Luke Wilson answers your fantasy football questions. Discussing the odds that J.J. McMania takes the Big Apple by storm, whether or not it's time to pull the plug on a slumping lead back, what to make of Harold Fannin's diminished returns, surveying the landscape for the best buy low opportunities, and more.
Question 1
Which non starting QB at beginning of season will end up with best fantasy stats? McCarthy or someone else?
Robert McKinlay (Belews Creek, NC)
Is Michael Penix eligible here? It's clearly an ancient history the Falcons would like to distance themselves from now, but obviously Penix did not play in Atlanta's first two games, and Kevin Stefanski went to quite a bit of trouble to avoid declaring Penix QB1 at any point over the summer. But with how good he's been since Atlanta's big primetime shocker in Green Bay a few weeks ago, I'll go with him if able.
If I'm not, then this question becomes pretty tough. McCarthy was pretty great in relief of Jameis Winston last week, but I'm certainly going to want to see him as the starter before I'm ready to ride with 'Nine'. The Giants are the worst division leader in the league, both by record and the eyeball test, and there's an air of unease already creeping into the mood around this team. McCarthy faceplanting on the road against a Houston defense that could begin playing up to their talent level at any moment wouldn't surprise me in the least.
I wish this question had come in a week or two from now. By then we would know if the Raiders had shaken off their hard luck losing skid, if the Rams were back to .500 and if Arizona still had enough fight in them for Brissett continuing to start to make some sense. With none of those veterans giving way to their rookie understudies readily imminent, I'll reluctantly go with McCarthy as my Penix alternate, with the caveat that Ty Simpson could be fantasy-relevant the moment that L.A. were to decide to give him a look.
Question 2
Ian, quick question before the NE game tonight. Should I start Stevenson or Josh Jacobs this weekend? I am leaning towards Jacobs because Stevenson is sharing the RB position. If Josh doesn't play 3:25PM Sunday, I can pivot to WR Rice at 7:20PM or Barkley playing Monday night. What do you think??
Greg Houlette (Amarillo, TX)
Sorry we couldn't get to this one in time Greg, so hopefully you made the right call on your own. I think I probably would have pushed you toward Jacobs; preposterously, Green Bay's season high in rushing for any running back is the 42 yards that Kaleb Johnson chipped in against Tampa Bay, most of which came on a single 31-yard scamper. The degree to which their run game has vanished without Jacobs is truly shocking, and frankly Jordan Love deserves some early, fringe MVP consideration for keeping this team upright in the meantime.
That would have been wrong of course, albeit only because of a single, 'how not to play prevent defense' clinic by the Chicago Bears that could have been set to the Benny Hill music. That one catch and run accounted for 48 of Stevenson's 115 total yards on the night; Chicago's stout run defense erased him on the ground. But Stevenson may now officially have a bit of a penchant for taking short catches the distance, so perhaps he's deserving of some consideration in that regard going forward.
Question 3
Always looking to see if there’s a trade that can improve the squad. Who are your favorite buy-low candidates? Players that you’d expect their owners may have soured on, but in whom you still believe.
Greg Resin (Palos Verdes Estates, CA)
Smart thinking, Greg II. Profiting off of the impatience and emotional pain of your league mates can be the difference between a 2nd place finish and a championship.
After his high ankle sprain in the season opener in Seattle, A.J. Brown has been pretty lousy in his two full games as a Patriot. Ignore it; he's in an offense with an elite quarterback and no serious target competition, plus Romeo Doubs is out of the way for another three games. Hosting the rival Cowboys for Monday night feels a bit like the 2026 Eagles' last stand; in a shadow race against the Colts to find an attractive deal for their superstar running backs, Saquon Barkley could easily be on the move to a contender in the next week or two. Concussed immediately upon his return from a foot injury that knocked him out of Week 4, Ladd McConkey owners are likely ready to move on from ownership of any part of this offense. The Bolts draw one more gruesome pass defense matchup after the bye (Rams), but after that the schedule lets out very nicely. It's a hard one to like, but before his hamstring injury Rashee Rice had gone for 11-171 over the previous two games. On a resurgent offense in need of a playmaking complement to Kenneth Walker, Rice once again has access to any and all volume that Travis Kelce can't process. And lastly, Jordan Mason is an itch that I just can't quit scratchin': He's relentlessly efficient per touch, and the only thing between him and a potential league-winning spring to the finish is the 32-year-old Aaron Jones, whom Minnesota has been forced to saddle up for a whopping 97 touches in their last 4 games.
Happy hunting amigo.
Question 4
Hi again, Luke. What RB could I expect to get in a PPR trade for Ashton Jeanty, either straight up or packaged with Michael Wilson or DK Metcalf? Thanks again!
Michael Hamer (Springfield, PA)
Howdy Michael. Moving off of Ashton Jeanty, eh? In this PPR economy? My friend, that's a bit scandalous.
It certainly hasn't been the start that Jeanty owners were hoping for, especially if you had told them that the team would start 3-0. Jeanty's labored to 3.2 yards per carry, and while some lingering ill effects from August's major injury scare could be to blame — he did run for 102 yards on 23 carries in Week 1. It's been a nothing but futility ever since, and against several of the league's less imposing run-stopping units. After averaging just 3.7 yards per carry as a rookie, the efficiency issue is becoming... well, an issue.
Luckily for both him and those that drafted him, Jeanty is neck and neck with the likes of Christian McCaffrey and Jahmyr Gibbs in receptions, and that alone has staved off disaster: Well over 40 percent of his 564 total yards have been generated through the air, a much higher percentage than any of his fellow true starters. With Jeanty dipping to just 10 carries in consecutive games, some alarm is now justified.
