Mid-season fantasy fixes

By Logan Jones

At the midpoint of the NFL’s regular season, it seems any player not sidelined with a season-ending injury happens to be on bye week. The next few matchups will be critical for your team’s playoff chances, and though the waiver wire may appear picked clean at first glance, there are still some hidden gems in there. Here’s how to snag that Week 9 victory.

Pick up: DeAngelo Williams (duh), Malcom Floyd, Kamar Aiken

Chances are someone in your league already nabbed Le’Veon Bell’s backup DeAngelo Williams — if not, set this newspaper aside and pick him up right this second. Then call all your league buddies and rub your new star running back in their faces.

Pittsburgh involved the now-injured Bell a ton in its offense, and Williams is capable enough as Bell’s backup for head coach Mike Tomlin to stay consistent with that game plan. Williams already proved himself early in the year as a productive back, so this is about as low-risk a pickup as you’ll ever see.

Here’s your pro-tip of the week — any time a more-than-capable backup steps into a starting role, roll the dice on them immediately. The player is always looking to ball out in order to not let the team down, to impress coaches and to prove themselves worthy of being the next man up.

By that same logic, you want Malcom Floyd in your starting lineup this week. San Diego’s number one wideout Keenan Allen is done for the year with a lacerated kidney, which means his historic pace for targets in a season now shifts to Floyd. Antonio Gates will also get a few more looks each game, but Philip Rivers and the Chargers’ offense is all about moving the ball through the air in a hurry, as they tend to trail in most every game they play. Floyd has been playing well this season, and will easily make the transition into fantasy relevance.

In especially deep leagues, now is the time to dig up Steve Smith’s replacement Kamar Aiken. Despite Baltimore’s disappointing record, the Ravens have refused to go quietly week in and week out. This is not a team trying to tank, and though Flacco is inconsistent under center it’s almost always worth having a team’s number one receiver — almost. Looking at you, Jordan Matthews.

Other pickups: Dwayne Harris, Stefon Diggs

Start: Michael Crabtree, Allen Hurns

If you follow this column closely, then you picked up Michael Crabtree last week despite what looked like a scary matchup against the Jets. Here’s the sneaky thing about the Jets defense this season — it’s great against number one wideouts, but it falters against anyone not stuck on Revis island.

Crabtree had a solid outing against New York, hauling in seven targets for 102 yards and a touchdown. This week it’s Jags No. 2 receiver Allen Hurns with the matchup, and the same type of game should be in store. Bortles isn’t quite on Derek Carr’s level, but as far as sophomore quarterbacks go he’s been having a quietly productive season. I wouldn’t trust him to throw Allen Robinson’s way too much on the road Sunday, but count on Hurns for at least six targets and a score.

Speaking of Crabtree, don’t stick him on your bench just yet. The Oakland offense looks more convincing with each passing week, and owning anyone involved in this offense generally means a start regardless of matchup.

Other smart starts: Brandin Cooks, Charles Clay, Matt Ryan

Sit: T.Y. Hilton, James Jones

This particular pair of fantasy wideouts have frustrated owners all year. Hilton and Jones each show flashes of big-time, matchup-winning type games every so often, but not consistently enough to merit confident starting each week. Despite having Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers as their respective gunslingers, both of these guys are set up for ugly outings.

First Hilton, who won’t be the first talented receiver to get lost behind Denver’s ridiculous defense, and certainly won’t be the last. Starting any offensive player against Denver is a death wish this season. The message from Sunday’s showdown with NFC-favorites Green Bay is clear — if they can shut down the Packers, they can shut down anybody.

Jones, who managed just one catch for two yards against the Broncos, draws another tough battle this week on the road in Carolina. He’ll be looking for a bounce-back game, but a Panthers defense that’s allowed just four touchdowns to wideouts this year won’t give it to him. As much as it pains me to say it, there’s a chance Carolina is for real this season — move your lineup around until you find a way to avoid playing guys against the Panthers and Broncos.

Other sits: Colin Kaepernick

— Logan Jones can’t wait to see what happens to the Niners’ dumpster fire of a season now that they’ve really set their minds to it. Have any specific fantasy questions? Fire them Logan’s way at Logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu or on Twitter @Logantj.