Club Fantasy – 2016 Week 7 Confidence Plays

By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson

The midpoint of your season. Your roster is shaped how it will likely continue to be throughout the rest of the season. Your trade deadline is approaching and you know a few holes you need to try and fill before the playoffs arrive. Maybe you need to make some moves to position yourself FOR a trip to the playoffs.

So you find yourself on the outside looking in. You are so far out of the picture you have little to no shot at making the playoffs. The biggest key is to be a hound on your waiver wire. If you make the right pickups and those players get hot, they can help propel you out of the abyss and position yourself for a seat in the playoffs. Notable waiver claims in years past to do just that were C.J. Anderson and Tim Hightower.

If you are like us in the Skrip Club and allow draft pick trading, your deadline can get very interesting. Draft pick trading is a great tool to feel a sense of accomplishment for the next year. I found myself in this position in the Skrip Club last year, so I made a few trades and found myself with two first round picks going into the next season. This year? I’m 6-0 going into Week 7 and have the best record, and arguably the best roster in the league. Something to think about for your league going into next season, yeah?

So let’s get you a win this week. I want to put you in a position to be the man, or woman, who wins your league and flaunts that victory in your league mates’ faces. It is the single reason why I write this column. That and the ego boost. I’m human people.

To refresh what this column is, these are my confidence plays in a Start/Play/Bench format. “Start” represents your studs and numbers twos that will overachieve. Get them in your lineup, stat! “Play” represents some bench or FLEX plays that should outperform their draft position based on matchup. “Bench” presents your studs that you should temper expectations for or FLEX plays you should swap out with a bench player. And really, it’s based off my rankings. Check them out and use them as a guide!

Win one for The Hudsonian folks. And for yourself.

Start

QB Andy Dalton & WR A.J. Green (CIN) – Those who play Cleveland are in for a great day. It’s written passage. Because I just wrote it.

QB Marcus Mariota & RB DeMarco Murray (TEN) – Mariota broke out at home. Can he do it again? I’m starting him in one league so I’m justifying that start by including him here. Murray salvaged last week with a touchdown. What does he do for an encore? The Colts just gave up 149 yards and a touchdown to Lamar Miller so I’m thinking Murray has a fun day ahead of him.

WR Allen Robinson (JAX) – This is his last chance. The Raiders have allowed a lot of yards and touchdowns through the air this season. Especially to quarterbacks who love to throw. Bortles loves to throw and he targets Robinson a lot. Last chance.

RB Spencer Ware (KC) – Jamaal Charles came back and Spencer Ware continued to shine. I’m not worried. Especially against a Saints team whose offense forgets how to operate outside of the dome. Actually, I’m fairly certain the Chiefs will run the ball down the Saints’ throats with both Ware and Charles because Andy Reid doesn’t want to throw the ball anymore.

Play

QB Jameis Winston, RB Jacquizz Rodgers & WR Mike Evans (TB) – On the road, not great. Against the 49ers? That’s better. Coming off a bye week, Winston will find Evans early and often. And Rodgers? He’s the beneficiary of a great matchup. The 49ers give up the 6th most to RBs in fantasy. And Rodgers just came off a Week 5 game where he saw 35 touches and gained 129 yards. Not a great average but he gets volume. Volume is key to production.

RB James White & WR Julian Edelman (NE) – Brady and the tight end twins are obvious plays. White has found a rhythm with Brady and Pittsburgh is masquerading as a quality defense. This has to be the game Edelman does something, right? I know the offense is shifting away from him, but even when Gronk and Aaron Hernandez were at the top of their game, Brady still had Wes Welker doing amazing things. Edelman can, and will, surface this season. I’m betting it starts this week.

QB Brian Hoyer & WR Cameron Meredith (CHI) – I keep thinking these two belong on an episode of The Love Connection. They are so in sync, they would totally take home the grand prize. I mean, two straight games with over 100 yards? Almost 30 targets in the last two weeks? And the Packers secondary, oof. I’m buying this week.

TEs Hunter Henry & Antonio Gates (SD) – They can operate in the same space and both can perform well. The downside? They’ve caused a hit to the production of WRs Travis Benjamin and Tyrell Williams. If you grabbed Henry on waivers, be grateful. He’s legit and Gates is a top play when he’s healthy.

Bench

QBs Russell Wilson (SEA) & Carson Palmer (ARI) – They play each other so I’m grouping them together. Seattle gives up third fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks and Arizona gives up seventh fewest. I’ll pass on the QBs in this game.

All Eagles offensive players (PHI) – Yes, all of them. The Vikings defense is that good and Eagles WRs couldn’t get separation against the Redskins’ corners, so I’m guessing they’ll have even less success against the best defense in the NFL.

WR Antonio Brown (PIT) – 42, 45, 24 and 124. Those are Brown’s yardage numbers in games without Big Ben last season. Against the Patriots this week, I’m picking closer to the 42 than the 124.

WR Brandin Cooks (NO) – Saints road game. Average Brees means average Cooks.

RB Matt Forte (NYJ) – The Ravens play solid defense. The Jets offense is in a state of flux and Bilal Powell is being worked into the offense more and more each week. Avoiding Forte this week.