I think this week hurts worse than the weeks I fall flat on my face and score just 40 points. This is the closest I’ve been to my 100 point goal in quite some time. I put up 97.4 fantasy points last week, leaving me 2.6 points shy of the goal. That’s one catch and 16 yards. It does hurt, it really does. Let’s hope we can hit our 100 point goal at least once more before the season ends, which we only have four more weeks of here. The B-Team series is one where I put together a hypothetical fantasy football lineup consisting of players owned in less than 40% of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. The goal of the series is to score 100 fantasy points with the made-up squad and to show that there is regularly available value on the waiver wire at almost all times.
So, we fell just 2.6 fantasy points shy of the goal this week. Sam Darnold really led the way for us with his near 30-point performance. Picking the Seahawks’ defense who went for 17 fantasy points too was a great help in our efforts. Along with that, we had three other players top 10 fantasy points. We were really let down by Kalen Ballage, who I didn’t have much faith in to begin with, but were really let down by Taylor Gabriel against the New York Giants and Hunter Renfrow against the New York Jets. I thought both of those guys were to have a field day, but they only managed nine fantasy points between them. You can see how I did last week below and how I’ve performed in previous weeks at the bottom of this article.
Week 12 Results
QB: Sam Darnold (New York Jets) - 28.2 points
RB: Raheem Mostert (San Francisco 49ers) - 13.7 points
RB: Kalen Ballage (Miami Dolphins) - 3.6 points
WR: Taylor Gabriel (Chicago Bears) - 2.9 points
WR: Russell Gage (Atlanta Falcons) - 15.6 points
TE: Ryan Griffin (New York Jets) - 10.3 points
Flex: Hunter Renfrow (Oakland Raiders) - 6.1 points
Def: Seattle Seahawks - 17 points
Total: 97.4 points
Week 13 Picks
Quarterback
Nick Foles (Jacksonville Jaguars) - Owned in 36% of Yahoo and 24.1% of ESPN leagues
Oh how I wish I could continue to use Sam Darnold in this B-Team series. People have caught on finally and he’s well over the 40-percent owned mark. Nothing to sweat though, there are some great options still out there for us, like Nick Foles. Foles has a match-up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, who have allowed the second most fantasy points on the season to opposing quarterbacks. Since his return to action, Foles has thrown the ball 47 and 48 times. We can expect more of that this week. Look for a big day out of Foles and the Jaguars’ offense, especially the passing game, or at least, I hope.
Running Backs
Darrel Williams (Kansas City Chiefs) - Owned in 16% of Yahoo and 5.1% of ESPN leagues
No Damiem Williams this week opens up work for Darrel Williams. We’ve also seen LeSean McCoy struggle to hold onto the football in previous games as he has had two fumbles over the last three games. The Chiefs are, believe it or not, in a tight battle with the Oakland Raiders for the AFC West crown. The two square off this week as well. Expect the Chiefs to go up on the Raiders and ride Darrel Williams on the day, against the Raiders’ run defense that has allowed the 13th most fantasy points to opposing running backs.
Benny Snell Jr. (Pittsburgh Steelers) - Owned in 32% of Yahoo and 16.8% of ESPN leagues
I’ve fallen into this Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back trap before. The week after Trey Edmunds saw a large number of carriers for the Steelers’ I played him in the B-Team and he saw little-to-no work at all. I’m taking the same risk with Snell, who essentially came out of nowhere to get 21 carries last week, after not receiving a carry in any of the three previous weeks. However, 21 carries is no fluke. I don’t see how you go from 21 carries to no work at all. I’m rolling out Snell this week as the Steelers take on the Browns, especially with James Conner set to miss another week.
Wide Receivers
Chris Conley (Jacksonville Jaguars) - Owned in 23% of Yahoo and 18.3% of ESPN leagues
If I’m going to bet on Nick Foles having a big game, I’m going to have to include one of his receivers here. I can’t use D.J. Chark or Dede Westbrook so we’ll have to use the next best thing, Chris Conley. Conley has seen at least seven targets in each of his last five games. He has also seen eight and nine targets respectively over the last two weeks with Foles at quarterback. With a healthy number of targets going his way and the fact that he gets the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense that has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing wide recievers on the season this week, I’d be stupid to not play Conley.
