Weekly Hail Mary: Week 6

Each week, HMF will provide you with at least one “Hail Mary” at RB, WR, and TE - a guy who is not generally regarded as a starter for the week, but who has the potential to pay off big. These are lottery tickets that are not likely to hit, but if they do, you’ll be thrilled, as you can likely pick them up off your waiver wire.  

In other words, if you’re desperate, we’re giving you a prayer. The Hail Marys for Week 6:

Running Back

Buck Allen, Ravens. How many times do I have to recommend this guy? He’s playing nearly 60% of the snaps and receiving more touches than backfield-mate Alex Collins. He also gets the goal line and passing game work. I still see Collins being started in many leagues, but I rarely see Allen, which makes no sense.

Mike Davis, Seahawks. Guys, Rashaad Penny isn’t a thing this year. Mike Davis is. In Week 4, he had 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Petey Sunshine said that he would get more touches in the rotation moving forward, and that appears to be true. Despite playing second fiddle to Chris Carson on Sunday, he still had 12 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown. If you watch him play, you won’t be convinced that he’s a “good” player, but he’s at least a player that gets volume, and sometimes that’s all it takes.

Austin Ekeler, Chargers. This kid is electric. He’s averaging about 10 touches per game - 7 rushing, 3 receiving - and is making the most of them. He already has three scores on the season, all in the receiving game.

Nyheim Hines, Colts. Another recommended play from last week. Week 5 saw Hines become the lead dog in the Colts’ backfield, as he handled 15 carries and an additional 9 targets. Any player who stands to touch the ball on more than 40% of his team’s snaps is worth starting, no?

Chris Ivory, Bills. Against the Titans on Sunday, the Bills busted out their 1950s offense. They had a nearly 2:1 run-to-pass ratio. That’s right, I said run-to-pass ratio, not pass-to-run ratio. For every one pass play they’re calling two running plays, which is sufficient to give Ivory volume even behind LeSean McCoy. Ivory managed 14 carries on Sunday, and he could be in line for even more carries if the rumored McCoy-to-the-Eagles trade comes to fruition.

Alfred Morris, 49ers. He’s the lead dog now with McKinnon and Breida both hurt. A heavy workload is sure to follow, and he’ll be playing in prime time this week. He led the team in carries on Sunday, and that was with Breida still playing a role for part of the game. He should see at least 15-20 touches on Monday night against the Packers.

Latavius Murray, Vikings. Better days are ahead, folks. The Vikings line is bad, which is partly to blame, but the encouraging sign is that Murray got volume on Sunday. He got 11 carries; no other Minnesota back had more than four. He’s going to fall into some goal line scores.

Bilal Powell, Jets. Maybe it was the game flow and getting up big early, but Powell saw a heavy workload on Sunday. He carried the ball 20 times for nearly 100 yards. Uncharacteristically, he wasn’t involved in the pass game. I still don’t think the Jets have a clear cut number one running back, and they’re going to alternate between Powell and Crowell based on game flow. Side note: Isn’t it interesting that P-owell and Cr-owell don’t rhyme? English is funny.

Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams, Eagles. Jay Ajayi’s season-ending injury, combined with Corey Clement and Darren Sproles’ unavailability, means there are touches for the taking in the Eagles backfield. Adams was in the Heisman Trophy conversation in the early part of last year, and is probably the better pure runner. Smallwood is probably the better pass catcher and all-around player, so my gut tells me he’ll be the one to get the first crack. Plus, Smallwood is in Year 3, and should have a familiarity with Doug Pederson’s system, whereas Adams is an undrafted free agent who started the year on the practice squad. Target Smallwood first, but scoop up Adams if Smallwood is unavailable.

Wide Receiver

Keke Coutee, Texans. He followed up his 100 yard effort from Week 4 with 7 targets and a goal line score in Week 5. He appears to have secured his role as an integral part of the Texans’ offense.

Chris Godwin, Buccaneers. He’s coming off a bye, so you may have forgotten about him. He scored in each of the first three games, and has a tasty matchup against the porous Falcons defense in Week 5. If you need a weekly streamer, you could certainly do worse.

Cameron Meredith, Saints. This is a name to keep in mind for Week 7, as the Saints are on bye this week. Meredith is seeing more involvement in the offense with each passing week. Historically, the slot receivers in a Drew Brees/Sean Payton offense has been a valuable role.

