The fantasy grind continues as we near the halfway mark of the season. This week, there are several key players on bye that fantasy owners have to account for.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 running backs to target for Week 7
Matt Forte, Giovani Bernard and Eddie Lacy are all on bye this week. We look at potential options on the waiver wire to help out.
The Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers have the week off, making running backs Matt Forte, Eddie Lacy, Ronnie Hillman and the Jeremy Hill/Giovani Bernard duo unavailable. To cover for their absences (as well as look at potential lottery tickets), we examine five options owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs (42 percent)
Charcandrick West got the first crack at replacing Jamaal Charles, playing 43 snaps to Davis’ 19. However, West got just 39 total yards on 10 touches and was benched for losing a fumble in the fourth quarter. Davis wasn’t much better (six touches, 25 total yards), but with Jeremy Maclin suffering a concussion, the Chiefs will need to rely on the running game more than ever. Davis has been productive in the past, so it’s possible he eventually becomes the lead back in this committee.
Christine Michael, Dallas Cowboys (38 percent)
Michael remains a speculative bench stash, but the Cowboys keep making noise about getting him more involved.
Gary Brown, asked about C-Mike's comfort level: "I think he's where he needs to be, and we want to take the reins off him and let him rock."
— David Helman (@HelmanDC) October 15, 2015 It could just be coach speak, but with Joseph Randle failing to seize the starting job and Darren McFadden being Darren McFadden, Michael could get a chance sooner than later. He’s not start-able with the messy quarterback situation (Matt Cassel is replacing Brandon Weeden this week), but keep tabs on him.
Charles Sims, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24 percent)
Doug Martin is still the lead back in Tampa, but Sims is slowly starting to gain some standalone value. He played 26 snaps to Martin’s 41 in Week 5, mainly on passing downs. Sims got his highest yardage of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, totaling 136 yards on 16 touches. We’re not expecting Martin’s role to decrease, but Sims has at least done enough to warrant a roster spot in PPR. He’s a potential DFS value play against a Washington defense that got gashed by Chris Ivory.
Theo Riddick, Detroit Lions (21 percent)
Zach Zenner is out for the season, Joique Bell is still not healthy and Ameer Abdullah can’t stop fumbling. That leaves Riddick as possibly the most reliable player in Detroit’s backfield. Riddick took over as the starter in Week 6, playing 52 snaps in the Lions’ wild overtime win. He finished with 78 total yards on 10 touches, showing good burst in the open field. The Lions are desperate to get a spark in their running game and Riddick has pass-catching chops. He needs to be added in all PPR leagues and has flex appeal against the Minnesota Vikings this week.
Robert Turbin, Cleveland Browns (2 percent)
Turbin made his season debut after missing the first five games with a high ankle sprain. He was slowly eased into game action, playing 18 snaps compared to 33 for Duke Johnson and 28 for Isaiah Crowell. Turbin only had 10 carries for 27 yards, but could eventually overtake Crowell on the depth chart. The Browns’ running game has a tough matchup with the St. Louis Rams, so Turbin is just a lottery ticket at this point, but his situation should be monitored over the coming weeks.
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