James Washington (Pittsburgh Steelers) - Owned in 22% of Yahoo and 22.6% of ESPN leagues
JuJu Smith-Schuster has already been ruled out for the Steelers’ game with the Browns this week. This leaves James Washington and Diontae Johnson as the top two pass catchers for Delvin Hodges. Washington has posted double-digit fantasy point performances in three of his last four weeks and has gone over 18.8 points in two of his last three games. Over his last three games he hasn’t seen less than five targets as well. Last week without JuJu, he went for three receptions, 98 yards and a score. He has big play potential, so look for something like he did last week again this week.
Tight End
Tyler Higbee (Los Angeles Rams) - Owned in 6% of Yahoo and 0.6% of ESPN leagues
This selection is strictly match-up based. The Arizona Cardinals have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends on the season. Gerald Everett has been ruled out with a knee injury, opening up the door for Higbee to have a big week. I’ll play any every-down tight end against the Cardinals if I can.
Flex
Darius Slayton (New York Giants) - Owned in 26% of Yahoo and 23.5% of ESPN leagues
This may be a bad reason for me to go with him, but going off of his trends, Slayton is in line for a big week Sunday. In Week Eight against the Lions, he caught two touchdowns. In Week Nine he had a pretty mediocre performance. In Week 10 he caught another two touchdowns and added 121 yards. He then went on his bye and had an okay week in Week 11. This puts him in line to go off against the Green Bay Packers this week. These are the types of chances we have to take here on the B-Team to hit our goals.
Defense
Denver Broncos - Owned in 22% of Yahoo and 19.4% of ESPN leagues
I would have loved to go with the New York Jets or Carolina Panthers here, but must be everyone is tuning into www.weknowfantasy.com every Tuesday night for the Streamable Defenses of the Week article. That’s okay though, because this Broncos’ match-up with the Chargers is being slept on. The Broncos’ defense has not allowed a team to top 30 points on them all season and have held their opponents to less than 20 points five times thus far this year. Not only that, but Philip Rivers is averaging 1.27 interceptions per game and has thrown seven over the last two weeks. He’s also fumbles the ball twice over the last two weeks as well.
Week 11 Results
QB: Kyle Allen (Carolina Panthers) - 9.4 points
RB: Raheem Mostert (San Francisco 49ers) - 4.7 points
RB: J.D. McKissic (Detroit Lions) - 8.3 points
WR: Zach Pascal (Indianapolis Colts) - 3.7 points
WR: Russell Gage (Atlanta Falcons) - 5.2 points
TE: Ross Dwelley (San Francisco 49ers) - 17.4 points
Flex: Cole Beasley (Buffalo Bills) - 7.8 points
Def: New York Jets - 9 points
Total: 65.5 points
Week 10 Results
QB: Ryan Tannehill (Tennessee Titans) - 18.94 points
RB: Trey Edmunds (Pittsburgh Steelers) - 3.5 points
RB: J.D. McKissic (Detroit Lions) - 11.5 points
WR: A.J. Brown (Tennessee Titans) - 2.7 points
WR: Josh Reynolds (Los Angeles Rams) - 7.9 points
TE: Mike Gesicki (Miami Dolphins) - 3.8 points
Flex: Chester Rogers (Indianapolis Colts) - 5.1 points
Def: New York Giants - 1 point
Total: 54.44 points
Week 9 Results
QB: Sam Darnold (New York Jets) - 13.5 points
RB: Alexander Mattison (Minnesota Vikings) - 0.6 points
