It’s been a while since we’ve had a player as the above-and-beyond top pickup and universal focal point of every league’s waiver wire immediately following the early games (and during them for the desperate). I’m given a nostalgic feel of waiver wires of recent yesteryear, near reminiscent of the Alfred Morris Week 1 of, like, seven years ago.
This is what Chase Edmonds did to Fantasy America on Sunday. And if he wasn’t owned in your league before today, he certainly will be after tomorrow.
Following his career game and one for the ages, romping for three touchdowns and 150 all-purpose yards, Edmonds has more than cemented himself as a must-own fantasy player as well as a potential weekly flex start. And now that we’re just past the halfway point of the regular season, it’s time to smash around the curve into the home stretch leading into the playoffs with a streak of must-win games for us all, regardless of which end of the success spectrum your team(s) find themselves currently.
Besides the obvious waiver claim to the now-evident member of the Cardinals’ backfield, there are several other candidates at each position that are owned in less than 55% Yahoo Fantasy leagues who can merit much value in the final six weeks of the season. Let’s get to it.
Chase Edmonds, RB (ARI, 48% Owned)
Stating the obvious is never a duty I take any sort of pride in, simply because it comes off as lazily staking claim in something most any involved person would even haphazardly be aware of. But sometimes it’s just one of those things that has to be done, especially when the player of note is still available in more than half of Yahoo leagues out there.
Featuring a monster game against the New York Giants, jamming for 126 rushing yards, three touchdowns, and 24 receiving yards on two receptions, Chase Edmonds was on fire in a game that he took over despite David Johnson having been deemed active early on Sunday. According to Coach Kliff Kingsbury, they were simply “playing it safe” with Johnson, but I’m thinking it could be a bit more than just load management we’re witnessing here.
Edmonds has racked up at least one touchdown in four of his last five games, and has seen an increased workload as of late. I may be overreacting on the typical eve of an NFL Monday, but rostering Chase Edmonds if he is indeed so available in your league could be the difference in you making the playoffs or getting a first-round playoff bye week.
Jacoby Brissett, QB (IND, 47% Owned)
Déjà vu all over again, as I feel like I’ve talked about this guy more than once before here this season. But I believe that speaks volumes of Jacoby Brissett here, who is currently a Top 10 fantasy quarterback in fantasy points per game for 2019 in standard QB scoring formats (19.1 FPPG). And Week 7 was a reminder that he isn’t going anywhere but up this season, especially when it comes to the stat sheet.
Brissett posted his third game of the season with three or more touchdowns this past Sunday against the visiting Texans, throwing 26 completions on 39 attempts for four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 126.7. This performance amounted to 27.64 fantasy points in standard QB scoring formats and sixth highest scoring fantasy player overall (in that format).
Next he has Denver at home in Indy, who was just destroyed by Matt Moore and the Missing Ma-homies in Mile High. If you’re in need of a quarterback or even feel like you could do better than one of your current ones, Jacoby Brissett would be my top target at that position (based on the sub-55% ownership guideline here).
Alex Erickson, WR (CIN, 2% Owned)
More of a bizarro déjà vu pick only considering how recent it feels like I wrote about fellow Bengal receiver Auden Tate, Alex Erickson is a hell of a promising individual talent rostered in reality by a hell of a bad team. But always playing from behind, Erickson should hopefully be seeing more of his massive uptick in productivity on the field in consistent doses.
In Week 7, Erickson tied Tyler Boyd for a team-high 14 targets [each] and they were tied for the second-most targets in all of fantasy for Week 7 just underneath Allen Robinson (16 targets). The major difference is that Erickson did something with his massive target share, by supplementing it with 137 receiving yards on eight receptions.
If you have any semblance of dead weight on your bench and Chase Edmonds is already taken, I would be making Alex Erickson among my top waiver priorities, if not the utmost.
Jacob Hollister, TE (SEA, 0% Owned)
With Will Dissly sidelined the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, someone had to be the go-to tight end for Russell Wilson. And some (including myself) assumed it would be Luke Willson filling that void, following three weeks of gradually increasing targets leading up to Dissly’s injury. But it was Jacob Hollister who emerged as the clear preferred fill-in against the Raven in Week 7.
Despite being in a losing effort (the team as a whole looked off), Hollister managed three receptions on six targets and twenty yards receiving. While it doesn’t seem like much, the ex-Patriot tight end’s target share on Sunday was a career-high for him and I believe indicates some writing on the wall when considering the remainder of this season under Russ Wilson.
I feel like another overreaction is one I’ll be guilty of when citing the need for more necessity to be used when mulling the idea of rostering him, but Jacob Hollister simply walked into a great role as the Russell Wilson primary tight end.
Zach Pascal, WR (IND, 0% Owned)
Serving as a dual threat on offense and special teams kick returns, Zach Pascal is emerging as one of the favorite pass-catchers of Brissett’s, and seeing paydirt once again for his first time since Week 3 (and a bye in Week 6). His seven targets against the Texans on Sunday tied his season-high and he eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his NFL career.
Reeling in six receptions on seven targets, Pascal posted 106 receiving yards and two touchdowns. And if your league happens to award for Special Teams performances, Pascal fielded 66 total yards on kick returns and scored a kick return touchdown back in Week 3.
With T.Y. Hilton and Eric Ebron being the only real threats to his performance, Zach Pascal is worth more than a flyer pick in my personal opinion, especially as the regular season progresses past halfway and Brissett needs reliable targets to win the AFC South.
