Weekly Hail Mary: Week 4
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.
In other words, if you’re desperate, we’re giving you a prayer. The Hail Marys for Week 4:
Running Backs
Buck Allen, Ravens. Allen made the list last week, and he delivered. He is the third down and goal line back for Baltimore, and scored once in each capacity last week. He’s boom or bust, but if you’ve got to find someone for a bye week, you could do worse.
Mike Boone, Vikings. We all thought we knew that Latavius Murray would be the most viable Viking RB in the event of a Dalvin Cook injury. But that may not be the case. On Sunday, both Murray and Boone received two carries. Granted, the sample size is ridiculously small, but we are at the point where we don’t know which of these guys could be leaned on, so we at least need to keep an eye on Boone.
Malcolm Brown, Rams. Brown is the clear-cut handcuff to Todd Gurley. He has value only if Gurley goes down, but his 8.4 YPC average this past Sunday shows that he can produce if given the snaps.
Chris Ivory, Bills. Ivory has value as long as LeSean McCoy is out. He got 20 carries on Sunday in McCoy’s absence, plus caught three passes for 70 yards.
Aaron Jones, Packers. Last chance to buy. In his first game back, he led the Pack in carries and yards. It’s only a matter of time before he’s a weekly stud.
Sony Michel, Patriots. He was probably drafted fairly early in your league, but in case the Michel owner in your league got impatient and cut him (or is looking to trade), now is the time to pounce. He led the team with 14 carries on Sunday night, and is poised for an even greater workload now that Rex Burkhead has been placed on IR. Michel clearly has the team’s trust, and the fact that they spent a first round pick on him shows that they thought quite highly of him leading up to the draft.
Alfred Morris, 49ers. Matt Breida is getting all the love, but Morris is getting the carries. He got 4 more carries than Breida last week, and also got the touchdown.
Wide Receivers
Tyler Boyd, Bengals. Might be too late to the party on this one, but Boyd is having a breakout year. On Sunday, he turned 7 targets into 6 receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown. Boyd, and not John Ross, is the Bengals’ #2.
Antonio Callaway, Browns. Josh Gordon is gone. Callaway got 10 targets on Sunday. And now Baker Mayfield is under center.
Keelan Cole, Jaguars. Don’t be scared away by Sunday’s mediocre stat line this past week. He still led the team in targets with 9. The next highest WR on the Jags had only 4. Cole is the clear-cut number one for Jacksonville, and it will translate into some huge weeks.
Julian Edelman, Patriots. Just in case you forgot about him. He comes off suspension in Week 5, so you want to pick him up this week and stash him on your bench for a week before the rest of your league gets wise to his return.
Taylor Gabriel, Bears. Mitch Trubisky stinks. So far, at least. But he’s still peppering Gabriel with a ton of targets, including 10 this past week. Gabriel has shown us in the past that he doesn’t need a ton of targets to make a big play happen. I’m playing the odds and saying that Trubs is going to hook up with him for a big score soon.
Chris Godwin, Buccaneers. Godwin has a touchdown in every game this season (and should have had two more on Monday night). His tasty combine measurables are finally turning into production with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center. Health permitting, he should finish the season as no worse than a WR3.
Christian Kirk, Cardinals. Kirk had eight targets on Sunday; no other Cardinal had more than four. He seems to have a decent report with new Cardinals starter Josh Rosen. Plus, in leagues that award points for return yardage, he could contribute in the return game.
Vyncint Smith, Texans. The Texans are running out of pass catchers behind DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. This is just a volume play.
Tight Ends
Eric Ebron, Colts. I’ve hated Eric Ebron his entire career. He’s usual just a lock for drops and disappointment. But with the Colts, things have been different. Andrew Luck looks for him in the end zone, and looks for him otherwise. On Sunday, he saw a team-high 11 targets. If he’s getting the volume, we cannot continue to ignore him.
Dallas Goedert, Eagles. Relying on rookie tight ends is usually a recipe for disaster, and the meal tastes even worse when that tight end is second string on their own depth chart, but the Eagles are DESPERATE for pass-catchers. Alshon Jeffery still hasn’t been cleared to play a game, and the Eagles have lost Mike Wallace to a broken ankle. There aren’t many reliable pass-catchers beyond Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz. On Sunday, Goedert was targeted seven times, and caught every one.
Geoff Swaim, Cowboys. I continue to recommend him and people still haven’t caught on. He led the cowboys in targets, catches, and yards on Sunday.
Bonus section - Obvious names that are likely rostered in your league, but if not, scoop ‘em up and start ‘em: John Brown (5 of 9 for 86 yards; we’re finally getting the Brown who flashed in 2015 in Arizona); Mike Williams (4 of 7 for 81 yards and 2 TDs on Sunday); and Robert Woods (10 of 11 for 104 yards and a touchdown this past week). Each of these guys is easily a WR3 with potential for more.