The Pig Market - Waiver Adds From Week Seven
Week Seven is officially in the books! Here are some names that caught my eye this weekend...
The art of trading lies in timing and opportunity…
- Leonardo Fibonacci, mathematician
Welcome, my friends, to the Pig Market. Here, CFF manager frantically scour the streets—inspecting each and every merchant carefully in hopes of unearthing a hidden volume pig, or engaging in hellacious bidding for the fattest pigs at auction. A place where savvy buyers prove their mettle with extreme cunning, and first-timers unload their entire wallets on the latest cochon-du-jour.
I promised in my offseason content that I’d have you covered for waiver wire information each week and I plan to make good on that promise with yet another series (how many is it now? I’ve lost count…). Here, I will highlight players that I think are notable and that are also not highly rostered in standard leagues; or are not known commodities already. I’ll try to provide at least a few names at each position group per week.
QB
(WVU) Garrett Greene — In the offseason I did a focused piece on WVU’s gunslinger—Garrett Greene. I have to say, he has not disappointed. The Mountaineers had a tough game to open the season vs. Penn State, but this pesky squad has quietly been winning games this season. Well, that was until the debacle last Thursday vs. Houston. Regardless of the loss, QB Garrett Greene continued to produce at a high level, scoring 44.25 points. In my focused piece on him earlier this year, I remarked that his value is really in his legs. In his last two contests, he’s rushed for a TD twice in each. His FPG average (25.2) is also deceiving because it’s dragged down by a game where he got injured on the first drive (0.1 points). Excluding that dud, his average is actually closer to 31 FPG in four point passing TD formats. They’ve got a great matchup vs. Oklahoma State incoming.
(SMU) Preston Stone — I’m putting Stone here because we just saw North Texas’ Chandler Rogers find success vs. a porous Temple defence. Temple also passes the ball a lot and moves pretty quick on offence, so their matchups are good recipes for CFF success. Stone’s generally been able to be productive in games where the Mustangs played an outmatched opponent on defence. Temple’s defence shouldn’t be a problem for Stone, who is a decent plug-and-play option this week if BYEs are piling up. He’s not really a guy I’d target for a season-long answer, though.
(Memphis) Seth Henigan — Henigan’s been solid thus far this season, never scoring less than 22 points in a game. I like his consistency, and they have a great match vs. a poor UAB team this week, who is almost dead last in points against per game (36.6). Henigan’s a pretty solid runner too, and UAB’s defence is averaging 202.3 rush yards against per game (127th nationally).
(KSU) Avery Johnson — I don’t know the plans of the KSU QB situation currently, so this is more of a wait and see thing as the week progresses. Avery Johnson subbed in for Howard on Saturday vs. Texas Tech and literally took every rushing TD for the cats with five(!). They get a nice matchup vs. a poor TCU team this weekend where he could feast again if given the start. The caveat being that the Horned Frogs will probably be a little more prepared for Johnson than Tech was.
Other: Cooper Legas (Utah State).
RB
Post Publication Addition (Tulane) Makhi Hughes — Hughes has seen 22 and 26 carries in back to back weeks, scoring 26 and 19 points vs. UAB and Memphis, respectively. He’s scored three TDs in that span, and with a game vs. a weak North Texas defence coming up this weekend, it feels likely he’ll continue his scoring streak. We saw last year that the Tulane staff were comfortable leaning on one runner in Tygae Spears, perhaps they’ve found his replacement? Admittedly, I do not know the status of Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, but he appears to have fallen behind Hughes.
(UW) Dillon Johnson — Johnson left a timeshare at Mississippi State this offseason for the promise of a more featured role in Kalen DeBoer’s UW offence. Experienced CFF diehards will recall that DeBoar had stud RB Ronnie Rivers during one of his more productive seasons in 2020, and he’s shown his preference to use RBs both via the ground and in the air. Johnson’s carry volume is what caught my eye, though. He was the only runner to see double digit carries vs. Oregon on Saturday (20), and in the only two games UW’s been in that haven’t been blow-outs, he’s seen 21 and 22 touches. Everyone thinks of this team as an exclusively pass-team for CFF, but Johnson’s been a bell-cow for them two weeks in a row during competitive matches. With (presumably) more competitive games coming up, I think Johnson should be thought of as a promising and high upside player this week—a time where the availability of true bellcow RBs is exceptionally limited. Unfortunately, games vs. Arizona State and Stanford up next might not be extremely close, but they should present enough bite for UW to utilize Johnson just enough to keep him productive.