RB: J.D. McKissic (Detroit Lions) - 16.2 points
WR: DeVante Parker (Miami Dolphins) - 15.7 points
WR: Zach Pascal (Indianapolis Colts) - 18.6 points
TE: Jonnu Smith (Tennessee Titans) - 4.8 points
Flex: Chris Conley (Jacksonville Jaguars) - 5.2 points
DEF: Miami Dolphins - 8 points
Total: 82.6 points
Week 8 Results
QB: Mason Rudolph (Pittsburgh Steelers) - 17.04 points
RB: J.D. McKissic (Detroit Lions) - 3.1 points
RB: Mark Walton (Miami Dolphins) - 6.4 points
WR: DeVante Parker (Miami Dolphins) - 11.9 points
WR: Keke Coutee (Houston Texans) - 0 points
TE: Jonnu Smith (Tennessee Titans) - 19.8
FLEX: Cole Beasley (Buffalo Bills) - 13.1 points
DEF: Detroit Lions - 11 points
Total: 82.34
Week 7 Results
QB: Daniel Jones (New York Giants) - 11.42 points
RB: Darrell Henderson Jr. (Los Angeles Rams) - 4.9 points
RB: Alexander Mattison (Minnesota Vikings) - 1.8 points
WR: Cole Beasley (Buffalo Bills) - 10.6 points
WR: Auden Tate (Cincinnati Bengals) - 9.5 points
TE: Darren Fells (Houston Texans) - 4.7 points
Flex: Dante Pettis (San Francisco 49ers) - 0 points
DEF: Detroit Lions - -4 points
Total: 38.92 points
Week 6 Results
QB: Case Keenum (Washington) - 15.64 points
RB: Ito Smith (Atlanta Falcons) - 0.6 points
RB: Chase Edmonds (Arizona Cardinals) - 14.7 points
WR: Geronimo Allison (Green Bay Packers) - 4.8 points
WR: Preston Williams (Miami Dolphins) - 5.1 points
TE: Darren Fells (Houston Texans) - 12.9 points
FLEX: Auden Tate (Cincinnati Bengals) - 14.1 points
DEF: Miami Dolphins - 1 point
Total: 68.86 points
Week 5 Results
QB: Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals) - 18.98 points
RB: Nyheim Hines (Indianapolis Colts) - 8.5 points
RB: Brandon Bolden (New England Patriots) - 11.2 points
WR: Geronimo Allison (Green Bay Packers) - 4.8 points
WR: Auden Tate (Cincinnati Bengals) - 11.6 points
TE: Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati Bengals) - 3.4 points
FLEX: Cole Beasley (Buffalo Bills) - 5.1 points
DEF: Oakland Raiders - 8
Total: 71.58 points
Week 4 Results
QB: Case Keenum (Washington) - 0.48 points
RB: Tony Pollard (Dallas Cowboys) - 0 points
RB: Alexander Mattison (Minnesota Vikings) - 2.3 points
WR: Dontrelle Inman (Los Angeles Chargers) - 12.6 points
WR: Preston Williams (Miami Dolphins) - 8.6 points
TE: Vernon Davis (Washington) - 1.5 points
FLEX: Kenny Stills (Houston Texans) - 4. Points
DEF: Cincinnati Bengals - 2 points
Total: 31.88 Points
Week 3 Results
QB: Kyle Allen (Carolina Panthers) - 24.34 points
RB: Darwin Thompson (Kansas City Chiefs) - 0.8 points
RB: Rex Burkhead (New England Patriots) - 18.9 points
WR: Randall Cobb (Dallas Cowboys) - 4.3 points
WR: Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers) - 7.4 points
TE: Will Dissly (Seattle Seahawks) - 18.2 points
Flex: Phillip Dorsett (New England Patriots) - 18.5 points
DEF: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 8 points
Total: 100.44 points
Week 2 Results
QB: Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) - 22.22 points
RB: Raheem Mostert (San Francisco 49ers) - 24.1 points
RB: C.J. Anderson (Detroit Lions) - 0.8 points
WR: Mecole Hardman (Kansas City Chiefs) - 16.1 points
WR: Danny Amendola (Detroit Lions) - 0 points
TE: Vernon Davis (Washington) - 5.9 points
DEF: Indianapolis Colts - 7
Total: 76.12 points