Chasing the Targets: Week Ten

As the season continues it’s getting harder and harder to find players to recommend here that I haven’t already mentioned. That makes sense because unless your team is struggling, it likely has its offense figured out. It’s no coincidence that I’ve recommended a lot of the San Francisco 49ers this season. I don’t want to make the 49ers fans angry, so, I should mention that I’m recommending a Giant this week as well. Don’t worry, my team was expected to be good and, is in fact, bad.

Deonte Thompson, WR BUF

Age: 28

Targets: 10

Target change from previous week: +6

Snap Share: 69.3%

Snap Share change from the previous week: 36%

It seems I’ve spent most of this season trying to avoid writing about Deonte Thompson. Considering he’s 28, and never had more than 249 yards in a season I figured it wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Once he was released by the Bears, I thought that was the end of him.

Not so fast. He was picked up by the Buffalo Bills and teamed up with Tyrod (otherwise known as Ty”god”) Taylor. In two of the three games he’s been with the Bills he has gone over 81 yards. Since joining the team, he has 12 receptions on 15 targets for 193 yards and one touchdown in three games.

I still can’t recommend him with any kind of confidence. You may have heard that the Bills acquired a receiver by the name of Kelvin Benjamin. He’s pretty good at football but couldn’t play last week. That should change this upcoming week and with Jordan Matthews and Zay Jones also around, it may relegate Deonte Thompson back to the bench. However, Jones did suffer a knee injury much to my dismay (you may remember I hyped him just last week), and if he can’t go Deonte is likely to be in on three-receiver sets.

Verdict: Pick up off waivers

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Curtis Samuel, WR CAR

Age: 21

Targets: 5

Target change from the previous week: +2

Snap Share: 75.4%

Snap Share change from the previous week: 47.7%

If you read the instant analysis article, you can get some of my initial thoughts about how the Kelvin Benjamin trade impacted Curtis Samuel. I should start with a disclaimer. I’ve always liked Curtis Samuel but was worried about how he and Christian McCaffrey would mesh. I thought McCaffrey would operate over the middle and take the role completely away from Samuel.

In the early part of the season, I was right, but Samuel is now getting his chance to shine. He may be too small for some of you, but much like Jenny from The League, I say the slottier the better. Based on his draft profile, Samuel has been compared to Randall Cobb. I know that’s not as exciting as it used to be, but Cobb was a very good football player for many years.

Verdict: Buy for a 2018 second 

Damien Williams, RB MIA

Age: 25

Targets: 6

Target change from the previous week: +4

Snap Share: 44.8%

Snap Share change from the previous week: 32.7%

This one is likely coming a week too late, but it is a results-based article. As you know by now, Jay Ajayi was traded to the Eagles opening up room for a new running back to emerge on the Dolphins. The debate instantly began about whether it would be Kenyan Drake or Damien Williams.

I’m not here to answer who the lead rusher will be. I will say Drake played 55.2% of the snaps compared to Williams 44.8, but that’s not the focus of this article. Instead, I want to focus on the fact that Damien Williams had six targets in the passing game.

That may not seem like that big a deal to you since Drake also six targets. However, one of Williams targets came in the red zone and Drake’s did not. That’s very important because it suggests that Williams is the back the team trusts more when it comes to catching passes.

Verdict: Pick up off waivers, offer a 2018 third if he’s been picked up in your league

Tavarres King, WR NYG

Age: 27

Targets: 6

Target change from the previous week: +3

Snap Share: 51.5%

Snap Share change from the previous week: -48.5 %

You know what the sign of a good season is? The head coach being asked what speech he gave at halftime and responding, “Um…”. I digress, we are here to talk about Tavarres King. Another sign of how great things are going for my favorite team right now.

You might be wondering why I’m highlighting a player that just saw his lowest snap share of the season. In fact, you could easily argue that with the return of Sterling Shepard this is pointless. However, King did just see his most number of targets in the season and saw a target inside the 10-yard line that he turned into a touchdown. Do I have your attention now?

Is King suddenly going to turn into a superstar? Absolutely not. In fact, next season he will return to irrelevance. However, if you’re in a best ball league you could do worse than taking a shot on this trend continuing.

Verdict: Leave on waivers in all formats except best ball

Josh Malone, WR CIN

Age: 21

Targets: 4

Target change from the previous week: +1

Snap Share: 79.5%

Snap Share change from the previous week: 45.6%

My good friend Peter Howard would argue that I saved the best for last. We have had more discussions on Twitter and Voxer about Josh Malone than probably anyone else has had about Josh Malone in his life. In fact, I’m starting to suspect that Josh Malone and Peter may be somehow related.

For those not familiar with Peter, allow me to be the one to introduce you to Josh Malone. He was a 2017 fourth-round pick out of the University of Tennessee. He has blazing fast speed for his size. Wait. Don’t the Bengals have another fast guy? That’s right, I believe his name was John Ross.

Many of my conversations with Peter have centered around the fact that I don’t believe there is a role on the team for both Malone and Ross. Although, as Peter has accurately pointed out, Ross has barely sniffed the field since the combine. There’s also the bonus that Josh Malone is a much larger receiver than Ross.

I’m not telling you that you need to rush out to go get Malone, but he’s been intriguing in his three games for the Bengals. He’s seen eight targets which he has turned into three receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. His large snap share last game may have been due to A.J. Green being thrown out, but I’m still looking at him as a deep league flier.

Verdict: Pick up off waivers

Last week’s Recap

I apologize for missing this last week but here is the recap from week nine’s Chasing The Targets:

Leonte Carroo, WR MIA

He was a non-factor with DeVante Parker back. I still believe he’s worth a stash for next year when Jarvis Landry departs.

Deandre Washington, RB OAK

He also had a down game with the return of Marshawn Lynch.

Zay Jones, WR BUF

He had his best game of the season! He went over 50 yards and had a touchdown! Then he injured his knee. It apparently wasn’t as bad as it looks, but worth monitoring all the same.

Marlon Mack, RB IND

Mack was another player who didn’t have a great game, but I still view him as a long-term buy.

T.J Jones, WR DET

He continued to play over 70% of the snaps, but there was no stopping the Marvin Jones show on Monday.

That’s going to do it for these week ladies and gents. As always, if you have questions feel free to message me on Twitter @RekedFantasy. I hope the rest of the season is more enjoyable for you than watching the Giants stumble their way to a top three pick.

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