Well, how about those New york teams?

By Martin Richardson

Well just when you think that the season cannot get ant more wild, the Jets and Giants decide to throw more our way. With the firing of GM Joe Douglas, the Aaron Rodgers Jets look utterly rudderless and I have no idea what is going to happen with the green side of New York. But, not to be outdone, the blue half of New York decide to not only bench Daniel Jones, but first make him Q3, then agree to his potential release on Friday.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.

But back to football, eh?

Russell Wilson rocked up and decided to beat MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson, which again, just sums up this season in a nutshell.

The Lions became the embodiment of The Simpson’s, ‘Stop he’s already dead’ meme by destroying the Jaguars, and somehow Doug Pederson is still in a job. But with the bye week in full swing, who knows where we will stand in a week’s time.

The Bears’ curse against the Packers seems as certain as death and taxes as their game winning field goal was blocked in the dying seconds to lose to Jordan Love’s Packers team.

And finally, yes ladies and gentlemen, we can all sigh with relief as the Chiefs finally, finally lost. And to the Bills no less.

And in amongst all that, some things are things are still going under the radar…

JK DOBBINS

Back in the summer, there was a debate as to how was going to be the number one running back for the Chargers, with Dobbins and Gus Edwards battling it out during camp and into the season.

But now, it’s the JK Dobbins show. He has been exactly what we all thought he would be before the long list of injuries: two ACLs, a broken fibula, a torn Achilles, a torn hamstring and a torn meniscus. This guy deserves success.

He’s a dual threat back that has been utilised to release players such as Quentin Johnston and rookie Ladd McConkey in the passing game. With a 30 yard showing against the Chiefs and 26 yards against the Cardinals, Dobbins is efficiently moving the chains when he gets the chance and defenses have this threat to worry about weekly.

When he’s on the ground, once he’s gone, not many people are catching him. With over 260 yards in his opening 2 games, Dobbins announced his return from injury in style. Overall his 8 touchdowns this season have been spread across the season, with 4 in his last three games. One thing to note though is that when recently, when he hasn’t hit that touchdown, his numbers are not as elevated as the start of the season. But that’s not surprising now that Ladd McConkey and even TE Will Dissly have become more of a part of their offense.

Dobbins has a tough run-in coming up; with games against the Chiefs and Ravens looming. So Chargers offense will need to lean on their RB to limit any chances of those mean defenses taking the ball from Herbert when he throws it.

JASON SMITH NJIGBA

It’s taken a while, but JSN has started to make the impact we thought he would. This Seahawks offense has been up and down all season, and in some cases so has JSN. But, unlike last season where his ceiling was about 10 fantasy points and you’d be delighted with that, this season his ceiling has made him a top 20 WR in fantasy realms. The signs were there with over 100 yards against the Patriots in week 2. His huge game against the Rams just showcased how much of an impact he could make, with 180 yards and 2 touchdowns and over 30 fantasy points. After his bye week, he followed that up with over 100 yards from 10 receptions, showing that the Seahawks are finally getting him in the game more and that he can be a true WR2 to pair up with DK Metcalf.

With games against the Cardinals twice, the Jets and the Packers on the horizon, this will be a true test for JSN to assert himself on the field, but I think he has the capability to do exactly that.

WILL DISSLY

This has turned into a bit of a Chargers love in this week and rightly so in my opinion. Since week 7, Dissly has been a consistent part of the offense, with on average five targets per game and a touchdown last week against the Bengals just shows how important he is becoming. But what is so important for TEs when playing fantasy, is that he is wracking up points for good yardage: 81 yards against the Cardinals, 41 against the Saints and 80 against the Bengals.

Available on over 65% of teams on ESPN, Dissly would be a solid pick up if you’ve been hit with injuries or bye weeks.

KICKERS- WAIVER WATCH

A quick google search will reveal the definition of ‘the yips’ as, ‘a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete in the performance of a crucial action.’ And we have kickers aplenty suffering from them right now.

Younghoe Koo missed three in the game against the Saints. Evan McPherson missed two against the Chargers. And now, even the legend that is Justin Tucker is missing money kicks that he would normally drill through the sticks.

Now in terms of fantasy lineups, kickers are a dime a dozen and chances are you’ll only need them for one week of their is a bye week still approaching. Do not be afraid to drop a once money kicker in favour of someone who is drilling the ball from 50 yards every week. The only person who this doesn’t apply to is Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys. Now that guy is getting plenty of action and I’m pretty sure by the end of the season he will have broken the 66-yard kicking record. That guy is an elite level kicking sensation.

MARTIN RICHARDSON

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

A Yorkshireman living in Lancashire, Martin is a massive NFL fan but his heart belongs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also a huge Fantasy Football enthusiast and spends far too long crunching the numbers! Follow him at @MRBucsFan31

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