This article is part of our On Target series.
We are three weeks away from the fantasy playoffs (well for most civilized leagues, anyway) and it has come time to realize that your team either is or is not going to make the playoffs. Last week, I discussed 10 players with under 40 targets who could have an impact on this season or next, but the players discussed today are going to be adds or trade targets immediately upon publication of this article, and could help you in the fantasy playoffs with one studly performance.
This is a repeat from last week's column but I really cannot urge you enough to find a way to get Samuel on your team. Devin Funchess has moved into Kelvin Benjamin's old position and that leaves a sort of hybrid slot/X role for Samuel who is just a better fit for Cam Newton than anyone on the team other than Greg Olsen. Samuel's 4.31 40 time is going to give him more separation and space and Newton is an atrocious thrower into tight windows. Of all the players on this list, I think Samuel has the best chance of racking up multiple touchdowns and a few 100-yard games.
Davis finally seems to have shaken the lower body injury that has kept him inactive for most of the year and while he didn't knock anyone's socks off in his first game back, he played over half the snaps for the Titans and looked physically fine. He was a
We are three weeks away from the fantasy playoffs (well for most civilized leagues, anyway) and it has come time to realize that your team either is or is not going to make the playoffs. Last week, I discussed 10 players with under 40 targets who could have an impact on this season or next, but the players discussed today are going to be adds or trade targets immediately upon publication of this article, and could help you in the fantasy playoffs with one studly performance.
This is a repeat from last week's column but I really cannot urge you enough to find a way to get Samuel on your team. Devin Funchess has moved into Kelvin Benjamin's old position and that leaves a sort of hybrid slot/X role for Samuel who is just a better fit for Cam Newton than anyone on the team other than Greg Olsen. Samuel's 4.31 40 time is going to give him more separation and space and Newton is an atrocious thrower into tight windows. Of all the players on this list, I think Samuel has the best chance of racking up multiple touchdowns and a few 100-yard games.
Davis finally seems to have shaken the lower body injury that has kept him inactive for most of the year and while he didn't knock anyone's socks off in his first game back, he played over half the snaps for the Titans and looked physically fine. He was a stud in college and I continue to believe that Marcus Mariota is an above average NFL QB. Rishard Matthews and Eric Decker have largely been disappointments this year and the offense is crying out for a real WR1; Davis has the ability to provide that over the last six games of the season.
If Jimmy Garoppolo is in fact actually #good, than it is likely to me that Robinson and not Marquise Goodwin would be the primary fantasy beneficiary. Sure, Goodwin might catch an extra bomb than he would have with Brian Hoyer or C.J. Beathard, but he is not cut out to be a primary NFL wide receiver. Robinson has long been a fan favorite of fantasy football fanatics and with Pierre Garcon out for the year, the team will need a true X wide receiver to lead the charge through the air. Robinson has been a priority add for me this week in all 12-team leagues. He was a decent college prospect with a promising physical profile who has really never gotten a crack at an eight target per game role, and this is likely going to be his shot.
This one is an absolute long shot BUT, Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams are both dealing with injuries this week. Cowboys fans have been crying out for Butler to replace Williams' snaps the entire season (though Williams' heroics at the end of the first half against the Chiefs quieted some of those shouts) and if he performs well in Week 10, I do not think it is unreasonable that the Cowboys coaching staff would be interested in giving him more snaps. Williams is a better blocker and knows the offense in a more complete way, but Butler is a legitimate physical specimen who has almost always produced when he has been put on the field. I am big personal fan of Butler and think that if he ends up starting this weekend, he could be the primary receiver opposite Dez in the fantasy playoffs.
This is cheating a little bit as we normally only discuss wide receivers and tight ends in this column, but Prosise does have a real receiving role in the Seahawks offense when he is healthy. Prosise is mostly made of paper but he has been very productive in the past in this offense, and every other Seahawks running back has just been so dreadful overall that I would assume he will get a chance to lead the way when he returns to the lineup. Paul Richardson is injured at the moment as well, which could provide Prosise with some slot work and turn him into a seven target per game sort of play with an additional 10 carries or so down the stretch this year.
With Kenny Golladay injured and Golden Tate missing a little bit of time with a shoulder injury, Jones has began to get some work for a team that has one of the most pass-heavy ratios in football. In a blowout win against the Packers, Ameer Abdullah couldn't even get to 50 rushing yards on 21 carries, which is just further proof this team would rather pass than run. Unlike Aldrick or Prosise, I don't necessarily think that Jones is a real league winner, but I do think he is a solid hold because with any injury to the Lions starting WR crew, he immediately becomes the primary possession wide receiver.
For his career, Benjamin has averaged over 15 yards per reception and is right at 16 yards per reception this year. He is likely to produce the sort of games that turn into week-winning results. The Chargers are not competitive at this point in the year and if Keenan Allen suffers any sort of nick, I would expect him to be immediately shut down as one of the few game-breaking talents that the team has on either side of the ball. Benjamin has played well enough to have an every-week role regardless and if you are an underdog in a playoff matchup, he is a perfect start as a WR3 because of his deep ball upside.
This is the absolute farthest that I have reached in this whole column: a player on an offense that does not take any downfield shots who has only two targets on the year. However, he has two targets on the year for two receptions and two touchdowns. As RotoWire boss man Chris Liss might say, a real man starts Johnny Holton expecting one target for a 68-yard touchdown in Week 15 of the fantasy football playoffs. Any injury to Michael Crabtree or Amari Cooper puts him in the starting lineup on the outside as Seth Roberts is a role player at best. I have not added Holton anywhere but 16-team leagues, but it would not surprise me if he had another two touchdowns in the remaining weeks of the season.
The Packers cut Martellus Bennett this week, which is going to thrust Kendricks into the starting lineup. Obviously, the value of any Packers offensive skill position player has been smashed into a crater with the downgrade from Aaron Rodgers to Brett Hundley. There is a small chance that Rodgers returns before the end of the season but even if he doesn't, we have a meaningful sample of Kendricks being usable in fantasy even with a sub-optimal QB situation, and his ability to run routes close to the line of scrimmage should make him viable even with Hundley at QB. A deep-league add at best, but someone with real potential the rest of the way especially if Rodgers returns just as Tony Romo did from a similar injury.
Even with Jeremy Maclin returning and playing well for the Ravens last week, Campanaro is doing his best Julian Edelman/Danny Amendola impression for Baltimore. Campanaro was a game-breaking player at Wake Forest, handling a massive amount of their total plays, and his biggest issue as an NFL player has been health. I am offering you no guarantee that he stays healthy for the rest of the year but in deeper leagues where you are even looking for 3-6 targets per game in the playoffs, Campanaro can offer that with an extremely high catch rate.