(Liberty) Quinton Cooley — Cooley’s going to be a popular pickup this week in most leagues. This season, the only time he’s seen less than double digit carries was in Week Three vs. UB (five attempts), outside of that he’s averaging 18.6 carries per game, and has gone over 100 yards three straight weeks. They play Middle Tennessee this week, which is a solid matchup on defence. While he doesn’t really compete with another RB, QB Kaiden Salter is actually his primary competition for rushing scores (six rushing scores in six games).
(CCO) Brayden Bennett — Since CJ Beasley went down two weeks ago, CCO’s Brayden Bennett has ascended as a volume pig in this backfield. Similar to Cooley, however, he still contends with the QB for rushing scores, but Bennett has now seen 17 touches in back to back weeks, and has scored 22.7 and 20.7 points in that span. Beasley was back on Saturday and saw double digit carries (10), but Bennett appears to have remained the RB1A. They’ve got a nice matchup this weekend vs. Arkansas State. This play is definitely riskier, because Beasley may start to slowly creep back into an even timeshare, but if you’re desperate for a runner to plug-and-play, there are a lot of worse options than Bennett this week.
(Kent State) Jaylen Thomas — Thomas continues to see strong carry volume (24 and 23 carries in back to back weeks), but has yet to find the end zone. That’s in part due to Kent State not being very good at Football. However, I will point out that Thomas averaged 4.1 ypc on Saturday vs. EMU. With a total of 47 touches in his last two, he feels due for a score this weekend vs. UB doesn’t he? Gavin Garcia remains in the picture, but Thomas is a potential punt play this weekend for the truly desperate.
WR
(JMU) Elijah Sarratt — In the second ever article I published on VolumePigs, I did a focused piece on two FCS WR transfers that could make a big impact this season. One of them was Arkansas’ WR Andrew Armstrong (Texas A&M Commerce), who’s definitely been impactful so far, the other—JMU’s Elijah Sarratt (St. Francis), is now teetering on the edge of CFF relevancy as well for regular league formats. Sarratt now has gone over 18 points in three of his last four games, including a two week streak now of 20+ point performances. The JMU pass attack has quietly improved each week with Jordan McCloud now firmly in the starting position. I featured McCloud on an earlier Pig Market article, and the duo of him and Sarratt could be a potent mix for the rest of the season with a fairly easy schedule down the stretch. They do play Marshall this weekend, who have a pretty good defence, though. Unfortunately for me, as someone who dropped Sarratt in my dynasty league in September, I don’t think he’s coming back around on the wire anytime soon…
(Oregon State) Silas Bolden — Bolden is definitely a name that’s gone under the radar the past few weeks. The 5’8” playmaker is lightning in a bottle, and when looking at his usage, clearly the Beavs’ staff have identified him as someone to get the ball often. He has seen eight targets or more in four out of his last five, and is averaging 7.5 targets per game on the season. He’s currently on a streak of three weeks with a score, and is averaging a solid 16.6 FPG. They’re on a BYE this week, but the schedule after that is very favourable with matchups vs. Arizona, Colorado, and Stanford back to back to back (and I’m not talking about some UGA type-ish).
(UNLV) Ricky White — In the offseason I wrote that UNLV’s Ricky White had a legit chance at WR1 this season in CFF. I stand by the claim, especially when you look at what he’s done when this offence is operating at its potential. While it’s unlikely that White will finish in the WR1 discussion (he currently averages 15.4 FPG), he’s produced like one in two out of his last four games (28.5 vs. Vandy, 36.4 vs. Nevada). His target numbers in his last four games are elite, and match that of what a WR1 would see: he’s seen 16, 9, 6, and 8 targets in that span. Also, don’t look now but the Rebels are sitting at a decent 5-1 record, with their only loss to UM. Pretty good season for the Rebs if you ask me. They have very good matchups vs. Colorado State, Fresno State, New Mexico up next.
(Mizzou) Theo Wease — Wease continues to be a solid option at WR. The OU transfer and former five-star WR has now seen 13, 7 and 8 targets in his last three contests, and is currently on a four game scoring streak. He’s averaging 14.9 FPG, and sure—we know he’s WR2 behind Luther Burden, but Burden is currently dealign with an ailment, and we’ve seen that Wease is the next guy the Tigers like to target. South Carolina this weekend feels like another good opportunity for Wease to find the end zone, especially if Burden is still dealing with pain. Even if Burden is full go, if you need a plug-and-play option at WR, you could do a lot worse than Wease.