If you're heading for the door, this could be tricky. Obviously, the Gibbs and Bijan owners aren't returning your calls, and even with one of those WRs included I seriously doubt the Jonathan Taylor owner does either. Ditto for Christian McCaffrey, who has the same basic dilemma as Jeanty except he's in an elite offense and is still pouring in short touchdowns. You might be looking at a Chase Brown, who's maybe in a worse spot than Jeanty at this point with capable veteran Samaje Perine suddenly pushing hard for carries (but probably he's fine). Kyren Williams occurs to me as a faint possibility.
Looking past comparable ADP to comparable, small sample size production, Chuba Hubbard and Jaylen Warren are the two running backs directly ahead of Jeanty in some common scoring formats, with Bhayshul Tuten just behind. A lot of owners will be reticent to relinquish one of those hot hands for Jeanty, but some will view it as turning their 8th rounder into another 1st rounder and potentially even kick in a sweetener to get it done. I don't know that I'd particularly recommend going this route — Ashton Jeanty is good — but if you've seen enough and want to make a move sooner rather than later, this feels like the zip code in which you should be shopping.
Question 5
I drafted Harold Fannin this year with high hopes — got him in round 7.05 of a 12 team PPR league. But man, he's been a disappointment. The free agency wire includes the following TEs: Freiermuth, Strange, Henry, and Higbee. I'm carrying Concepcion, D.J. Moore, Jacoby Brissett, and Emmett Johnson on the bench. I don't think I should drop any of those guys. Do I just stand pat and hope Fannin turns things around? I noticed his Redrafter ranking has plummeted this week, which implies you guys are revising him downward ROS.
Andrew Napoli (Woodbridge, VA)
Misery loves company: I took Fannin at 7.07 in this year's FI Invitational myself, so I'm right there with you buddy.
I didn't let it creep too far into my thought process (clearly), but some small part of me wondered if Todd Monken's love of wide receivers could be trouble for Fannin. During Monken's three years running the Baltimore offense, Mark Andrews may as well not have existed before Baltimore got inside the opposing 20-yard line. But I immediately explained that away with 'Fannin was and is a completely different animal, who else is really going to step up here, Shedeur will probably come on for Watson and their budding connection from last year will resume blooming', et cetera.
The immediate impact from Concepcion and Denzel Boston hasn't helped, but I think the main issue is Deshaun Watson. He hasn't actually been all that good, and he has been loath to risk turnovers by putting the ball in harm's way on tight window throws. Between that and Concepcion immediately eating into the short area throws at large in this offense, Fannin's been hamstrung.
That will change at some point: Fannin's logging enormous snap counts, regularly playing 90 percent of Cleveland's offensive plays. That's Trey McBride territory; the dam will eventually give. And that's assuming Watson manages to hang on to the starting job, which is far from a sure thing — 10 fourth quarter points against Baltimore staved off the 'is it time to go to Sanders?' talk for another week, but at this rate it's still a question of when, not if people call for a QB change. But in the meantime, Henry and Higbee both have solid Week 7 matchups and have had some red zone competition shelved by injury (Higbee especially). Give me either of those for now, while we wait for the skies to part for our boy Fannin.
Question 6
Another dynasty question for you: Would you trade Oscar Delp for a 2028 third round pick? He is sitting on my taxi squad and I have Bowers and Strange on my active roster, so I would need to drop Strange next year in order to keep him. Does Delp have a dynasty future, or should I take the draft pick and run?
David Jung (San Francisco, CA)
Is it already time to call it on the Oscar Delps of the world? Six weeks into his maiden NFL voyage? The perpetual dynasty roster crunch truly waits for no man, woman or child. And I suppose it's not without any merit: Delp almost never saw the football in college, and now he's barely seen the field behind an established, receiving-first option in veteran Juwan Johnson. With Johnson and journeyman Noah Fant flashing early as favorite scoring area options for Tyler Shough, Delp owners like you and I are now stuck playing the waiting game indefinitely.
I'm not throwing in the towel. Delp runs in the 4.4s and I believe he possesses some real pass-catching ability; when Greg Cosell invokes the name of a likely Hall of Famer for a player comp, I sit up and take some notice. I also think guys who can play meaningful snaps with their hand in the dirt have a slightly better range of possible outcomes than with prospects who are strict 'move' tight ends. Looking at you, Greg Dulcich, Elijah Arroyo — Irv Smith. Tight ends who can't block come off the field a lot, and you can't catch too many passes while you're on the sideline.
New Orleans has had a peppy offensive operation thus far, but what's it gotten them? A 2-4 record that could easily have been worse if J.J. McCarthy had had one more possession (and one less interception) in the fourth quarter last weekend. They aren't running the ball well (21st in both rushing yards per game and per attempt), and new-ish owner Gayle Benson recently went out of her way to turn on the heated seats for Kellen Moore & Co. Not only is he the best blocking tight end on the roster, but at 6'5"-240 Delp is actually the closest thing they even have to a blocking tight end. That in and of itself is a bit problematic, but in the short-term it should continue to funnel Delp at least on to the field. That will lead to opportunities for Delp to either force the issue heading into 2027, or not. But I'd rather risk him being on my roster and flop than wholesale him off now and risk him hitting big for somebody else. Besides, if somebody else is coming to you offering that pick that should be your first sign that this egg's worth sitting on a little while longer.
