It’s pretty slim pickings this week on the wire. We are going to discuss some speculative adds and bend the rules for a few players who were likely dropped earlier in your league or have inflated ownership due to best-ball and C2C leagues.
Quarterbacks
Mason Heintschel – Pitt – Ros: 3%
The Panther message boards hinted a change was coming, and shame on the Pitt coaching staff for not making it sooner. Heintschel scored 35 fantasy points in his first career start and looked amazing doing so. He is an advanced passer for a true freshman and has enough athleticism to give you some juice with his legs. He has a tough one coming this week against an angry FSU, but even they have been lit up over the last couple of weeks. Then, Pitt has Syracuse, NC State, and Stanford. Like we discussed last week with Liam Szarka, Heintschel has all the makings of a late-season add that could be a real game-changer.
Ryan Browne – Purdue – Ros: 7%
Don’t look now, but this Boilermaker QB has scored 23 and 25 points in the last two weeks against Illinois and Notre Dame. Purdue has been a sneaky, solid offense. Browne had 50 pass attempts Saturday and has eclipsed 300 yards in three of his five games this year. He is a willing runner, especially around the goal line, so his floor has been solid with no clunkers this season. The schedule does him no favors in the B10, but he has a little bit of a runway with MN, NW, and Rutgers over the next few weeks. He’s a solid add in P4-only leagues.
Nico Iamaleava – UCLA – Ros: 38%
Yes, I am aware that he doesn’t meet the 25% threshold criteria (he won’t be the only one on this week’s waiver list), but let’s be honest, most of that 38% is from best ball and dynasty. Nico was the week’s top QB performer at almost 50 points on the vaunted Penn State defense, but he’s likely to be available in your league due to his performance up to this point, with multiple sub-15 point weeks and no weeks greater than 23 points. Maybe the switch to Neuheisel as OC is going to be a game-changer for Nico. Probably not. But he’s worth the flyer to find out.
Honorable Mentions
Cale Hellums – Army – Ros: 4%
Lunch Winfield – Louisiana – Ros: 2%
Tucker Kilcrease – Troy – Ros: 0%
Running Backs
Jeffery Pittman – Southern Miss – Ros: 2%
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It is a rough one out there this week at RB when Jeff Pittman is maybe the top option. I hope you grabbed guys like Caleb Hawkins and Michael Allen last week when they were on a bye. Pittman has put up back-to-back 20-point outings and has two of the country’s worst defenses coming up – Georgia Southern and Louisiana. The volume has been inconsistent, but he did get 18 carries last time out. If he gets that in the next couple of weeks, he is bound to eclipse 100 yards and a touchdown.
Chauncey Bowens – Georgia – Ros: 27%
This is rare for me. I can probably count on one hand the number of times in the last ten years I have advocated for adding UGA players. But it is a rough week for RB adds, and you can’t deny the volume steadily increasing for Bowens. UGA rewarded his 12-119-1 performance against Alabama with another 15 totes last week against UK. Frazier can’t keep from fumbling, and Bowens has capitalized on that. He will battle Stockton for short-yardage TDs around the goal line, but he’s worth an add if he continues to get 12-15 carries in an offense that is frequently in position to score.
Rueben Owens – Texas A&M – Ros: 24%
This is one of those speculative adds. Lev Moss has been excellent this year, but he exited the game Saturday night with an injury. The Aggies fed Owens to the tune of 22 touches, and he feasted for 161 yards. That is a lot of confidence in the RB2 if Moss misses any time. The matchup with Florida isn’t ideal, but it is at home, and Arkansas is next up. We aren’t sure of the severity of the Moss injury, but it is something to monitor, and Owens is a must-add for all Moss owners.
Honorable Mentions
Ca’lil Valentine – Illinois – Ros: 2%
Lazaro Rogers – Northern Illinois – Ros: 0%
Wide Receivers
Dallas Wilson – Florida – 48%
Yep. He’s also way over the 25% mark, but this number has to be inflated by C2C leagues. The true FR hadn’t played all year until Saturday, so there was no reason to roster him in redraft on what had been an abysmal offense until then. But he certainly popped off and needs to be considered on waivers in CFF redraft leagues now. 6-111-2 and looking damn good doing it against a stellar D should certainly have our attention. It is hard to determine how sustainable the Gator pass game can be, but it is clear that Wilson, who absolutely balled out in the spring game, is a priority target for DJ Lagway.
Kwazi Gilmer – UCLA – Ros: 25%
Despite the Bruins’ offense being a disaster most of the season, Gilmer had been doing a solid job of holding up his end of the deal. He went for 20 this past week with 5-79-1. Again, not incredible, but solid. Penn State is easily one of the best defenses UCLA will see the rest of the season, and there was potentially something unlocked with the staff turnover. Gilmer doesn’t have huge upside, but if you need a steady Eddy, he’s your guy.
Isaiah Sategna – Oklahoma – Ros: 19%
Not long ago, I wrote about how Sategna could be a strong regression candidate, but it appears the Arbuckle slot bump is just too much to limit even Sategna. He has averaged 23 PPG over his last three, and that includes a strong outing with a QB change Saturday. The schedule gets tougher, but he has been too good to take off the field at this point. He has become more consistent than Deion Burks and is also a significant factor in the return game. His rostership is too low given his position in this system.
Honorable Mentions
Cooper Barkate – Duke – Ros: 19%
KJ Duff – Rutgers – Ros: 25% (seriously?!)
Tight Ends
Randy Pittman – Florida State – Ros: 14%
Pittman got some solid buzz in the offseason after following Gus over from UCF, but an injury in Week 1 set him back. Let that play to your advantage on the waiver wire. He had a couple of TDs in his return in Week 5, but that isn’t really sustainable. Then he had 13 targets this past week, which certainly indicates he’s a vital part of the weekly game plan. Tommy C is a one-read and run QB, but Pittman provides an excellent safety valve for him.
Honorable Mentions
Peter Clarke – Temple – Ros: 13%
Broc Lane – Utah State – Ros: 6%
Garrett Oakley – Kansas State – Ros: 24%