(Memphis) De’Meer Blanckmuse — Hopefully you all picked up Blanckmuse’s teammate—Roc Taylor, in the previous weeks because he continues to torch it in this pass-concentrated offence. The Tigers are delivering targets almost exclusively to its top two receivers, so much so that even the WR2—Blankmuse, appears to now be teetering on the edge of relevancy for normal CFF leagues. DM now has 11, 9, and 10 targets in his last three, and he’s scored 10.6, 18.3, and 23.3 points in that span. Memphis has a good matchup this weekend vs. UAB, which is averaging 226.1 pass yards (70th nationally) and over 36 points (131st nationally) against per game thus far.
(Troy) Jabre Barber — I like what I’m seeing in terms of target share for Troy’s WR Jabre Barber in his last five games. He’s been targeted 11, 9, 9, 8 and 10 times in that span, and is currently averaging 12.4 FPG. His consistency leaves something to be desired (season lows of 7.2, 4.8, and 6.2 points), but with the amount of targets he’s seeing currently, I think he’s a solid option if you’re in a deeper league and in need of a WR. They have a BYE this weekend.
Other: Rashod Owens (OK State), Jaylin Lane (VT), Robert Williams (ULLAF), Malik Phillips (SMHU), Malachi Fields (UVA), Chase Roberts (BYU), and Dayton Wade (Miss).
TE
(WVU) Kole Taylor — Taylor is the second Mountaineer to be featured on today’s article. In fact, he’s probably not a bad stack partner if you’re planning on playing Garrett Greene this weekend vs. Oklahoma State. The LSU transfer has seen pretty steady volume, with five or more targets in three of his last five. He’s scored 10 points in three of his last four, and this weekend’s matchup should be a high scoring affair.
(UF) Arlis Boardingham — As much as it pains me to say, the Gators look to have found a good one in redshirt freshman tight end Boardingham out of California. AB has now seen seven targets in back to back games, scoring 28.9 and 16.5 points in that span. They’re on BYE this week before what figures to be a heated affair in Jacksonville vs. the #1 team in America—the UGA Bulldawgs.
(SMU) RJ Maryland — Did someone in your league drop Maryland? Might be worth a look. He’s been solid two weeks in a row now. The chances are high that he has a good game vs. Temple this weekend, and — similarly to Greene and Taylor — if you’re playing Stone this weekend Maryland is worth a look.
Other: (Wyoming) Treyton Welch.
Fool’s Gold
(Stanford) Elic Ayomanor — OK, so we all saw that impressive performance at 1am EST last Friday night vs. Travis Hunter, right? Well, if you’re like me — who went to sleep at halftime — you were probably a bit surprised when you saw the final score the next morning. You likely wondered how that happened. Probably your next question was: who scored all of those points for the Cardinals? The 6’2” playmaker out of Alberta, Canada (shoutout to my fellow CDNs), completely torched the Buff’s secondary with 13 catches (18 targets) for 294 yards and three scores (60 points). Unfortunately, I have to be the wet blanket here. A few things I’ll mention: 1) We haven’t seen target volume like that for Ayomanor until this game, so it’s hard to project his role going forward. 2) The next thing is that we’ve seen this pattern vs. Colorado where elite WR talents get a good matchup and just continue eating all night. It was CSU’s Tory Horton in Week Two on early crossing routes, then it was Oregon’s Troy Franklin wiping Buff DBs all over the field, before this past Friday where it was Mr. Ayo who continued to go over top of Hunter, and out-physical him underneath. Ultimately, I’m going to put in a few claims for Ayomanor, but he’s lower on my priority list this week, and I remain skeptical about his production going forward.
Other: Ashton Daniels (Stanford)
DST
OU (vs. UCF) — OU has a major talent advantage in this game and has been a solid defence all season. They even scored 12 points vs. Texas in a shootout last week (without a defensive TD). Really solid group with a good matchup.
Liberty (vs. MTSU) — Liberty’s been a solid group so far (averaging 12 FPG) with a solid matchup vs. MTSU, who is currently 108th in PPG.
Wake Forest (vs. Pitt) — WF’s quietly been a solid group on defence this season, but more importantly Pitt is struggling on offence (89th in PPG currently).
Other: NIU vs. EMU, Minnesota vs. Iowa, Oregon vs. Wazzou.
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