Week Seven Waiver Wire: A Closer Look at Two Potential Adds

Brian Malone Posted On October 19, 2016

Ryan McDowell says that his biggest advantage in dynasty is being more attentive than his league mates, especially on the waiver wire. Drafting is exciting. Trading is fun. Lineups decisions will make you pull your hair out. But waivers are a bit tedious, which is why you can win them. If you’re good at the thing no one else likes, you give yourself a big advantage.

This article is one step toward winning the waiver wire. Each week, I’ll talk about two players to add — one for shallower leagues (225-250 offensive players rostered) and one for deeper leagues (275-325 offensive players rostered). In some weeks, both players I discuss will be rostered in your leagues. I get that, and I welcome feedback about whether I should be digging deeper or shallower.

This week, we’re trying to take advantage of the injury plagued Green Bay skill positions by looking at one wide receiver and one running back.

[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]

Shallow Leagues — Ty Montgomery

Even before he played an NFL snap, Jacob Feldman said that Montgomery looked like “a running back who was a pretty good pass catcher.” Nominally a wide receiver, Montgomery is a hot waiver commodity because of the Packers’ shallow and injury-riddled running back corps. With James Starks inactive and Eddie Lacy hobbled in week six, Montgomery lined up in the backfield and as a wide receiver, totaling ten receptions for 98 yards and an extra six yards on three rushing attempts.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Green Bay drafted Montgomery in the third round of the 2015 draft. As you might guess from Feldman’s assessment, he doesn’t have a prototypical wide receiver build. But that doesn’t mean he lacks athleticism. He’s basically Dwayne Bowe if you smashed Bowe down a couple inches:

montgomery

Montgomery was productive at Stanford, both as a rusher and a receiver. In his 2013 junior season, he led the team with 958 receiving yards (35 percent of the team total) and ten receiving touchdowns. He also added 159 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He led the team again as a senior, but this time with only 604 receiving yards (24 percent of the team total) and three scores. Again, he added 144 yards and one touchdown on the ground. It’s worth noting that he suffered a shoulder injury that cost him two games and probably limited him in a few others.

Montgomery was productive from the beginning as a rookie in 2015, but his season was cut short due to an ankle injury that ultimately required microfracture surgery. He had done nothing in 2016 until week six.

Green Bay’s offense hasn’t been right for a long time, so Montgomery’s opportunity isn’t as exciting as it looked before the 2015 season. Still, we can’t ignore 12 targets in week six. And no one else has seized control of the third WR spot, despite multiple opportunities. Montgomery should be owned in all but the shallowest leagues. I’m not blowing my waiver budget on him, but I’ll certainly be making bids in all leagues where he’s available.

Deeper Leagues — Knile Davis

Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little. OK, let’s do this. After the Chiefs drafted Davis in the third round of the 2013 draft, he was a high-cost Jamaal Charles handcuff. He was a speed score darling, weighing in at 227 pounds and running a 4.36-second forty-yard dash. His measured explosion and agility weren’t bad, but it was the straight-line speed that had everyone drooling. Compare Ryan Mathews, who posted similar combine numbers despite being almost ten pounds lighter than Davis:

davis

When Charles battled injuries in 2014, Davis seized the opportunity. From weeks two to four, he averaged 106 rushing yards, 13 receiving yards, and 1.0 touchdowns. Alas, that was the highlight of his career to date. Davis saw 63 more carries in the final 12 games of 2014, but he managed only 142 rushing yards. He didn’t add much as a receiver, averaging less than one reception per game.

Still, Davis entered 2015 as the presumptive backup to Charles. But when Charles tore his ACL in week five, the Chiefs gave everyone and his brother an opportunity before Davis. Both Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware got contract extensions following the 2015 season, leaving Davis as the clear odd man out.

Basically, there’s no real reason to think Davis is good at football. But with Eddie Lacy and James Starks already ruled out for week seven, the Packers traded a conditional late-round draft pick to acquire him on Tuesday. He’ll be competing with recent practice squad promotion Don Jackson, as well as Montgomery, for backfield opportunities. And Davis just needs to take one long run to the house to remind everyone why they loved him in the first place. He’s not a good long-term bet, but he’s worth adding with the hope that he can reproduce his early 2014 magic for a few weeks.

[/am4show]