Justin Boone identifies under-the-radar stashes to consider adding to your roster before they become top fantasy football waiver-wire pickups in future weeks.
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While the bar might move occasionally, the general focus is to search among the group of players who are rostered in 15% of the Yahoo leagues or less.
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Tory Horton, WR, Seahawks (9% rostered)
Horton is a key stash this week. The fifth-rounder has already emerged as a significant part of the Seahawks offense and the path is laid out for him to achieve even more.
The catches (five) and yardage (64) totals haven’t been eye-popping, but he’s found the end zone twice. More importantly, the rookie looks like he belongs as a starting-caliber receiver on an NFL field.
While he’s still only playing around 50% of the Seahawks’ snaps, Horton just clocked his highest route share of the season at 76% in a blowout win over the Saints.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is locked in as Seattle’s No. 1 receiver, but what happens if Cooper Kupp fades down the stretch again — just like he did with the Rams a year ago?
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If Horton is contributing like this as a part-time piece on offense, it bodes well for when his number is called more frequently in the future.
It also doesn’t hurt that his coordinator, Klint Kubiak, cited Justin Jefferson when asked if there was a wideout he’s worked with that reminds him of Horton. Though, Kubiak did qualify it by saying Horton has a long way to go to get there.
Horton is very intriguing as a sleeper, who’s still available in over 90% of the leagues. That won’t be the case much longer.
Honorable mention: KaVontae Turpin, Cowboys (9% rostered), Jalen Coker, Panthers (9% rostered), Jalen Tolbert, Cowboys (3% rostered), Sterling Shepard, Buccaneers (3% rostered), Malik Washington, Dolphins (3% rostered), Parker Washington, Jaguars (1% rostered)
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Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Commanders (10% rostered)
Jeremy McNichols, RB, Commanders (7% rostered)
In their first game without Austin Ekeler, the Commanders went with a three-man committee featuring Rodriguez, McNichols and Bill Croskey-Merritt.
The rookie earned the most snaps, but was actually out-touched by Rodriguez and outgained by both his teammates.
|
Player |
Snaps |
Touches |
Yards |
TDs |
|
JCM |
39.7% |
9 |
31 |
1 |
|
Rodriguez |
37.9% |
11 |
39 |
|
|
McNichols |
22.5% |
4 |
78 |
1 |
Now Croskey-Merritt is dealing with a knee injury that caused him to miss practice on Wednesday. We’ll have to monitor his status throughout the week, but this sets up as an opportunity for Rodriguez and McNichols to see more volume.
If Croskey-Merritt is out or limited, Rodriguez would be the early-down back and more likely to see goal-line carries, while McNichols handles some early-down snaps and most of the passing-down work. Both players would be flex options in that scenario.
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Honorable mention: Kyle Monangai, Bears (10% rostered), DJ Giddens, Colts (4% rostered), Kendre Miller, Saints (4% rostered), Zavier Scott, Vikings (1% rostered)
Mason Taylor, Jets (6% rostered)
It’s been a slow start to the season for Taylor, likely due to the high-ankle sprain that caused him to miss a good chunk of August.
While the production still hasn’t arrived, we did see his targets and receptions take a step in the right direction in Week 3. After seeing just three passes thrown his way through the first two weeks, the rookie earned six targets last Sunday, catching four of them for 18 yards.
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That’s hardly anything to get overly excited about, but it’s a positive sign that he can develop into a more meaningful part of the passing attack in an offense that lacks a true No. 2 target behind Garrett Wilson.
Taylor doesn’t belong in any lineups yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Just stash him away in deeper leagues as a low-end fantasy TE2 with upside.
Honorable mention: Oronde Gadsden II, Chargers (1% rostered), Elijah Arroyo, Seahawks (2% rostered), Darren Waller, Dolphins (5% rostered)
Carson Wentz, QB, Vikings (7% rostered)
Wentz makes a repeat appearance in this space due to the lack of real quarterback stash options.
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Keep an eye on the health and practice participation of Jayden Daniels, Brock Purdy and Justin Fields. If any of them miss another game then Marcus Mariota, Mac Jones and Tyrod Taylor would be in play here.
Otherwise, you can look to Wentz after he did an acceptable job of keeping the trains on time in the Vikings offense, while the rest of the team won the game for him. That’s still a notable development, since J.J. McCarthy struggled to do so prior to his injury.
Things could get even easier for Wentz this week with Jordan Addison back from suspension and the possible return of center Ryan Kelly from concussion protocol.
Even though the schedule has gotten easier for the Vikings, if Wentz continues to win, Kevin O’Connell will have a real decision to make on when to put McCarthy back out there — once he’s healthy, of course.
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For now, Wentz is a deep streamer option for fantasy.
Honorable mention: Marcus Mariota, Commanders (5% rostered), Spencer Rattler, Saints (3% rostered)
