Every summer leading into and throughout the NFL season, Sports Illustrated and SI.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.
Here are some highlights from our most recent conversation (November 3rd) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
With Jimmy Garoppolo out for several weeks, what does that do for Brandon Aiyuk’s value this week and moving forward? “We’ve got a short week for Niners so I’d expect Aiyuk to be the guy but, as much as I loved him last week, this is a bad matchup. [Green Bay’s] Jayeer Alexander is a bad man. That guy is one of the top corners in the National Football League and I can’t see a scenario where he’s covering anybody but Aiyuk this week. So I would downgrade him. He’s a flex at best. His matchup is just not good.”
OK, please make sense of the Packers’ backfield situation for Thursday night. “We’re not sure if Aaron Jones is playing. Jamaal Williams is not going to play because of COVID. He was in close contact with A.J. Dillon who tested positive and he’s out, too. This means you could be looking at Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams in Green Bay’s backfield. Both players should be added off the waiver wire. Injuries and COVID are wreaking havoc on our fantasy football rosters.”
Who are some good tight end adds this week? “Trey Burton’s in the mix. He doesn’t have a good matchup this week but he’s getting targets. Logan Thomas is a good option. Robert Tonyan may have been dropped in some leagues. Eric Ebron is also about 50 percent available. He’s got my beloved but awful Dallas Cowboys. So those are a few options you can potentially go and get off the wire.”
What do you make of the Patriots’ skill players at this point? Cam [Newton] actually wasn’t bad last week because he was able to run the football pretty well. Julian Edelman is out. Jakobi Meyers – the football player, not the law firm. He’s actually worth an add off the wire. I don’t know if I trust him as a weekly starter. In fact, I don’t. Damien Harris was pretty good last week. The bug-a-boo with Harris was that if the Patriots got game-scripted out of running the football, Harris would have no value. But New England stuck with Buffalo. The Patriots have the Jets next and the Jets stink so Harris should be added off the wire, as well. But there’s not much else to like in New England.”
What’s the wire looking like this week quarterback? “It’s ugly. It’s horrible. It’s much like the Cowboys’ defense. Philip Rivers has been good in his last two games but he’s got the Ravens this week. Derek Carr I actually like this week against the Chargers. You can add him. Drew Lock is a nice sleeper. Looked pretty good in the second half last week against the Chargers and he’s got Atlanta this week. If you’re in a deep league, a two-QB league…Jake Luton looks like he’s going to be the starter for the Jaguars. That is how bad we are at the quarterback position right now.”
If you’re looking to stream some defenses in Week Nine, who do you like? “The Patriots’ defense could have been dropped in some leagues. They’ve got the Jets this week. The Jets stink. The Cardinals’ defense is a good play this week. They could be on the waiver wire in some leagues. The Washington Football Team is playing the Giants this week. That could be another nice option. The Texans, right? Jake Luton has never started a game in the NFL so the Texans are also worth a look off the wire. You could make up [fantasy] points playing a good matchup.”
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.