I don't know if this is going to pay off right away, but I'm always going to take a shot on a good rookie who looks like his role could be expanding.

Hold DeVonta Smith. So this Jalen Hurts blood clot news, it's likely making fantasy managers feel a little bit panicked about DeVonta Smith. He had a strong outing against the Panthers, so you're probably thinking, hey, I should sell him. I should trade him away. But I don't know if that's really the right move. I mean, look, you can always try to trade him. But don't you think that everyone in your league knows that Jalen Hurts is sidelined? The fact is, Philadelphia wasn't doing that much through the air with Jalen Hurts under center. And with Tanner McKee, you at least get a quarterback who's not gonna take away so many plays with his legs, or at least as many, including tush pushes. Now, that doesn't necessarily make McKee a better option for DeVonta Smith, but it does mean that this offense could look a little bit different than it did with Jalen Hurts.

And look, the bottom line here, DeVonta Smith is really good at football. The underlying numbers are still really good. He currently ranks second in the NFL and target share behind only Jackson Smith and Jigba. And according to our Adjusted Fantasy Points allowed numbers, Philadelphia wide receivers, they have the fourth best schedule over the next four weeks. They also have the fourth best schedule rest of season. The bottom line here, DeVonta Smith is a very good player who's commanding a massive share of his offense. The Eagles might not have the ceiling that we thought they'd have entering the season. Losing Hurts is not a good thing. And by the way, that whole situation is madness, and I hope he gets well soon. But with the underlying usage for DeVonta Smith and the good schedule ahead, I would be holding tight.

Add Omar Cooper. The Jets are a tough offense to trust. They ranked just 21st in the EPA per play this year, their bottom half of the league, and most passing metrics. They've also got a lot of weapons in that offense. You have Garrett Wilson, you have Bryce Hall when he's healthy, you have AD Mitchell when he's healthy, and obviously you have the rookies Kenyon Siddique and Omar Cooper.

With that being said, it's not a bad idea to throw that dart at Omar Cooper this week. He returned from injury in week six, he immediately saw 79 percent route share, and he led the Jets with a 24 percent target share. Now, matchup likely played a role in that usage. But we're talking about a highly drafted rookie who's been targeted on nearly 30 percent of his routes in the limited sample this year. I know what you're thinking. JJ, you were saying this about Kenyon Siddique just a few weeks ago. Yes, I was. My general rule of thumb is that any time we see a rookie do something in fantasy football, whether it be peripherals or actual production, I want to at least consider adding that player off the waiver wire, especially if the draft capital really backs them. It's not always going to work out. In fact, most of the time, it won't work out. But this is how you stay a week ahead with a player like Jeremy Bernard. Just do be aware that our adjusted fantasy points are loud numbers. They have the Jets wide receivers facing the second toughest schedule rest of season. Between that, the offensive environment, consistent production is going to be pretty difficult for Omar Cooper more than likely. But Cooper's got talent and he has target earning ability. That makes him worth a speculative ad.