Donte Moncrief, Jaguars. Moncrief has had back-to-back solid outings. In Week 4 he had over 100 yards receiving and a score; in Week 5 he had 15 targets. While I still prefer Keelan Cole as the Jags’ WR to own, Moncrief is making his presence felt.

D.J. Moore, Panthers. Just a name to monitor, as he’s getting more involved in the offense each passing week. He was a well-known player coming into the season as the first wide receiver taken in the NFL draft, but many owners dropped him after a lackluster start to the season. Take advantage of their impatience, if you can stash him. He caught all four of his targets this past week and had a rushing attempt. The team is trying to find ways to get the ball into his hands.

Josh Reynolds, Rams. Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks both exited the Week 5 game with concussions. Reynolds is the next man up in a high-scoring offense. Sometimes you just gotta be in the right place at the right time. Like in the end zone, when Jared Goff throws it to you. Conventional wisdom is that the defense will focus on Robert Woods and Todd Gurley this week, which means there could be opportunity for Reynolds.

Chester Rogers, Colts. I feel icky just saying it. I don’t believe in Chester Rogers. But he’s getting some love from Luck - Lucky love, if you will. This week, he saw 11 targets, and turned those targets into 8 grabs for 66 yards. Like them or not, anyone who is seeing double-digit targets is relevant.

Mohamed Sanu, Falcons. Sanu is like that cup of coffee that you can get at work. It’s not really what you want, it’s not all that good, and sometimes you regret getting it, but it’s usually better than nothing. If you have low expectations, you’ll be content. Sanu is never a sexy name, but he’s a good bet to be in the top 30 in receptions by season’s end playing in the high-scoring Falcons offense.

Equanimeous St. Brown, Packers. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is going to get all the love this week, and for good reason. He had a huge Week 5 with 10 targets, a touchdown, and another touchdown called back. But don’t overlook St. Brown. He was a more hyped prospect in college and has the sort of measurables that make scouts drool. As long as Geronimooooooooo Allison and Randy Cobb are banged up, he’s going to see looks as the number 3 wideout. That has value in an Aaron Rodgers offense. He had nearly 100 yards receiving this past week.

Courtland Sutton, Broncos. He’s better than Demaryius Thomas. This is anecdotal, which I hate, but I’ll say it anyway: every time I watch Thomas play, I get the sense that he’s gotten soft in the last few years. He used to be a dominator. Not anymore. Sutton gives the Broncos the big-bodied red zone presence than Thomas used to be. Unsurprisingly, Sutton scored a red zone touchdown this week. There, the stats fit my narrative. How convenient.

Trent Taylor, 49ers. With Marquise Great-win and Dante Pettis out, Taylor saw 8 targets, corraling 7 of them for 61 yards and a score. I expect he’ll continue to see volume in their absence.

Tight End

Cameron Brate, Buccaneers. The Bucs are coming off a bye, but don’t forget about Brate. O.J. Howard is going to miss at least this week’s game, and the Bucs have had a high-powered aerial attack to this point in the season. Brate scored 6 touchdowns in 2017 and 8 in 2016, so he’s a sneaky bet to find the end zone this week against a porous Falcon defense.

David Njoku, Browns. Still available in some leagues, Njoku is making his presence felt with Baker Mayfield under center. This week, he paced the team with 11 targets. The only other Brown with more than 5 was Jarvis Landry.

Ricky Seals-Jones, Cardinals. I’m doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on RSJ. Ignore the goose egg from last week; what’s important is the target share. No player on the Cardinals had more targets than Ricky Seals-Jones. With Rosen under center and looking his way, I’m confident that better days are ahead for the former five-star recruit.

Ian Thomas, Panthers. I’m not necessarily convinced Ian Thomas is good, but there’s no clear-cut number one pass catching option for the Panthers. Thomas had 6 targets in Week 5, good for second-most on the team.

C.J. Uzomah, Bengals. Ignore the volume for a moment. Focus on the fact that the Bengals are 4-1, their offense is humming, and this guy is a 6’6 target for a QB who loves to throw to the tight end in the red zone. Both Tyler Eifert and Tyler Kroft are injured, making Uzomah the top man on the totem pole. At worst, he’s a good streamer against defenses who are poor against tight ends.